1. |
- Schael, S., et al.
(author)
-
Electroweak measurements in electron positron collisions at W-boson-pair energies at LEP
- 2013
-
In: Physics Reports. - : Elsevier BV. - 0370-1573 .- 1873-6270. ; 532:4, s. 119-244
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Electroweak measurements performed with data taken at the electron positron collider LEP at CERN from 1995 to 2000 are reported. The combined data set considered in this report corresponds to a total luminosity of about 3 fb(-1) collected by the four LEP experiments ALEPH, DELPHI, 13 and OPAL, at centre-of-mass energies ranging from 130 GeV to 209 GeV. Combining the published results of the four LEP experiments, the measurements include total and differential cross-sections in photon-pair, fermion-pair and four-fermion production, the latter resulting from both double-resonant WW and ZZ production as well as singly resonant production. Total and differential cross-sections are measured precisely, providing a stringent test of the Standard Model at centre-of-mass energies never explored before in electron positron collisions. Final-state interaction effects in four-fermion production, such as those arising from colour reconnection and Bose Einstein correlations between the two W decay systems arising in WW production, are searched for and upper limits on the strength of possible effects are obtained. The data are used to determine fundamental properties of the W boson and the electroweak theory. Among others, the mass and width of the W boson, m(w) and Gamma(w), the branching fraction of W decays to hadrons, B(W -> had), and the trilinear gauge-boson self-couplings g(1)(Z), K-gamma and lambda(gamma), are determined to be: m(w) = 80.376 +/- 0.033 GeV Gamma(w) = 2.195 +/- 0.083 GeV B(W -> had) = 67.41 +/- 0.27% g(1)(Z) = 0.984(-0.020)(+0.018) K-gamma - 0.982 +/- 0.042 lambda(gamma) = 0.022 +/- 0.019. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
|
|
2. |
- Adrian-Martinez, S., et al.
(author)
-
A first search for coincident gravitational waves and high energy neutrinos using LIGO, Virgo and ANTARES data from 2007
- 2013
-
In: Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics. - : IOP Publishing. - 1475-7516. ; :6
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present the results of the first search for gravitational wave bursts associated with high energy neutrinos. Together, these messengers could reveal new, hidden sources that are not observed by conventional photon astronomy, particularly at high energy. Our search uses neutrinos detected by the underwater neutrino telescope ANTARES in its 5 line configuration during the period January - September 2007, which coincided with the fifth and first science runs of LIGO and Virgo, respectively. The LIGO-Virgo data were analysed for candidate gravitational-wave signals coincident in time and direction with the neutrino events. No significant coincident events were observed. We place limits on the density of joint high energy neutrino - gravitational wave emission events in the local universe, and compare them with densities of merger and core-collapse events.
|
|
3. |
- Abadie, J., et al.
(author)
-
All-sky search for gravitational-wave bursts in the second joint LIGO-Virgo run
- 2012
-
In: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 85:12
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present results from a search for gravitational-wave bursts in the data collected by the LIGO and Virgo detectors between July 7, 2009 and October 20, 2010: data are analyzed when at least two of the three LIGO-Virgo detectors are in coincident operation, with a total observation time of 207 days. The analysis searches for transients of duration less than or similar to 1 s over the frequency band 64-5000 Hz, without other assumptions on the signal waveform, polarization, direction or occurrence time. All identified events are consistent with the expected accidental background. We set frequentist upper limits on the rate of gravitational-wave bursts by combining this search with the previous LIGO-Virgo search on the data collected between November 2005 and October 2007. The upper limit on the rate of strong gravitational-wave bursts at the Earth is 1.3 events per year at 90% confidence. We also present upper limits on source rate density per year and Mpc(3) for sample populations of standard-candle sources. As in the previous joint run, typical sensitivities of the search in terms of the root-sum-squared strain amplitude for these waveforms lie in the range similar to 5 x 10(-22) Hz(-1/2) to similar to 1 x 10(-20) Hz(-1/2). The combination of the two joint runs entails the most sensitive all-sky search for generic gravitational-wave bursts and synthesizes the results achieved by the initial generation of interferometric detectors.
|
|
4. |
- Abadie, J., et al.
(author)
-
Search for Gravitational Waves Associated with Gamma-Ray Bursts during LIGO Science Run 6 and Virgo Science Runs 2 and 3
- 2012
-
In: Astrophysical Journal. - 0004-637X. ; 760:1
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present the results of a search for gravitational waves associated with 154 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) that were detected by satellite-based gamma-ray experiments in 2009-2010, during the sixth LIGO science run and the second and third Virgo science runs. We perform two distinct searches: a modeled search for coalescences of either two neutron stars or a neutron star and black hole, and a search for generic, unmodeled gravitational-wave bursts. We find no evidence for gravitational-wave counterparts, either with any individual GRB in this sample or with the population as a whole. For all GRBs we place lower bounds on the distance to the progenitor, under the optimistic assumption of a gravitational-wave emission energy of 10(-2) M-circle dot c(2) at 150 Hz, with a median limit of 17 Mpc. For short-hard GRBs we place exclusion distances on binary neutron star and neutron-star-black-hole progenitors, using astrophysically motivated priors on the source parameters, with median values of 16 Mpc and 28 Mpc, respectively. These distance limits, while significantly larger than for a search that is not aided by GRB satellite observations, are not large enough to expect a coincidence with a GRB. However, projecting these exclusions to the sensitivities of Advanced LIGO and Virgo, which should begin operation in 2015, we find that the detection of gravitational waves associated with GRBs will become quite possible.
|
|
5. |
- Aasi, J., et al.
(author)
-
Einstein@Home all-sky search for periodic gravitational waves in LIGO S5 data
- 2013
-
In: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 87:4
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper presents results of an all-sky search for periodic gravitational waves in the frequency range [50, 1190] Hz and with frequency derivative range of similar to[-20, 1.1] x 10(-10) Hz s(-1) for the fifth LIGO science run (S5). The search uses a noncoherent Hough-transform method to combine the information from coherent searches on time scales of about one day. Because these searches are very computationally intensive, they have been carried out with the Einstein@Home volunteer distributed computing project. Postprocessing identifies eight candidate signals; deeper follow-up studies rule them out. Hence, since no gravitational wave signals have been found, we report upper limits on the intrinsic gravitational wave strain amplitude h(0). For example, in the 0.5 Hz-wide band at 152.5 Hz, we can exclude the presence of signals with h(0) greater than 7.6 x 10(-25) at a 90% confidence level. This search is about a factor 3 more sensitive than the previous Einstein@Home search of early S5 LIGO data.
|
|
6. |
- Aasi, J., et al.
(author)
-
Parameter estimation for compact binary coalescence signals with the first generation gravitational-wave detector network
- 2013
-
In: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 88:6
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Compact binary systems with neutron stars or black holes are one of the most promising sources for ground-based gravitational-wave detectors. Gravitational radiation encodes rich information about source physics; thus parameter estimation and model selection are crucial analysis steps for any detection candidate events. Detailed models of the anticipated waveforms enable inference on several parameters, such as component masses, spins, sky location and distance, that are essential for new astrophysical studies of these sources. However, accurate measurements of these parameters and discrimination of models describing the underlying physics are complicated by artifacts in the data, uncertainties in the waveform models and in the calibration of the detectors. Here we report such measurements on a selection of simulated signals added either in hardware or software to the data collected by the two LIGO instruments and the Virgo detector during their most recent joint science run, including a "blind injection'' where the signal was not initially revealed to the collaboration. We exemplify the ability to extract information about the source physics on signals that cover the neutron-star and black-hole binary parameter space over the component mass range 1M(circle dot)-25M(circle dot) and the full range of spin parameters. The cases reported in this study provide a snapshot of the status of parameter estimation in preparation for the operation of advanced detectors.
|
|
7. |
- Aasi, J., et al.
(author)
-
Search for gravitational waves from binary black hole inspiral, merger, and ringdown in LIGO-Virgo data from 2009-2010
- 2013
-
In: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 87:2
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report a search for gravitational waves from the inspiral, merger and ringdown of binary black holes (BBH) with total mass between 25 and 100 solar masses, in data taken at the LIGO and Virgo observatories between July 7, 2009 and October 20, 2010. The maximum sensitive distance of the detectors over this period for a (20, 20)M-circle dot coalescence was 300 Mpc. No gravitational wave signals were found. We thus report upper limits on the astrophysical coalescence rates of BBH as a function of the component masses for nonspinning components, and also evaluate the dependence of the search sensitivity on component spins aligned with the orbital angular momentum. We find an upper limit at 90% confidence on the coalescence rate of BBH with nonspinning components of mass between 19 and 28M(circle dot) of 3:3 x 10(-7) mergers Mpc(-3) yr(-1).
|
|
8. |
- Abadie, J., et al.
(author)
-
First low-latency LIGO plus Virgo search for binary inspirals and their electromagnetic counterparts
- 2012
-
In: Astronomy & Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 541
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Aims. The detection and measurement of gravitational-waves from coalescing neutron-star binary systems is an important science goal for ground-based gravitational-wave detectors. In addition to emitting gravitational-waves at frequencies that span the most sensitive bands of the LIGO and Virgo detectors, these sources are also amongst the most likely to produce an electromagnetic counterpart to the gravitational-wave emission. A joint detection of the gravitational-wave and electromagnetic signals would provide a powerful new probe for astronomy. Methods. During the period between September 19 and October 20, 2010, the first low-latency search for gravitational-waves from binary inspirals in LIGO and Virgo data was conducted. The resulting triggers were sent to electromagnetic observatories for followup. We describe the generation and processing of the low-latency gravitational-wave triggers. The results of the electromagnetic image analysis will be described elsewhere. Results. Over the course of the science run, three gravitational-wave triggers passed all of the low-latency selection cuts. Of these, one was followed up by several of our observational partners. Analysis of the gravitational-wave data leads to an estimated false alarm rate of once every 6.4 days, falling far short of the requirement for a detection based solely on gravitational-wave data.
|
|
9. |
- Abadie, J., et al.
(author)
-
Search for gravitational waves from intermediate mass binary black holes
- 2012
-
In: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 85:10
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present the results of a weakly modeled burst search for gravitational waves from mergers of nonspinning intermediate mass black holes in the total mass range 100-450 M-circle dot and with the component mass ratios between 1: and 4:1. The search was conducted on data collected by the LIGO and Virgo detectors between November of 2005 and October of 2007. No plausible signals were observed by the search which constrains the astrophysical rates of the intermediate mass black holes mergers as a function of the component masses. In the most efficiently detected bin centered on 88 + 88 M-circle dot, for nonspinning sources, the rate density upper limit is 0.13 per Mpc(3) per Myr at the 90% confidence level.
|
|
10. |
- Abadie, J., et al.
(author)
-
Upper limits on a stochastic gravitational-wave background using LIGO and Virgo interferometers at 600-1000 Hz
- 2012
-
In: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 85:12
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A stochastic background of gravitational waves is expected to arise from a superposition of many incoherent sources of gravitational waves, of either cosmological or astrophysical origin. This background is a target for the current generation of ground-based detectors. In this article we present the first joint search for a stochastic background using data from the LIGO and Virgo interferometers. In a frequency band of 600-1000 Hz, we obtained a 95% upper limit on the amplitude of Omega(GW)(f) = Omega(3)(f/900 Hz)(3), of Omega(3) < 0.32, assuming a value of the Hubble parameter of h(100) = 0.71. These new limits are a factor of seven better than the previous best in this frequency band.
|
|
11. |
- Evans, P. A., et al.
(author)
-
Swift Follow-up Observations of Candidate Gravitational-wave Transient Events
- 2012
-
In: The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0067-0049 .- 1538-4365. ; 203:2
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present the first multi-wavelength follow-up observations of two candidate gravitational-wave (GW) transient events recorded by LIGO and Virgo in their 2009-2010 science run. The events were selected with low latency by the network of GW detectors (within less than 10 minutes) and their candidate sky locations were observed by the Swift observatory (within 12 hr). Image transient detection was used to analyze the collected electromagnetic data, which were found to be consistent with background. Off-line analysis of the GW data alone has also established that the selected GW events show no evidence of an astrophysical origin; one of them is consistent with background and the other one was a test, part of a "blind injection challenge." With this work we demonstrate the feasibility of rapid follow-ups of GW transients and establish the sensitivity improvement joint electromagnetic and GW observations could bring. This is a first step toward an electromagnetic follow-up program in the regime of routine detections with the advanced GW instruments expected within this decade. In that regime, multi-wavelength observations will play a significant role in completing the astrophysical identification of GW sources. We present the methods and results from this first combined analysis and discuss its implications in terms of sensitivity for the present and future instruments.
|
|
12. |
- Abadie, J., et al.
(author)
-
Implementation and testing of the first prompt search for gravitational wave transients with electromagnetic counterparts
- 2012
-
In: Astronomy & Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 539
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Aims. A transient astrophysical event observed in both gravitational wave (GW) and electromagnetic (EM) channels would yield rich scientific rewards. A first program initiating EM follow-ups to possible transient GW events has been developed and exercised by the LIGO and Virgo community in association with several partners. In this paper, we describe and evaluate the methods used to promptly identify and localize GW event candidates and to request images of targeted sky locations. Methods. During two observing periods (Dec. 17, 2009 to Jan. 8, 2010 and Sep. 2 to Oct. 20, 2010), a low-latency analysis pipeline was used to identify GW event candidates and to reconstruct maps of possible sky locations. A catalog of nearby galaxies and Milky Way globular clusters was used to select the most promising sky positions to be imaged, and this directional information was delivered to EM observatories with time lags of about thirty minutes. A Monte Carlo simulation has been used to evaluate the low-latency GW pipeline's ability to reconstruct source positions correctly. Results. For signals near the detection threshold, our low-latency algorithms often localized simulated GW burst signals to tens of square degrees, while neutron star/neutron star inspirals and neutron star/black hole inspirals were localized to a few hundred square degrees. Localization precision improves for moderately stronger signals. The correct sky location of signals well above threshold and originating from nearby galaxies may be observed with similar to 50% or better probability with a few pointings of wide-field telescopes.
|
|
13. |
- Abadie, J., et al.
(author)
-
Search for gravitational waves from low mass compact binary coalescence in LIGO's sixth science run and Virgo's science runs 2 and 3
- 2012
-
In: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 85:8
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report on a search for gravitational waves from coalescing compact binaries using LIGO and Virgo observations between July 7, 2009, and October 20, 2010. We searched for signals from binaries with total mass between 2 and 25M(circle dot); this includes binary neutron stars, binary black holes, and binaries consisting of a black hole and neutron star. The detectors were sensitive to systems up to 40 Mpc distant for binary neutron stars, and further for higher mass systems. No gravitational-wave signals were detected. We report upper limits on the rate of compact binary coalescence as a function of total mass, including the results from previous LIGO and Virgo observations. The cumulative 90% confidence rate upper limits of the binary coalescence of binary neutron star, neutron star-black hole, and binary black hole systems are 1.3 x 10(-4), 3.1 x 10(-5), and 6.4 x 10(-6) Mpc(-3) yr(-1), respectively. These upper limits are up to a factor 1.4 lower than previously derived limits. We also report on results from a blind injection challenge.
|
|
14. |
- Abadie, J., et al.
(author)
-
All-sky search for periodic gravitational waves in the full S5 LIGO data
- 2012
-
In: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 85:2
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report on an all-sky search for periodic gravitational waves in the frequency band 50-800 Hz and with the frequency time derivative in the range of 0 through -6 x 10(-9) Hz/s. Such a signal could be produced by a nearby spinning and slightly nonaxisymmetric isolated neutron star in our Galaxy. After recent improvements in the search program that yielded a 10x increase in computational efficiency, we have searched in two years of data collected during LIGO's fifth science run and have obtained the most sensitive all-sky upper limits on gravitational-wave strain to date. Near 150 Hz our upper limit on worst-case linearly polarized strain amplitude h(0) is 1 x 10(-24), while at the high end of our frequency range we achieve a worst-case upper limit of 3.8 x 10(-24) for all polarizations and sky locations. These results constitute a factor of 2 improvement upon previously published data. A new detection pipeline utilizing a loosely coherent algorithm was able to follow up weaker outliers, increasing the volume of space where signals can be detected by a factor of 10, but has not revealed any gravitational-wave signals. The pipeline has been tested for robustness with respect to deviations from the model of an isolated neutron star, such as caused by a low-mass or long-period binary companion.
|
|
15. |
- Achberger, Christine, 1968, et al.
(author)
-
State of the Climate in 2011
- 2012
-
In: Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. - 0003-0007. ; 93:7
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Large-scale climate patterns influenced temperature and weather patterns around the globe in 2011. In particular, a moderate-to-strong La Nina at the beginning of the year dissipated during boreal spring but reemerged during fall. The phenomenon contributed to historical droughts in East Africa, the southern United States, and northern Mexico, as well the wettest two-year period (2010-11) on record for Australia, particularly remarkable as this follows a decade-long dry period. Precipitation patterns in South America were also influenced by La Nina. Heavy rain in Rio de Janeiro in January triggered the country's worst floods and landslides in Brazil's history. The 2011 combined average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was the coolest since 2008, but was also among the 15 warmest years on record and above the 1981-2010 average. The global sea surface temperature cooled by 0.1 degrees C from 2010 to 2011, associated with cooling influences of La Nina. Global integrals of upper ocean heat content for 2011 were higher than for all prior years, demonstrating the Earth's dominant role of the oceans in the Earth's energy budget. In the upper atmosphere, tropical stratospheric temperatures were anomalously warm, while polar temperatures were anomalously cold. This led to large springtime stratospheric ozone reductions in polar latitudes in both hemispheres. Ozone concentrations in the Arctic stratosphere during March were the lowest for that period since satellite records began in 1979. An extensive, deep, and persistent ozone hole over the Antarctic in September indicates that the recovery to pre-1980 conditions is proceeding very slowly. Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations increased by 2.10 ppm in 2011, and exceeded 390 ppm for the first time since instrumental records began. Other greenhouse gases also continued to rise in concentration and the combined effect now represents a 30% increase in radiative forcing over a 1990 baseline. Most ozone depleting substances continued to fall. The global net ocean carbon dioxide uptake for the 2010 transition period from El Nino to La Nina, the most recent period for which analyzed data are available, was estimated to be 1.30 Pg C yr(-1), almost 12% below the 29-year long-term average. Relative to the long-term trend, global sea level dropped noticeably in mid-2010 and reached a local minimum in 2011. The drop has been linked to the La Nina conditions that prevailed throughout much of 2010-11. Global sea level increased sharply during the second half of 2011. Global tropical cyclone activity during 2011 was well-below average, with a total of 74 storms compared with the 1981-2010 average of 89. Similar to 2010, the North Atlantic was the only basin that experienced above-normal activity. For the first year since the widespread introduction of the Dvorak intensity-estimation method in the 1980s, only three tropical cyclones reached Category 5 intensity level-all in the Northwest Pacific basin. The Arctic continued to warm at about twice the rate compared with lower latitudes. Below-normal summer snowfall, a decreasing trend in surface albedo, and above-average surface and upper air temperatures resulted in a continued pattern of extreme surface melting, and net snow and ice loss on the Greenland ice sheet. Warmer-than-normal temperatures over the Eurasian Arctic in spring resulted in a new record-low June snow cover extent and spring snow cover duration in this region. In the Canadian Arctic, the mass loss from glaciers and ice caps was the greatest since GRACE measurements began in 2002, continuing a negative trend that began in 1987. New record high temperatures occurred at 20 m below the land surface at all permafrost observatories on the North Slope of Alaska, where measurements began in the late 1970s. Arctic sea ice extent in September 2011 was the second-lowest on record, while the extent of old ice (four and five years) reached a new record minimum that was just 19% of normal. On the opposite pole, austral winter and spring temperatures were more than 3 degrees C above normal over much of the Antarctic continent. However, winter temperatures were below normal in the northern Antarctic Peninsula, which continued the downward trend there during the last 15 years. In summer, an all-time record high temperature of -12.3 degrees C was set at the South Pole station on 25 December, exceeding the previous record by more than a full degree. Antarctic sea ice extent anomalies increased steadily through much of the year, from briefly setting a record low in April, to well above average in December. The latter trend reflects the dispersive effects of low pressure on sea ice and the generally cool conditions around the Antarctic perimeter.
|
|
16. |
- Abdallah, J., et al.
(author)
-
A study of the b-quark fragmentation function with the DELPHI detector at LEP I and an averaged distribution obtained at the Z Pole
- 2011
-
In: European Physical Journal C. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1434-6044 .- 1434-6052. ; 71:2, s. 1557-
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The nature of b-quark jet hadronisation has been investigated using data taken at the Z peak by the DELPHI detector at LEP. Two complementary methods are used to reconstruct the energy of weakly decaying b-hadrons, E-B(weak). The average value of x(B)(weak) = E-B(weak)/E-beam is measured to be 0.699 +/- 0.011. The resulting x(B)(weak) distribution is then analysed in the framework of two choices for the perturbative contribution (parton shower and Next to Leading Log QCD calculation) in order to extract measurements of the non-perturbative contribution to be used in studies of b-hadron production in other experimental environments than LEP. In the parton shower framework, data favour the Lund model ansatz and corresponding values of its parameters have been determined within PYTHIA 6.156 from DELPHI data: a = 1.84(-0.21)(+0.23) and b = 0.642(-0.063)(+0.073) GeV-2, with a correlation factor rho = 92.2%. Combining the data on the b-quark fragmentation distributions with those obtained at the Z peak by ALEPH, OPAL and SLD, the average value of x(B)(weak) is found to be 0.7092 +/- 0.0025 and the non-perturbative fragmentation component is extracted. Using the combined distribution, a better determination of the Lund parameters is also obtained: a = 1.48(-0.10)(+0.11) and b = 0.509(-0.023)(+0.024) GeV-2, with a correlation factor rho = 92.6%.
|
|
17. |
- Abdallah, J., et al.
(author)
-
Measurement of the electron structure function F-2(e) at LEP energies
- 2014
-
In: Physics Letters B. - : Elsevier BV. - 0370-2693 .- 1873-2445. ; 737, s. 39-47
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The hadronic part of the electron structure function F-2(e) has been measured for the first time, using e(+)e(-) data collected by the DELPHI experiment at LEP, at centre-of-mass energies of root s = 91.2-209.5 GeV. The data analysis is simpler than that of the measurement of the photon structure function. The electron structure function F-2(e) data are compared to predictions of phenomenological models based on the photon structure function. It is shown that the contribution of large target photon virtualities is significant. The data presented can serve as a cross-check of the photon structure function F-2(gamma) analyses and help in refining existing parameterisations.
|
|
18. |
- Abdallah, J., et al.
(author)
-
Measurements of CP-conserving trilinear gauge boson couplings WWV (V gamma, Z) in e(+)e(-) collisions at LEP2
- 2010
-
In: European Physical Journal C. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1434-6044 .- 1434-6052. ; 66:1-2, s. 35-56
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The data taken by DELPHI at centre-of-mass energies between 189 and 209 GeV are used to place limits on the CP-conserving trilinear gauge boson couplings Delta g(1)(Z), lambda(gamma) and Delta k(gamma) associated to W+W- and single W production at LEP2. Using data from the jjl nu, jjjj, jjX and lX final states, where j,l and X represent a jet, a lepton and missing four-momentum, respectively, the following limits are set on the couplings when one parameter is allowed to vary and the others are set to their Standard Model values of zero: Delta g(1)(Z) =-0.025-(+0.033)(0.030,), lambda(gamma) = 0.002(-0.035)(+0.035) and Delta k(gamma) = 0.024(-0.081)(+0.077). Results are also presented when two or three parameters are allowed to vary. All observations are consistent with the predictions of the Standard Model and supersede the previous results on these gauge coupling parameters published by DELPHI.
|
|
19. |
- Abdallah, J., et al.
(author)
-
Search for single top quark production via contact interactions at LEP2
- 2011
-
In: European Physical Journal C. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1434-6044 .- 1434-6052. ; 71:2, s. 1555-
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Single top quark production via four-fermion contact interactions associated to flavour-changing neutral currents was searched for in data taken by the DELPHI detector at LEP2. The data were accumulated at centre-of-mass energies ranging from 189 to 209 GeV, with an integrated luminosity of 598.1 pb(-1). No evidence for a signal was found. Limits on the energy scale Lambda, were set for scalar-, vector- and tensor-like coupling scenarios.
|
|
20. |
- Abdallah, J., et al.
(author)
-
Study of the dependence of direct soft photon production on the jet characteristics in hadronic Z (0) decays
- 2010
-
In: European Physical Journal C. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1434-6044 .- 1434-6052. ; 67:3-4, s. 343-366
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- An analysis of the direct soft photon production rate as a function of the parent jet characteristics is presented, based on hadronic events collected by the DELPHI experiment at LEP1. The dependences of the photon rates on the jet kinematic characteristics (momentum, mass, etc.) and on the jet charged, neutral and total hadron multiplicities are reported. Up to a scale factor of about four, which characterizes the overall value of the soft photon excess, a similarity of the observed soft photon behavior to that of the inner hadronic bremsstrahlung predictions is found for the momentum, mass, and jet charged multiplicity dependences. However for the dependence of the soft photon rate on the jet neutral and total hadron multiplicities a prominent difference is found for the observed soft photon signal as compared to the expected bremsstrahlung from final state hadrons. The observed linear increase of the soft photon production rate with the jet total hadron multiplicity and its strong dependence on the jet neutral multiplicity suggest that the rate is proportional to the number of quark pairs produced in the fragmentation process, with the neutral pairs being more effectively radiating than the charged ones.
|
|
21. |
- Blunden, Jessica, et al.
(author)
-
State of the Climate in 2012
- 2013
-
In: Bulletin of The American Meteorological Society - (BAMS). - 0003-0007 .- 1520-0477. ; 94:8, s. S1-S258
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- For the first time in serveral years, the El Nino-Southern Oscillation did not dominate regional climate conditions around the globe. A weak La Ni a dissipated to ENSOneutral conditions by spring, and while El Nino appeared to be emerging during summer, this phase never fully developed as sea surface temperatures in the eastern conditions. Nevertheless, other large-scale climate patterns and extreme weather events impacted various regions during the year. A negative phase of the Arctic Oscillation from mid-January to early February contributed to frigid conditions in parts of northern Africa, eastern Europe, and western Asia. A lack of rain during the 2012 wet season led to the worst drought in at least the past three decades for northeastern Brazil. Central North America also experienced one of its most severe droughts on record. The Caribbean observed a very wet dry season and it was the Sahel's wettest rainy season in 50 years. Overall, the 2012 average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces ranked among the 10 warmest years on record. The global land surface temperature alone was also among the 10 warmest on record. In the upper atmosphere, the average stratospheric temperature was record or near-record cold, depending on the dataset. After a 30-year warming trend from 1970 to 1999 for global sea surface temperatures, the period 2000-12 had little further trend. This may be linked to the prevalence of La Ni a-like conditions during the 21st century. Heat content in the upper 700 m of the ocean remained near record high levels in 2012. Net increases from 2011 to 2012 were observed at 700-m to 2000-m depth and even in the abyssal ocean below. Following sharp decreases in to the effects of La Ni a, sea levels rebounded to reach records highs in 2012. The increased hydrological cycle seen in recent years continued, with more evaporation in drier locations and more precipitation in rainy areas. In a pattern that has held since 2004, salty areas of the ocean surfaces and subsurfaces were anomalously salty on average, while fresher areas were anomalously fresh. Global tropical cyclone activity during 2012 was near average, with a total of 84 storms compared with the 1981-2010 average of 89. Similar to 2010 and 2011, the North Atlantic was the only hurricane basin that experienced above-normal activity. In this basin, Sandy brought devastation to Cuba and parts of the eastern North American seaboard. All other basins experienced either near-or below-normal tropical cyclone activity. Only three tropical cyclones reached Category 5 intensity-all in Bopha became the only storm in the historical record to produce winds greater than 130 kt south of 7 N. It was also the costliest storm to affect the Philippines and killed more than 1000 residents. Minimum Arctic sea ice extent in September and Northern Hemisphere snow cover extent in June both reached new record lows. June snow cover extent is now declining at a faster rate (-17.6% per decade) than September sea ice extent (-13.0% per decade). Permafrost temperatures reached record high values in northernmost Alaska. A new melt extent record occurred on 11-12 July on the Greenland ice sheet; 97% of the ice sheet showed some form of melt, four times greater than the average melt for this time of year. The climate in Antarctica was relatively stable overall. The largest maximum sea ice extent since records begain in 1978 was observed in September 2012. In the stratosphere, warm air led to the second smallest ozone hole in the past two decades. Even so, the springtime ozone layer above Antarctica likely will not return to its early 1980s state until about 2060. Following a slight decline associated with the global 2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion and cement production reached a record 9.5 +/- 0.5 Pg C in 2011 and a new record of 9.7 +/- 0.5 Pg C is estimated for 2012. Atmospheric CO2 concentrations increased by 2.1 ppm in 2012, to 392.6 ppm. In spring 2012, 2 concentration exceeded 400 ppm at 7 of the 13 Arctic observation sites. Globally, other greenhouse gases including methane and nitrous oxide also continued to rise in concentration and the combined effect now represents a 32% increase in radiative forcing over a 1990 baseline. Concentrations of most ozone depleting substances continued to fall.
|
|
22. |
- Craddock, Nick, et al.
(author)
-
Genome-wide association study of CNVs in 16,000 cases of eight common diseases and 3,000 shared controls
- 2010
-
In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 464:7289, s. 713-720
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Copy number variants (CNVs) account for a major proportion of human genetic polymorphism and have been predicted to have an important role in genetic susceptibility to common disease. To address this we undertook a large, direct genome-wide study of association between CNVs and eight common human diseases. Using a purpose-designed array we typed,19,000 individuals into distinct copy-number classes at 3,432 polymorphic CNVs, including an estimated similar to 50% of all common CNVs larger than 500 base pairs. We identified several biological artefacts that lead to false-positive associations, including systematic CNV differences between DNAs derived from blood and cell lines. Association testing and follow-up replication analyses confirmed three loci where CNVs were associated with disease-IRGM for Crohn's disease, HLA for Crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes, and TSPAN8 for type 2 diabetes-although in each case the locus had previously been identified in single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based studies, reflecting our observation that most common CNVs that are well-typed on our array are well tagged by SNPs and so have been indirectly explored through SNP studies. We conclude that common CNVs that can be typed on existing platforms are unlikely to contribute greatly to the genetic basis of common human diseases.
|
|
23. |
- Morosan, D. E., et al.
(author)
-
LOFAR tied-array imaging of Type III solar radio bursts
- 2014
-
In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 568, s. articl no. A67-
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Context. The Sun is an active source of radio emission which is often associated with energetic phenomena such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). At low radio frequencies (
|
|
24. |
- Hudson, Lawrence N., et al.
(author)
-
The PREDICTS database : a global database of how local terrestrial biodiversity responds to human impacts
- 2014
-
In: Ecology and Evolution. - : Wiley. - 2045-7758. ; 4:24, s. 4701-4735
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Biodiversity continues to decline in the face of increasing anthropogenic pressures such as habitat destruction, exploitation, pollution and introduction of alien species. Existing global databases of species' threat status or population time series are dominated by charismatic species. The collation of datasets with broad taxonomic and biogeographic extents, and that support computation of a range of biodiversity indicators, is necessary to enable better understanding of historical declines and to project - and avert - future declines. We describe and assess a new database of more than 1.6 million samples from 78 countries representing over 28,000 species, collated from existing spatial comparisons of local-scale biodiversity exposed to different intensities and types of anthropogenic pressures, from terrestrial sites around the world. The database contains measurements taken in 208 (of 814) ecoregions, 13 (of 14) biomes, 25 (of 35) biodiversity hotspots and 16 (of 17) megadiverse countries. The database contains more than 1% of the total number of all species described, and more than 1% of the described species within many taxonomic groups - including flowering plants, gymnosperms, birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, beetles, lepidopterans and hymenopterans. The dataset, which is still being added to, is therefore already considerably larger and more representative than those used by previous quantitative models of biodiversity trends and responses. The database is being assembled as part of the PREDICTS project (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems - ). We make site-level summary data available alongside this article. The full database will be publicly available in 2015.
|
|
25. |
- Weinstein, John N., et al.
(author)
-
The cancer genome atlas pan-cancer analysis project
- 2013
-
In: Nature Genetics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1546-1718 .- 1061-4036. ; 45:10, s. 1113-1120
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Research Network has profiled and analyzed large numbers of human tumors to discover molecular aberrations at the DNA, RNA, protein and epigenetic levels. The resulting rich data provide a major opportunity to develop an integrated picture of commonalities, differences and emergent themes across tumor lineages. The Pan-Cancer initiative compares the first 12 tumor types profiled by TCGA. Analysis of the molecular aberrations and their functional roles across tumor types will teach us how to extend therapies effective in one cancer type to others with a similar genomic profile. © 2013 Nature America, Inc. All rights reserved.
|
|
26. |
- Werren, John H, et al.
(author)
-
Functional and evolutionary insights from the genomes of three parasitoid Nasonia species.
- 2010
-
In: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 327:5963, s. 343-8
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report here genome sequences and comparative analyses of three closely related parasitoid wasps: Nasonia vitripennis, N. giraulti, and N. longicornis. Parasitoids are important regulators of arthropod populations, including major agricultural pests and disease vectors, and Nasonia is an emerging genetic model, particularly for evolutionary and developmental genetics. Key findings include the identification of a functional DNA methylation tool kit; hymenopteran-specific genes including diverse venoms; lateral gene transfers among Pox viruses, Wolbachia, and Nasonia; and the rapid evolution of genes involved in nuclear-mitochondrial interactions that are implicated in speciation. Newly developed genome resources advance Nasonia for genetic research, accelerate mapping and cloning of quantitative trait loci, and will ultimately provide tools and knowledge for further increasing the utility of parasitoids as pest insect-control agents.
|
|
27. |
|
|
28. |
- Ek, Weronica E, et al.
(author)
-
Germline genetic contributions to risk for esophageal adenocarcinoma, barrett's esophagus, and gastroesophageal reflux
- 2013
-
In: Journal of the National Cancer Institute. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0027-8874 .- 1460-2105. ; 105:22, s. 1711-1718
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background Esophageal adenocarcinoma (EA) is an increasingly common cancer with poor survival. Barrett's esophagus (BE) is the main precursor to EA, and every year 0.12% to 0.5% of BE patients progress to EA. BE typically arises on a background of chronic gastroesophageal reflux (GERD), one of the risk factors for EA. Methods We used genome-wide association data to investigate the genetic architecture underlying GERD, BE, and EA. We applied a method to estimate the variance explained (array heritability, h2 g) and the genetic correlation (rg) between GERD, BE, and EA by considering all single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) simultaneously. We also estimated the polygenic overlap between GERD, BE, and EA using a prediction approach. All tests were twosided, except in the case of variance-explained estimation where one-sided tests were used. Results We estimated a statistically significant genetic variance explained for BE (h2 g = 35%; standard error [SE] = 6%; one-sided P = 1 × 10-9) and for EA (h2 g = 25 %; SE = 5%; one-sided P = 2 × 10-7). The genetic correlation between BE and EA was found to be high (rg = 1.0; SE = 0.37). We also estimated a statistically significant polygenic overlap between BE and EA (one-sided P = 1 × 10-6), which suggests, together with the high genetic correlation, that shared genes underlie the development of BE and EA. Conversely, no statistically significant results were obtained for GERD. Conclusions We have demonstrated that risk to BE and EA is influenced by many germline genetic variants of small effect and that shared polygenic effects contribute to risk of these two diseases. © The Author 2013.
|
|
29. |
- Estrada, Karol, et al.
(author)
-
Genome-wide meta-analysis identifies 56 bone mineral density loci and reveals 14 loci associated with risk of fracture.
- 2012
-
In: Nature genetics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1546-1718 .- 1061-4036. ; 44:5, s. 491-501
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Bone mineral density (BMD) is the most widely used predictor of fracture risk. We performed the largest meta-analysis to date on lumbar spine and femoral neck BMD, including 17 genome-wide association studies and 32,961 individuals of European and east Asian ancestry. We tested the top BMD-associated markers for replication in 50,933 independent subjects and for association with risk of low-trauma fracture in 31,016 individuals with a history of fracture (cases) and 102,444 controls. We identified 56 loci (32 new) associated with BMD at genome-wide significance (P < 5 × 10(-8)). Several of these factors cluster within the RANK-RANKL-OPG, mesenchymal stem cell differentiation, endochondral ossification and Wnt signaling pathways. However, we also discovered loci that were localized to genes not known to have a role in bone biology. Fourteen BMD-associated loci were also associated with fracture risk (P < 5 × 10(-4), Bonferroni corrected), of which six reached P < 5 × 10(-8), including at 18p11.21 (FAM210A), 7q21.3 (SLC25A13), 11q13.2 (LRP5), 4q22.1 (MEPE), 2p16.2 (SPTBN1) and 10q21.1 (DKK1). These findings shed light on the genetic architecture and pathophysiological mechanisms underlying BMD variation and fracture susceptibility.
|
|
30. |
|
|
31. |
|
|
32. |
|
|
33. |
- Binney, J., et al.
(author)
-
New distances to RAVE stars
- 2014
-
In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 437, s. 351-370
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)
|
|
34. |
|
|
35. |
- Kalra, Hina, et al.
(author)
-
Vesiclepedia : a compendium for extracellular vesicles with continuous community annotation
- 2012
-
In: PLoS biology. - : Public library of science. - 1544-9173 .- 1545-7885. ; 10:12, s. e1001450-
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are membraneous vesicles released by a variety of cells into their microenvironment. Recent studies have elucidated the role of EVs in intercellular communication, pathogenesis, drug, vaccine and gene-vector delivery, and as possible reservoirs of biomarkers. These findings have generated immense interest, along with an exponential increase in molecular data pertaining to EVs. Here, we describe Vesiclepedia, a manually curated compendium of molecular data (lipid, RNA, and protein) identified in different classes of EVs from more than 300 independent studies published over the past several years. Even though databases are indispensable resources for the scientific community, recent studies have shown that more than 50% of the databases are not regularly updated. In addition, more than 20% of the database links are inactive. To prevent such database and link decay, we have initiated a continuous community annotation project with the active involvement of EV researchers. The EV research community can set a gold standard in data sharing with Vesiclepedia, which could evolve as a primary resource for the field.
|
|
36. |
|
|
37. |
|
|
38. |
- Bafadhel, Mona, et al.
(author)
-
Acute Exacerbations of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease : Identification of Biologic Clusters and Their Biomarkers
- 2011
-
In: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. - 1073-449X .- 1535-4970. ; 184:6, s. 662-671
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Rationale: Exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are heterogeneous with respect to inflammation and etiology. Objectives: Investigate biomarker expression in COPD exacerbations to identify biologic clusters and determine biomarkers that recognize clinical COPD exacerbation phenotypes, namely those associated with bacteria, viruses, or eosinophilic airway inflammation. Methods: Patients with COPD were observed for 1 year at stable and exacerbation visits. Biomarkers were measured in sputum and serum. Viruses and selected bacteria were assessed in sputum by polymerase chain reaction and routine diagnostic bacterial culture. Biologic phenotypes were explored using unbiased cluster analysis and biomarkers that differentiated clinical exacerbation phenotypes were investigated. Measurements and Main Results: A total of 145 patients (101 men and 44 women) entered the study. A total of 182 exacerbations were captured from 86 patients. Four distinct biologic exacerbation clusters were identified. These were bacterial-, viral-, or eosinophilic-predominant, and a fourth associated with limited changes in the inflammatory profile termed "pauciinflammatory." Of all exacerbations, 55%, 29%, and 28% were associated with bacteria, virus, or a sputum eosinophilia. The biomarkers that best identified these clinical phenotypes were sputum IL-1 beta, 0.89 (area under receiver operating characteristic curve) (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.83-0.95); serum CXCL10, 0.83 (95% CI, 0.70-0.96); and percentage peripheral eosinophils, 0.85 (95% CI, 0.78-0.93), respectively. Conclusions: The heterogeneity of the biologic response of COPD exacerbations can be defined. Sputum IL-1 beta, serum CXCL10, and peripheral eosinophils are biomarkers of bacteria-, virus-, or eosinophil-associated exacerbations of COPD. Whether phenotype-specific biomarkers can be applied to direct therapy warrants further investigation.
|
|
39. |
|
|
40. |
- Finley, R. L., et al.
(author)
-
The Scourge of Antibiotic Resistance: The Important Role of the Environment
- 2013
-
In: Clinical Infectious Diseases. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1058-4838 .- 1537-6591. ; 57:5, s. 704-710
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Antibiotic resistance and associated genes are ubiquitous and ancient, with most genes that encode resistance in human pathogens having originated in bacteria from the natural environment (eg, beta-lactamases and fluoroquinolones resistance genes, such as qnr). The rapid evolution and spread of "new" antibiotic resistance genes has been enhanced by modern human activity and its influence on the environmental resistome. This highlights the importance of including the role of the environmental vectors, such as bacterial genetic diversity within soil and water, in resistance risk management. We need to take more steps to decrease the spread of resistance genes in environmental bacteria into human pathogens, to decrease the spread of resistant bacteria to people and animals via foodstuffs, wastes and water, and to minimize the levels of antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant bacteria introduced into the environment. Reducing this risk must include improved management of waste containing antibiotic residues and antibiotic-resistant microorganisms.
|
|
41. |
- Julin, Jan, et al.
(author)
-
Mass Accommodation of Water : Bridging the Gap Between Molecular Dynamics Simulations and Kinetic Condensation Models
- 2013
-
In: Journal of Physical Chemistry A. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1089-5639 .- 1520-5215. ; 117:2, s. 410-420
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The condensational growth of submicrometer aerosol particles to climate relevant sizes is sensitive to their ability to accommodate vapor molecules, which is described by the mass accommodation coefficient. However, the underlying processes are not yet fully understood. We have simulated the mass accommodation and evaporation processes of water using molecular dynamics, and the results are compared to the condensation equations derived from the kinetic gas theory to shed light on the compatibility of the two. Molecular dynamics simulations were performed for a planar TIP4P-Ew water surface at four temperatures in the range 268-300 K as well as two droplets, with radii of 1.92 and 4.14 nm at T = 273.15 K. The evaporation flux from molecular dynamics was found to be in good qualitative agreement with that predicted by the simple kinetic condensation equations. Water droplet growth was also modeled with the kinetic multilayer model KM-GAP of Shiraiwa et al. [Atmos. Chem. Phys. 2012, 12, 2777]. It was found that, due to the fast transport across the interface, the growth of a pure water droplet is controlled by gas phase diffusion. These facts indicate that the simple kinetic treatment is sufficient in describing pure water condensation and evaporation. The droplet size was found to have minimal effect on the value of the mass accommodation coefficient. The mass accommodation coefficient was found to be unity (within 0.004) for all studied surfaces, which is in agreement with previous simulation work. Additionally, the simulated evaporation fluxes imply that the evaporation coefficient is also unity. Comparing the evaporation rates of the mass accommodation and evaporation simulations indicated that the high collision flux, corresponding to high supersaturation, present in typical molecular dynamics mass accommodation simulations can under certain conditions lead to an increase in the evaporation rate. Consequently, in such situations the mass accommodation coefficient can be overestimated, but in the present cases the corrected values were still close to unity with the lowest value at approximate to 10.99.
|
|
42. |
- Kordopatis, G., et al.
(author)
-
In the thick of it: metal-poor disc stars in RAVE
- 2013
-
In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1365-2966 .- 0035-8711. ; 436, s. 3231-3246
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)
|
|
43. |
- Levine, David M, et al.
(author)
-
A genome-wide association study identifies new susceptibility loci for esophageal adenocarcinoma and Barrett's esophagus.
- 2013
-
In: Nature Genetics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1061-4036 .- 1546-1718. ; 45:12
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Esophageal adenocarcinoma is a cancer with rising incidence and poor survival. Most such cancers arise in a specialized intestinal metaplastic epithelium, which is diagnostic of Barrett's esophagus. In a genome-wide association study, we compared esophageal adenocarcinoma cases (n = 2,390) and individuals with precancerous Barrett's esophagus (n = 3,175) with 10,120 controls in 2 phases. For the combined case group, we identified three new associations. The first is at 19p13 (rs10419226: P = 3.6 × 10(-10)) in CRTC1 (encoding CREB-regulated transcription coactivator), whose aberrant activation has been associated with oncogenic activity. A second is at 9q22 (rs11789015: P = 1.0 × 10(-9)) in BARX1, which encodes a transcription factor important in esophageal specification. A third is at 3p14 (rs2687201: P = 5.5 × 10(-9)) near the transcription factor FOXP1, which regulates esophageal development. We also refine a previously reported association with Barrett's esophagus near the putative tumor suppressor gene FOXF1 at 16q24 and extend our findings to now include esophageal adenocarcinoma.
|
|
44. |
- Miles, Rachael E. H., et al.
(author)
-
Comparison of Approaches for Measuring the Mass Accommodation Coefficient for the Condensation of Water and Sensitivities to Uncertainties in Thermophysical Properties
- 2012
-
In: Journal of Physical Chemistry A. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1089-5639 .- 1520-5215. ; 116:44, s. 10810-10825
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We compare and contrast measurements of the mass accommodation coefficient of water on a water surface made using ensemble and single particle techniques under conditions of supersaturation and subsaturation, respectively. In particular, we consider measurements made using an expansion chamber, a continuous flow streamwise thermal gradient cloud condensation nuclei chamber, the Leipzig Aerosol Cloud Interaction Simulator, aerosol optical tweezers, and electrodynamic balances. Although this assessment is not intended to be comprehensive, these five techniques are complementary in their approach and give values that span the range from near 0.1 to 1.0 for the mass accommodation coefficient. We use the same semianalytical treatment to assess the sensitivities of the measurements made by the various techniques to thermophysical quantities (diffusion constants, thermal conductivities, saturation pressure of water, latent heat, and solution density) and experimental parameters (saturation value and temperature). This represents the first effort to assess and compare measurements made by different techniques to attempt to reduce the uncertainty in the value of the mass accommodation coefficient. Broadly, we show that the measurements are consistent within the uncertainties inherent to the thermophysical and experimental parameters and that the value of the mass accommodation coefficient should be considered to be larger than 0.5. Accurate control and measurement of the saturation ratio is shown to be critical for a successful investigation of the surface transport kinetics during condensation/evaporation. This invariably requires accurate knowledge of the partial pressure of water, the system temperature, the droplet curvature and the saturation pressure of water. Further, the importance of including and quantifying the transport of heat in interpreting droplet measurements is highlighted; the particular issues associated with interpreting measurements of condensation/evaporation rates with varying pressure are discussed, measurements that are important for resolving the relative importance of gas diffusional transport and surface kinetics.
|
|
45. |
- Milone, A. P., et al.
(author)
-
The ACS survey of Galactic globular clusters XII. Photometric binaries along the main sequence
- 2012
-
In: Astronomy & Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 540
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Context. The fraction of binary stars is an important ingredient to interpret globular cluster dynamical evolution and their stellar population. Aims. We investigate the properties of main-sequence binaries measured in a uniform photometric sample of 59 Galactic globular clusters that were observed by HST WFC/ACS as a part of the Globular Cluster Treasury project. Methods. We measured the fraction of binaries and the distribution of mass-ratio as a function of radial location within the cluster, from the central core to beyond the half-mass radius. We studied the radial distribution of binary stars, and the distribution of stellar mass ratios. We investigated monovariate relations between the fraction of binaries and the main parameters of their host clusters. Results. We found that in nearly all the clusters, the total fraction of binaries is significantly smaller than the fraction of binaries in the field, with a few exceptions only. Binary stars are significantly more centrally concentrated than single MS stars in most of the clusters studied in this paper. The distribution of the mass ratio is generally flat (for mass-ratio parameter q > 0.5). We found a significant anti-correlation between the binary fraction in a cluster and its absolute luminosity (mass). Some, less significant correlation with the collisional parameter, the central stellar density, and the central velocity dispersion are present. There is no statistically significant relation between the binary fraction and other cluster parameters. We confirm the correlation between the binary fraction and the fraction of blue stragglers in the cluster.
|
|
46. |
|
|
47. |
|
|
48. |
|
|
49. |
|
|
50. |
- Su, Zhan, et al.
(author)
-
Common variants at the MHC locus and at chromosome 16q24.1 predispose to Barrett's esophagus.
- 2012
-
In: Nature Genetics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1061-4036 .- 1546-1718. ; 44:10
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Barrett's esophagus is an increasingly common disease that is strongly associated with reflux of stomach acid and usually a hiatus hernia, and it strongly predisposes to esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC), a tumor with a very poor prognosis. We report the first genome-wide association study on Barrett's esophagus, comprising 1,852 UK cases and 5,172 UK controls in the discovery stage and 5,986 cases and 12,825 controls in the replication stage. Variants at two loci were associated with disease risk: chromosome 6p21, rs9257809 (Pcombined=4.09×10(-9); odds ratio (OR)=1.21, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.13-1.28), within the major histocompatibility complex locus, and chromosome 16q24, rs9936833 (Pcombined=2.74×10(-10); OR=1.14, 95% CI=1.10-1.19), for which the closest protein-coding gene is FOXF1, which is implicated in esophageal development and structure. We found evidence that many common variants of small effect contribute to genetic susceptibility to Barrett's esophagus and that SNP alleles predisposing to obesity also increase risk for Barrett's esophagus.
|
|