A search for Higgs boson pair production in the bbbb final state is carried out with up to 36.1 fb(-1) of LHC proton-proton collision data collected at s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector in 2015 and 2016. Three benchmark signals are studied: a spin-2 graviton decaying into a Higgs boson pair, a scalar resonance decaying into a Higgs boson pair, and Standard Model non-resonant Higgs boson pair production. Two analyses are carried out, each implementing a particular technique for the event reconstruction that targets Higgs bosons reconstructed as pairs of jets or single boosted jets. The resonance mass range covered is 260-3000 GeV. The analyses are statistically combined and upper limits on the production cross section of Higgs boson pairs times branching ratio to bbbb are set in each model. No significant excess is observed; the largest deviation of data over prediction is found at a mass of 280 GeV, corresponding to 2.3 standard deviations globally. The observed 95% confidence level upper limit on the non-resonant production is 13 times the Standard Model prediction.
Results of a search for the pair production of photon-jets-collimated groupings of photons-in the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider are reported. Highly collimated photon-jets can arise from the decay of new, highly boosted particles that can decay to multiple photons collimated enough to be identified in the electromagnetic calorimeter as a single, photonlike energy cluster. Data from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.7 fb(-1), were collected in 2015 and 2016. Candidate photon-jet pair production events are selected from those containing two reconstructed photons using a set of identification criteria much less stringent than that typically used for the selection of photons, with additional criteria applied to provide improved sensitivity to photon-jets. Narrow excesses in the reconstructed diphoton mass spectra are searched for. The observed mass spectra are consistent with the Standard Model background expectation. The results are interpreted in the context of a model containing a new, high-mass scalar particle with narrow width, X, that decays into pairs of photon-jets via new, light particles, a. Upper limits are placed on the cross section times the product of branching ratios sigma x B(X -> aa) x B(a -> gamma gamma)(2) for 200 GeV < m(X) < 2 TeV and for ranges of m(a) from a lower mass of 100 MeV up to between 2 and 10 GeV, depending upon m(X). Upper limits are also placed on sigma x B(X -> aa) x B(a -> 3 pi(0))(2) for the same range of m(X) and for ranges of m(a) from a lower mass of 500 MeV up to between 2 and 10 GeV.
The polypyrrole/titanium dioxide nano composites and polypyrrole/titanium dioxide-MWCNT nano composites were synthesized by chemical polymerization technique in the presence of an ammonium persulphate (oxidizing agent). Different concentrations viz. 15, 30, 45 and 60 wt% of titanium dioxide (TiO2) as well as mixture of TiO2-MWCNT in polypyrrole (PPy) respectively were used in the present study. The nano composites have almost spherical type shaped particles which have cluster formation as confirmed from SEM photos. The XRD graphs reveal that the PPy/TiO2 (PT) nano composites have shown the semi-crystalline nature and also, the graphs indicate the changeover of the structure of PPy/TiO2-MWCNT (PTM) nano composites from amorphous to semi-crystalline nature. From the FTIR figures, shift in wavenumber towards lower side is noticed in the case of PT and PTM nano composites when compared to PPy. The dielectric properties such as dielectric constant, dielectric loss and tangent loss have shown good behavior. This reveals that, the TiO2 as well as mixture of TiO2-MWCNT particles have shown strong dependence on PPy and helps to form good composites. So, the nano composites are good dielectric materials.
There has been a growing interest in understanding how firms allocate their trucks across hauls, and how this allocation changes under various economic environments. This study investigates how variations in route/haul, carrier and vehicle characteristics affect the optimal vehicle size choice and the associated choice of shipment size. We show that the two choices are derived from the same optimization problem. There can be a continuum of shipment sizes, but decision-makers in freight transport have to choose from a limited number of vehicle alternatives. Therefore, we use a discrete-continuous econometric model where shipment size is modeled as a continuous variable, and vehicle size/type choice as a discrete variable. The results indicate that when faced with higher demand, and during longer trips firms are more likely to use heavier vehicles and ship in larger quantities which suggest that firms are realizing economies of scale and economies of distance. The study also discusses the effect of vehicle operating cost on the vehicle selection process and its policy implications.
Zinc-based nanostructured nickel (Ni) free metal oxide electrode material Zn-0.60/CU0.20Mn0.20 oxide (CMZO) was synthesized by solid state reaction and investigated for low temperature solid oxide fuel cell (LTSOFC) applications. The crystal structure and surface morphology of the synthesized electrode material were examined by XRD and SEM techniques respectively. The particle size of ZnO phase estimated by Scherer's equation was 31.50 nm. The maximum electrical conductivity was found to be 12.567 S/cm and 5.846 S/cm in hydrogen and air atmosphere, respectively at 600 degrees C. The activation energy of the CMZO material was also calculated from the DC conductivity data using Arrhenius plots and it was found to be 0.060 and 0.075 eV in hydrogen and air atmosphere, respectively. The CMZO electrode-based fuel cell was tested using carbonated samarium doped ceria composite (NSDC) electrolyte. The three layers 13 mm in diameter and 1 mm thickness of the symmetric fuel cell were fabricated by dry pressing. The maximum power density of 728.86 mW/cm(2) was measured at 550 degrees C.
Zn-based nanostructured Ba0.05Cu0.25Fe0.10Zn0.60O (BCFZ) oxide electrode material was synthesized by solid-state reaction for low-temperature solid oxide fuel cell. The cell was fabricated by sandwiching NK-CDC electrolyte between BCFZ electrodes by dry press technique, and its performance was assessed. The maximum power density of 741.87 mW-cm(-2) was achieved at 550 degrees C. The crystal structure and morphology were characterized by X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and SEM. The particle size was calculated to be 25 nm applying Scherer's formula from XRD data. Electronic conductivities were measured with the four-probe DC method under hydrogen and air atmosphere. AC Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy of the BCFZ oxide electrode was also measured in hydrogen atmosphere at 450 degrees C.
A novel three-layer anode having the composition Ti/TiHx/Ni-Sb-SnO2 (Ti/TiHx/NATO) was successfully prepared by a spin-coating and pyrolysis process aiming at a long service lifetime and good electrocatalytic properties for ozone formation. The TiHx as an interlayer was produced by electrochemical cathodic reduction of a coated layer of the TiOx on the titanium substrate. Spin coating and thermal decomposition were used to deposit the Sn-Sb-Ni precursor on the surface of the prepared Ti/TiHx electrode. Cyclic and linear scanning voltammetry, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to reveal the electrode performance and morphology. Results show that the onset potential for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) of Ti/TiHx /NATO is higher than for Ti/NATO. They also indicate that the service lifetime of the Ti/TiHx/NATO is twice as long as the Ti/NATO at a current density of 50 mA.cm(-2) at room temperature. Electrochemical ozone generation and degradation of the methylene blue were investigated to confirm selectivity and activity of the electrodes. After 5 min electrolysis, a current efficiency for ozone generation of 56% was obtained the electrode with TiHx while 38% was obtained on Ti/NATO under same conditions. The results also confirm that the Ti/TiH x /NATO has a higher kinetic rate constant and decolorization efficiency for removal of the methylene blue compare to the Ti/NATO. The rate constant for the pseudo-first ordered reaction of methylene blue degradation showed high values of 350 x 10(-3) min(-1) for Ti/NATO and 440 x 10(-3) min(-1) for Ti/TiHx/NATO.
JEM-EUSO is a space mission designed to investigate Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays and Neutrinos (E > 5.10(19) eV) from the International Space Station (ISS). Looking down from above its wide angle telescope is able to observe their air showers and collect such data from a very wide area. Highly specific trigger algorithms are needed to drastically reduce the data load in the presence of both atmospheric and human activity related background light, yet retain the rare cosmic ray events recorded in the telescope. We report the performance in offline testing of the first level trigger algorithm on data from JEM-EUSO prototypes and laboratory measurements observing different light sources: data taken during a high altitude balloon flight over Canada, laser pulses observed from the ground traversing the real atmosphere, and model landscapes reproducing realistic aspect ratios and light conditions as would be seen from the ISS itself. The first level trigger logic successfully kept the trigger rate within the permissible bounds when challenged with artificially produced as well as naturally encountered night sky background fluctuations and while retaining events with general air-shower characteristics.
The Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has collected the largest ever sample of high-energy cosmic-ray electron and positron events since the beginning of its operation. Potential anisotropies in the arrival directions of cosmic-ray electrons or positrons could be a signature of the presence of nearby sources. We use almost seven years of data with energies above 42 GeV processed with the Pass 8 reconstruction. The present data sample can probe dipole anisotropies down to a level of 10(-3). We take into account systematic effects that could mimic true anisotropies at this level. We present a detailed study of the event selection optimization of the cosmic-ray electrons and positrons to be used for anisotropy searches. Since no significant anisotropies have been detected on any angular scale, we present upper limits on the dipole anisotropy. The present constraints are among the strongest to date probing the presence of nearby young and middle-aged sources.
The light emitted by all galaxies over the history of the Universe produces the extragalactic background light (EBL) at ultraviolet, optical, and infrared wavelengths. The EBL is a source of opacity for gamma rays via photon-photon interactions, leaving an imprint in the spectra of distant gamma-ray sources. We measured this attenuation using 739 active galaxies and one gamma-ray burst detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope. This allowed us to reconstruct the evolution of the EBL and determine the star formation history of the Universe over 90% of cosmic time. Our star formation history is consistent with independent measurements from galaxy surveys, peaking at redshift z similar to 2. Upper limits of the EBL at the epoch of reionization suggest a turnover in the abundance of faint galaxies at z similar to 6.
The Design for Repeatedly Utilization (DFRU) is a proposed conceptto be used in the product realizationprocess to ensure optimum useable life (forinstance in terms of economy, resourceusage, environmental impact etc.) ofproducts or parts of products enablingmultiple lifecycle. In the DFRU approachproducts are restored as new like productsthrough remanufacturing processes. Theterm remanufacturing has been interpreteddifferently by different researchers and theindustries that are involved inremanufacturing business use differentapproaches to remanufacture theirproducts. In this paper the starter motorand alternator of automotives has beenused to demonstrate the novel concepts.The purpose of this paper is to expresswhat remanufacturing means in ourconcept, model their major lifecycleaspects and create a simulation modelfrom it. This is a preliminary work towardsdefining and specifying the processes,methods and design properties in DFRU.The work will be further extended to aholistic business model which can facilitateDFRU approach in an efficient way. Infuture the model will be developed andadopted to create new models for otherproducts appropriate for remanufacturingand eventually DFRU.
In this research, we attempt to generate fonts automatically using a modification of a Deep Convolutional Generative Adversarial Network (DCGAN) by introducing class consideration. DCGANs are the application of generative adversarial networks (GAN) which make use of convolutional and deconvolutional layers to generate data through adversarial detection. The conventional GAN is comprised of two neural networks that work in series. Specifically, it approaches an unsupervised method of data generation with the use of a generative network whose output is fed into a second discriminative network. While DCGANs have been successful on natural images, we show its limited ability on font generation due to the high variation of fonts combined with the need of rigid structures of characters. We propose a class discriminative DCGAN which uses a classification network to work alongside the discriminative network to refine the generative network. This results of our experiment shows a dramatic improvement over the conventional DCGAN.
The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) collaboration recently published their 2HWC catalog, listing 39 very high energy (VHE; >100 GeV) gamma-ray sources based on 507 days of observation. Among these, 19 sources are not associated with previously known teraelectronvolt (TeV) gamma-ray sources. We have studied 14 of these sources without known counterparts with VERITAS and Fermi-LAT. VERITAS detected weak gamma-ray emission in the 1 TeV-30 TeV band in the region of DA 495, a pulsar wind nebula coinciding with 2HWC J1953+294, confirming the discovery of the source by HAWC. We did not find any counterpart for the selected 14 new HAWC sources from our analysis of Fermi-LAT data for energies higher than 10 GeV. During the search, we detected gigaelectronvolt (GeV) gamma-ray emission coincident with a known TeV pulsar wind nebula, SNR G54.1+0.3 (VER J1930+188), and a 2HWC source, 2HWC J1930+188. The fluxes for isolated, steady sources in the 2HWC catalog are generally in good agreement with those measured by imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. However, the VERITAS fluxes for SNR G54.1+0.3, DA 495, and TeV J2032+4130 are lower than those measured by HAWC, and several new HAWC sources are not detected by VERITAS. This is likely due to a change in spectral shape, source extension, or the influence of diffuse emission in the source region.
The Fornax galaxy cluster was observed with the High Energy Stereoscopic System for a total live time of 14.5 hr, searching for very high energy (VHE; E > 100GeV) gamma-rays from dark matter (DM) annihilation. No significant signal was found in searches for point-like and extended emissions. Using several models of the DM density distribution, upper limits on the DM velocity-weighted annihilation cross-section <sigma upsilon > as a function of the DM particle mass are derived. Constraints are derived for different DM particle models, such as those arising from Kaluza-Klein and supersymmetric models. Various annihilation final states are considered. Possible enhancements of the DM annihilation gamma-ray flux, due to DM substructures of the DM host halo, or from the Sommerfeld effect, are studied. Additional gamma-ray contributions from internal bremsstrahlung and inverse Compton radiation are also discussed. For a DM particle mass of 1 TeV, the exclusion limits at 95% of confidence level reach values of <sigma upsilon >(95% C.L.) similar to 10(-23) cm(3) s(-1), depending on the DM particle model and halo properties. Additional contribution from DM substructures can improve the upper limits on <sigma upsilon > by more than two orders of magnitude. At masses around 4.5 TeV, the enhancement by substructures and the Sommerfeld resonance effect results in a velocity-weighted annihilation cross-section upper limit at the level of <sigma upsilon >(95% C.L.) similar to 10(-26) cm(3) s(-1).
We present a combined method for estimating a new global Moho model named KTH15C, containing Moho depth and Moho density contrast (or shortly Moho parameters), from a combination of global models of gravity (GOCO05S), topography (DTM2006) and seismic information (CRUST1.0 and MDN07) to a resolution of 1 degrees x 1 degrees based on a solution of Vening Meinesz-Moritz' inverse problem of isostasy. This paper also aims modelling of the observation standard errors propagated from the Vening Meinesz-Moritz and CRUST1.0 models in estimating the uncertainty of the final Moho model. The numerical results yield Moho depths ranging from 6.5 to 70.3 km, and the estimated Moho density contrasts ranging from 21 to 650 kg/m(3), respectively. Moreover, test computations display that in most areas estimated uncertainties in the parameters are less than 3 km and 50 kg/m(3), respectively, but they reach to more significant values under Gulf of Mexico, Chile, Eastern Mediterranean, Timor sea and parts of polar regions. Comparing the Moho depths estimated by KTH15C and those derived by KTH11C, GEMMA2012C, CRUST1.0, KTH14C, CRUST14 and GEMMA1.0 models shows that KTH15C agree fairly well with CRUST1.0 but rather poor with other models. The Moho density contrasts estimated by KTH15C and those of the KTH11C, KTH14C and VMM model agree to 112, 31 and 61 kg/m(3) in RMS. The regional numerical studies show that the RMS differences between KTH15C and Moho depths from seismic information yields fits of 2 to 4 km in South and North America, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and Antarctica, respectively.
—Work-related injuries and disorders constitute a major burden and cost for employers, society in general and workers in particular. We@Work is a project that aims to develop an integrated solution for promoting and supporting a safe and healthy working life by combining wearable technologies, Big Data analytics, ergonomics, and information and communication technologies. The We@Work solution aims to support the worker and employer to ensure a healthy working life through pervasive monitoring for early warnings, prompt detection of capacity-loss and accurate risk assessments at workplace as well as self-management of a healthy working life. A multiservice platform will allow unobtrusive data collection at workplaces. Big Data analytics will provide real-time information useful to prevent work injuries and support healthy working life
The gamma-ray sky has been observed with unprecedented accuracy in the last decade by the Fermi-large area telescope (LAT), allowing us to resolve and understand the high-energy Universe. The nature of the remaining unresolved emission [unresolved gamma-ray background (UGRB)] below the LAT source detection threshold can be uncovered by characterizing the amplitude and angular scale of the UGRB fluctuation field. This Letter presents a measurement of the UGRB autocorrelation angular power spectrum based on eight years of Fermi-LAT Pass 8 data products. The analysis is designed to be robust against contamination from resolved sources and noise systematics. The sensitivity to subthreshold sources is greatly enhanced with respect to previous measurements. We find evidence (with similar to 3.7 sigma significance) that the scenario in which two classes of sources contribute to the UGRB signal is favored over a single class. A double power law with exponential cutoff can explain the anisotropy energy spectrum well, with photon indices of the two populations being 2.55 +/- 0.23 and 1.86 +/- 0.15.
The spatial extension of gamma-ray source is an essential ingredient to determine its spectral properties, as well as its potential multiwavelength counterpart. The capability to spatially resolve gamma-ray sources is greatly improved by the newly delivered Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT) Pass 8 event-level analysis, which provides a greater acceptance and an improved point-spread function, two crucial factors for the detection of extended sources. Here, we present a complete search for extended sources located within 7 degrees from the Galactic plane, using 6 yr of Fermi-LAT data above 10 GeV. We find 46 extended sources and provide their morphological and spectral characteristics. This constitutes the first catalog of hard Fermi-LAT extended sources, named the Fermi Galactic Extended Source Catalog, which allows a thorough study of the properties of the Galactic plane in the sub-TeV domain.
Black holes with masses below approximately 10(15) g are expected to emit gamma-rays with energies above a few tens of MeV, which can be detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). Although black holes with these masses cannot be formed as a result of stellar evolution, they may have formed in the early universe and are therefore called primordial black holes (PBHs). Previous searches for PBHs have focused on either short-timescale bursts or the contribution of PBHs to the isotropic gamma-ray emission. We show that, in cases of individual PBHs, the Fermi-LAT is most sensitive to PBHs with temperatures above approximately 16 GeV and masses 6 x 10(11) g, which it can detect out to a distance of about 0.03 pc. These PBHs have a remaining lifetime of months to years at the start of the Fermi mission. They would appear as potentially moving point sources with gamma-ray emission that become spectrally harder and brighter with time until the PBH completely evaporates. In this paper, we develop a new algorithm to detect the proper motion of gamma-ray point sources, and apply it to 318 unassociated point sources at a high galactic latitude in the third Fermi-LAT source catalog. None of the unassociated point sources with spectra consistent with PBH evaporation show significant proper motion. Using the nondetection of PBH candidates, we derive a 99% confidence limit on the PBH evaporation rate in the vicinity of Earth, <(rho)over dot>(PBH) < 7.2 x 10(3) pc(-3) yr(-1). This limit is similar to the limits obtained with ground-based gamma-ray observatories.
Studying the prediction of new links in evolutionary networks is a captivating question that has received the interest of different disciplines. Link prediction allows to extract missing information and evaluate network dynamics. Some algorithms that tackle this problem with good performances are based on the sociability index, a measure of node interactions over time. In this paper, we present a case study of this predictor in the evolutionary graph that represents the CCIA co-authorship network from 2005 to 2015. Moreover, we present a generalized version of this sociability index, that takes into account the time in which such interactions occur. We show that this new index outperforms existing predictors. Finally, we use it in order to predict new co-authorships for CCIA 2016.
We present a novel microfluidic system that integrates droplet microfluidics with a silicon nanoribbon field-effect transistor (SiNR FET), and utilize this integrated system to sense differences in pH. The device allows for selective droplet transfer to a continuous water phase, actuated by dielectrophoresis, and subsequent detection of the pH level in the retrieved droplets by SiNR FETs on an electrical sensor chip. The integrated microfluidic system demonstrates a label-free detection method for droplet microfluidics, presenting an alternative to optical fluorescence detection. In this work, we were able to differentiate between droplet trains of one pH-unit difference. The pH-based detection method in our integrated system has the potential to be utilized in the detection of biochemical reactions that induce a pH-shift in the droplets.
We present here a new perovskite oxide with low lanthanum content doped in calcium manganite, La0.1Ca0.9MnO3 (LCM) as a functional material for low temperature solid oxide fuel cell (LTSOFC) and electrolyte-layer free fuel cell (EFFC). The LCM introduces an intrinsic mixed-ion and electron conduction. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analysis shows high oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity with an extremely low activation energy which enables an excellent cathode activity. Fuel cells using LCM as cathode with oxide ion conducting electrolyte samarium doped ceria (SDC) and NCAL as an anode, demonstrate a maximum power density of 650 mW cm(-2) at 550 degrees C, which is higher than most of the cathode materials reported for SOFC at this temperature. For EFFC, maximum power density of 750 mW cm(-2) is achieved using LCM as a semiconductor material with SDC ion conducting material. The present work highlights the development of new active air electrode especially for developing low temperature solid oxide fuel cells.
Small-scale woody biomass energy systems have an inherent ability to aid in emissions reduction while stimulating local economies and, as collective energy systems, are strongly connected to supply chain design based on local conditions and stakeholder integration. Despite an abundance of forest area alongside the promotion of biomass in energy policies, however, woody biomass utilization still remains low in Japan. The woody biomass supply chain, considered as a socio-technical system, involves a complex, cross-sectoral stakeholder network in which inter-organizational dynamics necessitates well-organized management based on an understanding of formal factors such as technology, as well as informal factors such as social relations and culture. In this paper, success factor perceptions from across the woody biomass supply chain are investigated based on semi-structured interviews with four stakeholders in the Kyushu region of Japan. Identified success factors here are: 1) respect of values & traditions, 2) transportation infrastructure, 3) business model integration, 4) relationship & trust, 5) local vitalization and 6) biomass quality control. A convergence as well as divergence of perceptions are observed, involving both formal and informal dimensions. Aiming to balance perceptions and to enable long-term success of woody biomass in Japan, a series of policy implications are drawn, including cross-ministerial integration, knowledge building on wood logistics, forest certification, local coordinators, biomass quality control standards and a feed-in-tariff for heat. This paper suggests a new arena of policy-making based on the importance of considering both informal and formal dimensions in energy policy.
Herein, reduced graphene oxide (RGO) has been utilized as an efficient sorbent in microextraction by packed sorbent (MEPS). The combination of MEPS and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry has been used to develop a method for the extraction and determination of three local anesthetics (i.e. lidocaine, prilocaine, and ropivacaine) in human plasma and saliva samples. The results showed that the utilization of RGO in MEPS could minimize the matrix effect so that no interfering peaks at the retention times of the analytes or internal standard was observed. The high extraction efficiency of this method was approved by mean recoveries of 97.26-106.83% and 95.21-105.83% for the studied analytes in plasma and saliva samples, respectively. Intra- and inter-day accuracies and precisions for all analytes were in good accordance with the international regulations. The accuracy values (as percentage deviation from the nominal value) of the quality control samples were between - 2.1 to 13.9 for lidocaine, - 4.2 to 11.0 for prilocaine and between - 4.5 to - 2.4 for ropivacaine in plasma samples while the values were ranged from - 4.6 to 1.6 for lidocaine, from - 4.2 to 15.5 for prilocaine and from - 3.3 to - 2.3 for ropivacaine in human saliva samples. Lower and upper limit of quantification (LLOQ, ULOQ) were set at 5 and 2000 nmol L-1 for all of the studied drugs. The correlation coefficients values were >= 0.995. The limit of detection values were obtained 4 nmol L-1 for lidocaine and prilocaine, and 2 nmol L-1 for ropivacaine.
This paper discusses novel joint (intracell and intercell) resource allocation algorithms for self-organized interference coordination in multicarrier multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) small cell networks. The proposed algorithms enable interference coordination autonomously, over multiple degrees of freedom, such as base station transmit powers, transmit precoders, and user scheduling weights. A generic a-fair utility maximization framework is considered to analyze performance-fairness tradeoff and to quantify the gains achievable in interference-limited networks. The proposed scheme involves limited inter-base station signaling in the form of two step (power and precoder) pricing. Based on this decentralized coordination, autonomous power and precoder update decision rules are considered, leading to algorithms with different characteristics in terms of user data rates, signaling load, and convergence speed. Simulation results in a practical setting show that the proposed pricing-based self-organization can achieve up to 100% improvement in cell-edge data rates when compared to baseline optimization strategies. Furthermore, the convergence of the proposed algorithms is also proved theoretically.
The flat-spectrum radio quasar PKS 1441+25 at a redshift of z = 0.940 is detected between 40 and 250 GeV with a significance of 25.5σ using the MAGIC telescopes. Together with the gravitationally lensed blazar QSO B0218+357 (z = 0.944), PKS 1441+25 is the most distant very high energy (VHE) blazar detected to date. The observations were triggered by an outburst in 2015 April seen at GeV energies with the Large Area Telescope on board Fermi. Multi-wavelength observations suggest a subdivision of the high state into two distinct flux states. In the band covered by MAGIC, the variability timescale is estimated to be 6.4 ±1.9 days. Modeling the broadband spectral energy distribution with an external Compton model, the location of the emitting region is understood as originating in the jet outside the broad-line region (BLR) during the period of high activity, while being partially within the BLR during the period of low (typical) activity. The observed VHE spectrum during the highest activity is used to probe the extragalactic background light at an unprecedented distance scale for ground-based gamma-ray astronomy.
We present the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) observations of the binary neutron star merger event GW170817 and the associated short gamma-ray burst (SGRB) GRB 170817A detected by the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor. The LAT was entering the South Atlantic Anomaly at the time of the LIGO/Virgo trigger (t(GW)) and therefore cannot place constraints on the existence of high-energy (E > 100 MeV) emission associated with the moment of binary coalescence. We focus instead on constraining high-energy emission on longer timescales. No candidate electromagnetic counterpart was detected by the LAT on timescales of minutes, hours, or days after the LIGO/Virgo detection. The resulting flux upper bound (at 95% C. L.) from the LAT is 4.5. x. 10(-10) erg cm(-2) s(-1) in the 0.1-1 GeV range covering a period from tGW. +. 1153 s to t(GW). +. 2027 s. At the distance of GRB 170817A, this flux upper bound corresponds to a luminosity upper bound of 9.7. x. 10(43) erg s(-1), which is five orders of magnitude less luminous than the only other LAT SGRB with known redshift, GRB 090510. We also discuss the prospects for LAT detection of electromagnetic counterparts to future gravitational-wave events from Advanced LIGO/Virgo in the context of GW170817/GRB 170817A.
This work presents a compact, quad-band planar antenna intended for assimilation into flexible and conformal devices. The CPW-fed semicircular shaped prototype with rake-shaped slots is designed, realized and characterized experimentally. The frequency bands covered by the proposed radiator are centered at 2.5, 3.7, 5.5 and 8 GHz with measured impedance bandwidths of 16%, 13.5%, 11.8% and 14.63%, respectively. The proposed antenna is thus enabled to support WLAN, ISM, Bluetooth, WiMAX LTE and X-band applications. The antenna exhibits a significant gain. The radiation characteristics of the proposed radiator are measured in concave and convex bent shapes at various radii to analyze its flexibility. Performance of the antenna remains almost unaffected in the bent situation. Measurements demonstrate good coherence with simulations. The compactness and good performance of the design both in bent and unbent conditions proves it to be the better contender for future multiband conformal wireless applications.
KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Scania are entering the GCDC 2011 under the name Scoop –Stockholm Cooperative Driving. This paper is an introduction to their team and to the technical approach theyare using in their prototype system for GCDC 2011.
First-principles calculations are performed using density function theory to explore the effects of dopant Ca in ceria (Ce1-x CaxO2-delta). The impact of oxygen vacancy on band gap and density of states is examined in doped ceria using generalized gradient approximations. Vacancy association and vacancy formation energies of the doped ceria are calculated to reveal the effect of dopant on ion conduction. The experimental study of the sample Ce0.875Ca0.125O2-delta) was performed to compare with the theoretical results. The obtained results from theoretical calculation and experimental techniques show that oxygen vacancy increases the volume, lattice constant (5.47315 angstrom) but decrease the band gap (1.72 eV) and bulk modulus. The dopant radius (1.173 angstrom) and lattice constant (5.4718 angstrom) are also calculated by equations which is close to the DFT lattice parameter. The result shows that oxygen vacancy shifts the density of states to lower energy region. Band gap is decreased due to shifting of valence states to conduction band. Vacancy formation shows a significance increase in density of states near the Fermi level. Density of states at Fermi level is proportional to the conductivity, so an increase in density of states near the Fermi level increases the conductivity. The experimental measured ionic conductivity is found to 0.095 S cm(-1) at 600 degrees C. The microstructural studies is also reported in this work.
Charge injection and generation mechanisms under intense electric fields (up to 10(9)Vm(-1)) in mineral oil are assessed experimentally and numerically. For this, current-voltage characteristics under positive and negative polarities are measured in a needle-plane configuration using sharp needles (with tip radius R-tip <= 1.1 mu m). In addition, a state of the art electro-hydrodynamic (EHD) model is implemented to calculate the contribution of the different mechanisms on the high-field conduction currents in the liquid. In order to evaluate exclusively the contribution of field emission, experiments are also performed in vacuum. It is found that neither field emission nor field ionisation can explain the conduction currents measured in mineral oil. It is proposed that field molecular ionisation, as described by Zener tunnelling model for solids, and electron impact ionisation are the processes dominating the generation of excess electron-ion pairs in mineral oil under positive and negative polarity, respectively. It is also shown that Zener molecular ionisation alone grossly overestimates the measured currents when parameters previously suggested in the literature for mineral oil are used. Preliminary model parameters for these mechanisms that best fit the conduction currents measured in mineral oil are presented and discussed.
In this work we summarize the solution developed by Team KTH for the Amazon Picking Challenge 2016 in Leipzig, Germany. The competition simulated a warehouse automation scenario and it was divided in two tasks: a picking task where a robot picks items from a shelf and places them in a tote and a stowing task which is the inverse task where the robot picks items from a tote and places them in a shelf. We describe our approach to the problem starting from a high level overview of our system and later delving into details of our perception pipeline and our strategy for manipulation and grasping. The solution was implemented using a Baxter robot equipped with additional sensors.
Flexible culverts are generally considered cost-effective structures for their simplicity in construction and the short time involved in the erection process. This has constantly motivated practitioners to explore the different areas of application including their performance in sloping environment. Yet, the complex nature of the interaction between the soil and steel materials marks a challenge, where the performance of these structures is fundamentally influenced by the quality of the backfill soil and its configuration around the conduit/arch. Surface slopes may affect the structural response by inducing an asymmetrical soil support and an unbalanced earth loading.
The use of numerical simulation is utilized to provide insights about the performance of flexible culvert in sloping environment, where a case study of a high profile arch is investigated under different construction schemes. The paper focuses mainly on predicting the structural behavior of soil loading effects. The study includes the influence of different slopes in combination with various depths of soil cover.
The results enabled to realize the importance of soil configuration around the steel arch and its influence on the structural response. While the presence of surface slopes emphasizes the susceptibility of flexible culverts with low depths of soil cover, higher covers may help in reducing the effect of steep slopes. Sectional forces were found to increase with the increase of surface slopes. The study also highlighted recent research efforts on the topic and briefly discussed some design implications when building flexible culverts in sloping terrain.
Photonic semiconductor nanostructure assemblies offer unique possibilities for light manipulation as well as for tailoring light-matter interaction by appropriate choice of their geometrical and material properties. The material-structure combination offers a variety of options for wavelength specific applications, deriving from the electronic properties of semiconductors and optical properties of individual and assemblies of nanostructures (particles, disks, pillars/wires etc.). We present an overview of our research on optical coatings based on semiconductor nanostructure assemblies focusing on their optical properties, different fabrication technologies and selected application examples. Design and simulations of the optical coatings are performed by finite difference time domain calculations, and are used as a guideline for fabrication. We discuss different routes for fabrication of nanostructured optical films/coatings including directed assembly and patterning of nanoparticles from solution phase, solution synthesis, combination of dry etching and colloidal lithography, transfer printing, and generation of flexible polymer films with embedded nanostructures. The fabricated films are validated by optical measurements and some device specific properties such as omni-directional broad-band anti-reflection in solar cells and efficient light extraction in light emitting diodes are demonstrated.
The Becchi-Rouet-Stora-Tyutin (BRST) transformations and equations of motion of a gravity-two-form-dilaton system are derived from the product of two Yang-Mills theories in a BRST covariant form, to linear approximation. The inclusion of ghost fields facilitates the separation of the graviton and dilaton. The gravitational gauge fixing term is uniquely determined by those of the Yang-Mills factors which can be freely chosen. Moreover, the resulting gravity-two-form-dilaton Lagrangian is anti-BRST invariant and the BRST and anti-BRST charges anticommute as a direct consequence of the formalism.
We consider "twin supergravities"-pairs of supergravities with N+ and N- supersymmetries, N+ > N-, with identical bosonic sectors-in the context of tensoring super Yang-Mills multiplets. It is demonstrated that the pairs of twin supergravity theories are related through their left and right super YangMills factors. This procedure generates newtheories from old ones. In particular, the matter coupled N(-)twins in D = 3, 5, 6 and the N- = 1 twins inD = 4 have not, as far as we are aware, been obtained previously using the double-copy construction, adding to the growing list of double-copy constructible theories. The use of fundamental matter multiplets in the double-copy construction leads us to introduce a bifundamental scalar that couples to the well-known biadjoint scalar field. It is also shown that certain matter coupled supergravities admit more than one factorization into left and right super Yang-Mills-matter theories.
Using simple symmetry arguments we classify the ungauged D = 4, N = 2 supergravity theories, coupled to both vector and hyper multiplets through homogeneous scalar manifolds, that can be built as the product of N = 2 and N= 0 matter-coupled Yang-Mills gauge theories. This includes all such supergravities with two isolated exceptions: pure supergravity and the T-3 model.
Detailed knowledge of protein changes in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) across healthy and diseased individuals would provide a better understanding of the onset and progression of neurodegenerative disorders. In this study, we selected 20 brain-enriched proteins previously identified in CSF by antibody suspension bead arrays (SBA) to be potentially biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and verified these using an orthogonal approach. We examined the same set of 94 CSF samples from patients affected by AD (including preclinical and prodromal), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), non-AD dementia and healthy individuals, which had previously been analyzed by SBA. Twenty-eight parallel reaction monitoring (PRM) assays were developed and 13 of them could be validated for protein quantification. Antibody profiles were verified by PRM. For seven proteins, the antibody profiles were highly correlated with the PRM results (r > 0.7) and GAP43, VCAM1 and PSAP were identified as potential markers of preclinical AD. In conclusion, we demonstrate the usefulness of targeted mass spectrometry as a tool for the orthogonal verification of antibody profiling data, suggesting that these complementary methods can be successfully applied for comprehensive exploration of CSF protein levels in neurodegenerative disorders.
Environmental performance is one of the major considerations of future high-speed trains. Two main issues have been closely investigated in the Green Train programme, namely (1) energy use and (2) external noise. Analysis, development and testing in the Green Train programme have focused primarily on speeds up to 250 km/h, although the energy issues have also been studied at top speeds up to 320 km/h. The energy use is estimated for both long-distance trains with few stops and for fast regional services with relatively tight underway stops. These estimations result in an energy use of 46–62 Wh per passenger-km – or 30–40 Wh per seat-km – accounted as electricity taken from the public electric power grid. Improved aerodynamic performance, efficient space utilization, electric regenerative brakes, eco-driving advice and improved energy efficiency in the propulsion system make this possible. Trackside noise has also been analysed and tested in the programme. In order to maintain the same or lower noise level at 250 km/h as at lower speeds with current trains, a number of measures are proposed. These include bogie skirts, wheel absorbers and careful aerodynamic design of the front area and of all protruding objects. In sensitive residential areas, further improvement may be achieved with rail absorbers or low trackside screens.
Alloy 718, ATI 718Plus (R) and Waspaloy have been investigated in terms of what their respective solidification process reveals. Differential thermal analysis was used to approach the task together with secondary electron and back scattered electron detectors equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy detector. These experimental methods were used to construct pseudo binary phase diagrams that could aid in explaining solidification as well as liquation mechanisms in processes such as welding and casting. Furthermore, it was seen that Waspaloy has the smallest solidification range, followed by Alloy 718, and finally ATI 718Plus (R) possessing the largest solidification interval in comparison.
Several standard works in Sweden from the period 2000–2017 have been focused on converting visionary welfare political goals into down-to-earth-oriented guidelines for subsequent realization and implementation. The present paper is focused on the conversion of general welfare goals into standards that apply to areas that require a trans-disciplinary approach to address accessibility issues in built environment, services and transportation. The study suggests that standardization with a design for all perspective becomes an interpretive work in which words and phrases are contemplated in relation to the ethical stance of the national disability policy. This framework is situated at the very interface between real-life settings and visionary thinking. Consequently, participants in standardization works revolving around design for all activate several individual knowledge fields of ethical, ideological, practical and theoretical nature. In communal discussions between the participants, the development of standards proceeds through an analytical work that is like an iterative creative process that uses concepts, phrases and words as instruments. The overall conclusion is that standardization with a design for all approach has left the strict focus on products and started to target the design process in view of a built environment, products or services that are centered on the fit between the design and a wide range of human abilities.