Brane Cosmologies without Orbifolds

We study the dynamics of branes in configurations where 1) the brane is the edge of a single anti-de Sitter (AdS) space and 2) the brane is the surface of a vacuum bubble expanding into a Schwarzschild or AdS-Schwarzschild bulk. In both cases we find solutions that resemble the standard Robertson-Walker cosmologies although in the latter, the evolution can be controlled by a mass parameter in the bulk metric. We also include a term in the brane action for the scalar curvature. This term adds a contribution to the low energy theory of gravity which does not need to affect the cosmology but which is necessary for the surface of the vacuum bubble to recover four dimensional gravity.Comment: 13 pages, uses harvmac, vacuum bubble case corrected and expanded, references adde

Airborne infrared mineral mapping survey of Marysvale, Utah

Infrared spectroradiometer survey results from flights over the Marysvale, Utah district show that hydrothermal alteration mineralogy can be mapped using very rapid and effective airborne techniques. The system detects alteration mineral absorption band intensities in the infrared spectral region with high sensitivity. The higher resolution spectral features and high spectral differences characteristic of the various clay and carbonate minerals are also readily identified by the instrument allowing the mineralogy to be mapped as well as the mineralization intensity

Can consumer research panels form an effective part of the cancer research community?

The North Trent Cancer Research Network’s Consumer Research Panel (NTCRN CRP) was established in December 2001 by the Academic Unit of Supportive Care at the University of Sheffield. In three years, the CRP has succeeded in nurturing a climate of sustainable consumer involvement within the NTCRN and this has become embedded in the culture of the network. Furthermore, the panel have championed a sustainable development of consumer involvement in health and social care research by testing new ground and forging a new way of working between health professionals and patients and carers. The CRP model has been held up as an example to other cancer networks, with new panels being set up around the country to emulate its success. This paper describes the Sheffield model of patient and public involvement and using the eight key principles of successful consumer involvement in research, identified in a recent paper by Telford et al (2003), provides a useful framework for analysing the work of the Panel. This demonstrates how consumers and professionals can inform each other to work constructively and synergistically to achieve impressive research results. The need for measurable outcomes to assess the impact and effect of consumer involvement is finally explored

The extended ROSAT-ESO Flux Limited X-ray Galaxy Cluster Survey (REFLEX II) IV. X-ray Luminosity Function and First Constraints on Cosmological Parameters

The X-ray luminosity function is an important statistic of the census of galaxy clusters and an important means to probe the cosmological model of our Universe. Based on our recently completed REFLEX II cluster sample we construct the X-ray luminosity function of galaxy clusters for several redshift slices from $z = 0$ to $z = 0.4$ and discuss its implications. We find no significant signature of redshift evolution of the luminosity function in the redshift interval. We provide the results of fits of a parameterized Schechter function and extensions of it which provide a reasonable characterization of the data. Using a model for structure formation and galaxy cluster evolution we compare the observed X-ray luminosity function with predictions for different cosmological models. For the most interesting constraints for the cosmological parameters $\Omega_m$ and $\sigma_8$ we obatain $\Omega_m \sim 0.27 \pm 0.03$ and $\sigma_8 \sim 0.80 \pm 0.03$ based on the statistical uncertainty alone. Marginalizing over the most important uncertainties, the normalisation and slope of the $L_X - M$ scaling relation, we find $\Omega_m \sim 0.29 \pm 0.04$ and $\sigma_8 \sim 0.77 \pm 0.07$ ($1\sigma$ confidence limits). We compare our results with those of the SZ-cluster survey provided by the PLANCK mission and we find very good agreement with the results using PLANCK clusters as cosmological probes, but we have some tension with PLANCK cosmological results from the microwave background anisotropies. We also make a comparison with other cluster surveys. We find good agreement with these previous results and show that the REFLEX II survey provides a significant reduction in the uncertainties compared to earlier measurements.Comment: Submitted for publication to Astronomy and Astrophysics, 15 pages, 17 figure

Anomaly Detection for Resonant New Physics with Machine Learning

Despite extensive theoretical motivation for physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM) of particle physics, searches at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have found no significant evidence for BSM physics. Therefore, it is essential to broaden the sensitivity of the search program to include unexpected scenarios. We present a new model-agnostic anomaly detection technique that naturally benefits from modern machine learning algorithms. The only requirement on the signal for this new procedure is that it is localized in at least one known direction in phase space. Any other directions of phase space that are uncorrelated with the localized one can be used to search for unexpected features. This new method is applied to the dijet resonance search to show that it can turn a modest 2 sigma excess into a 7 sigma excess for a model with an intermediate BSM particle that is not currently targeted by a dedicated search.Comment: Replaced with short PRL version. 7 pages, 2 figures. Revised long version will be submitted separatel

Perturbation Theory of Coulomb Gauge Yang-Mills Theory Within the First Order Formalism

Perturbative Coulomb gauge Yang-Mills theory within the first order formalism is considered. Using a differential equation technique and dimensional regularization, analytic results for both the ultraviolet divergent and finite parts of the two-point functions at one-loop order are derived. It is shown how the non-ultraviolet divergent parts of the results are finite at spacelike momenta with kinematical singularities on the light-cone and subsequent branch cuts extending into the timelike region.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figure

Ground reaction force estimates from ActiGraph GT3X+ hip accelerations.

Simple methods to quantify ground reaction forces (GRFs) outside a laboratory setting are needed to understand daily loading sustained by the body. Here, we present methods to estimate peak vertical GRF (pGRFvert) and peak braking GRF (pGRFbrake) in adults using raw hip activity monitor (AM) acceleration data. The purpose of this study was to develop a statistically based model to estimate pGRFvert and pGRFbrake during walking and running from ActiGraph GT3X+ AM acceleration data. 19 males and 20 females (age 21.2 ± 1.3 years, height 1.73 ± 0.12 m, mass 67.6 ± 11.5 kg) wore an ActiGraph GT3X+ AM over their right hip. Six walking and six running trials (0.95-2.19 and 2.20-4.10 m/s, respectively) were completed. Average of the peak vertical and anterior/posterior AM acceleration (ACCvert and ACCbrake, respectively) and pGRFvert and pGRFbrake during the stance phase of gait were determined. Thirty randomly selected subjects served as the training dataset to develop generalized equations to predict pGRFvert and pGRFbrake. Using a holdout approach, the remaining 9 subjects were used to test the accuracy of the models. Generalized equations to predict pGRFvert and pGRFbrake included ACCvert and ACCbrake, respectively, mass, type of locomotion (walk or run), and type of locomotion acceleration interaction. The average absolute percent differences between actual and predicted pGRFvert and pGRFbrake were 8.3% and 17.8%, respectively, when the models were applied to the test dataset. Repeated measures generalized regression equations were developed to predict pGRFvert and pGRFbrake from ActiGraph GT3X+ AM acceleration for young adults walking and running. These equations provide a means to estimate GRFs without a force plate

The application of amino acid racemization in the acid soluble fraction of enamel to the estimation of the age of human teeth

Estimation of age-at-death for skeletonised forensic remains is one of the most significant problems in forensic anthropology. The majority of existing morphological and histological techniques are highly inaccurate, and show a bias towards underestimating the age of older individuals. One technique which has been successful in forensic age estimation is amino acid racemization in dentine. However, this method cannot be used on remains where the post-mortem interval is greater than 20 years. An alternative approach is to measure amino acid racemization in dental enamel, which is believed to be more resistant to change post-mortem. The extent of amino acid racemization in the acid soluble fraction of the enamel proteins was determined for modem known age teeth. A strong correlation was observed between the age of the tooth and the extent of racemization. No systematic bias in the direction of age estimation errors was detected. For the majority of teeth analyzed, the presence of dental caries did not affect the results obtained. In a minority of cases, carious teeth showed a higher level of racemization than would be expected given the age of the individual. These results indicate that amino acid racemization in enamel has the potential to be used in age estimation of skeletal remains. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved