Stop Decay with LSP Gravitino in the final state: t~1→G~ W b\tilde{t}_1\to\widetilde{G}\,W\,b

In MSSM scenarios where the gravitino is the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP), and therefore a viable dark matter candidate, the stop $\tilde{t}_1$ could be the next-to-lightest superpartner (NLSP). For a mass spectrum satisfying: $m_{\widetilde{G}}+m_t>m_{\tilde{t}_1}>m_{\widetilde{G}}+m_b+m_W$, the stop decay is dominated by the 3-body mode $\tilde{t}_1\rightarrow b\,W\,\tilde{G}$. We calculate the stop life-time, including the full contributions from top, sbottom and chargino as intermediate states. We also evaluate the stop lifetime for the case when the gravitino can be approximated by the goldstino state. Our analytical results are conveniently expressed using an expansion in terms of the intermediate state mass, which helps to identify the massless limit. In the region of low gravitino mass ($m_{\widetilde{G}}\ll m_{\tilde{t}_1}$) the results obtained using the gravitino and goldstino cases turns out to be similar, as expected. However for higher gravitino masses $m_{\widetilde{G}} \lesssim m_{\tilde{t}_1}$ the results for the lifetime could show a difference of O(100)\%

Respuesta al fuego de HAC con y sin refuerzo de fibras

Algunas experiencias, básicamente de laboratorio, han trasmitido la idea de que los HAC son mas sensibles frente al fuego, en particular a sufrir fenómenos de explosión durante el mismo; la explicación se ha asociado con una mayor densidad de algunos HAC para similares dosificaciones que el hormigón convencional, relacionado con una mayor dificultad para evacuar el vapor de agua generado durante los procesos de deshidratación de la pasta de cemento, y a las tensiones térmicas generadas en su interior al ser expuestos a altas temperaturas. En este trabajo se analiza la contribución de los distintos componentes de un HAC en su respuesta frente al fuego, tanto en cuanto a su respuesta mecánica como de su microestructura. Finalmente se estudia las modificaciones introducidas por la incorporación al HAC de fibras de diferente procedencia (metálicas, de polipropileno y mezcla) para mejorar sus prestaciones mecánicas. Las resistencias a compresión de los HAC reforzados con fibras no presentan variaciones importantes a las distintas temperaturas, pero la resistencia a tracción mejora ante la presencia de fibras metálicas. La evolución en la porosidad, los cambios en la composición química y microestructura contribuyen a determinar la contribución de los distintos componentes del HAC en la respuesta al fuego

Ensayos a cortante de vigas de hormigón estructural autocompactable

En el presente trabajo se presenta una serie de ensayos realizados en el Laboratorio de Tecnología de Estructuras de la Escuela de Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos de Barcelona (Departamento de Ingeniería de la Construcción) de la Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña. La campaña de ensayos incluía una serie de vigas de sección “doble T” de hormigón autocompactable de resistencia media (HAC-RM) y una serie paralela realizada con hormigón convencional (HC) de la misma resistencia mecánica. Se verificó el comportamiento estructural frente al esfuerzo cortante de vigas de hormigón armado y pretensado con armadura pretesa y postesa, y tanto estructuras continuas como isostáticas. Los resultados muestran una menor resistencia a cortante en las vigas con HAC y armadura pasiva y activa. Para las vigas pretensadas con HAC y HC los valores de resistencia a cortante fueron similares.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Durabilidad de hormigones autocompactantes con prestaciones especiales expuestos en atmósferas marinas y urbanas.

El hormigón autocompactante es aún una tecnología relativamente nueva y se tiene un escaso conocimiento acerca del comportamiento frente a durabilidad de este material. Sin embargo, la creciente tendencia al desarrollo de códigos y normativas que contemplan tanto la durabilidad del hormigón desde la fase de diseño como el empleo de nuevos materiales, implica un mayor conocimiento de las propiedades durables de este tipo de hormigón. En el presente trabajo se presentan los resultados obtenidos a partir de un estudio de durabilidad con hormigón autocompactante convencional fabricado con filler calizo, así como hormigones autocompactantes, con la misma dosificación pero modificados bien con incorporación de fibras (metálicas y poliméricas) o bien con sustitución del filler calizo por residuos de lodos de naturaleza caliza. Se han llevado a cabo tanto ensayos en laboratorio para determinación de indicadores de durabilidad como ensayos de exposición durante un año a atmósferas naturales (marina y urbana con distinta humedad relativa). Los indicadores de durabilidad analizados arrojan una elevada calidad de los distintos hormigones autocompactantes, lo cual se confirma a partir de ensayos de exposición en atmósferas reales. Si bien no se ha visto que la incorporación de fibras influya en la interacción de este material con el cloruro ni con el CO2, la sustitución del filler calizo por residuo de lodo indica un ligero aumento en la carbonatación y el transporte de cloruros

Techniques Against Language Barriers: A Company Case Study

The United States construction industry employed approximately 10.8 million people in 2020. Of these 10.8 million, an estimated 3.3 million, or 30%, were Hispanic workers. On construction job sites, workers are exposed to numerous safety risks, including falls, struck-by incidents, and electrocution. Unfortunately, some Hispanics or workers with limited English language skills encounter language barriers which cause additional safety concerns. Language barriers impact their communication and comprehension abilities and, consequently, their safety. For example, workers who do not speak English do not benefit from safety training conducted purely in English; they also cannot read operation manuals for machinery and equipment that are written only in English. Communicating with supervisors who don’t speak Spanish about hazards on the job site also becomes difficult. As a result, Hispanics in construction suffer greater workplace injuries and deaths than other groups. This paper presents techniques currently being used by a construction company to reduce the negative safety impacts of language barriers. An interview was held with a company representative, discussing the main themes of this project: (1) language barrier issues encountered on job sites; (2) techniques implemented to combat language barriers; and (3) effectiveness of implemented techniques. Three techniques were presented, including (1) having translators in safety meetings; (2) conducting smaller meetings with groups in their native language; and (3) providing English language training. These techniques can be used as a guide for other companies to consider when developing inclusive safety plans

Reversible, Opto-Mechanically Induced Spin-Switching in a Nanoribbon-Spiropyran Hybrid Material

It has recently been shown that electronic transport in zigzag graphene nanoribbons becomes spin-polarized upon application of an electric field across the nanoribbon width. However, the electric fields required to experimentally induce this magnetic state are typically large and difficult to apply in practice. Here, using both first-principles density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT, we show that a new spiropyran-based, mechanochromic polymer noncovalently deposited on a nanoribbon can collectively function as a dual opto-mechanical switch for modulating its own spin-polarization. These calculations demonstrate that upon mechanical stress or photoabsorption, the spiropyran chromophore isomerizes from a closed-configuration ground-state to a zwitterionic excited-state, resulting in a large change in dipole moment that alters the electrostatic environment of the nanoribbon. We show that the electronic spin-distribution in the nanoribbon-spiropyran hybrid material can be reversibly modulated via noninvasive optical and mechanical stimuli without the need for large external electric fields. Our results suggest that the reversible spintronic properties inherent to the nanoribbon-spiropyran material allow the possibility of using this hybrid structure as a resettable, molecular-logic quantum sensor where opto-mechanical stimuli are used as inputs and the spin-polarized current induced in the nanoribbon substrate is the measured output.Comment: Accepted by Nanoscal

The HST/ACS Coma Cluster Survey. II. Data Description and Source Catalogs

The Coma cluster was the target of a HST-ACS Treasury program designed for deep imaging in the F475W and F814W passbands. Although our survey was interrupted by the ACS instrument failure in 2007, the partially completed survey still covers ~50% of the core high-density region in Coma. Observations were performed for 25 fields that extend over a wide range of cluster-centric radii (~1.75 Mpc) with a total coverage area of 274 arcmin^2. The majority of the fields are located near the core region of Coma (19/25 pointings) with six additional fields in the south-west region of the cluster. In this paper we present reprocessed images and SExtractor source catalogs for our survey fields, including a detailed description of the methodology used for object detection and photometry, the subtraction of bright galaxies to measure faint underlying objects, and the use of simulations to assess the photometric accuracy and completeness of our catalogs. We also use simulations to perform aperture corrections for the SExtractor Kron magnitudes based only on the measured source flux and half-light radius. We have performed photometry for ~73,000 unique objects; one-half of our detections are brighter than the 10-sigma point-source detection limit at F814W=25.8 mag (AB). The slight majority of objects (60%) are unresolved or only marginally resolved by ACS. We estimate that Coma members are 5-10% of all source detections, which consist of a large population of unresolved objects (primarily GCs but also UCDs) and a wide variety of extended galaxies from a cD galaxy to dwarf LSB galaxies. The red sequence of Coma member galaxies has a constant slope and dispersion across 9 magnitudes (-21<M_F814W<-13). The initial data release for the HST-ACS Coma Treasury program was made available to the public in 2008 August. The images and catalogs described in this study relate to our second data release.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJS. A high-resolution version is available at http://archdev.stsci.edu/pub/hlsp/coma/release2/PaperII.pd