161 research outputs found
FORGE: An eLearning Framework for Remote Laboratory Experimentation on FIRE Testbed Infrastructure
The Forging Online Education through FIRE (FORGE) initiative provides educators and learners in higher education with access to world-class FIRE testbed infrastructure. FORGE supports experimentally driven research in an eLearning environment by complementing traditional classroom and online courses with interactive remote laboratory experiments. The project has achieved its objectives by defining and implementing a framework called FORGEBox. This framework offers the methodology, environment, tools and resources to support the creation of HTML-based online educational material capable accessing virtualized and physical FIRE testbed infrastruc- ture easily. FORGEBox also captures valuable quantitative and qualitative learning analytic information using questionnaires and Learning Analytics that can help optimise and support student learning. To date, FORGE has produced courses covering a wide range of networking and communication domains. These are freely available from FORGEBox.eu and have resulted in over 24,000 experiments undertaken by more than 1,800 students across
10 countries worldwide. This work has shown that the use of remote high- performance testbed facilities for hands-on remote experimentation can have a valuable impact on the learning experience for both educators and learners. Additionally, certain challenges in developing FIRE-based courseware have been identified, which has led to a set of recommendations in order to support the use of FIRE facilities for teaching and learning purposes
On the stability of two-chunk file-sharing systems
We consider five different peer-to-peer file sharing systems with two chunks,
with the aim of finding chunk selection algorithms that have provably stable
performance with any input rate and assuming non-altruistic peers who leave the
system immediately after downloading the second chunk. We show that many
algorithms that first looked promising lead to unstable or oscillating
behavior. However, we end up with a system with desirable properties. Most of
our rigorous results concern the corresponding deterministic large system
limits, but in two simplest cases we provide proofs for the stochastic systems
also.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figure
Non-Abelian Brane Worlds: The Heterotic String Story
We discuss chiral supersymmetric compactifications of the SO(32) heterotic
string on Calabi-Yau manifolds equipped with direct sums of stable bundles with
structure group U(n). In addition we allow for non-perturbative heterotic
five-branes. These models are S-dual to Type I compactifications with D9- and
D5-branes, which by themselves are mirror symmetric to general intersecting
D6-brane models. For the construction of concrete examples we consider
elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau manifolds with SU(n) bundles given by the
spectral cover construction. The U(n) bundles are obtained via twisting by line
bundles. We present a four-generation Pati-Salam and a three-generation
Standard-like model.Comment: 29 pages, 7 tables, LATEX; v2: refs adde
Weak localization with nonlinear bosonic matter waves
We investigate the coherent propagation of dilute atomic Bose-Einstein
condensates through irregularly shaped billiard geometries that are attached to
uniform incoming and outgoing waveguides. Using the mean-field description
based on the nonlinear Gross-Pitaevskii equation, we develop a diagrammatic
theory for the self-consistent stationary scattering state of the interacting
condensate, which is combined with the semiclassical representation of the
single-particle Green function in terms of chaotic classical trajectories
within the billiard. This analytical approach predicts a universal dephasing of
weak localization in the presence of a small interaction strength between the
atoms, which is found to be in good agreement with the numerically computed
reflection and transmission probabilities of the propagating condensate. The
numerical simulation of this quasi-stationary scattering process indicates that
this interaction-induced dephasing mechanism may give rise to a signature of
weak antilocalization, which we attribute to the influence of non-universal
short-path contributions.Comment: 67 pages, 19 figure
F-Theory GUT Vacua on Compact Calabi-Yau Fourfolds
We present compact three-generation F-theory GUT models meeting in particular
the constraints of D3-tadpole cancellation and D-term supersymmetry. To this
end we explicitly construct elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau fourfolds as
complete intersections in a toric ambient space. Toric methods enable us to
control the singular geometry of the SU(5) GUT model. The GUT brane wraps a
non-generic del Pezzo surface admitting GUT symmetry breaking via hypercharge
flux. It is contractible to a curve and we demonstrate the existence of a
consistent decoupling limit. We compute the Euler characteristic of the
singular Calabi-Yau fourfold to show that our three-generation flux solutions
obtained via the spectral cover construction are consistent with D3-tadpole
cancellation.Comment: 22+12 pages; v2: minor clarifications on decoupling limi
Gauge Fluxes in F-theory and Type IIB Orientifolds
We provide a detailed correspondence between G_4 gauge fluxes in F-theory
compactifications with SU(n) and SU(n)x(1) gauge symmetry and their Type IIB
orientifold limit. Based on the resolution of the relevant F-theory Tate models
we classify the factorisable G_4-fluxes and match them with the set of
universal D5-tadpole free U(1)-fluxes in Type IIB. Where available, the global
version of the universal spectral cover flux corresponds to Type IIB gauge flux
associated with a massive diagonal U(1). In U(1)-restricted Tate models extra
massless abelian fluxes exist which are associated with specific linear
combinations of Type IIB fluxes. Key to a quantitative match between F-theory
and Type IIB is a proper treatment of the conifold singularity encountered in
the Sen limit of generic F-theory models. We also shed further light on the
brane recombination process relating generic and U(1)-restricted Tate models.Comment: 53 pages, 3 figures; v2: Refs added; v3: minor corrections to match
version published in JHE
Massless Spectra of Three Generation U(N) Heterotic String Vacua
We provide the methods to compute the complete massless spectra of a class of
recently introduced supersymmetric E8 x E8 heterotic string models which invoke
vector bundles with U(N) structure group on simply connected Calabi-Yau
manifolds and which yield flipped SU(5) and MSSM string vacua of potential
phenomenological interest. We apply Leray spectral sequences in order to derive
the localisation of the cohomology groups H^i(X,V_a \times V_b),
H^i(X,\bigwedge^2 V) and H^i(X,{\bf S}^2 V) for vector bundles defined via
Fourier-Mukai transforms on elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau manifolds. By the
method of bundle extensions we define a stable U(4) vector bundle leading to
the first flipped SU(5) model with just three generations, i.e. without any
vector-like matter. Along the way, we propose the notion of Lambda-stability
for heterotic bundles.Comment: 48 page
Copeptin for risk stratification in non-traumatic headache in the emergency setting: a prospective multicenter observational cohort study
In the emergency setting, non-traumatic headache is a benign symptom in 80% of cases, but serious underlying conditions need to be ruled out. Copeptin improves risk stratification in several acute diseases. Herein, we investigated the value of copeptin to discriminate between serious secondary headache and benign headache forms in the emergency setting.; Patients presenting with acute non-traumatic headache were prospectively enrolled into an observational cohort study. Copeptin was measured upon presentation to the emergency department. Primary endpoint was serious secondary headache defined by a neurologic cause requiring immediate treatment of the underlying disease. Secondary endpoint was the combination of mortality and hospitalization within 3 months. Two board-certified neurologist blinded to copeptin levels verified the endpoints after a structured 3-month-telephone interview.; Of the 391 patients included, 75 (19%) had a serious secondary headache. Copeptin was associated with serious secondary headache (OR 2.03, 95%CI 1.52-2.70, p < 0.0001). Area under the curve (AUC) for copeptin to identify the primary endpoint was 0.70 (0.63-0.76). After adjusting for age > 50, focal-neurological abnormalities, and thunderclap onset of symptoms, copeptin remained an independent predictive factor for serious secondary headache (OR 1.74, 95%CI 1.26-2.39, p = 0.001). Moreover, copeptin improved the AUC of the multivariate logistic clinical model (p-LR-test < 0.001). Even though copeptin values were higher in patients reaching the secondary endpoint, this association was not significant in multivariate logistic regression.; Copeptin was independently associated with serious secondary headache as compared to benign headaches forms. Copeptin may be a promising novel blood biomarker that should be further validated to rule out serious secondary headache in the emergency department.; Study Registration on 08/02/2010 as NCT01174901 at clinicaltrials.gov
- …