2,683 research outputs found
Multiplicity fluctuations in nuclear collisions at 158 A GeV
System size dependence of multiplicity fluctuations of charged particles
produced in nuclear collisions at 158 A GeV was studied in the NA49 CERN
experiment. Results indicate a non-monotonic dependence of the scaled variance
of the multiplicity distribution with a maximum for semi-peripheral Pb+Pb
interactions with number of projectile participants of about 35. This effect is
not observed in a string-hadronic model of nuclear collision HIJING.Comment: Presented at "Focus on Multiplicity", 17-19 of June, Bari, Ital
Communications Biophysics
Contains research objectives and reports on six research projects
Orexinergic Input to Dopaminergic Neurons of the Human Ventral Tegmental Area
The mesolimbic reward pathway arising from dopaminergic (DA) neurons of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) has been
strongly implicated in reward processing and drug abuse. In rodents, behaviors associated with this projection are
profoundly influenced by an orexinergic input from the lateral hypothalamus to the VTA. Because the existence and
significance of an analogous orexigenic regulatory mechanism acting in the human VTA have been elusive, here we
addressed the possibility that orexinergic neurons provide direct input to DA neurons of the human VTA. Dual-label
immunohistochemistry was used and orexinergic projections to the VTA and to DA neurons of the neighboring substantia
nigra (SN) were analyzed comparatively in adult male humans and rats. Orexin B-immunoreactive (IR) axons apposed to
tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-IR DA and to non-DA neurons were scarce in the VTA and SN of both species. In the VTA,
15.062.8% of TH-IR perikarya in humans and 3.260.3% in rats received orexin B-IR afferent contacts. On average, 0.2460.05 and 0.0560.005 orexinergic appositions per TH-IR perikaryon were detected in humans and rats, respectively. The majority(86–88%) of randomly encountered orexinergic contacts targeted the dendritic compartment of DA neurons. Finally, DA neurons of the SN also received orexinergic innervation in both species. Based on the observation of five times heavierorexinergic input to TH-IR neurons of the human, compared with the rat, VTA, we propose that orexinergic mechanism acting in the VTA may play just as important roles in reward processing and drug abuse in humans, as already established
well in rodents
Event-by-Event Fluctuations of Particle Ratios in Central Pb+Pb Collisions at 20 to 158 AGeV
In the vicinity of the QCD phase transition, critical fluctuations have been
predicted to lead to non-statistical fluctuations of particle ratios, depending
on the nature of the phase transition. Recent results of the NA49 energy scan
program show a sharp maximum of the ratio of K+ to Pi+ yields in central Pb+Pb
collisions at beam energies of 20-30 AGeV. This observation has been
interpreted as an indication of a phase transition at low SPS energies. We
present first results on event-by-event fluctuations of the kaon to pion and
proton to pion ratios at beam energies close to this maximum.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, Quark Matter 2004 proceeding
Search for Charginos with a Small Mass Difference with the Lightest Supersymmetric Particle at \sqrt{s} = 189 GeV
A search for charginos nearly mass-degenerate with the lightest
supersymmetric particle is performed using the 176 pb^-1 of data collected at
189 GeV in 1998 with the L3 detector. Mass differences between the chargino and
the lightest supersymmetric particle below 4 GeV are considered. The presence
of a high transverse momentum photon is required to single out the signal from
the photon-photon interaction background. No evidence for charginos is found
and upper limits on the cross section for chargino pair production are set. For
the first time, in the case of heavy scalar leptons, chargino mass limits are
obtained for any \tilde{\chi}^{+-}_1 - \tilde{\chi}^0_1 mass difference
Search for Low Scale Gravity Effects in e+e- Collisions at LEP
Recent theories propose that quantum gravity effects may be observable at LEP
energies via gravitons that couple to Standard Model particles and propagate
into extra spatial dimensions. The associated production of a graviton and a
photon is searched for as well as the effects of virtual graviton exchange in
the processes: e+e- -> gamma gamma, ZZ, WW, mu mu, tau tau, qq and ee No
evidence for this new interaction is found in the data sample collected by the
L3 detector at LEP at centre-of-mass energies up to 183 GeV. Limits close to 1
TeV on the scale of this new scenario of quantum gravity are set
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