Problem proposal Sp.111

Inequality in a triangl

Problem proposal SP.114

Inequality in a triangl

Problem proposal SP.110

Inequality in a triangl

A new technique for the reconstruction, validation, and simulation of hits in the CMS Pixel Detector

This note describes new techniques for the reconstruction/validation and the simulation of pixel hits. The techniques are based upon the use of pre-computed projected cluster shapes or ``templates''. A detailed simulation called Pixelav that has successfully described the profiles of clusters measured in beam tests of radiation-damaged sensors is used to generate the templates. Although the reconstruction technique was originally developed to optimally estimate the coordinates of hits after the detector became radiation damaged, it also has superior performance before irradiation. The technique requires a priori knowledge of the track angle which makes it suitable for the second in a two-pass reconstruction algorithm. However, the same modest angle sensitivity allows the algorithm to determine if the sizes and shapes of the cluster projections are consistent with the input angles. This information may be useful in suppressing spurious hits caused by secondary particles and in validating seeds used in track finding. The seed validation is currently under study but has the potential to significantly increase the speed of track finding in the offline reconstruction. Finally, a new procedure that uses the templates to re-weight clusters generated by the CMSSW simulation is described. The first tests of this technique are encouraging and when fully implemented, the technique will enable the fast simulation of pixel hits that have the characteristics of the much more CPU-intensive Pixelav hits. In particular, it may be the only practical technique available to simulate hits from a radiation damaged detector in CMSSW

Relationships between incidental physical activity, exercise, and sports with subsequent mood in adolescents

Physical activity is beneficial for human physical health and well-being. Accordingly, the association between physical activity and mood in everyday life has been a subject of several Ambulatory Assessment studies. This mechanism has been studied in children, adults, and the elderly, but neglected in adolescents. It is critical to examine this mechanism in adolescents because adolescence plays a key role in human development and adolescents’ physical activity behavior translates into their behavior in adulthood. We investigated adolescents’ mood in relation to distinct physical activities: incidental activity such as climbing stairs; exercise activity, such as skating; and sports, such as playing soccer. We equipped 134 adolescents aged 12-17 years with accelerometers and GPS-triggered electronic diaries to use in their everyday life. Adolescents reported on mood repeatedly in real time across 7 days, and these data were analyzed using multilevel-modeling. After incidental activity, adolescents felt better and more energized. After exercise, adolescents felt better but less calm. After sports, adolescents felt less energized. Analyses of the time course of the effects confirmed our findings. Physical activity influences mood in adolescents’ everyday life, but has distinct effects depending on the kind of physical activity. Our results suggest incidental and exercise activities entail higher post-bout valence compared to sports in competitive settings. These findings may serve as an important empirical basis for the targeted application of distinct physical activities to foster well-being in adolescence

Measurement of neutrino velocity with the MINOS detectors and NuMI neutrino beam

The velocity of a ~3 GeV neutrino beam is measured by comparing detection times at the near and far detectors of the MINOS experiment, separated by 734 km. A total of 473 far detector neutrino events was used to measure (v-c)/c=5.12.910-5 (at 68% C.L.). By correlating the measured energies of 258 charged-current neutrino events to their arrival times at the far detector, a limit is imposed on the neutrino mass of mnu<50 MeV/c2 (99% C.L.)

Measurement of the Atmospheric Muon Charge Ratio at TeV Energies with MINOS

The 5.4 kton MINOS far detector has been taking charge-separated cosmic ray muon data since the beginning of August, 2003 at a depth of 2070 meters-water-equivalent in the Soudan Underground Laboratory, Minnesota, USA. The data with both forward and reversed magnetic field running configurations were combined to minimize systematic errors in the determination of the underground muon charge ratio. When averaged, two independent analyses find the charge ratio underground to be 1.374 +/- 0.004 (stat.) +0.012 -0.010(sys.). Using the map of the Soudan rock overburden, the muon momenta as measured underground were projected to the corresponding values at the surface in the energy range 1-7 TeV. Within this range of energies at the surface, the MINOS data are consistent with the charge ratio being energy independent at the two standard deviation level. When the MINOS results are compared with measurements at lower energies, a clear rise in the charge ratio in the energy range 0.3 -- 1.0 TeV is apparent. A qualitative model shows that the rise is consistent with an increasing contribution of kaon decays to the muon charge ratio.Comment: 16 pages, 17 figure

The difference between saying and doing when it comes to training volume: Effect of motives of sport activity, age, gender and pain on training volume [Der Unterschied zwischen Sagen und Tun beim Trainingsfleiß: Effekte von Motiven sportlicher Aktivität, Alter, Geschlecht und Schmerzen auf den Trainingsumfang sportlicher Aktivitäten]

Background Health, joy/fun, body shape and society are motives for physical exercise. So far, the impact of the strength of these factors on the training scope is unclear. The study aims to analyse the association between these motives, age, gender, back pain and training volume. Materials and methods In this study, 792 participants (68% women and 32% men, mean age 53.5 years, standard deviation 11.9, range 24–85 years) were asked about their motives for physical activities, their back pain and their volume of training. Regression analyses were performed to assess the effects of the motives on training volume. Results In women, the motives joy (B$_{joy}$ = 0.23, t = 3.6, p < 0.001, r = 0.25), body shape (B$_{body shape}$ = 0.127, t = 2.0, p = 0.05, r = 0.16) and age (B$_{age}$ = 0.03, t = 2.5, p = 0.01, r = 0.17) had small (age, body shape) to medium effects (joy) on training volume. In men, only back pain had a significant positive effect (B$_{back pain}$ = 1.4, t = 4.2, p < 0.001, r = 0.35) on training volume (strong effect). Discussion and conclusion For active women, the pleasure felt during training (intrinsic motivation) and the desire for a better figure (introjected regulation = meeting external requirements) promote the amount of training. For active men, the solution to the health problem is possibly in the foreground: the greater the problem (back pain), the higher the training volume. Presumably, they have made the experience that physical training reduces back pain

A Search for Dark Higgs Bosons

Recent astrophysical and terrestrial experiments have motivated the proposal of a dark sector with GeV-scale gauge boson force carriers and new Higgs bosons. We present a search for a dark Higgs boson using 516 fb-1 of data collected with the BABAR detector. We do not observe a significant signal and we set 90% confidence level upper limits on the product of the Standard Model-dark sector mixing angle and the dark sector coupling constant.Comment: 7 pages, 5 postscript figures, published version with improved plots for b/w printin