Burst statistics of fluctuations in a simple magnetized torus configuration

In a toroidal plasma confined by a purely toroidal magnetic field the plasma transport is governed by electrostatic turbulence driven by the flute interchange instability on the low-field side of the torus cross section. In this paper we revisit experimental data obtained from the Blaamann torus at the University of Tromso. On time-scales shorter than the poloidal rotation time, the time series of potential and electron density fluctuations measured on stationary Langmuir probes essentially reflect the spatial poloidal structure of the turbulent field (Taylor hypothesis). On these time scales the signals reveals an intermittent character exposed via analysis of probability density functions and computation of multifractal dimension spectra in different regimes of time scales. This intermittency is associated with the shape and distribution of pronounced spikes in the signal. On time scales much longer than the rotation period there are strong global fluctuations in the plasma potential which are shown to to be the result of low-dimensional chaotic dynamics

Higgs boson searches at OPAL (LEP), ATLAS (LHC) and ILC

An impressive effort was done by the four LEP collaborations in the search for the SM and the MSSM Higgs boson. However, very little attention was paid to the possibility of a CP violating Higgs sector and no significant effort to search for the resulting signatures was carried out. Once the CP state of the neutral Higgs bosons is ill defined, new Higgs boson production and decay channels might be opened. One of them, \epm\ra\Zo\Htwo\ra\Zo\Hone\Hone\ra\nunu\bb\bb is analyzed in the scope of this thesis. No significant excess of the data over the expected background is found. The results of this channel are combined with the results of other searches for the MSSM Higgs bosons and interpreted in the framework of a model with CP violation at OPAL. It was found that under certain assumptions (CPX scenario) the region \tanb < 2.8 is excluded at 95\% confidence level but no universal mass limit is obtained for either of the Higgs bosons. The combination of the results of the four LEP experiments improves the limit on \tanb to 3.3.\\ The LHC will be complemented by the ILC. In this thesis we consider a scenario where only one Higgs boson is observed by (both) LHC and ILC. We estimate the uncertainties in the indirect determination of the mass of the pseudoscalar Higgs boson, \mA. Taking for the first time all experimental and theoretical uncertainties into account, a determination of $M_A$ with an accuracy of about 20\% (30\%) seems to be feasible for $M_A =$ 600 (800) GeV.\\ In the main part of this thesis we develop a completely new algorithmic method for $\tau$-lepton identification within the framework of the fast simulation of the ATLAS detector. We have found out that this method is reproducing quite accurately the full detector simulation Tau ID performance (efficiency and rejection).\\ One of the main goals of the ATLAS experiment is to measure the various Higgs boson couplings as accurate as possible. Such a measurement is mandatory for a full understanding of the Higgs sector. The most challenging measurements of the Higgs boson properties is the determination of the Yukawa coupling to the top quark. We conducted a feasibility study aimed to asses ATLAS sensitivity to this coupling using the the \ttbar H channel followed by H\ra\tautau. The signal events were reconstructed using the full and the fast simulation of the ATLAS detector. It is shown that the two methods are in good agreement and that we can use the fast simulation to complete the analysis. We obtain a significance of $1.6\sigma$ for the low luminosity condition (30~\ifb) and $m_H=120$~GeV, and $2.0\sigma$ for the high luminosity condition (300~\ifb) and $m_H=120$~GeV.\

SUSY Searches at the Tevatron

In this article results from supersymmetry searches at D0 and CDF are reported. Searches for third generation squarks, searches for gauginos, and searches for models with R-parity violation are described. As no signs of supersymmetry for these models are observed, the most stringent limits to date are presented.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, The Ninth International Conference on Flavor Physics and CP Violation, (FPCP 2011), Maale Hachamisha, Israel, May 23--27, 201

Flow regime map of a liquid-solid micro-circulating fluidized bed

Solid-liquid micro-fluidised beds (FBs), which are essentially fluidisation of micro-particles in sub-centimetre beds, hold promise of applications in the microfluidics and micro-process technology context. This is mainly due to fluidised particles providing enhancement of mixing, mass and heat transfer under the low Reynolds number flows that dominate in micro-devices. Sometimes particle circulations is required or desirable (e.g. continuous regeneration of a catalyst) for which circulating fluidised beds are ideal, not to mention advantages of better interfacial contacting and reduced backmixing compared to a classical fluidised bed (1). Albeit there are quite a few studies of solid-liquid micro-fluidised beds, we are presenting the first study of micro-circulating fluidised bed. A transparent micro-circulating fluidised bed was made by micro-machining channels of 1 mm2 square cross section in Perspex as shown in Fig. 1. We used soda-lime glass microparticles and tap water as fluidising medium to study flow regime transition for this micro-circulating fluidised bed. The flow regime map as proposed by Liang et al. (2) was produced for a micro-circulating fluidised bed and is given in Fig. 2. Essentially results are almost the same as for the macroscopic counterparts with the transition to the circulating fluidised regime occurring at velocities, Ucr, slightly above the particle terminal velocities, Ut (1,2). The reported critical transition velocity is for high enough solid inventories (above 10% of the system volume) where this transition velocity is constant, while for lower solid inventories it is bigger as in previous experiments (1,2). While the minimum fluidization velocity, Umf, is influenced by adhesion forces and wall effects (3), there is a weak increase in the normalized critical transition velocity for circulating regime, Ucr/Ut, with an increase of particle diameter (not shown here). This may be due to the wall effects but more studies are needed to elucidate this further. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Background modeling for video sequences by stacked denoising autoencoders

Nowadays, the analysis and extraction of relevant information in visual data flows is of paramount importance. These images sequences can last for hours, which implies that the model must adapt to all kinds of circumstances so that the performance of the system does not decay over time. In this paper we propose a methodology for background modeling and foreground detection, whose main characteristic is its robustness against stationary noise. Thus, stacked denoising autoencoders are applied to generate a set of robust characteristics for each region or patch of the image, which will be the input of a probabilistic model to determine if that region is background or foreground. The evaluation of a set of heterogeneous sequences results in that, although our proposal is similar to the classical methods existing in the literature, the inclusion of noise in these sequences causes drastic performance drops in the competing methods, while in our case the performance stays or falls slightly.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Mind the Gap : Tech-Based Dispute Resolution for Disputes in Global Supply Blockchains

Peer reviewedPostprin

Background modeling by shifted tilings of stacked denoising autoencoders

The effective processing of visual data without interruption is currently of supreme importance. For that purpose, the analysis system must adapt to events that may affect the data quality and maintain its performance level over time. A methodology for background modeling and foreground detection, whose main characteristic is its robustness against stationary noise, is presented in the paper. The system is based on a stacked denoising autoencoder which extracts a set of significant features for each patch of several shifted tilings of the video frame. A probabilistic model for each patch is learned. The distinct patches which include a particular pixel are considered for that pixel classification. The experiments show that classical methods existing in the literature experience drastic performance drops when noise is present in the video sequences, whereas the proposed one seems to be slightly affected. This fact corroborates the idea of robustness of our proposal, in addition to its usefulness for the processing and analysis of continuous data during uninterrupted periods of time.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Tolerability and safety of the intake of bovine milk oligosaccharides extracted from cheese whey in healthy human adults.

Mechanistic research suggests a unique evolutionary relationship between complex milk oligosaccharides and cognate bifidobacteria enriched in breast-fed infants. Bovine milk oligosaccharides (BMO) were recently identified as structurally and functionally similar to human milk oligosaccharides. The present single-blind three-way crossover study is the first to determine the safety and tolerability of BMO consumption by healthy human participants (n 12) and its effects on faecal microbiota and microbial metabolism. Participants consumed each supplement (placebo-control; low- and high-BMO doses) for eleven consecutive days, followed by a 2-week washout period prior to initiating the next supplement arm. Low and high BMO doses were consumed as 25 and 35&nbsp;% of each individual's daily fibre intake, respectively. Safety and tolerability were measured using standardised questionnaires on gut and stomach discomfort and stool consistency. Faecal extracts were profiled for bacterial populations by next-generation sequencing (NGS) and bifidobacteria presence was confirmed using quantitative PCR. Urine was analysed for changes in microbial metabolism using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-NMR). Consumption of both the low and high BMO doses was well tolerated and did not change stool consistency from baseline. Multivariate analysis of the NGS results demonstrated no change in faecal microbiota phyla among the placebo-control and BMO supplement groups. In conclusion, BMO supplementation was well tolerated in healthy adults and has the potential to shift faecal microbiota toward beneficial strains as part of a synbiotic treatment with probiotic cultures that selectively metabolise oligosaccharides

Exploration of factors driving incorporation of unnatural dNTPS into DNA by Klenow fragment (DNA polymerase I) and DNA polymerase α

In order to further understand how DNA polymerases discriminate against incorrect dNTPs, we synthesized two sets of dNTP analogues and tested them as substrates for DNA polymerase α (pol α) and Klenow fragment (exo(−)) of DNA polymerase I (Escherichia coli). One set of analogues was designed to test the importance of the electronic nature of the base. The bases consisted of a benzimidazole ring with one or two exocyclic substituent(s) that are either electron-donating (methyl and methoxy) or electron-withdrawing (trifluoromethyl and dinitro). Both pol α and Klenow fragment exhibit a remarkable inability to discriminate against these analogues as compared to their ability to discriminate against incorrect natural dNTPs. Neither polymerase shows any distinct electronic or steric preferences for analogue incorporation. The other set of analogues, designed to examine the importance of hydrophobicity in dNTP incorporation, consists of a set of four regioisomers of trifluoromethyl benzimidazole. Whereas pol α and Klenow fragment exhibited minimal discrimination against the 5- and 6-regioisomers, they discriminated much more effectively against the 4- and 7-regioisomers. Since all four of these analogues will have similar hydrophobicity and stacking ability, these data indicate that hydrophobicity and stacking ability alone cannot account for the inability of pol α and Klenow fragment to discriminate against unnatural bases. After incorporation, however, both sets of analogues were not efficiently elongated. These results suggest that factors other than hydrophobicity, sterics and electronics govern the incorporation of dNTPs into DNA by pol α and Klenow fragment