Impact of internal bremsstrahlung on the detection of gamma-rays from neutralinos

We present a detailed study of the effect of internal bremsstrahlung photons in the context of the minimal supersymmetric standard models and their impact on gamma-ray dark matter annihilation searches. We find that although this effect has to be included for the correct evaluation of fluxes of high energy photons from neutralino annihilation, its contribution is relevant only in models and at energies where the lines contribution is dominant over the secondary photons. Therefore, we find that the most optimistic supersymmetric scenarios for dark matter detection do not change significantly when including the internal bremsstrahlung. As an example, we review the gamma-ray dark matter detection prospects of the Draco dwarf spheroidal galaxy for the MAGIC stereoscopic system and the CTA project. Though the flux of high energy photons is enhanced by an order of magnitude in some regions of the parameter space, the expected fluxes are still much below the sensitivity of the instruments.Comment: 5 pages, twocolumn format, 3 figures:3 references added, accepted as Brief Report in PR

Excited lepton triplet contribution to electroweak observables at one loop level

In this paper, we present the one-loop radiative corrections to the electroweak precision observable $\Delta \rho$ coming from the $I_W=1$ multiplet excited leptons. We have calculated the couplings of the exotic lepton triplet to the vector bosons and ordinary leptons using effective Lagrangian approach. These couplings are then used to estimate the excited lepton triplet contribution to the $\Delta \rho$ parameter. The mass degenerate excited lepton contribution to $\Delta \rho$ is small and can be neglected. However, if the excited leptons are non-degenerate, their contribution can be large which can result in more stringent constraints on the excited fermion parameter space compared to the constraints from present experimental searches and perturbative unitarity condition

Involuntary psychiatric admissions: A retrospective study of 460 cases

Introduction: We collected the data relating to involuntary hospital treatment (IHT) in the University Psychiatric Ward at Novara Hospital between 1991 and 2002, and compared them with those relating to Piedmont and the whole of Italy. Methods: The data were collected from the ward medical records. Results: IHT was much more frequent among young male schizophrenics living with their families of origin. Most of the subjects were not working at the time of admission. There was a statistically significant correlation between male gender and the risk of being admitted for a period of less than 12 days. The risk of being admitted for more than 12 days significantly correlated with the province of birth and residence, as well as with a diagnosis of schizophrenic psychosis. Conclusions: Schizophrenia is the diagnosis that is most frequently associated with IHT

The Economically Important Nitrogen Pathways of Southwest Florida

The global phenomenon of burgeoning coastal population growth has led to coastal watershed landscape transformation and ecosystem degradation, prompting policy-makers to set limits on freshwater withdrawals and labile nutrient loads. Important components of Florida’s economies lie in the state’s expansive coastal zone; the organisms driving the billion-dollar recreational fishing industry are rooted in coastal habitats, while the agriculture and real-estate industries sprawl throughout numerous coastal watersheds. This study aimed to identify the connections between anthropogenic land use and essential juvenile fish nursery habitats within the coastal zone, which is the first critical step for sustaining the ecology and related economies of the region. The need for this study arises from the fact that these economies are interconnected through nitrogen, and therefore nitrogen management can influence their prosperity or collapse. Juvenile fish nursery habitats are located in waters that receive nitrogen from adjacent landscapes. Runoff delivers nitrogen derived from human nitrogen use and processing within the watersheds to the juvenile fish nursery habitats. Ecosystem managers must understand that although copious amounts of nitrogen applied to land may ultimately support nursery habitat foodwebs, overwhelming nitrogen loads may also create algal blooms that decay and cause lethal hypoxic events leading to ecosystem degradation. This study aims to pinpoint the specific nitrogen sources that support primary production and ultimately fish production in watersheds dominated by agricultural landscapes and residential neighborhoods. Stable isotopes are versatile tools used to identify these connections. The nitrogen and carbon compounds that make up the moieties of an ecosystem inherently carry information on major nitrogen sources, trophic structure as well as the crucial information concerning dominant nitrogen removal and transformative processes that occur within sediments. Specifically in this study, the stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen of dissolved inorganic nitrogen, primary producers, and fish were used to identify 1) the connections between urban and agricultural landscapes and the nutrients that percolate through the foodweb, 2) the primary producers that support fish biomass, 3) the origins of sedimentary organic matter that can provide new nitrogen via recycling, and 4) the heterogeneous function of fish nursery habitats in polluted systems. This study was conducted during the region’s wet and dry seasons and in over thirty watersheds that differ from each other in terms of size and anthropogenic influence. In agricultural watersheds, nitrogen derived from row crops and tree crops ultimately supported fish production during the wet season. Convective afternoon thunderstorms coupled with runoff delivered nitrogen from the landscape to receiving waters. These nutrients supported phytoplankton which deposited into the sediments and supported benthic foodwebs. During the dry season, nitrogen derived from row crops and nitrogen transformation in the sediments ultimately supported fish production. In this case, irrigation water used for agriculture delivered nitrogen from lands covered with row crops to the nursery habitats in receiving waters. The dry season was characterized by the nitrogen transformation process known as dissimilatory nitrogen reduction to ammonium (DNRA), where biologically available nitrate is converted to biologically available ammonium. Phytoplankton deposits, most likely delivered during the wet season, were recycled through the slow burning DNRA processes, which provided nitrogen for the benthic microalgae that dominated in the dry season. These organisms in turn supported benthic communities which ultimately supported dry season fish production.  In small urban watersheds, nitrogen derived from septic tanks, lawn irrigation, leaky sewage pipes, and atmospheric deposition ultimately supported fish production via phytoplankton, but unlike the nitrogen sources in agricultural watersheds, these sources (with the exception of atmospheric deposition) were seasonally consistent because a mechanisms to deliver nitrogen derived from septic tanks, lawn fertilizer, and leaky sewage pipes were, at least to some extent, available during both seasons. In polluted, tidal, fish-nursery habitats, the specific mechanism that allowed nursery habitats to decrease the ratio of mortality over growth rates of juvenile fish was not consistent among systems. These mechanisms were likely dependent on physical-chemical parameters and stream geomorphology. If the geomorphology or physical-chemical characteristics of nursery habitats are not adequate to set up an efficient nitrogen transfer process to fish, these habitats become more of a haven from predators rather than a source of food for fish.  This study has several implications for management. Managers must first recognize that microalgae are dominant supporters of tidal nursery foodwebs. Managers must define the relationship between nitrogen loads and fish abundance. If this relationship is unknown, the results of increasing nitrogen loads on fish production will remain uncertain; foodwebs in nursery habitats may collapse due to eutrophication, or fish abundance may increase due to increases in food supply. Connectivity factors derived from stable isotope mechanistic mass-balance models can be used as measurable targets for groups of watersheds. The use of wetlands as nitrogen remediation tools may not be effective at removing nitrogen; nitrogen transformation processes such as DNRA likely outweigh removal processes in wetland soils

Systematic review of energy theft practices and autonomous detection through artificial intelligence methods

Energy theft poses a significant challenge for all parties involved in energy distribution, and its detection is crucial for maintaining stable and financially sustainable energy grids. One potential solution for detecting energy theft is through the use of artificial intelligence (AI) methods. This systematic review article provides an overview of the various methods used by malicious users to steal energy, along with a discussion of the challenges associated with implementing a generalized AI solution for energy theft detection. In this work, we analyze the benefits and limitations of AI methods, including machine learning, deep learning, and neural networks, and relate them to the specific thefts also analyzing problems arising with data collection. The article proposes key aspects of generalized AI solutions for energy theft detection, such as the use of smart meters and the integration of AI algorithms with existing utility systems. Overall, we highlight the potential of AI methods to detect various types of energy theft and emphasize the need for further research to develop more effective and generalized detection systems, providing key aspects of possible generalized solutions

The Southern Flying Squirrel (\u3ci\u3eGlaucomys volans\u3c/i\u3e) in Lincoln, Nebraska

The southern flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans) is considered a species of greatest conservation need in Nebraska and listed as threatened in the state. Historically, the geographic range of the southern flying squirrel in Nebraska has been restricted to five eastern counties from a northern suburb of Omaha, Douglas Co., southward in the four counties of Sarpy, Otoe, Nemaha, and Richardson, all bordering the Missouri River on the east. In late November of 2018, a resident of Lincoln, Lancaster Co., Nebraska, contacted the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission about an animal found dead in his yard. This animal proved to be a southern flying squirrel, which was 50 [80 km] to 70 [112 km] miles west of the known geographic range of the species. Two additional individuals were subsequently observed at the original residence as were individuals in at least eight separate neighborhoods throughout the city of Lincoln. Clearly, a population of the southern flying squirrels is established and reproducing in Lincoln, but their origin is unknown. The source of this city-dwelling population may be from released/escaped pets, a natural dispersal from the Missouri River via the Platte River and Salt Creek, or inadvertent translocation when moving timber or fire wood

Registration of FC1740 and FC1741 multigerm, rhizomania-resistant sugar beet germplasm with resistance to multiple diseases

FC1740 (Reg No. GP-293, PI 681717) and FC1741 (Reg No. GP-294, PI 681718) sugar beet germplasm (Beta vulgaris L.) were developed by the USDA-ARS at Fort Collins, CO, Salinas, CA, and Kimberly, ID, in cooperation with the Beet Sugar Development Foundation, Denver, CO. These germplasm are diploid, multigerm sugar beet populations in normal cytoplasm, segregating for self-sterility (Sf:SsSs), genetic male sterility (A:aa), and hypocotyl color (R:rr). FC1740 and FC1741 have excellent resistance to rhizomania (Beet necrotic yellow vein virus). FC1740 was selected as homozygous resistant to markers linked to both Rz1 and Rz2 genes for rhizomania resistance. FC1741 was selected as homozygous to the marker linked to the Rz2 gene for resistance. Both germplasm also have resistance to beet curly top (Beet curly top virus) and Fusarium yellows (Fusarium oxysporum Schlechtend.:Fr. f. sp. betae (D. Stewart) W. C. Snyder & H. N. Hans. and other Fusarium spp.), as well as moderate resistance to Aphanomyces root rot (Aphanomyces cochlioides Drechs.). Neither line exhibited resistance to Cercospora leaf spot (Cercospora beticola Sacc.), Rhizoctonia crown and root rot (Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn.) or sugar beet root aphid (Pemphigus spp.). These germplasm provide sources from which to select disease-resistant, multigerm pollinator parents with either or both of the Rz1 and Rz2 sources of rhizomania resistance. Because they are from the same population, they also are useful as controls of known genetic background in comparing entries screened for rhizomania resistance conditioned by Rz1 or Rz2

A Review of Modern Bald Eagle (\u3ci\u3eHaliaeetus leucocephalus\u3c/i\u3e) Nesting Records and Breeding Status in Nebraska

The recovery of the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in North America during the 20th century is a conservation success story. Once threatened with extinction, the species now is common throughout much of its range (Buehler 2000). Federal and state laws such as the Endangered Species Act (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531-1544) that were used to protect Bald Eagles and important habitats used by eagles are considered key actions that fostered the species\u27 recovery. In 2007, the Bald Eagle was formally removed from the federal list of threatened and endangered species (50 CFR Part 17). The following year, the Bald Eagle was removed from the Nebraska state list of threatened and endangered species. Bald Eagles have been a species of high conservation concern, and therefore a substantial amount of attention and resources has been directed toward monitoring Bald Eagle numbers over the past 50 years. Of particular interest were initial breeding records and subsequent increases in states where the species bred historically but was extirpated. Nebraska is one such state in which Bald Eagle breeding records have increased since protection

Maximizing rehabilitation outcomes in geriatric hip fracture patients: the impact of surgical variables

Background and aim: Hip fracture is a major traumatic event with high mortality and disability rate. Its management in the acute setting and in the rehabilitation process is highly debated. This study evaluates the possible determinants of hip fracture rehabilitation outcome, among which surgical intervention type, weight-bearing status and hospitalization length Methods: The data of 738 hip fracture patients, who completed rehabilitation process in our centre, were collected and patients' functional abilities at the time of admission and discharge were analysed. Results: It has been observed that functional recovery depends on several factors: the type of surgery, the post-operative course and related complications, the hospitalisation time, the surgeon's techniques and expertise and the Orthopaedics centre where the operation is performed. Conclusions: In conclusion, data integration in perspective of an individualised rehabilitation program appears crucial for the functional recovery of the hip fracture patient