Excitation Optimization of a Standard LRC Circuit with Impulsive Forces Selected via Simulated Annealing

For an unknown oscillator, it is sometimes useful to know what the potential energy function associated with it is. An argument for using a method of determining the optimal sequence of impulsive forces in order to find the potential energy function is made using principles of energy. Global optimization via simulated annealing is discussed, and various parameters that can be adjusted across experiments are established. A method for determining the optimal sequence of impulsive forces for the excitation of a standard LRC circuit is established using the methodology of simulated annealing

A First Search for coincident Gravitational Waves and High Energy Neutrinos using LIGO, Virgo and ANTARES data from 2007

We present the results of the first search for gravitational wave bursts associated with high energy neutrinos. Together, these messengers could reveal new, hidden sources that are not observed by conventional photon astronomy, particularly at high energy. Our search uses neutrinos detected by the underwater neutrino telescope ANTARES in its 5 line configuration during the period January - September 2007, which coincided with the fifth and first science runs of LIGO and Virgo, respectively. The LIGO-Virgo data were analysed for candidate gravitational-wave signals coincident in time and direction with the neutrino events. No significant coincident events were observed. We place limits on the density of joint high energy neutrino - gravitational wave emission events in the local universe, and compare them with densities of merger and core-collapse events.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures, science summary page at http://www.ligo.org/science/Publication-S5LV_ANTARES/index.php. Public access area to figures, tables at https://dcc.ligo.org/cgi-bin/DocDB/ShowDocument?docid=p120000

Measurement of the Bottom-Strange Meson Mixing Phase in the Full CDF Data Set

We report a measurement of the bottom-strange meson mixing phase \beta_s using the time evolution of B0_s -> J/\psi (->\mu+\mu-) \phi (-> K+ K-) decays in which the quark-flavor content of the bottom-strange meson is identified at production. This measurement uses the full data set of proton-antiproton collisions at sqrt(s)= 1.96 TeV collected by the Collider Detector experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron, corresponding to 9.6 fb-1 of integrated luminosity. We report confidence regions in the two-dimensional space of \beta_s and the B0_s decay-width difference \Delta\Gamma_s, and measure \beta_s in [-\pi/2, -1.51] U [-0.06, 0.30] U [1.26, \pi/2] at the 68% confidence level, in agreement with the standard model expectation. Assuming the standard model value of \beta_s, we also determine \Delta\Gamma_s = 0.068 +- 0.026 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps-1 and the mean B0_s lifetime, \tau_s = 1.528 +- 0.019 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps, which are consistent and competitive with determinations by other experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, Phys. Rev. Lett 109, 171802 (2012

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (3rd edition)

In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. For example, a key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process versus those that measure fl ux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process including the amount and rate of cargo sequestered and degraded). In particular, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation must be differentiated from stimuli that increase autophagic activity, defi ned as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (inmost higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium ) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the fi eld understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. It is worth emphasizing here that lysosomal digestion is a stage of autophagy and evaluating its competence is a crucial part of the evaluation of autophagic flux, or complete autophagy. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. Along these lines, because of the potential for pleiotropic effects due to blocking autophagy through genetic manipulation it is imperative to delete or knock down more than one autophagy-related gene. In addition, some individual Atg proteins, or groups of proteins, are involved in other cellular pathways so not all Atg proteins can be used as a specific marker for an autophagic process. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field

Petrology, petrogenesis, and geochronology review of the Cenozoic adakitic rocks of northeast Iran: Implications for evolution of the northern branch of Neo‐Tethys

Cenozoic adakitic rocks of the northern part of the Central Iran Structural Zone (CISZ) are among the notable geological features of the terrains in northeast Iran, so a comprehensive comparison of several of these adakitic sequences is presented. This lithogeochemical analysis is constrained to examining adakitic magmatism of the three magmatic belts within the CISZ, which from southeast to northeast and from oldest to youngest are as follows: (a) south of Shahrood-Damghan, (b) north-northwest of Sabzevar-Neyshabour, and (c) south of Qouchan and west of Esfarayen. Radiogenic isotope analysis using Rb–Sr and Sm–Nd methods show that the adakitic rocks associated with Qouchan-Esfarayen magmatism have 0.512581 to 0.51288 initial 143Nd/144Nd and 0.703903 to 0.705627 initial 87Sr/86Sr, with εNd −0.86 to 4.98. Adakitic rocks in south to southeast Shahrood have 0.512775 to 0.512893 initial 143Nd/144Nd and 0.703746 to 0.705314 initial 87Sr/88Sr, with εNd 3.69 to 6.0, and adakites emplaced into the Sabzevar ophiolite have 0.512846 to 0.512911 initial 143Nd/144Nd and 0.70379 to 0.705019 initial 87Sr/86Sr contents with εNd of 5.26 to 6.54. Isotopic initial ratios of Nd and Sr support an origin involving partial melting of the subducting oceanic lithosphere of the northern branch of Neo-Tethys and the associated suprasubduction mantle wedge in producing these adakitic rocks