Hydration characteristics of wheat grain

The hydration characteristic of wheat was studied by soaking in water at temperatures of 30 (room temperature) 50, 60 and 70 oC in constant temperature water bath.  The weight gain due to the hydration process was determined in terms of moisture content (% d.b).  Water absorption rate was high at the early stage of hydration (10-30 min depending on temperature) followed by a decreased rate and finally approaching equilibrium condition.  Peleg's equation adequately described the hydration characteristics of wheat under the experimental condition (R2 = 0.95 to 0.99).  The Peleg rate constant k1 decreased while Peleg capacity constant k2 increased significantly with an increase in temperature from room temperature to 70 oC, demonstrating that the water absorption rate increased and water absorption capacity decreased with increase in temperature.  The agreement between experimental and estimated values of the hydration data (R2 = 0.97 to 0.99) confirmed that Peleg's equation could be used to describe the hydration characteristics of wheat under the experimental conditions considered

Search for neutral color-octet weak-triplet scalar particles in proton-proton collisions at √s= 8TeV

A search for pair production of neutral color-octet weak-triplet scalar particles (Θ0) is performed in processes where one Θ0 decays to a pair of b quark jets and the other to a Z boson plus a jet, with the Z boson decaying to a pair of electrons or muons. The search is performed with data collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb−1 of proton-proton collisions at √s = 8TeV. The number of observed events is found to be in agreement with the standard model predictions. The 95% confidence level upper limit on the product of the cross section and branching fraction is obtained as a function of the Θ0 mass. The 95% confidence level lower bounds on the Θ0 mass are found to be 623 and 426 GeV, for two different octo-triplet theoretical scenarios. These are the first direct experimental bounds on particles predicted by the octo-triplet model. © 2015, The Author(s)

Search for heavy gauge W ′ bosons in events with an energetic lepton and large missing transverse momentum at √s = 13 TeV

A search is presented for W′ bosons in events with an electron or muon and large missing transverse momentum, using proton–proton collision data at √s=13 TeV collected with the CMS detector in 2015 and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.3 fb−1. No evidence of an excess of events relative to the standard model expectations is observed. For a W′ boson described by the sequential standard model, upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on the product of the production cross section and branching fraction and lower limits are established on the new boson mass. Masses below 4.1 TeV are excluded combining electron and muon decay channels, significantly improving upon the results obtained with the 8 TeV data. Exclusion limits at 95% confidence level on the product of the W′ production cross section and branching fraction are also derived in combination with the 8 TeV data. Finally, exclusion limits are set for the production of generic W′ bosons decaying into this final state using a model-independent approach

Highly-parallelized simulation of a pixelated LArTPC on a GPU

The rapid development of general-purpose computing on graphics processing units (GPGPU) is allowing the implementation of highly-parallelized Monte Carlo simulation chains for particle physics experiments. This technique is particularly suitable for the simulation of a pixelated charge readout for time projection chambers, given the large number of channels that this technology employs. Here we present the first implementation of a full microphysical simulator of a liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) equipped with light readout and pixelated charge readout, developed for the DUNE Near Detector. The software is implemented with an end-to-end set of GPU-optimized algorithms. The algorithms have been written in Python and translated into CUDA kernels using Numba, a just-in-time compiler for a subset of Python and NumPy instructions. The GPU implementation achieves a speed up of four orders of magnitude compared with the equivalent CPU version. The simulation of the current induced on 10^3 pixels takes around 1 ms on the GPU, compared with approximately 10 s on the CPU. The results of the simulation are compared against data from a pixel-readout LArTPC prototype

Angular analysis of the decay B0→K*0μ+μ- from pp collisions at s=8 TeV

The angular distributions and the differential branching fraction of the decay B0→K⁎(892)0μ+μ− are studied using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.5 fb −1 collected with the CMS detector at the LHC in pp collisions at s=8 TeV . From 1430 signal decays, the forward–backward asymmetry of the muons, the K⁎(892)0 longitudinal polarization fraction, and the differential branching fraction are determined as a function of the dimuon invariant mass squared. The measurements are among the most precise to date and are in good agreement with standard model predictions

Search for neutral MSSM Higgs bosons decaying to μ+μ- in pp collisions at √s=7 and 8 TeV

A search for neutral Higgs bosons predicted in the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) for μ+μ- decay channels is presented. The analysis uses data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 5.1 and 19.3 fb-1, respectively. The search is sensitive to Higgs bosons produced either through the gluon fusion process or in association with a bb quark pair. No statistically significant excess is observed in the μ+μ- mass spectrum. Results are interpreted in the framework of several benchmark scenarios, and the data are used to set an upper limit on the MSSM parameter tanβ as a function of the mass of the pseudoscalar A boson in the range from 115 to 300 GeV. Model independent upper limits are given for the product of the cross section and branching fraction for gluon fusion and b quark associated production at s=8 TeV. They are the most stringent limits obtained to date in this channel. © 2015 The Authors

Compatibilização de blendas de poliamida 6/ABS usando os copolímeros acrílicos reativos MMA-GMA e MMA-MA. Parte 2: Comportamento termomecânico e morfológico das blendas Compatibilization of Polyamide 6/ABS blends using MMA-GMA and MMA-MA reactive acrylic copolymers. Part 2. Thermal-mechanical and morphological behavior of blends

Blendas poliméricas de poliamida 6 (PA6) com acrilonitrila-butadieno-estireno (ABS) foram preparadas em extrusora de rosca dupla, utilizando-se os copolímeros metacrilato de metila - metacrilato de glicidila (MMA-GMA) e metacrilato de metila-anidrido maléico (MMA-MA) como agentes de compatibilização. O ABS, por si só, não foi capaz de tenacificar a PA6, apresentando uma morfologia de fases com grandes e pequenos aglomerados na matriz PA6. A introdução do copolímero MMA-GMA, como compatibilizante do sistema, não melhorou significativamente as propriedades de impacto da blenda PA6/ABS. As fotomicrografias obtidas por microscopia eletrônica de transmissão (MET) indicaram uma morfologia com duas populações distintas de ABS: aglomerados e pequenas partículas dispersas, resultando em uma distribuição não-uniforme de domínios de ABS. A blenda compatibilizada com MMA-MA foi supertenaz (> 800 J/m) na temperatura ambiente e em baixas temperaturas (~ -10 °C), com baixas concentrações de compatibilizante e baixos teores de MA no copolímero. As blendas PA6/ABS compatibilizadas com MMA-MA apresentaram uma morfologia de partículas bem dispersas e adequadamente distribuídas na matriz, evidenciando a presença efetiva do copolímero como agente de compatibilização reativo deste sistema.<br>Blends of Polyamide 6 (PA6) with acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) were prepared in a corotating twin-screw extruder, using the poly(methyl methacrylate-co-glycidyl methacrylate) (MMA-GMA) and poly(methyl methacrylate-co-maleic anhydride) (MMA-MA) copolymers as compatibilizing agents. The ABS by itself was not capable to toughen PA6 and showed a phase morphology with large and small agglomerates in the PA6 matrix. The introduction of MMA-GMA copolymer as a compatibilizing agent in the system did not significantly improve the impact properties of PA6/ABS blend. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) photomicrographs indicated a morphology with two distinct populations of ABS: agglomerates and small dispersed particles resulting in a non-uniform distribution of ABS domains. The compatibilized blend with MMA-MA was super-tough (> 800 J/m) at room temperature and low temperature (~ -10 °C) with small amounts of MA in the copolymer and small amounts of compatibilizer in the blend. The PA6/ABS compatibilized blends with MMA-MA showed a morphology of well dispersed and distributed rubber particles in PA6 matrix, thus demonstrating the effective presence of the copolymer as a compatibilizing reactive agent of this system