1,264 research outputs found
Tests of a proximity focusing RICH with aerogel as radiator
Using aerogel as radiator and multianode PMTs for photon detection, a
proximity focusing Cherenkov ring imaging detector has been constructed and
tested in the KEK 2 beam. The aim is to experimentally study the basic
parameters such as resolution of the single photon Cherenkov angle and number
of detected photons per ring. The resolution obtained is well approximated by
estimates of contributions from pixel size and emission point uncertainty. The
number of detected photons per Cherenkov ring is in good agreement with
estimates based on aerogel and detector characteristics. The values obtained
turn out to be rather low, mainly due to Rayleigh scattering and to the
relatively large dead space between the photocathodes. A light collection
system or a higher fraction of the photomultiplier active area, together with
better quality aerogels are expected to improve the situation. The reduction of
Cherenkov yield, for charged particle impact in the vicinity of the aerogel
tile side wall, has also been measured.Comment: 4 pages, 8 figure
The therapy frequency of antibiotics and phenotypical resistance of Escherichia coli in calf rearing sites in Germany
Introduction
The association between antibiotic use and the occurrence of resistant bacteria is a global health problem and is subject to enormous efforts at national and international levels. Within the scope of the study “KAbMon”, the resistance situation as well as the use of antibiotics in calf rearing farms in Germany was investigated. We hypothesized that the levels of resistance are associated with certain calf keeping farm types, such as pre-weaned calf farms, animal groups, and therapy frequency.
Methods
In total, 95 calf keeping farms were visited between October 2019 and April 2021. At each farm, up to three pooled fecal samples (10 freshly released feces each) were collected. One sample was taken in the youngest calf group, another in the oldest calf group, and one in the hospital box, if available. Escherichia coli was isolated from non-selective MacConkey agar. The therapy frequency reflects the average number of treatment days per calf in a half-year, while the resistance score is the sum of the relative minimum inhibitory concentration per substance over all 10 tested substances.
Results
The 1781 isolates from 178 samples showed high resistance rates against sulfamethoxazole (82%), tetracycline (49%), and ampicillin (40%). High resistance scores were mainly found in pre-weaned calf farms (purchasing calves from 2 weeks of life) and in the youngest animals. The therapy frequency showed an almost linear relationship with the resistance scores, and the age at purchase was negatively related to the resistance score.
Discussion
The high use of antimicrobials of young calves might be associated with a high risk for infectious diseases and might indicate that the current system of crowding 14-day-old calves from different farms in one group is not optimal. Further efforts are necessary to educate and motivate the calf keepers to ensure highest levels of hygiene and management as well as animal welfare conditions and to increase animal health
Evidence for CP Violation in B0 -> D+D- Decays
We report measurements of the branching fraction and CP violation parameters
in B0 -> D+D- decays. The results are based on a data sample that contains 535
x 10^6 BBbar pairs collected at the Upsilon(4S) resonance, with the Belle
detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+e- collider. We obtain [1.97 +- 0.20
(stat) +- 0.20 (syst)] x 10^(-4) for the branching fraction of B0 -> D+D-. The
measured values of the CP violation parameters are: S = -1.13 +- 0.37 +- 0.09,
A = 0.91 +- 0.23 +- 0.06, where the first error is statistical and the second
is systematic. We find evidence of CP violation in B0 -> D+D- at the 4.1 sigma
confidence level. While the value of S is consistent with expectations from
other measurements, the value of the parameter A favors large direct CP
violation at the 3.2 sigma confidence level, in contradiction to Standard Model
expectations.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, submitted to PR
Study of the Baryon-Antibaryon Low-Mass Enhancements in Charmless Three-body Baryonic B Decays
The angular distributions of the baryon-antibaryon low-mass enhancements seen
in the charmless three-body baryonic B decays B+ -> p pbar K+, B0 -> p pbar Ks,
and B0 -> p Lambdabar pi- are reported. A quark fragmentation interpretation is
supported, while the gluonic resonance picture is disfavored. Searches for the
Theta+ and Theta++ pentaquarks in the relevant decay modes and possible
glueball states G with 2.2 GeV/c2 < M-ppbar < 2.4 GeV/c2 in the ppbar systems
give null results. We set upper limits on the products of branching fractions,
B(B0 -> Theta+ p)\times B(Theta+ -> p Ks) Theta++
pbar) \times B(Theta++ -> p K+) G K+) \times
B(G -> p pbar) < 4.1 \times 10^{-7} at the 90% confidence level. The analysis
is based on a 140 fb^{-1} data sample recorded on the Upsilon(4S) resonance
with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+e- collider.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figure files, update of hep-ex/0409010 for journal
submisssio
The Outer Tracker Detector of the HERA-B Experiment Part I: Detector
The HERA-B Outer Tracker is a large system of planar drift chambers with
about 113000 read-out channels. Its inner part has been designed to be exposed
to a particle flux of up to 2.10^5 cm^-2 s^-1, thus coping with conditions
similar to those expected for future hadron collider experiments. 13
superlayers, each consisting of two individual chambers, have been assembled
and installed in the experiment. The stereo layers inside each chamber are
composed of honeycomb drift tube modules with 5 and 10 mm diameter cells.
Chamber aging is prevented by coating the cathode foils with thin layers of
copper and gold, together with a proper drift gas choice. Longitudinal wire
segmentation is used to limit the occupancy in the most irradiated detector
regions to about 20 %. The production of 978 modules was distributed among six
different laboratories and took 15 months. For all materials in the fiducial
region of the detector good compromises of stability versus thickness were
found. A closed-loop gas system supplies the Ar/CF4/CO2 gas mixture to all
chambers. The successful operation of the HERA-B Outer Tracker shows that a
large tracker can be efficiently built and safely operated under huge radiation
load at a hadron collider.Comment: 28 pages, 14 figure
Phenotypic and genotypic correlations for wood properties of hybrid poplar clones of southern Quebec
: This study aims to understand the phenotypic and genotypic correlations among wood
anatomical, physical, and mechanical properties of hybrid poplar clones. Samples were taken from
seven clones grown on three sites in Southern Quebec, Canada. Five trees per clone were randomly
sampled from each site to measure anatomical (fiber length, fiber proportion, vessel proportion,
fiber wall thickness, tension wood), physical (basic density, volumetric, longitudinal, tangential, and
radial shrinkage), and mechanical wood properties (flexural modulus of elasticity (MOE), modulus
of rupture (MOR), ultimate crushing strength parallel to the grain). The observed phenotypic and
genotypic correlations between these wood properties were moderate to strong, except for fiber
length and vessel proportion. Genotypic correlations for all wood properties were higher than for
corresponding phenotypic correlations. Furthermore, fiber length showed weak correlations, whereas,
vessel proportion showed strongly negative correlations with all other properties. Strong correlations
were also found among fiber proportion, fiber wall thickness, basic density, and mechanical properties.
Furthermore, results from this study show close genotypic and phenotypic correlations between
fiber proportion, fiber wall thickness, and wood density, which consequently affect the mechanical
performance of wood products. These findings indicate that there is a substantial opportunity to
improve wood quality by selecting several wood properties for different end uses
Open and Hidden Charm Production in 920 GeV Proton-Nucleus Collisions
The HERA-B collaboration has studied the production of charmonium and open
charm states in collisions of 920 GeV protons with wire targets of different
materials. The acceptance of the HERA-B spectrometer covers negative values of
xF up to xF=-0.3 and a broad range in transverse momentum from 0.0 to 4.8
GeV/c. The studies presented in this paper include J/psi differential
distributions and the suppression of J/psi production in nuclear media.
Furthermore, production cross sections and cross section ratios for open charm
mesons are discussed.Comment: 5 pages, 9 figures, to be published in the proceedings of the 6th
International Conference on Hyperons, Charm & Beauty Hadrons (BEACH04),
Chicago, IL, June 27 - July 3, 200
Prototype ATLAS IBL Modules using the FE-I4A Front-End Readout Chip
The ATLAS Collaboration will upgrade its semiconductor pixel tracking
detector with a new Insertable B-layer (IBL) between the existing pixel
detector and the vacuum pipe of the Large Hadron Collider. The extreme
operating conditions at this location have necessitated the development of new
radiation hard pixel sensor technologies and a new front-end readout chip,
called the FE-I4. Planar pixel sensors and 3D pixel sensors have been
investigated to equip this new pixel layer, and prototype modules using the
FE-I4A have been fabricated and characterized using 120 GeV pions at the CERN
SPS and 4 GeV positrons at DESY, before and after module irradiation. Beam test
results are presented, including charge collection efficiency, tracking
efficiency and charge sharing.Comment: 45 pages, 30 figures, submitted to JINS
Inclusive Production Cross Sections from 920 GeV Fixed Target Proton-Nucleus Collisions
Inclusive differential cross sections and
for the production of \kzeros, \lambdazero, and
\antilambda particles are measured at HERA in proton-induced reactions on C,
Al, Ti, and W targets. The incident beam energy is 920 GeV, corresponding to
GeV in the proton-nucleon system. The ratios of differential
cross sections \rklpa and \rllpa are measured to be and , respectively, for \xf . No significant dependence upon the
target material is observed. Within errors, the slopes of the transverse
momentum distributions also show no significant
dependence upon the target material. The dependence of the extrapolated total
cross sections on the atomic mass of the target material is
discussed, and the deduced cross sections per nucleon are
compared with results obtained at other energies.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, 5 table
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