Nuclear structure of Ac-231

The low-energy structure of 231Ac has been investigated by means of gamma ray spectroscopy following the beta-decay of 231Ra. Multipolarities of 28 transitions have been established by measuring conversion electrons with a mini-orange electron spectrometer. The decay scheme of 231Ra --> 231Ac has been constructed for the first time. The Advanced Time Delayed beta-gamma-gamma(t) method has been used to measure the half-lives of five levels. The moderately fast B(E1) transition rates derived suggest that the octupole effects, albeit weak, are still present in this exotic nucleus

New Strategies in Sport Nutrition to Increase Exercise Performance.

Despite over 50 years of research, the field of sports nutrition continues to grow at a rapid rate. Whilst the traditional research focus was one that centred on strategies to maximize competition performance, emerging data in the last decade has demonstrated how both macronutrient and micronutrient availability can play a prominent role in regulating those cell signalling pathways that modulate skeletal muscle adaptations to endurance and resistance training. Nonetheless, in the context of exercise performance, it is clear that carbohydrate (but not fat) still remains king and that carefully chosen ergogenic aids (e.g. caffeine, creatine, sodium bicarbonate, beta-alanine, nitrates) can all promote performance in the correct exercise setting. In relation to exercise training, however, it is now thought that strategic periods of reduced carbohydrate and elevated dietary protein intake may enhance training adaptations whereas high carbohydrate availability and antioxidant supplementation may actually attenuate training adaptation. Emerging evidence also suggests that vitamin D may play a regulatory role in muscle regeneration and subsequent hypertrophy following damaging forms of exercise. Finally, novel compounds (albeit largely examined in rodent models) such as epicatechins, nicotinamide riboside, resveratrol, β-hydroxy β-methylbutyrate, phosphatidic acid and ursolic acid may also promote or attenuate skeletal muscle adaptations to endurance and strength training. When taken together, it is clear that sports nutrition is very much at the heart of the Olympic motto, Citius, Altius, Fortius (faster, higher, stronger)

How to Ensure Inclusivity in Large-Scale General Population Cohort Studies?:Lessons Learned with Regard to Including and Assessing Sex, Gender, and Sexual Orientation

Despite recent advances in the measurement of sex, gender, and sexual orientation in large-scale cohort studies, the three concepts are still gaining relatively little attention, may be mistakenly equated, or non-informatively operationalized. The resulting imprecise or lacking information hereon in studies is problematic, as sex, gender, and sexual orientation are important health-related factors. Omission of these concepts from general population cohort studies might dismiss participants’ identity and experiences and pushes research on sexual or gender minority populations toward purposive sampling, potentially introducing selection bias. It also reinforces the unintentional notion of irrelevance of these concepts to health research, ultimately disadvantaging sexual and gender minority populations. Similarly, a lack of uniform measures on sex, gender, and sexual orientation hampers multi-cohort studies in which data from multiple studies are combined, facilitating increased statistical power. This paper discusses the encountered pitfalls and lessons learned on including and assessing sex, gender, and sexual orientation in large-scale general population cohort studies, exemplified by the Dutch Lifelines Cohort Study. Additionally, we propose hands-on strategies on how to operationalize these concepts in an inclusive manner that is useful for large-scale general population cohort studies

Association between FAMACHA scores and fecal egg counts in katahdin lambs

© 2017 American Society of Animal Science. All rights reserved. The FAMACHA system was introduced to the U.S. just over 10 yr ago to allow selective deworming of lambs with anemia associated with Haemonchus contortus and retard the development of anthelmintic resistance. The FAMACHA system was initially developed as a predictor of packed cell volume (PCV), but correlations between FAMACHA and fecal egg counts (FEC) have also been reported. It is important to understand factors that influence FAMACHA scores among farms to improve management of gastrointestinal nematodes. The objectives of this study were therefore to quantify associations between FAMACHA scores, FEC, BW, and age in Katahdin lambs at 2 different measurement times in 8 flocks in the eastern U.S., and to assess consistency of relationships between FAMACHA and FEC among flocks. Data came from 1,644 Katahdin lambs from 7 flocks sampled at approximately 90 d of age, and 1,295 lambs from 6 flocks sampled at approximately 120 d of age over a 5 yr period. Residual correlations among log-transformed FEC (LFEC), FAMACHA scores, BW, and lamb ages at each measurement time were determined. Repeatability of each variable was also determined as residual correlations among repeated measures. At both 90 and 120 d of age, correlations of FAMACHA scores with LFEC and BW were significant (P \u3c 0.001), but numerically modest (0.25 and -0.16, respectively at 90 d; 0.31 and -0.16, respectively at 120 d), demonstrating that higher FAMACHA scores were associated with higher FEC and more likely to be observed in lighter lambs. A small negative correlation was observed between FAMACHA score and lamb age (r = -0.05, P = 0.05, 90 d; r = -0.11, P \u3c 0.001, 120 d) indicating that younger lambs were more likely to have elevated FAMACHA scores. Thus, younger and lighter lambs will likely be more susceptible to parasitism and may need to be managed more diligently than older or heavier lambs. In addition, FAMACHA scores have potential to improve breeding value estimates in programs designed to genetically improve parasite resistance

Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results

Measurement of D*+/- meson production in jets from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper reports a measurement of D*+/- meson production in jets from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The measurement is based on a data sample recorded with the ATLAS detector with an integrated luminosity of 0.30 pb^-1 for jets with transverse momentum between 25 and 70 GeV in the pseudorapidity range |eta| < 2.5. D*+/- mesons found in jets are fully reconstructed in the decay chain: D*+ -> D0pi+, D0 -> K-pi+, and its charge conjugate. The production rate is found to be N(D*+/-)/N(jet) = 0.025 +/- 0.001(stat.) +/- 0.004(syst.) for D*+/- mesons that carry a fraction z of the jet momentum in the range 0.3 < z < 1. Monte Carlo predictions fail to describe the data at small values of z, and this is most marked at low jet transverse momentum.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (22 pages total), 5 figures, 1 table, matches published version in Physical Review

Genetic parameters for fecal egg counts and their relationship with body weights in katahdin lambs

© The Author(s) 2018. Reliance on anthelmintic drugs to control internal parasites in sheep is no longer sustainable because of the development of resistance to these drugs in parasite populations. Genetic selection may offer an alternative long-term solution, as differences in parasite resistance exist both within and among sheep breeds. However, selection for parasite resistance may have correlated effects on other production traits. The objectives of this study were to estimate genetic parameters for weaning (WFEC) and postweaning (PWFEC) fecal egg counts (FEC) and assess their relationship with birth (BWT), weaning (WWT), and postweaning (PWWT) BW in Katahdin lambs. The study used WFEC (n = 2,537), PWFEC (n = 3.421), BWT (n = 12,869), WWT (n = 10,961), and PWWT (n = 7,812) from 12,869 lambs measured between 2003 and 2015 in 13 flocks enrolled in the U.S. National Sheep Improvement Program. Animal and sire models were fitted to the data using the ASReml statistical package. Records were corrected for fixed effects of dam age, joint effect of type of birth and rearing, and management group (defined by joint effects of flock, sex, and birth year and season); lamb age in days at each measurement time was fitted as a covari-ate. Maternal additive and maternal permanent environmental effects were not significant (P \u3e 0.05), but litter effects influenced (P \u3c 0.01) both WFEC and PWFEC. Heritability estimates ranged from 0.18 to 0.26 for WFEC and 0.23 to 0.46 for PWFEC, depending on the model used. Heritability estimates from sire models were higher than estimates from animal models. Direct additive, litter, residual, and phenotypic correlations between WFEC and PWFEC were 0.82, 0.25, 0.15, and 0.29, respectively. Bivariate analyses revealed low to moderate correlations between BW and FEC. Moderate heritabilities for FEC in this study indicated that genetic progress for this trait can be achieved in Katahdin lambs and that selection for low FEC should have little or no effect on BW

Search for supersymmetry in final states with jets, missing transverse momentum and one isolated lepton in sqrt{s} = 7 TeV pp collisions using 1 fb-1 of ATLAS data

We present an update of a search for supersymmetry in final states containing jets, missing transverse momentum, and one isolated electron or muon, using 1.04 fb^-1 of proton-proton collision data at sqrt{s} = 7 TeV recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC in the first half of 2011. The analysis is carried out in four distinct signal regions with either three or four jets and variations on the (missing) transverse momentum cuts, resulting in optimized limits for various supersymmetry models. No excess above the standard model background expectation is observed. Limits are set on the visible cross-section of new physics within the kinematic requirements of the search. The results are interpreted as limits on the parameters of the minimal supergravity framework, limits on cross-sections of simplified models with specific squark and gluino decay modes, and limits on parameters of a model with bilinear R-parity violation.Comment: 18 pages plus author list (30 pages total), 9 figures, 4 tables, final version to appear in Physical Review

Reducing heterotic M-theory to five dimensional supergravity on a manifold with boundary

This paper constructs the reduction of heterotic $M$-theory in eleven dimensions to a supergravity model on a manifold with boundary in five dimensions using a Calabi-Yau three-fold. New results are presented for the boundary terms in the action and for the boundary conditions on the bulk fields. Some general features of dualisation on a manifold with boundary are used to explain the origin of some topological terms in the action. The effect of gaugino condensation on the fermion boundary conditions leads to a `twist' in the chirality of the gravitino which can provide an uplifting mechanism in the vacuum energy to cancel the cosmological constant after moduli stabilisation.Comment: 16 pages, RevTe

Measurement of tau polarization in W->taunu decays with the ATLAS detector in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

In this paper, a measurement of tau polarization in W->taunu decays is presented. It is measured from the energies of the decay products in hadronic tau decays with a single final state charged particle. The data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 24 pb^-1, were collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider in 2010. The measured value of the tau polarization is Ptau = -1.06 +/- 0.04 (stat) + 0.05 (syst) - 0.07 (syst), in agreement with the Standard Model prediction, and is consistent with a physically allowed 95% CL interval [-1,-0.91]. Measurements of tau polarization have not previously been made at hadron colliders.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (25 pages total), 4 figures, 4 tables, revised author list, matches published EPJC versio