Radiative Neutralino Decay in Supersymmetric Models

The radiative decay Z2-> Z1 gamma proceeds at the one-loop level in the MSSM. It can be the dominant decay mode for the second lightest neutralino Z2 in certain regions of parameter space of supersymmetric models, where either a dynamical and/or kinematic enhancement of the branching fraction occurs. We perform an updated numerical study of this decay mode in both the minimal supergravity model (mSUGRA) and in the more general MSSM framework. In mSUGRA, the largest rates are found in the ``focus point'' region, where the mu parameter becomes small, and the lightest neutralinos become higgsino-like; in this case, radiative branching fraction can reach the 1% level. Our MSSM analysis includes a scan over independent positive and negative gaugino masses. We show branching fractions can reach the 10-100% level even for large values of the parameter tan(beta). These regions of parameter space are realized in supergravity models with non-universal gaugino masses. Measurement of the radiative neutralino branching fraction may help pin down underlying parameters of the fundamental supersymmetric model.Comment: 19 page JHEP file with 8 PS figures; previous version contained figure misplacemen

Coffee capsule impacts and recovery techniques: A literature review

The recently developing coffee market has been characterized by profound changes caused by new solutions and technologies for coffee preparation. The polylaminate materials that compose most popular capsules make them a type of waste that is difficult to manage and recycle. This paper analyses the scientific references that deal with studying and improving the management processes of waste coffee capsules, as well as the studies that have analysed their environmental impact. Through a bibliographic review, some encouraging aspects emerged in the recovery of materials that can be adequately recycled (plastics and metals), as well as their possible use for the production of biogas and energy recovery. The need to manually separate the components that make up the capsule still represents one of the main challenges. Many efforts are still needed to favour the environmental sustainability of this waste from a strategic, technological and consumer empowerment point of view

Visual complexity, player experience, performance and physical exertion in motion-based games for older adults

Motion-based video games can have a variety of benefits for the players and are increasingly applied in physical therapy, rehabilitation and prevention for older adults. However, little is known about how this audience experiences playing such games, how the player experience affects the way older adults interact with motion-based games, and how this can relate to therapy goals. In our work, we decompose the player experience of older adults engaging with motion-based games, focusing on the effects of manipulations of the game representation through the visual channel (visual complexity), since it is the primary interaction modality of most games and since vision impairments are common amongst older adults. We examine the effects of different levels of visual complexity on player experience, performance, and exertion in a study with fifteen participants. Our results show that visual complexity affects the way games are perceived in two ways: First, while older adults do have preferences in terms of visual complexity of video games, notable effects were only measurable following drastic variations. Second, perceived exertion shifts depending on the degree of visual complexity. These findings can help inform the design of motion-based games for therapy and rehabilitation for older adults

Exposure to Air Pollution in Transport Microenvironments

People spend approximately 90% of their day in confined spaces (at home, work, school or in transit). During these periods, exposure to high concentrations of atmospheric pollutants can pose serious health risks, particularly to the respiratory system. The objective of this paper is to define a framework of the existing literature on the assessment of air quality in various transport microenvironments. A total of 297 papers, published from 2002 to 2021, were analyzed with respect to the type of transport microenvironments, the pollutants monitored, the concentrations measured and the sampling methods adopted. The analysis emphasizes the increasing interest in this topic, particularly regarding the evaluation of exposure in moving cars and buses. It specifically focuses on the exposure of occupants to atmospheric particulate matter (PM) and total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs). Concentrations of these pollutants can reach several hundreds of µg/m3 in some cases, significantly exceeding the recommended levels. The findings presented in this paper serve as a valuable resource for urban planners and decision-makers in formulating effective urban policies

A wearable multimodal interface for exploring urban points of interest

Locating points of interest (POIs) in cities is typically facilitated by visual aids such as paper maps, brochures, and mobile applications. However, these techniques require visual attention, which ideally should be on the surroundings. Non-visual techniques for navigating towards specific POIs typically lack support for free exploration of the city or more detailed guidance. To overcome these issues, we propose a multimodal, wearable system for alerting the user of nearby recommended POIs. The system, built around a tactile glove, provides audio-tactile cues when a new POI is in the vicinity, and more detailed information and guidance if the user expresses interest in this POI. We evaluated the system in a field study, comparing it to a visual baseline application. The encouraging results show that the glovebased system helps keep the attention on the surroundings and that its performance is on the same level as that of the baseline

Estimating the circularity performance of an emerging industrial symbiosis network: The case of recycled plastic fibers in reinforced concrete

In recent times, the construction industry has been handling circular economy strategies in order to face the most important challenges in the sector, namely the lack of raw materials and the environmental impacts derived from all the processes linked to the entire supply chain. The industrial symbiosis approach represents an effective strategy to improve the circularity of the construction industry. This study analyses the circularity performance of an emerging industrial symbiosis network derived from the production of a cement mortar reinforced with recycled synthetic fibers coming from artificial turf carpets. From the collection of artificial turf carpets at the end-of-life stage it is possible to recover several materials, leading to potential unusual interactions between industries belonging to different sectors. A suitable indicator, retrieved from the literature, the Industrial Symbiosis Indicator (ISI), has been used to estimate the level of industrial symbiosis associated with increasing materials recirculation inside the network. Four scenarios—ranging from perfect linearity to perfect circularity—representing growing circularity were tested. Findings demonstrate that the development of an effective industrial symbiosis network can contribute to improving the circular approach within the construction sector, reducing environmental and economic pressures

The dilaton-dominated supersymmetry breaking scenario in the context of the non-minimal supersymmetric model

The phenomenological consequences of the dilaton-type soft supersymmetry breaking terms in the context of the next to minimal supersymmetric standard model are investigated. We always find a very low top quark mass. As a consequence such string vacua are excluded by recent experimental results. The viability of the solution of the $\mu$ term through the introduction of a gauge singlet field is also briefly discussed.Comment: 10 pages,LATE

A two-step, user-centered approach to personalized tourist recommendations

Geo-localized, mobile applications can simplify a tourist visit, making the relevant Point of Interests more easily and promptly discernible to users. At the same time, such solutions must avoid creating unfitting or rigid user profiles that impoverish the users' options instead of refining them. Currently, user profiles in recommender systems rely on dimensions whose relevance to the user is more often presumed than empirically defined. To avoid this drawback, we build our recommendation system in a two-step process, where profile parameters are evaluated preliminarily and separately from the recommendations themselves. We describe this two-step evaluation process including an initial survey (N=206), and a subsequent controlled study (N=24). We conclude by emphasizing the benefit and generalizability of the approach

Impact of R-Parity Violation on Supersymmetry Searches at the Tevatron

We evaluate cross sections for \eslt, 1$\ell$ and various dilepton and multilepton event topologies that result from the simultaneous production of all sparticles at the Tevatron collider, both within the minimal model framework as well as in two different $R$-parity violating scenarios. Our analysis assumes that these $R$-violating couplings are small, and that their sole effect is to cause the lightest supersymmetric particle to decay inside the detector. We reassess future strategies for sparticle searches at the Tevatron, and quantify by how much the various signals for supersymmetry could differ from their minimal model expectations, if $R$-parity is not conserved due to either baryon number or lepton number violating operators. We also evaluate the Tevatron reach in $m_{\tg}$ for the various models, and find that rate-limited multilepton signals ultimately provide the largest reach for both $R$-parity conserving and $R$-parity violating cases.Comment: preprint nos. FSU-HEP-941001, UR-1387, ER-40685-836 and UH-511-807-94, 13 pages (REVTEX) plus 3 uuencoded figures attache