Hadronic resonances constitute a valuable probe for the properties of the medium formed in heavy-ion collisions. In particular, they provide information on particle-formation mechanisms, the ...properties of the hadronic medium at freeze-out, and they contribute to the systematic study of energy loss and recombination. The study of resonance production in other collision systems such as pp and p–Pb forms a necessary baseline to disentangle initial-state effects from genuine medium-induced effects. The production of the K⁎(892)0 and ϕ(1020) resonances has been measured at mid-rapidity in different collision systems at LHC energies using the ALICE detector. Resonances are reconstructed via their hadronic decay in a wide momentum range, by exploiting the excellent particle-identification capabilities of the Time-Projection Chamber and the Time-Of-Flight system. First results on K⁎(892)0 and ϕ(1020) production in p–Pb collisions at sNN=5.02 TeV at the LHC are presented. The resonance transverse momentum spectra and yields are measured as a function of the multiplicity of p–Pb collision. Ratios of resonance to long lived hadron production in Pb–Pb are compared with the same quantities measured in pp and p–Pb, in order to investigate rescattering effects. The ratio of ϕ to protons and pions as a function of pT suggests that in central Pb–Pb collisions it is the mass which drives the spectra shapes at low and intermediate pT, as in a hydrodynamically-evolving system. The nuclear modification factors (RAA, RpPb), recently measured up to high pT for resonances, are consistent with those of the stable hadrons.
Background model of the CUPID-0 experiment Azzolini, O.; Beeman, J. W.; Bellini, F. ...
European physical journal. C, Particles and fields,
07/2019, Letnik:
79, Številka:
7
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
CUPID-0 is the first large mass array of enriched Zn
82
Se scintillating low temperature calorimeters, operated at LNGS since 2017. During its first scientific runs, CUPID-0 collected an exposure of ...9.95 kg year. Thanks to the excellent rejection of
α
particles, we attained the lowest background ever measured with thermal detectors in the energy region where we search for the signature of
82
Se
neutrinoless double beta decay. In this work we develop a model to reconstruct the CUPID-0 background over the whole energy range of experimental data. We identify the background sources exploiting their distinctive signatures and we assess their extremely low contribution down to
∼
10
-
4
counts/(keV kg year) in the region of interest for
82
Se
neutrinoless double beta decay search. This result represents a crucial step towards the comprehension of the background in experiments based on scintillating calorimeters and in next generation projects such as CUPID.
Abstract Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) are the “gold standard” for evaluating treatment outcomes providing information on treatments “efficacy”. They are designed to test a therapeutic ...hypothesis under optimal setting in the absence of confounding factors. For this reason they have high internal validity. The strict and controlled conditions in which they are conducted, leads to low generalizability because they are performed in conditions very different from real life usual care. Conversely, real life studies inform on the “effectiveness” of a treatment, that is, the measure of the extent to which an intervention does what is intended to do in routine circumstances. At variance to RCTs, real life trials have high generalizability, but low internal validity. Recently the number of real life studies has been rapidly growing in different areas of respiratory medicine, particularly in asthma and COPD. The role of such studies is becoming a hot topic in respiratory medicine, attracting research interest and debate. In the first part of this review we discuss some of the advantages and disadvantages of different types of RCTs and analyze the strengths and weaknesses of real life trials, considering the recent examples of some studies conducted in COPD. We then discuss methodological approaches and options to overcome some of the limitations of real life studies. Comparing the conclusions of effectiveness and efficacy trials can provide important pieces of information. Indeed, these approaches can result complementary, and they can guide the interpretation of each other results.
Genetically modified (GM) crops are one of the most valuable tools of modern biotechnology that secure yield potential needed to sustain the global agricultural demands for food, feed, fiber, and ...energy. Crossing single GM events through conventional breeding has proven to be an effective way to pyramid GM traits from individual events and increase yield protection in the resulting combined products. Even though years of research and commercialization of GM crops show that these organisms are safe and raise no additional biosafety concerns, some regulatory agencies still require risk assessments for these products. We sought out to investigate whether stacking single GM events would have a significant impact on agronomic and phenotypic plant characteristics in soybean, maize, and cotton. Several replicated field trials designed as randomized complete blocks were conducted by Monsanto Regulatory Department from 2008 to 2017 in field sites representative of cultivation regions in Brazil. In total, twenty-one single and stacked GM materials currently approved for in-country commercial use were grown with the corresponding conventional counterparts and commercially available GM/non-GM references. The generated data were presented to the Brazilian regulatory agency CTNBio (National Biosafety Technical Committee) over the years to request regulatory approvals for the single and stacked products, in compliance with the existing normatives. Data was submitted to analysis of variance and differences between GM and control materials were assessed using t-test with a 5% significance level. Data indicated the predominance of similarities and neglectable differences between single and stacked GM crops when compared to conventional counterpart. Our results support the conclusion that combining GM events through conventional breeding does not alter agronomic or phenotypic plant characteristics in these stacked crops. This is compatible with a growing weight of evidence that indicates this long-adopted strategy does not increase the risks associated with GM materials. It also provides evidence to support the review and modernization of the existing regulatory normatives to no longer require additional risk assessments of GM stacks comprised of previously approved single events for biotechnology-derived crops. The data analyzed confirms that the risk assessment of the individual events is sufficient to demonstrate the safety of the stacked products, which deliver significant benefits to growers and to the environment.
We present the performances of a 330 g zinc molybdate (ZnMoO
4
) crystal working as scintillating bolometer as a possible candidate for a next generation experiment to search for neutrinoless double ...beta decay of
100
Mo. The energy resolution, evaluated at the 2615 keV
γ
-line of
208
Tl, is 6.3 keV FWHM. The internal radioactive contaminations of the ZnMoO
4
were evaluated as <6 μBq/kg (
228
Th) and 27±6 μBq/kg (
226
Ra). We also present the results of the
α
vs
β
/
γ
discrimination, obtained through the scintillation light as well as through the study of the shape of the thermal signal alone.
The Time-Of-Flight (TOF) detector of the ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC is based on Multi-gap Resistive Plate Chambers (MRPCs) technology. During the 2009-2013 data taking the TOF system had very ...stable operations with a total time resolution of 80ps. Details of the different calibration procedures and performance with data from collisions at the LHC will be described.
The polysaccharides β-glucans occur as a principal component of the cellular walls. Some microorganisms, such as yeast and mushrooms, and also cereals such as oats and barley, are of economic ...interest because they contain large amounts of β-glucans. These substances stimulate the immune system, modulating humoral and cellular immunity, and thereby have beneficial effect in fighting infections (bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic). β-Glucans also exhibit hypocholesterolemic and anticoagulant properties. Recently, they have been demonstrated to be anti-cytotoxic, antimutagenic and anti-tumorogenic, making them promising candidate as pharmacological promoters of health.
CUORE, an array of 988 TeO
2
bolometers, is about to be one of the most sensitive experiments searching for neutrinoless double-beta decay. Its sensitivity could be further improved by removing the ...background from
α
radioactivity. A few years ago it was pointed out that the signal from
β
s can be tagged by detecting the emitted Cherenkov light, which is not produced by
α
s. In this paper we confirm this possibility. For the first time we measured the Cherenkov light emitted by a CUORE crystal, and found it to be 100 eV at the
Q
-value of the decay. To completely reject the
α
background, we compute that one needs light detectors with baseline noise below 20 eV RMS, a value which is 3–4 times smaller than the average noise of the bolometric light detectors we are using. We point out that an improved light detector technology must be developed to obtain TeO
2
bolometric experiments able to probe the inverted hierarchy of neutrino masses.
We use the capabilities of a multi-disciplinary design tool to provide a definition of a 20 MW wind turbine. Starting from an aero-elastic model obtained through a classic scaling procedure, we ...conduct an aero-structural optimization of the rotor through a staged redesign process, in which we optimize primary characteristics of the rotor including the blade shape, the solidity and a certain amount of native structural tailoring. The process is based on a series of parametric analysis, in order to assess the impact of a variation of macro design parameters on the fundamental performance of the turbine. The redesign activity shows remarkable advantages in terms of blade mass reduction and load alleviation, highlighting directions for the development and optimization of very large rotors.
Abstract
CUPID-0 is the first pilot experiment of CUPID, a next-generation project searching for neutrinoless double beta decay. In its first scientific run, CUPID-0 operated 26 ZnSe cryogenic ...calorimeters coupled to light detectors in the underground Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso. In this work, we analyzed a ZnSe exposure of 11.34 kg year to search for the neutrinoless double beta decay of
$$^{70}$$
70
Zn and for the neutrinoless positron-emitting electron capture of
$$^{64}$$
64
Zn. We found no evidence for these decays and set 90
$$\%$$
%
credible interval limits of
$$\hbox {T}_{1/2}^{0\nu \beta \beta }$$
T
1
/
2
0
ν
β
β
(
$$^{70}$$
70
Zn) > 1.6
$$10^{21}$$
10
21
year and
$$\hbox {T}_{1/2}^{0\nu EC \beta +}$$
T
1
/
2
0
ν
E
C
β
+
(
$$^{64}$$
64
Zn) > 1.2
$$\times 10^{22}$$
×
10
22
year, surpassing by more than one order of magnitude the previous experimental results (Belli et al. in J Phys G 38(11):115107,
https://doi.org/10.1088/0954-3899/38/11/115107
, 2011).