Data Acquisition for the New Muon gg-22 Experiment at Fermilab

A new measurement of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon, $a_{\mu} \equiv (g-2)/2$, will be performed at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. The most recent measurement, performed at Brookhaven National Laboratory and completed in 2001, shows a 3.3-3.6 standard deviation discrepancy with the Standard Model predictions for $a_\mu$. The new measurement will accumulate 21 times those statistics, measuring $a_\mu$ to 140 ppb and reducing the uncertainty by a factor of 4. The data acquisition system for this experiment must have the ability to record deadtime-free records from 700 $\mu$s muon spills at a raw data rate of 18 GB per second. Data will be collected using 1296 channels of $\mu$TCA-based 800 MSPS, 12 bit waveform digitizers and processed in a layered array of networked commodity processors with 24 GPUs working in parallel to perform a fast recording and processing of detector signals during the spill. The system will be controlled using the MIDAS data acquisition software package. The described data acquisition system is currently being constructed, and will be fully operational before the start of the experiment in 2017.Comment: Proceedings of CHEP201

Preliminary site report for the 2005 ICDP-USGS deep corehole in the Chesapeake Bay impact crater

First report for the ICDP-USGS 1.7-km-deep corehole drilled into the central part of the Chesapeake Bay impact crater during 2005

Moving a Library Can Be Easy, but Planning and Project Management Is Key

In the summer of 2007, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) received 48 million dollars to plan and build a new library. Planning for the moving of the collection began shortly thereafter. This paper details specific collections projects completed by UTC Library faculty and staff that resulted in a flawless move that took only 11 days to complete. The luxury of time to complete a collection inventory and accurate measurement was key, but so was selecting the right people for the project

Tshiluba Language Structures

This poster provides a preliminary description of the linguistic features of Tshiluba (also known as Luba-Kasai), a major language spoken in the south-central, Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and by several refugee families in the Boise area. Tshiluba is characterized as an Atlantic-Congo, Narrow Bantu, Central language (L31) within the Niger-Congo language family and, although it is spoken by over 6 million people and enjoys national language status in DRC, it has not received extensive recent attention in the linguistic literature. Over the course of a semester, our group has met with native speakers of Tshiluba to document the phonological, morphological, and syntactic features of the language as well as several semantic domains of interest. The analysis of these features, along with recordings made by our group, serves the greater linguistic community by providing theoretical linguists with new language data to support their research. It will also serve the Tshiluba community in the diaspora by providing documentation and archived recordings of this language for future generations to access. One goal in the community is to encourage the development of teaching materials to support others interested in learning the language

COLD CASE INVESTIGATIONS WITHIN FAIRFAX COUNTY: TURNING THE LIABILITY OF TIME INTO AN ASSET

No department or individual involved in the investigation of homicides is ever going to have a 100% closure rate. Therefore, many departments will be faced with a situation where another homicide happens before they are finished handling the previous one. How does one manage these open cases; how often are they reviewed; and who is responsible once the assigned detective is either transferred or leaves the unit or department? Someone has to be able to answer questions from the family, media and anyone else who might inquire about the case. Based on the number of unsolved homicide cases within Fairfax County, the concept of a “Cold Case Squad” was explored. During January 1995, the Fairfax County Police Department implemented a Cold Case Squad consisting of one supervisor, three veteran detectives, two auxiliary police officers and one cadet. The Cold Case detectives inherited approximately 75 unsolved homicides which occurred in Fairfax County, Virginia, from 1964 through December 31, 1994. More than half of the unsolved homicides (42) have occurred in the past nine years. The hypothesis for this thesis was: The formulation of a Cold Case Squad would measurably reduce the number of unresolved homicides within Fairfax County. The primary evaluation factor for the thesis was the Cold Case Squad’s “close-ability” rate. The thesis identified and evaluated nine solvability factors utilized by the Cold Case Squad Supervisor. The solvability factors are considered when prioritizing case investigation, assigning personnel to an investigation and suspending investigate efforts. One of the goals for utilizing solvability factors is to develop a clear profile of cases with the most potential for close-ability. The study population for this thesis is the 42 unsolved homicides which have occurred in Fairfax County, Virginia, between January 1, 1986, and December 31, 1994. Solvability factor work sheets were completed and computated for the study population. The hypothesis has been proven as there is a measurable reduction in the number of unsolved homicides. From the study population, two cases have been closed by arrest, one case closed by exceptional means and one case is pending approval from the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office to obtain arrest warrants. These four cases represent a 9.5% reduction of unsolved cases within the study population. A copy of this thesis was given to the Cold Case Squad Supervisor for review and application. It is hoped the research from this thesis will be applied to the Cold Case Squad so it will become more effective and continue to turn the liability of time into an asset

ϕ\phi photoproduction on the proton at EγE_{\gamma} = 1.5 - 2.9 GeV

Differential cross sections at $t=t_{\text{min}}$ and decay asymmetries for the $\gamma p\rightarrow\phi p$ reaction have been measured using linearly polarized photons in the range 1.5 to 2.9 GeV. These cross sections were used to determine the Pomeron strength factor. The cross sections and decay asymmetries are consistently described by the $t$-channel Pomeron and pseudoscalar exchange model in the $E_{\gamma}$ region above 2.37 GeV. In the lower energy region, an excess over the model prediction is observed in the energy dependence of the differential cross sections at $t=t_{\text{min}}$. This observation suggests that additional processes or interference effects between Pomeron exchange and other processes appear near the threshold region.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure

Epigenetic regulation in neonatal ECFCs following intrauterine exposure to gestational diabetes

poster abstractGestational diabetes (GDM) complicates up to 10% of pregnancies. In addition to acute risks, the children of diabetic mothers have an increased risk of obesity, diabetes, and hypertension, starting in childhood. While the causes of this increased risk are unknown, previous studies in our lab have identified functional deficits in endothelial colony forming cells (ECFCs) isolated from the cord blood of GDM pregnancies. This study focused on identifying genes that have altered epigenetic modifications that result in abnormal mRNA and protein expression in ECFCs from the cord blood GDM pregnancies. The objective of this study was to identify mRNA expression and DNA methylation alterations in ECFCs that may help identify the causes of ECFC dysfunction following intrauterine exposure to GDM. ECFCs were obtained from control and GDM pregnancies. DNA, RNA, and protein samples were isolated in parallel from ECFCs. RNA microarray analysis using the Affymetrix Human 1.0 Gene Array was used to identify gene expression alterations in GDM ECFCs compared to control ECFCs. Genome-wide DNA methylation was assessed using an Infinium 450K Methylation Array for DNA samples at >450,000 CpG sites. Correlation analysis was performed to identify possible sites that have altered CpG methylation and RNA expression. RNA expression results were validated using qRT-PCR and western blotting. Bisulfite sequencing of genomic DNA from the ECFCs was performed to identify additional sites with altered methylation for regions not included in the DNA methylation array. Of the 28,000 genetic loci tested, 596 mRNAs were altered between control and GDM ECFCs (p<0.01). More stringent criteria identified 38 genes for further investigation by limiting analysis to genes that exhibited increased or decreased expression by at least 50%, with a p<0.01. PLAC8 was identified as being increased 5-fold by microarray analysis, a result which was confirmed in two cohorts by qRT-PCR and western blotting. Analysis of the methylation array and bisulfite sequencing results revealed 3 regions surrounding the transcriptional start site of PLAC8 gene whose CpG methylation negatively correlate with RNA expression in samples from control and GDM ECFCs. In contrast, a CpG island is fully unmethylated in both control and GDM ECFCs. The discovery of CpG sites whose methylation correlates with PLAC8 mRNA expression in ECFCs is consistent with the hypothesis that intrauterine exposure to GDM results in epigenetic changes. Analysis of methylation at this site could be used as a biomarker for children of mothers with GDM who may be at risk for disease later in life. Using bisulfite pyrosequencing, we are currently developing assays to quickly determine if methylation of the PLAC8 putative promoter region is altered in cord blood mononuclear cells obtained from GDM or healthy control pregnancies. We are also investigating the role of methylation in regulating PLAC8 RNA expression, determining if there is altered histone modifications and transcription factor binding in these regions, and examining other genes that may comprise a molecular signature of ECFC dysfunction