696 research outputs found
To what extent is Gluon Confinement an empirical fact?
Experimental verifications of Confinement in hadron physics have established
the absence of charges with a fraction of the electron's charge by studying the
energy deposited in ionization tracks at high energies, and performing Millikan
experiments with charged droplets at rest. These experiments test only the
absence of particles with fractional charge in the asymptotic spectrum, and
thus "Quark" Confinement. However what theory suggests is that Color is
confined, that is, all asymptotic particles are color singlets. Since QCD is a
non-Abelian theory, the gluon force carriers (indirectly revealed in hadron
jets) are colored. We empirically examine what can be said about Gluon
Confinement based on the lack of detection of appropriate events, aiming at an
upper bound for high-energy free-gluon production.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures, version accepted at Few Body Physic
Should all anticoagulated patients with head injury receive a CT scan? Decision-analysis modelling of an observational cohort
Objectives: It is not currently clear whether all anticoagulated patients with a head injury should
receive CT scanning or only those with evidence of traumatic brain injury (e.g. loss of consciousness
or amnesia). We aimed to determine the cost-effectiveness of CT for all compared to selective CT
use for anticoagulated patients with a head injury.
Design: Decision-analysis modelling of data from a multi-centre observational study.
Setting: 33 Emergency Departments in England and Scotland.
Participants: 3566 adults (aged â„16 years) who had suffered blunt head injury, were taking warfarin
and underwent selective CT scanning.
Main outcome measures: Estimated expected benefits in terms of quality-adjusted life years
(QALYs) were the entire cohort to receive a CT scan; estimated increased costs of CT and also the
potential cost implications associated with patient survival and improved health. These values were
used to estimate the cost per QALY of implementing a strategy of CT for all patients compared to
observed practice based on guidelines recommending selective CT use.
Results: Of the 1420/3534 patients (40%) who did not receive a CT scan, 7 (0.5%) suffered a
potentially avoidable head injury related adverse outcome. If CT scanning had been performed in all
patients, appropriate treatment could have gained 3.41 additional quality-adjusted life years (QALYs)
but would have incurred ÂŁ193,149 additional treatment costs and ÂŁ130,683 additional CT costs. The
incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of ÂŁ94,895/QALY gained for unselective compared to selective
CT use is markedly above the threshold of ÂŁ20-30,000/QALY used by the UK National Institute for
Care Excellence to determine cost-effectiveness.
Conclusions: CT scanning for all anticoagulated patients with head injury is not cost-effective
compared with selective use of CT scanning based on guidelines recommending scanning only for
those with evidence of traumatic brain injur
Assessment of wind speeds along the damage path of the Alonsa, Manitoba EF4 tornado on 3 August 2018
Given the impracticality of attempting to directly measure wind speeds in tornadoes, wind speed estimation typically relies on the assessment of damage to structures and vegetation using classifications described in the Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale. The advent of technology enabling the collection of large amounts of data, including detailed ground, drone, and aerial imagery, has led to a growth in research on non-conventional approaches for estimating tornado wind speeds. Research methods focused on defining the tornadic wind field based on forensic analysis of damage observations have shown promise for improving tornado assessments in a quantitative manner. In this study, novel methods for collecting forensic data following tornadoes are presented. Data from the Alonsa, MB tornado are applied to estimating the wind field along the damage path using treefall pattern analysis and threshold debris flight speed calculations. Comparison of the resulting wind speed estimates show reasonable agreement, with maximum speeds from both methods in the EF5 range. These research methods yield higher wind speeds than the maximum value obtained from the conventional EF-Scale assessment, which is in the low-end of the EF4 range based on a wood-frame house with sub-standard construction that was swept entirely from its foundation. Further work is still needed to make these methods operational for routine tornado intensity estimates
Green manure in coffee systems in the region of Zona da Mata, Minas Gerais: characteristics and kinetics of carbon and nitrogen mineralization.
The use of green manure may contribute to reduce soil erosion and increase the soil organic matter content and N availability in coffee plantations in the Zona da Mata, State of Minas Gerais, in Southeastern Brazil. The potential of four legumes (A. pintoi, C. mucunoides, S. aterrimum and S. guianensis)to produce above-ground
biomass, accumulate nutrients and mineralize N was studied in two coffee plantations of subsistence farmers under different climate conditions. The biomass production of C. mucunoides was influenced by the shade of the coffee plantation.C. mucunoides tended to mineralize more N than the other legumes due to the low polyphenol content and polyphenol/N ratio. In the first year, the crop establishment of A. pintoi in the area took longer than of the other legumes, resulting in lower biomass production and N2 fixation. In the long term, cellulose was the main
factor controlling N mineralization. The biochemical characteristics, nutrient accumulation and biomass production of the legumes were greatly influenced by
the altitude and position of the area relative to the sun
A terminal assessment of stages theory : introducing a dynamic states approach to entrepreneurship
Stages of Growth models were the most frequent theoretical approach to understanding entrepreneurial business growth from 1962 to 2006; they built on the growth imperative and developmental models of that time. An analysis of the universe of such models (N=104) published in the management literature shows no consensus on basic constructs of the approach, nor is there any empirical confirmations of stages theory. However, by changing two propositions of the stages models, a new dynamic states approach is derived. The dynamic states approach has far greater explanatory power than its precursor, and is compatible with leading edge research in entrepreneurship
Evidence of Color Coherence Effects in W+jets Events from ppbar Collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.8 TeV
We report the results of a study of color coherence effects in ppbar
collisions based on data collected by the D0 detector during the 1994-1995 run
of the Fermilab Tevatron Collider, at a center of mass energy sqrt(s) = 1.8
TeV. Initial-to-final state color interference effects are studied by examining
particle distribution patterns in events with a W boson and at least one jet.
The data are compared to Monte Carlo simulations with different color coherence
implementations and to an analytic modified-leading-logarithm perturbative
calculation based on the local parton-hadron duality hypothesis.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures. Submitted to Physics Letters
Search for composite and exotic fermions at LEP 2
A search for unstable heavy fermions with the DELPHI detector at LEP is
reported. Sequential and non-canonical leptons, as well as excited leptons and
quarks, are considered. The data analysed correspond to an integrated
luminosity of about 48 pb^{-1} at an e^+e^- centre-of-mass energy of 183 GeV
and about 20 pb^{-1} equally shared between the centre-of-mass energies of 172
GeV and 161 GeV. The search for pair-produced new leptons establishes 95%
confidence level mass limits in the region between 70 GeV/c^2 and 90 GeV/c^2,
depending on the channel. The search for singly produced excited leptons and
quarks establishes upper limits on the ratio of the coupling of the excited
fermio
Search for lightest neutralino and stau pair production in light gravitino scenarios with stau NLSP
Promptly decaying lightest neutralinos and long-lived staus are searched for
in the context of light gravitino scenarios. It is assumed that the stau is the
next to lightest supersymmetric particle (NLSP) and that the lightest
neutralino is the next to NLSP (NNLSP). Data collected with the Delphi detector
at centre-of-mass energies from 161 to 183 \GeV are analysed. No evidence of
the production of these particles is found. Hence, lower mass limits for both
kinds of particles are set at 95% C.L.. The mass of gaugino-like neutralinos is
found to be greater than 71.5 GeV/c^2. In the search for long-lived stau,
masses less than 70.0 to 77.5 \GeVcc are excluded for gravitino masses from 10
to 150 \eVcc . Combining this search with the searches for stable heavy leptons
and Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model staus a lower limit of 68.5 \GeVcc
may be set for the stau mas
Search for displaced vertices arising from decays of new heavy particles in 7 TeV pp collisions at ATLAS
We present the results of a search for new, heavy particles that decay at a
significant distance from their production point into a final state containing
charged hadrons in association with a high-momentum muon. The search is
conducted in a pp-collision data sample with a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV
and an integrated luminosity of 33 pb^-1 collected in 2010 by the ATLAS
detector operating at the Large Hadron Collider. Production of such particles
is expected in various scenarios of physics beyond the standard model. We
observe no signal and place limits on the production cross-section of
supersymmetric particles in an R-parity-violating scenario as a function of the
neutralino lifetime. Limits are presented for different squark and neutralino
masses, enabling extension of the limits to a variety of other models.Comment: 8 pages plus author list (20 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final
version to appear in Physics Letters
Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment
This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and
W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with
the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated
luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and
the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto
the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions
f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV
and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw
> 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour,
are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017
+/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second
include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables,
revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio
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