Negotiations of minority ethnic rugby league players in the Cathar country of France

This article is based on new empirical, qualitative research with minority ethnic rugby league players in the southwest of France. Drawing on similar research on rugby league in the north and the south of England, the article examines how rugby league, traditionally viewed as a white, working-class male game (Collins, 2006; Denham, 2004; Spracklen, 1995, 2001) has had to re-imagine its symbolic boundaries as they are constituted globally and locally to accommodate the needs of players from minority ethnic backgrounds. In particular, the article examines the sense in which experiences of minority ethnic rugby league players in France compare with those of their counterparts in England (Spracklen, 2001, 2007), how rugby league is used in France to construct identity, and in what sense the norms associated with the imaginary community of rugby league are replicated or challenged by the involvement of minority ethnic rugby league players in France. Questions about what it means to be (provincial, national) French (Kumar, 2006) are posed, questions that relate to the role of sport in the construction of Frenchness, and in particular the role of rugby league (and union). © Copyright ISSA and SAGE Publications

Zinc intake, status and indices of cognitive function in adults and children: a systematic review and meta-analysis

In developing countries, deficiencies of micronutrients are thought to have a major impact on child development; however, a consensus on the specific relationship between dietary zinc intake and cognitive function remains elusive. The aim of this systematic review was to examine the relationship between zinc intake, status and indices of cognitive function in children and adults. A systematic literature search was conducted using EMBASE, MEDLINE and Cochrane Library databases from inception to March 2014. Included studies were those that supplied zinc as supplements or measured dietary zinc intake. A meta-analysis of the extracted data was performed where sufficient data were available. Of all of the potentially relevant papers, 18 studies met the inclusion criteria, 12 of which were randomised controlled trials (RCTs; 11 in children and 1 in adults) and 6 were observational studies (2 in children and 4 in adults). Nine of the 18 studies reported a positive association between zinc intake or status with one or more measure of cognitive function. Meta-analysis of data from the adult’s studies was not possible because of limited number of studies. A meta-analysis of data from the six RCTs conducted in children revealed that there was no significant overall effect of zinc intake on any indices of cognitive function: intelligence, standard mean difference of <0.001 (95% confidence interval (CI) –0.12, 0.13) P=0.95; executive function, standard mean difference of 0.08 (95% CI, –0.06, 022) P=0.26; and motor skills standard mean difference of 0.11 (95% CI –0.17, 0.39) P=0.43. Heterogeneity in the study designs was a major limitation, hence only a small number (n=6) of studies could be included in the meta-analyses. Meta-analysis failed to show a significant effect of zinc supplementation on cognitive functioning in children though, taken as a whole, there were some small indicators of improvement on aspects of executive function and motor development following supplementation but high-quality RCTs are necessary to investigate this further

The Time Structure of Hadronic Showers in highly granular Calorimeters with Tungsten and Steel Absorbers

The intrinsic time structure of hadronic showers influences the timing capability and the required integration time of hadronic calorimeters in particle physics experiments, and depends on the active medium and on the absorber of the calorimeter. With the CALICE T3B experiment, a setup of 15 small plastic scintillator tiles read out with Silicon Photomultipliers, the time structure of showers is measured on a statistical basis with high spatial and temporal resolution in sampling calorimeters with tungsten and steel absorbers. The results are compared to GEANT4 (version 9.4 patch 03) simulations with different hadronic physics models. These comparisons demonstrate the importance of using high precision treatment of low-energy neutrons for tungsten absorbers, while an overall good agreement between data and simulations for all considered models is observed for steel.Comment: 24 pages including author list, 9 figures, published in JINS

Performance of the first prototype of the CALICE scintillator strip electromagnetic calorimeter

A first prototype of a scintillator strip-based electromagnetic calorimeter was built, consisting of 26 layers of tungsten absorber plates interleaved with planes of 45x10x3 mm3 plastic scintillator strips. Data were collected using a positron test beam at DESY with momenta between 1 and 6 GeV/c. The prototype's performance is presented in terms of the linearity and resolution of the energy measurement. These results represent an important milestone in the development of highly granular calorimeters using scintillator strip technology. This technology is being developed for a future linear collider experiment, aiming at the precise measurement of jet energies using particle flow techniques

Measurement of CP Asymmetries and Branching Fractions in Charmless Two-Body B-Meson Decays to Pions and Kaons

We present improved measurements of CP-violation parameters in the decays $B^0 \to \pi^+ \pi^-$, $B^0 \to K^+ \pi^-$, and $B^0 \to \pi^0 \pi^0$, and of the branching fractions for $B^0 \to \pi^0 \pi^0$ and $B^0 \to K^0 \pi^0$. The results are obtained with the full data set collected at the $\Upsilon(4S)$ resonance by the BABAR experiment at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy $B$ factory at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, corresponding to $467 \pm 5$ million $B\bar B$ pairs. We find the CP-violation parameter values and branching fractions $S_{\pi^+\pi^-} = -0.68 \pm 0.10 \pm 0.03, C_{\pi^+\pi^-} = -0.25 \pm 0.08 \pm 0.02, A_{K^-\pi^+} = -0.107 \pm 0.016 ^{+0.006}_{-0.004}, C_{\pi^0\pi^0} = -0.43 \pm 0.26 \pm 0.05, Br(B^0 \to \pi^0 \pi^0) = (1.83 \pm 0.21 \pm 0.13) \times 10^{-6}, Br(B^0 \to K^0 \pi^0) = (10.1 \pm 0.6 \pm 0.4) \times 10^{-6},$ where in each case, the first uncertainties are statistical and the second are systematic. We observe CP violation with a significance of 6.7 standard deviations for $B^0 \to\pi^+\pi^-$ and 6.1 standard deviations for $B^0 \to K^+ \pi^-$, including systematic uncertainties. Constraints on the Unitarity Triangle angle $\alpha$ are determined from the isospin relations among the $B \to \pi\pi$ rates and asymmetries. Considering only the solution preferred by the Standard Model, we find $\alpha$ to be in the range $[71^\circ,109^\circ]$ at the 68% confidence level.Comment: 18 pages, 11 postscript figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Cross Sections for the Reactions e+e- --> K+ K- pi+pi-, K+ K- pi0pi0, and K+ K- K+ K- Measured Using Initial-State Radiation Events

We study the processes e+e- --> K+ K- pi+pi-gamma, K+ K- pi0pi0gamma, and K+ K- K+ K-gamma, where the photon is radiated from the initial state. About 84000, 8000, and 4200 fully reconstructed events, respectively, are selected from 454 fb-1 of BaBar data. The invariant mass of the hadronic final state defines the \epem center-of-mass energy, so that the K+ K- pi+pi- data can be compared with direct measurements of the e+e- --> K+ K- pi+pi- reaction. No direct measurements exist for the e+e- --> K+ K-pi0pi0 or e+e- --> K+ K-K+ K- reactions, and we present an update of our previous result with doubled statistics. Studying the structure of these events, we find contributions from a number of intermediate states, and extract their cross sections. In particular, we perform a more detailed study of the e+e- --> phi(1020)pipigamma reaction, and confirm the presence of the Y(2175) resonance in the phi(1020) f0(980) and K+K-f0(980) modes. In the charmonium region, we observe the J/psi in all three final states and in several intermediate states, as well as the psi(2S) in some modes, and measure the corresponding product of branching fraction and electron width.Comment: 35 pages, 42 figure

Measurement of Branching Fractions and Rate Asymmetries in the Rare Decays B -> K(*) l+ l-

In a sample of 471 million BB events collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II e+e- collider we study the rare decays B -> K(*) l+ l-, where l+ l- is either e+e- or mu+mu-. We report results on partial branching fractions and isospin asymmetries in seven bins of di-lepton mass-squared. We further present CP and lepton-flavor asymmetries for di-lepton masses below and above the J/psi resonance. We find no evidence for CP or lepton-flavor violation. The partial branching fractions and isospin asymmetries are consistent with the Standard Model predictions and with results from other experiments.Comment: 16 pages, 14 figures, accepted by Phys. Rev.

Study of Upsilon(3S,2S) -> eta Upsilon(1S) and Upsilon(3S,2S) -> pi+pi- Upsilon(1S) hadronic trasitions

We study the Upsilon(3S,2S)->eta Upsilon(1S) and Upsilon(3S,2S)->pi+pi- Upsilon(1S) transitions with 122 million Upsilon(3S) and 100 million Upsilon(2S) mesons collected by the BaBar detector at the PEP-II asymmetric energy e+e- collider. We measure B[Upsilon(2S)->eta Upsilon(1S)]=(2.39+/-0.31(stat.)+/-0.14(syst.))10^-4 and Gamma[Upsilon(2S)->eta Upsilon(1S)]/Gamma[Upsilon(2S)-> pi+pi- Upsilon(1S)]=(1.35+/-0.17(stat.)+/-0.08(syst.))10^-3. We find no evidence for Upsilon(3S)->eta Upsilon(1S) and obtain B[Upsilon(3S)->eta Upsilon(1S)]<1.0 10^-4 and Gamma[Upsilon(3S)->eta Upsilon(1S)]/Gamma[Upsilon(3S)->pi+pi- Upsilon(1S)]<2.3 10^-3 as upper limits at the 90% confidence level. We also provide improved measurements of the Upsilon(2S) - Upsilon(1S) and Upsilon(3S) - Upsilon(1S) mass differences, 562.170+/-0.007(stat.)+/-0.088(syst.) MeV/c^2 and 893.813+/-0.015(stat.)+/-0.107(syst.) MeV/c^2 respectively.Comment: 8 pages, 16 encapsulated postscript figures, submitted to Phys.Rev.

Evidence for the η_b(1S) Meson in Radiative Υ(2S) Decay

We have performed a search for the η_b(1S) meson in the radiative decay of the Υ(2S) resonance using a sample of 91.6 × 10^6 Υ(2S) events recorded with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II B factory at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. We observe a peak in the photon energy spectrum at E_γ = 609.3^(+4.6)_(-4.5)(stat)±1.9(syst) MeV, corresponding to an η_b(1S) mass of 9394.2^(+4.8)_(-4.9)(stat) ± 2.0(syst) MeV/c^2. The branching fraction for the decay Υ(2S) → γη_b(1S) is determined to be [3.9 ± 1.1(stat)^(+1.1)_(-0.9)(syst)] × 10^(-4). We find the ratio of branching fractions B[Υ(2S) → γη_b(1S)]/B[Υ(3S) → γη_b(1S)]= 0.82 ± 0.24(stat)^(+0.20)_(-0.19)(syst)