66 research outputs found
Jet Fragmentation Function Moments in Heavy Ion Collisions
The nature of a jet's fragmentation in heavy-ion collisions has the potential
to cast light on the mechanism of jet quenching. However the presence of the
huge underlying event complicates the reconstruction of the jet fragmentation
function as a function of the momentum fraction z of hadrons in the jet. Here
we propose the use of moments of the fragmentation function. These quantities
appear to be as sensitive to quenching modifications as the fragmentation
function directly in z. We show that they are amenable to background
subtraction using the same jet-area based techniques proposed in the past for
jet p_t's. Furthermore, complications due to correlations between
background-fluctuation contributions to the jet's p_t and to its particle
content are easily corrected for.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure
Testing collinear factorization and nuclear parton distributions with pA collisions at the LHC
Global perturbative QCD analyses, based on large data sets from
electron-proton and hadron collider experiments, provide tight constraints on
the parton distribution function (PDF) in the proton. The extension of these
analyses to nuclear parton distributions (nPDF) has attracted much interest in
recent years. nPDFs are needed as benchmarks for the characterization of hot
QCD matter in nucleus-nucleus collisions, and attract further interest since
they may show novel signatures of non- linear density-dependent QCD evolution.
However, it is not known from first principles whether the factorization of
long-range phenomena into process-independent parton distribution, which
underlies global PDF extractions for the proton, extends to nuclear effects. As
a consequence, assessing the reliability of nPDFs for benchmark calculations
goes beyond testing the numerical accuracy of their extraction and requires
phenomenological tests of the factorization assumption. Here we argue that a
proton-nucleus collision program at the LHC would provide a set of measurements
allowing for unprecedented tests of the factorization assumption underlying
global nPDF fits.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Medium dependence of multiplicity distributions in MLLA
We study the modification of the multiplicity distributions in MLLA due to
the presence of a QCD medium. The medium is introduced though a multiplicative
constant () in the soft infrared parts of the kernels of QCD evolution
equations. Using the asymptotic ansatz for quark and gluons mean multiplicities
and respectively, we study two
cases: fixed as previously considered in the literature, and fixed
. We find opposite behaviors of the dispersion of the multiplicity
distributions with increasing in both cases. For fixed the
dispersion decreases, while for fixed it increases.Comment: LaTeX, 9 pages, 4 eps figures; proceedings of the 3rd International
Conference on Hard and Electromagnetic Probes in High-Energy Nuclear
Collisions - Hard Probes 2008 (Illa de A Toxa, Spain, June 8th-14th 2008
Medium-modified evolution of multiparticle production in jets in heavy-ion collisions
The energy evolution of medium-modified average multiplicities and
multiplicity fluctuations in quark and gluon jets produced in heavy-ion
collisions is investigated from a toy QCD-inspired model. In this model, we use
modified splitting functions accounting for medium-enhanced radiation of gluons
by a fast parton which propagates through the quark gluon plasma. The leading
contribution of the standard production of soft hadrons is found to be enhanced
by the factor while next-to-leading order (NLO) corrections are
suppressed by , where the nuclear parameter accounts for
the induced-soft gluons in the hot medium. The role of next-to-next-to-leading
order corrections (NNLO) is studied and the large amount of medium-induced soft
gluons is found to drastically affect the convergence of the perturbative
series. Our results for such global observables are cross-checked and compared
with their limits in the vacuum and a new method for solving the second
multiplicity correlator evolution equations is proposed.Comment: 21 pages and 8 figures, typo corrections, references adde
Impact-parameter dependent nuclear parton distribution functions: EPS09s and EKS98s and their applications in nuclear hard processes
We determine the spatial (impact parameter) dependence of nuclear parton
distribution functions (nPDFs) using the -dependence of the spatially
independent (averaged) global fits EPS09 and EKS98. We work under the
assumption that the spatial dependence can be formulated as a power series of
the nuclear thickness functions . To reproduce the -dependence over the
entire range we need terms up to . As an outcome, we release two
sets, EPS09s (LO, NLO, error sets) and EKS98s, of spatially dependent nPDFs for
public use. We also discuss the implementation of these into the existing
calculations. With our results, the centrality dependence of nuclear
hard-process observables can be studied consistently with the globally fitted
nPDFs for the first time. As an application, we first calculate the LO nuclear
modification factor for primary partonic-jet production in
different centrality classes in Au+Au collisions at RHIC and Pb+Pb collisions
at LHC. Also the corresponding central-to-peripheral ratios are
studied. We also calculate the LO and NLO nuclear modification factors for
single inclusive neutral pion production, , at mid- and
forward rapidities in different centrality classes in d+Au collisions at RHIC.
In particular, we show that our results are compatible with the PHENIX
mid-rapidity data within the overall normalization uncertainties given by the
experiment. Finally, we show our predictions for the corresponding
modifications in the forthcoming p+Pb collisions at LHC.Comment: 36 page
Identification of ADHD risk genes in extended pedigrees by combining linkage analysis and whole-exome sequencing
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder with a complex genetic background, hampering identification of underlying genetic risk factors. We hypothesized that combining linkage analysis and whole-exome sequencing (WES) in multi-generation pedigrees with multiple affected individuals can point toward novel ADHD genes. Three families with multiple ADHD-affected members (Ntotal = 70) and apparent dominant inheritance pattern were included in this study. Genotyping was performed in 37 family members, and WES was additionally carried out in 10 of those. Linkage analysis was performed using multi-point analysis in Superlink Online SNP 1.1. From prioritized linkage regions with a LOD score ≥ 2, a total of 24 genes harboring rare variants were selected. Those genes were taken forward and were jointly analyzed in gene-set analyses of exome-chip data using the MAGMA software in an independent sample of patients with persistent ADHD and healthy controls (N = 9365). The gene-set including all 24 genes together, and particularly the gene-set from one of the three families (12 genes), were significantly associated with persistent ADHD in this sample. Among the latter, gene-wide analysis for the AAED1 gene reached significance. A rare variant (rs151326868) within AAED1 segregated with ADHD in one of the families. The analytic strategy followed here is an effective approach for identifying novel ADHD risk genes. Additionally, this study suggests that both rare and more frequent variants in multiple genes act together in contributing to ADHD risk, even in individual multi-case families
Genetic improvement of soybeans in Brazil: South and Midwest regions
Abstract: Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merril] is one of the main crops produced worldwide, and on-farm yields have increased considerably in the last decades in Brazil. We evaluated the genetic gain for agronomic, phenological, and end-use quality traits in 29 cultivars in the South Region, and in 38 cultivars in the Midwest Region in Brazil, released from 1966 to 2011. Field trials were conducted in Macroregions 1, 2, and 4, in 2016?2017, 2017?2018, and 2018?2019 crop seasons. The best linear unbiased predictors (BLUP) of the cultivars were obtained for each trait using a linear model. The BLUPs were regressed with the year of release using linear and quadratic regression models. The rates of genetic gain for seed yield ranged from 11.98 to 15.31 kg ha?1 yr?1 (0.33 to 0.42% yr?1) in the South Region, and from 13.58 to 21.84 kg ha?1 yr?1 (0.47 to 0.77% yr?1) in the Midwest Region. New cultivars presented taller plants and more seed oil content, oil and protein yield, and lower seed weight, days to flowering, days to maturity, and seed protein content than old cultivars in the South Region, although with differences between the Macroregions. In the Midwest Region, new cultivars showed higher seed oil content, oil and protein yield, and lower bottom pod height and seed protein content than old cultivars. Our results showed that breeding programs have been efficient to improve soybean yield and other traits across the years, without yield plateaus in sight
RICORS2040 : The need for collaborative research in chronic kidney disease
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a silent and poorly known killer. The current concept of CKD is relatively young and uptake by the public, physicians and health authorities is not widespread. Physicians still confuse CKD with chronic kidney insufficiency or failure. For the wider public and health authorities, CKD evokes kidney replacement therapy (KRT). In Spain, the prevalence of KRT is 0.13%. Thus health authorities may consider CKD a non-issue: very few persons eventually need KRT and, for those in whom kidneys fail, the problem is 'solved' by dialysis or kidney transplantation. However, KRT is the tip of the iceberg in the burden of CKD. The main burden of CKD is accelerated ageing and premature death. The cut-off points for kidney function and kidney damage indexes that define CKD also mark an increased risk for all-cause premature death. CKD is the most prevalent risk factor for lethal coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the factor that most increases the risk of death in COVID-19, after old age. Men and women undergoing KRT still have an annual mortality that is 10- to 100-fold higher than similar-age peers, and life expectancy is shortened by ~40 years for young persons on dialysis and by 15 years for young persons with a functioning kidney graft. CKD is expected to become the fifth greatest global cause of death by 2040 and the second greatest cause of death in Spain before the end of the century, a time when one in four Spaniards will have CKD. However, by 2022, CKD will become the only top-15 global predicted cause of death that is not supported by a dedicated well-funded Centres for Biomedical Research (CIBER) network structure in Spain. Realizing the underestimation of the CKD burden of disease by health authorities, the Decade of the Kidney initiative for 2020-2030 was launched by the American Association of Kidney Patients and the European Kidney Health Alliance. Leading Spanish kidney researchers grouped in the kidney collaborative research network Red de Investigación Renal have now applied for the Redes de Investigación Cooperativa Orientadas a Resultados en Salud (RICORS) call for collaborative research in Spain with the support of the Spanish Society of Nephrology, Federación Nacional de Asociaciones para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades del Riñón and ONT: RICORS2040 aims to prevent the dire predictions for the global 2040 burden of CKD from becoming true
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