Phi meson production in Au+Au and p+p collisions at sqrt (s)=200 GeV

We report the STAR measurement of Phi meson production in Au+Au and p+p collisions at sqrt (s)=200 GeV. Using the event mixing technique, the Phi spectra and yields are obtained at mid-rapidity for five centrality bins in Au+Au collisions and for non-singly-diffractive p+p collisions. It is found that the Phi transverse momentum distributions from Au+Au collisions are better fitted with a single-exponential while the p+p spectrum is better described by a double-exponential distribution. The measured nuclear modification factors indicate that Phi production in central Au+Au collisions is suppressed relative to peripheral collisions when scaled by the number of binary collisions. The systematics of versus centrality and the constant Phi/K- ratio versus beam species, centrality, and collision energy rule out kaon coalescence as the dominant mechanism for Phi production.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Energy and system size dependence of \phi meson production in Cu+Cu and Au+Au collisions

We study the beam-energy and system-size dependence of \phi meson production (using the hadronic decay mode \phi -- K+K-) by comparing the new results from Cu+Cu collisions and previously reported Au+Au collisions at \sqrt{s_NN} = 62.4 and 200 GeV measured in the STAR experiment at RHIC. Data presented are from mid-rapidity (|y|<0.5) for 0.4 < pT < 5 GeV/c. At a given beam energy, the transverse momentum distributions for \phi mesons are observed to be similar in yield and shape for Cu+Cu and Au+Au colliding systems with similar average numbers of participating nucleons. The \phi meson yields in nucleus-nucleus collisions, normalised by the average number of participating nucleons, are found to be enhanced relative to those from p+p collisions with a different trend compared to strange baryons. The enhancement for \phi mesons is observed to be higher at \sqrt{s_NN} = 200 GeV compared to 62.4 GeV. These observations for the produced \phi(s\bar{s}) mesons clearly suggest that, at these collision energies, the source of enhancement of strange hadrons is related to the formation of a dense partonic medium in high energy nucleus-nucleus collisions and cannot be alone due to canonical suppression of their production in smaller systems.Comment: 20 pages and 5 figure

Experimental and Theoretical Challenges in the Search for the Quark Gluon Plasma: The STAR Collaboration's Critical Assessment of the Evidence from RHIC Collisions

We review the most important experimental results from the first three years of nucleus-nucleus collision studies at RHIC, with emphasis on results from the STAR experiment, and we assess their interpretation and comparison to theory. The theory-experiment comparison suggests that central Au+Au collisions at RHIC produce dense, rapidly thermalizing matter characterized by: (1) initial energy densities above the critical values predicted by lattice QCD for establishment of a Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP); (2) nearly ideal fluid flow, marked by constituent interactions of very short mean free path, established most probably at a stage preceding hadron formation; and (3) opacity to jets. Many of the observations are consistent with models incorporating QGP formation in the early collision stages, and have not found ready explanation in a hadronic framework. However, the measurements themselves do not yet establish unequivocal evidence for a transition to this new form of matter. The theoretical treatment of the collision evolution, despite impressive successes, invokes a suite of distinct models, degrees of freedom and assumptions of as yet unknown quantitative consequence. We pose a set of important open questions, and suggest additional measurements, at least some of which should be addressed in order to establish a compelling basis to conclude definitively that thermalized, deconfined quark-gluon matter has been produced at RHIC.Comment: 101 pages, 37 figures; revised version to Nucl. Phys.

Incidência e severidade do "furo de bala" em folhas da ameixeira sob doses de nitrogênio e potássio Incidence and severity of 'shot hole' in plum&acute;s leaves related into nitrogen and potassium doses

A produção integrada (PI) vem suprir uma demanda crescente de frutos de qualidade, garantir segurança alimentar, produção com qualidade ambiental e rastreabilidade. Na visão da PI, as práticas da adubação e do controle de doenças estão intimamente relacionadas; no entanto, tem sido negligenciadas e pouco estudadas, principalmente para a doença "furo de bala" (Wilsonomyces carpophilus) em folhas de ameixeira (Prunus salicina). O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a incidência e severidade dessa doença em doses combinadas de adubação com N e K em dois ciclos de cultivo comercial de ameixeira cv "Reubennel", no município de Araucária (PR). Foram utilizadas cinco doses de N (40, 80, 120, 160 e 200kg ha-1ano-1) e duas de K (55 e 110kg ha-1ano-1). Realizaram-se sete avaliações para incidência e severidade a cada 20 dias, no período de novembro/2004 a março/2005 e em data única em outubro/2005. Os dados da primeira safra foram integralizados no tempo, constituindo a área abaixo da curva de progresso da doença (AACPD) da incidência e severidade, e os dados foram analisados estatisticamente pela teoria dos modelos lineares generalizados para dados longitudinais. A doença foi mais severa no segundo ano de avaliação, sendo observado o máximo de 0,70 e 2,25 para o primeiro e o segundo ano, respectivamente. A incidência e a severidade de "furo de bala" em folhas de ameixeira são superiores nas doses de 160 e 200kg ha-1ano-1 de nitrogênio. O potássio não interfere na incidência e severidade da doença devido ao seu elevado teor encontrado no solo e na planta.<br>Integrated Production (IP) can provide the growing demand for quality fruit, food safety, environmental protection, and product traceability. In IP, fertilization practices and disease control are viewed as being closely related. However, this linkage has been mostly ignored and few studies are available concerning the 'shot hole' phytopathogen (Wilsonomyces carpophilus) in plum (Prunus salicina). In this paper, the incidence and severity of this disease were investigated by using combined doses of nitrogen and potassium fertilizer in a commercial plum orchard, cv Reubennel in Araucária (PR). The treatments consisted of combinations of five doses of nitrogen (40, 80, 120, 160 and 200kg ha-1year-1) and two doses of potassium rates (55 and 110kg ha-1year-1). The incidence and severity of "shot hole" disease were evaluated at 20 days intervals during the period of November/2004 to March/2005, and once during October/2006. The first harvest&acute;s data were integrated in time to produce the area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC) of the incidence and severity and all data were analyzed statistically using generalized linear models in longitudinal data theory. The disease severity was higher in the second year of the study with the maxima being 0.70 and 2.25 in the first and second year, respectively. The incidence and severity was highest in 160 and 200kg nitrogen ha-1year-1 treatments. Potassium does not interfere in the incidence and severity of the disease due to the high content found in the soil and plant

Contributing student pedagogy

&lt;p&gt;A Contributing Student Pedagogy (CSP) is a pedagogy that encourages students to contribute to the learning of others and to value the contributions of others. CSP in formal education is anticipatory of learning processes found in industry and research, in which the roles and responsibilities of 'teacher' and 'student' are fluid. Preparing students for this shift is one motivation for use of CSP. Further, CSP approaches are linked to constructivist and community theories of learning, and provide opportunities to engage students more deeply in subject material.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;In this paper we advance the concept of CSP and relate it to the particular needs of computer science. We present a number of characteristics of this approach, and use case studies from the available literature to illustrate these characteristics in practice. We discuss enabling technologies, provide guidance to instructors who would like to incorporate this approach in their teaching, and suggest some future directions for the study and evaluation of this technique. We conclude with an extensive bibliography of related research and case studies which exhibit elements of CSP.&lt;/p&gt