3,750 research outputs found
Pure spinor superfields -- an overview
Maximally supersymmetric theories do not allow off-shell superspace
formulations with traditional superfields containing a finite set of auxiliary
fields. It has become clear that off-shell supersymmetric action formulations
of such models can be achieved by the introduction of pure spinors. In this
talk, an overview of this formalism is given, with emphasis on D=10
super-Yang-Mills theory and D=11 supergravity. This a somewhat expanded version
of a talk presented at the workshop "Breaking of supersymmetry and ultraviolet
divergences in extended supergravity" (BUDS), Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati,
March 25-28, 2013.Comment: 34 pp., 2 figs., contributions to the proceedings of the workshop
"Breaking of supersymmetry and ultraviolet divergences in extended
supergravity" (BUDS), Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, March 25-28, 201
Financial fragmentation and SMEsâ access to finance
This paper focuses on the impact of financial fragmentation on small and medium enterprises (SMEs)â access to finance. We combine country-level data on financial fragmentation and the ECBâs SAFE (Survey on the Access to Finance of Enterprises) data for 12 European Union (EU) countries over 2009-2016. Our findings indicate that an increase in financial fragmentation not only raises the probability of all firms to be rationed but also to be charged higher loan rates; in addition, it increases the likelihood of borrower discouragement and it impairs firmsâ perceptions of the future availability of bank funds. Less creditworthy firms are even more likely to become credit rationed, suggesting a flight to quality effect in lending. However, our study also documents a potential adverse effect of increasing bank market power resulting from greater integration. This suggests that financial integration could impair firmsâ financing, if not accompanied by policy initiatives aimed at maintaining an optimal level of competition in the banking sector
The combined impact of metabolic gene polymorphisms on elite endurance athlete status and related phenotypes
Endurance performance is a complex phenotype subject to the influence of both environmental and genetic factors. Although the last decade has seen a variety of specific genetic factors proposed, many in metabolic pathways, each is likely to make a limited contribution to an 'elite' phenotype: it seems more likely that such status depends on the simultaneous presence of multiple such variants. The aim of the study was to investigate individually and in combination the association of common metabolic gene polymorphisms with endurance athlete status, the proportion of slow-twitch muscle fibers and maximal oxygen consumption. A total of 1,423 Russian athletes and 1,132 controls were genotyped for 15 gene polymorphisms, of which most were previously reported to be associated with athlete status or related intermediate phenotypes. Muscle fiber composition of m. vastus lateralis in 45 healthy men was determined by immunohistochemistry. Maximal oxygen consumption of 50 male rowers of national competitive standard was determined during an incremental test to exhaustion on a rowing ergometer. Ten 'endurance alleles' (NFATC4 Gly160, PPARA rs4253778 G, PPARD rs2016520 C, PPARGC1A Gly482, PPARGC1B 203Pro, PPP3R1 promoter 5I, TFAM 12Thr, UCP2 55Val, UCP3 rs1800849 T and VEGFA rs2010963 C) were first identified showing discrete associations with elite endurance athlete status. Next, to assess the combined impact of all 10 gene polymorphisms, all athletes were classified according to the number of 'endurance' alleles they possessed. The proportion of subjects with a high (âĽ9) number of 'endurance' alleles was greater in the best endurance athletes compared with controls (85.7 vs. 37.8%, P = 7.6 Ă 10-6). The number of 'endurance' alleles was shown to be positively correlated (r = 0.50; P = 4.0 Ă 10-4) with the proportion of fatigue-resistant slow-twitch fibers, and with maximal oxygen consumption (r = 0.46; P = 7.0 Ă 10-4). These data suggest that the likelihood of becoming an elite endurance athlete depends on the carriage of a high number of endurance-related alleles
PPARÎą gene variation and physical performance in Russian athletes
Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor ι (PPARι) regulates genes responsible for skeletal and heart muscle fatty acid oxidation. Previous studies have shown that the PPARι intron 7 G/C polymorphism was associated with left ventricular growth in response to exercise. We speculated that GG homozygotes should be more prevalent within a group of endurance-oriented athletes, have normal fatty acid metabolism, and increased percentages of slow-twitch fibers. We have tested this hypothesis in the study of a mixed cohort of 786 Russian athletes in 13 different sporting disciplines prospectively stratified by performance (endurance-oriented athletes, power-oriented athletes and athletes with mixed endurance/power activity). PPARι intron 7 genotype and allele frequencies were compared to 1,242 controls. We found an increasing linear trend of C allele with increasing anaerobic component of physical performance (P=0.029). GG genotype frequencies in endurance-oriented and power-oriented athletes were 80.3 and 50.6%, respectively, and were significantly (P<0.0001) different compared to controls (70.0%). To examine the association between PPARι gene variant and fiber type composition, muscle biopsies from m. vastus lateralis were obtained and analyzed in 40 young men. GG homozygotes (n=25) had significantly (P=0.003) higher percentages of slow-twitch fibers (55.5¹2.0 vs 38.5¹2.3%) than CC homozygotes (n=4). In conclusion, PPARι intron 7 G/C polymorphism was associated with physical performance in Russian athletes, and this may be explained, in part, by the association between PPARι genotype and muscle fiber type composition. Š Springer-Verlag 2006
Study of decays to the final state and evidence for the decay
A study of decays is performed for the first time
using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0
collected by the LHCb experiment in collisions at centre-of-mass energies
of and TeV. Evidence for the decay
is reported with a significance of 4.0 standard deviations, resulting in the
measurement of
to
be .
Here denotes a branching fraction while and
are the production cross-sections for and mesons.
An indication of weak annihilation is found for the region
, with a significance of
2.4 standard deviations.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and
additional information, are available at
https://lhcbproject.web.cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/LHCbProjectPublic/LHCb-PAPER-2016-022.html,
link to supplemental material inserted in the reference
Measurement of the top quark mass using the matrix element technique in dilepton final states
We present a measurement of the top quark mass in ppÂŻ collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV at the Fermilab Tevatron collider. The data were collected by the D0 experiment corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9.7ââfbâ1. The matrix element technique is applied to ttÂŻ events in the final state containing leptons (electrons or muons) with high transverse momenta and at least two jets. The calibration of the jet energy scale determined in the lepton+jets final state of ttÂŻ decays is applied to jet energies. This correction provides a substantial reduction in systematic uncertainties. We obtain a top quark mass of mt=173.93Âą1.84ââGeV
Induced pseudoscalar coupling of the proton weak interaction
The induced pseudoscalar coupling is the least well known of the weak
coupling constants of the proton's charged--current interaction. Its size is
dictated by chiral symmetry arguments, and its measurement represents an
important test of quantum chromodynamics at low energies. During the past
decade a large body of new data relevant to the coupling has been
accumulated. This data includes measurements of radiative and non radiative
muon capture on targets ranging from hydrogen and few--nucleon systems to
complex nuclei. Herein the authors review the theoretical underpinnings of
, the experimental studies of , and the procedures and uncertainties
in extracting the coupling from data. Current puzzles are highlighted and
future opportunities are discussed.Comment: 58 pages, Latex, Revtex4, prepared for Reviews of Modern Physic
Study of J /Ď production in Jets
The production of J/Ď mesons in jets is studied in the forward region of proton-proton collisions using data collected with the LHCb detector at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The fraction of the jet transverse momentum carried by the J/Ď meson, z(J/Ď)âĄpT(J/Ď)/pT(jet), is measured using jets with pT(jet)>20 GeV in the pseudorapidity range 2.5<Ρ(jet)<4.0. The observed z(J/Ď)distribution for J/Ď mesons produced in b-hadron decays is consistent with expectations. However, the results for prompt J/Ď production do not agree with predictions based on fixed-order nonrelativistic QCD. This is the first measurement of the pT fraction carried by prompt J/Ď mesons in jets at any experiment
Measurement of the inelastic pp cross-section at a centre-of-mass energy of 13TeV
The cross-section for inelastic proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13TeV is measured with the LHCb detector. The fiducial cross-section for inelastic interactions producing at least one prompt long-lived charged particle with momentum p > 2 GeV/c in the pseudorapidity range 2 < Ρ < 5 is determined to be Ď acc = 62:2 Âą 0:2 Âą 2:5mb. The first uncertainty is the intrinsic systematic uncertainty of the measurement, the second is due to the uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The statistical uncertainty is negligible. Extrapolation to full phase space yields the total inelastic proton-proton cross-section Ď inel = 75:4 Âą 3:0 Âą 4:5mb, where the first uncertainty is experimental and the second due to the extrapolation. An updated value of the inelastic cross-section at a centre-of-mass energy of 7TeV is also reported
Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS
has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions
at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection
criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined.
For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a
muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the
whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4,
while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The
efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than
90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall
momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The
transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity
for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be
better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions
of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
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