University of Massachusetts Boston

About: University of Massachusetts Boston is a education organization based out in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 6541 authors who have published 12918 publications receiving 411731 citations. The organization is also known as: UMass Boston.

Performance of $b$-Jet Identification in the ATLAS Experiment

Abstract: The identification of jets containing b hadrons is important for the physics programme of the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Several algorithms to identify jets containing b hadrons are described, ranging from those based on the reconstruction of an inclusive secondary vertex or the presence of tracks with large impact parameters to combined tagging algorithms making use of multi-variate discriminants. An independent b-tagging algorithm based on the reconstruction of muons inside jets as well as the b-tagging algorithm used in the online trigger are also presented. The b-jet tagging efficiency, the c-jet tagging efficiency and the mistag rate for light flavour jets in data have been measured with a number of complementary methods. The calibration results are presented as scale factors defined as the ratio of the efficiency (or mistag rate) in data to that in simulation. In the case of b jets, where more than one calibration method exists, the results from the various analyses have been combined taking into account the statistical correlation as well as the correlation of the sources of systematic uncertainty.

A preliminary investigation of the effects of experimentally induced mindfulness on emotional responding to film clips.

Abstract: Despite encouraging preliminary findings regarding the efficacy of mindfulness and acceptance-based treatments for a range of psychological presentations, we have yet to elucidate mechanisms of action within these treatments. One mechanism through which mindfulness may reduce psychological symptoms and promote functioning is enhancing emotional responding and regulation. In this study, we used multimodal assessment to examine the effects of a brief mindfulness intervention in a laboratory setting on emotional experiences and regulation in response to distressing, positive, and affectively mixed film clips. Although there were no condition (mindfulness vs. control) effects on reports of emotional response or difficulties in regulation after the distressing film clip, participants in the mindfulness condition reported significantly greater positive affect in response to the positive film. Additionally, participants in the mindfulness condition reported more adaptive regulation (approaching significance, medium to large effect size) in response to the affectively mixed clip and significantly less negative affect immediately after this clip, although not after a recovery period. No significant differences emerged between conditions on physiological measures (skin conductance and heart rate) throughout the study.

Population growth and collapse in a multiagent model of the Kayenta Anasazi in Long House Valley

Abstract: Long House Valley in the Black Mesa area of northeastern Arizona (U.S.) was inhabited by the Kayenta Anasazi from about 1800 before Christ to about anno Domini 1300. These people were prehistoric ancestors of the modern Pueblo cultures of the Colorado Plateau. Paleoenvironmental research based on alluvial geomorphology, palynology, and dendroclimatology permits accurate quantitative reconstruction of annual fluctuations in potential agricultural production (kg of maize per hectare). The archaeological record of Anasazi farming groups from anno Domini 200-1300 provides information on a millennium of sociocultural stasis, variability, change, and adaptation. We report on a multiagent computational model of this society that closely reproduces the main features of its actual history, including population ebb and flow, changing spatial settlement patterns, and eventual rapid decline. The agents in the model are monoagriculturalists, who decide both where to situate their fields as well as the location of their settlements. Nutritional needs constrain fertility. Agent heterogeneity, difficult to model mathematically, is demonstrated to be crucial to the high fidelity of the model.

Patterns of species diversity in the deep sea as a function of sediment particle size diversity

Abstract: UNDERSTANDING the processes that generate and maintain patterns of species diversity is a major focus of contemporary ecological and evolutionary research. In the deep sea, species diversity varies geographically and bathymetrically1–3, and may attain levels that rival tropical communities4. Many hypotheses have been proposed concerning the forces that shape patterns of species diversity in the deep sea5, but so far it has not been possible to relate these patterns to potential causes in a direct quantitative way. The nature of sediments should be important in structuring deep-sea communities because deposit feeders rely on the sediments for nutrition and comprise most of the organisms in the deep sea6. The composition of soft sediment communities is influenced by sediment particle size7,8. Shallow-water deposit feeders selectively ingest particular size fractions of the sediments9,10 and there are interspecific differences in particle size preference11–13. Partitioning of sediments with respect to size may be more likely in the deep sea if there is strong selection for macrophagy as a result of reduced food supply and digestive constraints imposed by feeding on deposits14; macrophagy would permit species to ingest selectively the more labile components of the sediments. If deposit feeders in the deep sea partition the sediments with respect to size, species diversity may in part be a function of sediment particle size diversity. Also, sediment particle size diversity may reflect habitat complexity because the organisms live on or within the sediments15–21. Here we show that species diversity is a significant positive function of sediment particle size diversity. The relationship seems to be scale-invariant, accounting for a similar proportion of the variance at inter-regional, regional and local scales. Bathymetric patterns of species diversity also appear to be largely attributable to changes in sediment characteristics with depth. These results suggest that sediment diversity has an important role in determining the number of species within a community and identify a direct environmental factor that potentially influences species diversity in the deep sea.

Recognizing cross‐cultural differences in consumer complaint behavior and intentions: an empirical examination

Abstract: Understanding consumer dissatisfaction and its outcomes, a focus of consumer complaint behavior (CCB) research, has become a critical factor for business firms pursuing market penetration strategies where selling more to existing customers oftentimes is the key to profitability. However, CCB research to date has been primarily western in its orientation. This begs questions as to the extent to which western corporations can rely on its findings in markets with non‐western cultures. Based on an empirical investigation designed to compare CCB in a collectivist culture with CCB in an individualist culture, this research indicates that customers in different cultures do have different complaint behaviors and intentions. Managerial implications of these findings and recommendations for additional CCB research are discussed.