Measurements of the polarisation amplitudes and triple product asymmetries in B_s^0 to phi phi

Using 1fb^{-1} of pp collision data collected at center of mass energy sqrt{s} = 7 TeV during 2011 by the LHCb detector. Measurements of the triple product asymmetries, polarisation amplitudes and strong phase difference in the decay B_s^0 to phi phi are presented.Comment: Written for Moriond 2012 Electroweak Session. 4 pages, 3 figure

Trust, Efficacy and Ethicacy when testing prisoners for Covid19

The outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and subsequent Covid-19 illness has had a major impact on all levels of society internationally. The extent of the impact of Covid-19 on prison staff and prisoners in England and Wales is unknown. Testing for Covid-19 both asymptomatic and symptomatic, as well as for antibodies, to date, has been minimal. The widespread testing of Covid-19 in prisons poses philosophical and ethical questions around trust, efficacy and ethicacy. This paper is both descriptive, providing an overview of the widespread testing of Covid-19 in prisoners in England and Wales, and conceptual in that it discusses and argues the issues associated with large-scale testing. This paper provides philosophical discussion, using comparative studies, of the issues associated with large-scale testing of prisoners across the prison estate in England and Wales (120 prisons). The issues identified in this paper are contextualised through the lens of Covid-19, but they are equally transferrable to epidemiological studies of any pandemic. Given the prevalence of Covid-19 globally and the lack of information about its spread in prisons, at the time of writing this paper, there is a programme of asymptomatic testing of prisoners. However, there remains a paucity of data on the spread of Covid-19 in prisons due to the progress with the ongoing testing programme. We argue that the widespread testing of prisoners requires careful consideration of the details regarding who is included in testing, how consent is gained and how tests are administered. This paper outlines and argues the importance of considering the complex nuance of power relationships within the prison system, between prisoner officers, medical staff and prisoners, and the detrimental consequences. The widespread testing of Covid-19 presents ethical and practical challenges. Careful planning is required when considering the ethics of who should be included in Covid-19 testing, how consent will be gained, who and how tests will be administered as well as very practical challenges around the recording and assigning of Covid-19 test kits inside the prison. The current system for the general population requires scanning of barcodes and registration using a mobile number, these facilities are not permitted inside a prison. This paper looks at the issues associated with mass testing of prisoners for Covid-19. There has not been any research that looks at the issues of testing either in the UK or internationally. The literature available details countries responses to the pandemic rather and scientific papers on the development of vaccines. Therefore, this paper is an original review of some of the practicalities that need to be addressed to ensure that testing can be as successful as possible

Angular analysis of the decay B°→ΦK*(892)°

The LHCb experiment is a single-arm forward spectrometer situated at the Large Hadron Collider, CERN. LHCb is optimised for the precision study of beauty and charm flavoured hadrons and in 2011 collected 1 fb-1 of proton- proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 7TeV. The aim of LHCb is to search for rare decays and make precise measurements of Charge-Parity (CP) violation in the beauty and charm sectors. In the Standard Model the decay B°→ ΦK*(892)° is described by a loop mediated process, providing a sensitive test for new physics. In this decay, signs of CP violation could indicate the presence of physics beyond the Standard Model. This thesis presents a study of the flavour eigenstate B° → Φ(→ K+K-)K*(892)°(→ K+π-) and its charge conjugate -B°-decay. The decay products form an admixture of CP-even and CP-odd eigenstates, which can have longitudinal or transverse polarisation. An angular analysis is performed to disentangle these different contributions and the polarisation amplitudes and strong phases are measured. No difference is observed between B0 and -B0 amplitudes, supporting the hypothesis that CP is conserved in this decay. In addition, the Triple Product Asymmetries (TPAs) are determined from the products of the polarisation amplitudes and strong phases. True TPAs are zero in the event that CP symmetry is conserved, while fake TPAs can arise due to final-state interactions. Although the measured true TPAs are consistent with zero, several significant fake TPAs are observed

Wireless Communication for Greenhouse Environment

Modern day population growth and global climate change requires high-yield agricultural systems that can function in harsh environments. Greenhouses can maintain temperature and humidity, while serving as a protective, nurturing alternative to vulnerable farm environments. With weather effects eliminated, greenhouses provide productive environments for experimental agriculture techniques such as hydroponics and aquaculture. These methods of agriculture, specifically aquaculture, require constant monitoring. The failure of electronic devices such as an air pump prove fatal to a fish population in a short time frame. In developing countries, agricultural locations may be a significant distance from a farmer’s home, with no internet or utility connections. Remotely located greenhouses utilizing aquaculture methods would benefit from long range, wireless monitoring systems that alert farmers to detrimental growth conditions including unstable pH, low dissolved oxygen content, and extreme temperatures. This project focuses on creating a dual end monitoring system with multiple functions. Sensor-end module functions include: 1. Recording greenhouse environment metrics including humidity and air and water temperatures. 2. Monitoring the greenhouse power line and off grid renewable sources alerting the user of complications. 3. Relaying data to a server-end module through internet connection. This system must perform without error at 1 km range over a largely agricultural region with variable topography, and in rainy and arid weather conditions. This is achieved using LoRa, a low power radio based wireless platform. System function is verified using: 1. Two LoRa-capable microcontrollers 2. Two computers with virtual USB serial connections 3. Temperature and humidity probes 4. Voltage sensor module 5. Multimeter and oscilloscope 6. Design, construction, and optimization of RF antennas are performed to ensure functionality over communication ranges of 1-5 km

Debt Begets Debt: Examining Negative Credit Card Behaviors and Other Forms of Consumer Debt

The effect of negative credit card behaviors is examined for association with other forms of consumer debt (automobile debt, installment debt, and personal loan debt). Data were collected using a combination of random digit dialing and convenience sampling from two cities. Respondents\u27 median age is 48 years old, ranging from 20-87. Results indicate that despite controlling for income, not paying off the monthly balance and reaching the maximum limit on credit cards are associated with a variety of other debts. Although consumers can increase lifetime utility by borrowing, less educated consumers are more vulnerable to less favorable sources of credit. Negative credit card behaviors can be easily identifiable signals of larger lurking issues related to consumer behavior or lack of financial literacy. Controlling for income, younger adults accrue significantly more installment debt, possibly suggesting that younger generations perceive a larger number of required appliances and electronics as being necessary to run the household than previous generations

Tumor site immune markers associated with risk for subsequent basal cell carcinomas.

BackgroundBasal cell carcinoma (BCC) tumors are the most common skin cancer and are highly immunogenic.ObjectiveThe goal of this study was to assess how immune-cell related gene expression in an initial BCC tumor biopsy was related to the appearance of subsequent BCC tumors.Materials and methodsLevels of mRNA for CD3ε (a T-cell receptor marker), CD25 (the alpha chain of the interleukin (IL)-2 receptor expressed on activated T-cells and B-cells), CD68 (a marker for monocytes/macrophages), the cell surface glycoprotein intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), the cytokine interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 were measured in BCC tumor biopsies from 138 patients using real-time PCR.ResultsThe median follow-up was 26.6 months, and 61% of subjects were free of new BCCs two years post-initial biopsy. Patients with low CD3ε CD25, CD68, and ICAM-1 mRNA levels had significantly shorter times before new tumors were detected (p = 0.03, p = 0.02, p = 0.003, and p = 0.08, respectively). Furthermore, older age diminished the association of mRNA levels with the appearance of subsequent tumors.ConclusionsOur results show that levels of CD3ε, CD25, CD68, and ICAM-1 mRNA in BCC biopsies may predict risk for new BCC tumors

The Chemical Compositions of the Type II Cepheids -- The BL Her and W Vir Variables

Abundance analyses from high-resolution optical spectra are presented for 19 Type II Cepheids in the Galactic field. The sample includes both short-period (BL Her) and long-period (W Vir) stars. This is the first extensive abundance analysis of these variables. The C, N, and O abundances with similar spreads for the BL Her and W Vir show evidence for an atmosphere contaminated with $3\alpha$-process and CN-cycling products. A notable anomaly of the BL Her stars is an overabundance of Na by a factor of about five relative to their presumed initial abundances. This overabundance is not seen in the W Vir stars. The abundance anomalies running from mild to extreme in W Vir stars but not seen in the BL Her stars are attributed to dust-gas separation that provides an atmosphere deficient in elements of high condensation temperature, notably Al, Ca, Sc, Ti, and $s$-process elements. Such anomalies have previously been seen among RV Tau stars which represent a long-period extension of the variability enjoyed by the Type II Cepheids. Comments are offered on how the contrasting abundance anomalies of BL Her and W Vir stars may be explained in terms of the stars' evolution from the blue horizontal branch.Comment: 41 pages including 11 figures and 4 tables; Accepted for publication in Ap

TIM, ray-tracing program for forbidden optics

TIM (The Interactive METATOY) is a ray-tracing program specifically tailored towards our research in METATOYs, which are optical components that appear to be able to create wave-optically forbidden light-ray fields. For this reason, TIM possesses features not found in other ray-tracing programs. TIM can either be used interactively or by modifying the openly available source code; in both cases, it can easily be run as an applet embedded in a web page. Here we describe the basic structure of TIM's source code and how to extend it, and we give examples of how we have used TIM in our own research.Comment: 19 pages, 15 figure