User Preferences for Accessing Online Content through Desktop, Laptop, and Handheld Devices

This study determined which devices, hand held or desktop and laptop computers, users preferred to access specific types of Internet content and why they chose mobile apps or mobile websites. Significant differences were found in favor of using handheld devices for social networking, looking up directions, programing reminders, global positioning systems, playing games, and listening to music. Activities showed a significant difference in favor of using desktop and laptop computers to investigate topics of interest, watch videos, and manage finances. Users preferred the way mobile apps are presented over mobile websites, but no significant differences between devices were found for accessing information, using services, completeness of content, making purchases, advertising, or ease of use

Accurate Neutralino Relic Density Computations in Supergravity Models

We investigate the question of the proper thermal averaging of neutralino annihilation amplitudes which possess poles and thresholds, as they impact on the calculated neutralino relic density and therefore on the cosmological viability of supersymmetric models. We focus on two typical resonances, namely the $Z$ boson and the lightest Higgs boson ($h$). In the context of supergravity models with radiative electroweak symmetry breaking, an exploration of the whole parameter space of the model is possible and the overall relevance of these sophisticated analyses can be ascertained. As an example we chose the minimal $SU(5)$ supergravity model since the presence of such poles is essential to obtain a cosmologically acceptable model. We find that the proper thermal averaging is important for individual points in parameter space and that the fraction of cosmologically acceptable points is increased somewhat by the accurate procedure. However, qualitatively the new set of points is very similar to that obtained previously using the usual series approximations to the thermal average. We conclude that all phenomenological analyses based on the previously determined cosmologically allowed set remain valid.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures (available upon request as uuencoded file or separate ps files), tex (harvmac) CTP-TAMU-14/9

Associations of Sedentary Behaviour, Physical Activity, Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Body Composition with Risk of Sleep-Related Breathing Disorders in Children with Overweight/Obesity: A Cross-Sectional Study

The aim of this study was to examine the associations of sedentary behaviour, physical activity, cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), and body composition parameters with risk of sleep-related breathing disorders (SRBD) in children with overweight/obesity. One-hundred and nine children (10.0 +/- 1.1 years old, 45 girls) with overweight (n = 27) and obesity (n = 82) were included. Television viewing time was self-reported by using the Spanish adaptation of the "Youth Activity Profile" (YAP) questionnaire. Sedentary time and physical activity were measured with accelerometry. CRF was assessed with the 20-m shuttle-run test and body composition parameters with Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. SRBD were evaluated by using the Spanish version of the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire. Television viewing time was positively associated with risk of SRBD (r = 0.222, p = 0.021). CRF was negatively correlated with risk of SRBD (r = -0.210, p = 0.030). Body composition parameters were positively associated with risk of SRBD (all p < 0.05), except fat mass index. Stepwise regression analyses showed that body mass index (BMI) explained the largest proportion of the variance in SRBD (r(2) = 0.063, p = 0.01) and television viewing time was the only one added after BMI (r(2) change = 0.048, p = 0.022). This study supports the notion that higher body weight status negatively influences risk of SRBD and adds that unhealthy behaviours could contribute to worsen SRBD, related to an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. All the significant association observed in this manuscript were of small magnitude, indicating than other factors in addition to the one hereby studied contribute to explain the variance in SRBD

Neutralino relic density in a Universe with a non-vanishing cosmological constant

We discuss the relic density of the lightest of the supersymmetric particles in view of new cosmological data, which favour the concept of an accelerating Universe with a non-vanishing cosmological constant. Recent astrophysical observations provide us with very precise values of the relevant cosmological parameters. Certain of these parameters have direct implications on particle physics, e.g., the value of matter density, which in conjunction with electroweak precision data put severe constraints on the supersymmetry breaking scale. In the context of the Constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (CMSSM) such limits read as: M_{1/2} \simeq 300 \GeV - 340 \GeV, m_0 \simeq 80 \GeV - 130 \GeV. Within the context of the CMSSM a way to avoid these constraints is either to go to the large $\tan \beta$ and $\mu > 0$ region, or make ${\tilde \tau}_R$, the next to lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP), be almost degenerate in mass with LSP.Comment: REVTeX, 50 pages, 35 eps figures; Minor changes, references and a figure added; Better quality figures can be obtained upon request from [email protected]

"Large (g−2)μ(g-2)_\mu in SU(5)xU(1) supergravity models"

We compute the supersymmetric contribution to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon within the context of $SU(5)\times U(1)$ supergravity models. The largest possible contributions to $a^{susy}_\mu$ occur for the largest allowed values of $\tan\beta$ and can easily exceed the present experimentally allowed range, even after the LEP lower bounds on the sparticle masses are imposed. Such $\tan\beta$ enhancement implies that $a^{susy}_\mu$ can greatly exceed both the electroweak contribution ($\approx1.95\times10^{-9}$) and the present hadronic uncertainty ($\approx\pm1.75\times10^{-9}$). Therefore, the new E821 Brookhaven experiment (with an expected accuracy of $0.4\times10^{-9}$) should explore a large fraction (if not all) of the parameter space of these models, corresponding to slepton, chargino, and squarks masses as high as 200, 300, and 1000 GeV respectively. Moreover, contrary to popular belief, the $a^{susy}_\mu$ contribution can have either sign, depending on the sign of the Higgs mixing parameter $\mu$: $a^{susy}_\mu>0\,(0$ ($\mu<0$). The present $a_\mu$ constraint excludes chargino masses in the range 45-120\GeV depending on the value of $\tan\beta$, although there are no constraints for \tan\beta\lsim8. We also compute $a^{susy}_\tau$ and find |a^{susy}_\tau|\approx(m_\tau/m_\mu)^2\,|a^{susy}_\mu|\lsim10^{-5} and briefly comment on its possible observability.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures (not included), Latex. Figures available from [email protected] as ps files (total 0.985MB) or uuencoded file (0.463MB). CERN-TH.6986/93, CTP-TAMU-44/9

Collider signatures of goldstini in gauge mediation

We investigate the collider signatures of the multiple goldstini scenario in the framework of gauge mediation. This class of models is characterized by a visible sector (e.g. the MSSM or any extension) coupled by gauge interactions to more than one SUSY breaking sector. The spectrum consists of a light gravitino LSP, behaving as a goldstino, and a number of neutral fermions (the pseudo-goldstini) with a mass between that of the LSP and that of the lightest particle of the observable sector (LOSP). We consider the two situations where the LOSP is either a gaugino-like neutralino or a stau and we assume only one pseudo-goldstino of a mass of O(100) GeV. The coupling of the LOSP to the pseudo-goldstino can be enhanced with respect to those of the gravitino giving rise to characteristic signatures. We show that the decay modes of the LOSP into a SM particle and a pseudo-goldstino can be significant. For both LOSP scenarios we analyze (pseudo)-goldstini production at colliders. Compared to standard gauge mediation the final state spectrum is softer and more structured.Comment: v2: analysis of the stau LOSP scenario added, sections rearranged, and Introduction and Conclusions rewritten to include the added scenario. Version to appear in JHE

About direct Dark Matter detection in Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model

Direct dark matter detection is considered in the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM). The effective neutralino-quark Lagrangian is obtained and event rates are calculated for the Ge-73 isotope. Accelerator and cosmological constraints on the NMSSM parameter space are included. By means of scanning the parameter space at the Fermi scale we show that the lightest neutralino could be detected in dark matter experiments with sizable event rate.Comment: latex, 12 pages, 2 ps-figures; extra LEP constraint is included, extra figure is added, recorrected version, resubmitted to Phys.Rev.

The Schro¨\ddot{o}dinger-Poisson equations as the large-N limit of the Newtonian N-body system: applications to the large scale dark matter dynamics

In this paper it is argued how the dynamics of the classical Newtonian N-body system can be described in terms of the Schr$\ddot{o}$dinger-Poisson equations in the large $N$ limit. This result is based on the stochastic quantization introduced by Nelson, and on the Calogero conjecture. According to the Calogero conjecture, the emerging effective Planck constant is computed in terms of the parameters of the N-body system as $\hbar \sim M^{5/3} G^{1/2} (N/)^{1/6}$, where is $G$ the gravitational constant, $N$ and $M$ are the number and the mass of the bodies, and $$ is their average density. The relevance of this result in the context of large scale structure formation is discussed. In particular, this finding gives a further argument in support of the validity of the Schr$\ddot{o}$dinger method as numerical double of the N-body simulations of dark matter dynamics at large cosmological scales.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Euro. Phys. J.

Cytokine Production but Lack of Proliferation in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells from Chronic Chagas' Disease Cardiomyopathy Patients in Response to T. cruzi Ribosomal P Proteins

Background:Trypanosoma cruzi ribosomal P proteins, P2β and P0, induce high levels of antibodies in patients with chronic Chagas' disease Cardiomyopathy (CCC). It is well known that these antibodies alter the beating rate of cardiomyocytes and provoke apoptosis by their interaction with β1-adrenergic and M2-muscarinic cardiac receptors. Based on these findings, we decided to study the cellular immune response to these proteins in CCC patients compared to non-infected individuals.Methodology/Principal findings:We evaluated proliferation, presence of surface activation markers and cytokine production in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) stimulated with P2β, the C-terminal portion of P0 (CP0) proteins and T. cruzi lysate from CCC patients predominantly infected with TcVI lineage. PBMC from CCC patients cultured with P2β or CP0 proteins, failed to proliferate and express CD25 and HLA-DR on T cell populations. However, multiplex cytokine assays showed that these antigens triggered higher secretion of IL-10, TNF-α and GM-CSF by PBMC as well as both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells subsets of CCC subjects. Upon T. cruzi lysate stimulation, PBMC from CCC patients not only proliferated but also became activated within the context of Th1 response. Interestingly, T. cruzi lysate was also able to induce the secretion of GM-CSF by CD4+ or CD8+ T cells.Conclusions/Significance:Our results showed that although the lack of PBMC proliferation in CCC patients in response to ribosomal P proteins, the detection of IL-10, TNF-α and GM-CSF suggests that specific T cells could have both immunoregulatory and pro-inflammatory potential, which might modulate the immune response in Chagas' disease. Furthermore, it was possible to demonstrate for the first time that GM-CSF was produced by PBMC of CCC patients in response not only to recombinant ribosomal P proteins but also to parasite lysate, suggesting the value of this cytokine to evaluate T cells responses in T. cruzi infection.Fil: Longhi, Silvia Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres"; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica; ArgentinaFil: Atienza, Augusto. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Agudos "Ramos Mejía"; ArgentinaFil: Perez Prados, Graciela. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Agudos "Juan A. Fernández"; ArgentinaFil: Buying, Alcinette. Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies; Estados UnidosFil: Balouz, Virginia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas; ArgentinaFil: Buscaglia, Carlos Andres. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas; ArgentinaFil: Santos, Radleigh. Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies; Estados UnidosFil: Tasso, Laura Mónica. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres"; ArgentinaFil: Bonato, Ricardo. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Agudos "Ramos Mejía"; ArgentinaFil: Chiale, Pablo. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Agudos "Ramos Mejía"; ArgentinaFil: Pinilla, Clemencia. Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies; Estados UnidosFil: Judkowski, Valeria A.. Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies; Estados UnidosFil: Gomez, Karina Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres"; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica; Argentin

Constrained Supersymmetric Flipped SU(5) GUT Phenomenology

We explore the phenomenology of the minimal supersymmetric flipped SU(5) GUT model (CFSU(5)), whose soft supersymmetry-breaking (SSB) mass parameters are constrained to be universal at some input scale, $M_{in}$, above the GUT scale, $M_{GUT}$. We analyze the parameter space of CFSU(5) assuming that the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) provides the cosmological cold dark matter, paying careful attention to the matching of parameters at the GUT scale. We first display some specific examples of the evolutions of the SSB parameters that exhibit some generic features. Specifically, we note that the relationship between the masses of the lightest neutralino and the lighter stau is sensitive to $M_{in}$, as is the relationship between the neutralino mass and the masses of the heavier Higgs bosons. For these reasons, prominent features in generic $(m_{1/2}, m_0)$ planes such as coannihilation strips and rapid-annihilation funnels are also sensitive to $M_{in}$, as we illustrate for several cases with tan(beta)=10 and 55. However, these features do not necessarily disappear at large $M_{in}$, unlike the case in the minimal conventional SU(5) GUT. Our results are relatively insensitive to neutrino masses.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figures; (v2) added explanations and corrected typos, version to appear in EPJ