2,264 research outputs found
Flavour Changing Neutral Currents and Inverted Sfermion Mass Hierarchy
We study the contraints on non-flavour-blind soft supersymmetry breaking
terms coming from flavour and CP violating processes in the presence of
hierarchical Yukawa couplings, and quantify how much these constraints are
weakened in the regions of the MSSM parameter space characterized by heavy
gauginos and multi-TeV sfermion masses, respectively. We also study the
inverted sfermion mass hierarchy scenario in the context of D-term
supersymmetry breaking, and show that generic hierarchical Yukawa couplings
with arbitrary phases require first generation squarks in the few 10 TeV range.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures. Talk given at the XLth Rencontres de Moriond on
Electroweak Interactions and Unified Theories, La Thuile, Aosta Valley,
Italy, 5-12 March 2005. V3: one reference correcte
Scaling of human behavior during portal browsing
We investigate transitions of portals users between different subpages. A
weighted network of portals subpages is reconstructed where edge weights are
numbers of corresponding transitions. Distributions of link weights and node
strengths follow power laws over several decades. Node strength increases
faster than linearly with node degree. The distribution of time spent by the
user at one subpage decays as power law with exponent around 1.3. Distribution
of numbers P(z) of unique subpages during one visit is exponential. We find a
square root dependence between the average z and the total number of
transitions n during a single visit. Individual path of portal user resembles
of self-attracting walk on the weighted network. Analytical model is developed
to recover in part the collected data.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure
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A Data-informed Public Health Policy-Makers Platform
Hearing loss is a disease exhibiting a growing trend due to the number of factors, including but not limited to the mundane exposure to the noise and ever-increasing amount of older population. In the framework of a public health policymaking process, modeling of the hearing loss disease based on data is a key factor in alleviating the issues related to the disease issuing effective public health policies. First, the paper describes the steps of the data-driven policymaking process. Afterward, a scenario along with the part of the proposed platform, responsible for supporting policymaking are presented. With the aim of demonstrating the capabilities and usability of the platform for the policy-makers, some initial results of preliminary analytics are presented in a framework of a policy-making process. Ultimately, the utility of the approach is validated throughout the results of the survey which was presented to the health system policy-makers professionals involved in the policy development process in Croatia
X-ray Emitting GHz-Peaked Spectrum Galaxies: Testing a Dynamical-Radiative Model with Broad-Band Spectra
In a dynamical-radiative model we recently developed to describe the physics
of compact, GHz-Peaked-Spectrum (GPS) sources, the relativistic jets propagate
across the inner, kpc-sized region of the host galaxy, while the electron
population of the expanding lobes evolves and emits synchrotron and
inverse-Compton (IC) radiation. Interstellar-medium gas clouds engulfed by the
expanding lobes, and photoionized by the active nucleus, are responsible for
the radio spectral turnover through free-free absorption (FFA) of the
synchrotron photons. The model provides a description of the evolution of the
spectral energy distribution (SED) of GPS sources with their expansion,
predicting significant and complex high-energy emission, from the X-ray to the
gamma-ray frequency domain. Here, we test this model with the broad-band SEDs
of a sample of eleven X-ray emitting GPS galaxies with Compact-Symmetric-Object
(CSO) morphology, and show that: (i) the shape of the radio continuum at
frequencies lower than the spectral turnover is indeed well accounted for by
the FFA mechanism; (ii) the observed X-ray spectra can be interpreted as
non-thermal radiation produced via IC scattering of the local radiation fields
off the lobe particles, providing a viable alternative to the thermal,
accretion-disk dominated scenario. We also show that the relation between the
hydrogen column densities derived from the X-ray (N_H) and radio (N_HI) data of
the sources is suggestive of a positive correlation, which, if confirmed by
future observations, would provide further support to our scenario of
high-energy emitting lobes.Comment: 29 pages, 3 figures, 6 tables; to appear in ApJ. A few clarifications
included, according to referee's suggestion
Positron emission tomography/computerised tomography imaging in detecting and managing recurrent cervical cancer: systematic review of evidence, elicitation of subjective probabilities and economic modelling.
© Queen’s Printer and Controller of HMSO 2013. This work was produced by Meads et al. under the terms of a commissioning contract issued by the Secretary of State for
Health. This issue may be freely reproduced for the purposes of private research and study and extracts (or indeed, the full report) may be included in professional journals provided that suitable acknowledgement is made and the reproduction is not associated with any form of advertising.Cancer of the uterine cervix is a common cause of mortality in women. After initial treatment women may be symptom free, but the cancer may recur within a few years. It is uncertain whether it is more clinically effective to survey asymptomatic women for signs of recurrence or to await symptoms or signs before using imaging.National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programm
Evaluating PET-CT in the detection and management of recurrent cervical cancer: Systematic reviews of diagnostic accuracy and subjective elicitation
Background: Positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) is recommended to triage women for exenterative surgery and surveillance after treatment for advanced cervical cancer. Objective: To evaluate diagnostic accuracy of additional whole body PET-CT compared with CT/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) alone in women with suspected recurrent/persistent cervical cancer and in asymptomatic women as surveillance. Design: Systematic reviews. Subjective elicitation to supplement diagnostic information. Search strategy/Selection criteria/Data collection and analysis: Searches of electronic databases were performed to June 2013. Studies in women with suspected recurrent/persistent cervical cancer and in asymptomatic women undergoing follow up with sufficient numeric data were included. We calculated sensitivity, specificity and corresponding 95% confidence intervals. Meta-analyses employed a bivariate model that included a random-effects term for between-study variations (CT studies) and univariate random effects meta-analyses (PET-CT studies) for sensitivity and specificity separately. Subjective elicitation: Prevalence of recurrence and the accuracy of imaging elicited using the allocation of points technique. Coherence of elicited subjective probabilities with estimates in the literature examined. Results: We identified 15 relevant studies; none directly compared additional PET-CT with MRI or CT separately. Most CT and MRI studies used older protocols and the majority did not distinguish between asymptomatic and symptomatic women. Meta-analysis of nine PET-CT studies in mostly symptomatic women showed sensitivity of 94.8 (95% CI 91.2-96.9), and specificity of 86.9% (95% CI 82.2-90.5). The summary estimate of the sensitivity of CT for detection of recurrence was 89.64% (95% CI 81.59-94.41) and specificity was 76% (95% CI 43.68-92.82). Meta-analysis for MRI test accuracy studies was not possible because of clinical heterogeneity. The sensitivity and specificity of MRI in pelvic recurrence varied between 82 and 100% and between 78 and 100%, respectively. Formal statistical comparisons of the accuracy of index tests were not possible. Subjective elicitation provided estimates comparable to the literature. Subjective estimates of the increase in accuracy from the addition of PET-CT were less than elicited increases required to justify the use in PET-CT for surveillance. Conclusion: Evidence to support additional PET-CT is scarce, of average quality and does not distinguish between application for surveillance and diagnosis. Guidelines recommending PET-CT in recurrent cervical cancer need to be reconsidered in the light of the existing evidence base
Precision Measurement of 11Li moments: Influence of Halo Neutrons on the 9Li Core
The electric quadrupole moment and the magnetic moment of the 11Li halo
nucleus have been measured with more than an order of magnitude higher
precision than before, |Q| = 33.3(5)mb and mu=3.6712(3)mu_N, revealing a
8.8(1.5)% increase of the quadrupole moment relative to that of 9Li. This
result is compared to various models that aim at describing the halo
properties. In the shell model an increased quadrupole moment points to a
significant occupation of the 1d orbits, whereas in a simple halo picture this
can be explained by relating the quadrupole moments of the proton distribution
to the charge radii. Advanced models so far fail to reproduce simultaneously
the trends observed in the radii and quadrupole moments of the lithium
isotopes.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl
Update on Fermion Mass Models with an Anomalous Horizontal U(1) Symmetry
We reconsider models of fermion masses and mixings based on a gauge anomalous
horizontal U(1) symmetry. In the simplest model with a single flavon field and
horizontal charges of the same sign for all Standard Model fields, only very
few charge assignements are allowed when all experimental data, including
neutrino oscillation data, is taken into account. We show that a precise
description of the observed fermion masses and mixing angles can easily be
obtained by generating sets of the order one parameters left unconstrained by
the U(1) symmetry. The corresponding Yukawa matrices show several interesting
features which may be important for flavour changing neutral currents and CP
violation effects in supersymmetric models.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figure
Q-Value and Half-Lives for the Double-Beta-Decay Nuclide 110Pd
The 110Pd double-beta decay Q-value was measured with the Penning-trap mass
spectrometer ISOLTRAP to be Q = 2017.85(64) keV. This value shifted by 14 keV
compared to the literature value and is 17 times more precise, resulting in new
phase-space factors for the two-neutrino and neutrinoless decay modes. In
addition a new set of the relevant matrix elements has been calculated. The
expected half-life of the two-neutrino mode was reevaluated as 1.5(6) E20 yr.
With its high natural abundance, the new results reveal 110Pd to be an
excellent candidate for double-beta decay studies
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