Evaluating the performance of climate models based on Wasserstein distance

We propose a methodology for intercomparing climate models and evaluating their performance against benchmarks based on the use of the Wasserstein distance (WD). This distance provides a rigorous way to measure quantitatively the difference between two probability distributions. The proposed approach is flexible and can be applied in any number of dimensions; it allows one to rank climate models taking into account all the moments of the distributions. By selecting the combination of climatic variables and the regions of interest, it is possible to highlight specific model deficiencies. The WD enables a comprehensive evaluation of the skill of a climate model. We apply this approach to a selected number of physical fields, ranking the models in terms of their performance in simulating them and pinpointing their weaknesses in the simulation of some of the selected physical fields in specific areas of the Earth

Varicella Zoster Virus in Saliva of Patients With Herpes Zoster

Background. VZV DNA is present in saliva of healthy astronauts and patients with Ramsay Hunt syndrome (geniculate zoster). We hypothesized that a prospective analysis of patients with zoster would detect VZV in saliva independent of zoster location. Methods. We treated 54 patients with valacyclovir. On the first treatment day, 7- and 14-days later, pain was scored and saliva examined for VZV DNA. Saliva from six subjects with chronic pain and 14 healthy subjects was similarly studied. Results. Follow-up data was available for 50/54 patients. Pain decreased in 43/50 (86 percent), disappeared in 37 (74 percent), recurred after disappearing in three (6 percent) and increased in four (8 percent). VZV DNA was found in every patient the day treatment was started, decreased in 47/50 (94 percent), transiently increased in three (6 percent) before decreasing, increased in two (4 percent) and disappeared in 41 (82 percent). There was a positive correlation between the presence of VZV DNA and pain, as well as between the VZV DNA copy number and pain (P<0.0005). Saliva of two patients was cultured, and infectious VZV was isolated from one. VZV DNA was present in one patient before rash and in four patients after pain resolved, and not in any control subjects. Conclusion. VZV DNA is present in saliva of zoster patients

The Standard Model from Stable Intersecting Brane World Orbifolds

We analyze the perturbative stability of non-supersymmetric intersecting brane world models on tori. Besides the dilaton tadpole, a dynamical instability in the complex structure moduli space occurs at string disc level, which drives the background geometry to a degenerate limit. We show that in certain orbifold models this latter instability is absent as the relevant moduli are frozen. We construct explicit examples of such orbifold intersecting brane world models and discuss the phenomenological implications of a three generation Standard Model which descends naturally from an SU(5) GUT theory. It turns out that various phenomenological issues require the string scale to be at least of the order of the GUT scale. As a major difference compared to the Standard Model, some of the Yukawa couplings are excluded so that the standard electroweak Higgs mechanism with a fundamental Higgs scalar is not realized in this set-up.Comment: 39 pages, 5 figures, harvma

An Overview of the 2014 ALMA Long Baseline Campaign

A major goal of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is to make accurate images with resolutions of tens of milliarcseconds, which at submillimeter (submm) wavelengths requires baselines up to ~15 km. To develop and test this capability, a Long Baseline Campaign (LBC) was carried out from September to late November 2014, culminating in end-to-end observations, calibrations, and imaging of selected Science Verification (SV) targets. This paper presents an overview of the campaign and its main results, including an investigation of the short-term coherence properties and systematic phase errors over the long baselines at the ALMA site, a summary of the SV targets and observations, and recommendations for science observing strategies at long baselines. Deep ALMA images of the quasar 3C138 at 97 and 241 GHz are also compared to VLA 43 GHz results, demonstrating an agreement at a level of a few percent. As a result of the extensive program of LBC testing, the highly successful SV imaging at long baselines achieved angular resolutions as fine as 19 mas at ~350 GHz. Observing with ALMA on baselines of up to 15 km is now possible, and opens up new parameter space for submm astronomy.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables; accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters; this version with small changes to affiliation

Physics, Astrophysics and Cosmology with Gravitational Waves

Gravitational wave detectors are already operating at interesting sensitivity levels, and they have an upgrade path that should result in secure detections by 2014. We review the physics of gravitational waves, how they interact with detectors (bars and interferometers), and how these detectors operate. We study the most likely sources of gravitational waves and review the data analysis methods that are used to extract their signals from detector noise. Then we consider the consequences of gravitational wave detections and observations for physics, astrophysics, and cosmology.Comment: 137 pages, 16 figures, Published version <http://www.livingreviews.org/lrr-2009-2

Search for anomalous t t-bar production in the highly-boosted all-hadronic final state

A search is presented for a massive particle, generically referred to as a Z', decaying into a t t-bar pair. The search focuses on Z' resonances that are sufficiently massive to produce highly Lorentz-boosted top quarks, which yield collimated decay products that are partially or fully merged into single jets. The analysis uses new methods to analyze jet substructure, providing suppression of the non-top multijet backgrounds. The analysis is based on a data sample of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5 inverse femtobarns. Upper limits in the range of 1 pb are set on the product of the production cross section and branching fraction for a topcolor Z' modeled for several widths, as well as for a Randall--Sundrum Kaluza--Klein gluon. In addition, the results constrain any enhancement in t t-bar production beyond expectations of the standard model for t t-bar invariant masses larger than 1 TeV.Comment: Submitted to the Journal of High Energy Physics; this version includes a minor typo correction that will be submitted as an erratu

High Brain Ammonia Tolerance and Down-Regulation of Na+:K+:2Cl- Cotransporter 1b mRNA and Protein Expression in the Brain of the Swamp Eel, Monopterus albus, Exposed to Environmental Ammonia or Terrestrial Conditions

10.1371/journal.pone.0069512PLoS ONE89-POLN

Topology and the Cosmic Microwave Background

Nature abhors an infinity. The limits of general relativity are often signaled by infinities: infinite curvature as in the center of a black hole, the infinite energy of the singular big bang. We might be inclined to add an infinite universe to the list of intolerable infinities. Theories that move beyond general relativity naturally treat space as finite. In this review we discuss the mathematics of finite spaces and our aspirations to observe the finite extent of the universe in the cosmic background radiation.Comment: Hilarioulsy forgot to remove comments to myself in previous version. Reference added. Submitted to Physics Report

Connecting String/M Theory to the Electroweak Scale and to LHC Data

The Standard Model of particle physics explains (almost) all observed non-gravitational microscopic phenomena but has many open theoretical questions. We are on the threshold of unraveling the mysteries of the Standard Model and discovering its extension. This could be achieved in the near future with the help of many experiments in particle physics and cosmology, the LHC in particular. Assuming that data confirming the existence of new physics beyond the Standard Model is obtained, one is left with the very important and challenging task of solving the "Inverse Problem", \emph{viz.} "How can one deduce the nature of the underlying (perhaps microscopic) theory from data?" This thesis explores this question in detail, and also proposes an approach to address the problem in a meaningful way which could prove crucial to the possible solution to this problem in the future. The proposed approach has three aspects - a) To systematically study classes of microscopic (string/$M$ theory) constructions to the extent that they could be connected to low energy physics (electroweak scale), b) To find patterns of experimental observables which are sensitive to the properties of the underlying theoretical constructions thereby allowing us to distinguish among different constructions, and c) To try to get insights about the qualitative features of the theoretical model from data in a bottom-up approach which complements the top-down approach and strengthens it as well. This thesis studies all the above aspects in detail. The methods used and results obtained in this thesis will hopefully be of great importance in solving the Inverse Problem.Comment: PhD Thesis, 320 pages, 63 figures References Adde

Fukushima Daiichi accident study : status as of April 2012.

Abstract Not Provide