A femtoscopic Correlation Analysis Tool using the Schr\"odinger equation (CATS)

We present a new analysis framework called "Correlation Analysis Tool using the Schr\"odinger equation" (CATS) which computes the two-particle femtoscopy correlation function $C(k)$, with $k$ being the relative momentum for the particle pair. Any local interaction potential and emission source function can be used as an input and the wave function is evaluated exactly. In this paper we present a study on the sensitivity of $C(k)$ to the interaction potential for different particle pairs: p-p, p-$\mathrm{\Lambda}$, $\mathrm{K^-}$-p, $\mathrm{K^+}$-p, p-$\mathrm{\Xi}^-$ and $\mathrm{\Lambda}$-$\mathrm{\Lambda}$. For the p-p Argonne $v_{18}$ and Reid Soft-Core potentials have been tested. For the other pair systems we present results based on strong potentials obtained from effective Lagrangians such as $\chi$EFT for p-$\mathrm{\Lambda}$, J\"ulich models for $\mathrm{K(\bar{K})}$-N and Nijmegen models for $\mathrm{\Lambda}$-$\mathrm{\Lambda}$. For the p-$\mathrm{\Xi}^-$ pairs we employ the latest lattice results from the HAL QCD collaboration. Our detailed study of different interacting particle pairs as a function of the source size and different potentials shows that femtoscopic measurements can be exploited in order to constrain the final state interactions among hadrons. In particular, small collision systems of the order of 1~fm, as produced in pp collisions at the LHC, seem to provide a suitable environment for quantitative studies of this kind.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, submitted to EPJ

Game theory framework for MAC parameter optimization in energy-delay constrained sensor networks

Optimizing energy consumption and end-to-end (e2e) packet delay in energy-constrained, delay-sensitive wireless sensor networks is a conflicting multiobjective optimization problem. We investigate the problem from a game theory perspective, where the two optimization objectives are considered as game players. The cost model of each player is mapped through a generalized optimization framework onto protocol-specific MAC parameters. From the optimization framework, a game is first defined by the Nash bargaining solution (NBS) to assure energy consumption and e2e delay balancing. Secondy, the Kalai-Smorodinsky bargaining solution (KSBS) is used to find an equal proportion of gain between players. Both methods offer a bargaining solution to the duty-cycle MAC protocol under different axioms. As a result, given the two performance requirements (i.e., the maximum latency tolerated by the application and the initial energy budget of nodes), the proposed framework allows to set tunable system parameters to reach a fair equilibrium point that dually minimizes the system latency and energy consumption. For illustration, this formulation is applied to six state-of-the-art wireless sensor network (WSN) MAC protocols: B-MAC, X-MAC, RI-MAC, SMAC, DMAC, and LMAC. The article shows the effectiveness and scalability of such a framework in optimizing protocol parameters that achieve a fair energy-delay performance trade-off under the application requirements

Carfilzomib-lenalidomide-dexamethasone vs lenalidomide-dexamethasone in relapsed multiple myeloma by previous treatment

Carfilzomib, a proteasome inhibitor, is approved as monotherapy and in combination with dexamethasone or lenalidomide-dexamethasone (Rd) for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. The approval of carfilzomib-lenalidomide-dexamethasone (KRd) was based on results from the randomized, phase 3 study ASPIRE (NCT01080391), which showed KRd significantly improved progression-free survival (PFS) vs Rd (median 26.3 vs 17.6 months; hazard ratio (HR)=0.690; P=0.0001). This subgroup analysis of ASPIRE evaluated KRd vs Rd by number of previous lines of therapy and previous exposure to bortezomib, thalidomide or lenalidomide. Treatment with KRd led to a 12-month improvement in median PFS vs Rd after first relapse (HR 0.713) and a 9-month improvement after 2 previous lines of therapy (HR 0.720). Treatment with KRd led to an approximate 8-month improvement vs Rd in median PFS in bortezomib-exposed patients (HR 0.699), a 15-month improvement in thalidomide-exposed patients (HR 0.587) and a 5-month improvement in lenalidomide-exposed patients (HR 0.796). Objective response and complete response or better rates were higher with KRd vs Rd, irrespective of previous treatment. KRd had a favorable benefit-risk profile and should be considered an appropriate treatment option for patients with 1 or 2 previous lines of therapy and those previously exposed to bortezomib, thalidomide or lenalidomide

Geminin Is Required for Zygotic Gene Expression at the Xenopus Mid-Blastula Transition

In many organisms early development is under control of the maternal genome and zygotic gene expression is delayed until the mid-blastula transition (MBT). As zygotic transcription initiates, cell cycle checkpoints become activated and the tempo of cell division slows. The mechanisms that activate zygotic transcription at the MBT are incompletely understood, but they are of interest because they may resemble mechanisms that cause stem cells to stop dividing and terminally differentiate. The unstable regulatory protein Geminin is thought to coordinate cell division with cell differentiation. Geminin is a bi-functional protein. It prevents a second round of DNA replication during S and G2 phase by binding and inhibiting the essential replication factor Cdt1. Geminin also binds and inhibits a number of transcription factors and chromatin remodeling proteins and is thought to keep dividing cells in an undifferentiated state. We previously found that the cells of Geminin-deficient Xenopus embryos arrest in G2 phase just after the MBT then disintegrate at the onset of gastrulation. Here we report that they also fail to express most zygotic genes. The gene expression defect is cell-autonomous and is reproduced by over-expressing Cdt1 or by incubating the embryos in hydroxyurea. Geminin deficient and hydroxyurea-treated blastomeres accumulate DNA damage in the form of double stranded breaks. Bypassing the Chk1 pathway overcomes the cell cycle arrest caused by Geminin depletion but does not restore zygotic gene expression. In fact, bypassing the Chk1 pathway by itself induces double stranded breaks and abolishes zygotic transcription. We did not find evidence that Geminin has a replication-independent effect on transcription. We conclude that Geminin is required to maintain genome integrity during the rapid cleavage divisions, and that DNA damage disrupts zygotic gene transcription at the MBT, probably through activation of DNA damage checkpoint pathways

Particle identification studies with a full-size 4-GEM prototype for the ALICE TPC upgrade

A large Time Projection Chamber is the main device for tracking and charged-particle identification in the ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC. After the second long shutdown in 2019/20, the LHC will deliver Pb beams colliding at an interaction rate of about 50 kHz, which is about a factor of 50 above the present readout rate of the TPC. This will result in a significant improvement on the sensitivity to rare probes that are considered key observables to characterize the QCD matter created in such collisions. In order to make full use of this luminosity, the currently used gated Multi-Wire Proportional Chambers will be replaced. The upgrade relies on continuously operated readout detectors employing Gas Electron Multiplier technology to retain the performance in terms of particle identification via the measurement of the specific energy loss by ionization d$E$/d$x$. A full-size readout chamber prototype was assembled in 2014 featuring a stack of four GEM foils as an amplification stage. The performance of the prototype was evaluated in a test beam campaign at the CERN PS. The d$E$/d$x$ resolution complies with both the performance of the currently operated MWPC-based readout chambers and the challenging requirements of the ALICE TPC upgrade program. Detailed simulations of the readout system are able to reproduce the data.Comment: Submitted to NIM

Constraints on jet quenching in p-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=5.02 TeV measured by the event-activity dependence of semi-inclusive hadron-jet distributions

CNPQ - CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICOFINEP - FINANCIADORA DE ESTUDOS E PROJETOSFAPESP - FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULOThe ALICE Collaboration reports the measurement of semi-inclusive distributions of charged-particle jets recoiling from a high-transverse momentum trigger hadron in p-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 5.02TeV. Jets are reconstructed from charged-particle tracks using the anti-k(T) algorithm with resolution parameter R = 0.2 and 0.4. A data-driven statistical approach is used to correct the uncorrelated background jet yield. Recoil jet distributions are reported for jet transverse momentum 15 < p(T,jet)(ch) < 50 GeV/c and are compared in various intervals of p-Pb event activity, based on charged-particle multiplicity and zero-degree neutral energy in the forward (Pb-going) direction. The semi-inclusive observable is self-normalized and such comparisons do not require the interpretation of p-Pb event activity in terms of collision geometry, in contrast to inclusive jet observables. These measurements provide new constraints on the magnitude of jet quenching in small systems at the LHC. In p-Pb collisions with high event activity, the average medium-induced out-of-cone energy transport for jets with R = 0.4 and 15 < p(T,jet)(ch) < 50 GeV/c is measured to be less than 0.4 GeV/c at 90% confidence, which is over an order of magnitude smaller than a similar measurement for central Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV. Comparison is made to theoretical calculations of jet quenching in small systems, and to inclusive jet measurements in p-Pb collisions selected by event activity at the LHC and in d-Au collisions at RHIC.78395113CNPQ - CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICOFINEP - FINANCIADORA DE ESTUDOS E PROJETOSFAPESP - FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULOCNPQ - CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICOFINEP - FINANCIADORA DE ESTUDOS E PROJETOSFAPESP - FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULOSem informaçãoSem informaçãoSem informaçãoAgências de fomento estrangeiras apoiaram essa pesquisa, mais informações acesse artig

Measurement of deuteron spectra and elliptic flow in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76 TeV at the LHC

CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQFINANCIADORA DE ESTUDOS E PROJETOS - FINEPFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESPThe transverse momentum (p(T)) spectra and elliptic flow coefficient (v(2)) of deuterons and anti-deuterons at mid-rapidity (|y| < 0.5) are measured with the ALICE detector at the LHC in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV. The measurement of the p(T) spectra of (anti-)deuterons is done up to 8 GeV/c in 0-10% centrality class and up to 6 GeV/c in 10-20% and 20-40% centrality classes. The v(2) is measured in the 0.8 < p(T) < 5 GeV/c interval and in six different centrality intervals (0-5, 5-10, 10-20, 20-30, 30-40 and 40-50%) using the scalar product technique. Measured pi(+/-), K-+/- and p+(p) over bar transverse-momentum spectra and v(2) are used to predict the deuteron p(T) spectra and v(2) within the Blast-Wave model. The predictions are able to reproduce the v(2) coefficient in the measured p(T) range and the transverse-momentum spectra for p(T) gt; 1.8 GeV/c within the experimental uncertainties. The measurement of the coalescence parameter B-2 is performed, showing a p(T) dependence in contrast with the simplest coalescence model, which fails to reproduce also the measured v(2) coefficient. In addition, the coalescence parameter B-2 and the elliptic flow coefficient in the 20-40% centrality interval are compared with the AMPT model which is able, in its version without string melting, to reproduce the measured v(2)(p(T)) and the B-2(p(T)) trend.7710120CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQFINANCIADORA DE ESTUDOS E PROJETOS - FINEPFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESPCONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQFINANCIADORA DE ESTUDOS E PROJETOS - FINEPFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESPSem informaçãoSem informaçãoSem informaçãoThe ALICE Collaboration would like to thank all its engineers and technicians for their invaluable contributions to the construction of the experiment and the CERN accelerator teams for the outstanding performance of the LHC complex. The ALICE Collaboration gratefully acknowledges the resources and support provided by all Grid centres and the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG) collaboration. The ALICE Collaboration acknowledges the following funding agencies for their support in building and running the ALICE detector: A. I. Alikhanyan National Science Laboratory (Yerevan Physics Institute) Foundation (ANSL), State Committee of Science and World Federation of Scientists (WFS), Armenia; Austrian Academy of Sciences and Nationalstiftung für Forschung, Technologie und Entwicklung, Austria; Ministry of Communications and High Technologies, National Nuclear Research Center, Azerbaijan; Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos (Finep) and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP), Brazil; Ministry of Science and Technology of China (MSTC), National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and Ministry of Education of China (MOEC), China; Ministry of Science, Education and Sport and Croatian Science Foundation, Croatia; Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic, Czech Republic; The Danish Council for Independent Research|Natural Sciences, the Carlsberg Foundation and Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF), Denmark; Helsinki Institute of Physics (HIP), Finland; Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique (CEA) and Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules (IN2P3) and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), France; Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie (BMBF) and GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, Germany; General Secretariat for Research and Technology, Ministry of Education, Research and Religions, Greece; National Research, Development and Innovation Office, Hungary; Department of Atomic Energy Government of India (DAE) and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi, India; Indonesian Institute of Science, Indonesia; Centro Fermi-Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche Enrico Fermi and Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Italy; Institute for Innovative Science and Technology, Nagasaki Institute of Applied Science (IIST), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI and Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan; Consejo Nacional de Ciencia (CONACYT) y Tecnología, through Fondo de Cooperación Internacional en Ciencia y Tecnología (FONCICYT) and Dirección General de Asuntos del Personal Academico (DGAPA), Mexico; Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO), Netherlands; The Research Council of Norway, Norway; Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS), Pakistan; Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Peru; Ministry of Science and Higher Education and National Science Centre, Poland; Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information and National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), Republic of Korea; Ministry of Education and Scientific Research, Institute of Atomic Physics and Romanian National Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation, Romania; Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR), Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation and National Research Centre Kurchatov Institute, Russia; Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic, Slovakia; National Research Foundation of South Africa, South Africa; Centro de Aplicaciones Tecnológicas y Desarrollo Nuclear (CEADEN), Cubaenergía, Cuba, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion and Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT), Spain; Swedish Research Council (VR) and Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (KAW), Sweden; European Organization for Nuclear Research, Switzerland; National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSDTA), Suranaree University of Technology (SUT) and Office of the Higher Education Commission under NRU project of Thailand, Thailand; Turkish Atomic Energy Agency (TAEK), Turkey; National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Ukraine; Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), United Kingdom; National Science Foundation of the United States of America (NSF) and United States Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Physics (DOE NP), United States of America