A timeband framework for modelling real-time systems

Complex real-time systems must integrate physical processes with digital control, human operation and organisational structures. New scientific foundations are required for specifying, designing and implementing these systems. One key challenge is to cope with the wide range of time scales and dynamics inherent in such systems. To exploit the unique properties of time, with the aim of producing more dependable computer-based systems, it is desirable to explicitly identify distinct time bands in which the system is situated. Such a framework enables the temporal properties and associated dynamic behaviour of existing systems to be described and the requirements for new or modified systems to be specified. A system model based on a finite set of distinct time bands is motivated and developed in this paper

Proteome-wide evidence for enhanced positive Darwinian selection within intrinsically disordered regions in proteins

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Understanding the adaptive changes that alter the function of proteins during evolution is an important question for biology and medicine. The increasing number of completely sequenced genomes from closely related organisms, as well as individuals within species, facilitates systematic detection of recent selection events by means of comparative genomics. RESULTS: We have used genome-wide strain-specific single nucleotide polymorphism data from 64 strains of budding yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae or Saccharomyces paradoxus) to determine whether adaptive positive selection is correlated with protein regions showing propensity for different classes of structure conformation. Data from phylogenetic and population genetic analysis of 3746 gene alignments consistently shows a significantly higher degree of positive Darwinian selection in intrinsically disordered regions of proteins compared to regions of alpha helix, beta sheet or tertiary structure. Evidence of positive selection is significantly enriched in classes of proteins whose functions and molecular mechanisms can be coupled to adaptive processes and these classes tend to have a higher average content of intrinsically unstructured protein regions. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that intrinsically disordered protein regions may be important for the production and maintenance of genetic variation with adaptive potential and that they may thus be of central significance for the evolvability of the organism or cell in which they occur.</p

Nucleon-induced reactions at intermediate energies: New data at 96 MeV and theoretical status

Double-differential cross sections for light charged particle production (up to A=4) were measured in 96 MeV neutron-induced reactions, at TSL laboratory cyclotron in Uppsala (Sweden). Measurements for three targets, Fe, Pb, and U, were performed using two independent devices, SCANDAL and MEDLEY. The data were recorded with low energy thresholds and for a wide angular range (20-160 degrees). The normalization procedure used to extract the cross sections is based on the np elastic scattering reaction that we measured and for which we present experimental results. A good control of the systematic uncertainties affecting the results is achieved. Calculations using the exciton model are reported. Two different theoretical approches proposed to improve its predictive power regarding the complex particle emission are tested. The capabilities of each approach is illustrated by comparison with the 96 MeV data that we measured, and with other experimental results available in the literature.Comment: 21 pages, 28 figure

Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results

Measurement of the production of a W boson in association with a charm quark in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The production of a W boson in association with a single charm quark is studied using 4.6 fb−1 of pp collision data at s√ = 7 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. In events in which a W boson decays to an electron or muon, the charm quark is tagged either by its semileptonic decay to a muon or by the presence of a charmed meson. The integrated and differential cross sections as a function of the pseudorapidity of the lepton from the W-boson decay are measured. Results are compared to the predictions of next-to-leading-order QCD calculations obtained from various parton distribution function parameterisations. The ratio of the strange-to-down sea-quark distributions is determined to be 0.96+0.26−0.30 at Q 2 = 1.9 GeV2, which supports the hypothesis of an SU(3)-symmetric composition of the light-quark sea. Additionally, the cross-section ratio σ(W + +c¯¯)/σ(W − + c) is compared to the predictions obtained using parton distribution function parameterisations with different assumptions about the s−s¯¯¯ quark asymmetry

Colorectal Cancer Prognosis Following Obesity Surgery in a Population-Based Cohort Study

Background: Obesity surgery involves mechanical and physiological changes of the gastrointestinal tract that might promote colorectal cancer progression. Thus, we hypothesised that obesity surgery is associated with poorer prognosis in patients with colorectal cancer. Methods: This nationwide population-based cohort study included all patients with an obesity diagnosis who subsequently developed colorectal cancer in Sweden from 1980 to 2012. The exposure was obesity surgery, and the main and secondary outcomes were disease-specific mortality and all-cause mortality, respectively. Cox proportional hazard survival models were used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), adjusted for sex, age, calendar year and education level. Results: The exposed and unexposed cohort included 131 obesity surgery and 1332 non-obesity surgery patients with colorectal cancer. There was a statistically significant increased rate of colorectal cancer deaths following obesity surgery (disease-specific HR 1.50, 95% CI 1.00–2.19). When analysed separately, the mortality rate was more than threefold increased in rectal cancer patients with prior obesity surgery (disease-specific HR 3.70, 95% CI 2.00–6.90), while no increased mortality rate was found in colon cancer patients (disease-specific HR 1.10, 85% CI 0.67–1.70). Conclusion: This population-based study among obese individuals found a poorer prognosis in colorectal cancer following obesity surgery, which was primarily driven by the higher mortality rate in rectal cancer

Search for squarks and gluinos with the ATLAS detector in final states with jets and missing transverse momentum using √s=8 TeV proton-proton collision data

A search for squarks and gluinos in final states containing high-p T jets, missing transverse momentum and no electrons or muons is presented. The data were recorded in 2012 by the ATLAS experiment in s√=8 TeV proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider, with a total integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb−1. Results are interpreted in a variety of simplified and specific supersymmetry-breaking models assuming that R-parity is conserved and that the lightest neutralino is the lightest supersymmetric particle. An exclusion limit at the 95% confidence level on the mass of the gluino is set at 1330 GeV for a simplified model incorporating only a gluino and the lightest neutralino. For a simplified model involving the strong production of first- and second-generation squarks, squark masses below 850 GeV (440 GeV) are excluded for a massless lightest neutralino, assuming mass degenerate (single light-flavour) squarks. In mSUGRA/CMSSM models with tan β = 30, A 0 = −2m 0 and μ > 0, squarks and gluinos of equal mass are excluded for masses below 1700 GeV. Additional limits are set for non-universal Higgs mass models with gaugino mediation and for simplified models involving the pair production of gluinos, each decaying to a top squark and a top quark, with the top squark decaying to a charm quark and a neutralino. These limits extend the region of supersymmetric parameter space excluded by previous searches with the ATLAS detector

Measurement of the charge asymmetry in dileptonic Decays of top quark pairs in pp collisions at √ s = 7 TeV using the ATLAS detector

A measurement of the top-antitop (tt) charge asymmetry is presented using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 fb −1 of LHC pp collisions at a centre- of-mass energy of 7 TeV collected by the ATLAS detector. Events with two charged leptons, at least two jets and large missing transverse momentum are selected. Two observables are studied: A tt/C, based on the reconstructed tt final state. The asymmetries are measured to be A ll/C = 0.024 +/- 0.015 (stat.) +/- 0.009 (syst.) Att/C = 0.021 +/- 0.025 (stat.) +/- 0.017 (syst.) The measured values are in agreement with the Standard Model predictions

Search for dark matter in events with heavy quarks and missing transverse momentum in pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

This article reports on a search for dark matterpair production in association with bottom or top quarks in20.3fb−1ofppcollisions collected at√s=8TeVbytheATLAS detector at the LHC. Events with large missing trans-verse momentum are selected when produced in associationwith high-momentum jets of which one or more are identifiedas jets containingb-quarks. Final states with top quarks areselected by requiring a high jet multiplicity and in some casesa single lepton. The data are found to be consistent with theStandard Model expectations and limits are set on the massscale of effective field theories that describe scalar and tensorinteractions between dark matter and Standard Model par-ticles. Limits on the dark-matter–nucleon cross-section forspin-independent and spin-dependent interactions are alsoprovided. These limits are particularly strong for low-massdark matter. Using a simplified model, constraints are set onthe mass of dark matter and of a coloured mediator suitableto explain a possible signal of annihilating dark matter

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal