pinecone/core-2020-05-10-deduplication huggingface dataset:
The HARPS search for southern extra-solar planets XL. Searching for
  Neptunes around metal-poor stars

Stellar metallicity -- as a probe of the metallicity of proto-planetary disks
-- is an important ingredient for giant planet formation, likely through its
effect on the timescales in which rocky/icy planet cores can form. Giant
planets have been found to be more frequent around metal-rich stars, in
agreement with predictions based on the core-accretion theory. In the
metal-poor regime, however, the frequency of planets, especially low-mass
planets, and how it depends on metallicity are still largely unknown. As part
of a planet search programme focused on metal-poor stars, we study the targets
from this survey that were observed with HARPS on more than 75 nights. The main
goals are to assess the presence of low-mass planets and provide a first
estimate of the frequency of Neptunes and super-Earths around metal-poor stars.
We perform a systematic search for planetary companions, both by analysing the
periodograms of the radial-velocities and by comparing, in a
statistically-meaningful way, models with an increasing number of Keplerians. A
first constraint on the frequency of planets in our metal-poor sample is
calculated considering the previous detection (in our sample) of a
Neptune-sized planet around HD175607 and one candidate planet (with an orbital
period of 68.42d and minimum mass $M_p \sin i = 11.14 \pm 2.47 M_{\oplus}$) for
HD87838, announced in the present study. This frequency is determined to be
close to 13% and is compared with results for solar-metallicity stars.Comment: 18 pages, 29 figures, 4 tables, accepted for publication in A&
Accurate predictions for charged Higgs production: closing the
  $m_{H^{\pm}}\sim m_t$ window

We present predictions for the total cross section for the production of a
charged Higgs boson in the intermediate-mass range ($m_{H^{\pm}}\sim m_t$) at
the LHC, focusing on a type-II two-Higgs-doublet model. Results are obtained at
next-to-leading order (NLO) accuracy in QCD perturbation theory, by studying
the full process $pp\to H^\pm W^\mp b \bar b$ in the complex-(top)-mass scheme
with massive bottom quarks. Compared to lowest-order predictions, NLO
corrections have a sizeable impact: they increase the cross section by roughly
50\% and reduce uncertainties due to scale variations by more than a factor of
two. Our computation reliably interpolates between the low- and high-mass
regime. Our results provide the first NLO prediction for charged Higgs
production in the intermediate-mass range and therefore allow to have NLO
accurate predictions in the full $m_{H^{\pm}}$ range. The extension of our
results to different realisations of the two-Higgs-doublet model or to the
supersymmetric case is also discussed.Comment: 10 pages including references, version accepted for publication on
  Phys. Lett.
Genome-wide association study of lifetime cannabis use based on a large meta-analytic sample of 32330 subjects from the International Cannabis Consortium

Contains fulltext :
                  156357.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)Cannabis is the most widely produced and consumed illicit psychoactive substance worldwide. Occasional cannabis use can progress to frequent use, abuse and dependence with all known adverse physical, psychological and social consequences. Individual differences in cannabis initiation are heritable (40-48%). The International Cannabis Consortium was established with the aim to identify genetic risk variants of cannabis use. We conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association data of 13 cohorts (N=32330) and four replication samples (N=5627). In addition, we performed a gene-based test of association, estimated single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based heritability and explored the genetic correlation between lifetime cannabis use and cigarette use using LD score regression. No individual SNPs reached genome-wide significance. Nonetheless, gene-based tests identified four genes significantly associated with lifetime cannabis use: NCAM1, CADM2, SCOC and KCNT2. Previous studies reported associations of NCAM1 with cigarette smoking and other substance use, and those of CADM2 with body mass index, processing speed and autism disorders, which are phenotypes previously reported to be associated with cannabis use. Furthermore, we showed that, combined across the genome, all common SNPs explained 13-20% (P<0.001) of the liability of lifetime cannabis use. Finally, there was a strong genetic correlation (rg=0.83; P=1.85 × 10-8) between lifetime cannabis use and lifetime cigarette smoking implying that the SNP effect sizes of the two traits are highly correlated. This is the largest meta-analysis of cannabis GWA studies to date, revealing important new insights into the genetic pathways of lifetime cannabis use. Future functional studies should explore the impact of the identified genes on the biological mechanisms of cannabis use.9 p
Search for new phenomena in final states with large jet multiplicities and missing transverse momentum at root s=8 TeV proton-proton collisions using the ATLAS experiment

A search is presented for new particles decaying to large numbers (7 or more) of jets, with missing transverse momentum and no isolated electrons or muons. This analysis uses 20.3 fb(-1) of p p collision data at root s = 8 TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. The sensitivity of the search is enhanced by considering the number of b-tagged jets and the scalar sum of masses of large-radius jets in an event. No evidence is found for physics beyond the Standard Model. The results are interpreted in the context of various simplified supersymmetry-inspired models where gluinos are pair produced, as well as an mSUGRA/CMSSM model
Studies on catalytic and structural properties of BaRuO3 type perovskite material for diesel soot oxidation

International audienceBaRuO3 based perovskite type catalytic material was synthesized by co-precipitation method and its catalytic activity has been tested for diesel soot oxidation. This material shows high catalytic activity for carbon/soot oxidation reaction with lowering of carbon oxidation temperature by >190 8C. The catalytic activity could be due to dissociative adsorption of oxygen on BaRuO3 surface. It is postulated by structural investigations that 120 planes of BaRuO3 can have abundant Ru atoms which can facilitate the oxygen dissociation. The additional advantage of using Ru in BaRuO3 is the thermal stability of Ru in oxide matrix as well as basicity offered by Ba. These synergetic effects can also be responsible for the high soot/carbon oxidation activity of this perovskite type material, which can be a potential candidate for control of soot emissions from combustion processes and vehicle exhaust
The effects of technological voids on the hydro-mechanical behaviour of compacted bentonite-sand mixture

International audienceCompacted bentonite-based materials are often used as buffer materials in radioactive waste disposal. A good understanding of their hydro-mechanical behaviour is essential to ensure the disposal safety. In this study, a mixture of MX80 bentonite and sand was characterized in the laboratory in terms of water retention property, swelling pressure, compressibility and hydraulic conductivity. The effects of the technological voids or the voids inside the soil were investigated. The technological voids are referred to as the macro-pores related to different interfaces involving the buffer material, whereas the voids inside the soil is referred to as the common macro-pores within the compacted bentonite/sand mixture. The results obtained show that at high suctions, the amount of water absorbed in the soil depends solely on suction, whereas at low suctions it depends on both suction and bentonite void ratio. There is a unique relationship between the swelling pressure and the bentonite void ratio, regardless of the sample nature (homogeneous or not) and sand fraction. However, at the same bentonite void ratio, a higher hydraulic conductivity was obtained on the samples with technological voids. The effect of sand fraction was evidenced in the mechanical yield behaviour: at the same bentonite void ratio, the bentonite-sand mixture yielded at a higher pre-consolidation stress
Extremal surfaces as bulk probes in AdS/CFT

Motivated by the need for further insight into the emergence of AdS bulk
spacetime from CFT degrees of freedom, we explore the behaviour of probes
represented by specific geometric quantities in the bulk. We focus on geodesics
and n-dimensional extremal surfaces in a general static asymptotically AdS
spacetime with spherical and planar symmetry, respectively. While our arguments
do not rely on the details of the metric, we illustrate some of our findings
explicitly in spacetimes of particular interest (specifically AdS,
Schwarzschild-AdS and extreme Reissner-Nordstrom-AdS). In case of geodesics, we
find that for a fixed spatial distance between the geodesic endpoints,
spacelike geodesics at constant time can reach deepest into the bulk. We also
present a simple argument for why, in the presence of a black hole, geodesics
cannot probe past the horizon whilst anchored on the AdS boundary at both ends.
The reach of an extremal n-dimensional surface anchored on a given region
depends on its dimensionality, the shape and size of the bounding region, as
well as the bulk metric. We argue that for a fixed extent or volume of the
boundary region, spherical regions give rise to the deepest reach of the
corresponding extremal surface. Moreover, for physically sensible spacetimes,
at fixed extent of the boundary region, higher-dimensional surfaces reach
deeper into the bulk. Finally, we show that in a static black hole spacetime,
no extremal surface (of any dimensionality, anchored on any region in the
boundary) can ever penetrate the horizon.Comment: 50 pages, 9 figure
Dimensional transition of energy cascades in stably stratified forced thin fluid layers

International audienceWe study the effects of a stable density stratification on the turbulent dynamics of thin fluid layers forced at intermediate scales. By means of a set of high-resolution numerical simulations, performed within the Boussinesq approximation, we investigate how the stratification and confinement affect the mechanisms of kinetic and potential energy transfer. The detailed analysis of the statistics of the energy-dissipation rates and energy-exchange rates and of the spectral fluxes of potential and kinetic energy shows that stratification provides a new channel for the energy transfer towards small scales which reduces the large-scale flux of kinetic energy. We also discuss the role of vortex stretching and enstrophy flux in the transfer of kinetic energy into potential energy at small scales
Subtracting a best rank-1 approximation does not necessarily decrease tensor rank

International audienceIt has been shown that a best rank-R approximation of an order-k tensor may not exist when R ≥ 2 and k ≥ 3. This poses a serious problem to data analysts using tensor decompositions. It has been observed numerically that, generally, this issue cannot be solved by consecutively computing and subtracting best rank-1 approximations. The reason for this is that subtracting a best rank-1 approximation generally does not decrease tensor rank. In this paper, we provide a mathematical treatment of this property for real-valued 2 × 2 × 2 tensors, with symmetric tensors as a special case. Regardless of the symmetry, we show that for generic 2 × 2 × 2 tensors (which have rank 2 or 3), subtracting a best rank-1 approximation results in a tensor that has rank 3 and lies on the boundary between the rank-2 and rank-3 sets. Hence, for a typical tensor of rank 2, subtracting a best rank-1 approximation increases the tensor rank
CW-pumped polarization-maintaining Brillouin fiber ring laser: I. Self-structuration of Brillouin solitons

International audienceStimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) of a cw-pump in a long optical fiber ring cavity generates for a given gain G, below a critical feedback Rcrit, a backward soliton Stokes pulse at the roundtrip repetition rate, through resonant three- wave interaction between the optical pump wave and backward Stokes wave, and a high frequency (GHz) axial acoustic wave. In Part I, we perform a systematic experimental and numerical exploration of the whole soliton localisation domain for a large set of (G, R) parameters, in a polarization-maintaining Brillouin fiber ring laser in the best conditions of stability and coherence, and we confirm the excellent quantitative agreement of the coherent three-wave model and the experiments
The 2d-Directed Spanning Forest is almost surely a tree

6 figuresInternational audienceWe consider the Directed Spanning Forest (DSF) constructed as follows: given a Poisson point process N on the plane, the ancestor of each point is the nearest vertex of N having a strictly larger abscissa. We prove that the DSF is actually a tree. Contrary to other directed forests of the literature, no Markovian process can be introduced to study the paths in our DSF. Our proof is based on a comparison argument between surface and perimeter from percolation theory. We then show that this result still holds when the points of N belonging to an auxiliary Boolean model are removed. Using these results, we prove that there is no bi-infinite paths in the DSF
High pressure optical absorption in organic semiconductors (NMe4)2TCNQ3 and Cs2TCNQ3

The pressure dependence of the optical absorption spectra of (NMe4)2TCNQ3 and Cs2TCNQ3 has been measured at room temperature in the spectral range from mid-infrared to the visible. At ambient pressure the optical energy gap is observed at around 0.5 and 0.3 eV in (NMe4)2TCNQ3 and Cs2TCNQ3, respectively. The energy gap in (NMe4)2TCNQ3 decreases by 0.05 eV with increasing pressure up to 2 GPa, followed by an abrupt decrease towards 0.2 eV between 2 and 3 GPa. At higher pressures up to 5.5 GPa the gap remains almost unchanged. The intra- and inter-molecular optical absorption bands in the near-infrared to visible region are intensified by pressure and broaden out at 2.5 GPa. The absorption spectrum in Cs2TCNQ3 exhibits a similar behavior under pressure. These results suggest that an electronic phase transition is induced by pressure at around 2.5 GPa in both substances. This transition resembles the charge order-disorder (Verwey) transition in Fe3O4
Understanding COPD: A Vision on Phenotypes, Comorbidities and Treatment Approach

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) phenotypes have become increasingly recognized as important for grouping patients with similar presentation and/or behavior, within the heterogeneity of the disease. The primary aim of identifying phenotypes is to provide patients with the best health care possible, tailoring the therapeutic approach to each patient. However, the identification of specific phenotypes has been hindered by several factors such as which specific attributes are relevant, which discriminant features should be used for assigning patients to specific phenotypes, and how relevant are they to the therapeutic approach, prognostic and clinical outcome. Moreover, the definition of phenotype is still not consensual. Comorbidities, risk factors, modifiable risk factors and disease severity, although not phenotypes, have impact across all COPD phenotypes. Although there are some identified phenotypes that are fairly consensual, many others have been proposed, but currently lack validation. The on-going debate about which instruments and tests should be used in the identification and definition of phenotypes has contributed to this uncertainty. In this paper, the authors review present knowledge regarding COPD phenotyping, discuss the role of phenotypes and comorbidities on the severity of COPD, propose new phenotypes and suggest a phenotype-based pharmacological therapeutic approach. The authors conclude that a patient-tailored treatment approach, which takes into account each patient's specific attributes and specificities, should be pursued
Gate voltage control of the $AlO_x$/$SrTiO_3$ interface electrical
  properties

Electron-beam deposition of an insulating granular aluminium or of an
off-stoichiometric amorphous alumina layer on a $SrTiO_3$ surface is a simple
way to get a metallic interface from insulating materials. No heating nor
specific preparation of the $SrTiO_3$ surface are needed. In this paper, we
investigate how the electrical properties of this interface can be tuned by the
use of a back gate voltage (electrical field through the $SrTiO_3$ substrate).
We demonstrate that the slow field-effect observed at room temperature can be
used to tune reversibly and in a controlled way the low temperature electrical
properties of the interface. In particular, important parameters of a
transistor such as the amplitude of the resistance response to gate voltage
changes or the existence of an "on" or an "off" state at zero gate voltage and
at low temperature can be adjusted in a single sample. This method should be
applicable to any $SrTiO_3$-based interface in which oxygen vacancies are
involved and might provide a powerful way to study the metal or superconductor
insulator transition observed in such systems.Comment: 16 page
MeV-scale sterile neutrino decays at the Fermilab Short-Baseline
  Neutrino program

Nearly-sterile neutrinos with masses in the MeV range and below would be
produced in the beam of the Short-Baseline Neutrino (SBN) program at Fermilab.
In this article, we study the potential for SBN to discover these particles
through their subsequent decays in its detectors. We discuss the decays which
will be visible at SBN in a minimal and non-minimal extension of the Standard
Model, and perform simulations to compute the parameter space constraints which
could be placed in the absence of a signal. We demonstrate that the SBN program
can extend existing bounds on well constrained channels such as $N \rightarrow
\nu l^+ l^-$ and $N \rightarrow l^\pm \pi^\mp$ while, thanks to the strong
particle identification capabilities of liquid-Argon technology, also place
bounds on often neglected channels such as $N \rightarrow \nu\gamma$ and $N
\rightarrow \nu \pi^0$. Furthermore, we consider the phenomenological impact of
improved event timing information at the three detectors. As well as
considering its role in background reduction, we note that if the
light-detection systems in SBND and ICARUS can achieve nanosecond timing
resolution, the effect of finite sterile neutrino mass could be directly
observable, providing a smoking-gun signature for this class of models. We
stress throughout that the search for heavy nearly-sterile neutrinos is a
complementary new physics analysis to the search for eV-scale oscillations, and
would extend the BSM program of SBN while requiring no beam or detector
modifications.Comment: 37 pages, 20 figure
Fire safety assessment of open wide gangway underground trains in tunnels using coupled fire and evacuation simulation

A new type of train configuration, known as Open Wide Gangway (OWG) is becoming popular, particularly in underground environments. Previous fire modelling analysis  demonstrated that the OWG configuration was considered safe as or safer than conventional configurations as it reduced the likelihood of flashover. However, these studies have ignored the impact on evacuation of the spread of fire effluent to non-fire cars.  Here we explore the fire safety offered by conventional and OWG configurations using coupled fire and evacuation modelling techniques. Two tunnel train situations are considered; one in which the car side doors are available for evacuation (train in a wide tunnel) and the other in which only the end cab doors are available (train in a narrow tunnel).  Two population configurations are considered, fully and half loaded. Two ignition sources are also considered, one representing an accidental fire and the other an arson fire. The analysis demonstrates that while the OWG configuration may produce improved fire performance in the car of fire origin compared to the conventional configuration, if the interaction of the fire effluent with the evacuating passengers is considered, the OWG configuration results in a significantly greater number of casualties in virtually all the scenarios considered
Microflow of fluorescently labelled red blood cells in tumours expressing single isoforms of VEGF and their response to VEGF-R tyrosine kinase inhibition

In this work we studied the functional differences between the microcirculation of murine tumours that only express single isoforms of vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF), VEGF120 and VEGF188, and the effect of VEGF receptor tyrosine kinase (VEGF-R TK) inhibition on their functional response to the vascular disrupting agent, combretastatin A-4 phosphate (CA-4-P). We used measurement of fluorescently- labelled red blood cell (RBC) velocities in tumour microvessels to study this functional response. RBC velocity for control VEGF120-expressing tumours was over 50% slower than for control VEGF188- expressing tumours, which may be due to the immature and haemorrhagic vasculature of the VEGF120 tumour. After chronic treatment with a VEGF-R tyrosine kinase inhibitor, SU5416, RBC velocities in VEGF120 tumours were significantly increased compared to control VEGF120 tumours, and similar to velocities in both VEGF188 treatment groups. Control and SU5416 treated VEGF188 tumours were not different from each other. Treatment of VEGF120 tumours with SU5416 reduced their vascular response to CA-4-P to a similar level to the VEGF188 tumours. Differential expression of VEGF isoforms not only affected vascular function in untreated tumours but also impacted on response to a vascular disrupting drug, CA-4-P, alone and in combination with an anti-angiogenic approach involving VEGF-R TK inhibition. Analysis of RBC velocities is a useful tool in measuring functional responses to vascular targeted treatments
Prevalence of and risk factors for active tuberculosis in migrants screened before entry to the UK: a population-based cross-sectional study.

An increasing number of countries with low incidence of tuberculosis have pre-entry screening programmes for migrants. We present the first estimates of the prevalence of and risk factors for tuberculosis in migrants from 15 high-incidence countries screened before entry to the UK.We did a population-based cross-sectional study of applicants for long-term visas who were screened for tuberculosis before entry to the UK in a pilot programme between Oct 1, 2005, and Dec 31, 2013. The primary outcome was prevalence of bacteriologically confirmed tuberculosis. We used Poisson regression to estimate crude prevalence and created a multivariable logistic regression model to identify risk factors for the primary outcome.476 455 visa applicants were screened, and the crude prevalence of bacteriologically confirmed tuberculosis was 92 (95% CI 84-101) per 100 000 individuals. After adjustment for age and sex, factors that were strongly associated with an increased risk of bacteriologically confirmed disease at pre-entry screening were self-report of close or household contact with an individual with tuberculosis (odds ratio 11·6, 95% CI 7·0-19·3; p<0·0001) and being an applicant for settlement and dependant visas (1·3, 1·0-1·6; p=0·0203).Migrants reporting contact with an individual with tuberculosis had the highest risk of tuberculosis at pre-entry screening. To tackle this disease burden in migrants, a comprehensive and collaborative approach is needed between countries with pre-entry screening programmes, health services in the countries of origin and migration, national tuberculosis control programmes, and international public health bodies.Wellcome Trust, Medical Research Council, and UK National Institute for Health Research