We report measurements of the primary charged-particle pseudorapidity density and transverse momentum distributions in p-Pb collisions at √ s NN = 5.02 TeV and investigate their correlation with experimental observables sensitive to the centrality of the collision. Centrality classes are defined by using different event-activity estimators, i.e., charged-particle multiplicities measured in three different pseudorapidity regions as well as the energy measured at beam rapidity (zero degree). The procedures to determine the centrality, quantified by the number of participants (N part ) or the number of nucleon-nucleon binary collisions (N coll ) are described. We show that, in contrast to Pb-Pb collisions, in p-Pb collisions large multiplicity fluctuations together with the small range of participants available generate a dynamical bias in centrality classes based on particle multiplicity. We propose to use the zero-degree energy, which we expect not to introduce a dynamical bias, as an alternative event-centrality estimator. Based on zero-degree energy-centrality classes, the N part dependence of particle production is studied. Under the assumption that the multiplicity measured in the Pb-going rapidity region scales with the number of Pb participants, an approximate independence of the multiplicity per participating nucleon measured at mid-rapidity of the number of participating nucleons is observed. Furthermore, at high-p T the p-Pb spectra are found to be consistent with the pp spectra scaled by N coll for all centrality classes. Our results represent valuable input for the study of the event-activity dependence of hard probes in p-Pb collisions and, hence, help to establish baselines for the interpretation of the Pb-Pb data.

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Fifteen million farmers in India engaged in Maize cultivation. India would require 45 MMT of Maize by 2022. But, only 15% of cultivated area of maize is under irrigation and water shortage has been a challenge for sustainability of maize production. Water deficit stress (WDS) during pre-flowering and grain filling stages massively affects the plant performance due to imprecise traits function. Thus, the effect of WDS on non-drought tolerant (NDT) and drought tolerant (DT) maize lines were investigated. WDS increased the flowering days, days to maturity, anthesis silk interval, decreased the leaf number, abnormal expression of secondary stress responsive traits, loss of normal root architecture which overall lead to a reduction in GY/ha. WDS at flowering and grain filling stage leads to significant yield penalty especially in NDT lines than DT lines. The yield penalty was ranged from 34.28 to 66.15% in NDT and 38.48 to 55.95% in DT lines due to WDS. Using multiple statistics, traits which improve WDS tolerance in maize were identified viz; number of leaves, number of stomata on lower surface of leaf, leaf angle at ear forming node internodal length between 3 rd and 4 th leaf from top, flag leaf length, flag leaf width, ear per plants, leaf senescence, pollen stainability, root fresh weight and root length. These traits would help in trait specific breeding in maize for WDS tolerance.

Abstract:The elliptic flow coefficient (v 2 ) of identified particles in Pb-Pb collisions at √ s NN = 2.76 TeV was measured with the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The results were obtained with the Scalar Product method, a two-particle correlation technique, using a pseudo-rapidity gap of |∆η| > 0.9 between the identified hadron under study and the reference particles. The v 2 is reported for π ± , K ± , K 0 S , p+p, φ, Λ+Λ, Ξ − +Ξ + and Ω − +Ω + in several collision centralities. In the low transverse momentum (p T ) region, p T < 3 GeV/c, v 2 (p T ) exhibits a particle mass dependence consistent with elliptic flow accompanied by the transverse radial expansion of the system with a common velocity field. The experimental data for π ± and the combined K ± and K 0 S results, are described fairly well by hydrodynamic calculations coupled to a hadronic cascade model (VISHNU) for central collisions. However, the same calculations fail to reproduce the v 2 (p T ) for p+p, φ, Λ+ Λ and Ξ − +Ξ + . For transverse momentum values larger than about 3 GeV/c, particles tend to group according to their type, i.e. mesons and baryons. The present measurements exhibit deviations from the number of constituent quark (NCQ) scaling at the level of ±20% for p T > 3 GeV/c. The ALICE collaboration 34 IntroductionLattice quantum chromodynamics calculations predict a transition from ordinary nuclear matter to the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) [1][2][3][4], in which the constituents, the quarks and the gluons, are deconfined. At low values of the baryochemical potential, a crossover transition is expected to take place at a temperature of about 150 MeV and at an energy density of about 0.5 GeV/fm 3 [5,6]. These conditions are accessible in the laboratory by colliding heavy ions at ultra-relativistic energies. The study of the properties of this deconfined matter is the main goal of the heavy-ion collision program at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The existence of the QGP has been stipulated by observations at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) [7][8][9][10]. The first experimental results from the heavy-ion program at the LHC [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] have also provided evidence of the existence of the QGP in this new energy regime.-1 - JHEP06(2015)190Anisotropic flow, which characterises the momentum anisotropy of the final state particles, can probe the properties, such as the ratio of shear viscosity to entropy density (η/s), of the system created in heavy-ion interactions. In nuclear collisions, the impact parameter vector and the beam axis define the reaction plane. It was recently realized that the overlap region of the colliding nuclei exhibits an irregular shape driven by the initial density profile of nucleons participating in the collision which is different from one event to the other. The symmetry plane of this irregular shape fluctuates around the reaction plane in every event. This spatial anisotropy of the overlap region is transformed into an anisotropy in momen...

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The transverse momentum (p T ) distribution of primary charged particles is measured in minimum bias (non-single-diffractive) p þ Pb collisions at ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi s NN p ¼ 5:02 TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The p T spectra measured near central rapidity in the range 0:5 < p T < 20 GeV=c exhibit a weak pseudorapidity dependence. The nuclear modification factor R pPb is consistent with unity for p T above 2 GeV=c. This measurement indicates that the strong suppression of hadron production at high p T observed in Pb þ Pb collisions at the LHC is not due to an initial-state effect. The measurement is compared to theoretical calculations.

The azimuthal anisotropy coefficient v_{2} of prompt D^{0}, D^{+}, D^{*+}, and D_{s}^{+} mesons was measured in midcentral (30%-50% centrality class) Pb-Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV, with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The D mesons were reconstructed via their hadronic decays at midrapidity, |y|<0.8, in the transverse momentum interval 1