Penn State Berks

About: Penn State Berks is a based out in . It is known for research contribution in the topics: Parton & Network planning and design. The organization has 153 authors who have published 315 publications receiving 9144 citations. The organization is also known as: PSU Berks.

Extraction of quark transversity distribution and Collins fragmentation functions with QCD evolution

Abstract: We study the transverse-momentum-dependent (TMD) evolution of the Collins azimuthal asymmetries in e+e- annihilations and semi-inclusive hadron production in deep inelastic scattering processes. All the relevant coefficients are calculated up to the next-to-leading-logarithmic-order accuracy. By applying the TMD evolution at the approximate next-to-leading-logarithmic order in the Collins-Soper-Sterman formalism, we extract transversity distributions for u and d quarks and Collins fragmentation functions from current experimental data by a global analysis of the Collins asymmetries in back-to-back dihadron productions in e+e- annihilations measured by BELLE and BABAR collaborations and semi-inclusive hadron production in deep inelastic scattering data from HERMES, COMPASS, and JLab HALL A experiments. The impact of the evolution effects and the relevant theoretical uncertainties are discussed. We further discuss the TMD interpretation for our results and illustrate the unpolarized quark distribution, transversity distribution, unpolarized quark fragmentation, and Collins fragmentation functions depending on the transverse momentum and the hard momentum scale. We make detailed predictions for future experiments and discuss their impact.

Frequency-specific flow control in microfluidic circuits with passive elastomeric features

Abstract: Frequency-specific components that passively control the flow in a channel in an analogous manner to that of the resistors, capacitors and diodes of an electronic circuit could eliminate the need to exert active control in microfluidic circuits with bulky external pumps. A fundamental challenge in the design of microfluidic devices lies in the need to control the transport of fluid according to complex patterns in space and time, and with sufficient accuracy. Although strategies based on externally actuated valves have enabled marked breakthroughs in chip-based analysis1,2,3,4,5, this requires significant off-chip hardware, such as vacuum pumps and switching solenoids, which strongly tethers such devices to laboratory environments6,7,8,9,10. Severing the microfluidic chip from this off-chip hardware would enable a new generation of devices that place the power of microfluidics in a broader range of disciplines. For example, complete on-chip flow control would empower highly portable microfluidic tools for diagnostics, forensics, environmental analysis and food safety, and be particularly useful in field settings where infrastructure is limited. Here, we demonstrate an elegantly simple strategy for flow control: fluidic networks with embedded deformable features are shown to transport fluid selectively in response to the frequency of a time-modulated pressure source. Distinct fluidic flow patterns are activated through the dynamic control of a single pressure input, akin to the analog responses of passive electrical circuits composed of resistors, capacitors and diodes.

The heterogeneous green vehicle routing and scheduling problem with time-varying traffic congestion

Abstract: The green vehicle routing and scheduling problem (GVRSP) aims to minimize green-house gas emissions in logistics systems through better planning of deliveries/pickups made by a fleet of vehicles. We define a new mixed integer liner programming (MIP) model which considers heterogeneous vehicles, time-varying traffic congestion, customer/vehicle time window constraints, the impact of vehicle loads on emissions, and vehicle capacity/range constraints in the GVRSP. The proposed model allows vehicles to stop on arcs, which is shown to reduce emissions up to additional 8% on simulated data. A hybrid algorithm of MIP and iterated neighborhood search is proposed to solve the problem.

Discordant Phylogenies within the rrn Loci of Rhizobia

Abstract: It is evident from complete genome sequencing results that lateral gene transfer and recombination are essential components in the evolutionary process of bacterial genomes. Since this has important implications for bacterial systematics, the primary objective of this study was to compare estimated evolutionary relationships among a representative set of α-Proteobacteria by sequencing analysis of three loci within their rrn operons. Tree topologies generated with 16S rRNA gene sequences were significantly different from corresponding trees assembled with 23S rRNA gene and internally transcribed space region sequences. Besides the incongruence in tree topologies, evidence that distinct segments along the 16S rRNA gene sequences of bacteria currently classified within the genera Bradyrhizobium, Mesorhizobium and Sinorhizobium have a reticulate evolutionary history was also obtained. Our data have important implications for bacterial taxonomy, because currently most taxonomic decisions are based on comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. Since phylogenetic placement based on 16S rRNA gene sequence divergence perhaps is questionable, we suggest that the proposals of bacterial nomenclature or changes in their taxonomy that have been made may not necessarily be warranted. Accordingly, a more conservative approach should be taken in the future, in which taxonomic decisions are based on the analysis of a wider variety of loci and comparative analytical methods are used to estimate phylogenetic relationships among the genomes under consideration.