3,124 research outputs found
A survey of orthopaedic journal editors determining the criteria of manuscript selection for publication
Background: To investigate the characteristics of editors and criteria used by orthopaedic journal editors in assessing submitted manuscripts. Methods: Between 2008 to 2009 all 70 editors of Medline listed orthopaedic journals were approached prospectively with a questionnaire to determine the criteria used in assessing manuscripts for publication. Results: There was a 42% response rate. There was 1 female editor and the rest were male with 57% greater than 60 years of age. 67% of the editors worked in university teaching hospitals and 90% of publications were in English.The review process differed between journals with 59% using a review proforma, 52% reviewing an anonymised manuscript, 76% using a routine statistical review and 59% of journals used 2 reviewers routinely. In 89% of the editors surveyed, the editor was able to overrule the final decision of the reviewers.Important design factors considered for manuscript acceptance were that the study conclusions were justified (80%), that the statistical analysis was appropriate (76%), that the findings could change practice (72%). The level of evidence (70%) and type of study (62%) were deemed less important. When asked what factors were important in the manuscript influencing acceptance, 73% cited an understandable manuscript, 53% cited a well written manuscript and 50% a thorough literature review as very important factors. Conclusions: The editorial and review process in orthopaedic journals uses different approaches. There may be a risk of language bias among editors of orthopaedic journals with under-representation of non-English publications in the orthopaedic literature
On topological defect formation in the process of symmetry breaking phase transitions
By resorting to some results in quantum field theories with spontaneous
breakdown of symmetry we show that an explanation based on microscopic dynamics
can be given of the fact that topological defect formation is observed during
the process of non-equilibrium phase transitions characterized by a non-zero
order parameter. We show that the Nambu-Goldstone particle acquires an
effective non-zero mass due to the boundary (finite volume) effects and this is
related with the size of the defect. We also relate such volume effect with
temperature effect.Comment: 12 pages, no figure
The Minimal Phantom Sector of the Standard Model: Higgs Phenomenology and Dirac Leptogenesis
We propose the minimal, lepton-number conserving, SU(3)xSU(2)xU(1)
gauge-singlet, or phantom, extension of the Standard Model. The extension is
natural in the sense that all couplings are of O(1) or forbidden due to a
phantom sector global U(1)_D symmetry, and basically imitates the standard
Majorana see-saw mechanism. Spontaneous breaking of the U(1)_D symmetry
triggers consistent electroweak gauge symmetry breaking only if it occurs at a
scale compatible with small Dirac neutrino masses and baryogenesis through
Dirac leptogenesis. Dirac leptogenesis proceeds through the usual
out-of-equilibrium decay scenario, leading to left and right-handed neutrino
asymmetries that do not fully equilibrate after they are produced. The model
contains two physical Higgs bosons and a massless Goldstone boson. The
existence of the Goldstone boson suppresses the Higgs to bb branching ratio and
instead the Higgs bosons will mainly decay to invisible Goldstone and/or to
visible vector boson pairs. In a representative scenario, we estimate that with
30 fb^-1 integrated luminosity, the LHC could discover this invisibly decaying
Higgs, with mass ~120 GeV. At the same time a significantly heavier, partner
Higgs boson with mass ~210 GeV could be found through its vector boson decays.
Electroweak constraints as well as astrophysical and cosmological implications
are analysed and discussed.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures. Corrected typos and added references. To appear
in JHE
Probing the Higgs mechanism via
We investigate the sensitivity of the reaction to
the Higgs sector based on the complete one-loop corrections in the minimal
Standard Model and the gauged non-linear -model. While this sensitivity
is very strong for the suppressed cross-section of equally polarized photons
and longitudinal W bosons, it is only marginal for the dominant mode of
transverse polarizations. The corrections within the -model turn out to
be UV-finite in accordance with the absence of \log\MH terms in the Standard
Model with a heavy Higgs boson.Comment: 12 pages uuencoded postscrip
Application of remote sensing to state and regional problems
There are no author-identified significant results in this report
Application of remote sensing to state and regional problems
The author has identified the following significant results. The Lowndes County data base is essentially complete with 18 primary variables and 16 proximity variables encoded into the geo-information system. The single purpose, decision tree classifier is now operational. Signatures for the thematic extraction of strip mines from LANDSAT Digital data were obtained by employing both supervised and nonsupervised procedures. Dry, blowing sand areas of beach were also identified from the LANDSAT data. The primary procedure was the analysis of analog data on the I2S signal slicer
LONG-TERM TILLAGE EFFECTS ON CONTINUOUS CORN YIELDS
Long-term comparisons of alternative tillage systems are needed to evaluate their effect on corn (Zea mays L.) yield under the variable temperature and rainfall conditions of the Corn Belt. Our objective was to evaluate long-term effects of alternative tillage systems on corn growth and yield on low organic matter silt loam soils. The effect of no-tillage (NT), chisel plow (CP), and moldboard plow (MP) treatments on plant density and grain yield was measured from 1981 through 1990 on Palsgrove and Rozetta silt loam (fine-silty, mixed mesic Typic Hapludalfs) soils. Tillage treatments were randomly allocated to plots in 1981 and treatments were applied in subsequent years without rerandomization. Therefore, measurements over years on the same plot were treated as repeated measures. Grain yields for all tillage treatments were primarily affected by water stress, which varied with yearly weather conditions. Grain yield decreased approximately 0.3 Mg ha-1 per cm weighted water stress (WWS) for WWS \u3e8 cm. No statistically significant yield differences among tillage treatments, when averaged over the 10-year period covered by the experiment, were detected. A combined analysis indicated that yield differences among tillage treatments did not depend on whether water stress or non-stress conditions occurred. Over half the variation in yearly differences in grain yield between tilled and NT treatments was explained by differences in plant density. Years were classified as stress or non-stress years on the basis of observed water stress and yearly weather factors. Variability among years was partitioned into variability among years within stress years and non-stress years. The difference in mean yields between ending (1989-90) and beginning (1981-82) years were used to investigate cumUlative effects of tillage treatments
Observation of Leggett's collective mode in a multi-band MgB2 superconductor
We report observation of Leggett's collective mode in a multi-band MgB2
superconductor with T_c=39K arising from the fluctuations in the relative phase
between two superconducting condensates. The novel mode is observed by Raman
spectroscopy at 9.4 meV in the fully symmetric scattering channel. The observed
mode frequency is consistent with theoretical considerations based on the first
principle computations.Comment: Accepted for PR
Effects of R-parity Violation on the Charged Higgs Boson Decays
We calculate one-loop R-parity-violating couplings corrections to the
processes and . We find that the
corrections to the decay mode are generally about
0.1%, and can be negligible. But the corrections to the decay
mode can reach a few percent for the favored parameters.Comment: 17 pages,6 figures. One type error in the title correcte
A Supersymmetric Stueckelberg U(1) Extension of the MSSM
A Stueckelberg extension of the MSSM with only one abelian vector and one
chiral superfield as an alternative to an abelian extension with Higgs scalars
is presented. The bosonic sector contains a new gauge boson Z' which is a sharp
resonance, and a new CP-even scalar, which combines with the MSSM Higgs bosons
to produce three neutral CP-even massive states. The neutral fermionic sector
has two additional fermions which mix with the four MSSM neutralinos to produce
an extended 6x6 neutralino mass matrix. For the case when the LSP is composed
mostly of the Stueckelberg fermions, the LSP of the MSSM will be unstable,
which leads to exotic decays of sparticles with many leptons in final states.
Prospects for supersymmetry searches and for dark matter are discussed.Comment: 10 page
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