248 research outputs found

    Quantifying atmospheric nitrogen deposition through a nationwide monitoring network across China

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    A Nationwide Nitrogen Deposition Monitoring Network (NNDMN) containing 43 monitoring sites was established in China to measure gaseous NH3, NO2, and HNO3 and particulate NH4+ and NO3− in air and/or precipitation from 2010 to 2014. Wet/bulk deposition fluxes of Nr species were collected by precipitation gauge method and measured by continuous-flow analyzer; dry deposition fluxes were estimated using airborne concentration measurements and inferential models. Our observations reveal large spatial variations of atmospheric Nr concentrations and dry and wet/bulk Nr deposition. On a national basis, the annual average concentrations (1.3–47.0 μg N m−3) and dry plus wet/bulk deposition fluxes (2.9–83.3 kg N ha−1 yr−1) of inorganic Nr species are ranked by land use as urban > rural > background sites and by regions as north China > southeast China > southwest China > northeast China > northwest China > Tibetan Plateau, reflecting the impact of anthropogenic Nr emission. Average dry and wet/bulk N deposition fluxes were 20.6 ± 11.2 (mean ± standard deviation) and 19.3 ± 9.2 kg N ha−1 yr−1 across China, with reduced N deposition dominating both dry and wet/bulk deposition. Our results suggest atmospheric dry N deposition is equally important to wet/bulk N deposition at the national scale. Therefore, both deposition forms should be included when considering the impacts of N deposition on environment and ecosystem health

    Implications of H.E.S.S. observations of pulsar wind nebulae

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    In this review paper on pulsar wind nebulae (PWN) we discuss the properties of such nebulae within the context of containment against cross-field diffusion (versus normal advection), the effect of reverse shocks on the evolution of offset ``Vela-like'' PWN, constraints on maximum particle energetics, magnetic field strength estimates based on spectral and spatial properties, and the implication of such field estimates on the composition of the wind. A significant part of the discussion is based on the High Energy Stereoscopic System ({\it H.E.S.S.} or {\it HESS}) detection of the two evolved pulsar wind nebulae Vela X (cocoon) and HESS J1825-137. In the case of Vela X (cocoon) we also review evidence of a hadronic versus a leptonic interpretation, showing that a leptonic interpretation is favored for the {\it HESS} signal. The constraints discussed in this review paper sets a general framework for the interpretation of a number of offset, filled-center nebulae seen by {\it HESS}. These sources are found along the galactic plane with galactic latitudes b0|b|\sim 0, where significant amounts of molecular gas is found. In these regions, we find that the interstellar medium is inhomogeneous, which has an effect on the morphology of supernova shock expansion. One consequence of this effect is the formation of offset pulsar wind nebulae as observed.Comment: to appear in Springer Lecture Notes on Neutron Stars and Pulsars: 40 years after their discovery, eds. W. Becke

    High Energy Processes in Pulsar Wind Nebulae

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    Young pulsars produce relativistic winds which interact with matter ejected during the supernova explosion and the surrounding interstellar gas. Particles are accelerated to very high energies somewhere in the pulsar winds or at the shocks produced in collisions of the winds with the surrounding medium. As a result of interactions of relativistic leptons with the magnetic field and low energy radiation (of synchrotron origin, thermal, or microwave background), the non-thermal radiation is produced with the lowest possible energies up to \sim100 TeV. The high energy (TeV) gamma-ray emission has been originally observed from the Crab Nebula and recently from several other objects. Recent observations by the HESS Cherenkov telescopes allow to study for the first time morphology of the sources of high energy emission, showing unexpected spectral features. They might be also interpreted as due to acceleration of hadrons. However, theory of particle acceleration in the PWNe and models for production of radiation are still at their early stage of development since it becomes clear that realistic modeling of these objects should include their time evolution and three-dimensional geometry. In this paper we concentrate on the attempts to create a model for the high energy processes inside the PWNe which includes existence not only relativistic leptons but also hadrons inside the nebula. Such model should also take into account evolution of the nebula in time. Possible high energy expectations based on such a model are discussed in the context of new observations.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure, Proc. Multimessenger approach to high energy gamma-ray source

    Clustering Algorithms: Their Application to Gene Expression Data

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    Gene expression data hide vital information required to understand the biological process that takes place in a particular organism in relation to its environment. Deciphering the hidden patterns in gene expression data proffers a prodigious preference to strengthen the understanding of functional genomics. The complexity of biological networks and the volume of genes present increase the challenges of comprehending and interpretation of the resulting mass of data, which consists of millions of measurements; these data also inhibit vagueness, imprecision, and noise. Therefore, the use of clustering techniques is a first step toward addressing these challenges, which is essential in the data mining process to reveal natural structures and iden-tify interesting patterns in the underlying data. The clustering of gene expression data has been proven to be useful in making known the natural structure inherent in gene expression data, understanding gene functions, cellular processes, and subtypes of cells, mining useful information from noisy data, and understanding gene regulation. The other benefit of clustering gene expression data is the identification of homology, which is very important in vaccine design. This review examines the various clustering algorithms applicable to the gene expression data in order to discover and provide useful knowledge of the appropriate clustering technique that will guarantee stability and high degree of accuracy in its analysis procedure

    The performance of the jet trigger for the ATLAS detector during 2011 data taking

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    The performance of the jet trigger for the ATLAS detector at the LHC during the 2011 data taking period is described. During 2011 the LHC provided proton–proton collisions with a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and heavy ion collisions with a 2.76 TeV per nucleon–nucleon collision energy. The ATLAS trigger is a three level system designed to reduce the rate of events from the 40 MHz nominal maximum bunch crossing rate to the approximate 400 Hz which can be written to offline storage. The ATLAS jet trigger is the primary means for the online selection of events containing jets. Events are accepted by the trigger if they contain one or more jets above some transverse energy threshold. During 2011 data taking the jet trigger was fully efficient for jets with transverse energy above 25 GeV for triggers seeded randomly at Level 1. For triggers which require a jet to be identified at each of the three trigger levels, full efficiency is reached for offline jets with transverse energy above 60 GeV. Jets reconstructed in the final trigger level and corresponding to offline jets with transverse energy greater than 60 GeV, are reconstructed with a resolution in transverse energy with respect to offline jets, of better than 4 % in the central region and better than 2.5 % in the forward direction

    Measurement of the View the tt production cross-section using eμ events with b-tagged jets in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

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    This paper describes a measurement of the inclusive top quark pair production cross-section (σtt¯) with a data sample of 3.2 fb−1 of proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 13 TeV, collected in 2015 by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. This measurement uses events with an opposite-charge electron–muon pair in the final state. Jets containing b-quarks are tagged using an algorithm based on track impact parameters and reconstructed secondary vertices. The numbers of events with exactly one and exactly two b-tagged jets are counted and used to determine simultaneously σtt¯ and the efficiency to reconstruct and b-tag a jet from a top quark decay, thereby minimising the associated systematic uncertainties. The cross-section is measured to be: σtt¯ = 818 ± 8 (stat) ± 27 (syst) ± 19 (lumi) ± 12 (beam) pb, where the four uncertainties arise from data statistics, experimental and theoretical systematic effects, the integrated luminosity and the LHC beam energy, giving a total relative uncertainty of 4.4%. The result is consistent with theoretical QCD calculations at next-to-next-to-leading order. A fiducial measurement corresponding to the experimental acceptance of the leptons is also presented

    Search for dark matter produced in association with a hadronically decaying vector boson in pp collisions at sqrt (s) = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

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    A search is presented for dark matter produced in association with a hadronically decaying W or Z boson using 3.2 fb−1 of pp collisions at View the MathML sources=13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Events with a hadronic jet compatible with a W or Z boson and with large missing transverse momentum are analysed. The data are consistent with the Standard Model predictions and are interpreted in terms of both an effective field theory and a simplified model containing dark matter

    Search for TeV-scale gravity signatures in high-mass final states with leptons and jets with the ATLAS detector at sqrt [ s ] = 13TeV

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    A search for physics beyond the Standard Model, in final states with at least one high transverse momentum charged lepton (electron or muon) and two additional high transverse momentum leptons or jets, is performed using 3.2 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in 2015 at √s = 13 TeV. The upper end of the distribution of the scalar sum of the transverse momenta of leptons and jets is sensitive to the production of high-mass objects. No excess of events beyond Standard Model predictions is observed. Exclusion limits are set for models of microscopic black holes with two to six extra dimensions

    Measurement of the cross section for isolated-photon plus jet production in pp collisions at √s=13 TeV using the ATLAS detector

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    The dynamics of isolated-photon production in association with a jet in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV are studied with the ATLAS detector at the LHC using a dataset with an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb−1. Photons are required to have transverse energies above 125 GeV. Jets are identified using the anti- algorithm with radius parameter and required to have transverse momenta above 100 GeV. Measurements of isolated-photon plus jet cross sections are presented as functions of the leading-photon transverse energy, the leading-jet transverse momentum, the azimuthal angular separation between the photon and the jet, the photon–jet invariant mass and the scattering angle in the photon–jet centre-of-mass system. Tree-level plus parton-shower predictions from Sherpa and Pythia as well as next-to-leading-order QCD predictions from Jetphox and Sherpa are compared to the measurements

    Search for resonances in the mass distribution of jet pairs with one or two jets identified as b-jets in proton–proton collisions at √s=13TeV with the ATLAS detector

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    Searches for high-mass resonances in the dijet invariant mass spectrum with one or two jets identi-fied as b-jets are performed using an integrated luminosity of 3.2fb−1of proton–proton collisions with a centre-of-mass energy of √s=13TeVrecorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Noevidence of anomalous phenomena is observed in the data, which are used to exclude, at 95%credibility level, excited b∗quarks with masses from 1.1TeVto 2.1TeVand leptophobic Z bosons with masses from 1.1TeVto 1.5TeV. Contributions of a Gaussian signal shape with effective cross sections ranging from approximately 0.4 to 0.001pb are also excluded in the mass range 1.5–5.0TeV
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