Strange particle production in proton-proton collisions at s=0.9\sqrt{s}=0.9 TeV with ALICE at the LHC

The production of mesons containing strange quarks (K$^0_s$, $\phi$) and both singly and doubly strange baryons ($\Lambda$, Anti-$\Lambda$, and $\Xi$+Anti-$\Xi$) are measured at central rapidity in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 0.9 TeV with the ALICE experiment at the LHC. The results are obtained from the analysis of about 250 k minimum bias events recorded in 2009. Measurements of yields (dN/dy) and transverse momentum spectra at central rapidities for inelastic pp collisions are presented. For mesons, we report yields () of 0.184 $\pm$ 0.002 stat. $\pm$ 0.006 syst. for K$^0_s$ and 0.021 $\pm$ 0.004 stat. $\pm$ 0.003 syst. for $\phi$. For baryons, we find = 0.048 $\pm$ 0.001 stat. $\pm$ 0.004 syst. for $\Lambda$, 0.047 $\pm$ 0.002 stat. $\pm$ 0.005 syst. for Anti-$\Lambda$ and 0.0101 $\pm$ 0.0020 stat. $\pm$ 0.0009 syst. for $\Xi$+Anti-$\Xi$. The results are also compared with predictions for identified particle spectra from QCD-inspired models and provide a baseline for comparisons with both future pp measurements at higher energies and heavy-ion collisions.Comment: 33 pages, 21 captioned figures, 10 tables, authors from page 28, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/387

Quantifying the uncertainties of transpiration calculations with the Penman-Monteith equation under different climate and optimum water supply conditions

The uncertainties of transpiration calculations with the Penman-Monteith equation were quantified under different climate conditions of Brazil, Germany and Israel using maize as a common crop type. All experiments were carried out under non-limiting growing conditions. Canopy resistance was determined by scaling to canopy level specific relations between in situ measurements of incident radiation and stomatal conductance using a light penetration model. The model was tested against heat-pulse measured sap flow in plant stems. The root mean square error (RMSE) of daily calculated transpiration minus measured sap flow was 0.4 mm/day. It was dominated by its variance component (variance = 0.2 {min/day}(2); bias = 0.0 mm/day). Calculated transpiration closely matched the measured trends at the three locations. No significant differences were found between seasons and locations. Uncertainties of canopy conductance parameterizations led to errors of up to 2.1 mm/day. The model responded most sensitively to a 30% change of net radiation (absolute bias error = 1.6 mm/day), followed by corresponding alterations of canopy resistances (0.8 mm/day), vapour pressure deficits (0.5 mm/clay) and aerodynamic resistances (0.34 mm/day). Measured and calculated 30-min or hourly averaged transpiration rates are highly correlated (r(2) = 0.95; n = 10634), and the slope of the regression line is close to unity. The overall RMSE of calculated transpiration minus measured sap flow was 0.08 mm/h and was dominated by its variance component (0.005 {mm/h}(2)). Measured sap flow consistently lagged behind calculated transpiration, because plant hydraulic capacitance delays the change of leaf water potential that drives water uptake. Calculated transpiration significantly overestimated sap flow during morning hours (mean = 0.068 mm/h, n = 321) and underestimated it during afternoon hours (mean = -0.065 mm/h; n = 316). The Penman-Monteith approach as implemented in the present study is sufficiently sensitive to detect small differences between transpiration and water uptake and provides a robust tool to manage plant water supply under unstressed conditions. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Planck intermediate results X : Physics of the hot gas in the Coma cluster

Peer reviewe

Planck Intermediate Results II: Comparison of Sunyaev–Zeldovich measurements from Planck and from the Arcminute Microkelvin Imager for 11 galaxy clusters

A comparison is presented of Sunyaev–Zeldovich measurements for 11 galaxy clusters as obtained by Planck and by the ground-based interferom- eter, the Arcminute Microkelvin Imager. Assuming a universal spherically-symmetric Generalised Navarro, Frenk & White (GNFW) model for the cluster gas pressure profile, we jointly constrain the integrated Compton-Y parameter (Y500) and the scale radius (θ500) of each cluster. Our resulting constraints in the Y500 − θ500 2D parameter space derived from the two instruments overlap significantly for eight of the clusters, although, overall, there is a tendency for AMI to find the Sunyaev–Zeldovich signal to be smaller in angular size and fainter than Planck. Significant discrepancies exist for the three remaining clusters in the sample, namely A1413, A1914, and the newly-discovered Planck cluster PLCKESZ G139.59+24.18. The robustness of the analysis of both the Planck and AMI data is demonstrated through the use of detailed simulations, which also discount confusion from residual point (radio) sources and from diffuse astrophysical foregrounds as possible explanations for the discrepancies found. For a subset of our cluster sample, we have investigated the dependence of our results on the assumed pressure profile by repeating the analysis adopting the best-fitting GNFW profile shape which best matches X-ray observations. Adopting the best-fitting profile shape from the X-ray data does not, in general, resolve the discrepancies found in this subset of five clusters. Though based on a small sample, our results suggest that the adopted GNFW model may not be sufficiently flexible to describe clusters universally

Planck intermediate results I : Further validation of new Planck clusters with XMM-Newton

Peer reviewe

Parafoveal preview effects from word N+1 and word N+2 during reading: A critical review and Bayesian meta-analysis

The use of gaze-contingent display techniques to study reading has shown that readers attend not only to the currently fixated word, but also to the word to the right of the current fixation. However, a critical look at the literature shows that there are a number of questions that cannot be readily answered from the available literature reviews on the topic. First, there is no consensus on whether readers also attend to the second word to the right of fixation. Second, it is not clear whether parafoveal processing is more efficient in languages such as Chinese. Third, it is not well understood whether the measured effects are confounded by the properties of the parafoveal mask. The present study addressed these issues by performing a Bayesian meta-analysis of 93 experiments that used the boundary paradigm (Rayner, 1975). There were three main findings: 1) the advantage of previewing the second word to the right is modest in size and likely not centred on zero; 2) Chinese readers seem to make a more efficient use of parafoveal processing, but this is mostly evident in gaze duration; 3) there are interference effects associated with using different parafoveal masks that roughly increase when the mask is less word-like

Exclusive photoproduction of pi degrees up to large values of Mandelstam variables s, t, and u with CLAS

Exclusive photoproduction cross sections have been measured for the process $\gamma p \rightarrow p\pi^0(e^+e^-(\gamma))$ with the Dalitz decay final state using tagged photon energies in the range of $E_{\gamma} = 1.275-5.425$ GeV. The complete angular distribution of the final state $\pi^0$, for the entire photon energy range up to large values of $t$ and $u$, has been measured for the first time. The data obtained show that the cross section $d\sigma/dt$, at mid to large angles, decreases with energy as $s^{-6.89\pm 0.26}$. This is in agreement with the perturbative QCD quark counting rule prediction of $s^{-7}$. Paradoxically, the size of angular distribution of measured cross sections is greatly underestimated by the QCD based Generalized Parton Distribution mechanism at highest available invariant energy $s=11$ GeV$^2$. At the same time, the Regge exchange based models for $\pi^0$ photoproduction are more consistent with experimental data.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

Advanced Virgo Plus. Future perspectives

While completing the commissioning phase to prepare the Virgo interferometer for the next joint Observation Run (O4), the Virgo collaboration is also finalizing the design of the next upgrades to the detector to be employed in the following Observation Run (O5). The major upgrade will concern decreasing the thermal noise limit, which will imply using very large test masses and increased laser beam size. But this will not be the only upgrade to be implemented in the break between the O4 and O5 observation runs to increase the Virgo detector strain sensitivity. The paper will cover the challenges linked to this upgrade and implications on the detector’s reach and observational potential, reflecting the talk given at 12th Cosmic Ray International Seminar - CRIS 2022 held in September 2022 in Napoli

Genome-wide association study identifies multiple risk loci for chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have previously identified 13 loci associated with risk of chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL). To identify additional CLL susceptibility loci, we conducted the largest meta-analysis for CLL thus far, including four GWAS with a total of 3,100 individuals with CLL (cases) and 7,667 controls. In the meta-analysis, we identified ten independent associated SNPs in nine new loci at 10q23.31 (ACTA2 or FAS (ACTA2/FAS), P = 1.22 x 10(-14)), 18q21.33 (BCL2, P = 7.76 x 10(-11)), 11p15.5 (C11orf21, P = 2.15 x 10(-10)), 4q25 (LEF1, P = 4.24 x 10(-10)), 2q33.1 (CASP10 or CASP8 (CASP10/CASP8), P = 2.50 x 10(-9)), 9p21.3 (CDKN2B-AS1, P = 1.27 x 10(-8)), 18q21.32 (PMAIP1, P = 2.51 x 10(-8)), 15q15.1 (BMF, P = 2.71 x 10(-10)) and 2p22.2 (QPCT, P = 1.68 x 10(-8)), as well as an independent signal at an established locus (2q13, ACOXL, P = 2.08 x 10(-18)). We also found evidence for two additional promising loci below genome-wide significance at 8q22.3 (ODF1, P = 5.40 x 10(-8)) and 5p15.33 (TERT, P = 1.92 x 10(-7)). Although further studies are required, the proximity of several of these loci to genes involved in apoptosis suggests a plausible underlying biological mechanism

Measurement of D+- and D0 production in deep inelastic scattering using a lifetime tag at HERA

The production of D-+/-- and D-0-mesons has been measured with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 133.6 pb(-1). The measurements cover the kinematic range 5 < Q(2) < 1000 GeV2, 0.02 < y < 0.7, 1.5 < p(T)(D) < 15 GeV and |eta(D)| < 1.6. Combinatorial background to the D-meson signals is reduced by using the ZEUS microvertex detector to reconstruct displaced secondary vertices. Production cross sections are compared with the predictions of next-to-leading-order QCD, which is found to describe the data well. Measurements are extrapolated to the full kinematic phase space in order to obtain the open-charm contribution, F-2(c (c) over bar), to the proton structure function, F-2