1.25 mm Observations of a Complete Sample of IRAS Galaxies: (II) Dust Properties

We present 1.25 mm continuum data for a southern galaxy sample selected from the IRAS PSC and complete to S_60=2 Jy. Two thirds of the galaxies have been detected and significant limits on the remaining objects have been set. We find, on a statistical basis, indications that the dust emission in these galaxies is somewhat more centrally concentrated than that of the optical light, possibly tracing a higher metal content in the inner galactic regions. This result also allows to estimate the aperture corrections to the millimetric data. The latter, together with IRAS photometric data, have been used to compare the broad-band FIR/mm spectra with a simple dust model. According to their far-IR/mm spectrum, the sample galaxies show a dichothomy: almost half of the objects, those displaying bright 25-60um fluxes ascribed to warm dust residing in 'starburst' regions, are characterized by higher values of the bolometric (optical + FIR) luminosity, of the dust-to-gas mass ratio, of the dust optical depths and of the overall extinction. A complementary class of objects dominated by cold dust ('cirrus') shows opposite trends. Because of the favourable observational setup, selection wavelength and completeness, we believe these data provide an exhaustive and unbiased view of dust properties in spiral galaxies.Comment: 9 pg Latex file (using mn.sty) gzip'd tar'd file including 7 ps figures and 3 tables. to appear in MNRA

The Compact Linear e+^+e−^- Collider (CLIC): Physics Potential

The Compact Linear Collider, CLIC, is a proposed e$^+$e$^-$ collider at the TeV scale whose physics potential ranges from high-precision measurements to extensive direct sensitivity to physics beyond the Standard Model. This document summarises the physics potential of CLIC, obtained in detailed studies, many based on full simulation of the CLIC detector. CLIC covers one order of magnitude of centre-of-mass energies from 350 GeV to 3 TeV, giving access to large event samples for a variety of SM processes, many of them for the first time in e$^+$e$^-$ collisions or for the first time at all. The high collision energy combined with the large luminosity and clean environment of the e$^+$e$^-$ collisions enables the measurement of the properties of Standard Model particles, such as the Higgs boson and the top quark, with unparalleled precision. CLIC might also discover indirect effects of very heavy new physics by probing the parameters of the Standard Model Effective Field Theory with an unprecedented level of precision. The direct and indirect reach of CLIC to physics beyond the Standard Model significantly exceeds that of the HL-LHC. This includes new particles detected in challenging non-standard signatures. With this physics programme, CLIC will decisively advance our knowledge relating to the open questions of particle physics.Comment: Input to the European Particle Physics Strategy Update on behalf of the CLIC and CLICdp Collaboration

Publication and patent analysis of European researchers in the field of production technology and manufacturing systems

This paper develops a structured comparison among a sample of European researchers in the field of Production Technology and Manufacturing Systems, on the basis of scientific publications and patents. Researchers are evaluated and compared by a variegated set of indicators concerning (1) the output of individual researchers and (2) that of groups of researchers from the same country. While not claiming to be exhaustive, the results of this preliminary study provide a rough indication of the publishing and patenting activity of researchers in the field of interest, identifying (dis)similarities between different countries. Of particular interest is a proposal for aggregating analysis results by means of maps based on publication and patent indicators. A large amount of empirical data are presented and discusse

A co-ultramicronized palmitoylethanolamide/luteolin composite mitigates clinical score and disease-relevant molecular markers in a mouse model of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

Background: Persistent and/or recurrent inflammatory processes are the main factor leading to multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions. The composite ultramicronized palmitoylethanolamide, an endogenous N-acylethanolamine, combined with the flavonoid luteolin, PEALut, have been found to exert neuroprotective activities in experimental models of spinal and brain injury and Alzheimer disease, as well as a clinical improvement in human stroke patients. Furthermore, PEALut enhances the expression of different myelin proteins in oligodendrocyte progenitor cells suggesting that this composite might have protective effects in MS experimental models. Methods: The mouse model of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) based on active immunization with a fragment of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG35-55) was used. The daily assessment of clinical score and the expression of serum amyloid A (SAA1), proinflammatory cytokines TNF-\u3b1, IL-1\u3b2, IFN-\u3b3, and NLRP3 inflammasome, as well as TLR2, Fpr2, CD137, CD3-\u3b3, and TCR-\u3b6 chain, heterodimers that form T cell surface glycoprotein (TCR), and cannabinoid receptors CB1, CB2, and MBP, were evaluated in the brainstem and cerebellum at different postimmunization days (PIDs). Results: Vehicle-MOG35-55-immunized (MOG35-55) mice developed ascending paralysis which peaked several days later and persisted until the end of the experiment. PEALut, given intraperitoneally daily starting on day 11 post-immunization, dose-dependently improved clinical score over the range 0.1-5 mg/kg. The mRNA expression of SAA1, TNF-\u3b1, IL-1\u3b2, IFN-\u3b3, and NLRP3 were significantly increased in MOG35-55 mice at 14 PID. In MOG35-55 mice treated with 5 mg /kg PEALut, the increase of SAA1, TNF- \u3b1, IL-1\u3b2, and IFN-\u3b3transcripts at 14 PID was statistically downregulated as compared to vehicle-MOG35-55 mice (p < 0.05). The expression of TLR2, Fpr2, CD137, CD3-\u3b3, TCR-\u3b6 chain, and CB2 receptors showed a significant upregulation in vehicle-MOG35-55 mice at 14 PID. Instead, CB1 and MBP transcripts have not changed in expression at any time. In MOG/PEALut-treated mice, TLR2, Fpr2, CD137, CD3-\u3b3, TCR-\u3b6 chain, and CB2 mRNAs were significantly downregulated as compared to vehicle MOG35-55 mice. Conclusions: The present results demonstrate that the intraperitoneal administration of the composite PEALut significantly reduces the development of clinical signs in the MOG35-55 model of EAE. The dose-dependent improvement of clinical score induced by PEALut was associated with a reduction in transcript expression of the acute-phase protein SAA1, TNF-\u3b1, IL-1\u3b2, IFN-\u3b3, and NLRP3 proinflammatory proteins and TLR2, Fpr2, CD137, CD3-\u3b3, TCR-\u3b6 chain, and CB2 receptors

On Semiclassical Limits of String States

We explore the relation between classical and quantum states in both open and closed (super)strings discussing the relevance of coherent states as a semiclassical approximation. For the closed string sector a gauge-fixing of the residual world-sheet rigid translation symmetry of the light-cone gauge is needed for the construction to be possible. The circular target-space loop example is worked out explicitly.Comment: 12 page

The success-index: an alternative approach to the h-index for evaluating an individual's research output

Among the most recent bibliometric indicators for normalizing the differences among fields of science in terms of citation behaviour, Kosmulski (J Informetr 5(3):481-485, 2011) proposed the NSP (number of successful paper) index. According to the authors, NSP deserves much attention for its great simplicity and immediate meaning— equivalent to those of the h-index—while it has the disadvantage of being prone to manipulation and not very efficient in terms of statistical significance. In the first part of the paper, we introduce the success-index, aimed at reducing the NSP-index's limitations, although requiring more computing effort. Next, we present a detailed analysis of the success-index from the point of view of its operational properties and a comparison with the h-index's ones. Particularly interesting is the examination of the success-index scale of measurement, which is much richer than the h-index's. This makes success-index much more versatile for different types of analysis—e.g., (cross-field) comparisons of the scientific output of (1) individual researchers, (2) researchers with different seniority, (3) research institutions of different size, (4) scientific journals, etc

The detection and photometric redshift determination of distant galaxies using SIRTF's Infrared Array Camera

We investigate the ability of the Space Infrared Telescope Facility's Infrared Array Camera to detect distant (z ~ 3)galaxies and measure their photometric redshifts. Our analysis shows that changing the original long wavelength filter specifications provides significant improvements in performance in this and other areas.Comment: 28 pages incl 12 figures; to appear in June 1999 PASP. Fig.12 replaced with corrected versio

Displaced Higgs production in type III seesaw

We point out that the type III seesaw mechanism introducing fermion triplets predicts peculiar Higgs boson signatures of displaced vertices with two b jets and one or two charged particles which can be cleanly identified. In a supersymmetric theory, the scalar partner of the fermion triplet contains a neutral dark matter candidate which is almost degenerate with its charged components. A Higgs boson can be produced together with such a dark matter triplet in the cascade decay chain of a strongly produced squark or gluino. When the next lightest supersymmetric particle (NLSP) is bino/wino-like, there appears a Higgs boson associated with two charged tracks of a charged lepton and a heavy charged scalar at a displacement larger than about 1 mm. The corresponding production cross-section is about 0.5 fb for the squark/gluino mass of 1 TeV. In the case of the stau NLSP, it decays mainly to a Higgs boson and a heavy charged scalar whose decay length is larger than 0.1 mm for the stau NLSP mixing with the left-handed stau smaller than 0.3. As this process can have a large cascade production $\sim 2$ pb for the squark/gluino mass $\sim 1$ TeV, one may be able to probe it at the early stage of the LHC experiment.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure