Andrea Cardini

An angular analysis of the decay J/ψ→μ+μ- is performed to measure the polarization of prompt J/ψ mesons produced in pp collisions at [Formula: see text]. The dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 0.37 fb-1 collected with the LHCb detector. The measurement is presented as a function of transverse momentum, pT, and rapidity, y, of the J/ψ meson, in the kinematic region 2<pT<15 GeV/c and 2.0<y<4.5.

A bstract The differential branching fraction of the rare decay Λ b 0 → Λμ + μ − is measured as a function of q 2 , the square of the dimuon invariant mass. The analysis is performed using proton-proton collision data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 . 0 fb −1 , collected by the LHCb experiment. Evidence of signal is observed in the q 2 region below the square of the J/ψ mass. Integrating over 15 &lt; q 2 &lt; 20 GeV 2 /c 4 the differential branching fraction is measured as $$ \mathrm{d}\mathrm{\mathcal{B}}\left({\varLambda}_b^0\to \varLambda {\mu}^{+}{\mu}^{-}\right)/d{q}^2=\left({1.18}_{-0.08}^{+0.09}\pm 0.03\pm 0.27\right)\times {10}^{-7}{\left({\mathrm{GeV}}^2/{c}^4\right)}^{-1}, $$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mi>d</mml:mi><mml:mi>ℬ</mml:mi><mml:mfenced><mml:mrow><mml:msubsup><mml:mi>Λ</mml:mi><mml:mi>b</mml:mi><mml:mn>0</mml:mn></mml:msubsup><mml:mo>→</mml:mo><mml:mi>Λ</mml:mi><mml:msup><mml:mi>μ</mml:mi><mml:mo>+</mml:mo></mml:msup><mml:msup><mml:mi>μ</mml:mi><mml:mo>−</mml:mo></mml:msup></mml:mrow></mml:mfenced><mml:mo>/</mml:mo><mml:mi>d</mml:mi><mml:msup><mml:mi>q</mml:mi><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msup><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mfenced><mml:mrow><mml:msubsup><mml:mn>1.18</mml:mn><mml:mrow><mml:mo>−</mml:mo><mml:mn>0.08</mml:mn></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mo>+</mml:mo><mml:mn>0.09</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msubsup><mml:mo>±</mml:mo><mml:mn>0.03</mml:mn><mml:mo>±</mml:mo><mml:mn>0.27</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:mfenced><mml:mo>×</mml:mo><mml:msup><mml:mn>10</mml:mn><mml:mrow><mml:mo>−</mml:mo><mml:mn>7</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msup><mml:msup><mml:mfenced><mml:mrow><mml:msup><mml:mi>GeV</mml:mi><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msup><mml:mo>/</mml:mo><mml:msup><mml:mi>c</mml:mi><mml:mn>4</mml:mn></mml:msup></mml:mrow></mml:mfenced><mml:mrow><mml:mo>−</mml:mo><mml:mn>1</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msup><mml:mtext>,</mml:mtext></mml:math> where the uncertainties are statistical, systematic and due to the normalisation mode, Λ b 0 → J / ψΛ , respectively. In the q 2 intervals where the signal is observed, angular distributions are studied and the forward-backward asymmetries in the dimuon ( A FB ℓ ) and hadron ( A FB h ) systems are measured for the first time. In the range 15 &lt; q 2 &lt; 20 GeV 2 /c 4 they are found to be $$ \begin{array}{l}{A}_{\mathrm{FB}}^{\ell }=-0.05\pm 0.09\left(\mathrm{stat}\right)\pm 0.03\left(\mathrm{syst}\right)\;\mathrm{and}\hfill \\ {}{A}_{\mathrm{FB}}^h=-0.29\pm 0.07\left(\mathrm{stat}\right)\pm 0.03\left(\mathrm{syst}\right).\hfill \end{array} $$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mtable><mml:mtr><mml:mtd><mml:msubsup><mml:mi>A</mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mi>F</mml:mi><mml:mi>B</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mi>ℓ</mml:mi></mml:msubsup><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mo>−</mml:mo><mml:mn>0.05</mml:mn><mml:mo>±</mml:mo><mml:mn>0.09</mml:mn><mml:mfenced><mml:mi>stat</mml:mi></mml:mfenced><mml:mo>±</mml:mo><mml:mn>0.03</mml:mn><mml:mfenced><mml:mi>syst</mml:mi></mml:mfenced><mml:mspace /><mml:mi>and</mml:mi></mml:mtd></mml:mtr><mml:mtr><mml:mtd><mml:msubsup><mml:mi>A</mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mi>F</mml:mi><mml:mi>B</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mi>h</mml:mi></mml:msubsup><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mo>−</mml:mo><mml:mn>0.29</mml:mn><mml:mo>±</mml:mo><mml:mn>0.07</mml:mn><mml:mfenced><mml:mi>stat</mml:mi></mml:mfenced><mml:mo>±</mml:mo><mml:mn>0.03</mml:mn><mml:mfenced><mml:mi>syst</mml:mi></mml:mfenced><mml:mtext>.</mml:mtext></mml:mtd></mml:mtr></mml:mtable></mml:math>

The charmless decays B±→K± π+ π- and B±→K± K+ K- are reconstructed using data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb(-1), collected by LHCb in 2011. The inclusive charge asymmetries of these modes are measured as ACP(B±→K± π+ π-)=0.032±0.008 (stat)±0.004 (syst)±0.007(J/ψK±) and ACP(B±→K± K+ K-)=-0.043±0.009 (stat)±0.003 (syst)±0.007(J/ψK±), where the third uncertainty is due to the CP asymmetry of the B±→J/ψK± reference mode. The significance of ACP(B±→K± K+ K-) exceeds three standard deviations and is the first evidence of an inclusive CP asymmetry in charmless three-body B decays. In addition to the inclusive CP asymmetries, larger asymmetries are observed in localized regions of phase space.

It is widely accepted that the most accurate statistical estimations of biological attributes in the human skeleton (e.g., sex, age and stature) are produced using population-specific standards. As we previously demonstrated that the application of foreign standards to Western Australian individuals results in an unacceptably large sex bias (females frequently misclassified), the need for population-specific standards is duly required and greatly overdue. We report here on the first morphometric cranial sexing standards formulated specifically for application in, and based on the statistical analysis of, contemporary Western Australian individuals. The primary aim is to investigate the nature of cranial sexual dimorphism in this population and outline a series of statistically robust standards suitable for estimating sex in the complete bone and/or associated diagnostic fragments. The sample analysed comprised multi-detector computed tomography cranial scans of 400 individuals equally distributed by sex. Following 3D volume rendering, 31 landmarks were acquired using OsiriX, from which a total of 18 linear inter-landmark measurements were calculated. Measurements were analysed using basic descriptive statistics and discriminant function analyses employing jackknife validations of classification results. All measurements (except frontal breadth and orbital height - Bonferroni corrected) are sexually dimorphic with sex differences explaining 3.5-48.9% of sample variance. Bizygomatic breadth and maximum length of the cranium and the cranial base contribute most significantly to sex discrimination; the maximum classification accuracy was 90%, with a -2.1% sex-bias. We conclude that the cranium is both highly dimorphic and a reliable bone for estimating sex in Western Australian individuals.

Measurements of B+c production and mass are performed with the decay mode B+c→J/ψπ+ using 0.37 fb−1 of data collected in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV by the LHCb experiment. The ratio of the production cross section times branching fraction between the B+c→J/ψπ+ and the B+→J/ψK+ decays is measured to be (0.68±0.10(stat)±0.03(syst)±0.05(lifetime))% for B+c and B+ mesons with transverse momenta pT>4 GeV/c and pseudorapidities 2.5<η<4.5. The B+c mass is directly measured to be 6273.7±1.3(stat)±1.6(syst) MeV/c2, and the measured mass difference with respect to the B+ meson is M(B+c)−M(B+)=994.6±1.3(stat)±0.6(syst) MeV/c2.Received 25 September 2012DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.232001This article is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.© 2012 CERN, for the LHCb Collaboration

The prompt production of charmonium $\chi_{c}$ and $J/\psi$ states is studied in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV at the Large Hadron Collider. The $\chi_{c}$ and $J/\psi$ mesons are identified through their decays $\chi_{c}\rightarrow J/\psi \gamma$ and $J/\psi\rightarrow \mu^+\mu^-$ using 36 pb$^{-1}$ of data collected by the LHCb detector in 2010. The ratio of the prompt production cross-sections for $\chi_{c}$ and $J/\psi$, $\sigma (\chi_{c}\rightarrow J/\psi \gamma)/ \sigma (J/\psi)$, is determined as a function of the $J/\psi$ transverse momentum in the range $2 < p_{\mathrm T}^{J/\psi} < 15$ GeV/$c$. The results are in excellent agreement with next-to-leading order non-relativistic expectations and show a significant discrepancy compared with the colour singlet model prediction at leading order, especially in the low $p_{\mathrm T}^{J/\psi}$ region.

An angular analysis of the $B^{0}\rightarrow K^{*0}(\rightarrow K^{+}\pi^{-})\mu^{+}\mu^{-}$ decay is presented. The dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of $3.0\,{\mbox{fb}^{-1}}$ of $pp$ collision data collected at the LHCb experiment. The complete angular information from the decay is used to determine $C\!P$-averaged observables and $C\!P$ asymmetries, taking account of possible contamination from decays with the $K^{+}\pi^{-}$ system in an S-wave configuration. The angular observables and their correlations are reported in bins of $q^2$, the invariant mass squared of the dimuon system. The observables are determined both from an unbinned maximum likelihood fit and by using the principal moments of the angular distribution. In addition, by fitting for $q^2$-dependent decay amplitudes in the region $1.1<q^{2}<6.0\mathrm{\,Ge\kern -0.1em V}^{2}/c^{4}$, the zero-crossing points of several angular observables are computed. A global fit is performed to the complete set of $C\!P$-averaged observables obtained from the maximum likelihood fit. This fit indicates differences with predictions based on the Standard Model at the level of 3.4 standard deviations. These differences could be explained by contributions from physics beyond the Standard Model, or by an unexpectedly large hadronic effect that is not accounted for in the Standard Model predictions.

The forward-backward charge asymmetry for the process $$ q\overline{q}\to Z/{\gamma}^{\ast}\to {\mu}^{+}{\mu}^{-} $$ is measured as a function of the invariant mass of the dimuon system. Measurements are performed using proton proton collision data collected with the LHCb detector at $$ \sqrt{s}=7 $$ and 8 TeV, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 1 fb−1 and 2 fb−1 respectively. Within the Standard Model the results constrain the effective electroweak mixing angle to be $$ { \sin}^2{\theta}_{\mathrm{W}}^{\mathrm{eff}}=0.23142\pm 0.00073\pm 0.00052\pm 0.00056, $$ where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic and the third theoretical. This result is in agreement with the current world average, and is one of the most precise determinations at hadron colliders to date.

Measurement of the mixing-induced CP-violating phase phi_s in Bs decays is of prime importance in probing new physics. Here 7421 +/- 105 signal events from the dominantly CP-odd final state J/\psi pi+ pi- are selected in 1/fb of pp collision data collected at sqrt{s} = 7 TeV with the LHCb detector. A time-dependent fit to the data yields a value of phi_s=-0.019^{+0.173+0.004}_{-0.174-0.003} rad, consistent with the Standard Model expectation. No evidence of direct CP violation is found.

The decay ${B}^{0}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\psi}(2S){K}^{+}{\ensuremath{\pi}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ is analyzed using $3\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{fb}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ of $pp$ collision data collected with the LHCb detector. A model-independent description of the $\ensuremath{\psi}(2S)\ensuremath{\pi}$ mass spectrum is obtained, using as input the $K\ensuremath{\pi}$ mass spectrum and angular distribution derived directly from data, without requiring a theoretical description of resonance shapes or their interference. The hypothesis that the $\ensuremath{\psi}(2S)\ensuremath{\pi}$ mass spectrum can be described in terms of $K\ensuremath{\pi}$ reflections alone is rejected with more than $8\ensuremath{\sigma}$ significance. This provides confirmation, in a model-independent way, of the need for an additional resonant component in the mass region of the $Z(4430{)}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ exotic state.

Heavy quark production in 7 TeV centre-of-mass energy pp collisions at the LHC is not necessarily flavour symmetric. The production asymmetry, A_P, between Ds+ and Ds- mesons is studied using the \phi\pi(+/-) decay mode in a data sample of 1.0/fb collected with the LHCb detector. The difference between \pi+ and \pi- detection efficiencies is determined using the ratios of fully reconstructed to partially reconstructed D*(+/-) decays. The overall production asymmetry in the Ds rapidity region 2.0 to 4.5 with transverse momentum larger than 2 GeV is measured to be A_P=(-0.33 +/- 0.22 +/- 0.10)%. This result can constrain models of heavy flavour production.

A search for CP violation in the phase space of the decay $D^+\to\pi^-\pi^+\pi^+$ is reported using $pp$ collision data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb$^{-1}$, collected by the LHCb experiment at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. The Dalitz plot distributions for $3.1\times 10^6$ $D^+$ and $D^-$ candidates are compared with binned and unbinned model-independent techniques. No evidence for CP violation is found.

This document summarises the talks and discussions happened during the VBSCan Split17 workshop, the first general meeting of the VBSCan COST Action network. This collaboration is aiming at a consistent and coordinated study of vector-boson scattering from the phenomenological and experimental point of view, for the best exploitation of the data that will be delivered by existing and future particle colliders.

It is well known that the control of the crystallization of drugs to ensure that only the approved and desired polymorph is present in the formulation is a crucial point of a preformulation study. In this regard, the aim of the present work is to devise a method for the quantification of the polymorphic purity of nateglinide in mixtures formed by polymorphs H and B. In order to achieve this goal, binary systems of known composition have been prepared and the melting peaks of both polymorphs have been recorded by differential scanning calorimetry. Experiments have determined that the method of preparation of the mixtures has to be carefully evaluated. Indeed it has been shown that grinding the samples induces transition from B to H form. Furthermore, it could be observed that the enrichment of the binary mixture with H form is caused by heating. Therefore, after having prepared the mixture without grinding stage, we propose a method to evaluate the content of H polymorph in mixture with the B one from the melting peak of B.

The dentition is widely recognized as the set of developmental markers that appear to show the least variability against chronological age; these markers are thus widely used in forensic anthropological investigations. As a possible alternative, we investigate here the potential of mandibular morphology as a developmental marker for estimating age at death in subadults. The sample analyzed comprises 79 known age and sex subadult individuals of South African Bantu and African American origin. Linear measurements of ramus height were obtained from the mathematical conversion of three-dimensional landmark data. A series of regression analyses were then performed to predict age by using the measurement of ramus height; results were cross-validated using a jackknife procedure. Our results show that ramus height can be used to predict age in the subadult skeleton with accuracy, closely approaching that of standards based on the dentition (standard error rates are between +/-1.1 years and +/-2.4 years).

Nateglinide is a non-sulphonylurea insulinotropic oral antidiabetic agent. The main problem in formulating an oral dosage form is its low solubility in aqueous media. This problem is particularly critical for an anti-diabetic drug because it should be administered just before the meals and be quickly bioavailable to cover the post-prandial glycemic peak. In this work, some technological approaches have been studied to improve the dissolution rate of nateglinide. Furthermore, two different polymorphs of nateglinide (H and B) have been tested to evaluate the influence of the crystal habitus on the dissolution behavior of the drug. The results have clearly demonstrated that wettability plays a key role in the dissolution behavior of nateglinide. As a matter of fact the physical dispersion of the drug with colloidal silica or hydrophilic swellable polymers strongly enhances the dissolution rate of nateglinide. The two polymorphs tested did not show significant differences in terms of dissolution behavior.

Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary ResearchVolume 47, Issue 3 p. 258-267 Tempo and mode of evolutionary divergence in modern and Holocene Vancouver Island marmots (Marmota vancouverensis) (Mammalia, Rodentia) D. W. Nagorsen, D. W. Nagorsen Mammalia Biological Consulting, Victoria, BC, CanadaSearch for more papers by this authorA. Cardini, A. Cardini Dipartimento del Museo di Paleobiologia e dell'Orto Botanico, Universitá di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Modena, ItalySearch for more papers by this author D. W. Nagorsen, D. W. Nagorsen Mammalia Biological Consulting, Victoria, BC, CanadaSearch for more papers by this authorA. Cardini, A. Cardini Dipartimento del Museo di Paleobiologia e dell'Orto Botanico, Universitá di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Modena, ItalySearch for more papers by this author First published: 10 July 2009 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0469.2008.00503.xCitations: 19 Authors' addresses: David W. Nagorsen (for correspondence), Mammalia Biological Consulting, 4268 Metchosin Road, Victoria, BC V9C 3Z4, Canada. E-mail: [email protected]; A. Cardini, Dipartimento del Museo di Paleobiologia e dell'Orto Botanico, Universitá di Modena e Reggio Emilia, via Università 4, 41100, Modena, Italy and Hull York Medical School, The University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull HU6 7RX, UK. E-mail: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Abstract Marmota vancouverensis is the only insular species among the 14 species of marmots. The evolutionary history of this species is unresolved. Although M. vancouverensis is strongly differentiated in osteological and other morphological characters, its low genetic divergence suggests recent evolution from an ancestral continental species. We used geometric morphometric techniques to assess the morphology of hemimandibles from 239 modern M. vancouverensis, Marmota caligata, Marmota flaviventris, Marmota olympus and 30 Holocene (9435–735 cal. yr bp) subfossil M. vancouverensis. Our results confirm that the mandible of M. vancouverensis is strongly differentiated in shape from continental marmot species, but similar in size to its mainland sister species M. caligata. Temporal variation in size and shape over the past 2500 years among allochronic samples of M. vancouverensis was minimal suggesting that the morphological divergence of this species occurred in a period of rapid change following its isolation from mainland populations in the late Pleistocene. Selection pressures associated with environmental changes and founder effects and genetic drift resulting from population bottlenecks created by population declines and habitat fragmentation are hypothesized as factors contributing to the morphological divergence of this species. References Adams DC, Slice DE, Rohlf FJ (2004) Geometric morphometrics: ten years of progress following the 'revolution'. Ital J Zool 71: 5– 16. Al-Suwaidi M, Ward BC, Wilson MC, Hebda RJ, Nagorsen DW, Marshall D, Ghaleb B, Wigen RJ, Enkin RJ (2006) Late Wisconsin Port Eliza cave deposits and their implications for human coastal migration, Vancouver Island, Canada. Geoarchaeology 21: 307– 332. 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Cambridge University Press, London. Van Valen L (1978) The statistics of variation. Evol Theory 4: 33– 43. Velhagen WA, Roth VL (1997) Scaling the mandible in squirrels. J Morphol 232: 107– 132. Zelditch ML, Swiderski DL, Sheets HD, Fink WL (2004) Geometric Morphometrics for Biologists: A Primer. Elsevier Academic Press, NY. Citing Literature Supporting Information Table S1. Summary of environmental changes on Vancouver Island during the past 15 000 years and associated Marmota vancouverensis samples used in study. Table S2. Sample sizes of the Petromarmota group (Marmota caligata, Marmota flaviventris, Marmota olympus and Marmota vancouverensis) used in analyses. Table S3. 1000 permutation tests for differences in size and shape between left and right hemimandibles of Petromarmota species. Table S4. 10 000 permutation tests for pairwise differences in shape of 12 Petromarmota samples. Table S5. 10 000 permutation tests for pairwise differences in size of 12 Petromarmota samples. Table S6. Variance of shape and centroid size with bootstrap standard errors for 12 Petromarmota samples. Table S7. Results of Levene's test for pairwise differences in shape variance of 12 Petromarmota samples (10 000 random permutations). Table S8. Results of Levene's test for pairwise differences in size variance of 12 Petromarmota samples (10 000 random permutations). Appendix S1. Specimens examined Please note: Wiley-Blackwell are not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting materials supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing material) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article. Filename Description JZS_503_sm_supporting info.doc138 KB Supporting info item Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article. Volume47, Issue3August 2009Pages 258-267 ReferencesRelatedInformation

The gazelles of Dahlak Kebir are the only population of Nanger soemmerringii Cretzschmar, 1828 living on an island. Little is known on the biology of these animals, except that they are evidently smaller than their conspecifics living on the continent. We took advantage of a recently acquired collection of crania, probably the largest available study sample of the Dahlak Kebir population worldwide, to explore the phenotypic variation of this island endemism. To this aim, we employed state of the art geometric morphometrics techniques and multivariate statistics to compare the insular population with samples of two out of three subspecies of N. soemmerringii from continental Africa. We found that not only is the size of the animal remarkably smaller in Dahlak Kebir gazelles, but their cranial shape is also highly distinctive, and this might be only partly explained by allometry. We also showed that phenotypic variance might have been reduced in the island population, likely as a consequence of genetic bottlenecks. This unique population is part of a species vulnerable to extinction. Our results suggest that the Dahlak Kebir Island gazelles might represent a significant component of its variation and potential for adaptive change and evolution. More information, including molecular data, and an accurate assessment of its taxonomic relevance and conservation status, is urgently needed.

Nateglinide is an oral antidiabetic agent that should be administered 10-30 min before the meal, but it shows low and pH-dependent solubility that may reduce its oral bioavailability. To improve nateglinide dissolution rate, the active was co-milled with three different super-disintegrants or with some hydrophilic excipients, in 1:1, 1:2, and 1:4 drug to carrier ratio (w:w). The three super-disintegrants were crosslinked polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVPC), sodium starch glycolate (SSG) and crosslinked carboxymethyl cellulose (CMCC). The three hydrophilic excipient were amorphous silica (AS), mannitol (M) and Poloxamer (PO). A strong enhancement of drug dissolution rate was obtained from the nateglinide:super-disintegrant co-milled systems in 1:4 ratio, which can be explained by a combination of several factors: an increase in wettability, due to the hydrophilic nature of the carriers, a possible reduction of particle size and a more intimate dispersion of the drug onto the carrier, as a result of the mechanical treatment.

The physico-chemical characterization of the polymorphs of nateglinide (named B, H and S), an antidiabetic agent, has been performed by means of thermal, diffractometric, spectroscopic and electron microscopic measurements. It has been established that S polymorph can crystallize from the melt obtained from both B and H samples or also following an isothermal treatment of both forms at temperatures lower than the relevant melting points. By X-ray diffraction it could be shown that the three polymorphs have different crystal structure. On the other hand the indication has been drawn from IR spectra that the molecular structure of B is sensibly different from those of H and S forms that have a very similar molecular structure. Finally, the microstructure features of the three polymorphs have been examined by scanning electron microscopy. Our analyses have allowed to evaluate the relative stability of the three polymorphs through the construction of the energy vs. temperature diagram. In particular, S polymorph, the highest-melting form, has resulted to be the only stable form, while the B and H forms are metastable.

New modifications of the antidiabetic drug nateglinide were found and characterized by means of thermal analysis, vibrational spectroscopy and X-ray powder diffractometry. In particular it has been verified that the product obtained during the final steps of the nateglinide synthesis is the hemihydrate form which melts at about 86 degrees C provided that the adopted experimental conditions hinder the removal of the crystallization water. Otherwise, if the crystallization water is removed, the hemihydrate transforms to a new anhydrous polymorph that melts at 102.8 degrees C. The anhydrous polymorph, if stored at room temperature and humidity, gradually changes to H polymorph while, if stored in water vapour saturated atmosphere, it gets back water and reverts to the hemihydrate form. On the contrary, both an isothermal treatment at 80 degrees C and melt cooling bring to the B polymorph.

A search for the decays Bs-->mumu and Bd-->mumu is performed with about 37 pb^{-1} of pp collisions at sqrt{s} = 7 TeV collected by the LHCb experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. The observed numbers of events are consistent with the background expectations. The resulting upper limits on the branching ratios are BR(Bs-->mumu) mumu) <1.5 x 10^{-8} at 95% confidence level.

The present work is a concrete example of how physico-chemical studies, if performed in depth, are crucial to understand the behavior of pharmaceutical solids and constitute a solid basis for the control of the reproducibility of the industrial batches. In particular, a deep study of the thermal behavior of glipizide, a hypoglycemic drug, was carried out with the aim of clarifying whether the recognition of its polymorphic forms can really be done on the basis of the endothermic peak that the literature studies attribute to the melting of the compound. A number of analytical techniques were used: thermal techniques (DSC, TGA), X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), FT-IR spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Great attention was paid to the experimental design and to the interpretation of the combined results obtained by all these techniques. We proved that the attribution of the endothermic peak shown by glipizide to its melting was actually wrong. The DSC peak is no doubt triggered by a decomposition process that involves gas evolution (cyclohexanamine and carbon dioxide) and formation of 5-methyl-N-[2-(4-sulphamoylphenyl) ethyl] pyrazine-2-carboxamide, which remains as decomposition residue. Thermal treatments properly designed and the combined use of DSC with FT-IR and XRPD led to identifying a new polymorphic form of 5-methyl-N-[2-(4-sulphamoylphenyl) ethyl] pyrazine-2-carboxamide, which is obtained by crystallization from the melt. Hence, our results put into evidence that the check of the polymorphic form of glipizide cannot be based on the temperature values of the DSC peak, since such a peak is due to a decomposition process whose Tonset value is strongly affected by the particle size. Kinetic studies of the decomposition process show the high stability of solid glipizide at room temperature.

A bstract A search for new top quark interactions is performed within the framework of an effective field theory using the associated production of either one or two top quarks with a Z boson in multilepton final states. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb − 1 of proton-proton collisions at $$ \sqrt{s} $$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msqrt> <mml:mi>s</mml:mi> </mml:msqrt> </mml:math> = 13 TeV collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. Five dimension-six operators modifying the electroweak interactions of the top quark are considered. Novel machine-learning techniques are used to enhance the sensitivity to effects arising from these operators. Distributions used for the signal extraction are parameterized in terms of Wilson coefficients describing the interaction strengths of the operators. All five Wilson coefficients are simultaneously fit to data and 95% confidence level intervals are computed. All results are consistent with the SM expectations.

A search is performed for heavy long-lived charged particles using 3.0 $${\rm fb}^{-1}$$ of proton–proton collisions collected at $$\sqrt{s}$$ $$=$$ 7 and 8 TeV with the LHCb detector. The search is mainly based on the response of the ring imaging Cherenkov detectors to distinguish the heavy, slow-moving particles from muons. No evidence is found for the production of such long-lived states. The results are expressed as limits on the Drell–Yan production of pairs of long-lived particles, with both particles in the LHCb pseudorapidity acceptance, $$1.8 < \eta < 4.9$$ . The mass-dependent cross-section upper limits are in the range 2–4 fb (at 95 % CL) for masses between 14 and 309 $${\mathrm {\,GeV\!/}c^2}$$ .

Archaeological and molecular data suggest that horses were domesticated comparatively recently, the genetic evidence indicating that this was from several maternal haplotypes but only a single paternal one. However, although central to our understanding of how humans and environmental conditions shaped animals during domestication, the phenotypic changes associated with this idiosyncratic domestication process remain unclear. Using geometric morphometrics on a sample of horse teeth including Pleistocene wild horses, modern Icelandic and Thoroughbred domestic horses, Przewalski’s wild horses of recent age and domestic horses of different ages through the Holocene, we show that, despite variations in size likely related to allometry (changes to bone size in proportion to body size), natural and artificial selective pressures and geographic and temporal heterogeneity, the shape of horse teeth has changed surprisingly little over thousands of years across Eurasia: the shapes of the premolars of prehistoric and historic domestic horses largely resemble those of Pleistocene and recent wild horses. However, this changed dramatically after the end of the Iron Age with an explosive increase in the pace and scale of variation in the past two millennia, ultimately resulting in a twofold jump in the magnitude of shape divergence in modern breeds. Our findings indicate that the pace of change during domestication may vary even within the same structure with shape, but not size, suggesting a ‘long-fuse’ model of phenotypic modification, where an initial lengthy period of invariance is followed by an explosive increase in the phenotypic change. These observations support a testable model that is applicable to other traits and species and add a new layer of complexity to the study of interactions between humans and the organisms they domesticated.

A bstract The first observation of the decay $ B_s^0\to \phi \overline{K}{*^0} $ is reported. The analysis is based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb −1 of pp collisions at $ \sqrt{s}=7 $ TeV, collected with the LHCb detector. A yield of 30 ± 6 $ B_s^0\to \left( {{K^{+}}{K^{-}}} \right)\left( {{K^{-}}{\pi^{+}}} \right) $ decays is found in the mass windows 1012.5 &lt; M ( K + K − ) &lt; 1026.5 MeV/ c 2 and 746 &lt; M ( K − π + ) &lt; 1046 MeV/ c 2 . The signal yield is found to be dominated by $ B_s^0\to \phi \overline{K}{*^0} $ decays, and the corresponding branching fraction is measured to be $ \mathcal{B}\left( {B_s^0\to \phi \overline{K}{*^0}} \right) $ = (1.10 ± 0.24 (stat) ± 0.14 (syst) ± 0.08 ( f d / f s )) × 10 −6 , where the uncertainties are statistical, systematic and from the ratio of fragmentation fractions f d / f s which accounts for the different production rate of B 0 and $ B_s^0 $ mesons. The significance of $ B_s^0\to \phi \overline{K}{*^0} $ signal is 6.1 standard deviations. The fraction of longitudinal polarization in $ B_s^0\to \phi \overline{K}{*^0} $ decays is found to be f 0 = 0.51 ± 0.15 (stat) ± 0.07 (syst).

There was a computational error in the degrees of freedom, affecting Tables 2 and 3. The entire correction can be viewed here:

Measurements of the branching fractions of and decays are performed using a data sample corresponding to of proton-proton collision data collected with the LHCb detector at a centre-of-mass energy of , where the mesons are reconstructed in the final state. The first observation of the decay and the first evidence for the decay are reported with branching fractions

Six of the key physics measurements that will be made by the LHCb experiment, concerning CP asymmetries and rare B decays, are discussed in detail. The road map towards the precision measurements is presented, including the use of control channels and other techniques to understand the performance of the detector with the first data from the LHC.

Morphological variation in the frontal bone and cranial base of Vipera aspis was studied using geometric morphometrics. Significant differences in shape were found among samples from subspecies present in Italy (V. a. aspis, V. a. francisciredi, V. a. hugyi). Sexual dimorphism was negligible as well as allometry and size differences. The most divergent subspecies was V. a. aspis, possibly in relation to its recent history of geographic isolation in a glacial refugium. Shape clusters were in good agreement with clusters from studies of external morphology and completely congruent with results from molecular studies ofmtDNA.

Ground squirrels of the genus Marmota are known for their ability to tolerate bitterly cold climates, which they in part accomplish with their exceptional ability to hibernate for as much as eight months a year (Armitage et al., 2003). Most of the 15 living species are associated with montane habitats, and those that are not, like the North American woodchuck (Marmota monax) and the eastern European and central Asian bobak (M. bobak) inhabit regions with strongly seasonal climates and often bitterly cold winters (Armitage, 2000) (Figure 9.1). All marmots construct burrows, which can be more than one metre deep even in comparatively mild climates and as much as seven metres deep in the harsh climates of the Himalayas (Barash, 1989). During the cold phases of the last half of the Quaternary the fossil record demonstrates many marmots inhabited periglacial environments (Zimina and Gerasimov, 1973; Kalthoff, 1999). For these reasons, marmots are sometimes considered to be a quintessentially Quaternary clade, specialists on the cold variable climates that are unique to the past 2.6 million years of Earth's history. The world in which they originated, however, was very different; a warmer one in which there were no tundra biomes, no glacial–interglacial cycles, and no permanent ice cover in the Northern Hemisphere. In this chapter, we review the fossil and phylogenetic history of marmots, the palaeoenvironments in which they originated, and their relationship to glacial–interglacial cycles to better understand the contexts in which the specializations of this unique clade of rodents arose.

This erratum corrects measurements of the prompt and secondary (from- b ).

The direct $C\!P$ asymmetries of the decays $B^0 \rightarrow K^{*0} \mu^+ \mu^-$ and $B^+ \rightarrow K^{+} \mu^+ \mu^-$ are measured using $pp$ collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0$\mbox{fb}^{-1}$ collected with the LHCb detector. The respective control modes $B^0 \rightarrow J/\psi K^{*0}$ and $B^+ \rightarrow J/\psi K^{+}$ are used to account for detection and production asymmetries. The measurements are made in several intervals of $\mu^+ \mu^-$ invariant mass squared, with the $\phi(1020)$ and charmonium resonance regions excluded. Under the hypothesis of zero $C\!P$ asymmetry in the control modes, the average values of the asymmetries are \begin{align} {\cal A}_{C\!P}(B^0 \rightarrow K^{*0} \mu^+ \mu^-) &= -0.035 \pm 0.024 \pm 0.003, \cr {\cal A}_{C\!P}(B^+ \rightarrow K^{+} \mu^+ \mu^-) &= \phantom{-}0.012 \pm 0.017 \pm 0.001, \end{align} where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second are due to systematic effects. Both measurements are consistent with the Standard Model prediction of small $C\!P$ asymmetry in these decays.

In this Technical Design Report (TDR) we describe the SuperB detector that was to be installed on the SuperB e+e- high luminosity collider. The SuperB asymmetric collider, which was to be constructed on the Tor Vergata campus near the INFN Frascati National Laboratory, was designed to operate both at the Upsilon(4S) center-of-mass energy with a luminosity of 10^{36} cm^{-2}s^{-1} and at the tau/charm production threshold with a luminosity of 10^{35} cm^{-2}s^{-1}. This high luminosity, producing a data sample about a factor 100 larger than present B Factories, would allow investigation of new physics effects in rare decays, CP Violation and Lepton Flavour Violation. This document details the detector design presented in the Conceptual Design Report (CDR) in 2007. The R&amp;D and engineering studies performed to arrive at the full detector design are described, and an updated cost estimate is presented. A combination of a more realistic cost estimates and the unavailability of funds due of the global economic climate led to a formal cancelation of the project on Nov 27, 2012.

Abstract Using sampling experiments, we found that, when there are fewer groups than variables, between-groups PCA (bgPCA) may suggest surprisingly distinct differences among groups for data in which none exist. While apparently not noticed before, the reasons for this problem are easy to understand. A bgPCA captures the g -1 dimensions of variation among the g group means, but only a fraction of the ∑ n i − g dimensions of within-group variation ( n i are the sample sizes), when the number of variables, p , is greater than g -1. This introduces a distortion in the appearance of the bgPCA plots because the within-group variation will be underrepresented, unless the variables are sufficiently correlated so that the total variation can be accounted for with just g -1 dimensions. The effect is most obvious when sample sizes are small relative to the number of variables, because smaller samples spread out less, but the distortion is present even for large samples. Strong covariance among variables largely reduces the magnitude of the problem, because it effectively reduces the dimensionality of the data and thus enables a larger proportion of the within-group variation to be accounted for within the g -1-dimensional space of a bgPCA. The distortion will still be relevant though its strength will vary from case to case depending on the structure of the data ( p , g , covariances etc.). These are important problems for a method mainly designed for the analysis of variation among groups when there are very large numbers of variables and relatively small samples. In such cases, users are likely to conclude that the groups they are comparing are much more distinct than they really are. Having many variables but just small sample sizes is a common problem in fields ranging from morphometrics (as in our examples) to molecular analyses.

Evidence is presented for the decay $B_c+\rightarrow J/\psi 3\pi^+2\pi^-$ using proton-proton collision data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3fb$^{-1}$, collected with the LHCb detector. A signal yield of $32\pm8$ decays is found with a significance of 4.5 standard deviations. The ratio of the branching fraction of the $B_c^+\rightarrow J/\psi 3\pi^+ 2\pi^-$ decay to that of the $B_c^+ \rightarrow J/\psi \pi^+$ decay is measured to be $$ \frac{Br (B_c^+ \rightarrow J/\psi 3\pi^+2\pi^)}{Br (B_c^+ \rightarrow J/\psi \pi^+)} = 1.74\pm0.44\pm0.24, $$ where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic.

Using data collected with the LHCb detector in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, the semileptonic decays Bs -> Ds+ X mu nu and Bs -> D0 K+ X mu nu are detected. Two structures are observed in the D0 K+ mass spectrum at masses consistent with the known D^+_{s1}(2536) and $D^{*+}_{s2}(2573) mesons. The measured branching fractions relative to the total Bs semileptonic rate are B(Bs -> D_{s2}^{*+} X mu nu)/B(Bs -> X mu nu)= (3.3\pm 1.0\pm 0.4)%, and B(Bs -> D_{s1}^+ X munu)/B(Bs -> X mu nu)= (5.4\pm 1.2\pm 0.5)%, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. This is the first observation of the D_{s2}^{*+} state in Bs decays; we also measure its mass and width.

The recently deployed DeepTau algorithm for the discrimination of taus from light flavor quark or gluon induced jets, electrons, or muons is an ideal example for the exploitation of modern deep learning neural network techniques.With the current algorithm a suppression of misidentification rates by factors of two and more have been achieved for the same identification efficiency for taus compared to the MVA identification algorithms used for the LHC Run-1, leading to significant performance gains for many tau related analyses.The algorithm and its performance will be discussed.

Marmots have a prominent role in the study of mammalian social evolution, but only recently has their systematics received the attention it deserves if sociobiological studies are to be placed in a phylogenetic context. Sciurid morphology can be used as model to test the congruence between morphological change and phylogeny because sciurid skeletal characters are considered to be inclined to convergence. However, no morphological study involving all marmot species has ever been undertaken. Geometric morphometric techniques were applied in a comparative study of the marmot mandible. The adults of all 14 living marmot species were compared, and mean mandible shape were used to investigate morphological evolution in the genus Marmota. Three major trends were observed. First, the phylogenetic signal in the variation of landmark geometry, which describes mandible morphology, seems to account for the shape differences at intermediate taxonomic levels. The subgenera Marmota and Petromarmota, recently proposed on the basis of mitochondrial cytochrome b sequence, receive support from mandible morphology. When other sciurid genera were included in the analysis, the monophyly of the genus Marmota and that of the tribe Marmotini (i.e., marmots, prairie dogs, and ground squirrels) was strengthened by the morphological data. Second, the marmotine mandible may have evolved as a mosaic of characters and does not show convergence determined by size similarities. Third, allopatric speciation in peripheral isolates may have acted as a powerful force for modeling shape. This hypothesis is strongly supported by the peculiar mandible of M. vancouverensis and, to a lesser degree, by that of M. olympus, both thought to have originated as isolated populations in Pleistocene ice-free refugia.

A search for the D-0 -> pi(+)pi(-)mu(+)mu(-) decay, where the muon pair does not originate from a resonance, is performed using proton-proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb(-1) recorded by the LHCb experiment at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. No signal is observed and an upper limit on the relative branching fraction with respect to the resonant decay mode D-0 -> pi(+)pi(-)phi(-> mu(+)mu(-)), under the assumption of a phase-space model, is found to be B(D-0 -> pi(+)pi(-)mu(+)mu(-))/B(D-0 -> pi(+)pi(-)phi(-> mu(+)mu(-))) pi(+)pi(-)mu(+)mu(-)) < 5.5 x 10(-7) at 90% confidence level. This is the most stringent to date. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Time-dependent $CP$ asymmetries in the decay rates of the singly Cabibbo-suppressed decays $D^0\rightarrow K^-K^+$ and $D^0\rightarrow \pi^-\pi^+$ are measured in $pp$ collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb$^{-1}$ collected by the LHCb experiment. The $D^0$ mesons are produced in semileptonic $b$-hadron decays, where the charge of the accompanying muon is used to determine the initial state as $D^0$ or $\bar{D}^0$. The asymmetries in effective lifetimes between $D^0$ and $\bar{D}^0$ decays, which are sensitive to indirect $CP$ violation, are determined to be \begin{align*} A_{\Gamma}(K^-K^+) = (-0.134 \pm 0.077 \; {}^{+0.026}_{-0.034})\% \, A_{\Gamma}(\pi^-\pi^+) = (-0.092\pm 0.145 \; {}^{+0.025}_{-0.033})\% \, \end{align*} where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic. This result is in agreement with previous measurements and with the hypothesis of no indirect $CP$ violation in $D^0$ decays.

The $B_s^0 \rightarrow J/\psi \phi \phi$ decay is observed in $pp$ collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb$^{-1}$ recorded by the LHCb detector at centre-of-mass energies of 7 TeV and 8 TeV. This is the first observation of this decay channel, with a statistical significance of 15 standard deviations. The mass of the $B_s^0$ meson is measured to be $5367.08\,\pm \,0.38\,\pm\, 0.15$ MeV/c$^2$. The branching fraction ratio $\mathcal{B}(B_s^0 \rightarrow J/\psi \phi \phi)/\mathcal{B}(B_s^0 \rightarrow J/\psi \phi)$ is measured to be $0.0115\,\pm\, 0.0012\, ^{+0.0005}_{-0.0009}$. In both cases, the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. No evidence for non-resonant $B_s^0 \rightarrow J/\psi \phi K^+ K^-$ or $B_s^0 \rightarrow J/\psi K^+ K^- K^+ K^-$ decays is found.

Amplitude models are applied to studies of resonance structure in $D^0\to K^0_S K^- \pi^+$ and $D^0\to K^0_S K^+ \pi^-$ decays using $pp$ collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $3.0\,\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ collected by the LHCb experiment. Relative magnitude and phase information is determined, and coherence factors and related observables are computed for both the whole phase space and a restricted region of $100\,\mathrm{MeV/}c^2$ around the $K^{*}(892)^{\pm}$ resonance. Two formulations for the $K\pi$ $S$-wave are used, both of which give a good description of the data. The ratio of branching fractions $\mathcal{B}(D^0\to K^0_S K^+ \pi^-)/\mathcal{B}(D^0\to K^0_S K^- \pi^+)$ is measured to be $0.655\pm0.004\,(\textrm{stat})\pm0.006\,(\textrm{syst})$ over the full phase space and $0.370\pm0.003\, (\textrm{stat})\pm0.012\,(\textrm{syst})$ in the restricted region. A search for $CP$ violation is performed using the amplitude models and no significant effect is found. Predictions from $SU(3)$ flavor symmetry for $K^{*}(892)K$ amplitudes of different charges are compared with the amplitude model results.

Abstract Using data collected with the LHCb detector in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, the semileptonic decays B ¯ s 0 → D s + X μ − ν ¯ and B ¯ s 0 → D 0 K + X μ − ν ¯ are detected. Two structures are observed in the D 0 K + mass spectrum at masses consistent with the known D s 1 ( 2536 ) + and D s 2 ⁎ ( 2573 ) + mesons. The measured branching fractions relative to the total B ¯ s 0 semileptonic rate are B ( B ¯ s 0 → D s 2 ⁎ + X μ − ν ¯ ) / B ( B ¯ s 0 → X μ − ν ¯ ) = ( 3.3 ± 1.0 ± 0.4 ) % , and B ( B ¯ s 0 → D s 1 + X μ − ν ¯ ) / B ( B ¯ s 0 → X μ − ν ¯ ) = ( 5.4 ± 1.2 ± 0.5 ) % , where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. This is the first observation of the D s 2 ⁎ + state in B ¯ s 0 decays; we also measure its mass and width.

The determination of the differential branching fraction and the first angular analysis of the decay B0s → ϕμ + μ − are presented using data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb−1, collected by the LHCb experiment at s√=7 TeV. The differential branching fraction is determined in bins of q 2, the invariant dimuon mass squared. Integration over the full q 2 range yields a total branching fraction of B(B0s→ϕμ+μ−)=(7.07+0.64−0.59±0.71±0.71) × 10−7, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic, and the third originates from the branching fraction of the normalisation channel. An angular analysis is performed to determine the angular observables F L, S 3, A 6, and A 9. The observables are consistent with Standard Model expectations.