3,905 research outputs found
Lamp enables measurement of oxygen concentration in presence of water vapor
Open-electrode ultraviolet source lamp radiates sufficient energy at 1800 angstroms and 1470 angstroms for use in a double-beam, duel-wavelength oxygen sensor. The lamp is filled with xenon at a pressure of 100 mm of Hg
Metamodel-based model conformance and multiview consistency checking
Model-driven development, using languages such as UML and BON, often makes use of multiple diagrams (e.g., class and sequence diagrams) when modeling systems. These diagrams, presenting different views of a system of interest, may be inconsistent. A metamodel provides a unifying framework in which to ensure and check consistency, while at the same time providing the means to distinguish between valid and invalid models, that is, conformance. Two formal specifications of the metamodel for an object-oriented modeling language are presented, and it is shown how to use these specifications for model conformance and multiview consistency checking. Comparisons are made in terms of completeness and the level of automation each provide for checking multiview consistency and model conformance. The lessons learned from applying formal techniques to the problems of metamodeling, model conformance, and multiview consistency checking are summarized
Cytosolic Glucosylceramide regulates endolysosomal function in Niemann-Pick type C disease
A new paradigm for Niemann-Pick C disease is presented where lysosomal storage leads to a deficit in cytoplasmic glucosylceramide (GlcCer) where it performs important functions.
Previously it had been reported that Gaucher cells have defective endolysosomal pH. GlcCer also accumulates in Niemann-Pick C disease and also shows this defect.
Niemann-Pick C cells were found to have reduced cytoplasmic glucosylceramide (GlcCer) transport.
Inhibiting cytoplasmic glucocerebrosidase (GBA2), increased GlcCer, decreased endolysosomal pH in normal cells, reversed increases in endolysosomal pH and restored disrupted BODIPY-LacCer trafficking and increased expression of vATPase a subunit in Niemann-Pick C fibroblasts.
The results are consistent with a model where both endolysosomal pH and Golgi targeting of BODIPY-LacCer are dependent on adequate levels of cytosolic GlcCer which are reduced in NPC disease.
This work consequently suggests GBA2 and vATPase as new therapeutic targets in Niemann-Pick C and related neurodegenerative diseases.
The work was in collaboration with colleagues in the Netherlands and Leicester University.
The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Niemann-Pick type C disease (NPCD) is a neurodegenerative disease associated with increases in cellular cholesterol and glycolipids and most commonly caused by defective NPC1, a late endosomal protein. Using ratiometric probes we find that NPCD cells show increased endolysosomal pH. In addition U18666A, an inhibitor of NPC1, was found to increase endolysosomal pH, and the number, size and heterogeneity of endolysosomal vesicles. NPCD fibroblasts and cells treated with U18666A also show disrupted targeting of fluorescent lipid BODIPY-LacCer to high pH vesicles. Inhibiting non-lysosomal glucocerebrosidase (GBA2) reversed increases in endolysosomal pH and restored disrupted BODIPY-LacCer trafficking in NPCD fibroblasts. GBA2 KO cells also show decreased endolysosomal pH. NPCD fibroblasts also show increased expression of a key subunit of the lysosomal proton pump vATPase on GBA2 inhibition. The results are consistent with a model where both endolysosomal pH and Golgi targeting of BODIPY-LacCer are dependent on adequate levels of cytosolic-facing GlcCer, which are reduced in NPC disease
New Gamma-Ray Contributions to Supersymmetric Dark Matter Annihilation
We compute the electromagnetic radiative corrections to all leading
annihilation processes which may occur in the Galactic dark matter halo, for
dark matter in the framework of supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model
(MSSM and mSUGRA), and present the results of scans over the parameter space
that is consistent with present observational bounds on the dark matter density
of the Universe. Although these processes have previously been considered in
some special cases by various authors, our new general analysis shows novel
interesting results with large corrections that may be of importance, e.g., for
searches at the soon to be launched GLAST gamma-ray space telescope. In
particular, it is pointed out that regions of parameter space where there is a
near degeneracy between the dark matter neutralino and the tau sleptons,
radiative corrections may boost the gamma-ray yield by up to three or four
orders of magnitude, even for neutralino masses considerably below the TeV
scale, and will enhance the very characteristic signature of dark matter
annihilations, namely a sharp step at the mass of the dark matter particle.
Since this is a particularly interesting region for more constrained mSUGRA
models of supersymmetry, we use an extensive scan over this parameter space to
verify the significance of our findings. We also re-visit the direct
annihilation of neutralinos into photons and point out that, for a considerable
part of the parameter space, internal bremsstrahlung is more important for
indirect dark matter searches than line signals.Comment: Replaced Fig. 2c which by mistake displayed the same spectrum as Fig.
2d; the radiative corrections reported here are now implemented in DarkSUSY
which is available at http://www.physto.se/~edsjo/darksusy
Search for Tau Flavour Violation at the LHC
We explore the prospects for searches at the LHC for sparticle decays that
violate lepton number, in the light of neutrino oscillation data and the
seesaw model for neutrino masses and mixing. We analyse the theoretical and
phenomenological conditions required for tau flavour violation to be observable
in \chi_2 \to \chi + \tau^\pm \mu^\mp decays, for cosmologically interesting
values of the relic neutralino LSP density. We study the relevant
supersymmetric parameter space in the context of the Constrained Minimal
Supersymmetric Extension of the Standard Model (CMSSM) and in SU(5) extensions
of the theory. We pay particular attention to the possible signals from
hadronic tau decays, that we analyse using PYTHIA event simulation. We find
that a signal for \tau flavour-violating \chi_2 decays may be observable if the
branching ratio exceeds about 10%. This may be compatible with the existing
upper limit on \tau \to \mu \gamma decays if there is mixing between
right-handed sleptons, as could be induced in non-minimal SU(5) GUTs.Comment: 24 pages, 10 fig
Faster variational quantum algorithms with quantum kernel-based surrogate models
We present a new optimization method for small-to-intermediate scale
variational algorithms on noisy near-term quantum processors which uses a
Gaussian process surrogate model equipped with a classically-evaluated quantum
kernel. Variational algorithms are typically optimized using gradient-based
approaches however these are difficult to implement on current noisy devices,
requiring large numbers of objective function evaluations. Our scheme shifts
this computational burden onto the classical optimizer component of these
hybrid algorithms, greatly reducing the number of queries to the quantum
processor. We focus on the variational quantum eigensolver (VQE) algorithm and
demonstrate numerically that such surrogate models are particularly well suited
to the algorithm's objective function. Next, we apply these models to both
noiseless and noisy VQE simulations and show that they exhibit better
performance than widely-used classical kernels in terms of final accuracy and
convergence speed. Compared to the typically-used stochastic gradient-descent
approach for VQAs, our quantum kernel-based approach is found to consistently
achieve significantly higher accuracy while requiring less than an order of
magnitude fewer quantum circuit evaluations. We analyse the performance of the
quantum kernel-based models in terms of the kernels' induced feature spaces and
explicitly construct their feature maps. Finally, we describe a scheme for
approximating the best-performing quantum kernel using a classically-efficient
tensor network representation of its input state and so provide a pathway for
scaling these methods to larger systems
Precision SUSY Measurements at LHC
If supersymmetry exists at the electroweak scale, then it should be
discovered at the LHC. Determining masses, of supersymmetric particles however,
is more difficult. In this paper, methods are discussed to determine
combinations of masses and of branching ratios precisely from experimentally
observable distributions. In many cases such measurements alone can greatly
constrain the particular supersymmetric model and determine its parameters with
an accuracy of a few percent. Most of the results shown correspond to one year
of running at LHC at ``low luminosity'.Comment: 52 pages, Latex with 42 postscript figures. Postscript version also
at http://www-physics.lbl.gov/www/theorygroup/papers/39412.p
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