“Business and Human Rights” in Trade: EU’s Missed Chance to be a Global Leader?

As corporations are amongst the major players in global trade, this blog post examines the role of the EU in promoting business and human rights instruments: bilaterally, in its trade agreements; and at the international level, in the context of the recent UN negotiations over a binding treaty on business and human rights. We argue that, while important steps are on their way, the EU’s contribution to this respect is far from satisfactory.https://eutip.eu/business-and-human-rights-in-trade-eus-missed-chance-to-be-a-global-leader-2

Severity of post-operative pain after instrumentation of root canals by XP-Endo and SAF full sequences compared to manual instrumentation: a randomized clinical trial

This investigation aimed to examine the post-operative pain experienced following single-visit root canal treatment using the XP-endo shaper sequence (XPS), full-sequence self-adjusting file (SAF), and manual K-files (HKF). A randomized equivalence parallel design, double-blinded clinical study was conducted on 120 patients with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis, with or without clinical signs of apical periodontitis. Only teeth with fully formed roots and no periapical lesions were incorporated in the study. Patients were apportioned to one of three groups (n = 40) randomly: Group 1—XPS, Group 2—SAF, and Group 3—HKF. Pre- and post-instrumentation pain was rated utilizing Visual Analog Scale (VAS) with a spectrum of 0–100 mm. The descriptive statistics and one-way ANOVA with 95% confidence intervals were used for statistical analysis. The mean VAS scores before instrumentation were consistent in all three groups. At 6, 24, 48, and 72 h, patients with root canals instrumented by SAF had the lowest post-instrumentation mean VAS score, followed by XPS. For all time intervals, the patients in the HKF group had the highest VAS score. The full-sequence SAF instrumentation resulted in less post-operative pain than the XP-endo plus protocol, while manual instrumentation with K-files resulted in the highest post-operative pain

Are Slope Streaks Indicative of Global-Scale Aqueous Processes on Contemporary Mars?

Acknowledgments We acknowledge the editorial board of Reviews of Geophysics for inviting the submission of this review article. We extend our gratitude to the efforts of the handling editor and the reviewers. We thank NASA, JPL‐Caltech, JPL/Goddard, University of Arizona, Malin Space Science systems, Arizona State University, USGS, ESA/DLR/FU Berlin, and Google Earth for providing various satellite images, maps, and JMARS software free of charge. The paper is theoretical, and no new data have been generated during the work. All the used satellite images of Mars can be rendered on JMARS software using the image ID provided in the respective figure captions, and the image sources have also been duly acknowledged in the respective figure captions. The maps in various figures have been created using ArcGIS version 10.4 (http://desktop.arcgis.com/en/arcmap/latest/get‐started/setup/arcgis‐desktop‐quick‐start‐guide.htm). Although we have cited all the previous research results used in the paper, we here acknowledge the efforts of all those researchers in providing the essential inputs for our study. A. B. acknowledges the Swedish Research Council for supporting his research in cold arid environments. L. S. acknowledges the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for her PhD scholarship.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

First spectroscopic investigation of Anomalous Cepheid variables

Anomalous Cepheids (ACEPs) are intermediate mass metal-poor pulsators mostly discovered in dwarf galaxies of the Local Group. However, recent Galactic surveys, including the Gaia DR3, found a few hundreds of ACEPs in the Milky Way. Their origin is not well understood. We aim to investigate the origin and evolution of Galactic ACEPs by studying for the first time the chemical composition of their atmospheres. We used UVES@VLT to obtain high-resolution spectra for a sample of 9 ACEPs belonging to the Galactic halo. We derived the abundances of 12 elements, including C, Na, Mg, Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, Cr, Fe, Ni, Y, and Ba. We complemented these data with literature abundances for an additional three ACEPs that were previously incorrectly classified as type II Cepheids, thus increasing the sample to a total of 12 stars. All the investigated ACEPs have an iron abundance [Fe/H]$<-1.5$ dex as expected from theoretical predictions for these pulsators. The abundance ratios of the different elements to iron show that the ACEP's chemical composition is generally consistent with that of the Galactic halo field stars, except the Sodium, which is found overabundant in 9 out of the 11 ACEPs where it was measured, in close similarity with second-generation stars in the Galactic Globular Clusters. The same comparison with dwarf and ultra-faint satellites of the Milky Way reveals more differences than similarities so it is unlikely that the bulk of Galactic ACEPs originated in such a kind of galaxies which subsequently dissolved in the Galactic halo. The principal finding of this work is the unexpected overabundance of Sodium in ACEPs. We explored several hypotheses to explain this feature, finding that the most promising scenario is the evolution of low-mass stars in a binary system with either mass transfer or merging. Detailed modelling is needed to confirm this hypothesis.Comment: 15 Figures, 4 Tables, Accepted for publication on Astronomy & Astrophysic

Design optimization of pixel sensors using device simulations for the phase-II CMS tracker upgrade

In order to address the problems caused by the harsh radiation environment during the high luminosity phase of the LHC (HL-LHC), all silicon tracking detectors (pixels and strips) in the CMS experiment will undergo an upgrade. And so to develop radiation hard pixel sensors, simulations have been performed using the 2D TCAD device simulator, SILVACO, to obtain design parameters. The effect of various design parameters like pixel size, pixel depth, implant width, metal overhang, p-stop concentration, p-stop depth and bulk doping density on the leakage current and critical electric field are studied for both non-irradiated as well as irradiated pixel sensors. These 2D simulation results of planar pixels are useful for providing insight into the behaviour of non-irradiated and irradiated silicon pixel sensors and further work on 3D simulation is underway. © 2015 Elsevier B.V

Search for Z′ →μ+μ- in the Lμ-Lτ gauge-symmetric model at Belle

We search for a new gauge boson Z′ that couples only to heavy leptons and their corresponding neutrinos in the process e+e-→Z′(→μ+μ-)μ+μ-, using a 643 fb-1 data sample collected by the Belle experiment at or near the ϒ(1S,2S,3S,4S,5S) resonances at the KEKB collider. While previous searches for Z′ performed a data-based estimation of the initial state radiation effect, our search for the Z′ is the first to include effects due to initial state radiation in the signal simulated samples that were used in estimating the detection efficiency. No signal is observed in the Z′ mass range of 0.212-10 GeV/c2, and we set an upper limit on the coupling strength, g′, constraining the possible Z′ contribution to the anomalous magnetic dipole moment of the muon

Measurement of B (Bs →dsX) with Bs semileptonic tagging

We report the first direct measurement of the inclusive branching fraction B(Bs→DsX) via Bs tagging in e+e-→ (5S) events. Tagging is accomplished through a partial reconstruction of semileptonic decays Bs→DsXℓν, where X denotes unreconstructed additional hadrons or photons and ℓ is an electron or muon. With 121.4 fb-1 of data collected at the (5S) resonance by the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+e- collider, we obtain B(Bs→DsX)=(60.2±5.8±2.3)%, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic

Time-dependent CP Asymmetries in B0→KS0ρ0γB^0\to K^0_S\rho^0\gamma Decays

We report the first measurement of CP-violation parameters in B^0 -> K_S^0\rho^0\gamma decays based on 657 million B\bar B pairs collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy collider. We measure the time-dependent CP violating parameter S_{K_S^0\rho^0\gamma}= 0.11 +/- 0.33(stat.)^{+0.05}_{-0.09}(syst.). We also obtain the effective direct CP violating parameter A_eff=0.05 +/- 0.18(stat.) +/- 0.06(syst.) for m_{K_S\pi^+\pi^-}<1.8 GeV/c^2 and 0.6 GeV/c^2<m_{\pi^+\pi^-}<0.9 GeV/c^2.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, to be submitted to PR