216 research outputs found
A second order minimality condition for the Mumford-Shah functional
A new necessary minimality condition for the Mumford-Shah functional is
derived by means of second order variations. It is expressed in terms of a sign
condition for a nonlocal quadratic form on , being a
submanifold of the regular part of the discontinuity set of the critical point.
Two equivalent formulations are provided: one in terms of the first eigenvalue
of a suitable compact operator, the other involving a sort of nonlocal capacity
of . A sufficient condition for minimality is also deduced. Finally, an
explicit example is discussed, where a complete characterization of the domains
where the second variation is nonnegative can be given.Comment: 30 page
Alpha scattering and capture reactions in the A = 7 system at low energies
Differential cross sections for He- scattering were measured in
the energy range up to 3 MeV. These data together with other available
experimental results for He and H scattering were
analyzed in the framework of the optical model using double-folded potentials.
The optical potentials obtained were used to calculate the astrophysical
S-factors of the capture reactions HeBe and
HLi, and the branching ratios for the transitions into
the two final Be and Li bound states, respectively. For
HeBe excellent agreement between calculated and
experimental data is obtained. For HLi a value
has been found which is a factor of about 1.5 larger than the adopted value.
For both capture reactions a similar branching ratio of has been obtained.Comment: submitted to Phys.Rev.C, 34 pages, figures available from one of the
authors, LaTeX with RevTeX, IK-TUW-Preprint 930540
Chirality and Symmetry Breaking in a discrete internal Space
In previous papers the permutation group S_4 has been suggested as an
ordering scheme for elementary particles, and the appearance of this finite
symmetry group was taken as indication for the existence of a discrete inner
symmetry space underlying elementary particle interactions. Here it is pointed
out that a more suitable choice than the tetrahedral group S_4 is the
pyritohedral group A_4 x Z_2 because its vibrational spectrum exhibits exactly
the mass multiplet structure of the 3 fermion generations. Furthermore it is
noted that the same structure can also be obtained from a primordial symmetry
breaking S_4 --> A_4. Since A_4 is a chiral group, while S_4 is achiral, an
argument can be given why the chirality of the inner pyritohedral symmetry
leads to parity violation of the weak interactions.Comment: 42 pages, 3 table
Dietary nitrate supplementation increases fractional exhaled nitric oxide: implications for the assessment of airway health in athletes
Background: Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) is a simple tool that has an established role in the assessment of airway inflammation in athletes. Specifically, FeNO provides information concerning asthma phenotypes, aetiology of respiratory symptoms, response to anti-inflammatory agents, course of disease and adherence to medication. It is recognised that FeNO can be influenced by a variety of external factors (e.g. atopic status, exercise, respiratory tract infection), however, there remains limited research concerning the impact of dietary nitrate ingestion. The primary aim of this study was therefore to evaluate the effect of acute dietary nitrate supplementation on FeNO and resting pulmonary function parameters. Method: The study was conducted as a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial. Thirty male endurance trained athletes (age: 28 ± 6 yrs; BMI: 23 ± 2 kg.m-2) free from cardio-respiratory and metabolic disease, and stable at time of study entry (i.e. entirely asymptomatic without recent respiratory tract infection) attended the laboratory on two separate occasions. On arrival to the laboratory, athletes consumed either 140ml nitrate-rich beetroot juice (15.2 mmol nitrate) (NIT) or nitrate-depleted beetroot juice (0 mmol nitrate) (PLA). In accordance with international guidelines all athletes performed resting FeNO and forced spirometry (2.5hrs post ingestion). Airway inflammation was evaluated using established FeNO thresholds: (intermediate [â„25ppb] and high [>50ppb]). Results: All athletes demonstrated normal baseline lung function (FEV1 % predicted >80%). A three-fold rise in resting FeNO was observed following NIT (median [IQR]): 32ppb [37] in comparison to PLA: 10ppb [12] (P0.05). Conclusion: Dietary nitrate ingestion should be considered when employing FeNO for the assessment of airway health in athletes. Our findings have implications concerning the decision to initiate or modify inhaler therapy. Further research is therefore required to determine the impact of chronic dietary nitrat
History of clinical transplantation
How transplantation came to be a clinical discipline can be pieced together by perusing two volumes of reminiscences collected by Paul I. Terasaki in 1991-1992 from many of the persons who were directly involved. One volume was devoted to the discovery of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), with particular reference to the human leukocyte antigens (HLAs) that are widely used today for tissue matching.1 The other focused on milestones in the development of clinical transplantation.2 All the contributions described in both volumes can be traced back in one way or other to the demonstration in the mid-1940s by Peter Brian Medawar that the rejection of allografts is an immunological phenomenon.3,4 © 2008 Springer New York
Neutrino oscillation studies with IceCube-DeepCore
AbstractIceCube, a gigaton-scale neutrino detector located at the South Pole, was primarily designed to search for astrophysical neutrinos with energies of PeV and higher. This goal has been achieved with the detection of the highest energy neutrinos to date. At the other end of the energy spectrum, the DeepCore extension lowers the energy threshold of the detector to approximately 10 GeV and opens the door for oscillation studies using atmospheric neutrinos. An analysis of the disappearance of these neutrinos has been completed, with the results produced being complementary with dedicated oscillation experiments. Following a review of the detector principle and performance, the method used to make these calculations, as well as the results, is detailed. Finally, the future prospects of IceCube-DeepCore and the next generation of neutrino experiments at the South Pole (IceCube-Gen2, specifically the PINGU sub-detector) are briefly discussed
A muon-track reconstruction exploiting stochastic losses for large-scale Cherenkov detectors
IceCube is a cubic-kilometer Cherenkov telescope operating at the South Pole. The main goal of IceCube is the detection of astrophysical neutrinos and the identification of their sources. High-energy muon neutrinos are observed via the secondary muons produced in charge current interactions with nuclei in the ice. Currently, the best performing muon track directional reconstruction is based on a maximum likelihood method using the arrival time distribution of Cherenkov photons registered by the experiment\u27s photomultipliers. A known systematic shortcoming of the prevailing method is to assume a continuous energy loss along the muon track. However at energies >1 TeV the light yield from muons is dominated by stochastic showers. This paper discusses a generalized ansatz where the expected arrival time distribution is parametrized by a stochastic muon energy loss pattern. This more realistic parametrization of the loss profile leads to an improvement of the muon angular resolution of up to 20% for through-going tracks and up to a factor 2 for starting tracks over existing algorithms. Additionally, the procedure to estimate the directional reconstruction uncertainty has been improved to be more robust against numerical errors
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