A low power, large dynamic range, CMOS amplifier and analog memory for capacitive sensors

This paper has been written to announce the design of a CMOS charge to voltage amplifier and it¹s integration within an analog memory. Together they provide the necessary front end electronics for the CMS electromagnetic calorimeter (ECAL) preshower detector systeAspell,Pm in the LHC experiment foreseen at the CERN particle physics laboratory. The design and measurements of the amplifier realised in a 1.5mm bulk CMOS process as a 16 channel prototype chip are presented. Results show the mean gain and peaking time of = 1.74mV/mip, = 18ns with channel to channel variations; s(peak_voltage) = 8% and s(peak_time) = 6.5%. The dynamic range is shown to be linear over 400mips with an integral non linearity (INL)=0.05mV as expressed in terms of sigma from the mean gain over the 400mip range. The measured noise of the amplifier was ENC=1800+41e/pF with a power consumption of 2.4mW/channel. The amplifier can support extreme levels of leakage current. The gain remains constant for up to 200mA of leakage current. The integration of this amplifier within a 32 channel, 128 cell analog memory chip ³DYNLDR² is then demonstrated. The DYNLDR offers sampling at 40MHz with a storage time of up to 3.2ms. It provides continuous Write/Read access with no dead time. Triggered data is protected within the memory until requested for readout which is performed at 2.5MHz. The memory is designed to have a steerable dc level enabling maximum dynamic range performance. Measurements of the DYNLDR are presented confirming the original amplifier performance. The memory itself has a very low pedestal non uniformity (s(ped)) of 0.9mV and a gain of 10mV/mip

Time evolution of 1D gapless models from a domain-wall initial state: SLE continued?

We study the time evolution of quantum one-dimensional gapless systems evolving from initial states with a domain-wall. We generalize the path-integral imaginary time approach that together with boundary conformal field theory allows to derive the time and space dependence of general correlation functions. The latter are explicitly obtained for the Ising universality class, and the typical behavior of one- and two-point functions is derived for the general case. Possible connections with the stochastic Loewner evolution are discussed and explicit results for one-point time dependent averages are obtained for generic \kappa for boundary conditions corresponding to SLE. We use this set of results to predict the time evolution of the entanglement entropy and obtain the universal constant shift due to the presence of a domain wall in the initial state.Comment: 27 pages, 10 figure

MGMT methylation analysis of glioblastoma on the Infinium methylation BeadChip identifies two distinct CpG regions associated with gene silencing and outcome, yielding a prediction model for comparisons across datasets, tumor grades, and CIMP-status

The methylation status of the O6-methylguanine- DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) gene is an important predictive biomarker for benefit from alkylating agent therapy in glioblastoma. Recent studies in anaplastic glioma suggest a prognostic value for MGMT methylation. Investigation of pathogenetic and epigenetic features of this intriguingly distinct behavior requires accurate MGMT classification to assess high throughput molecular databases. Promoter methylation-mediated gene silencing is strongly dependent on the location of the methylated CpGs,

Determination of the b quark mass at the M_Z scale with the DELPHI detector at LEP

An experimental study of the normalized three-jet rate of b quark events with respect to light quarks events (light= \ell \equiv u,d,s) has been performed using the CAMBRIDGE and DURHAM jet algorithms. The data used were collected by the DELPHI experiment at LEP on the Z peak from 1994 to 2000. The results are found to agree with theoretical predictions treating mass corrections at next-to-leading order. Measurements of the b quark mass have also been performed for both the b pole mass: M_b and the b running mass: m_b(M_Z). Data are found to be better described when using the running mass. The measurement yields: m_b(M_Z) = 2.85 +/- 0.18 (stat) +/- 0.13 (exp) +/- 0.19 (had) +/- 0.12 (theo) GeV/c^2 for the CAMBRIDGE algorithm. This result is the most precise measurement of the b mass derived from a high energy process. When compared to other b mass determinations by experiments at lower energy scales, this value agrees with the prediction of Quantum Chromodynamics for the energy evolution of the running mass. The mass measurement is equivalent to a test of the flavour independence of the strong coupling constant with an accuracy of 7 permil.Comment: 24 pages, 10 figures, Accepted by Eur. Phys. J.

Measurement and Interpretation of Fermion-Pair Production at LEP energies above the Z Resonance

This paper presents DELPHI measurements and interpretations of cross-sections, forward-backward asymmetries, and angular distributions, for the e+e- -> ffbar process for centre-of-mass energies above the Z resonance, from sqrt(s) ~ 130 - 207 GeV at the LEP collider. The measurements are consistent with the predictions of the Standard Model and are used to study a variety of models including the S-Matrix ansatz for e+e- -> ffbar scattering and several models which include physics beyond the Standard Model: the exchange of Z' bosons, contact interactions between fermions, the exchange of gravitons in large extra dimensions and the exchange of sneutrino in R-parity violating supersymmetry.Comment: 79 pages, 16 figures, Accepted by Eur. Phys. J.

A Determination of the Centre-of-Mass Energy at LEP2 using Radiative 2-fermion Events

Using e+e- -> mu+mu-(gamma) and e+e- -> qqbar(gamma) events radiative to the Z pole, DELPHI has determined the centre-of-mass energy, sqrt{s}, using energy and momentum constraint methods. The results are expressed as deviations from the nominal LEP centre-of-mass energy, measured using other techniques. The results are found to be compatible with the LEP Energy Working Group estimates for a combination of the 1997 to 2000 data sets.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures, Accepted by Eur. Phys. J.