1,045 research outputs found
Fragmentation cross sections of Fe^{26+}, Si^{14+} and C^{6+} ions of 0.3-10 A GeV on CR39, polyethylene and aluminum targets
New measurements of the total and partial fragmentation cross sections in the
energy range 0.3-10 A GeV of Fe^{26+}, Si^{14+} and C^{6+} beams on
polyethylene, CR39 and aluminum targets are presented. The exposures were made
at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), USA, and Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator
in Chiba (HIMAC), Japan. The CR39 nuclear track detectors were used to identify
the incident and survived beams and their fragments. The total fragmentation
cross sections for all targets are almost energy independent while they depend
on the target mass. The measured partial fragmentation cross sections are also
discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 5 eps figures. Talk given at the 24th International
Conference on Nuclear Tracks in Solids, Bologna, Italy, 1-5 September 200
Time variations in the deep underground muon flux measured by MACRO
More than 30 million of high-energy muons collected with the MACRO detector
at the underground Gran Sasso Laboratory have been used to search for flux
variations of different natures. Two kinds of studies were carried out: search
for periodic variations and for the occurrence of clusters of events. Different
analysis methods, including Lomb-Scargle spectral analysis and Scan Test
statistics have been applied to the data.Comment: 6 pages, 4 EPS figures. Talk given at the 29th ICRC, Pune, India,
3-10 August 200
Fragmentation cross sections of 158 A GeV Pb ions in various targets measured with CR39 nuclear track detectors
We report the measurement of the fragmentation cross sections in high-energy
nucleus-nucleus collisions using the 158 A GeV Pb beam from the CERN-SPS. The
fragments have charges changed from that of the incident projectile nucleus by
, with 8 <\Delta Z <75. The targets range from
polyethylene to lead. Charge identification is made with CR39 nuclear track
detectors, measured with an automatic image analyzer system. The measured
fragmentation cross sections are parameterized with an empirical relation in
terms of the atomic mass of the target, and of the charge of the final
fragment.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figure
Search for strange quark matter and Q-balls with the SLIM experiment
We report on the search for Strange Quark Matter (SQM) and charged Q-balls
with the SLIM experiment at the Chacaltaya High Altitude Laboratory (5230 m
a.s.l.) from 2001 to 2005. The SLIM experiment was a 427 m array of
Nuclear Track Detectors (NTDs) arranged in modules of cm
area. SLIM NTDs were exposed to the cosmic radiation for 4.22 years after which
they were brought back to the Bologna Laboratory where they were etched and
analyzed. We estimate the properties and energy losses in matter of nuclearites
(large SQM nuggets), strangelets (small charged SQM nuggets) and Q-balls; and
discuss their detection with the SLIM experiment. The flux upper limits in the
CR of such downgoing particles are at the level of /cm/s/sr
(90% CL).Comment: 4 pages, 7 eps figures. Talk given at the 24th International
Conference on Nuclear Tracks in Solids, Bologna, Italy, 1-5 September 200
Bulk Etch Rate Measurements and Calibrations of Plastic Nuclear Track Detectors
New calibrations of CR39 and Makrofol nuclear track detectors have been
obtained using 158 A GeV Pb (82+) and In (49+) ions; a new method for the bulk
etch rate determination, using both cone height and base diameter measurements
was developed. The CR39 charge resolution based on the etch-pit base area
measurement is adequate to identify nuclear fragments in the interval 7 <=
Z/beta <= 49. For CR39 the detection threshold is at REL~50 MeV cm^2/g,
corresponding to a nuclear fragment with Z/beta~7. Base cone area distributions
for Makrofol foils exposed to Pb (82+) ions have shown for the first time all
peaks due to nuclear fragments with Z > 50; the distribution of the etched cone
heights shows well separated individual peaks for Z/beta = 78 - 83 (charge
pickup). The Makrofol detection threshold is at REL 2700 MeV cm^2/g,
corresponding to a nuclear fragment with Z/beta~50.Comment: 11 pages, 5 EPS figures. Submitted to Nucl. Instr. Meth.
Meaurement of Cosmic Ray elemental composition from the CAKE balloon experiment
CAKE (Cosmic Abundances below Knee Energies) was a prototype balloon
experiment for the determination of the charge spectra and of abundances of the
primary cosmic-rays (CR) with Z10. It was a passive instrument made of
layers of CR39 and Lexan nuclear track detectors; it had a geometric acceptance
of 0.7 msr for Fe nuclei. Here, the scanning and analysis strategies,
the algorithms used for the off-line filtering and for the tracking in
automated mode of the primary cosmic rays are presented, together with the
resulting CR charge distribution and their abundances.Comment: 5 pages, 8 figure
Search for a Lorentz invariance violation contribution in atmospheric neutrino oscillations using MACRO data
Neutrino-induced upward-going muons in MACRO have been analysed in terms of
relativity principles violating effects, keeping standard mass-induced
atmospheric neutrino oscillations as the dominant source of nu_mu -> nu_tau
transitions. The data disfavor these exotic possibilities even at a
sub-dominant level, and stringent 90% C.L. limits are placed on the Lorentz
invariance violation parameter |Delta v| < 6 * 10^(-24) at sin2theta_v = 0 and
|Delta v| < 2.5--5 * 10^(-26) at sin2theta_v = +/-1. These limits can also be
re-interpreted as upper bounds on the parameters describing violation of the
Equivalence Principle.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Physics Letters
Differential expression patterns of genes associated with metabolisms, muscle growth and repair in Pectoralis major muscles of fast- and medium-growing chickens
The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of genes related to muscle growth, hypoxia and oxidative stress responses, a multi-substrate serine/threonine-protein kinase (AMPK) and AMPK-related kinases, carbohydrate metabolism, satellite cells activities and fibro- adipogenic progenitors (FAPs) in fast-growing (FG) (n = 30) and medium-growing (MG) chickens (n = 30). Pectoralis major muscles were collected at 7d, 14d, 21d, 28d, 35d and 42d of age. According to their macroscopic features, the samples from FG up to 21d of age were classified as unaffected, while all samples collected at an older age exhibited macroscopic features ascribable to white striping and/or wooden breast abnormalities. In contrast, MG samples did not show any feature associated to muscle disorders. The absolute transcript abundance of 33 target genes was examined by droplet digital polymerase chain reaction. The results showed differential gene expression profiles between FG and MG chickens at different ages. While most genes remained unchanged in MG chickens, the expression patterns of several genes in FG were significantly affected by age. Genes encoding alpha 1, alpha 2, beta 2 and gamma 3 isoforms of AMPK, as well as AMPK-related kinases, were identified as differentially expressed between the two strains. The results support the hypothesis of oxidative stress-induced muscle damage with metabolic alterations in FG chickens. An increased expression of ANXA2, DES, LITAF, MMP14, MYF5 and TGFB1 was observed in FG strain. The results suggest the occurrence of dysregulation of FAP proliferation and differentiation occurring during muscle repair. FAPs could play an important role in defining the proliferation of connective tissue (fibrosis) and deposition of intermuscular adipose tissue which represents distinctive traits of muscle abnormalities. Overall, these findings demonstrate that dysregulated molecular processes associated with myopathic lesions in chickens are strongly influenced by growth rate, and, to some extent, by age
Do mutual funds have consistency in their performance?
Using a comprehensive data set of 714 Chinese mutual funds from 2004 to 2015, the study investigates these funds’ performance persistence by using the Capital Asset Pricing model, the Fama-French three-factor model and the Carhart Four-factor model. For persistence analysis, we categorize mutual funds into eight octiles based on their one year lagged performance and then observe their performance for the subsequent
12 months. We also apply Cross-Product Ratio technique to assess the performance
persistence in these Chinese funds. The study finds no significant evidence of persis- tence in the performance of the mutual funds. Winner (loser) funds do not continue to be winner (loser) funds in the subsequent time period. These findings suggest that future performance of funds cannot be predicted based on their past performance.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
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