Measuring sparticle masses in non-universal string inspired models at the LHC

We demonstrate that some of the suggested five supergravity points for study at the LHC could be approximately derived from perturbative string theories or M-theory, but that charge and colour breaking minima would result. As a pilot study, we then analyse a perturbative string model with non-universal soft masses that are optimised in order to avoid global charge and colour breaking minima. By combining measurements of up to six kinematic edges from squark decay chains with data from a new kinematic variable, designed to improve slepton mass measurements, we demonstrate that a typical LHC experiment will be able to determine squark, slepton and neutralino masses with an accuracy sufficient to permit an optimised model to be distinguished from a similar standard SUGRA point. The technique thus generalizes SUSY searches at the LHC

The relationship between appetite and food preferences in British and Australian children

Background: Appetitive traits and food preferences are key determinants of children’s eating patterns but it is unclear how these behaviours relate to one another. This study explores relationships between appetitive traits and preferences for fruits and vegetables, and energy dense, nutrient poor (noncore) foods in two distinct samples of Australian and British preschool children. Methods: This study reports secondary analyses of data from families participating in the British GEMINI cohort study (n = 1044) and the control arm of the Australian NOURISH RCT (n = 167). Food preferences were assessed by parent-completed questionnaire when children were aged 3–4 years and grouped into three categories; vegetables, fruits and noncore foods. Appetitive traits; enjoyment of food, food responsiveness, satiety responsiveness, slowness in eating, and food fussiness were measured using the Children’s Eating Behaviour Questionnaire when children were 16 months (GEMINI) or 3–4 years (NOURISH). Relationships between appetitive traits and food preferences were explored using adjusted linear regression analyses that controlled for demographic and anthropometric covariates. Results: Vegetable liking was positively associated with enjoyment of food (GEMINI; β = 0.20 ± 0.03, p < 0.001, NOURISH; β = 0.43 ± 0.07, p < 0.001) and negatively related to satiety responsiveness (GEMINI; β = -0.19 ± 0.03, p < 0.001, NOURISH; β = -0.34 ± 0.08, p < 0.001), slowness in eating (GEMINI; β = -0.10 ± 0.03, p = 0.002, NOURISH; β = -0.30 ± 0.08, p < 0.001) and food fussiness (GEMINI; β = −0.30 ± 0.03, p < 0.001, NOURISH; β = -0.60 ± 0.06, p < 0.001). Fruit liking was positively associated with enjoyment of food (GEMINI; β = 0.18 ± 0.03, p < 0.001, NOURISH; β = 0.36 ± 0.08, p < 0.001), and negatively associated with satiety responsiveness (GEMINI; β = −0.13 ± 0.03, p < 0.001, NOURISH; β = −0.24 ± 0.08, p = 0.003), food fussiness (GEMINI; β = -0.26 ± 0.03, p < 0.001, NOURISH; β = −0.51 ± 0.07, p < 0.001) and slowness in eating (GEMINI only; β = -0.09 ± 0.03, p = 0.005). Food responsiveness was unrelated to liking for fruits or vegetables in either sample but was positively associated with noncore food preference (GEMINI; β = 0.10 ± 0.03, p = 0.001, NOURISH; β = 0.21 ± 0.08, p = 0.010). Conclusion: Appetitive traits linked with lower obesity risk were related to lower liking for fruits and vegetables, while food responsiveness, a trait linked with greater risk of overweight, was uniquely associated with higher liking for noncore foods

Impacts of climate change on plant diseases – opinions and trends

There has been a remarkable scientific output on the topic of how climate change is likely to affect plant diseases in the coming decades. This review addresses the need for review of this burgeoning literature by summarizing opinions of previous reviews and trends in recent studies on the impacts of climate change on plant health. Sudden Oak Death is used as an introductory case study: Californian forests could become even more susceptible to this emerging plant disease, if spring precipitations will be accompanied by warmer temperatures, although climate shifts may also affect the current synchronicity between host cambium activity and pathogen colonization rate. A summary of observed and predicted climate changes, as well as of direct effects of climate change on pathosystems, is provided. Prediction and management of climate change effects on plant health are complicated by indirect effects and the interactions with global change drivers. Uncertainty in models of plant disease development under climate change calls for a diversity of management strategies, from more participatory approaches to interdisciplinary science. Involvement of stakeholders and scientists from outside plant pathology shows the importance of trade-offs, for example in the land-sharing vs. sparing debate. Further research is needed on climate change and plant health in mountain, boreal, Mediterranean and tropical regions, with multiple climate change factors and scenarios (including our responses to it, e.g. the assisted migration of plants), in relation to endophytes, viruses and mycorrhiza, using long-term and large-scale datasets and considering various plant disease control methods

T2 Values of Posterior Horns of Knee Menisci in Asymptomatic Subjects

[[abstract]]Purpose: The magnetic resonance (MR) T2 value of cartilage is a reliable indicator of tissue properties and therefore may be used as an objective diagnostic tool in early meniscal degeneration. The purpose of this study was to investigate age, gender, location, and zonal differences in MR T2 value of the posterior horns of knee menisci in asymptomatic subjects. Methods: Sixty asymptomatic volunteers (30 men and 30 women) were enrolled and divided into three different age groups: 20–34, 35–49 and 50–70 years. The inclusion criteria were BMI＜30 kg/cm2, normalized Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) pain score of zero, and no evidence of meniscal and ligamentous abnormalities on routine knee MR imaging. The T2 values were measured on images acquired with a T2-weighted fat-suppressed turbo spin-echo sequence at 3T. Results: The mean T2 values in both medial and lateral menisci for the 20–34, 35–49, and 50–70 age groups were 9.94 msec±0.94, 10.73 msec±1.55, and 12.36 msec±2.27, respectively, for women and 9.17 msec±0.74, 9.64 msec±0.67, and 10.95 msec±1.33, respectively, for men. The T2 values were significantly higher in the 50–70 age group than the 20–34 age group (P＜0.001) and in women than in men (P = 0.001, 0.004, and 0.049 for each respective age group). T2 values were significantly higher in medial menisci than in lateral menisci only in women age 50–70 (3.33 msec, P = 0.006) and in the white zone and red/white zone of the 50–70 and 35–49 age groups than that of the 20–34 age group (2.47, 1.02; 2.77, 1.16 msec, respectively, all P＜0.01). Conclusion: The MR T2 values of the posterior meniscal horns increase with increasing age in women and are higher in women than in men. The age-related rise of T2 values appears to be more severe in medial menisci than in lateral menisci. Differences exist in the white zone and red/white zone.[[incitationindex]]SCI[[booktype]]電子

The muon system of the Daya Bay Reactor antineutrino experiment

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Search for a Light Sterile Neutrino at Daya Bay

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Early influences on cardiovascular and renal development

The hypothesis that a developmental component plays a role in subsequent disease initially arose from epidemiological studies relating birth size to both risk factors for cardiovascular disease and actual cardiovascular disease prevalence in later life. The findings that small size at birth is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease have led to concerns about the effect size and the causality of the associations. However, recent studies have overcome most methodological flaws and suggested small effect sizes for these associations for the individual, but an potential important effect size on a population level. Various mechanisms underlying these associations have been hypothesized, including fetal undernutrition, genetic susceptibility and postnatal accelerated growth. The specific adverse exposures in fetal and early postnatal life leading to cardiovascular disease in adult life are not yet fully understood. Current studies suggest that both environmental and genetic factors in various periods of life may underlie the complex associations of fetal growth retardation and low birth weight with cardiovascular disease in later life. To estimate the population effect size and to identify the underlying mechanisms, well-designed epidemiological studies are needed. This review is focused on specific adverse fetal exposures, cardiovascular adaptations and perspectives for new studies. Copyrigh

Improved Measurement of Electron Antineutrino Disappearance at Daya Bay

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Independent measure of the neutrino mixing angle θ13 via neutron capture on hydrogen at Daya Bay

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