Plethodon sequoyah

Number of Pages: 2Integrative BiologyGeological Science

Sustainability intervention mechanisms for managing road freight transport externalities: A systematic literature review

With road freight transport continuing to dominate global freight transport operations, there is increasing pressure on the freight transport industry and its stakeholders to address concerns over its sustainability. This paper adopts a systematic review to examine the academic literature on road freight transport sustainability between 2001 and 2018. Using content and thematic analysis, the paper identifies and categorises sustainability intervention mechanisms providing useful insights on key research applications areas and continental distribution of sustainable road freight transport (SRFT) research. In addition to the six-overarching sustainability intervention mechanism themes identified: decoupling, Information and Communications Technology (ICT), modality, operations, policy, and other, future research can explore the effectiveness of different interventions mechanisms identified in this study to improve sustainable practices across different continents

A closer look at string resonances in dijet events at the LHC

The first string excited state can be observed as a resonance in dijet invariant mass distributions at the LHC, if the scenario of low-scale string with large extra dimensions is realized. A distinguished property of the dijet resonance by string excited states from that the other "new physics" is that many almost degenerate states with various spin compose a single resonance structure. It is examined that how we can obtain evidences of low-scale string models through the analysis of angular distributions of dijet events at the LHC. Some string resonance states of color singlet can obtain large mass shifts through the open string one-loop effect, or through the mixing with closed string states, and the shape of resonance structure can be distorted. Although the distortion is not very large (10% for the mass squared), it might be able to observe the effect at the LHC, if gluon jets and quark jets could be distinguished in a certain level of efficiency.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure

In-Package Atmospheric Pressure Cold Plasma Treatment of Cherry Tomatoes

Cold plasma is increasingly under research for decontamination of foods, especially fresh fruits and vegetables. The effect of cold plasma on food quality, however, remains under researched. This study investigates the effects of cold plasma generated within a sealed package from a dielectric barrier discharge on the physical quality parameters and respiration rates of cherry tomatoes. Respiration rates and weight loss were monitored continuously, while other parameters are reported at the end of storage period. Differences among weight loss, pH and firmness for control and treated cherry tomatoes were insignificant towards the end of storage life. Changes in respiration rates and colour of tomatoes were recorded as a function of treatment, which were not drastic. The results implicate that cold plasma could be employed as a means for decontamination of cherry tomatoes while retaining product quality

Four jet event shapes in electron-positron annihilation

We report next-to-leading order perturbative QCD predictions of 4 jet event shape variables for the process e+e- \to 4 jets obtained using the general purpose Monte Carlo EERAD2. This program is based on the known `squared' one loop matrix elements for the virtual \gamma^* \to 4 parton contribution and squared matrix elements for 5 parton production. To combine the two distinct final states numerically we present a hybrid of the commonly used subtraction and slicing schemes based on the colour antenna structure of the final state which can be readily applied to other processes. We have checked that the numerical results obtained with EERAD2 are consistent with next-to-leading order estimates of the distributions of previously determined four jet-like event variables. We also report the next-to-leading order scale independent coefficients for some previously uncalculated observables; the light hemisphere mass, narrow jet broadening, Aplanarity and the 4 jet transition variables with respect to the JADE and Geneva jet finding algorithms. For each of these observables, the next-to-leading order corrections calculated at the physical scale significantly increase the rate compared to leading order (the K factor is approximately 1.5 -- 2). With the exception of the 4 jet transition variables, the published DELPHI data lies well above the O(\alpha_s^3) predictions. The renormalisation scale uncertainty is still large and in most cases the data prefers a scale significantly smaller than the physical scale. This situation is reminiscent of that for three jet shape variables, and should be improved by the inclusion of power corrections and resummation of large infrared logarithms.Comment: 41 pages, LaTeX, 16 figures, discussion of Aplanarity adde

Cosmological Constraints on Theories with Large Extra Dimensions

In theories with large extra dimensions, constraints from cosmology lead to non-trivial lower bounds on the fundamental scale M_F, corresponding to upper bounds on the radii of the compact extra dimensions. These constraints are especially relevant to the case of two extra dimensions, since only if M_F is 10 TeV or less do deviations from the standard gravitational force law become evident at distances accessible to planned sub-mm gravity experiments. By examining the graviton decay contribution to the cosmic diffuse gamma radiation, we derive, for the case of two extra dimensions, a conservative bound M_F > 110 TeV, corresponding to r_2 < 5.1 times 10^-5 mm, well beyond the reach of these experiments. We also consider the constraint coming from graviton overclosure of the universe and derive an independent bound M_F > 6.5 h^(-1/2) TeV, or r_2 < .015 h mm.Comment: 10 pages, references adde

Dust attenuation in 2<z<3 star-forming galaxies from deep ALMA observations of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field

17 pages, 7 figures, accepted version to be published in MNRASWe present the results of a new study of the relationship between infrared excess (IRX ≡ L IR/L UV), ultraviolet (UV) spectral slope (β) and stellar mass at redshifts 2 < z < 3, based on a deep Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) 1.3-mm continuum mosaic of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. Excluding the most heavily obscured sources, we use a stacking analysis to show that z ≃ 2.5 star-forming galaxies in the mass range 9.25 ≤ log(M*/M ⊙) ≤ 10.75 are fully consistent with the IRX-β relation expected for a relatively grey attenuation curve, similar to the commonly adopted Calzetti law. Based on a large, mass-complete sample of 2 ≤ z ≤ 3 star-forming galaxies drawn frommultiple surveys, we proceed to derive a new empirical relationship between β and stellar mass, making it possible to predict UV attenuation (A1600) and IRX as a function of stellar mass, for any assumed attenuation law. Once again, we find that z ≃ 2.5 star-forming galaxies follow A1600-M* and IRX-M* relations consistent with a relatively grey attenuation law, and find no compelling evidence that star-forming galaxies at this epoch follow a reddening law as steep as the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) extinction curve. In fact, we use a simple simulation to demonstrate that previous determinations of the IRX-β relation may have been biased towards low values of IRX at red values of β, mimicking the signature expected for an SMC-like dust law. We show that this provides a plausible mechanism for reconciling apparently contradictory results in the literature and that, based on typical measurement uncertainties, stellar mass provides a cleaner prediction of UV attenuation than β. Although the situation at lower stellar masses remains uncertain, we conclude that for 2 < z < 3 star-forming galaxies with log(M*/M ⊙) ≥ 9.75, both the IRX-β and IRX-M* relations are well described by a Calzetti-like attenuation law.Peer reviewe

GoSam-2.0: a tool for automated one-loop calculations within the Standard Model and beyond

We present the version 2.0 of the program package GoSam for the automated calculation of one-loop amplitudes. GoSam is devised to compute one-loop QCD and/or electroweak corrections to multi-particle processes within and beyond the Standard Model. The new code contains improvements in the generation and in the reduction of the amplitudes, performs better in computing time and numerical accuracy, and has an extended range of applicability. The extended version of the "Binoth-Les-Houches-Accord" interface to Monte Carlo programs is also implemented. We give a detailed description of installation and usage of the code, and illustrate the new features in dedicated examples.Comment: replaced by published version and reference adde

Electronic capture of patient-reported and clinician-reported outcome measures in an elective orthopaedic setting: a retrospective cohort analysis

Objectives To determine whether an entirely electronic system can be used to capture both patient-reported outcomes (electronic Patient-Reported Outcome Measures, ePROMs) as well as clinician-validated diagnostic and complexity data in an elective surgical orthopaedic outpatient setting. To examine patients' experience of this system and factors impacting their experience. Design Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data. Setting Single centre series. Outpatient clinics at an elective foot and ankle unit in the UK. Participants All new adult patients attending elective orthopaedic outpatient clinics over a 32-month period. Interventions All patients were invited to complete ePROMs prior to attending their outpatient appointment. At their appointment, those patients who had not completed ePROMs were offered the opportunity to complete it on a tablet device with technical support. Matched diagnostic and complexity data were captured by the treating consultant during the appointment. Outcome measures Capture rates of patient-reported and clinician-reported data. All information and technology (IT) failures, language and disability barriers were captured. Patients were asked to rate their experience of using ePROMs. The scoring systems used included EQ-5D-5L, the Manchester-Oxford Foot Questionnaire (MOxFQ) and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) pain score. Results Out of 2534 new patients, 2176 (85.9%) completed ePROMs, of whom 1090 (50.09%) completed ePROMs at home/work prior to their appointment. 31.5% used a mobile (smartphone/tablet) device. Clinician-reported data were captured on 2491 patients (98.3%). The mean patient experience score of using Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) was 8.55±1.85 out of 10 and 666 patients (30.61%) left comments. Of patients leaving comments, 214 (32.13%) felt ePROMs did not adequately capture their symptoms and these patients had significantly lower patient experience scores (p<0.001). Conclusions This study demonstrates the successful implementation of technology into a service improvement programme. Excellent capture rates of ePROMs and clinician-validated diagnostic data can be achieved within a National Health Service setting