Measurement of fermion pair production in e+e−e^{+}e^{-} annihilation and interpretation in terms of new physics phenomena

Preliminary hadronic and leptonic cross sections and leptonic asymmetry measurements made with the ALEPH detector in e+e- collisions at 161 GeV and 172 GeV are reported. The data samples correspond to integrated luminosities of 11.08 pb-1 at 161 GeV and 10.65 pb-1 at 172 GeV. Results are given includingand excluding the radiative gamma Z0 contribution. The measurements agree well with Standard Model expectations. They are interpreted in terms of four fermion contact interactions, with limits upon the energy scale of such processes being derived under various hypotheses. Limits are a placed on the t-channel exchange of new heavy scalar particles, such as leptoquarks or squarks with R-parity violation

Coupled nitrogen and oxygen isotope study of nitrate at a rural unlined landfill in Western Victoria, Australia

Understanding of site-scale physical and chemical heterogeneities will inform remediation strategies for unlined rural landfills worldwide. The aim of this study was to characterize potential sources of nitrogen contamination to groundwater at an unlined landfill in rural western Victoria, Australia. Results revealed simultaneously high concentrations of both nitrate and ammonia within several wells, indicative of heterogeneous redox potentials within the unconfined aquifer. Combined isotopic analyses of δ15N and δ18O in nitrate identified a leachate-derived source and active denitrification across two sites hydraulically down-gradient from the landfill cell. Groundwater at an up-gradient site, as well as nearby surface water samples from a riparian creek, reflected primarily the isotopic signature of agriculturally-derived nitrate with overprinting from atmospheric exchanges of nitrogen and oxygen. Nitrate and ammonia in the creek were interpreted to result from a mixture of leachate and agricultural sources. Results illustrate how redox gradients across a landfill leachate plume impact biogeochemical nitrogen cycling

A prototypical model for tensional wrinkling in thin sheets

The buckling and wrinkling of thin films has recently seen a surge of interest among physicists, biologists, mathematicians and engineers. This has been triggered by the growing interest in developing technologies at ever decreasing scales and the resulting necessity to control the mechanics of tiny structures, as well as by the realization that morphogenetic processes, such as the tissue-shaping instabilities occurring in animal epithelia or plant leaves, often emerge from mechanical instabilities of cell sheets. While the most basic buckling instability of uniaxially compressed plates was understood by Euler more than 200 years ago, recent experiments on nanometrically thin (ultrathin) films have shown significant deviations from predictions of standard buckling theory. Motivated by this puzzle, we introduce here a theoretical model that allows for a systematic analysis of wrinkling in sheets far from their instability threshold. We focus on the simplest extension of Euler buckling that exhibits wrinkles of finite length - a sheet under axisymmetric tensile loads. This geometry, whose first study is attributed to Lam´e, allows us to construct\ud a phase diagram that demonstrates the dramatic variation of wrinkling patterns from near-threshold to far-from-threshold conditions. Theoretical arguments and comparison to experiments show that for thin sheets the far-from-threshold regime is expected to emerge under extremely small compressive loads, emphasizing the relevance of our analysis for nanomechanics applications

The Integrated Medical Model: Statistical Forecasting of Risks to Crew Health and Mission Success

The Integrated Medical Model (IMM) helps capture and use organizational knowledge across the space medicine, training, operations, engineering, and research domains. The IMM uses this domain knowledge in the context of a mission and crew profile to forecast crew health and mission success risks. The IMM is most helpful in comparing the risk of two or more mission profiles, not as a tool for predicting absolute risk. The process of building the IMM adheres to Probability Risk Assessment (PRA) techniques described in NASA Procedural Requirement (NPR) 8705.5, and uses current evidence-based information to establish a defensible position for making decisions that help ensure crew health and mission success. The IMM quantitatively describes the following input parameters: 1) medical conditions and likelihood, 2) mission duration, 3) vehicle environment, 4) crew attributes (e.g. age, sex), 5) crew activities (e.g. EVA's, Lunar excursions), 6) diagnosis and treatment protocols (e.g. medical equipment, consumables pharmaceuticals), and 7) Crew Medical Officer (CMO) training effectiveness. It is worth reiterating that the IMM uses the data sets above as inputs. Many other risk management efforts stop at determining only likelihood. The IMM is unique in that it models not only likelihood, but risk mitigations, as well as subsequent clinical outcomes based on those mitigations. Once the mathematical relationships among the above parameters are established, the IMM uses a Monte Carlo simulation technique (a random sampling of the inputs as described by their statistical distribution) to determine the probable outcomes. Because the IMM is a stochastic model (i.e. the input parameters are represented by various statistical distributions depending on the data type), when the mission is simulated 10-50,000 times with a given set of medical capabilities (risk mitigations), a prediction of the most probable outcomes can be generated. For each mission, the IMM tracks which conditions occurred and decrements the pharmaceuticals and supplies required to diagnose and treat these medical conditions. If supplies are depleted, then the medical condition goes untreated, and crew and mission risk increase. The IMM currently models approximately 30 medical conditions. By the end of FY2008, the IMM will be modeling over 100 medical conditions, approximately 60 of which have been recorded to have occurred during short and long space missions

First-dose and steady-state pharmacokinetics of orally administered crizotinib in children with solid tumors: a report on ADVL0912 from the Children’s Oncology Group Phase 1/Pilot Consortium

Characterize the pharmacokinetics of oral crizotinib in children with cancer

Producing cereal seeds for organic agriculture

This tool is a data sheet that can be used by French farmers who produce or want to produce cereal seeds in organic conditions. It provides advice starting from the contract signing to the seed drying, going through the specificities of the crop, the sowing, specific pests and their management, and the harvest

Two-Fermion Production in Electron-Positron Collisions

This report summarizes the results of the two-fermion working group of the LEP2-MC workshop, held at CERN from 1999 to 2000. Recent developments in the theoretical calculations of the two fermion production process in the electron-positron collision at LEP2 center of the mass energies are reported. The Bhabha process and the production of muon, tau, neutrino and quark pairs is covered. On the basis of comparison of various calculations, theoretical uncertainties are estimated and compared with those needed for the final LEP2 data analysis. The subjects for the further studies are identified.Comment: 2-fermion working group report of the LEP2 Monte Carlo Workshop 1999/2000, 113 pages, 24 figures, 35 table

Electroweak Physics, Experimental Aspects

Collider measurements on electroweak physics are summarised. Although the precision on some observables is very high, no deviation from the Standard Model of electroweak interactions is observed. The data allow to set stringent limits on some models for new physics.Comment: Plenary Talk at the UK Phenomenology Workshop on Collider Physics, Durham, 199