291 research outputs found
Resting state connectivity of the human habenula at ultra-high field
The habenula, a portion of the epithalamus, is implicated in the pathophysiology of depression, anxiety and addiction disorders. Its small size and connection to other small regions prevent standard human imaging from delineating its structure and connectivity with confidence. Resting state functional connectivity is an established method for mapping connections across the brain from a seed region of interest. The present study takes advantage of 7T fMRI to map, for the first time, the habenula resting state network with very high spatial resolution in 32 healthy human participants. Results show novel functional connections in humans, including functional connectivity with the septum and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST). Results also show many habenula connections previously described only in animal research, such as with the nucleus basalis of Meynert, dorsal raphe, ventral tegmental area (VTA), and periaqueductal grey (PAG). Connectivity with caudate, thalamus and cortical regions such as the anterior cingulate, retrosplenial cortex and auditory cortex are also reported. This work, which demonstrates the power of ultra-high field for mapping human functional connections, is a valuable step toward elucidating subcortical and cortical regions of the habenula network
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Study on the gender dimension of trafficking in human beings
The purpose of this study is to contribute to the identification and understanding of what it means to be ‘taking into account the gender perspective, to strengthen the prevention of this crime and protection of the victims there-of’, as required in Article 1 of European Union (EU) Directive 2011/36/EU on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and Protecting its Victims in the context of the EU Strategy (COM(2012) 286 final) Towards the Eradication of Trafficking in Human Beings.
The study contributes to Priority E Action 2 of the Strategy, which states that ‘the Commission will develop knowledge on the gender dimensions of human trafficking, including the gender consequences of the various forms of trafficking and potential differences in the vulnerability of men and women to victimisation and its impact on them.’ Its specific objectives and tasks are to address: the ‘gender dimension of vulnerability, recruitment, and victimisation’; ‘gender issues related to traffickers and to those creating demand’; and ‘an examination of law and policy responses on trafficking in human beings from a gender perspective’.
The study addresses the five priorities of the EU Strategy: identifying, protecting, and assisting victims of traf-ficking; stepping up the prevention of trafficking in human beings; better law enforcement; enhanced coordination and cooperation among key actors and policy coherence; and increased knowledge of an effective response to emerging concerns.
This study, according to its terms of reference, aims to look specifically at the gender dimension of trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. This follows evidence from statistical data from Eurostat, as well as da-ta from The European Police Office (Europol) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), accord-ing to which the most reported form of exploitation of victims is that of sexual exploitation and its strong gen-der dimension (96 % women and girls). It further addresses recommendations addressed in the Resolution of the European Parliament of 26 February 2014 on sexual exploitation and prostitution and its impact on gender equality (2013/2103(INI)) urging the European Commission to evaluate the impact that the European legal frame-work designed to eliminate trafficking for sexual exploitation has had to date and to undertake further research on patterns of prostitution, on human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and on the increased lev-el of sex tourism in the EU, with particular reference to minors, and to promote the exchange of best practices among the Member States.
The study identifies and draws on EU law and policy competence in gender equality in its identification of the gen-der dimensions of trafficking. The gender dimensions are clustered into five issues: gender specificity and equal treatment; gender expertise, gender balance in decision-making and gender mainstreaming; the relationship be-tween prostitution and trafficking; gendered policy fields and strategic priorities; gendered systems and the the-ory of prevention
Comprehensive policy review of anti-trafficking projects funded by the EU
The study reviews the 300+ projects that were funded by the EU in relation to their anti-trafficking policy, between 2012-2016, at a cost of 158.5m euros. The study explores the nature and geographic distribution of these projects. It also examines the activity and outcomes related to them for areas of good practice. Using this information the study examines the current EC strategy and makes recommendations for the future strategy
The neural basis of improved cognitive performance by threat of shock
Anxiety can have both detrimental and facilitatory cognitive effects. This study investigates the neural substrates of a replicated facilitatory effect of anxiety on sustained attention and response inhibition. This effect consisted of improved performance on the Sustained Attention to Response Task (a Go–NoGo task consisting of 91% Go and 9% NoGo trials) in threat (unpredictable electrical shock) vs safe (no shock) conditions. This study uses the same experimental design with fMRI and relies on an event-related analysis of BOLD signal changes. Findings reveal that threat-related cognitive facilitation (improved NoGo accuracy) is associated with greater activation of a right-lateralized frontoparietal group of regions previously implicated in sustained attention and response inhibition. Moreover, these same regions show decreased activation in the Go trials preceding NoGo errors. During NoGo trials, striatal activity is also greater in the threat vs safe condition, consistent with the notion of enhanced inhibitory processing under threat. These findings identify potential mechanisms by which threat of unpredictable shock can facilitate distinct cognitive functions. A greater understanding of the complex interaction of the anxious state and cognitive processes may have critical clinical implications
Limits on WWgamma and WWZ Couplings from W Boson Pair Production
The results of a search for W boson pair production in pbar-p collisions at
sqrt{s}=1.8 TeV with subsequent decay to emu, ee, and mumu channels are
presented. Five candidate events are observed with an expected background of
3.1+-0.4 events for an integrated luminosity of approximately 97 pb^{-1}.
Limits on the anomalous couplings are obtained from a maximum likelihood fit of
the E_T spectra of the leptons in the candidate events. Assuming identical
WWgamma and WWZ couplings, the 95 % C.L. limits are -0.62<Delta_kappa<0.77
(lambda = 0) and -0.53<lambda<0.56 (Delta_kappa = 0) for a form factor scale
Lambda = 1.5 TeV.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, submitted to Physical Review
Direct Measurement of the Top Quark Mass at D0
We determine the top quark mass m_t using t-tbar pairs produced in the D0
detector by \sqrt{s} = 1.8 TeV p-pbar collisions in a 125 pb^-1 exposure at the
Fermilab Tevatron. We make a two constraint fit to m_t in t-tbar -> b W^+bbar
W^- final states with one W boson decaying to q-qbar and the other to e-nu or
mu-nu. Likelihood fits to the data yield m_t(l+jets) = 173.3 +- 5.6 (stat) +-
5.5 (syst) GeV/c^2. When this result is combined with an analysis of events in
which both W bosons decay into leptons, we obtain m_t = 172.1 +- 5.2 (stat) +-
4.9 (syst) GeV/c^2. An alternate analysis, using three constraint fits to fixed
top quark masses, gives m_t(l+jets) = 176.0 +- 7.9 (stat) +- 4.8 (syst)
GeV/C^2, consistent with the above result. Studies of kinematic distributions
of the top quark candidates are also presented.Comment: 43 pages, 53 figures, 33 tables. RevTeX. Submitted to Phys. Rev.
Measurement of the Boson Mass
A measurement of the mass of the boson is presented based on a sample of
5982 decays observed in collisions at
= 1.8~TeV with the D\O\ detector during the 1992--1993 run. From a
fit to the transverse mass spectrum, combined with measurements of the
boson mass, the boson mass is measured to be .Comment: 12 pages, LaTex, style Revtex, including 3 postscript figures
(submitted to PRL
Search for a Fourth Generation Charge -1/3 Quark via Flavor Changing Neutral Current Decay
We report on a search for pair production of a fourth generation charge -1/3
quark (b') in pbar p collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.8 TeV at the Fermilab Tevatron
using an integrated luminosity of 93 pb^-1. Both quarks are assumed to decay
via flavor changing neutral currents (FCNC). The search uses the signatures
gamma + 3 jets + mu-tag and 2 gamma + 2 jets. We see no significant excess of
events over the expected background. We place an upper limit on the production
cross section times branching fraction that is well below theoretical
expectations for a b' quark decaying exclusively via FCNC for b' quark masses
up to m(Z) + m(b).Comment: Eleven pages, two postscript figures, submitted to Physical Review
Letter
Search for First Generation Scalar Leptoquark Pairs in ppbar Collisions at sqrt(s)=1.8 TeV
We have searched for first generation scalar leptoquark (LQ) pairs in the
enu+jets channel using ppbar collider data (integrated luminosity= 115 pb^-1)
collected by the DZero experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron during 1992-96. The
analysis yields no candidate events. We combine the results with those from the
ee+jets and nunu+jets channels to obtain 95% confidence level (CL) upper limits
on the LQ pair production cross section as a function of mass and of beta, the
branching fraction to a charged lepton. Comparing with the next-to-leading
order theory, we set 95% CL lower limits on the LQ mass of 225, 204, and 79
GeV/c^2 for beta=1, 1/2, and 0, respectively.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letters Replaced to
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Search for Top Squark Pair Production in the Dielectron Channel
This report describes the first search for top squark pair production in the
channel stop_1 stopbar_1 -> b bbar chargino_1 chargino_1 -> ee+jets+MEt using
74.9 +- 8.9 pb^-1 of data collected using the D0 detector. A 95% confidence
level upper limit on sigma*B is presented. The limit is above the theoretical
expectation for sigma*B for this process, but does show the sensitivity of the
current D0 data set to a particular topology for new physics.Comment: Five pages, including three figures, submitted to PRD Brief Report
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