2,380 research outputs found
Hybrid optimization method with general switching strategy for parameter estimation
This article is available from: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1752-0509/2/26[Background] Modeling and simulation of cellular signaling and metabolic pathways as networks of
biochemical reactions yields sets of non-linear ordinary differential equations. These models usually
depend on several parameters and initial conditions. If these parameters are unknown, results from
simulation studies can be misleading. Such a scenario can be avoided by fitting the model to
experimental data before analyzing the system. This involves parameter estimation which is usually
performed by minimizing a cost function which quantifies the difference between model predictions
and measurements. Mathematically, this is formulated as a non-linear optimization problem which
often results to be multi-modal (non-convex), rendering local optimization methods detrimental.[Results] In this work we propose a new hybrid global method, based on the combination of an
evolutionary search strategy with a local multiple-shooting approach, which offers a reliable and
efficient alternative for the solution of large scale parameter estimation problems.[Conclusion] The presented new hybrid strategy offers two main advantages over previous
approaches: First, it is equipped with a switching strategy which allows the systematic
determination of the transition from the local to global search. This avoids computationally
expensive tests in advance. Second, using multiple-shooting as the local search procedure reduces
the multi-modality of the non-linear optimization problem significantly. Because multiple-shooting
avoids possible spurious solutions in the vicinity of the global optimum it often outperforms the
frequently used initial value approach (single-shooting). Thereby, the use of multiple-shooting yields
an enhanced robustness of the hybrid approach.This work was supported by the European Community as part of the FP6
COSBICS Project (STREP FP6-512060), the German Federal Ministry of
Education and Research, BMBF-project FRISYS (grant 0313921) and Xunta
de Galicia (PGIDIT05PXIC40201PM).Peer reviewe
The coronal line regions of planetary nebulae NGC6302 and NGC6537: 3-13um grating and echelle spectroscopy
We report on advances in the study of the cores of NGC6302 and NGC6537 using
infrared grating and echelle spectroscopy. In NGC6302, emission lines from
species spanning a large range of ionization potential, and in particular
[SiIX]3.934um, are interpreted using photoionization models (including CLOUDY),
which allow us to reestimate the central star's temperature to be about
250000K. All of the detected lines are consistent with this value, except for
[AlV] and [AlVI]. Aluminium is found to be depleted to one hundredth of the
solar abundance, which provides further evidence for some dust being mixed with
the highly ionized gas (with photons harder than 154eV). A similar depletion
pattern is observed in NGC6537. Echelle spectroscopy of IR coronal ions in
NGC6302 reveals a stratified structure in ionization potential, which confirms
photoionization to be the dominant ionization mechanism. The lines are narrow
(< 22km/s FWHM), with no evidence of the broad wings found in optical lines
from species with similar ionization potentials, such as [NeV]3426A. We note
the absence of a hot bubble, or a wind blown bipolar cavity filled with a hot
plasma, at least on 1'' and 10km/s scales. We also provide accurate new
wavelengths for several of the infrared coronal lines observed with the
echelle.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA
Evidence for t\bar{t}\gamma Production and Measurement of \sigma_t\bar{t}\gamma / \sigma_t\bar{t}
Using data corresponding to 6.0/fb of ppbar collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV
collected by the CDF II detector, we present a cross section measurement of
top-quark pair production with an additional radiated photon. The events are
selected by looking for a lepton, a photon, significant transverse momentum
imbalance, large total transverse energy, and three or more jets, with at least
one identified as containing a b quark. The ttbar+photon sample requires the
photon to have 10 GeV or more of transverse energy, and to be in the central
region. Using an event selection optimized for the ttbar+photon candidate
sample we measure the production cross section of, and the ratio of cross
sections of the two samples. Control samples in the dilepton+photon and
lepton+photon+\met, channels are constructed to aid in decay product
identification and background measurements. We observe 30 ttbar+photon
candidate events compared to the standard model expectation of 26.9 +/- 3.4
events. We measure the ttbar+photon cross section to be 0.18+0.08 pb, and the
ratio of the cross section of ttbar+photon to ttbar to be 0.024 +/- 0.009.
Assuming no ttbar+photon production, we observe a probability of 0.0015 of the
background events alone producing 30 events or more, corresponding to 3.0
standard deviations.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure
Precision Top-Quark Mass Measurements at CDF
We present a precision measurement of the top-quark mass using the full
sample of Tevatron TeV proton-antiproton collisions collected
by the CDF II detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 8.7
. Using a sample of candidate events decaying into the
lepton+jets channel, we obtain distributions of the top-quark masses and the
invariant mass of two jets from the boson decays from data. We then compare
these distributions to templates derived from signal and background samples to
extract the top-quark mass and the energy scale of the calorimeter jets with
{\it in situ} calibration. The likelihood fit of the templates from signal and
background events to the data yields the single most-precise measurement of the
top-quark mass, \mtop = 172.85 \pm\pmComment: submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Observation of two new baryon resonances
Two structures are observed close to the kinematic threshold in the mass spectrum in a sample of proton-proton collision data, corresponding
to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb recorded by the LHCb experiment.
In the quark model, two baryonic resonances with quark content are
expected in this mass region: the spin-parity and
states, denoted and .
Interpreting the structures as these resonances, we measure the mass
differences and the width of the heavier state to be
MeV,
MeV,
MeV, where the first and second
uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively. The width of the
lighter state is consistent with zero, and we place an upper limit of
MeV at 95% confidence level. Relative
production rates of these states are also reported.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figure
Search for Neutral Higgs Bosons in Events with Multiple Bottom Quarks at the Tevatron
The combination of searches performed by the CDF and D0 collaborations at the
Fermilab Tevatron Collider for neutral Higgs bosons produced in association
with b quarks is reported. The data, corresponding to 2.6 fb-1 of integrated
luminosity at CDF and 5.2 fb-1 at D0, have been collected in final states
containing three or more b jets. Upper limits are set on the cross section
multiplied by the branching ratio varying between 44 pb and 0.7 pb in the Higgs
boson mass range 90 to 300 GeV, assuming production of a narrow scalar boson.
Significant enhancements to the production of Higgs bosons can be found in
theories beyond the standard model, for example in supersymmetry. The results
are interpreted as upper limits in the parameter space of the minimal
supersymmetric standard model in a benchmark scenario favoring this decay mode.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure
A search for resonant production of pairs in $4.8\ \rm{fb}^{-1}p\bar{p}\sqrt{s}=1.96\ \rm{TeV}$
We search for resonant production of tt pairs in 4.8 fb^{-1} integrated
luminosity of ppbar collision data at sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV in the lepton+jets decay
channel, where one top quark decays leptonically and the other hadronically. A
matrix element reconstruction technique is used; for each event a probability
density function (pdf) of the ttbar candidate invariant mass is sampled. These
pdfs are used to construct a likelihood function, whereby the cross section for
resonant ttbar production is estimated, given a hypothetical resonance mass and
width. The data indicate no evidence of resonant production of ttbar pairs. A
benchmark model of leptophobic Z \rightarrow ttbar is excluded with m_{Z'} <
900 GeV at 95% confidence level.Comment: accepted for publication in Physical Review D Sep 21, 201
Evidence for the strangeness-changing weak decay
Using a collision data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity
of 3.0~fb, collected by the LHCb detector, we present the first search
for the strangeness-changing weak decay . No
hadron decay of this type has been seen before. A signal for this decay,
corresponding to a significance of 3.2 standard deviations, is reported. The
relative rate is measured to be
, where and
are the and fragmentation
fractions, and is the branching
fraction. Assuming is bounded between 0.1 and
0.3, the branching fraction would lie
in the range from to .Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, All figures and tables, along with any
supplementary material and additional information, are available at
https://lhcbproject.web.cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/LHCbProjectPublic/LHCb-PAPER-2015-047.htm
Measurement of branching ratio and Bs0 lifetime in the decay Bs0 -> J/psi f0(980) at CDF
We present a study of Bs0 decays to the CP-odd final state J/psi f0(980) with
J/psi -> mu+ mu- and f0(980) -> pi+ pi-. Using ppbar collision data with an
integrated luminosity of 3.8/fb collected by the CDF II detector at the
Tevatron we measure a Bs0 lifetime of tau(Bs0 -> J/psi f0(980)) = 1.70
-0.11+0.12(stat) +-0.03(syst) ps. This is the first measurement of the Bs0
lifetime in a decay to a CP eigenstate and corresponds in the standard model to
the lifetime of the heavy Bs0 eigenstate. We also measure the product of
branching fractions of Bs0 -> J/psi f0(980) and f0(980) -> pi+ pi- relative to
the product of branching fractions of Bs0 -> J/psi phi and phi -> K+ K- to be
R_f0/phi = 0.257 +_0.020(stat) +-0.014(syst), which is the most precise
determination of this quantity to date.Comment: accepted by Phys. Rev.
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