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Synthesis of accelerograms compatible with the Chinese GB 50011-2001 design spectrum via harmonic wavelets: artificial and historic records
A versatile approach is employed to generate artificial accelerograms which satisfy the compatibility criteria prescribed by the Chinese aseismic code provisions GB 50011-2001. In particular, a frequency dependent peak factor derived by means of appropriate Monte Carlo analyses is introduced to relate the GB 50011-2001 design spectrum to a parametrically defined evolutionary power spectrum (EPS). Special attention is given to the definition of the frequency content of the EPS in order to accommodate the mathematical form of the aforementioned design spectrum. Further, a one-to-one relationship is established between the parameter controlling the time-varying intensity of the EPS and the effective strong ground motion duration. Subsequently, an efficient auto-regressive moving-average (ARMA) filtering technique is utilized to generate ensembles of non-stationary artificial accelerograms whose average response spectrum is in a close agreement with the considered design spectrum. Furthermore, a harmonic wavelet based iterative scheme is adopted to modify these artificial signals so that a close matching of the signalsβ response spectra with the GB 50011-2001 design spectrum is achieved on an individual basis. This is also done for field recorded accelerograms pertaining to the May, 2008 Wenchuan seismic event. In the process, zero-phase high-pass filtering is performed to accomplish proper baseline correction of the acquired spectrum compatible artificial and field accelerograms. Numerical results are given in a tabulated format to expedite their use in practice
Accelerator Testing of the General Antiparticle Spectrometer, a Novel Approach to Indirect Dark Matter Detection
We report on recent accelerator testing of a prototype general antiparticle
spectrometer (GAPS). GAPS is a novel approach for indirect dark matter searches
that exploits the antideuterons produced in neutralino-neutralino
annihilations. GAPS captures these antideuterons into a target with the
subsequent formation of exotic atoms. These exotic atoms decay with the
emission of X-rays of precisely defined energy and a correlated pion signature
from nuclear annihilation. This signature uniquely characterizes the
antideuterons. Preliminary analysis of data from a prototype GAPS in an
antiproton beam at the KEK accelerator in Japan has confirmed the
multi-X-ray/pion star topology and indicated X-ray yields consistent with prior
expectations. Moreover our success in utilizing solid rather than gas targets
represents a significant simplification over our original approach and offers
potential gains in sensitivity through reduced dead mass in the target area.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures, submitted to JCA
Besov priors for Bayesian inverse problems
We consider the inverse problem of estimating a function from noisy,
possibly nonlinear, observations. We adopt a Bayesian approach to the problem.
This approach has a long history for inversion, dating back to 1970, and has,
over the last decade, gained importance as a practical tool. However most of
the existing theory has been developed for Gaussian prior measures. Recently
Lassas, Saksman and Siltanen (Inv. Prob. Imag. 2009) showed how to construct
Besov prior measures, based on wavelet expansions with random coefficients, and
used these prior measures to study linear inverse problems. In this paper we
build on this development of Besov priors to include the case of nonlinear
measurements. In doing so a key technical tool, established here, is a
Fernique-like theorem for Besov measures. This theorem enables us to identify
appropriate conditions on the forward solution operator which, when matched to
properties of the prior Besov measure, imply the well-definedness and
well-posedness of the posterior measure. We then consider the application of
these results to the inverse problem of finding the diffusion coefficient of an
elliptic partial differential equation, given noisy measurements of its
solution.Comment: 18 page
Bound-State Effects on Light-Element Abundances in Gravitino Dark Matter Scenarios
If the gravitino is the lightest supersymmetric particle and the long-lived
next-to-lightest sparticle (NSP) is the stau, the charged partner of the tau
lepton, it may be metastable and form bound states with several nuclei. These
bound states may affect the cosmological abundances of Li6 and Li7 by enhancing
nuclear rates that would otherwise be strongly suppressed. We consider the
effects of these enhanced rates on the final abundances produced in Big-Bang
nucleosynthesis (BBN), including injections of both electromagnetic and
hadronic energy during and after BBN. We calculate the dominant two- and
three-body decays of both neutralino and stau NSPs, and model the
electromagnetic and hadronic decay products using the PYTHIA event generator
and a cascade equation. Generically, the introduction of bound states drives
light element abundances further from their observed values; however, for small
regions of parameter space bound state effects can bring lithium abundances in
particular in better accord with observations. We show that in regions where
the stau is the NSP with a lifetime longer than 10^3-10^4 s, the abundances of
Li6 and Li7 are far in excess of those allowed by observations. For shorter
lifetimes of order 1000 s, we comment on the possibility in minimal
supersymmetric and supergravity models that stau decays could reduce the Li7
abundance from standard BBN values while at the same time enhancing the Li6
abundance.Comment: 22 pages 6 figure
Where Nothing Happened: The Experience of War Captivity and Levinasβs Concept of the βThere Isβ
This article takes as its subject matter the juridico-political space of the prisoner of war (POW) camp. It sets out to determine the nature of this space by looking at the experience of war captivity by Jewish members of the Western forces in World War II, focusing on the experience of Emmanuel Levinas, who spent 5 years in German war captivity. On the basis of a historical analysis of the conditions in which Levinas spent his time in captivity, it argues that the POW camp was a space of indifference that was determined by the legal exclusion of prisoners from both war and persecution. Held behind the stage of world events, prisoners were neither able to exercise their legal agency nor released from law into a realm of extra-legal violence. Through a close reading of Levinasβs early concept of the βthere isβ [il y a], the article seeks to establish the impact on prisoners of prolonged confinement in such a space. It sets out how prisonersβ subjectivity dissolved in the absence of meaningful relations with others and identifies the POW camp as a space in which existence was reduced to indeterminate, impersonal being
Neutralino relic density in a Universe with a non-vanishing cosmological constant
We discuss the relic density of the lightest of the supersymmetric particles
in view of new cosmological data, which favour the concept of an accelerating
Universe with a non-vanishing cosmological constant. Recent astrophysical
observations provide us with very precise values of the relevant cosmological
parameters. Certain of these parameters have direct implications on particle
physics, e.g., the value of matter density, which in conjunction with
electroweak precision data put severe constraints on the supersymmetry breaking
scale. In the context of the Constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model
(CMSSM) such limits read as: M_{1/2} \simeq 300 \GeV - 340 \GeV, m_0 \simeq
80 \GeV - 130 \GeV. Within the context of the CMSSM a way to avoid these
constraints is either to go to the large and region, or
make , the next to lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP), be
almost degenerate in mass with LSP.Comment: REVTeX, 50 pages, 35 eps figures; Minor changes, references and a
figure added; Better quality figures can be obtained upon request from
[email protected]
Galactic-Centre Gamma Rays in CMSSM Dark Matter Scenarios
We study the production of gamma rays via LSP annihilations in the core of
the Galaxy as a possible experimental signature of the constrained minimal
supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (CMSSM), in which
supersymmetry-breaking parameters are assumed to be universal at the GUT scale,
assuming also that the LSP is the lightest neutralino chi. The part of the
CMSSM parameter space that is compatible with the measured astrophysical
density of cold dark matter is known to include a stau_1 - chi coannihilation
strip, a focus-point strip where chi has an enhanced Higgsino component, and a
funnel at large tanb where the annihilation rate is enhanced by the poles of
nearby heavy MSSM Higgs bosons, A/H. We calculate the total annihilation rates,
the fractions of annihilations into different Standard Model final states and
the resulting fluxes of gamma rays for CMSSM scenarios along these strips. We
observe that typical annihilation rates are much smaller in the coannihilation
strip for tanb = 10 than along the focus-point strip or for tanb = 55, and that
the annihilation branching ratios differ greatly between the different dark
matter strips. Whereas the current Fermi-LAT data are not sensitive to any of
the CMSSM scenarios studied, and the calculated gamma-ray fluxes are probably
unobservably low along the coannihilation strip for tanb = 10, we find that
substantial portions of the focus-point strips and rapid-annihilation funnel
regions could be pressured by several more years of Fermi-LAT data, if
understanding of the astrophysical background and/or systematic uncertainties
can be improved in parallel.Comment: 33 pages, 12 figures, comments and references added, version to
appear in JCA
Models of Traumatic Cerebellar Injury
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Studies of human TBI demonstrate that the cerebellum is sometimes affected even when the initial mechanical insult is directed to the cerebral cortex. Some of the components of TBI, including ataxia, postural instability, tremor, impairments in balance and fine motor skills, and even cognitive deficits, may be attributed in part to cerebellar damage. Animal models of TBI have begun to explore the vulnerability of the cerebellum. In this paper, we review the clinical presentation, pathogenesis, and putative mechanisms underlying cerebellar damage with an emphasis on experimental models that have been used to further elucidate this poorly understood but important aspect of TBI. Animal models of indirect (supratentorial) trauma to the cerebellum, including fluid percussion, controlled cortical impact, weight drop impact acceleration, and rotational acceleration injuries, are considered. In addition, we describe models that produce direct trauma to the cerebellum as well as those that reproduce specific components of TBI including axotomy, stab injury, in vitro stretch injury, and excitotoxicity. Overall, these models reveal robust characteristics of cerebellar damage including regionally specific Purkinje cell injury or loss, activation of glia in a distinct spatial pattern, and traumatic axonal injury. Further research is needed to better understand the mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of cerebellar trauma, and the experimental models discussed here offer an important first step toward achieving that objective
ErbB2, EphrinB1, Src Kinase and PTPN13 Signaling Complex Regulates MAP Kinase Signaling in Human Cancers
In non-cancerous cells, phosphorylated proteins exist transiently, becoming de-phosphorylated by specific phosphatases that terminate propagation of signaling pathways. In cancers, compromised phosphatase activity and/or expression occur and contribute to tumor phenotype. The non-receptor phosphatase, PTPN13, has recently been dubbed a putative tumor suppressor. It decreased expression in breast cancer correlates with decreased overall survival. Here we show that PTPN13 regulates a new signaling complex in breast cancer consisting of ErbB2, Src, and EphrinB1. To our knowledge, this signaling complex has not been previously described. Co-immunoprecipitation and localization studies demonstrate that EphrinB1, a PTPN13 substrate, interacts with ErbB2. In addition, the oncogenic V660E ErbB2 mutation enhances this interaction, while Src kinase mediates EphrinB1 phosphorylation and subsequent MAP Kinase signaling. Decreased PTPN13 function further enhances signaling. The association of oncogene kinases (ErbB2, Src), a signaling transmembrane ligand (EphrinB1) and a phosphatase tumor suppressor (PTPN13) suggest that EphrinB1 may be a relevant therapeutic target in breast cancers harboring ErbB2-activating mutations and decreased PTPN13 expression
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