Nuclear-modification factor for open-heavy-flavor production at forward rapidity in Cu plus Cu collisions at root s(NN)=200 GeV

Background: Heavy-flavor production in p + p collisions is a good test of perturbative-quantum-chromodynamics (pQCD) calculations. Modification of heavy-flavor production in heavy-ion collisions relative to binary-collision scaling from p + p results, quantified with the nuclear-modification factor (R-AA), provides information on both cold-and hot-nuclear-matter effects. Midrapidity heavy-flavor R-AA measurements at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider have challenged parton-energy-loss models and resulted in upper limits on the viscosity-entropy ratio that are near the quantum lower bound. Such measurements have not been made in the forward-rapidity region. Purpose: Determine transverse-momentum (p(T)) spectra and the corresponding R-AA for muons from heavy-flavor meson decay in p + p and Cu + Cu collisions at root s(NN) = 200 GeV and y = 1.65. Method: Results are obtained using the semileptonic decay of heavy-flavor mesons into negative muons. The PHENIX muon-arm spectrometers measure the p(T) spectra of inclusive muon candidates. Backgrounds, primarily due to light hadrons, are determined with a Monte Carlo calculation using a set of input hadron distributions tuned to match measured-hadron distributions in the same detector and statistically subtracted. Results: The charm-production cross section in p + p collisions at root s = 200 GeV, integrated over p(T) and in the rapidity range 1.4 < y < 1.9, is found to be d(sigma e (e) over bar)/dy = 0.139 +/- 0.029 (stat)(-0.058)(+0.051) (syst) mb. This result is consistent with a perturbative fixed-order-plus-next-to-leading-log calculation within scale uncertainties and is also consistent with expectations based on the corresponding midrapidity charm-production cross section measured by PHENIX. The R-AA for heavy-flavor muons in Cu + Cu collisions is measured in three centrality bins for 1 < p(T) < 4 GeV/c. Suppression relative to binary-collision scaling (R-AA < 1) increases with centrality. Conclusions: Within experimental and theoretical uncertainties, the measured charm yield in p + p collisions is consistent with state-of-the-art pQCD calculations. Suppression in central Cu + Cu collisions suggests the presence of significant cold-nuclear-matter effects and final-state energy loss.

Application of the cross-entropy method to the buffer allocation problem in a simulation-based environment

The buffer allocation problem (BAP) is a well-known difficult problem in the design of production lines. We present a stochastic algorithm for solving the BAP, based on the cross-entropy method, a new paradigm for stochastic optimization. The algorithm involves the following iterative steps: (a) the generation of buffer allocations according to a certain random mechanism, followed by (b) the modification of this mechanism on the basis of cross-entropy minimization. Through various numerical experiments we demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed algorithm and show that the method can quickly generate (near-)optimal buffer allocations for fairly large production lines.

Computationally-guided thermostabilization of the primary endoglucanase from Hypocrea jecorina for cellulosic biofuel production

The creation of thermostable enzymes has wide-ranging applications in industrial, scientific, and pharmaceutical settings. As various stabilization techniques exist, it is often unclear how to best proceed. To this end, we have redesigned Cel5A (HjCel5A) from Hypocrea jecorina (anamorph Trichoderma reesei) to comparatively evaluate several significantly divergent stabilization methods: 1) consensus design, 2) core repacking, 3) helix dipole stabilization, 4) FoldX ΔΔG approximations, 5) Triad ΔΔG approximations, and 6) entropy reduction through backbone stabilization. As several of these techniques require structural data, we initially solved the first crystal structure of HjCel5A to 2.05 Å. Results from the stabilization experiments demonstrate that consensus design works best at accurately predicting highly stabilizing and active mutations. FoldX and helix dipole stabilization, however, also performed well. Both methods rely on structural data and can reveal non-conserved, structure-dependent mutations with high fidelity. HjCel5A is a prime target for stabilization. Capable of cleaving cellulose strands from agricultural waste into fermentable sugars, this protein functions as the primary endoglucanase in an organism commonly used in the sustainable biofuels industry. Creating a long-lived, highly active thermostable HjCel5A would allow cellulose hydrolysis to proceed more efficiently, lowering production expenses. We employed information gleaned during the survey of stabilization techniques to generate HjCel5A variants demonstrating a 12-15 °C increase in the temperature at which 50% of the total activity persists, an 11-14 °C increase in optimal operating temperature, and a 60% increase over the maximal amount of hydrolysis achievable using the wild type enzyme. We anticipate that our comparative analysis of stabilization methods will prove useful in future thermostabilization experiments.

Enhanced playback of automated service emulation models using entropy analysis

Service virtualisation is a supporting tool for DevOps to generate interactive service models of dependency systems on which a system-under-test relies. These service models allow applications under development to be continuously tested against production-like conditions. Generating these virtual service models requires expert knowledge of the service protocol, which may not always be available. However, service models may be generated automatically from network traces. Previous work has used the Needleman-Wunsch algorithm to select a response from the service model to play back for a live request. We propose an extension of the Needleman-Wunsch algorithm, which uses entropy analysis to automatically detect the critical matching fields for selecting a response. Empirical tests against four enterprise protocols demonstrate that entropy weighted matching can improve response accuracy.

Investigating erythemal UV exposure and vitamin D production in the urban canyon

Exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UV) results in both damaging and beneficial health outcomes. Excessive UV exposure has been linked to many skin and eye problems, but moderate exposure induces vitamin D production. It has been reported that humans receive 90-95% of their vitamin D from production that starts after UV exposure. Although it is possible to acquire vitamin D through dietary supplementation, the average person receives very little in this manner. Therefore, since most people acquire their vitamin D from synthesis after exposure to UV from sunlight, it is very important to understand the different environments in which people encounter UV. This project measured UV radiation and in-vitro vitamin D production in the urban canyon and at a nearby suburban location. The urban canyon is an environment consisting of tall buildings and tropospheric air pollution, which have an attenuating effect on UV. Typically, UV measurements are collected in areas outside the urban canyon, meaning that at times studies and public recommendations do not accurately represent the amount of UV reaching street-level in highly urbanized areas. Understanding of UV exposure in urban canyons becomes increasingly important as the number of people working and living in large cities steadily increases worldwide. This study was conducted in the central business district (CBD) of Brisbane, Australia, which models the urban canyons of large cities around the world in that it boasts a great number of tall buildings, including many skyscrapers, meaning that most areas only see a small amount of direct sunlight each day. During the winter of 2007 measurements of UV radiation and in-vitro vitamin D production were collected in the CBD and at a suburban site approximately 2.5km outside the CBD. Air pollution data was obtained from a central CBD measurement site. Data analysis showed that urban canyon measurements of both UV radiation and in-vitro vitamin D production were significantly lower than those collected at the suburban site. These results will aid both future researchers and policy makers in better understanding human UV exposure in Brisbane’s CBD and other urban canyons around the world.