3,010 research outputs found
Efficient Computation of Separation-Compliant Speed Advisories for Air Traffic Arriving in Terminal Airspace
A class of problems in air traffic management asks for a scheduling algorithm that supplies the air traffic services authority not only with a schedule of arrivals and departures, but also with speed advisories. Since advisories must be finite, a scheduling algorithm must ultimately produce a finite data set, hence must either start with a purely discrete model or involve a discretization of a continuous one. The former choice, often preferred for intuitive clarity, naturally leads to mixed-integer programs, hindering proofs of correctness and computational cost bounds (crucial for real-time operations). In this paper, a hybrid control system is used to model air traffic scheduling, capturing both the discrete and continuous aspects. This framework is applied to a class of problems, called the Fully Routed Nominal Problem. We prove a number of geometric results on feasible schedules and use these results to formulate an algorithm that attempts to compute a collective speed advisory, effectively finite, and has computational cost polynomial in the number of aircraft. This work is a first step toward optimization and models refined with more realistic detail
Optimal Routing and Control of Multiple Agents Moving in a Transportation Network and Subject to an Arrival Schedule and Separation Constraints
We address the problem of navigating a set of moving agents, e.g. automated guided vehicles, through a transportation network so as to bring each agent to its destination at a specified time. Each pair of agents is required to be separated by a minimal distance, generally agent-dependent, at all times. The speed range, initial position, required destination, and required time of arrival at destination for each agent are assumed provided. The movement of each agent is governed by a controlled differential equation (state equation). The problem consists in choosing for each agent a path and a control strategy so as to meet the constraints and reach the destination at the required time. This problem arises in various fields of transportation, including Air Traffic Management and train coordination, and in robotics. The main contribution of the paper is a model that allows to recast this problem as a decoupled collection of problems in classical optimal control and is easily generalized to the case when inertia cannot be neglected. Some qualitative insight into solution behavior is obtained using the Pontryagin Maximum Principle. Sample numerical solutions are computed using a numerical optimal control solver
Onset of human preterm and term birth is related to unique inflammatory transcriptome profiles at the maternal fetal interface.
BackgroundPreterm birth is a main determinant of neonatal mortality and morbidity and a major contributor to the overall mortality and burden of disease. However, research of the preterm birth is hindered by the imprecise definition of the clinical phenotype and complexity of the molecular phenotype due to multiple pregnancy tissue types and molecular processes that may contribute to the preterm birth. Here we comprehensively evaluate the mRNA transcriptome that characterizes preterm and term labor in tissues comprising the pregnancy using precisely phenotyped samples. The four complementary phenotypes together provide comprehensive insight into preterm and term parturition.MethodsSamples of maternal blood, chorion, amnion, placenta, decidua, fetal blood, and myometrium from the uterine fundus and lower segment (n = 183) were obtained during cesarean delivery from women with four complementary phenotypes: delivering preterm with (PL) and without labor (PNL), term with (TL) and without labor (TNL). Enrolled were 35 pregnant women with four precisely and prospectively defined phenotypes: PL (n = 8), PNL (n = 10), TL (n = 7) and TNL (n = 10). Gene expression data were analyzed using shrunken centroid analysis to identify a minimal set of genes that uniquely characterizes each of the four phenotypes. Expression profiles of 73 genes and non-coding RNA sequences uniquely identified each of the four phenotypes. The shrunken centroid analysis and 10 times 10-fold cross-validation was also used to minimize false positive finings and overfitting. Identified were the pathways and molecular processes associated with and the cis-regulatory elements in gene's 5' promoter or 3'-UTR regions of the set of genes which expression uniquely characterized the four phenotypes.ResultsThe largest differences in gene expression among the four groups occurred at maternal fetal interface in decidua, chorion and amnion. The gene expression profiles showed suppression of chemokines expression in TNL, withdrawal of this suppression in TL, activation of multiple pathways of inflammation in PL, and an immune rejection profile in PNL. The genes constituting expression signatures showed over-representation of three putative regulatory elements in their 5'and 3' UTR regions.ConclusionsThe results suggest that pregnancy is maintained by downregulation of chemokines at the maternal-fetal interface. Withdrawal of this downregulation results in the term birth and its overriding by the activation of multiple pathways of the immune system in the preterm birth. Complications of the pregnancy associated with impairment of placental function, which necessitated premature delivery of the fetus in the absence of labor, show gene expression patterns associated with immune rejection
The Physics of Ultraperipheral Collisions at the LHC
We discuss the physics of large impact parameter interactions at the LHC:
ultraperipheral collisions (UPCs). The dominant processes in UPCs are
photon-nucleon (nucleus) interactions. The current LHC detector configurations
can explore small hard phenomena with nuclei and nucleons at photon-nucleon
center-of-mass energies above 1 TeV, extending the range of HERA by a
factor of ten. In particular, it will be possible to probe diffractive and
inclusive parton densities in nuclei using several processes. The interaction
of small dipoles with protons and nuclei can be investigated in elastic and
quasi-elastic and production as well as in high
production accompanied by a rapidity gap. Several of these phenomena
provide clean signatures of the onset of the new high gluon density QCD regime.
The LHC is in the kinematic range where nonlinear effects are several times
larger than at HERA. Two-photon processes in UPCs are also studied. In
addition, while UPCs play a role in limiting the maximum beam luminosity, they
can also be used a luminosity monitor by measuring mutual electromagnetic
dissociation of the beam nuclei. We also review similar studies at HERA and
RHIC as well as describe the potential use of the LHC detectors for UPC
measurements.Comment: 229 Pages, 121 figure
Hadron calorimeter with MAPD readout in the NA61/SHINE experiment
The modular hadron calorimeter with micro-pixel avalanche photodiodes readout
for the NA61/SHINE experiment at the CERN SPS is presented. The calorimeter
consists of 44 independent modules with lead-scintillator sandwich structure.
The light from the scintillator tiles is captured by and transported with
WLS-fibers embedded in scintillator grooves. The construction provides a
longitudinal segmentation of the module in 10 sections with independent MAPD
readout. MAPDs with pixel density of /mm ensure good linearity of
calorimeter response in a wide dynamical range. The performance of the
calorimeter prototype in a beam test is reported
Proposed Search for Mixing in Polarization Phenomena
The and meson mass difference induces the mixing of the
and resonances, the amplitude of which, between the
and thresholds, is large in magnitude, of the order of , and possesses the
phase sharply varying by about 90. We suggest performing the polarized
target experiments on the reaction at high energy in
which the fact of the existence of mixing can be
unambiguously and very easily established through the presence of a strong jump
in the azimuthal asymmetry of the wave production cross section
near the thresholds. The presented estimates of the polarization
effect to be expected in experiment are to a great extent model independent.Comment: RevTeX, 9 pages, 1 figure. A number of typographical and grammatical
errors correcte
A Study of the \eta \pi^{0} Spectrum and Search for a J^{PC} = 1^{-+} Exotic Meson
A partial wave analysis (PWA) of the of the system (where ) produced in the charge exchange reaction at an incident momentum of 18 GeV is presented as a function of
invariant mass, , and momentum transfer squared,
, from the incident to the outgoing system. , and waves were included in the PWA. The
and states are clearly observed in the overall
effective mass distribution as well as in the amplitudes associated with
wave and waves respectively after partial wave decomposition. The observed
distributions in moments (averages of spherical harmonics) were compared to the
results from the PWA and the two are consistent. The distribution in
for individual waves associated with natural and
unnatural parity exchange in the -channel are consistent with Regge
phenomenology. Of particular interest in this study is the wave since this
leads to an exotic for the system. A wave is
present in the data, however attempts to describe the mass dependence of the
amplitude and phase motion with respect to the wave as a Breit-Wigner
resonance are problematic. This has implications regarding the existence of a
reported exotic meson decaying into with a mass
near 1.4 GeV.Comment: 19 pages, 29 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Vulnerability of primitive human placental trophoblast to Zika virus
Infection of pregnant women by Asian lineage strains of Zika virus (ZIKV) has been linked to brain abnormalities in their infants, yet it is uncertain when during pregnancy the human conceptus is most vulnerable to the virus. We have examined two models to study susceptibility of human placental trophoblast to ZIKV: cytotrophoblast and syncytiotrophoblast derived from placental villi at term and colonies of trophoblast differentiated from embryonic stem cells (ESC). The latter appear to be analogous to the primitive placenta formed during implantation. The cells from term placentas, which resist infection, do not express genes encoding most attachment factors implicated in ZIKV entry but do express many genes associated with antiviral defense. By contrast, the ESC-derived trophoblasts possess a wide range of attachment factors for ZIKV entry and lack components of a robust antiviral response system. These cells, particularly areas of syncytiotrophoblast within the colonies, quickly become infected, produce infectious virus and undergo lysis within 48 h after exposure to low titers (multiplicity of infection > 0.07) of an African lineage strain (MR766 Uganda: ZIKVU) considered to be benign with regards to effects on fetal development. Unexpectedly, lytic effects required significantly higher titers of the presumed more virulent FSS13025 Cambodia (ZIKVC). Our data suggest that the developing fetus might be most vulnerable to ZIKV early in the first trimester before a protective zone of mature villous trophoblast has been established. Additionally, MR766 is highly trophic toward primitive trophoblast, which may put the early conceptus of an infected mother at high risk for destruction
Services just for men? Insights from a national study of the well men services pilots.
Men continue to have a lower life expectancy in most countries compared to women. Explanations of this gendered health inequality tend to focus on male risk taking, unhealthy lifestyle choices and resistance to seeking help from health services. In the period 2005-2008 the Scottish Government funded a nationwide community health promotion programme aimed at improving men's health, called Well Men Service Pilots (henceforth WMS)
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