808 research outputs found
LikeStarter: a Smart-contract based Social DAO for Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding has become a popular form of collective funding, in which small
donations or investments, made by groups of people, support the development of
new projects in exchange of free products or different types of recognition.
Social network sites, on the other hand, promote user cooperation and currently
are at the basis of any individuals cyber-interactions. In this paper, we
present LikeStarter, a blockchain-based decentralized platform that combines
social interactions with crowdfunding mechanisms, allowing any user to raise
funds while becoming popular in the social network. Being built over the
Ethereum blockchain, LikeStarter is structured as a Decentralized Autonomous
Organization (DAO), that fosters crowdfunding without the intervention of any
central authority, and recognizes the active role of donors, enabling them to
support artists or projects, while making profits.Comment: Proceedings of the 2st Workshop on Cryptocurrencies and Blockchains
for Distributed Systems (CryBlock'19). Paris, France, 29 April, 201
Ensuring Personal Data Anonymity in Data Marketplaces through Sensing-as-a-Service and Distributed Ledger
Personal data has undoubtedly assumed a great value with the advancements on technologies able to gather it and infer from it. The businesses that operate in a data-driven economy offer services that rely on data collected about their users and usually they store this personal information in \u201csilos\u201d that impede transparency on their use and possibilities of easy interactions. The introduction in EU of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) moves this economy towards a user-centered vision, in which individuals have rights for their data sovereignty and the free portability of it. However, more efforts are
needed to reach both transparency and balance between privacy and data sharing. In this paper, we present a solution to promote the development of personal data marketplaces, exploiting the use of Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs) and a Sensing-as-a-Service (SaaS) model, in order to enhance the privacy of individuals, following the principles of personal data sovereignty and interoperability. Moreover, we provide experimental results of an implementation based on IOTA, a promising DLT for managing and transacting IoT dat
Heroin versus cocaine: opposite choice as a function of context but not of drug history in the rat
Rationale
Previous studies have shown that rats trained to self-administer heroin and cocaine exhibit opposite preferences, as a function of setting, when tested in a choice paradigm. Rats tested at home prefer heroin to cocaine whereas rats tested outside the home prefer cocaine to heroin. Here we investigated whether drug history would influence subsequent drug preference in distinct settings. Based on a theoretical model of drug-setting interaction, we predicted that regardless of drug history rats would prefer heroin at home and cocaine outside the home.
Methods
Rats with double-lumen catheters were first trained to self-administer either heroin (25 ÎŒg/kg) or cocaine (400 ÎŒg/kg) for 12 consecutive sessions. Twenty-six rats were housed in the self-administration chambers (thus, they were tested at home) whereas 30 rats lived in distinct home cages and were transferred to self-administration chambers only for the self-administration session (thus, they were tested outside the home). The rats were then allowed to choose repeatedly between heroin and cocaine within the same session for 7 sessions.
Results
Regardless of the training drug, the rats tested outside the home preferred cocaine to heroin whereas the rats tested at home preferred heroin to cocaine. There was no correlation between drug preference and drug intake during the training phase.
Conclusion
Drug preferences were powerfully influenced by the setting but, quite surprisingly, not by drug history. This suggests that, under certain conditions, associative learning processes and drug-induced neuroplastic adaptations play a minor role in shaping individual preferences for one drug or the other
SARS-CoV-2 vaccination modelling for safe surgery to save lives : data from an international prospective cohort study
Background: Preoperative SARS-CoV-2 vaccination could support safer elective surgery. Vaccine numbers are limited so this study aimed to inform their prioritization by modelling. Methods: The primary outcome was the number needed to vaccinate (NNV) to prevent one COVID-19-related death in 1 year. NNVs were based on postoperative SARS-CoV-2 rates and mortality in an international cohort study (surgical patients), and community SARS-CoV-2 incidence and case fatality data (general population). NNV estimates were stratified by age (18-49, 50-69, 70 or more years) and type of surgery. Best- and worst-case scenarios were used to describe uncertainty. Results: NNVs were more favourable in surgical patients than the general population. The most favourable NNVs were in patients aged 70 years or more needing cancer surgery (351; best case 196, worst case 816) or non-cancer surgery (733; best case 407, worst case 1664). Both exceeded the NNV in the general population (1840; best case 1196, worst case 3066). NNVs for surgical patients remained favourable at a range of SARS-CoV-2 incidence rates in sensitivity analysis modelling. Globally, prioritizing preoperative vaccination of patients needing elective surgery ahead of the general population could prevent an additional 58 687 (best case 115 007, worst case 20 177) COVID-19-related deaths in 1 year. Conclusion: As global roll out of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination proceeds, patients needing elective surgery should be prioritized ahead of the general population.Peer reviewe
Multidifferential study of identified charged hadron distributions in -tagged jets in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV
Jet fragmentation functions are measured for the first time in proton-proton
collisions for charged pions, kaons, and protons within jets recoiling against
a boson. The charged-hadron distributions are studied longitudinally and
transversely to the jet direction for jets with transverse momentum 20 GeV and in the pseudorapidity range . The
data sample was collected with the LHCb experiment at a center-of-mass energy
of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.64 fb. Triple
differential distributions as a function of the hadron longitudinal momentum
fraction, hadron transverse momentum, and jet transverse momentum are also
measured for the first time. This helps constrain transverse-momentum-dependent
fragmentation functions. Differences in the shapes and magnitudes of the
measured distributions for the different hadron species provide insights into
the hadronization process for jets predominantly initiated by light quarks.Comment: All figures and tables, along with machine-readable versions and any
supplementary material and additional information, are available at
https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-013.html (LHCb
public pages
Les droits disciplinaires des fonctions publiques : « unification », « harmonisation » ou « distanciation ». A propos de la loi du 26 avril 2016 relative à la déontologie et aux droits et obligations des fonctionnaires
The production of tt⟠, W+bb⟠and W+cc⟠is studied in the forward region of protonâproton collisions collected at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.98±0.02 fbâ1 . The W bosons are reconstructed in the decays WââÎœ , where â denotes muon or electron, while the b and c quarks are reconstructed as jets. All measured cross-sections are in agreement with next-to-leading-order Standard Model predictions.The production of , and is studied in the forward region of proton-proton collisions collected at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.98 0.02 \mbox{fb}^{-1}. The bosons are reconstructed in the decays , where denotes muon or electron, while the and quarks are reconstructed as jets. All measured cross-sections are in agreement with next-to-leading-order Standard Model predictions
Study of the decay
The decay is studied
in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of TeV
using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5
collected by the LHCb experiment. In the system, the
state observed at the BaBar and Belle experiments is
resolved into two narrower states, and ,
whose masses and widths are measured to be where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second
systematic. The results are consistent with a previous LHCb measurement using a
prompt sample. Evidence of a new
state is found with a local significance of , whose mass and width
are measured to be and , respectively. In addition, evidence of a new decay mode
is found with a significance of
. The relative branching fraction of with respect to the
decay is measured to be , where the first
uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic and the third originates from
the branching fractions of charm hadron decays.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and
additional information, are available at
https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-028.html (LHCb
public pages
Measurement of the ratios of branching fractions and
The ratios of branching fractions
and are measured, assuming isospin symmetry, using a
sample of proton-proton collision data corresponding to 3.0 fb of
integrated luminosity recorded by the LHCb experiment during 2011 and 2012. The
tau lepton is identified in the decay mode
. The measured values are
and
, where the first uncertainty is
statistical and the second is systematic. The correlation between these
measurements is . Results are consistent with the current average
of these quantities and are at a combined 1.9 standard deviations from the
predictions based on lepton flavor universality in the Standard Model.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and
additional information, are available at
https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-039.html (LHCb
public pages
Observation of the B0 â Ï0Ï0 decay from an amplitude analysis of B0 â (Ï+Ïâ)(Ï+Ïâ) decays
Protonâproton collision data recorded in 2011 and 2012 by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fbâ1 , are analysed to search for the charmless B0âÏ0Ï0 decay. More than 600 B0â(Ï+Ïâ)(Ï+Ïâ) signal decays are selected and used to perform an amplitude analysis, under the assumption of no CP violation in the decay, from which the B0âÏ0Ï0 decay is observed for the first time with 7.1 standard deviations significance. The fraction of B0âÏ0Ï0 decays yielding a longitudinally polarised final state is measured to be fL=0.745â0.058+0.048(stat)±0.034(syst) . The B0âÏ0Ï0 branching fraction, using the B0âÏKâ(892)0 decay as reference, is also reported as B(B0âÏ0Ï0)=(0.94±0.17(stat)±0.09(syst)±0.06(BF))Ă10â6
Measurement of the (eta c)(1S) production cross-section in proton-proton collisions via the decay (eta c)(1S) -> p(p)over-bar
The production of the state in proton-proton collisions is probed via its decay to the final state with the LHCb detector, in the rapidity range GeV/c. The cross-section for prompt production of mesons relative to the prompt cross-section is measured, for the first time, to be at a centre-of-mass energy TeV using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 0.7 fb, and at TeV using 2.0 fb. The uncertainties quoted are, in order, statistical, systematic, and that on the ratio of branching fractions of the and decays to the final state. In addition, the inclusive branching fraction of -hadron decays into mesons is measured, for the first time, to be , where the third uncertainty includes also the uncertainty on the inclusive branching fraction from -hadron decays. The difference between the and meson masses is determined to be MeV/c.The production of the state in proton-proton collisions is probed via its decay to the final state with the LHCb detector, in the rapidity range . The cross-section for prompt production of mesons relative to the prompt cross-section is measured, for the first time, to be at a centre-of-mass energy using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 0.7Â fb , and at using 2.0Â fb . The uncertainties quoted are, in order, statistical, systematic, and that on the ratio of branching fractions of the and decays to the final state. In addition, the inclusive branching fraction of -hadron decays into mesons is measured, for the first time, to be , where the third uncertainty includes also the uncertainty on the inclusive branching fraction from -hadron decays. The difference between the and meson masses is determined to be .The production of the state in proton-proton collisions is probed via its decay to the final state with the LHCb detector, in the rapidity range GeV/c. The cross-section for prompt production of mesons relative to the prompt cross-section is measured, for the first time, to be at a centre-of-mass energy TeV using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 0.7 fb, and at TeV using 2.0 fb. The uncertainties quoted are, in order, statistical, systematic, and that on the ratio of branching fractions of the and decays to the final state. In addition, the inclusive branching fraction of -hadron decays into mesons is measured, for the first time, to be , where the third uncertainty includes also the uncertainty on the inclusive branching fraction from -hadron decays. The difference between the and meson masses is determined to be MeV/c
- âŠ