Decays Z' -> \gamma\gamma\gamma{} and Z -> \gamma\gamma\gamma{} in the minimal 331 model

The possibility of a significant effect of exotic particles on the Z'->\gamma\gamma\gamma{} and Z->\gamma\gamma\gamma{} decays is investigated in the context of the minimal 331 model. This model, which is based in the SU_C(3)xSU_L(3)xU_X(1) gauge group, predicts the existence of many exotic charged particles that can significantly enhance the decay widths. It is found that the standard model prediction for the Z->\gamma\gamma\gamma{} decay remains essentially unchanged, as the new physics effects quickly decouples. On the other hand, it is found that the contributions of the new exotic quarks and gauge bosons predicted by this model lead to a branching fraction for the Z'->\gamma\gamma\gamma{} decay of about 10^(-6), which is about three orders of magnitude larger than that of the Z->\gamma\gamma\gamma{} decay.Comment: 20 pages and 20 figure

Feedback Mechanisms of DepEd English Teachers in Modular Distance Learning: A Case Study

With the shift in the educational setting from traditional classrooms to online learning for most countries and modular distance learning in the Philippines, giving feedback to the students proves to be a challenge. Research conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, whether online or through modular learning, only included feedback as a part of the problems encountered, not as the main aspect of the research. Thus, this study explored the nature of the feedback practices delivered by English DepEd teachers to their students through modular learning. Moreover, this is primarily concerned with the teachers' experiences and methods of developing feedback for their students in this modular distance learning scheme. The study employed a qualitative research design, utilizing a single explanatory case study. The study involved eight public English high school teachers and was conducted in two public secondary high schools in Leyte. The data was collected through an interview protocol, analysed using thematic analysis, and validated through triangulation. The findings of this study revealed that explicit error correction through annotation and positive feedback through commendation are the only feedback mechanisms/corrections used by the English DepEd teachers on their modular instruction. While these practices address some of the problems in English learning through modular distance learning, it is observed that they are severely limited by internal and external factors from both teachers and students. Keywords: Feedback Practices; modular learning; teachers’ experiences and method; error correction; and positive feedback

The Rhizobium tropici CIAT 899 NodD2 protein promotes symbiosis and extends rhizobial nodulation range by constitutive nodulation factor synthesis

In the symbiotic associations between rhizobia and legumes, the NodD regulators orchestrate the transcription of the specifc nodulation genes. This set of genes is involved in the synthesis of nodulation factors, which are responsible for initiating the nodulation process. Rhizobium tropici CIAT 899 is the most successful symbiont of Phaseolus vulgaris and can nodulate a variety of legumes. Among the fve NodD regulators present in this rhizobium, only NodD1 and NodD2 seem to have a role in the symbiotic process. However, the individual role of each NodD in the absence of the other proteins has remained elusive. In this work, we show that the CIAT 899 NodD2 does not require activation by inducers to promote the synthesis of nodulation factors. A CIAT 899 strain overexpressing nodD2, but lacking all additional nodD genes, can nodulate three different legumes as effciently as the wild type. Interestingly, CIAT 899 NodD2- mediated gain of nodulation can be extended to another rhizobial species, since its overproduction in Sinorhizobium fredii HH103 not only increases the number of nitrogen-fxing nodules in two host legumes but also results in nodule development in incompatible legumes. These fndings potentially open exciting opportunities to develop rhizobial inoculants and increase legume crop production.Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 AGL2016-77163-R and PID2019- 107634RB-I00Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad FPU18/0624

Climate drives fire synchrony but local factors control fire regime change in northern Mexico

The occurrence of wildfire is influenced by a suite of factors ranging from “top-down” influences (e.g., climate) to “bottom-up” localized influences (e.g., ignitions, fuels, and land use). We carried out the first broad-scale assessment of wildland fire patterns in northern Mexico to assess the relative influence of top-down and bottom-up drivers of fire in a region where frequent fire regimes continued well into the 20th century. Using a network of 67 sites, we assessed (1) fire synchrony and the scales at which synchrony is evident, (2) climate drivers of fire, and (3) asynchrony in fire regime changes. We found high fire synchrony across northern Mexico between 1750 and 2008, with synchrony highest at distances oscillations, especially El Niño-Southern Oscillation, were important drivers of fire synchrony. However, bottom-up factors modified fire occurrence at smaller spatial scales, with variable local influence on the timing of abrupt, unusually long fire-free periods starting between 1887 and 1979 CE. Thirty sites lacked these fire-free periods. In contrast to the neighboring southwestern United States, many ecosystems in northern Mexico maintain frequent fire regimes and intact fire–climate relationships that are useful in understanding climate influences on disturbance across scales of space and time

Vanadium Inhalation in a Mouse Model for the Understanding of Air-Suspended Particle Systemic Repercussion

There is an increased concern about the health effects that air-suspended particles have on human health which have been dissected in animal models. Using CD-1 mouse, we explore the effects that vanadium inhalation produce in different tissues and organs. Our findings support the systemic effects of air pollution. In this paper, we describe our findings in different organs in our conditions and contrast our results with the literature

Multiplicity dependence of jet-like two-particle correlations in p-Pb collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 5.02 TeV

Two-particle angular correlations between unidentified charged trigger and associated particles are measured by the ALICE detector in p-Pb collisions at a nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV. The transverse-momentum range 0.7 $< p_{\rm{T}, assoc} < p_{\rm{T}, trig} <$ 5.0 GeV/$c$ is examined, to include correlations induced by jets originating from low momen\-tum-transfer scatterings (minijets). The correlations expressed as associated yield per trigger particle are obtained in the pseudorapidity range $|\eta|<0.9$. The near-side long-range pseudorapidity correlations observed in high-multiplicity p-Pb collisions are subtracted from both near-side short-range and away-side correlations in order to remove the non-jet-like components. The yields in the jet-like peaks are found to be invariant with event multiplicity with the exception of events with low multiplicity. This invariance is consistent with the particles being produced via the incoherent fragmentation of multiple parton--parton scatterings, while the yield related to the previously observed ridge structures is not jet-related. The number of uncorrelated sources of particle production is found to increase linearly with multiplicity, suggesting no saturation of the number of multi-parton interactions even in the highest multiplicity p-Pb collisions. Further, the number scales in the intermediate multiplicity region with the number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions estimated with a Glauber Monte-Carlo simulation.Comment: 23 pages, 6 captioned figures, 1 table, authors from page 17, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/161

Multi-particle azimuthal correlations in p-Pb and Pb-Pb collisions at the CERN Large Hadron Collider

Measurements of multi-particle azimuthal correlations (cumulants) for charged particles in p-Pb and Pb-Pb collisions are presented. They help address the question of whether there is evidence for global, flow-like, azimuthal correlations in the p-Pb system. Comparisons are made to measurements from the larger Pb-Pb system, where such evidence is established. In particular, the second harmonic two-particle cumulants are found to decrease with multiplicity, characteristic of a dominance of few-particle correlations in p-Pb collisions. However, when a $|\Delta \eta|$ gap is placed to suppress such correlations, the two-particle cumulants begin to rise at high-multiplicity, indicating the presence of global azimuthal correlations. The Pb-Pb values are higher than the p-Pb values at similar multiplicities. In both systems, the second harmonic four-particle cumulants exhibit a transition from positive to negative values when the multiplicity increases. The negative values allow for a measurement of $v_{2}\{4\}$ to be made, which is found to be higher in Pb-Pb collisions at similar multiplicities. The second harmonic six-particle cumulants are also found to be higher in Pb-Pb collisions. In Pb-Pb collisions, we generally find $v_{2}\{4\} \simeq v_{2}\{6\}\neq 0$ which is indicative of a Bessel-Gaussian function for the $v_{2}$ distribution. For very high-multiplicity Pb-Pb collisions, we observe that the four- and six-particle cumulants become consistent with 0. Finally, third harmonic two-particle cumulants in p-Pb and Pb-Pb are measured. These are found to be similar for overlapping multiplicities, when a $|\Delta\eta| > 1.4$ gap is placed.Comment: 25 pages, 11 captioned figures, 3 tables, authors from page 20, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/87

hepatitis a outbreak in italy 2013 a matched case control study

Between January and May 2013 a hepatitis A (HA) incidence increase was detected in Italy, signalling an outbreak. A retrospective matched case-control study was conducted to identify the source of infection. A case was defined as a resident of any of five regions (Apulia, autonomous province of Bolzano, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia-Giulia and autonomous province of Trento), who had symptom onset between 1 January and 31 May2013 as well a positive test for anti-HA virus IgM. We compared each case with four age-and neighbourhood-matched controls. Overall 119 cases and 419 controls were enrolled. Berries were found as the main risk factor for HA (adjusted odds ratio (ORadj): 4.2; 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.5-7.0) followed by raw seafood (ORadj: 3.8; 95% CI: 2.2-6.8; PAF: 26%). Sequencing the virion protein (VP)1-2a region from 24 cases yielded a common sequence (GenBank number: KF182323). The same sequence was amplified from frozen mixed berries consumed by some cases as well as from isolates from Dutch and German HA patients, who had visited some of the affected Italian provinces during the outbreak. These findings suggested berries as the main source of the Italian outbreak. Control measures included voluntary recall of the confirmed frozen mixed berry batches and a trace-back investigation was initiated. The Ministry of Health website recommends frozen berries to be cooked for two minutes before eating.

Charge separation relative to the reaction plane in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN=2.76\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}= 2.76 TeV

Measurements of charge dependent azimuthal correlations with the ALICE detector at the LHC are reported for Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV. Two- and three-particle charge-dependent azimuthal correlations in the pseudo-rapidity range $|\eta| < 0.8$ are presented as a function of the collision centrality, particle separation in pseudo-rapidity, and transverse momentum. A clear signal compatible with a charge-dependent separation relative to the reaction plane is observed, which shows little or no collision energy dependence when compared to measurements at RHIC energies. This provides a new insight for understanding the nature of the charge dependent azimuthal correlations observed at RHIC and LHC energies.Comment: 12 pages, 3 captioned figures, authors from page 2 to 6, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/286