22,658 research outputs found
Calibration of the TWIST high-precision drift chambers
A method for the precise measurement of drift times for the high-precision
drift chambers used in the TWIST detector is described. It is based on the
iterative correction of the space-time relationships by the time residuals of
the track fit, resulting in a measurement of the effective drift times. The
corrected drift time maps are parametrised individually for each chamber using
spline functions. Biases introduced by the reconstruction itself are taken into
account as well, making it necessary to apply the procedure to both data and
simulation. The described calibration is shown to improve the reconstruction
performance and to extend significantly the physics reach of the experiment.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
CHEMICALLY MODIFIED PHOTOSYNTHETIC BACTERIAL REACTION CENTERS: CIRCULAR DICHROISM, RAMAN RESONANCE, LOW TEMPERATURE ABSORPTION, FLUORESCENCE AND ODMR SPECTRA AND POLYPEPTIDE COMPOSITION OF BOROHYDRIDE TREATED REACTION CENTERS FROM Rhodobacter sphaeroides R26
Reaction centers from Rhodobacter sphaeroides have been modified by treatment with sodium borohydride similar to the original procedure [Ditson et al., Biochim. Biophys. Acta 766, 623 (1984)], and investigated spectroscopically and by gel electrophoresis.
(1) Low temperature (1.2 K) absorption, fluorescence, absorption- and fluorescence-detected ODMR, and microwave-induced singlet-triplet absorption difference spectra (MIA) suggest that the treatment produces a spectroscopically homogeneous preparation with one of the âadditionalâ bacteriochlorophylls being removed. The modification does not alter the zero field splitting parameters of the primary donor triplet (TP870).
(2) From the circular dichroism and Raman resonance spectra in the1500â1800 cm-1 region, the removed pigment is assigned to BchlM, e.g. the "extra" Bchl on the "inactive" M-branch.
(3) A strong coupling among all pigment molecules is deduced from the circular dichroism spectra, because pronounced band-shifts and/or intensity changes occur in the spectral components assigned to all pigments. This is supported by distinct differences among the MIA spectra of untreated and modified reaction centers, as well as by Raman resonance.
(4) The modification is accompanied by partial proteolytic cleavage of the M-subunit. The preparation is thus spectroscopically homogeneous, but biochemically heterogenous
Polynomial conjunctive query rewriting under unary inclusion dependencies
Ontology-based data access (OBDA) is widely accepted as an important ingredient of the new generation of information systems. In the OBDA paradigm, potentially incomplete relational data is enriched by means of ontologies, representing intensional knowledge of the application domain. We consider the problem of conjunctive query answering in OBDA. Certain ontology languages have been identified as FO-rewritable (e.g., DL-Lite and sticky-join sets of TGDs), which means that the ontology can be incorporated into the user's query, thus reducing OBDA to standard relational query evaluation. However, all known query rewriting techniques produce queries that are exponentially large in the size of the user's query, which can be a serious issue for standard relational database engines. In this paper, we present a polynomial query rewriting for conjunctive queries under unary inclusion dependencies. On
the other hand, we show that binary inclusion dependencies do not admit
polynomial query rewriting algorithms
Nonequilibrium work distribution of a quantum harmonic oscillator
We analytically calculate the work distribution of a quantum harmonic
oscillator with arbitrary time-dependent angular frequency. We provide detailed
expressions for the work probability density for adiabatic and nonadiabatic
processes, in the limit of low and high temperature. We further verify the
validity of the quantum Jarzynski equalityComment: 6 pages, 3 figure
The structure of N(1535) in the aspect of chiral symmetry
The structure of N(1535) is discussed in dynamical and symmetry aspects based
on chiral symmetry. We find that the N(1535) in chiral unitary model has
implicitly some components other than meson-baryon one. We also discuss the
N(1535) in the chiral doublet picture.Comment: 4 pages, no figure, talk given at Workshop on Chiral Symmetry in
Hadron and Nuclear Physics: Chiral07, Osaka, Japan, 13-16 Nov 200
Dusty Sources at the Galactic Center: The N- and Q-band view with VISIR
We present mid-infrared N- and Q-band photometry of the Galactic Center from
images obtained with the mid-infrared camera VISIR at the ESO VLT in May 2004.
The high resolution and sensitivity possible with VISIR enables us to
investigate a total of over 60 point-like sources, an unprecedented number for
the Galactic Center at these wavelengths. Combining these data with previous
results at shorter wavelengths (Viehmann et al. 2005) enables us to construct
SEDs covering the H- to Q-band regions of the spectrum, i.e. 1.6 to 19.5
m. We find that the SEDs of certain types of Galactic Center sources show
characteristic features. We can clearly distinguish between luminous Northern
Arm bow-shock sources, lower luminosity bow-shock sources, hot stars, and cool
stars. This characterization may help clarify the status of presently
unclassified sources.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in the
Astrophysical Journa
A controlled experiment for the empirical evaluation of safety analysis techniques for safety-critical software
Context: Today's safety critical systems are increasingly reliant on
software. Software becomes responsible for most of the critical functions of
systems. Many different safety analysis techniques have been developed to
identify hazards of systems. FTA and FMEA are most commonly used by safety
analysts. Recently, STPA has been proposed with the goal to better cope with
complex systems including software. Objective: This research aimed at comparing
quantitatively these three safety analysis techniques with regard to their
effectiveness, applicability, understandability, ease of use and efficiency in
identifying software safety requirements at the system level. Method: We
conducted a controlled experiment with 21 master and bachelor students applying
these three techniques to three safety-critical systems: train door control,
anti-lock braking and traffic collision and avoidance. Results: The results
showed that there is no statistically significant difference between these
techniques in terms of applicability, understandability and ease of use, but a
significant difference in terms of effectiveness and efficiency is obtained.
Conclusion: We conclude that STPA seems to be an effective method to identify
software safety requirements at the system level. In particular, STPA addresses
more different software safety requirements than the traditional techniques FTA
and FMEA, but STPA needs more time to carry out by safety analysts with little
or no prior experience.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure in Proceedings of the 19th International
Conference on Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering (EASE '15).
ACM, 201
A 1200-micron MAMBO survey of ELAISN2 and the Lockman Hole - I. Maps, sources and number counts
The definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.com '.--Copyright Blackwell Publishing. DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.08235.xWe present a deep, new 1200ÎŒm survey of the ELAISN2 and Lockman Hole fields using the Max Planck Millimeter Bolometer array (MAMBO). The areas surveyed are 160 arcmin2 in ELAISN2 and 197 arcmin2 in the Lockman Hole, covering the entire SCUBA â8mJy Surveyâ. In total, 27 (44) sources have been detected at a significance 4.0 ( 3.5 ). The primary goals of the survey were to investigate the reliability of (sub)millimetre galaxy (SMG) samples, to analyse SMGs using flux ratios sensitive to redshift at z > 3, and to search for âSCUBA drop-outsâ, i.e. galaxies at z >> 3. We present the 1200ÎŒm number counts and find evidence of a fall at bright flux levels. Employing parametric models for the evolution of the local 60ÎŒm IRAS luminosity function (LF), we are able to account simultaneously for the 1200 and 850ÎŒm counts, suggesting that the MAMBO and SCUBA sources trace the same underlying population of high-redshift, dust-enshrouded galaxies. From a nearest-neighbour clustering analysis we find tentative evidence that themost significantMAMBO sources come in pairs, typically separated by 23âČâČ. Our MAMBO observations unambiguously confirm around half of the SCUBA sources. In a robust sub-sample of 13 SMGs detected by both MAMBO and SCUBA at a significance 3.5 , only one has no radio counterpart. Furthermore, the distribution of 850/1200ÎŒmflux density ratios for this sub-sample is consistent with the spectroscopic redshift distribution of radio-detected SMGs (Chapman et al. 2003). Finally, we have searched for evidence of a high-redshift tail of SMGs amongst the 18 MAMBO sources which are not detected by SCUBA. While we cannot rule out that some of them are SCUBA drop-outs at z >> 3, their overall 850-to-1200ÎŒm flux distribution is statistically indistinguishable from that of the 13 SMGS which were robustly identified by both MAMBO and SCUBA.Peer reviewe
Using network analysis for the prediction of treatment dropout in patients with mood and anxiety disorders: a methodological proof-of-concept study
There are large health, societal, and economic costs associated with attrition from psychological services. The recently emerged, innovative statistical tool of complex network analysis was used in the present proof-of-concept study to improve the prediction of attrition. Fifty-eight patients undergoing psychological treatment for mood or anxiety disorders were assessed using Ecological Momentary Assessments four times a day for two weeks before treatment (3,248 measurements). Multilevel vector autoregressive models were employed to compute dynamic symptom networks. Intake variables and network parameters (centrality measures) were used as predictors for dropout using machine-learning algorithms. Networks for patients differed significantly between completers and dropouts. Among intake variables, initial impairment and sex predicted dropout explaining 6% of the variance. The network analysis identified four additional predictors: Expected force of being excited, outstrength of experiencing social support, betweenness of feeling nervous, and instrength of being active. The final model with the two intake and four network variables explained 32% of variance in dropout and identified 47 out of 58 patients correctly. The findings indicate that patientsâ dynamic network structures may improve the prediction of dropout. When implemented in routine care, such prediction models could identify patients at risk for attrition and inform personalized treatment recommendations.This work was supported by the German Research Foundation National Institute (DFG, Grant nos. LU 660/8-1 and LU 660/10-1 to W. Lutz). The funder of the study had no role in study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, or writing of the manuscript. The corresponding author had access to all data in the study and had final responsibility for the decision to submit for publication. Dr. Hofmann receives financial support from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (as part of the Humboldt Prize), NIH/NCCIH (R01AT007257), NIH/NIMH (R01MH099021, U01MH108168), and the James S. McDonnell Foundation 21st Century Science Initiative in Understanding Human Cognition - Special Initiative. (LU 660/8-1 - German Research Foundation National Institute (DFG); LU 660/10-1 - German Research Foundation National Institute (DFG); Alexander von Humboldt Foundation; R01AT007257 - NIH/NCCIH; R01MH099021 - NIH/NIMH; U01MH108168 - NIH/NIMH; James S. McDonnell Foundation 21st Century Science Initiative in Understanding Human Cognition - Special Initiative)Accepted manuscrip
The Initial Mass Functions in the Super-Star-Clusters NGC 1569A and NGC 1705-1
I use recent photometric and stellar velocity dispersion measurements of the
super-star-clusters (SSCs) NGC 1569A and NGC 1705-1 to determine their
present-day luminosity/mass (L_V/M) ratios. I then use the inferred L_V/M
ratios, together with population synthesis models of evolving star-clusters, to
constrain the initial-mass-functions (IMFs) in these objects.
I find that (L_V/M)_solar=28.9 in 1569A, and (L_V/M)_solar=126 in 1705-1. It
follows that in 1569A the IMF is steep with alpha~2.5 for m**(-alpha)dm IMFs
which extend to 0.1 M_sun. This implies that most of the stellar mass in 1569A
is contained in low-mass (< 1 M_sun) stars. However, in 1705-1 the IMF is
either flat, with alpha<2$, or it is truncated at a lower mass-limit between 1
and 3 M_sun.
I compare the inferred IMFs with the mass functions (MFs) of Galactic
globular clusters. It appears that 1569A has a sufficient reservoir of low-mass
stars for it to plausibly evolve into an object similar to Galactic globular
clusters. However, the apparent deficiency of low-mass stars in 1705-1 may make
it difficult for this SSC to become a globular cluster. If low-mass stars do
dominate the cluster mass in 1705-1, the large L_V/M ratio in this SSC may be
evidence that the most massive stars have formed close to the cluster cores.Comment: ApJ, in press. 19 Pages, Latex; [email protected]
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