Neutralino Pair Production and 3-Body Decays at e+e−e^+e^- Linear Colliders as Probes of CP Violation in the Neutralino System

In the CP-invariant supersymmetric theories, the steep S-wave (slow P-wave) rise of the cross section for any non-diagonal neutralino pair production in $e^+ e^-$ annihilation, $e^+e^- \to \tilde{\chi}^0_i \tilde{\chi}^0_j$ ($i \neq j$), near threshold is accompanied by the slow P-wave (steep S-wave) decrease of the fermion invariant mass distribution of the 3-body neutralino decay, $\tilde{\chi}^0_i \to \tilde{\chi}^0_j f\bar{f}$ ($f=l$ or $q$), near the end point. These selection rules, unique to the neutralino system due to its Majorana nature, guarantee that the observation of simultaneous sharp S-wave excitations of the production cross section near threshold and the lepton and quark invariant mass distribution near the end point is a qualitative, unambiguous evidence for CP violation in the neutralino system.Comment: 11 pages, 1 eps figure, a reference adde

LHC/ILC Interplay in SUSY Searches

Combined analyses at the Large Hadron Collider and at the International Linear Collider are important to reveal precisely the new physics model as, for instance, supersymmetry. Examples are presented where ILC results as input for LHC analyses could be crucial for the identification of signals as well as of the underlying model. The synergy of both colliders leads also to rather accurate SUSY parameter determination and powerful mass constraints even if the scalar particles have masses in the multi-TeV range.Comment: 5 pages, contribution to the proceedings of EPS0

Disentangling Genetic and Prenatal Maternal Effects on Offspring Size and Survival

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from University of Chicago Press via the DOI in this record.Organizational processes during prenatal development can have long-term effects on an individual's phenotype. Because these early developmental stages are sensitive to environmental influences, mothers are in a unique position to alter their offspring's phenotype by differentially allocating resources to their developing young. However, such prenatal maternal effects are difficult to disentangle from other forms of parental care, additive genetic effects, and/or other forms of maternal inheritance, hampering our understanding of their evolutionary consequences. Here we used divergent selection lines for high and low prenatal maternal investment and their reciprocal line crosses in a precocial bird-the Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica)-to quantify the relative importance of genes and prenatal maternal effects in shaping offspring phenotype. Maternal but not paternal origin strongly affected offspring body size and survival throughout development. Although the effects of maternal egg investment faded over time, they were large at key life stages. Additionally, there was evidence for other forms of maternal inheritance affecting offspring phenotype at later stages of development. Our study is among the first to successfully disentangle prenatal maternal effects from all other sources of confounding variation and highlights the important role of prenatal maternal provisioning in shaping offspring traits closely linked to fitness.The study was financially supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (PP00P3_128386 and PP00P3_157455 to B.T.)

A trade-off between reproductive investment and maternal cerebellum size in a precocial bird

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the Royal Society via the DOI in this record.Natural selection favours increased investment in reproduction, yet considerable variation in parental investment is observed in natural populations. Life-history theory predicts that this variation is maintained by a trade-off between the benefits of increased reproductive investment and its associated costs for the parents. The nature of these costs of reproduction, however, remains poorly understood. The brain is an energetically highly expensive organ and increased reproductive investment may, therefore, negatively affect brain maintenance. Using artificial selection lines for high and low prenatal maternal investment in a precocial bird, the Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica), we provide experimental evidence for this hypothesis by showing that increased prenatal provisioning negatively affects the size of a particular brain region of the mother, the cerebellum. Our finding suggests that cognitive demands may constrain the evolution of parental investment, and vice versa, contributing to the maintenance of variation in reproductive behaviour in animal populations.This work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (PP00P3_128386, PP00P3_157455 to B.T.) and the Georges und Antoine Claraz-Schenkung (to C.E.)

Africa's digital divide: Geography, policy, and implications

This exploratory empirical study examines the extent of differences in information and communication technology (ICT) utilization among the various countries of Africa. This paper also enhances understanding of factors that impact ICT utilization and the digital divide in African countries. In contrast to previous empirical studies, we include more advanced forms of ICT such as broadband and social media technologies. In our conceptual model of ICT utilization, known as Spatially Aware Technology Utilization Model (SATUM), five dependent variables are posited to be associated with eighteen demographic, socio-economic, education, technology tariff, societal openness, infrastructure, and ICT services competitiveness variables. ICT utilization dependent variables are spatially analyzed to determine patterns of agglomeration or randomness, and regression residuals are tested for the presence of spatial bias. We determine that laws that relate to the use of ICTs is a dominant predictor of all forms of ICT utilization, a novel finding. The effectiveness of a national parliament/congress as a lawmaking institution is significantly associated with modern (broadband) as well as legacy forms (fixed telephones) of ICT. This is consistent with prior literature which emphasizes the role of national governments in Africa in framing ICT sector policies for investment, privatization, deregulation, and providing access in underserved areas. For a smaller sample of nations that excludes high utilization ICT nations of Africa, ICT laws have a somewhat reduced effect for two forms of ICT. However gross national income per capita is determined to a dominant predictor for three ICTs and mobile tariffs is negatively associated with mobile cellular subscribers. The findings are intuitive and mostly well supported by previous literature. Policy implications for African nations are provided

Variations spatiotemporelles des compartiments autotrophes et hétérotrophes de la boucle microbienne dans les lacs du sud du Québec

Les variations de la biomasse des compartiments autotrophes et hétérotrophes de la boucle microbienne ont été examinées dans neuf lacs de deux régions du sud du Québec. Six lacs étaient situés dans les Laurentides et trois lacs dans les Cantons de l'Est. Ils se différenciaient en fonction de leur statut trophique, de la géologie du bassin versant, et de la physicochimie des eaux. Dans chaque lac, l'échantillonnage a été réalisé à trois profondeurs correspondant aux strates épi-, méta- et hypolimnétiques et à cinq dates au cours de l'été (1990-1992). Les biomasses moyennes de picoplancton autotrophe (PPA : 16-80 µg·C·L-1), de picoplancton hétérotrophe (PPH : 97-647 µg·C·L-1), de nanoplancton autotrophe (NPA : 7-37 µg·C·L-1) et de nanoplancton hétérotrophe (NPH : 9-29 µg·C·L-1) notées dans les lacs du sud du Québec le long d'un gradient trophique de PT variant de 7 à 73 µg·L-1 étaient du même ordre de grandeur que celles rapportées pour d'autres écosystèmes d'eau douce au Canada.La majeure partie de la variation dans les biomasses des compartiments microbiens étaient reliée aux variations inter-lacs mais il existaient aussi des sources de variation significatives au sein des lacs, soit au niveau spatial entre les strates limnétiques ou au niveau temporel entre les dates d'échantillonnage durant l'été. Toutefois, les patrons de variation spatiotemporelle intra-lac variaient d'un lac à l'autre. Les variations inter-lacs de la biomasse des quatre compartiments microbiens ont été mises en relation avec les changements dans les concentrations de phosphore total (PT) et dans les densités de macrozooplancton. Le niveau trophique des lacs, exprimés en PT, et l'abondance du macrozooplancton avaient un effet sur les biomasses des compartiments picoplanctoniques. La biomasse de PPA et PPH décroissait dans les lacs eutrophes des Cantons de l'Est ayant des concentrations de PT supérieures à 20 µg·L-1 et dans les lacs ayant de fortes densités de macrozooplancton ou un faible rapport micro-macrozooplancton. Notre étude n'a pas mis clairement en évidence les effets du niveau trophique ou du macrozoopancton sur les compartiments nanoplanctoniques (NPA, NPH).The biomass of autotrophic and heterotrophic microbial compartments were measured in nine lakes in two regions of southern Quebec. Six lakes were located in the Laurentides while three lakes were situated in the Eastern Townships. They varied in trophic status, watershed geology, and water chemistry. Each lake was sampled at three depths, corresponding to the epi-, meta-, and hypolimnion strata, and at five dates over the summer season (1991-1992). The mean biomass of autotrophic picoplankton (PPA: 16-80 µg·C·L-1), heterotrophic picoplankton (PPH: 97-647 µg·C·L-1), autotrophic nanoplankton (NPA: 7-37 µg·C·L-1), and heterotrophic nanoplankton (NPH: 9-29 µg·C·L-1) found in Quebec lakes over a PT range of trophy varying from 7 to 73 µg·L-1 were of the same order as those reported in other freshwater environments in Canada.Most of the variation in the biomass of the four microbial compartments was related to among-lake variation. Some variation was also due to within-lake spatial variation among limnetic strata or temporal variation over the summer season. However, within-lake patterns of variation patterns were different among lakes. Among-lake variations in the biomass of the four microbial compartments were examined in relation to changes in total phosphorus concentrations (PT) and macrozooplankton densities between lakes. Both lake trophy, expressed by PT, and macrozooplankton abundance influence the biomass of picoplankton compartments. The biomass of PPA and PPH decline in the most eutrophic lakes of the Eastern Townships where PT > 20 µg·L-1. PPA and PPH biomass were also reduced in lakes with the highest density of macrozooplankton or with low micro-/macrozooplankton ratio. Our study did not clearly detected the effects of lake trophy or macrozooplankton on nanoplanktonic compartments

Design of Pre-Dumping Ring Spin Rotator with a Possibility of Helicity Switching for Polarized Positrons at the ILC

The use of polarized beams enhance the possibility of the precision measurements at the International Linear Collider (ILC). In order to preserve the degree of polarization during beam transport spin rotators are included in the current TDR ILC Lattice. In this report some advantages of using a combined spin rotator/spin flipper are discussed. A few possible lattice designs of spin flipper developed at DESY in 2012 are presented.Comment: Talk presented at the International Workshop on Future Linear Colliders (LCWS15), Whistler, Canada, 2-6 November 201

Model-independent constraints on spin observables

We discuss model-independent constraints on spin observables in exclusive and inclusive reactions, with special attention to the case of photoproduction.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, Talk by J.-M. Richard at NSTAR 2009, IHEP, Beijing (China), April 19-22, 2009, Proc. to appear in "Chinese Physics C