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This article reports world averages of measurements of b -hadron, c -hadron, and τ -lepton properties obtained by the Heavy Flavor Averaging Group using results available through summer 2016. For the averaging, common input parameters used in the various analyses are adjusted (rescaled) to common values, and known correlations are taken into account. The averages include branching fractions, lifetimes, neutral meson mixing parameters, C P  violation parameters, parameters of semileptonic decays, and Cabbibo–Kobayashi–Maskawa matrix elements.

A decrease in adult hippocampal neurogenesis has been linked to age-related cognitive impairment. However, the mechanisms involved in this age-related reduction remain elusive. Glucocorticoid hormones (GC) are important regulators of neural stem/precursor cells (NSPC) proliferation. GC are released from the adrenal glands in ultradian secretory pulses that generate characteristic circadian oscillations. Here, we investigated the hypothesis that GC oscillations prevent NSPC activation and preserve a quiescent NSPC pool in the aging hippocampus. We found that hippocampal NSPC populations lacking expression of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) decayed exponentially with age, while GR-positive populations decayed linearly and predominated in the hippocampus from middle age onwards. Importantly, GC oscillations controlled NSPC activation and GR knockdown reactivated NSPC proliferation in aged mice. When modeled in primary hippocampal NSPC cultures, GC oscillations control cell cycle progression and induce specific genome-wide DNA methylation profiles. GC oscillations induced lasting changes in the methylation state of a group of gene promoters associated with cell cycle regulation and the canonical Wnt signaling pathway. Finally, in a mouse model of accelerated aging, we show that disruption of GC oscillations induces lasting changes in dendritic complexity, spine numbers and morphology of newborn granule neurons. Together, these results indicate that GC oscillations preserve a population of GR-expressing NSPC during aging, preventing their activation possibly by epigenetic programming through methylation of specific gene promoters. Our observations suggest a novel mechanism mediated by GC that controls NSPC proliferation and preserves a dormant NSPC pool, possibly contributing to a neuroplasticity reserve in the aging brain.

The number of bridges approaching or exceeding their initial design life has been increasing dramatically. Meanwhile, bridges are withstanding an ever-increasing traffic volume, both in number and weight of vehicles. Analytical and numerical models can predict bridges’ response to traffic loads and their ultimate capacity with low uncertainties; however, such uncertainties increase as bridges age due to deterioration mechanisms. Non-destructive tests of material specimens and full-scale load tests allow for updating structural models and predicting bridges’ responses with higher accuracy. On-site load tests with different load levels provide different information on the bridge behaviour (e.g., elastic response, first-crack load, and ultimate capacity), which impact the model updating differently. This paper compares the observed response of the Alveo Vecchio viaduct, a prestressed concrete (PC) bridge subjected to a controlled load test up to its failure, with its predicted response provided by four structural models. The observed response is measured by an extensive structural health monitoring system, while the structural models are developed with different levels of refinement and uncertainty in the input parameters. This study gives an insight into the ultimate load-carrying capacity of existing PC bridges and their behaviour during a whole load test to failure. The results show that the load-carry capacity of the Alveo Vecchio viaduct is almost four times higher than the design load; likely, many other Italian highway bridges with similar structural characteristics have a similar capacity.

This paper reports world averages of measurements of b-hadron, c-hadron, and τ-lepton properties obtained by the Heavy Flavour Averaging Group using results available through September 2018. In rare cases, significant results obtained several months later are also used. For the averaging, common input parameters used in the various analyses are adjusted (rescaled) to common values, and known correlations are taken into account. The averages include branching fractions, lifetimes, neutral meson mixing parameters, CP violation parameters, parameters of semileptonic decays, and Cabibbo–Kobayashi–Maskawa matrix elements.

The precise mechanisms by which microRNAs (miRNAs) contribute to the dynamic regulation of gene expression during the forebrain development are still partly elusive. Here we show that the depletion of miRNAs in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus, via genetic inactivation of Dicer after the onset of forebrain neurogenesis, profoundly impairs the morphological and proliferative characteristics of neural stem and progenitor cells. The cytoarchitecture and self-renewal potential of radial glial (RG) cells located within the cerebral cortex and the hippocampus were profoundly altered, thus causing a significant derangement of both the post natal dorsal sub-ventricular zone and the dentate gyrus. This effect was attributed to the High-temperature requirement A serine peptidase 1 ( HtrA1 ) gene product whose overexpression in the developing forebrain recapitulated some of the aspects of the Dicer −/− phenotype. MiR-30e and miR-181d were identified as posttranscriptional negative regulators of HtrA1 by binding to its 3′ untranslated region. In vivo overexpression of miR-30e and miR-181d in Dicer −/− forebrain rescued RG proliferation defects.

Abstract This article reports world averages of measurements of b-hadron, c-hadron, and $$\\tau $$ τ -lepton properties obtained by the Heavy Flavor Averaging Group using results available through summer 2016. For the averaging, common input parameters used in the various analyses are adjusted (rescaled) to common values, and known correlations are taken into account. The averages include branching fractions, lifetimes, neutral meson mixing parameters, $$C\\!P$$ C P  violation parameters, parameters of semileptonic decays, and Cabbibo–Kobayashi–Maskawa matrix elements.

The goal of the INFN-RETINA R&D project is to develop and implement a computational methodology that allows to reconstruct events with a large number (> 100) of charged-particle tracks in pixel and silicon strip detectors at 40 MHz, thus matching the requirements for processing LHC events at the full bunch-crossing frequency. Our approach relies on a parallel pattern-recognition algorithm, dubbed artificial retina, inspired by the early stages of image processing by the brain. In order to demonstrate that a track-processing system based on this algorithm is feasible, we built a sizable prototype of a tracking processor tuned to 3 000 patterns, based on already existing readout boards equipped with Altera Stratix III FPGAs. The detailed geometry and charged-particle activity of a large tracking detector currently in operation are used to assess its performances. We report on the test results with such a prototype.

This paper sought to identify trends in the research of “public opinion”, allowing for an analysis of the field in a systematized manner. We carried out a bibliometric study of 2,536 articles selected from the Web of Science. With the aid of the CiteSpace software, we aimed to characterize the research front and intellectual base of the field. In relation to the research front, we noted an increase in publications between 1945 and 2016; we identified Robert Shapiro and Lawrence Jacobs as the most productive authors; among the most referenced articles were those by Gamson and Modigliani (1989) and Page and Shapiro (1983). We also identified that the majority of articles are: by North American authors; were published in the journals Public Opinion Quarterly and Sotsiologicheskie Issledovaniya; are indexed in the categories of Government & Law and Political Science and represented by the keywords public opinion, attitudes, support, policy, the United States and politics. With regard to the intellectual base in the journal co-citation network, the Public Opinion Quarterly, American Political Science Review and American Journal of Political Science stood out. In the author co-citation network the most prominent authors were Page and Zaller. In the analysis of the references co-citation, the most frequent texts in the network were by Zaller (1992) and Page and Shapiro (1992). We concluded that scientific output on public opinion is on the increase, with a dynamic expansion of the research front and intellectual base.

A bstract The isospin asymmetries of B → Kμ + μ − and B → K * μ + μ − decays and the partial branching fractions of the B 0 → K 0 μ + μ − , B + → K + μ + μ − and B + → K *+ μ + μ − decays are measured as functions of the dimuon mass squared, q 2 . The data used correspond to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb −1 from proton-proton collisions collected with the LHCb detector at centre-of-mass energies of 7 TeV and 8 TeV in 2011 and 2012, respectively. The isospin asymmetries are both consistent with the Standard Model expectations. The three measured branching fractions favour lower values than their respective theoretical predictions, however they are all individually consistent with the Standard Model.

A bstract We present a measurement of the ratio R μ = B τ − → μ − ν ¯ μ ν τ / B τ − → e − ν ¯ e ν τ of branching fractions B of the τ lepton decaying to muons or electrons using data collected with the Belle II detector at the SuperKEKB e + e − collider. The sample has an integrated luminosity of 362 ± 2 fb − 1 at a centre-of-mass energy of 10.58 GeV. Using an optimised event selection, a binned maximum likelihood fit is performed using the momentum spectra of the electron and muon candidates. The result, R μ = 0.9675 ± 0.0007 ± 0.0036, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic, is the most precise to date. It provides a stringent test of the light-lepton universality, translating to a ratio of the couplings of the muon and electron to the W boson in τ decays of 0.9974 ± 0.0019, in agreement with the standard model expectation of unity.