64 research outputs found
The Scarlet Letter: A critical review
Nathaniel Hawthornâs 19th century romance The Scarlet Letter centres on the simple transgression of adultery and its social consequences. Hawthornâs narrative and story-telling skill, however, is far from simple; the author manages to subtly and cleverly set the tale within a framework of other transgressions. Ideas of space and other social constructions such including language and belief systems are tested and subverted in this description of a 17th century Puritan settlement. In this paper David Littlefield and Rachel Sara set out the transgressive qualities of this classic American text, putting it into the context of the theme Body + Space and demonstrating how the book pre-figures much 20th century thinking on the subject
Neutron structure function and inclusive DIS from H-3 and He-3 at large Bjorken-x
A detailed study of inclusive deep inelastic scattering (DIS) from mirror A =
3 nuclei at large values of the Bjorken variable x is presented. The main
purpose is to estimate the theoretical uncertainties on the extraction of the
neutron DIS structure function from such nuclear measurements. On one hand,
within models in which no modification of the bound nucleon structure functions
is taken into account, we have investigated the possible uncertainties arising
from: i) charge symmetry breaking terms in the nucleon-nucleon interaction, ii)
finite Q**2 effects neglected in the Bjorken limit, iii) the role of different
prescriptions for the nucleon Spectral Function normalization providing baryon
number conservation, and iv) the differences between the virtual nucleon and
light cone formalisms. Although these effects have been not yet considered in
existing analyses, our conclusion is that all these effects cancel at the level
of ~ 1% for x < 0.75 in overall agreement with previous findings. On the other
hand we have considered several models in which the modification of the bound
nucleon structure functions is accounted for to describe the EMC effect in DIS
scattering from nuclei. It turns out that within these models the cancellation
of nuclear effects is expected to occur only at a level of ~ 3%, leading to an
accuracy of ~ 12 % in the extraction of the neutron to proton structure
function ratio at x ~ 0.7 -0.8$. Another consequence of considering a broad
range of models of the EMC effect is that the previously suggested iteration
procedure does not improve the accuracy of the extraction of the neutron to
proton structure function ratio.Comment: revised version to appear in Phys. Rev. C; main modifications in
Section 4; no change in the conclusion
Measurement of the dijet invariant mass cross section in proton anti-proton collisions at sqrt{s} = 1.96 TeV
The inclusive dijet production double differential cross section as a
function of the dijet invariant mass and of the largest absolute rapidity of
the two jets with the largest transverse momentum in an event is measured in
proton anti-proton collisions at sqrt{s} = 1.96 TeV using 0.7 fb^{-1}
integrated luminosity collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron
Collider. The measurement is performed in six rapidity regions up to a maximum
rapidity of 2.4. Next-to-leading order perturbative QCD predictions are found
to be in agreement with the data.Comment: Published in Phys. Lett. B, 693, (2010), 531-538, 8 pages, 2 figures,
6 table
First observation of the decay and a measurement of the ratio of branching fractions
The first observation of the decay using
data collected by the LHCb detector at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV,
corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36 pb, is reported. A
signal of events is obtained and the absence of signal is
rejected with a statistical significance of more than nine standard deviations.
The branching fraction is measured relative to
that of : , where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic and
the third is due to the uncertainty on the ratio of the and
hadronisation fractions.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Lett. B; ISSN 0370-269
The On-orbit Calibrations for the Fermi Large Area Telescope
The Large Area Telescope (LAT) on--board the Fermi Gamma ray Space Telescope
began its on--orbit operations on June 23, 2008. Calibrations, defined in a
generic sense, correspond to synchronization of trigger signals, optimization
of delays for latching data, determination of detector thresholds, gains and
responses, evaluation of the perimeter of the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA),
measurements of live time, of absolute time, and internal and spacecraft
boresight alignments. Here we describe on orbit calibration results obtained
using known astrophysical sources, galactic cosmic rays, and charge injection
into the front-end electronics of each detector. Instrument response functions
will be described in a separate publication. This paper demonstrates the
stability of calibrations and describes minor changes observed since launch.
These results have been used to calibrate the LAT datasets to be publicly
released in August 2009.Comment: 60 pages, 34 figures, submitted to Astroparticle Physic
On the sensitivity of the HAWC observatory to gamma-ray bursts
We present the sensitivity of HAWC to Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs). HAWC is a very
high-energy gamma-ray observatory currently under construction in Mexico at an
altitude of 4100 m. It will observe atmospheric air showers via the water
Cherenkov method. HAWC will consist of 300 large water tanks instrumented with
4 photomultipliers each. HAWC has two data acquisition (DAQ) systems. The main
DAQ system reads out coincident signals in the tanks and reconstructs the
direction and energy of individual atmospheric showers. The scaler DAQ counts
the hits in each photomultiplier tube (PMT) in the detector and searches for a
statistical excess over the noise of all PMTs. We show that HAWC has a
realistic opportunity to observe the high-energy power law components of GRBs
that extend at least up to 30 GeV, as it has been observed by Fermi LAT. The
two DAQ systems have an energy threshold that is low enough to observe events
similar to GRB 090510 and GRB 090902b with the characteristics observed by
Fermi LAT. HAWC will provide information about the high-energy spectra of GRBs
which in turn could help to understanding about e-pair attenuation in GRB jets,
extragalactic background light absorption, as well as establishing the highest
energy to which GRBs accelerate particles
Mapping child growth failure across low- and middle-income countries
Childhood malnutrition is associated with high morbidity and mortality globally1. Undernourished children are more likely to experience cognitive, physical, and metabolic developmental impairments that can lead to later cardiovascular disease, reduced intellectual ability and school attainment, and reduced economic productivity in adulthood2. Child growth failure (CGF), expressed as stunting, wasting, and underweight in children under fiveĂ years of age (0Ăąïżœïżœ59Ă months), is a specific subset of undernutrition characterized by insufficient height or weight against age-specific growth reference standards3Ăąïżœïżœ5. The prevalence of stunting, wasting, or underweight in children under five is the proportion of children with a height-for-age, weight-for-height, or weight-for-age z-score, respectively, that is more than two standard deviations below the World Health OrganizationĂąïżœïżœs median growth reference standards for a healthy population6. Subnational estimates of CGF report substantial heterogeneity within countries, but are available primarily at the first administrative level (for example, states or provinces)7; the uneven geographical distribution of CGF has motivated further calls for assessments that can match the local scale of many public health programmes8. Building from our previous work mapping CGF in Africa9, here we provide the first, to our knowledge, mapped high-spatial-resolution estimates of CGF indicators from 2000 to 2017 across 105 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where 99 of affected children live1, aggregated to policy-relevant first and second (for example, districts or counties) administrative-level units and national levels. Despite remarkable declines over the study period, many LMICs remain far from the ambitious World Health Organization Global Nutrition Targets to reduce stunting by 40 and wasting to less than 5 by 2025. Large disparities in prevalence and progress exist across and within countries; our maps identify high-prevalence areas even within nations otherwise succeeding in reducing overall CGF prevalence. By highlighting where the highest-need populations reside, these geospatial estimates can support policy-makers in planning interventions that are adapted locally and in efficiently directing resources towards reducing CGF and its health implications. Ă© 2020, The Author(s)
Anemia prevalence in women of reproductive age in low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2018
Anemia is a globally widespread condition in women and is associated with reduced economic productivity and increased mortality worldwide. Here we map annual 2000â2018 geospatial estimates of anemia prevalence in women of reproductive age (15â49 years) across 82 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), stratify anemia by severity and aggregate results to policy-relevant administrative and national levels. Additionally, we provide subnational disparity analyses to provide a comprehensive overview of anemia prevalence inequalities within these countries and predict progress toward the World Health Organizationâs Global Nutrition Target (WHO GNT) to reduce anemia by half by 2030. Our results demonstrate widespread moderate improvements in overall anemia prevalence but identify only three LMICs with a high probability of achieving the WHO GNT by 2030 at a national scale, and no LMIC is expected to achieve the target in all their subnational administrative units. Our maps show where large within-country disparities occur, as well as areas likely to fall short of the WHO GNT, offering precision public health tools so that adequate resource allocation and subsequent interventions can be targeted to the most vulnerable populations.Peer reviewe
A study of CP violation in B-+/- -> DK +/- and B-+/- -> D pi(+/-) decays with D -> (KSK +/-)-K-0 pi(-/+) final states
A first study of CP violation in the decay modes B-+/- -> [(KSK +/-)-K-0 pi(-/+)](D)h(+/-) and B-+/- -> [(KSK +/-)-K-0 pi(-/+)](D)h(+/-), where h labels a K or pi meson and D labels a D-0 or (D) over bar (0) meson, is performed. The analysis uses the LHCb data set collected in pp collisions, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb(-1). The analysis is sensitive to the CP-violating CKM phase gamma through seven observables: one charge asymmetry in each of the four modes and three ratios of the charge-integrated yields. The results are consistent with measurements of gamma using other decay modes
- âŠ