Pair production of the heavy leptons in future high energy linear e^{+}e^{-} colliders

The littlest Higgs model with T-parity predicts the existence of the T-odd particles, which can only be produced in pair. We consider pair production of the T-odd leptons in future high energy linear $e^{+}e^{-}$ collider ($ILC$). Our numerical results show that, as long as the T-odd leptons are not too heavy, they can be copiously produced and their possible signals might be detected via the processes $e^{+}e^{-}\to \bar{L}_{i}L_{j}$ in future $ILC$ experiments.Comment: Discussions added, typos and references correcte

Measurement of the Bottom-Strange Meson Mixing Phase in the Full CDF Data Set

We report a measurement of the bottom-strange meson mixing phase \beta_s using the time evolution of B0_s -> J/\psi (->\mu+\mu-) \phi (-> K+ K-) decays in which the quark-flavor content of the bottom-strange meson is identified at production. This measurement uses the full data set of proton-antiproton collisions at sqrt(s)= 1.96 TeV collected by the Collider Detector experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron, corresponding to 9.6 fb-1 of integrated luminosity. We report confidence regions in the two-dimensional space of \beta_s and the B0_s decay-width difference \Delta\Gamma_s, and measure \beta_s in [-\pi/2, -1.51] U [-0.06, 0.30] U [1.26, \pi/2] at the 68% confidence level, in agreement with the standard model expectation. Assuming the standard model value of \beta_s, we also determine \Delta\Gamma_s = 0.068 +- 0.026 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps-1 and the mean B0_s lifetime, \tau_s = 1.528 +- 0.019 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps, which are consistent and competitive with determinations by other experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, Phys. Rev. Lett 109, 171802 (2012

Mapping geographical inequalities in childhood diarrhoeal morbidity and mortality in low-income and middle-income countries, 2000–17 : analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Background Across low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), one in ten deaths in children younger than 5 years is attributable to diarrhoea. The substantial between-country variation in both diarrhoea incidence and mortality is attributable to interventions that protect children, prevent infection, and treat disease. Identifying subnational regions with the highest burden and mapping associated risk factors can aid in reducing preventable childhood diarrhoea. Methods We used Bayesian model-based geostatistics and a geolocated dataset comprising 15 072 746 children younger than 5 years from 466 surveys in 94 LMICs, in combination with findings of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2017, to estimate posterior distributions of diarrhoea prevalence, incidence, and mortality from 2000 to 2017. From these data, we estimated the burden of diarrhoea at varying subnational levels (termed units) by spatially aggregating draws, and we investigated the drivers of subnational patterns by creating aggregated risk factor estimates. Findings The greatest declines in diarrhoeal mortality were seen in south and southeast Asia and South America, where 54·0% (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 38·1–65·8), 17·4% (7·7–28·4), and 59·5% (34·2–86·9) of units, respectively, recorded decreases in deaths from diarrhoea greater than 10%. Although children in much of Africa remain at high risk of death due to diarrhoea, regions with the most deaths were outside Africa, with the highest mortality units located in Pakistan. Indonesia showed the greatest within-country geographical inequality; some regions had mortality rates nearly four times the average country rate. Reductions in mortality were correlated to improvements in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) or reductions in child growth failure (CGF). Similarly, most high-risk areas had poor WASH, high CGF, or low oral rehydration therapy coverage. Interpretation By co-analysing geospatial trends in diarrhoeal burden and its key risk factors, we could assess candidate drivers of subnational death reduction. Further, by doing a counterfactual analysis of the remaining disease burden using key risk factors, we identified potential intervention strategies for vulnerable populations. In view of the demands for limited resources in LMICs, accurately quantifying the burden of diarrhoea and its drivers is important for precision public health

Strategies in the use of light energy by Genipa spruceana Steyerm seedlings subjected to flooding

In an attempt to elucidate strategies in the use of light energy by G. spruceana seedlings subjected to flooding, we investigated the capacity of light capture and use of light energy by G. spruceana in three growing conditions: 1- absence of flooding (SA), 2- partially flooded (PA) and 3- totally flooded (TA). Destructive and non-destructive measurements, such as specific leaf area, chloroplast pigment (chlorophyll and carotenoids) content and fluorescence analyses, were made at regular intervals over a period of 90 days. All parameters decreased in seedlings subjected to flooding. Plants of treatment TA dropped all of their leaves after 30 days of complete submergence. Chloroplast pigment content differed between treatments SA and TA after 30 days from the start of the experiment; whereas SA and PA plants only differed for this variable after 90 days. Plants subjected to flooding (PA and TA) exhibited high dissipation of photochemical de-excitation (DIo/ABS), indicating a limited efficiency of light energy use. This fact was proven by the performance index (PI ABS) only in analyses after 90 days, and no significant difference was verified for PI ABS among treatments up to 30 days. Therefore, considering that G. spruceana seedlings subjected to flooding reduced the chloroplast pigment content more quickly than PI ABS, we suggest that the light energetic flux in G. spruceana seedlings subjected to flooding, in the beginning, is more restricted to a decrease in the structures that captures light (reduction chlorophyll pigment content) than how the photosynthetic apparatus functions (alterations in photochemical efficiency of photosystem II).Na tentativa de elucidar estratégias de utilização da energia luminosa em plantas jovens de Genipa spruceana Steyerm submetidas ao alagamento, nós investigamos a capacidade de captura e uso de energia luminosa em G. spruceana sob três condições de crescimento1- ausência de alagamento (SA), 2- plantas parcialmente alagadas (PA) e 3- plantas totalmente alagadas (TA). Medidas de área foliar específica, teores de pigmentos cloroplastídicos e fluorescência da clorofila a foram feitas em intervalos regulares no período de 90 dias. Todos os parâmetros analisados diminuíram em condições de alagamento (PA e TA). Aos 30 dias, as plantas no tratamento TA sofreram abscisão foliar. Os teores dos pigmentos cloroplastídicos (clorofilas e carotenóides) entre os tratamentos SA e TA diferiram aos 30 dias. Ao passo que, somente foi possível verificar diferenças entre os tratamentos SA e PA aos 90 dias. As plantas submetidas ao alagamento (PA e TA) exibiram alta dissipação de energia de excitação (DIo/ABS) indicando limitada eficiência na utilização da energia luminosa. Este fato foi comprovado pelos resultados do índice de desempenho (PI ABS) somente ao fim do período experimental (90 dias). Mas, não foi verificado diferença para PI ABS entre os tratamentos aos 30 dias. Portanto, considerando que G. spruceana submetidas ao tratamento TA reduziram seus teores de clorofilas mais rapidamente do que decrescem seus PI ABS, sugere-se que o fluxo de energia luminosa em plântulas de G. spruceana sob alagamento total, no início, é mais restringido pelo decréscimo na estrutura de captura de luz (diminuição dos pigmentos cloroplastídicos) do que no funcionamento do aparato fotossintético (alterações na eficiência fotoquímica do fotossistema II)

Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF) and Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) Conceptual Design Report Volume 2: The Physics Program for DUNE at LBNF

The Physics Program for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) at the Fermilab Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF) is described

Highly-parallelized simulation of a pixelated LArTPC on a GPU

The rapid development of general-purpose computing on graphics processing units (GPGPU) is allowing the implementation of highly-parallelized Monte Carlo simulation chains for particle physics experiments. This technique is particularly suitable for the simulation of a pixelated charge readout for time projection chambers, given the large number of channels that this technology employs. Here we present the first implementation of a full microphysical simulator of a liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) equipped with light readout and pixelated charge readout, developed for the DUNE Near Detector. The software is implemented with an end-to-end set of GPU-optimized algorithms. The algorithms have been written in Python and translated into CUDA kernels using Numba, a just-in-time compiler for a subset of Python and NumPy instructions. The GPU implementation achieves a speed up of four orders of magnitude compared with the equivalent CPU version. The simulation of the current induced on 10^3 pixels takes around 1 ms on the GPU, compared with approximately 10 s on the CPU. The results of the simulation are compared against data from a pixel-readout LArTPC prototype