1,944 research outputs found
Attention deployment during memorizing and executing complex instructions.
We investigated the mental rehearsal of complex action instructions by recording spontaneous eye movements of healthy adults as they looked at objects on a monitor. Participants heard consecutive instructions, each of the form "move [object] to [location]". Instructions were only to be executed after a go signal, by manipulating all objects successively with a mouse. Participants re-inspected previously mentioned objects already while listening to further instructions. This rehearsal behavior broke down after 4 instructions, coincident with participants' instruction span, as determined from subsequent execution accuracy. These results suggest that spontaneous eye movements while listening to instructions predict their successful execution
Population genetic structure in European lobsters: implications for connectivity, diversity and hatchery stocking
The European lobster Homarus gammarus is a marine crustacean prized for seafood, but populations across its range are threatened by fishery overexploitation. The speciesâ larval stages are planktonic, suggesting considerable dispersal among populations. The potential threats of overexploitation and erosion of population structure due to hatchery releases or inadvertent introductions make it important to understand the genetic structuring of populations across multiple geographic scales. Here we assess lobster population structure at a fine scale in Cornwall, southwestern UK, where a hatchery-stocking operation introduces cultured individuals into the wild stock, and at a broader European level, in order to compare the spatial scale of hatchery releases with that of population connectivity. Microsatellite genotypes of 24 individuals from each of 13 locations in Cornwall showed no fine-scale population structure across distances of up to ~230 km. Significant differentiation and isolation by distance were detected at a broader scale, using 300 additional individuals comprising a further 15 European samples. Signals of genetic heterogeneity were evident between an Atlantic cluster and samples from Sweden. Connectivity within the Atlantic and Swedish clusters was high, although evidence for isolation by distance and a transitional zone within the eastern North Sea suggested that direct gene exchange between these stocks is limited and fits a stepping-stone model. We conclude that hatchery-reared lobsters should not be released where broodstock are distantly sourced but, using Cornwall as a case study, microsatellites revealed no evidence that the normal release of hatchery stock exceeds the geographic scale of natural connectivity.European Social FundWorshipful Company of FishmongersBBSRCThis research was supported by Lobster
Grower 2, a 3 yr project funded by Innovate-UK (TS/
N006097/1) and BBSRC (BB/N013891/1) under an AgriTech
Catalyst Industrial Stage Award. We are also greatly
appreciative of the studentship funding provided by the
European Social Fund and of the grant awarded by the Fishmongerâs
Company, UK, both of which made the work possible
Gravitino dark matter in the constrained next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model with neutralino next-to-lightest superpartner
The viability of a possible cosmological scenario is investigated. The
theoretical framework is the constrained next-to-minimal supersymmetric
standard model (cNMSSM), with a gravitino playing the role of the lightest
supersymmetric particle (LSP) and a neutralino acting as the next-to-lightest
supersymmetric particle (NLSP). All the necessary constraints from colliders
and cosmology have been taken into account. For gravitino we have considered
the two usual production mechanisms, namely out-of equillibrium decay from the
NLSP, and scattering processes from the thermal bath. The maximum allowed
reheating temperature after inflation, as well as the maximum allowed gravitino
mass are determined.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figure
CP Violation in Supersymmetry with Effective Minimal Flavour Violation
We analyze CP violation in supersymmetry with Effective Minimal Flavour
Violation, as recently proposed in arXiv:1011.0730. Unlike the case of standard
Minimal Flavour Violation, we show that all the phases allowed by the flavour
symmetry can be sizable without violating existing Electric Dipole Moment
constraints, thus solving the SUSY CP problem. The EDMs at one and two loops
are precisely analyzed as well as their correlations with the expected CP
asymmetries in B physics.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figures. v2: Discussion in section 2 extended,
conclusions unchanged. Matches published versio
Realistic Standard Model Fermion Mass Relations in Generalized Minimal Supergravity (GmSUGRA)
Grand Unified Theories (GUTs) usually predict wrong Standard Model (SM)
fermion mass relation m_e/m_{\mu} = m_d/m_s toward low energies. To solve this
problem, we consider the Generalized Minimal Supergravity (GmSUGRA) models,
which are GUTs with gravity mediated supersymmetry breaking and higher
dimensional operators. Introducing non-renormalizable terms in the super- and
K\"ahler potentials, we can obtain the correct SM fermion mass relations in the
SU(5) model with GUT Higgs fields in the {\bf 24} and {\bf 75} representations,
and in the SO(10) model. In the latter case the gauge symmetry is broken down
to SU(3)_C X SU(2)_L X SU(2)_R X U(1)_{B-L}, to flipped SU(5)X U(1)_X, or to
SU(3)_C X SU(2)_L X U(1)_1 X U(1)_2. Especially, for the first time we generate
the realistic SM fermion mass relation in GUTs by considering the
high-dimensional operators in the K\"ahler potential.Comment: JHEP style, 29 pages, no figure,references adde
The gravitino coupling to broken gauge theories applied to the MSSM
We consider gravitino couplings in theories with broken gauge symmetries. In
particular, we compute the single gravitino production cross section in W+ W-
fusion processes. Despite recent claims to the contrary, we show that this
process is always subdominant to gluon fusion processes in the high energy
limit. The full calculation is performed numerically; however, we give analytic
expressions for the cross section in the supersymmetric and electroweak limits.
We also confirm these results with the use of the effective theory of goldstino
interactions.Comment: 26 pages, 4 figure
The Minimal Solution to the mu/B_mu Problem in Gauge Mediation
We provide a minimal solution to the mu/B_mu problem in the gauge mediated
supersymmetry breaking by introducing a Standard Model singlet filed S with a
mass around the messenger scale which couples to the Higgs and messenger
fields. This singlet is nearly supersymmetric and acquires a relatively small
Vacuum Expectation Value (VEV) from its radiatively generated tadpole term.
Consequently, both mu and B_mu parameters receive the tree-level and one-loop
contributions, which are comparable due to the small S VEV. Because there
exists a proper cancellation in such two kinds of contributions to B_mu, we can
have a viable Higgs sector for electroweak symmetry breaking.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures, version published on JHE
Skyrmion Multi-Walls
Skyrmion walls are topologically-nontrivial solutions of the Skyrme system
which are periodic in two spatial directions. We report numerical
investigations which show that solutions representing parallel multi-walls
exist. The most stable configuration is that of the square -wall, which in
the limit becomes the cubically-symmetric Skyrme crystal. There is
also a solution resembling parallel hexagonal walls, but this is less stable.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figur
A Geometric Approach to CP Violation: Applications to the MCPMFV SUSY Model
We analyze the constraints imposed by experimental upper limits on electric
dipole moments (EDMs) within the Maximally CP- and Minimally Flavour-Violating
(MCPMFV) version of the MSSM. Since the MCPMFV scenario has 6 non-standard
CP-violating phases, in addition to the CP-odd QCD vacuum phase \theta_QCD,
cancellations may occur among the CP-violating contributions to the three
measured EDMs, those of the Thallium, neutron and Mercury, leaving open the
possibility of relatively large values of the other CP-violating observables.
We develop a novel geometric method that uses the small-phase approximation as
a starting point, takes the existing EDM constraints into account, and enables
us to find maximal values of other CP-violating observables, such as the EDMs
of the Deuteron and muon, the CP-violating asymmetry in b --> s \gamma decay,
and the B_s mixing phase. We apply this geometric method to provide upper
limits on these observables within specific benchmark supersymmetric scenarios,
including extensions that allow for a non-zero \theta_QCD.Comment: 34 pages, 16 eps figures, to appear in JHE
Supersymmetric Monojets at the Large Hadron Collider
Supersymmetric monojets may be produced at the Large Hadron Collider by the
process qg -> squark neutralino_1 -> q neutralino_1 neutralino_1, leading to a
jet recoiling against missing transverse momentum. We discuss the feasibility
and utility of the supersymmetric monojet signal. In particular, we examine the
possible precision with which one can ascertain the neutralino_1-squark-quark
coupling via the rate for monojet events. Such a coupling contains information
on the composition of the neutralino_1 and helps bound dark matter direct
detection cross-sections and the dark matter relic density of the neutralino_1.
It also provides a check of the supersymmetric relation between gauge couplings
and gaugino-quark-squark couplings.Comment: 46 pages, 10 figures. The appendix has been rewritten to correct an
error that appears in all previous versions of the appendix. This error has
no effect on the results in the main body of the pape
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