Old Rocks, New Limits: Excavated Ancient Mica Searches For Dark Matter

Minerals excavated from the Earth's crust contain gigayear-long astroparticle records, which can be read out using acid etching and microscopy, providing unmatched sensitivity to high mass dark matter. A roughly millimetre size slab of 500 million year old muscovite mica, calibrated and analyzed by Snowden-Ifft et al.~in 1990, revealed no signs of dark matter recoils and placed competitive limits on the nuclear interactions for sub-TeV mass dark matter. A different analysis of larger mica slabs in 1986 by Price and Salamon searched for strongly interacting monopoles. After implementing a detailed treatment of Earth's overburden, we utilize these ancient etched mica data to obtain new bounds on high mass dark matter interactions with nuclei.Comment: 22 pages, 4 figures, published versio

Dark Kinetic Heating of Exoplanets and Brown Dwarfs

Dark kinetic heating of neutron stars has been previously studied as a promising dark matter detection avenue. Kinetic heating occurs when dark matter is sped up to relativistic speeds in the gravitational well of high-escape velocity objects, and deposits kinetic energy after becoming captured by the object, thereby increasing its temperature. We show that dark kinetic heating can be significant even in objects with low-escape velocities, such as exoplanets and brown dwarfs, increasing the discovery potential of such searches. This can occur if there is a long-range dark force, creating a "dark escape velocity", leading to heating rates substantially larger than those expected from neutron stars. We consequently set constraints on dark sector parameters using Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer and JWST data on Super-Jupiter WISE 0855-0714, and map out future sensitivity to the dark matter scattering cross section below $10^{-40}~{\rm cm}^2$. We compare dark kinetic heating rates of other lower escape velocity objects such as the Earth, Sun, and white dwarfs, finding complementary kinetic heating signals are possible depending on particle physics parameters.Comment: 24 pages, 11 figure

Milky Way White Dwarfs as Sub-GeV to Multi-TeV Dark Matter Detectors

We show that Milky Way white dwarfs are excellent targets for dark matter (DM) detection. Using Fermi and H.E.S.S. Galactic center gamma-ray data, we investigate sensitivity to DM annihilating within white dwarfs into long-lived or boosted mediators and producing detectable gamma rays. Depending on the Galactic DM distribution, we set new constraints on the spin-independent scattering cross section down to $10^{-45}-10^{-41}$ cm$^2$ in the sub-GeV DM mass range, which is multiple orders of magnitude stronger than existing limits. For a generalized NFW DM profile, we find that our white dwarf constraints exceed spin-independent direct detection limits across most of the sub-GeV to multi-TeV DM mass range, achieving sensitivities as low as about $10^{-46}$ cm$^2$. In addition, we improve earlier versions of the DM capture calculation in white dwarfs, by including the low-temperature distribution of nuclei when the white dwarf approaches crystallization. This yields smaller capture rates than previously calculated by a factor of a few up to two orders of magnitude, depending on white dwarf size and the astrophysical system.Comment: 29 pages, 5 figure

Dark Matter, Destroyer of Worlds: Neutrino, Thermal, and Existential Signatures from Black Holes in the Sun and Earth

Dark matter can be captured by celestial objects and accumulate at their centers, forming a core of dark matter that can collapse to a small black hole, provided that the annihilation rate is small or zero. If the nascent black hole is big enough, it will grow to consume the star or planet. We calculate the rate of dark matter accumulation in the Sun and Earth, and use their continued existence to place novel constraints on high mass asymmetric dark matter interactions. We also identify and detail less destructive signatures: a newly-formed black hole can be small enough to evaporate via Hawking radiation, resulting in an anomalous heat flow emanating from Earth, or in a flux of high-energy neutrinos from the Sun observable at IceCube. The latter signature is entirely new, and we find that it may cover large regions of parameter space that are not probed by any other method.Comment: 39 pages, 12 figure

Dark Matter-Induced Baryonic Feedback in Galaxies

We demonstrate that non-gravitational interactions between dark matter and baryonic matter can affect structural properties of galaxies. Detailed galaxy simulations and analytic estimates demonstrate that dark matter which collects inside white dwarf stars and ignites Type Ia supernovae can substantially alter star formation, stellar feedback, and the halo density profile through a dark matter-induced baryonic feedback process, distinct from usual supernova feedback in galaxies.Comment: 5+12 pages, 15 figure

Playful Robotic Environment for Rehabilitation Therapies of Pediatric Patients with Upper Limb Disability

[ES] Este trabajo presenta una propuesta de asistencia para las terapias de rehabilitación de niños con lesión del miembro superior, basada en el desarrollo de un ambiente lúdico de asistencia tecnológica, cuyo objetivo es contribuir al aumento del beneficio de las terapias, en cuanto a la motivación y avance en el componente de rehabilitación físico. Este ambiente se denominó SpinBOT, y está compuesto por:  un guante didáctico instrumentado con un acelerómetro, un módulo de control, una plataforma robótica y una herramienta de visualización. Se seleccionaron 4 sujetos de estudio, divididos en dos grupos, grupo objetivo y grupo de control. La intervención de la terapia consistió en el desarrollo de 3 tareas durante 4 semanas y 2 sesiones por semana. Mediante la valoración GAS, (del inglés: “Goal Attainment Scale”) se observó el progreso del uso operativo del robot, lo que ayudó en la motivación para asistir a las terapias; además de, generar habilidades físicas y cognitivas.[EN] This project presents a proposal to assist the therapies for the children’s rehabilitation with upper limb injury, based on the development of a playful environment for technological assistance, with the goal of improving patient participation and motivation, to benefit and advance the rehabilitation patient’s therapies with upper limb disability. This environment was called SpinBOT, and consists of: a didactic glove instrumented with an accelerometer, a control module, a robotic platform and a visualization tool. Four study subjects were selected, divided into two groups, target group and control group. The intervention of the therapy consisted in the development of 3 tasks during 4 weeks and 2 sessions per week. Goal attainment scaling indicated improvement in the target group in operational competence of the robot, which facilitated the motivation to attend therapies. In addition, therapy with the robot simultaneously helped generate physical and cognitive skills.Acevedo-Londoño, JA.; Caicedo-Bravo, E.; Castillo-García, JF. (2018). Ambiente Robótico Lúdico para Terapias de Rehabilitación de Pacientes Pediátricos con Lesión del Miembro Superior. Revista Iberoamericana de Automática e Informática industrial. 15(2):203-210. https://doi.org/10.4995/riai.2017.9043OJS203210152Acevedo, J. A., Bravo, E. C., & García, J. F. C. (2017). Aplicación de tecnologías de rehabilitación robótica en ni-os con lesión del miembro superior. REVISTA SALUD UIS, 49(1), 103-114.Brooke, J. (1996). SUS-A quick and dirty usability scale. Usability evaluation in industry, 189(194), 4-7.Borsci, S., Federici, S., & Lauriola, M. (2009). On the dimensionality of the System Usability Scale: a test of alternative measurement models. Cognitive processing, 10(3), 193-197. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-009-0268-9Bangor, A., Kortum, P., & Miller, J. (2009). Determining what individual SUS scores mean: Adding an adjective rating scale. Journal of usability studies, 4(3), 114-123.Cook, A. M., Hoseit, P., Liu, K. M., Lee, R. Y., & Zenteno-Sanchez, C. M. (1988). Using a robotic arm system to facilitate learning in very young disabled children. IEEE Transactions on biomedical engineering, 35(2), 132-137. https://doi.org/10.1109/10.1351Cook, A. M., Liu, K. M., & Hoseit, P. (1990). Robotic arm use by very young motorically disabled children. Assistive Technology, 2(2), 51-57. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400435.1990.10132150Cook, A. M., Meng, M. H., Gu, J. J., & Howery, K. (2002). Development of a robotic device for facilitating learning by children who have severe disabilities. IEEE transactions on neural systems and rehabilitation engineering, 10(3), 178-187. https://doi.org/10.1109/TNSRE.2002.802877Cook, A. M., Bentz, B., Harbottle, N., Lynch, C., & Miller, B. (2005). School-based use of a robotic arm system by children with disabilities. IEEE transactions on neural systems and rehabilitation engineering, 13(4), 452-460. https://doi.org/10.1109/TNSRE.2005.856075Cook, A., Encarnação, P., & Adams, K. (2010). Robots: Assistive technologies for play, learning and cognitive development. Technology and Disability, 22(3), 127-145.Colombo, R., Pisano, F., Micera, S., Mazzone, A., Delconte, C., Carrozza, M. C., Dario, P., Minuco, G., 2005. Robotic techniques for upper limb evaluation and rehabilitation of stroke patients . IEEE transactions on neural systems and rehabilitation engineering 13 (3), 311-324. https://doi.org/10.1109/TNSRE.2005.848352Colomer, C., Baldovi, A., Torrome, S., Navarro, M., Moliner, B., Ferri, J., Noe, E., 2013. Efficacy of armeo® spring during the chronic phase of stroke. study in mild to moderate cases of hemiparesis. Neurologia (English Edition) 28 (5), 261-267. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nrl.2012.04.017Forman, G. (1986). Observations of young children solving problems with computers and robots. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 1(2), 60-74. https://doi.org/10.1080/02568548609594908Frank Lopresti, E., Mihailidis, A., Kirsch, N., 2004. Assistive technology for cognitive rehabilitation: State of the art. Neuropsychological rehabilitation 14 (1-2), 5-39. https://doi.org/10.1080/09602010343000101Harwin, W. S., Ginige, A., & Jackson, R. D. (1988). A robot workstation for use in education of the physically handicapped. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 35(2), 127-131. https://doi.org/10.1109/10.1350Hillman, M., 2004. 2 rehabilitation robotics from past to present-a historical perspective . En: Advances in Rehabilitation Robotics . 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Genetically determined Amerindian ancestry correlates with increased frequency of risk alleles for systemic lupus erythematosus

Objective To assess whether genetically determined Amerindian ancestry predicts increased presence of risk alleles of known susceptibility genes for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within 16 confirmed genetic susceptibility loci for SLE were genotyped in a set of 804 Mestizo lupus patients and 667 Mestizo healthy controls. In addition, 347 admixture informative markers were genotyped. Individual ancestry proportions were determined using STRUCTURE. Association analysis was performed using PLINK, and correlation between ancestry and the presence of risk alleles was analyzed using linear regression. Results A meta-analysis of the genetic association of the 16 SNPs across populations showed that TNFSF4 , STAT4 , ITGAM , and IRF5 were associated with lupus in a Hispanic Mestizo cohort enriched for European and Amerindian ancestry. In addition, 2 SNPs within the major histocompatibility complex region, previously shown to be associated in a genome-wide association study in Europeans, were also associated in Mestizos. Using linear regression, we predicted an average increase of 2.34 risk alleles when comparing an SLE patient with 100% Amerindian ancestry versus an SLE patient with 0% Amerindian ancestry ( P < 0.0001). SLE patients with 43% more Amerindian ancestry were predicted to carry 1 additional risk allele. Conclusion Our results demonstrate that Amerindian ancestry is associated with an increased number of risk alleles for SLE.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78480/1/27753_ftp.pd