1,144 research outputs found
The Rarita-Schwinger spin-3/2 equation in a nonuniform, central potential
The equations of motion for a massive spin-3/2 Rarita-Schwinger field in a
finite-range, central, Lorentz scalar potential are developed. It is shown that
the resulting density may not be everywhere positive definite.Comment: 9 pages, RevTe
Analysis of Probabilistic Basic Parallel Processes
Basic Parallel Processes (BPPs) are a well-known subclass of Petri Nets. They
are the simplest common model of concurrent programs that allows unbounded
spawning of processes. In the probabilistic version of BPPs, every process
generates other processes according to a probability distribution. We study the
decidability and complexity of fundamental qualitative problems over
probabilistic BPPs -- in particular reachability with probability 1 of
different classes of target sets (e.g. upward-closed sets). Our results concern
both the Markov-chain model, where processes are scheduled randomly, and the
MDP model, where processes are picked by a scheduler.Comment: This is the technical report for a FoSSaCS'14 pape
How to model normative behavior in Petri nets
In this paper, we show how to extend the Petri net formalism to represent different types of behavior, in particular normative behavior. This extension is motivated by the use of Petri nets to model bureaucratic procedures, which contain normative aspects like obligations and permissions. We propose to extend Petri nets with a preference relation, a well-known mechanism from deontic logic to discriminate between ideal and varying sub-ideal states
CMOS Compatible Anodic Al2O3 Based Sensors for Bacteria Detection
AbstractRapid, real-time detection of pathogenic microorganisms is an emerging evolving field of research, especially for microorganisms that pose a major threat to public health. Alumina covered interdigitated capacitive microsensors were previously designed in our laboratory for DNA hybridization electrical detection (LOD of 30 nM target DNA). The device is constructed with standard CMOS materials. We show here that when coated with an appropriate anti- Staphylococcus aureus monoclonal antibody (MoAb), this device also permits to specifically detect this bacteria. The binding of bacteria to the microsensors induce a significant capacitance shift that is proportional to the amount of immobilized bacteria, thus enabling a possible quantitative analysis
Mightyl: A compositional translation from mitl to timed automata
Metric Interval Temporal Logic (MITL) was first proposed in the early 1990s as a specification formalism for real-time systems. Apart from its appealing intuitive syntax, there are also theoretical evidences that make MITL a prime real-time counterpart of Linear Temporal Logic (LTL). Unfortunately, the tool support for MITL verification is still lacking to this day. In this paper, we propose a new construction from MITL to timed automata via very-weak one-clock alternating timed automata. Our construction subsumes the well-known construction from LTL to BĂŒchi automata by Gastin and Oddoux and yet has the additional benefits of being compositional and integrating easily with existing tools. We implement the construction in our new tool MightyL and report on experiments using Uppaal and LTSmin as back-ends
Mass ratio from Doppler beaming and R{\o}mer delay versus ellipsoidal modulation in the Kepler data of KOI-74
We present a light curve analysis and radial velocity study of KOI-74, an
eclipsing A star + white dwarf binary with a 5.2 day orbit. Aside from new
spectroscopy covering the orbit of the system, we used 212 days of publicly
available Kepler observations and present the first complete light curve
fitting to these data, modelling the eclipses and transits, ellipsoidal
modulation, reflection, and Doppler beaming. Markov Chain Monte Carlo
simulations are used to determine the system parameters and uncertainty
estimates. Our results are in agreement with earlier studies, except that we
find an inclination of 87.0 \pm 0.4\degree, which is significantly lower than
the previously published value. We find that the mass ratio derived from the
radial velocity amplitude (q=0.104 \pm 0.004) disagrees with that derived from
the ellipsoidal modulation (q=0.052 \pm 0.004} assuming corotation). This was
found before, but with our smaller inclination, the discrepancy is even larger
than previously reported. Accounting for the rapid rotation of the A-star is
found to increase the discrepancy even further by lowering the mass ratio to
q=0.047 \pm 0.004. These results indicate that one has to be extremely careful
in using the amplitude of an ellipsoidal modulation signal in a close binary to
determine the mass ratio, when a proof of corotation is not firmly established.
The radial velocities that can be inferred from the detected Doppler beaming in
the light curve are found to be in agreement with our spectroscopic radial
velocity determination. We also report the first measurement of R{\o}mer delay
in a light curve of a compact binary. This delay amounts to -56 \pm 17 s and is
consistent with the mass ratio derived from the radial velocity amplitude. The
firm establishment of this mass ratio at q=0.104 \pm 0.004 leaves little doubt
that the companion of KOI-74 is a low mass white dwarf.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables; accepted for publication in MNRA
Tools for the identification of bioactives impacting the metabolic syndrome: Screening of a botanical extract library using subcutaneous and visceral human adipose-derived stem cell-based assays
Plant extracts continue to represent an untapped source of renewable therapeutic compounds for the treatment and prevention of illnesses including chronic metabolic disorders. With the increase in worldwide obesity and its related morbidities, the need for identifying safe and effective treatments is also rising. As such, use of primary human adipose-derived stem cells represents a physiologically relevant cell system to screen for bioactive agents in the prevention and treatment of obesity and its related complications. By using these cells in a primary screen, the risk and cost of identifying artifacts due to interspecies variation and immortalized cell lines is eliminated. We demonstrate that these cells can be formatted into 384-well high throughput screens to rapidly identify botanical extracts that affect lipogenesis and lipolysis. Additionally, counterscreening with human primary stem cells from distinct adipose depots can be routinely performed to identify tissue specific responses. In our study, over 500 botanical extracts were screened and 16 (2.7%) were found to affect lipogenesis and 4 (0.7%) affected lipolysis. © 2012 Elsevier Inc
Gravity-mode period spacings as seismic diagnostic for a sample of gamma Doradus stars from Kepler space photometry and high-resolution ground-based spectroscopy
Gamma Doradus stars (hereafter gamma Dor stars) are gravity-mode pulsators of
spectral type A or F. Such modes probe the deep stellar interior, offering a
detailed fingerprint of their structure. Four-year high-precision space-based
Kepler photometry of gamma Dor stars has become available, allowing us to study
these stars with unprecedented detail. We selected, analysed, and characterized
a sample of 67 gamma Dor stars for which we have Kepler observations available.
For all the targets in the sample we assembled high-resolution spectroscopy to
confirm their F-type nature. We found fourteen binaries, among which four
single-lined binaries, five double-lined binaries, two triple systems and three
binaries with no detected radial velocity variations. We estimated the orbital
parameters whenever possible. For the single stars and the single-lined
binaries, fundamental parameter values were determined from spectroscopy. We
searched for period spacing patterns in the photometric data and identified
this diagnostic for 50 of the stars in the sample, 46 of which are single stars
or single-lined binaries. We found a strong correlation between the
spectroscopic vsini and the period spacing values, confirming the influence of
rotation on gamma Dor-type pulsations as predicted by theory. We also found
relations between the dominant g-mode frequency, the longest pulsation period
detected in series of prograde modes, vsini, and log Teff.Comment: 61 pages, 61 figures, 6 tables, accepted for publication in ApJ
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