Recent developments in multilevel optimization

Recent developments in multilevel optimization are briefly reviewed. The general nature of the multilevel design task, the use of approximations to develop and solve the analysis design task, the structure of the formal multidiscipline optimization problem, a simple cantilevered beam which demonstrates the concepts of multilevel design and the basic mathematical details of the optimization task and the system level are among the topics discussed

Iterator-based temporal logic task planning

Temporal logic task planning for robotic systemssuffers from state explosion when specifications involve largenumbers of discrete locations. We provide a novel approach,particularly suited for tasks specifications with universallyquantified locations, that has constant time with respect tothenumber of locations, enabling synthesis of plans for an arbitrarynumber of them. We propose a hybrid control framework thatuses an iterator to manage the discretised workspace hidingitfrom a plan enacted by a discrete event controller. A downsideof our approach is that it incurs in increased overhead whenexecuting a synthesised plan. We demonstrate that the overheadis reasonable for missions of a fixed-wing Unmanned AerialVehicle in simulated and real scenarios for up to700 000locations

Prospects for probing the gluon density in protons using heavy quarkonium hadroproduction

We examine carefully bottomonia hadroproduction in proton colliders, especially focusing on the LHC, as a way of probing the gluon density in protons. To this end we develop some previous work, getting quantitative predictions and concluding that our proposal can be useful to perform consistency checks of the parameterization sets of different parton distribution functions.Comment: LaTeX, 14 pages, 6 EPS figure

Optical Spectroscopy of Bright Fermi LAT Blazars

We report on HET and Palomar 5 m spectroscopy of recently identified $\gamma$-ray blazars in the {\it Fermi} LAT Bright Source List. These data provide identifications for 10 newly discovered $\gamma$-ray flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQ) and six new BL Lacs plus improved spectroscopy for six additional BL Lacs. We substantially improve the identification completeness of the bright LAT blazars and give new redshifts and $z$ constraints, new estimates of the black hole masses and new measurements of the optical SED.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in Ap

Ketamine Use for Successful Resolution of Post-ERCP Acute Pancreatitis Abdominal Pain

We report a case in which a patient with intractable pain secondary to post-endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) acute pancreatitis is successfully treated with a subanesthetic ketamine infusion. Shortly after ERCP, the patient reported severe stabbing epigastric pain. She exhibited voluntary guarding and tenderness without distension. Amylase and lipase levels were elevated. Pain persisted for hours despite hydromorphone PCA, hydromorphone boluses, fentanyl boluses, and postprocedure anxiolytics. Pain management was consulted and a ketamine infusion was trialed, leading to a dramatic reduction in pain. This case suggests that ketamine may be a promising option in treating intractable pain associated with ERCP acute pancreatitis

Circadian clock proteins regulate neuronal redox homeostasis and neurodegeneration

Brain aging is associated with diminished circadian clock output and decreased expression of the core clock proteins, which regulate many aspects of cellular biochemistry and metabolism. The genes encoding clock proteins are expressed throughout the brain, though it is unknown whether these proteins modulate brain homeostasis. We observed that deletion of circadian clock transcriptional activators aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator-like (Bmal1) alone, or circadian locomotor output cycles kaput (Clock) in combination with neuronal PAS domain protein 2 (Npas2), induced severe age-dependent astrogliosis in the cortex and hippocampus. Mice lacking the clock gene repressors period circadian clock 1 (Per1) and period circadian clock 2 (Per2) had no observed astrogliosis. Bmal1 deletion caused the degeneration of synaptic terminals and impaired cortical functional connectivity, as well as neuronal oxidative damage and impaired expression of several redox defense genes. Targeted deletion of Bmal1 in neurons and glia caused similar neuropathology, despite the retention of intact circadian behavioral and sleep-wake rhythms. Reduction of Bmal1 expression promoted neuronal death in primary cultures and in mice treated with a chemical inducer of oxidative injury and striatal neurodegeneration. Our findings indicate that BMAL1 in a complex with CLOCK or NPAS2 regulates cerebral redox homeostasis and connects impaired clock gene function to neurodegeneration

CGRaBS: An All-Sky Survey of Gamma-Ray Blazar Candidates

We describe a uniform all-sky survey of bright blazars, selected primarily by their flat radio spectra, that is designed to provide a large catalog of likely gamma-ray AGN. The defined sample has 1625 targets with radio and X-ray properties similar to those of the EGRET blazars, spread uniformly across the |b| > 10 deg sky. We also report progress toward optical characterization of the sample; of objects with known R < 23, 85% have been classified and 81% have measured redshifts. One goal of this program is to focus attention on the most interesting (e.g., high redshift, high luminosity, ...) sources for intensive multiwavelength study during the observations by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on GLAST.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures, 1 machine-readable table available at http://astro.stanford.edu/CGRaBS/ ; accepted for publication in ApJ

Stability of the boundary layer on a rotating disk for power-law fluids

The stability of the flow due to a rotating disk is considered for non-Newtonian fluids, specifically shear-thinning fluids that satisfy the power-law (Ostwald-de Waele) relationship. In this case the basic flow is not an exact solution of the Navier–Stokes equations, however, in the limit of large Reynolds number the flow inside the three-dimensional boundary layer can be determined via a similarity solution. An asymptotic analysis is presented in the limit of large Reynolds number. It is shown that the stationary spiral instabilities observed experimentally in the Newtonian case can be described for shear-thinning fluids by a linear stability analysis. Predictions for the wavenumber and wave angle of the disturbances suggest that shear-thinning fluids may have a stabilising effect on the flow