University of Minho

About: University of Minho is a education organization based out in Braga, Portugal. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Context (language use) & Population. The organization has 10585 authors who have published 34736 publications receiving 732436 citations. The organization is also known as: Universidade do Minho & UMinho.

Search for top squark pair production in final states with one isolated lepton, jets, and missing transverse momentum in √s=8 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

Abstract: The results of a search for top squark (stop) pair production in final states with one isolated lepton, jets, and missing transverse momentum are reported. The analysis is performed with proton-proton collision data at root s = 8 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2012 corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20 fb(-1). The lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) is taken to be the lightest neutralino which only interacts weakly and is assumed to be stable. The stop decay modes considered are those to a top quark and the LSP as well as to a bottom quark and the lightest chargino, where the chargino decays to the LSP by emitting a W boson. A wide range of scenarios with different mass splittings between the stop, the lightest neutralino and the lightest chargino are considered, including cases where the W bosons or the top quarks are off-shell. Decay modes involving the heavier charginos and neutralinos are addressed using a set of phenomenological models of supersymmetry. No significant excess over the Standard Model prediction is observed. A stop with a mass between 210 and 640 GeV decaying directly to a top quark and a massless LSP is excluded at 95% confidence level, and in models where the mass of the lightest chargino is twice that of the LSP, stops are excluded at 95% confidence level up to a mass of 500 GeV for an LSP mass in the range of 100 to 150 GeV. Stringent exclusion limits are also derived for all other stop decay modes considered, and model-independent upper limits are set on the visible cross-section for processes beyond the Standard Model.

Effect of filler size and concentration on the structure and properties of poly(vinylidene fluoride)/BaTiO3 nanocomposites

Abstract: The effect of filler size and content in the thermal, mechanical, and electrical response of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)/BaTiO3 nanocomposites has been investigated Dielectric constant increases significantly with increasing filler content and decreasing filler size Space charge effects at the interface between BaTiO3 and PVDF strongly influence the dielectric response The electroactive β-phase of PVDF is nucleated by the presence of the ceramic filler, the effect being strongly dependent on filler size and independent on filler content This filler/matrix interaction is also responsible for the variations observed in the activation energy of the thermal degradation of the polymer Smaller particles lead to larger relative contact areas and are responsible for the main variations observed in the thermal, mechanical, and electrical properties of the composites

Molecular Aspects and Comparative Genomics of Bacteriophage Endolysins

Abstract: Phages are recognized as the most abundant and diverse entities on the planet. Their diversity is determined predominantly by their dynamic adaptation capacities when confronted with different selective pressures in an endless cycle of coevolution with a widespread group of bacterial hosts. At the end of the infection cycle, progeny virions are confronted with a rigid cell wall that hinders their release into the environment and the opportunity to start a new infection cycle. Consequently, phages encode hydrolytic enzymes, called endolysins, to digest the peptidoglycan. In this work, we bring to light all phage endolysins found in completely sequenced double-stranded nucleic acid phage genomes and uncover clues that explain the phage-endolysin-host ecology that led phages to recruit unique and specialized endolysins.

Applying to higher education: information sources and choice factors

Abstract: Higher education institutions are facing increasingly complex challenges, which demand a deeper understanding of the sources prospective students use when applying to a higher education institution. This research centres on students’ decision‐making process for higher education institutions, focusing on the pre‐purchase period, and, in particular, the information sources and choice factors students draw on when selecting a higher education institution. A survey was administered to students who were enrolling for the first time at a Portuguese university, yielding a total sample of 1641. The findings reveal that the university website is rated among the three most used sources of information by the majority of respondents. The results also show that geographical proximity is the most important choice factor for a higher education institution. Conclusions, implications and avenues for future research are presented.

Search for the standard model Higgs boson in the diphoton decay channel with 4.9fb -1 of pp collision data at √s=7TeV with atlas

Abstract: A search for the standard model Higgs boson is performed in the diphoton decay channel. The data used correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.9 fb-1 collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of √s=7 TeV. In the diphoton mass range 110–150 GeV, the largest excess with respect to the background-only hypothesis is observed at 126.5 GeV, with a local significance of 2.8 standard deviations. Taking the look-elsewhere effect into account in the range 110–150 GeV, this significance becomes 1.5 standard deviations. The standard model Higgs boson is excluded at 95% confidence level in the mass ranges of 113–115 GeV and 134.5–136 GeV.