Production of π0 and η mesons in Cu+Au collisions at sNN =200 GeV

Production of π0 and η mesons has been measured at midrapidity in Cu+Au collisions at sNN=200GeV. Measurements were performed in π0(η)→γγ decay channel in the 1(2)-20GeV/c transverse momentum range. A strong suppression is observed for π0 and η meson production at high transverse momentum in central Cu+Au collisions relative to the p+p results scaled by the number of nucleon-nucleon collisions. In central collisions the suppression is similar to Au+Au with comparable nuclear overlap. The η/π0 ratio measured as a function of transverse momentum is consistent with mT-scaling parametrization down to pT=2GeV/c, its asymptotic value is constant and consistent with Au+Au and p+p and does not show any significant dependence on collision centrality. Similar results were obtained in hadron-hadron, hadron-nucleus, and nucleus-nucleus collisions as well as in e+e- collisions in a range of collision energies sNN=3-1800 GeV. This suggests that the quark-gluon-plasma medium produced in Cu+Cu collisions either does not affect the jet fragmentation into light mesons or it affects the π0 and η the same way

Consensus on circulatory shock and hemodynamic monitoring. Task force of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine.

OBJECTIVE: Circulatory shock is a life-threatening syndrome resulting in multiorgan failure and a high mortality rate. The aim of this consensus is to provide support to the bedside clinician regarding the diagnosis, management and monitoring of shock. METHODS: The European Society of Intensive Care Medicine invited 12 experts to form a Task Force to update a previous consensus (Antonelli et al.: Intensive Care Med 33:575-590, 2007). The same five questions addressed in the earlier consensus were used as the outline for the literature search and review, with the aim of the Task Force to produce statements based on the available literature and evidence. These questions were: (1) What are the epidemiologic and pathophysiologic features of shock in the intensive care unit ? (2) Should we monitor preload and fluid responsiveness in shock ? (3) How and when should we monitor stroke volume or cardiac output in shock ? (4) What markers of the regional and microcirculation can be monitored, and how can cellular function be assessed in shock ? (5) What is the evidence for using hemodynamic monitoring to direct therapy in shock ? Four types of statements were used: definition, recommendation, best practice and statement of fact. RESULTS: Forty-four statements were made. The main new statements include: (1) statements on individualizing blood pressure targets; (2) statements on the assessment and prediction of fluid responsiveness; (3) statements on the use of echocardiography and hemodynamic monitoring. CONCLUSIONS: This consensus provides 44 statements that can be used at the bedside to diagnose, treat and monitor patients with shock

APOGEE chemical abundances of globular cluster giants in the inner Galaxy

We report chemical abundances obtained by Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)-III/Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment for giant stars in five globular clusters located within 2.2 kpc of the Galactic Centre. We detect the presence of multiple stellar populations in four of those clusters (NGC 6553, NGC 6528, Terzan 5 and Palomar 6) and find strong evidence for their presence in NGC 6522. All clusters with a large enough sample present a significant spread in the abundances of N, C, Na and Al, with the usual correlations and anticorrelations between various abundances seen in other globular clusters. Our results provide important quantitative constraints on theoretical models for self-enrichment of globular clusters, by testing their predictions for the dependence of yields of elements such as Na, N, C and Al on metallicity. They also confirm that, under the assumption that field N-rich stars originate from globular cluster destruction, they can be used as tracers of their parental systems in the high-metallicity regime

Effective Rheology of Bubbles Moving in a Capillary Tube

We calculate the average volumetric flux versus pressure drop of bubbles moving in a single capillary tube with varying diameter, finding a square-root relation from mapping the flow equations onto that of a driven overdamped pendulum. The calculation is based on a derivation of the equation of motion of a bubble train from considering the capillary forces and the entropy production associated with the viscous flow. We also calculate the configurational probability of the positions of the bubbles.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

Beam Energy and Centrality Dependence of Direct-Photon Emission from Ultrarelativistic Heavy-Ion Collisions.

The PHENIX collaboration presents first measurements of low-momentum (0.41  GeV/c) direct-photon yield dN_{γ}^{dir}/dη is a smooth function of dN_{ch}/dη and can be well described as proportional to (dN_{ch}/dη)^{α} with α≈1.25. This scaling behavior holds for a wide range of beam energies at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and the Large Hadron Collider, for centrality selected samples, as well as for different A+A collision systems. At a given beam energy, the scaling also holds for high p_{T} (>5  GeV/c), but when results from different collision energies are compared, an additional sqrt[s_{NN}]-dependent multiplicative factor is needed to describe the integrated-direct-photon yield

Atypical Mg-poor Milky Way Field Stars with Globular Cluster Second-generation-like Chemical Patterns

We report the peculiar chemical abundance patterns of 11 atypical Milky Way (MW) field red giant stars observed by the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE). These atypical giants exhibit strong Al and N enhancements accompanied by C and Mg depletions, strikingly similar to those observed in the so-called second-generation (SG) stars of globular clusters (GCs). Remarkably, we find low Mg abundances ([Mg/Fe] < 0.0) together with strong Al and N overabundances in the majority (5/7) of the metal-rich ([Fe/H] gsim −1.0) sample stars, which is at odds with actual observations of SG stars in Galactic GCs of similar metallicities. This chemical pattern is unique and unprecedented among MW stars, posing urgent questions about its origin. These atypical stars could be former SG stars of dissolved GCs formed with intrinsically lower abundances of Mg and enriched Al (subsequently self-polluted by massive AGB stars) or the result of exotic binary systems. We speculate that the stars Mg-deficiency as well as the orbital properties suggest that they could have an extragalactic origin. This discovery should guide future dedicated spectroscopic searches of atypical stellar chemical patterns in our Galaxy, a fundamental step forward to understanding the Galactic formation and evolution

The Vascular Impairment of Cognition Classification Consensus Study

Introduction: Numerous diagnostic criteria have tried to tackle the variability in clinical manifestations and problematic diagnosis of vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) but none have been universally accepted. These criteria have not been readily comparable, impacting on clinical diagnosis rates and in turn prevalence estimates, research, and treatment. / Methods: The Vascular Impairment of Cognition Classification Consensus Study (VICCCS) involved participants (81% academic researchers) from 27 countries in an online Delphi consensus study. Participants reviewed previously proposed concepts to develop new guidelines. / Results: VICCCS had a mean of 122 (98–153) respondents across the study and a 67% threshold to represent consensus. VICCCS redefined VCI including classification of mild and major forms of VCI and subtypes. It proposes new standardized VCI-associated terminology and future research priorities to address gaps in current knowledge. / Discussion: VICCCS proposes a consensus-based updated conceptualization of VCI intended to facilitate standardization in research

Alignment of the ALICE Inner Tracking System with cosmic-ray tracks

37 pages, 15 figures, revised version, accepted by JINSTALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) experiment devoted to investigating the strongly interacting matter created in nucleus-nucleus collisions at the LHC energies. The ALICE ITS, Inner Tracking System, consists of six cylindrical layers of silicon detectors with three different technologies; in the outward direction: two layers of pixel detectors, two layers each of drift, and strip detectors. The number of parameters to be determined in the spatial alignment of the 2198 sensor modules of the ITS is about 13,000. The target alignment precision is well below 10 micron in some cases (pixels). The sources of alignment information include survey measurements, and the reconstructed tracks from cosmic rays and from proton-proton collisions. The main track-based alignment method uses the Millepede global approach. An iterative local method was developed and used as well. We present the results obtained for the ITS alignment using about 10^5 charged tracks from cosmic rays that have been collected during summer 2008, with the ALICE solenoidal magnet switched off.Peer reviewe

Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV: Mapping the Milky Way, Nearby Galaxies, and the Distant Universe

We describe the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV (SDSS-IV), a project encompassing three major spectroscopic programs. The Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment 2 (APOGEE-2) is observing hundreds of thousands of Milky Way stars at high resolution and high signal-to-noise ratios in the near-infrared. The Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey is obtaining spatially resolved spectroscopy for thousands of nearby galaxies (median $z\sim 0.03$). The extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) is mapping the galaxy, quasar, and neutral gas distributions between $z\sim 0.6$ and 3.5 to constrain cosmology using baryon acoustic oscillations, redshift space distortions, and the shape of the power spectrum. Within eBOSS, we are conducting two major subprograms: the SPectroscopic IDentification of eROSITA Sources (SPIDERS), investigating X-ray AGNs and galaxies in X-ray clusters, and the Time Domain Spectroscopic Survey (TDSS), obtaining spectra of variable sources. All programs use the 2.5 m Sloan Foundation Telescope at the Apache Point Observatory; observations there began in Summer 2014. APOGEE-2 also operates a second near-infrared spectrograph at the 2.5 m du Pont Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory, with observations beginning in early 2017. Observations at both facilities are scheduled to continue through 2020. In keeping with previous SDSS policy, SDSS-IV provides regularly scheduled public data releases; the first one, Data Release 13, was made available in 2016 July

Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV: Mapping the Milky Way, Nearby Galaxies, and the Distant Universe

We describe the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV (SDSS-IV), a project encompassing three major spectroscopic programs. The Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment 2 (APOGEE-2) is observing hundreds of thousands of Milky Way stars at high resolution and high signal-to-noise ratios in the near-infrared. The Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey is obtaining spatially resolved spectroscopy for thousands of nearby galaxies (median $z\sim 0.03$). The extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) is mapping the galaxy, quasar, and neutral gas distributions between $z\sim 0.6$ and 3.5 to constrain cosmology using baryon acoustic oscillations, redshift space distortions, and the shape of the power spectrum. Within eBOSS, we are conducting two major subprograms: the SPectroscopic IDentification of eROSITA Sources (SPIDERS), investigating X-ray AGNs and galaxies in X-ray clusters, and the Time Domain Spectroscopic Survey (TDSS), obtaining spectra of variable sources. All programs use the 2.5 m Sloan Foundation Telescope at the Apache Point Observatory; observations there began in Summer 2014. APOGEE-2 also operates a second near-infrared spectrograph at the 2.5 m du Pont Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory, with observations beginning in early 2017. Observations at both facilities are scheduled to continue through 2020. In keeping with previous SDSS policy, SDSS-IV provides regularly scheduled public data releases; the first one, Data Release 13, was made available in 2016 July