"Spice", "Kryptonite", "Black Mamba": An overview of brand names and marketing stragtegies of Novel Psychoactive Substances on the Web

Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPSs) are often sold online as “legal” and “safer” alternatives to International Controlled Drugs (ICDs) with captivating marketing strategies. Our aim was to review and summarize such strategies in terms of the appearance of the products, the brand names, and the latest trends in the illicit online marketplaces. Methods: Scientific data were searched in PsychInfo and Pubmed databases; results were integrated with an extensive monitoring of Internet (websites, online shops, chat rooms, fora, social networks) and media sources in nine languages (English, French, Farsi, Portuguese, Arabic, Russian, Spanish, and Chinese simplified/traditional) available from secure databases of the Global Public Health Intelligence Network. Results: Evolving strategies for the online diffusion and the retail of NPSs have been identified, including discounts and periodic offers on chosen products. Advertisements and new brand names have been designed to attract customers, especially young people. An increased number of retailers have been recorded as well as new Web platforms and privacy systems. Discussion: NPSs represent an unprecedented challenge in the field of public health with social, cultural, legal, and political implications.Web monitoring activities are essential for mapping the diffusion of NPSs and for supporting innovative Web-based prevention programmes.Peer reviewedSubmitted Versio

Measurement of shower development and its Moli\`ere radius with a four-plane LumiCal test set-up

A prototype of a luminometer, designed for a future e+e- collider detector, and consisting at present of a four-plane module, was tested in the CERN PS accelerator T9 beam. The objective of this beam test was to demonstrate a multi-plane tungsten/silicon operation, to study the development of the electromagnetic shower and to compare it with MC simulations. The Moli\`ere radius has been determined to be 24.0 +/- 0.6 (stat.) +/- 1.5 (syst.) mm using a parametrization of the shower shape. Very good agreement was found between data and a detailed Geant4 simulation.Comment: Paper published in Eur. Phys. J., includes 25 figures and 3 Table

Performance of fully instrumented detector planes of the forward calorimeter of a Linear Collider detector

Detector-plane prototypes of the very forward calorimetry of a future detector at an e+e- collider have been built and their performance was measured in an electron beam. The detector plane comprises silicon or GaAs pad sensors, dedicated front-end and ADC ASICs, and an FPGA for data concentration. Measurements of the signal-to-noise ratio and the response as a function of the position of the sensor are presented. A deconvolution method is successfully applied, and a comparison of the measured shower shape as a function of the absorber depth with a Monte-Carlo simulation is given.Comment: 25 pages, 32 figures, revised version following comments from referee

Search for B→πℓ+ℓ−B \to \pi \ell^+\ell^- Decays at Belle

We present a search for the B-> pi e^+ e^- and B-> pi \mu^+ \mu^- decays, with a data sample of 657 million BBbar pairs collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB $e^+e^-$ collider. Signal events are reconstructed from a charged or a neutral pion candidate and a pair of oppositely charged electrons or muons. No significant signal is observed and we set the upper limit on the isospin-averaged branching fraction BF(B -> \pi \ell^+\ell^-) < 6.2x10^-8 at the 90% confidence level.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, accepted by PRD(RC

Measurements of Charmless Hadronic b->s Penguin Decays in the pi+pi-K+pi- Final State and First Observation of B0 -> rho0K+pi-

We report measurements of charmless hadronic B^0 decays into the pi+pi-K+pi+ final state. The analysis uses a sample of 657x10^6 BBbar pairs collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+e- collider at the Y(4S) resonance. The decay B^0 -> rho0 Kpi is observed for the first time; the significance is 5.0sigma and the corresponding partial branching fraction for M_Kpi in (0.75,1.20) GeV/c^2 is [2.8 +- 0.5(stat) +-0.5(syst)] x 10^{-6}. We also obtain the first evidence for B^0 -> f0Kpi with 3.5sigma significance and for B^0 -> pi+pi-K*0 with 4.5sigma significance. For the two-body decays B^0 -> rho0K*0 and B^0 -> f0K*0, the significances are 2.7sigma and 2.5sigma, respectively, and the upper limits on the branching fractions are 3.4x10^{-6} and 2.2x10^{-6} at 90% confidence level.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. accepted by PRD(RC

Measurement of Time-Dependent CP-Violating Parameters in B0 -> K0S K0S decays

We report a measurement of the CP-violating parameters in B0->K0S K0S decays based on a data sample of 657 million BBbar pairs collected at the Y(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+e- collider. In this study, one neutral B meson is fully reconstructed in the B0->K0S K0S decay mode, and the flavor of the accompanying B meson is identified by its decay products. The CP-violating parameters are measured from the asymmetry in the distributions of the proper-time interval between the two B decays: S = -0.38 +0.69-0.77(stat) +-0.09(syst) and A = -0.38 +-0.38(stat) +-0.05(syst).Comment: 5pages, 2figures, submitted to PR

Dalitz analysis of B --> K pi psi' decays and the Z(4430)+

From a Dalitz plot analysis of B --> K pi psi' decays, we find a signal for Z(4430)+ --> pi+ psi' with a mass M= (4443(+15-12)(+19-13))MeV/c^2, width Gamma= (107(+86-43)(+74-56))MeV, product branching fraction BR(B0 --> K- Z(4430)+) x BR(Z(4430)+ --> pi+ psi')= (3.2(+1.8-0.9)(+5.3-1.6)) x 10^{-5}, and significance of 6.4sigma that agrees with previous Belle measurements based on the same data sample. In addition, we determine the branching fraction BR(B^0 --> K*(892)^0 psi')= (5.52(+0.35-0.32)(+0.53-0.58)) x 10^{-4} and the fraction of K*(892)^0 mesons that are longitudinally polarized f_L= 44.8(+4.0-2.7)(+4.0-5.3)%. These results are obtained from a 605fb^{-1} data sample that contains 657 million B-anti-B pairs collected near the Upsilon(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric energy e+e- collider.Comment: Final version published in PRD(RC

Measurement Of |V_ub| From Inclusive Charmless Semileptonic B Decays

We present the partial branching fraction for inclusive charmless semileptonic B decays and the corresponding value of the CKM matrix element |Vub|, using a multivariate analysis method to access ~90% of the B -> Xu l nu phase space. This approach dramatically reduces the theoretical uncertainties from the b-quark mass and non-perturbative QCD compared to all previous inclusive measurements. The results are based on a sample of 657 million B -Bbar pairs collected with the Belle detector. We find that Delta BR(B -> Xu l nu; p^*B_l>1.0 GeV/c=1.963 x (1 +/- 0.088(stat.) +/- 0.081(sys.)) x 10^-3. Corresponding values of |Vub| are extracted using several theoretical calculations.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure, 2 tables. Published in PR

Evidence for B to K eta' gamma Decays at Belle

We present the results of a search for the radiative decay (B -> K eta' gamma) and find evidence for (B^+ -> K^+ eta' gamma) decays at the 3.3 standard deviation level with a partial branching fraction of (3.6 +/- 1.2 +/- 0.4) x 10e-6, where the first error is statistical and the second systematic. This measurement is restricted to the region of combined (K eta') invariant mass less than 3.4GeVc^2. A 90% confidence level upper limit of 6.4 x 10e-6 is obtained for the decay (B^0 -> K^0 eta' gamma) in the same (K eta') invariant mass region. These results are obtained from a 605 fb^-1 data sample containing 657 x 10e6 B anti-B pairs collected at the Upsilon(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e^+e^- collider.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. Submitted to PRD-RC on 6/8/0