The version 3.0 of the Delphes fast-simulation is presented. The goal of Delphes is to allow the simulation of a multipurpose detector for phenomenological studies. The simulation includes a track ...propagation system embedded in a magnetic field, electromagnetic and hadron calorimeters, and a muon identification system. Physics objects that can be used for data analysis are then reconstructed from the simulated detector response. These include tracks and calorimeter deposits and high level objects such as isolated electrons, jets, taus, and missing energy. The new modular approach allows for greater flexibility in the design of the simulation and reconstruction sequence. New features such as the particle-flow reconstruction approach, crucial in the first years of the LHC, and pile-up simulation and mitigation, which is needed for the simulation of the LHC detectors in the near future, have also been implemented. The Delphes framework is not meant to be used for advanced detector studies, for which more accurate tools are needed. Although some aspects of Delphes are hadron collider specific, it is flexible enough to be adapted to the needs of electron-positron collider experiments.
Abstract This paper reports the latest developmental efforts for a position-sensitive glass-based Resistive Plate Chamber (RPC) and a multi-channel Data AcQuisition (DAQ) system tailored for muon ...tracking in muography applications. The designed setup prioritizes portability, aiming for field applications where both the detector and the DAQ operate effectively in external environmental conditions. Comprehensive discussions on hardware development activities and signal processing techniques are included, incorporating noise filtering to enhance the accurate detection of real muons. A muon absorption measurement has also been carried out to understand the behavior of these detectors from an application perspective.
Is Vtb≃1? Alwall, J.; Frederix, R.; Gérard, J.-M. ...
The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields,
2/2007, Letnik:
49, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The strongest constraint on Vtb presently comes from the 3×3 unitarity of the CKM matrix, which fixes Vtb to be very close to one. If unitarity is relaxed, current information from top production at ...Tevatron still leaves open the possibility that Vtb is sizably smaller than one. In minimal extensions of the standard model with extra heavy quarks, the unitarity constraints are much weaker, and the EW precision parameters entail the strongest bounds on Vtb. We discuss the experimental perspectives of discovering and identifying such new physics models at the Tevatron and the LHC, through a precise measurement of Vtb from the single top cross sections and by the study of processes where the extra heavy quarks are produced.
We isolated, identified and characterized yeast strains from grapes, and their fermented musts, sampled in the small island of Linosa, where there are no wineries and therefore the possibility of ...territory contamination by industrial strains is minimal. By traditional culture‐dependent methods, we isolated 3805 colonies, distinguished by molecular methods in 17 different species. Five hundred and forty‐four isolates were analysed for the main oenological characteristics such as fermentative vigour with and without sulphites, sugar consumption and production of alcohol, volatile acidity, hydrogen sulphide, glycerol and β‐glucosidase. This analysis identified Kluyveromyces marxianus (seldomly used in winemaking) as the most interesting candidate yeast for the production of innovative wines.
Significance and Impact of the Study
In recent years, interest is growing for wine production by non‐Saccharomyces yeasts, both in research and in the industry. This study describes the yeast population of the grapes in a small‐secluded island in the Mediterranean Sea, useful site for the search of new strains. Evaluation of fundamental oenological characters identifies potential best yeasts to assay in experimental vinifications. We also describe, for the first time, 14 new colony morphologies on WL Nutrient Agar, culture medium used to monitor the yeast population dynamics.
Significance and Impact of the Study: In recent years, interest is growing for wine production by non‐Saccharomyces yeasts, both in research and in the industry. This study describes the yeast population of the grapes in a small‐secluded island in the Mediterranean Sea, useful site for the search of new strains. Evaluation of fundamental oenological characters identifies potential best yeasts to assay in experimental vinifications. We also describe, for the first time, 14 new colony morphologies on WL Nutrient Agar, culture medium used to monitor the yeast population dynamics.
Abstract
Muon tomography or “muography” is an emerging imaging technique that uses cosmogenic muons as the radiation source. Due to its diverse range of applications and the use of natural radiation, ...muography is being applied across many fields such as geology, archaeology, civil engineering, nuclear reactor monitoring, nuclear waste characterization, underground surveys, etc. Muons can be detected using various detector technologies, among which, resistive plate chambers (RPC) are a very cost effective choice. RPCs are planar detectors which use ionization in a thin gas gap to detect cosmic muons, already used since years in major particle accelerator experiments.
We have developed a muon telescope (or “muoscope”) composed of small scale RPCs. The design goal for our muoscope is to be portable and autonomous, in order to take data in places that are not easily accessible. The whole setup is light and compact, such to be easily packed in a car trunk. Individual RPCs are hosted in gas-tight aluminium cases. There is no need for gas bottles, once the chambers are filled. The muoscope can be controlled from a reasonable distance using wireless connection. In this paper we summarize the guiding principles of our project and present some recent developments and future prospects, including a long-term stability study of the resistivity of the semiconductive coating obtained with serigraphy.
Imaging techniques that use atmospheric muons, collectively named under the neologism “muography”, have seen a tremendous growth in recent times, mainly due to their diverse range of applications. ...The most well-known ones include but are not limited to: volcanology, archaeology, civil engineering, nuclear reactor monitoring, nuclear waste characterization, underground mapping, etc. These methods are based on the attenuation or deviation of muons to image large and/or dense objects where conventional techniques cannot work or their use becomes challenging. In this context, we have constructed a muography telescope based on “mini glass-RPC” planes following a design similar to the glass-RPC detectors developed by the CALICE Collaboration and used by the TOMUVOL experiment in the context of volcano radiography, but with smaller active area (16×16 cm2). The compact size makes it an attractive choice with respect to other detectors previously employed for imaging on similar scales. An important innovation in this design is that the detectors are sealed. This makes the detector more portable and solves the usual safety and logistic issues for gas detectors operated underground and/or inside small rooms. This paper provides an overview on our guiding principles, the detector development and our operational experiences. Drawing on the lessons learnt from the first prototype, we also discuss our future direction for an improved second prototype, focusing primarily on a recently adopted serigraphy technique for the resistive coating of the glass plates.
Abstract Objectives Currently louse-borne relapsing fever (LBRF) is primarily found in limited endemic foci in Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan; no case of imported LBRF has been reported in Europe in the ...9 years prior to 2015. The aim of our paper is to describe a new case of imported LBRF detected in Sicily, Italy, and to review all cases reported in migrants arrived in Europe in the last 10 years. Study design Mini review of all published cases of louse-borne relapsing fever in Europe in the last 10 years. Methods A computerized search without language restriction was conducted using PubMed combining the terms ‘(louse-borne relapsing fever or LBRF or recurrentis) and (refugee or Europe or migrant)’ without limits. Furthermore, the ‘Ahead-of-Print Articles’ of the top 10 journals (ranked by Impact factor – Web of Science) of Infectious diseases and of Epidemiology were checked. Results Our search identified 26 cases of LBRF between July and October 2015 in migrants recently arrived in Europe: 8 had been described in Italy; 1 in Switzerland; 2 in the Netherlands; 15 in Germany. We describe data regarding the clinical characteristics, diagnostic methods, therapy and outcome of these patients and of the new case. Conclusions LBRF by Borrelia recurrentis should be considered among the clinical hypotheses in migrants presenting with fever, headache, chills, sweating, arthralgia, myalgia, dizziness, nausea and vomiting.
Abstract
The MUon RAdiography of VESuvius (MURAVES) project aims at the study of the summital cone of Mt. Vesuvius, an active volcano near Naples (Italy), by measuring its density profile through ...muon flux attenuation. Its data, combined with those from gravimetric and seismic measurement campaigns, will be used for better defining the volcanic plug at the bottom of the crater. We report on the development of an end-to-end simulation framework, in order to perform accurate investigations of the effects of the experimental constraints and to compare simulations, under various model hypotheses, with the actual observations. The detector simulation setup is developed using GEANT4 and a study of cosmic particle generators has been conducted to identify the most suitable one for our simulation framework. To mimic the real data, GEANT4 raw hits are converted to clusters through a simulated digitization: energy deposits are first summed per scintillator bar, and then converted to number of photoelectrons with a data-driven procedure. This is followed by the same clustering algorithm and same tracking code as in real data. We also report on the study of muon transport through rock using PUMAS and GEANT4. In this paper we elaborate on the rationale for our technical choices, including trade-off between speed and accuracy. The developments reported here are of general interest in muon radiography and can be applied in similar cases.
BackgroundAlthough anthrax is a rare zoonotic infection, it still causes significant mortality and morbidity. In this multicenter study, which is the largest anthrax case series ever reported, we ...aimed to describe the factors leading to dissemination of cutaneous anthrax. MethodsAdult patients with cutaneous anthrax from 16 referral centers were pooled. The study had a retrospective design, and included patients treated between January 1, 1990 and December 1, 2019. Probable, and confirmed cases based upon CDC anthrax 2018 case definition were included in the study. A descriptive statistical analysis was performed for all variables. ResultsA total of 141 cutaneous anthrax patients were included. Of these, 105 (74%) patients had probable and 36 (26%) had confirmed diagnosis. Anthrax meningitis and bacteremia occurred in three and six patients, respectively. Sequelae were observed in three patients: cicatricial ectropion followed by ocular anthrax (n = 2) and movement restriction on the left hand after surgical intervention (n = 1). One patient had gastrointestinal anthrax. The parameters related to poor outcome (p < 0.05) were fever, anorexia, hypoxia, malaise/fatigue, cellulitis, fasciitis, lymphadenopathy, leukocytosis, high CRP and creatinine levels, longer duration of antimicrobial therapy, and combined therapy. The last two were seemingly the consequences of dissemination rather than being the reasons. The fatality rate was 1.4%. ConclusionsRapid identification of anthrax is crucial for prompt and effective treatment. Systemic symptoms, disseminated local infection, and high inflammatory markers should alert the treating physicians for the dissemination of the disease.
Abstract Background and Aims Obesity is predictive of metabolic syndrome (metS), type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular (CV) disease and cancer. The aim of the study is to assess the risk of incident cancer ...connected to obesity and metS in a Mediterranean population characterized by a high prevalence of obesity. Methods and Results 1133 subjects were enrolled in two phases and followed for 25 years (859 subjects) or 11 years (274 subjects) and incident cancer was registered in the follow-up period. Anthropometric measures and biochemical parameters were filed at baseline and evaluated as predictors of incident cancer by measuring hazards ratios (HR) using multivariate Cox parametric hazards models. Best predictive threshold for metabolic parameters and metS criteria were recalculated by ROC analysis. Fasting Blood Glucose > 5.19 mmol/L HR=1.58 (1.0-2.4) and the TG/HDL ratio (log10 ) (Males > 0.225, Females > 0.272) HR=2.44 (1.3-4.4) resulted independent predictors of survival free of cancer with a clear additive effect together with age classes 45-65 years, HR=2.47 (1.3-4.4), 65-75 years HR=3.80 (2.0-7.1) and male gender HR=2.07 (2.3-3.1). Conclusions Metabolic disturbances are predictive of cancer in a 25 years follow-up of a Mediterranean population following a traditional Mediterranean diet. The high prevalence of obesity and metS and the observed underlying condition of insulin resistance expose this population to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer despite the healthy nutritional habits.
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