Area Marina Protetta Isole Egadi: Percorsi Naturalistici ed archeologici

Higgs boson studies at the Tevatron

We combine searches by the CDF and D0 Collaborations for the standard model Higgs boson with mass in the range 90-200 GeV/c2 produced in the gluon-gluon fusion, WH, ZH, tt̄H, and vector boson fusion processes, and decaying in the H→bb̄, H→W+W-, H→ZZ, H→τ+τ-, and H→γγ modes. The data correspond to integrated luminosities of up to 10 fb-1 and were collected at the Fermilab Tevatron in pp̄ collisions at √s=1.96 TeV. The searches are also interpreted in the context of fermiophobic and fourth generation models. We observe a significant excess of events in the mass range between 115 and 140 GeV/c2. The local significance corresponds to 3.0 standard deviations at mH=125 GeV/c2, consistent with the…

Citizen science projects for monitoring alien macrophytes

To understand the invasive potential and the spread dynamics of an alien species, any newly colonized area needs to be quickly detected. Therefore, regular monitoring programs and public awareness campaigns are essential. Since intensive monitoring activities involving scientists are expensive, the occurrence and spread of marine species could remain undetected or could be detected only years after the initial colonization. Citizen Science initiatives, a potential solution to this problem providing supplemental information that would otherwise be lost, are able to involve different groups of volunteers: students, tourists, divers, underwater photographers, amateurs and fishermen. Volunteers…

The Project “Caulerpa cylindracea in the Egadi Islands”: citizens and scientists working together to monitor marine alien species

The creation of early-warning systems is crucial for preventing and reducing the risk of invasive species introduction. In this respect, the contribution of citizen-scientists (tourists, students, teachers, divers and fishermen) in providing information and data (validated by taxonomic experts) on the occurrence of marine invasive species that would otherwise be impossible to collect, is crucial in understanding the phenomenon of biological invasions. The Citizen Science Project “Caulerpa cylindracea - Egadi Islands”, launched in 2014 and ended in 2016, aimed at creating a database on the spread dynamics and the levels of threat of the invasive green alga Caulerpa cylindracea within the Ega…

Combination of measurements of the top-quark pair production cross section from the Tevatron Collider

We combine six measurements of the inclusive top-quark pair (tt̄) production cross section (σtt̄) from data collected with the CDF and D0 detectors at the Fermilab Tevatron with proton-antiproton collisions at s=1.96TeV. The data correspond to integrated luminosities of up to 8.8fb-1. We obtain a value of σtt̄=7.60±0.41pb for a top-quark mass of mt=172.5GeV. The contributions to the uncertainty are 0.20 pb from statistical sources, 0.29 pb from systematic sources, and 0.21 pb from the uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The result is in good agreement with the standard model expectation of 7.35-0.33+0.28pb at next-to-next-to-leading order and next-to-next-to leading logarithms in pert…