4,819 research outputs found
Quantitative performance metrics for stratospheric-resolving chemistry-climate models
International audienceA set of performance metrics is applied to stratospheric-resolving chemistry-climate models (CCMs) to quantify their ability to reproduce key processes relevant for stratospheric ozone. The same metrics are used to assign a quantitative measure of performance ("grade") to each model-observations comparison shown in Eyring et al. (2006). A wide range of grades is obtained, both for different diagnostics applied to a single model and for the same diagnostic applied to different models, highlighting the wide range in ability of the CCMs to simulate key processes in the stratosphere. No model scores high or low on all tests, but differences in the performance of models can be seen, especially for transport processes where several models get low grades on multiple tests. The grades are used to assign relative weights to the CCM projections of 21st century total ozone. However, only small differences are found between weighted and unweighted multi-model mean total ozone projections. This study raises several issues with the grading and weighting of CCMs that need further examination, but it does provide a framework that will enable quantification of model improvements and assignment of relative weights to the model projections
Reducing Constraints on Quantum Computer Design by Encoded Selective Recoupling
The requirement of performing both single-qubit and two-qubit operations in
the implementation of universal quantum logic often leads to very demanding
constraints on quantum computer design. We show here how to eliminate the need
for single-qubit operations in a large subset of quantum computer proposals:
those governed by isotropic and XXZ,XY-type anisotropic exchange interactions.
Our method employs an encoding of one logical qubit into two physical qubits,
while logic operations are performed using an analogue of the NMR selective
recoupling method.Comment: 5 pages, 1 table, no figures. Published versio
Correlation induced switching of local spatial charge distribution in two-level system
We present theoretical investigation of spatial charge distribution in the
two-level system with strong Coulomb correlations by means of Heisenberg
equations analysis for localized states total electron filling numbers taking
into account pair correlations of local electron density. It was found that
tunneling current through nanometer scale structure with strongly coupled
localized states causes Coulomb correlations induced spatial redistribution of
localized charges. Conditions for inverse occupation of two-level system in
particular range of applied bias caused by Coulomb correlations have been
revealed. We also discuss possibility of charge manipulation in the proposed
system.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures Submitted to JETP Letter
Efficient Model Learning for Human-Robot Collaborative Tasks
We present a framework for learning human user models from joint-action
demonstrations that enables the robot to compute a robust policy for a
collaborative task with a human. The learning takes place completely
automatically, without any human intervention. First, we describe the
clustering of demonstrated action sequences into different human types using an
unsupervised learning algorithm. These demonstrated sequences are also used by
the robot to learn a reward function that is representative for each type,
through the employment of an inverse reinforcement learning algorithm. The
learned model is then used as part of a Mixed Observability Markov Decision
Process formulation, wherein the human type is a partially observable variable.
With this framework, we can infer, either offline or online, the human type of
a new user that was not included in the training set, and can compute a policy
for the robot that will be aligned to the preference of this new user and will
be robust to deviations of the human actions from prior demonstrations. Finally
we validate the approach using data collected in human subject experiments, and
conduct proof-of-concept demonstrations in which a person performs a
collaborative task with a small industrial robot
Fast shower simulation in the ATLAS calorimeter
The time to simulate pp collisions in the ATLAS detector is largely dominated by the showering of electromagnetic particles in the heavy parts of the detector, especially the electromagnetic barrel and endcap calorimeters. Two procedures have been developed to accelerate the processing time of electromagnetic particles in these regions: (1) a fast shower parameterisation and (2) a frozen shower library. Both work by generating the response of the calorimeter to electrons and positrons with Geant 4, and then reintroduce the response into the simulation at runtime.
In the fast shower parameterisation technique, a parameterisation is tuned to single electrons and used later by simulation. In the frozen shower technique, actual showers from low-energy particles are used in the simulation. Full Geant 4 simulation is used to develop showers down to ~1 GeV, at which point the shower is terminated by substituting a frozen shower. Judicious use of both techniques over the entire electromagnetic portion of the ATLAS calorimeter produces an important improvement of CPU time. We discuss the algorithms and their performance in this paper
The resummed thrust distribution in DIS
We present preliminary results on the resummation of leading and
next-to-leading logarithms for the thrust distribution in deep inelastic
scattering. Our predictions, expanded to O(alpha_s^2), are compared to
corresponding results from the Monte Carlo programs DISASTER++ and DISENT.Comment: 5 pages; talk presented by V. Antonelli at the UK Phenomenology
Workshop on Collider Physics, September 1999, St. John's College, Durha
The endogenous subcellular localisations of the long chain fatty acid-activating enzymes ACSL3 and ACSL4 in sarcoma and breast cancer cells
Fatty acid uptake and metabolism are often dysregulated in cancer cells. Fatty acid activation is a critical step that allows these biomolecules to enter cellular metabolic pathways such as mitochondrial β-oxidation for ATP generation or the lipogenic routes that generate bioactive lipids such as the inositol phospholipids. Fatty acid activation by the addition of coenzyme A is catalysed by a family of enzymes called the acyl CoA synthetase ligases (ACSL). Furthermore, enhanced expression of particular ACSL isoforms, such as ACSL4, is a feature of some more aggressive cancers and may contribute to the oncogenic phenotype. This study focuses on ACSL3 and ACSL4, closely related structural homologues that preferentially activate palmitate and arachidonate fatty acids, respectively. In this study, immunohistochemical screening of multiple soft tissue tumour arrays revealed that ACSL3 and ACSL4 were highly, but differentially, expressed in a subset of leiomyosarcomas, fibrosarcomas and rhabdomyosarcomas, with consistent cytoplasmic and granular stainings of tumour cells. The intracellular localisations of endogenously expressed ACSL3 and ACSL4 were further investigated by detailed subcellular fractionation analyses of HT1080 fibrosarcoma and MCF-7 breast cancer cells. ACSL3 distribution closely overlapped with proteins involved in trafficking from the trans-Golgi network and endosomes. In contrast, the ACSL4 localisation pattern more closely followed that of calnexin which is an endoplasmic reticulum resident chaperone. Confocal immunofluorescence imaging of MCF-7 cells confirmed the intracellular localisations of both enzymes. These observations reveal new information regarding the compartmentation of fatty acid metabolism in cancer cells
Force balance and membrane shedding at the Red Blood Cell surface
During the aging of the red-blood cell, or under conditions of extreme
echinocytosis, membrane is shed from the cell plasma membrane in the form of
nano-vesicles. We propose that this process is the result of the
self-adaptation of the membrane surface area to the elastic stress imposed by
the spectrin cytoskeleton, via the local buckling of membrane under increasing
cytoskeleton stiffness. This model introduces the concept of force balance as a
regulatory process at the cell membrane, and quantitatively reproduces the rate
of area loss in aging red-blood cells.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Coulomb Blockade of Tunneling Through a Double Quantum Dot
We study the Coulomb blockade of tunneling through a double quantum dot. The
temperature dependence of the linear conductance is strongly affected by the
inter-dot tunneling. As the tunneling grows, a crossover from
temperature-independent peak conductance to a power-law suppression of
conductance at low temperatures is predicted. This suppression is a
manifestation of the Anderson orthogonality catastrophe associated with the
charge re-distribution between the dots, which accompanies the tunneling of an
electron into a dot. We find analytically the shapes of the Coulomb blockade
peaks in conductance as a function of gate voltage.Comment: 11 pages, revtex3.0 and multicols.sty, 4 figures uuencode
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