Search for three-jet resonances in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV

This is a Pre-Print version of the Article - Copyright @ 2011 APSA model-independent search for three-jet hadronic resonance production in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV has been conducted by the CMS Collaboration at the LHC, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35 inverse picobarns. Events with high jet multiplicity and a large scalar sum of jet transverse momenta are analyzed. The number of expected standard model background events is found to be in good agreement with the observed events. Limits are set on a model describing the production of R-parity-violating supersymmetric gluino pairs, and gluino masses in the range of 200 to 280 GeV/c^2 are excluded at a 95% confidence level for the first time.This work is supported by the FMSR (Austria); FNRS and FWO (Belgium); CNPq, CAPES, FAPERJ, and FAPESP (Brazil); MES (Bulgaria); CERN; CAS, MoST, and NSFC (China); COLCIENCIAS (Colombia); MSES (Croatia); RPF (Cyprus); Academy of Sciences and NICPB (Estonia); Academy of Finland, ME, and HIP (Finland); CEA and CNRS/IN2P3 (France); BMBF, DFG, and HGF (Germany); GSRT (Greece); OTKA and NKTH (Hungary); DAE and DST (India); IPM (Iran); SFI (Ireland); INFN (Italy); NRF andWCU (Korea); LAS (Lithuania); CINVESTAV, CONACYT, SEP, and UASLP-FAI (Mexico); PAEC (Pakistan); SCSR (Poland); FCT (Portugal); JINR (Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan); MST and MAE (Russia); MSTD (Serbia); MICINN and CPAN (Spain); Swiss Funding Agencies (Switzerland); NSC (Taipei); TUBITAK and TAEK (Turkey); STFC (United Kingdom); DOE and NSF (USA)

A Conservation of resources perspective on negative affect and innovative work behaviour: The role of affect activation and mindfulness

The present study aimed to clarify the inconsistent relationship between negative affect and innovative work behaviour by taking into account the role of affect activation and mindfulness. Building on the conservation of resources theory, we hypothesized that low-activated negative affect can be associated with increased innovativeness, but only for employees with high levels of mindfulness. Conversely, highactivated negative affect is expected to have a positive, direct relationship with innovative work behaviour. Data were collected from two independent samples, namely 163 French Canadian and 101 Italian employees. Consistent with our predictions, multiple regression analysis results showed that lowactivated negative affect was positively related to innovative behaviour only when mindfulness was high (vs. low), whereas high-activated negative affect was directly associated with higher innovativeness. Our findings challenge the assumption that low-activated negative affects are associated with undermined innovative behaviour, suggesting that these affective states can be related to increased innovativeness if employees are mindful. On the other hand, they support the view that high-activated negative affects provide the energizing potential for instigating innovative actions. This study is unique in examining mindfulness as a moderator that is capable of shaping the link between deactivating negative affect and employee innovativeness. As such, it answers recent calls for research on how mindfulness can contribute to workplace functioning. Moreover, this is the first study to take into account the role of activation level in the negative affectinnovative work behaviour relationship

The effects of ethanol on the size-exclusion characteristics of type i dentin collagen to adhesive resin monomers

During dentin bonding with etch-and-rinse adhesive systems, phosphoric acid etching of mineralized dentin solubilizes the mineral crystallites and replaces them with bound and unbound water. During the infiltration phase of dentin bonding, solvated adhesive resin comonomers are supposed to replace all of the unbound collagen water and polymerize into copolymers. A recently published review suggested that dental monomers are too large to enter and displace water from tightly-packed collagen molecules. Conversely, recent work from the authors' laboratory demonstrated that HEMA and TEGDMA freely equilibrate with water-saturated dentin matrices. However, because adhesive blends are solvated in organic solvents, those solvents may remove enough free water to allow collagen molecules to come close enough to exclude adhesive monomer permeation. The present study analyzed the size-exclusion characteristics of dentin collagen, using a gel permeation-like column chromatography technique, filled with dentin powder instead of Sephadex beads as the stationary phase. The elution volumes of different sized test molecules, including adhesive resin monomers, studied in both water-saturated dentin, and again in ethanol-dehydrated dentin powder, showed that adhesive resin monomers can freely diffuse into both hydrated and dehydrated collagen molecules. Under these in vitro conditions, all free and some of the loosely-bound water seems to have been removed by ethanol. These results validate the concept that adhesive resin monomers can permeate tightly-bound water in ethanol-saturated collagen molecules during infiltration by etch-and-rinse adhesives. Statement of Significance It has been reported that collagen molecules in dentin matrices are packed too close together to allow permeation of adhesive monomers between them. Resin infiltration, in this view, would be limited to extrafibrillar spaces. Our work suggests that monomers equilibrate with collagen water in both water and ethanol-saturated dentin matrices

Portable bead-based fluorescence detection system for multiplex nucleic acid testing: a case study with Bacillus anthracis

This paper describes the design, functioning and use of a portable detection platform for multiplex nucleic acid testing. The system features a bead-supported DNA hybridization assay performed inside a microfluidic cartridge. Polystyrene particles modified with DNA capture probes are confined in the detection area and exposed to a solution of fluorescently labeled target DNA strands. The cartridge, fabricated from inexpensive thermoplastic polymers, allows for conducting up to eight assays in parallel. The detection instrument is equipped with a pneumatic module and a manifold lid serving as an interface to mediate fluid displacement on the cartridge. The fluorescence signal deriving from each assay is recorded by a semi-confocal fluorescence reader embedded in the detection platform. The compact design of the instrument and its level of integration make it possible to obtain an analytical result in less than 15 min, while only few manual steps need to be performed in between. A proof-of-concept demonstration involving Cy3-labeled, PCR-amplified genomic DNA confirms the ability to detect Bacillus anthracis in a multiplexed single-assay format using lef and capC genes. Limits of quantification are on the order of 1 7 109 copies/\u3bcL for lef targets. \ua9 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye

Scientific Opinion on the effect on public or animal health or on the environment on the presence of seeds of Ambrosia spp. in animal feed

The European Commission requested EFSA to provide a scientific opinion on the effect on public or animal health or on the environment on the further distribution of Ambrosia spp. in the European Union and on the importance of feed materials, in particular bird feed, in the dispersion of Ambrosia spp. The genus Ambrosia (Asteraceae family) is distributed worldwide. Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed) has heavily colonised several areas of South-East Europe. Ambrosia spp., both in their native range and in invaded areas, are of public health concern due to the allergenic properties of their pollen. The NDA Panel concluded that inhalation of the plant pollen causes rhino-conjunctivitis and asthma, with skin allergies and food allergy playing minor roles. Ambrosia may cross-sensitize patients to other allergens, including food allergens. There is some evidence for allergenicity of Ambrosia pollen in animals. With regard to the effects on the environment of the further distribution of Ambrosia spp. in the European Union, the PLH Panel concluded that there is no direct evidence that Ambrosia spp. cause extinction of plant species. However, there are some indications that A. artemisiifolia could become highly invasive in certain environmentally-valuable habitats and might be linked to an impoverishment of species richness, therefore further ecological studies are needed. The CONTAM Panel focused on the relative importance of animal feed, bird feed in particular, on the dispersion of Ambrosia. Ambrosia seeds may contaminate feed. However, animal feed materials compounded for use in livestock are extensively processed. This processing destroys Ambrosia seeds and hence the contribution of compounded feed to the dispersion of Ambrosia is considered to be negligible. Bird feed often contains significant quantities of Ambrosia seeds and remains unprocessed. Therefore, bird feed seems to play an important role in introducing Ambrosia to new, previously not infested area

Experimental study of trimuon events in neutrino charged-current interactions

This Letter reports on a study of trimuon events induced by neutrino interactions in the CHORUS calorimeter exposed to the CERN SPS wide-band v(mu) beam. Among the multimuon events produced in the calorimeter, 42 mu(-) mu(-) mu(+) events were selected and their kinematical properties investigated. In the past, several groups collected a sample of about one hundred events of this type but their source was largely unknown. Taking advantage of experimental data presently available on the production and muonic branching ratios of light neutral mesons and resonances, we make absolute predictions for the expected rates in our experiment. Detailed Monte Carlo simulations described in this article show that more than half of the trimuon events can be attributed to this source. Muons from pi- and K- decays in charm dimuon events are responsible for an additional approximate to 25% contribution to the total mu(-)mu(-)mu(+) rate. The remaining 25% of events are likely to come from the internal bremsstrahlung of virtual photons into a muon pair. Associated-charm production with subsequent decays of both charmed particles into muons is a negligible source of trimuon events. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. RI Doucet, Mathieu/A-5333-2010; Ludovici, Lucio/F-5917-2011; De Rosa, Gianfranca/E-8737-2012; Fiorillo, Giuliana/A-2248-201