Associated production of a Z boson and a b-jet in ATLAS

The current uncertainty on the parametrization of the partonic content of the proton (PDF's) affects the potential for the discovery of new physics at LHC. The study of Z boson production in association with a b-jet can considerably reduce such uncertainty. In addition, this process represents a background both to the search for the Higgs boson and for SUSY particles. We present an update, based on the full simulation data sample produced for the Rome Physics Workshop, of a preliminary study in the case where the Z boson decays in mu+ mu-.Comment: 16 page

Implementation of chamber misalignments and deformations in the ATLAS muon spectrometer simulation

"The implementation of run-time dependent corrections for alignment and distortions in the detector description of the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer is discussed, along with the strategies for studying such effects in dedicated simulations."http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/64214/1/jpconf8_119_032010.pd

Relationship between fatty acids composition/antioxidant potential of breast milk and maternal diet: Comparison with infant formulas

The fatty acid composition of human breast milk is relevant for the energy, immunity and eicosanoid production in infants. Additionally, the antioxidant properties of foods are essential for human health. Therefore, in the present study we aimed to investigate the relationship between maternal diet and fatty acids composition as well as the antioxidant potential of breast milk from donors to human milk bank of Perugia\u2019s hospital, Italy. Results were compared with infant formulas. We observed increased levels of total fatty acids and, in particular, saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids in milk from mothers fed on a vegetable and fruit-rich diet compared with a Mediterranean diet. In the same milk, a reduced antioxidant potential was found. All infant formulas resulted in richer total fatty acid content than human breast milk. Only some formulas were qualitatively similar to breast milk. Of note, the antioxidant potential of the formulas was higher or lower than the human milk with the exception of one sample. The antioxidant potential of four formulas was very high. Dietary supplementation with antioxidants has been shown to have a teratogenic effect and to increase the formation of metastases in adult. There are no data on the effects of excess antioxidants in the infants, but the possibility that they can be harmful cannot be excluded

The ATLAS Data Quality Defect Database System

The ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider has implemented a new system for recording information on detector status and data quality, and for transmitting this information to users performing physics analysis. This system revolves around the concept of "defects," which are well-defined, fine-grained, unambiguous occurrences affecting the quality of recorded data. The motivation, implementation, and operation of this system is described.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, published in EPJ C. (v2: as published