Proposal for SPS beam time for the baby MIND and TASD neutrino detector prototypes

The design, construction and testing of neutrino detector prototypes at CERN are ongoing activities. This document reports on the design of solid state baby MIND and TASD detector prototypes and outlines requirements for a test beam at CERN to test these, tentatively planned on the H8 beamline in the North Area, which is equipped with a large aperture magnet. The current proposal is submitted to be considered in light of the recently approved projects related to neutrino activities with the SPS in the North Area in the medium term 2015-2020

The design, construction and performance of the MICE scintillating fibre trackers

This is the Pre-print version of the Article. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2011 ElsevierCharged-particle tracking in the international Muon Ionisation Cooling Experiment (MICE) will be performed using two solenoidal spectrometers, each instrumented with a tracking detector based on diameter scintillating fibres. The design and construction of the trackers is described along with the quality-assurance procedures, photon-detection system, readout electronics, reconstruction and simulation software and the data-acquisition system. Finally, the performance of the MICE tracker, determined using cosmic rays, is presented.This work was supported by the Science and Technology Facilities Council under grant numbers PP/E003214/1, PP/E000479/1, PP/E000509/1, PP/E000444/1, and through SLAs with STFC-supported laboratories. This work was also supportedby the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, which is operated by the Fermi Research Alliance, under contract No. DE-AC02-76CH03000 with the U.S. Department of Energy, and by the U.S. National Science Foundation under grants PHY-0301737,PHY-0521313, PHY-0758173 and PHY-0630052. The authors also acknowledge the support of the World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI Initiative), MEXT, Japan

Particle tracking using the unscented Kalman filter in high energy physics experiments

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London.The extended Kalman lter (EKF) has a long history in the field of non-linear tracking. More recently, statistically-based estimators have emerged that avoid the need for a deterministic linearisation process. The Unscented Kalman filter (UKF) is one such technique that has been shown to perform favourably for some non-linear systems when compared to an EKF implementation, both in terms of accuracy and robustness. In this Thesis, the UKF is applied to a high energy physics particle tracking problem where currently the EKF is being implemented. The effects of measurement redundancy are investigated to determine improvements in accuracy of particle track reconstruction. The relationship between measurement redundancy and relative observability is also investigated through an experimental and theoretical analysis. Smoothing (backward filtering), in the high energy physics experiments, is implementedusing the Rauch Tung Striebel (RTS) smoother with the EKF , however, in Unscented Kalman filter algorithms, the Jacobian matrices required by the RTS method, are not available. The Unscented Rauch Tung Striebel (URTS) smoother addresses this problem by avoiding the use of Jacobian matrices but is not effi cient for large dimensional systems such as high energy physics experiments. A technique is implemented in the RTS smoother to make it suitable for the UKF. The method is given the name the Jacobian Equivalent Rauch Tung Striebel (JE-RTS) smoother. The implementation of this method is quite straight forward when the UKF is used as an estimator

Particulate airborne impurities

The cumulative effects of air pollutants are of principal concern in research on environmental protection in Sweden. Post-industrial society has imposed many limits on emitted air pollutants, yet the number of reports on the negative effects from them is increasing, largely due to human activity in the form of industrial emissions and increased traffic flows. Rising concerns over the health effects from airborne particulate matter (PM) stem from in vitro, in vivo, and cohort studies revealing effects of mostly negative nature. Full insight into the health effects from PM can only be achieved through practical investigation of the mode of toxicity from distinct types of particles and requires techniques for their identification, monitoring, and the production of model fractions for health studies. To this effect, comprehensive collection and chemical analysis of particulates at the origin of emission was performed in order to provide clearer insight into the nature of the particulates at exposure and add detail to aid risk assessment. Methods of capturing particles and analyzing their chemical nature were devised using scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). Furthermore, taking the approach of in vitro cytotoxicity testing, nanoparticles of types typical to automotive emissions, were synthesized and extensively characterized using SEM-EDS, X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM),dynamic light scattering (DLS), and nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA). The produced model magnetite and palladium nanoparticles were found to induce toxicity in human pulmonary epithelial cells (A549 and PBEC) as well as impact severely on immunological and renal cells (221 B- and 293T-cells) in a dose-dependent manner

In-vivo magnetic resonance imaging of hyperpolarized silicon particles

Silicon-based micro and nanoparticles have gained popularity in a wide range of biomedical applications due to their biocompatibility and biodegradability in-vivo, as well as a flexible surface chemistry, which allows drug loading, functionalization and targeting. Here we report direct in-vivo imaging of hyperpolarized 29Si nuclei in silicon microparticles by MRI. Natural physical properties of silicon provide surface electronic states for dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP), extremely long depolarization times, insensitivity to the in-vivo environment or particle tumbling, and surfaces favorable for functionalization. Potential applications to gastrointestinal, intravascular, and tumor perfusion imaging at sub-picomolar concentrations are presented. These results demonstrate a new background-free imaging modality applicable to a range of inexpensive, readily available, and biocompatible Si particles.Comment: Supplemental Material include

Construction and testing of the scintillating fibre trackers for MICE

The discovery of neutrino mass through experimental evidence of neutrino oscillations at the end of the last century has provided the first proof that the Standard Model of particle physics is incomplete. To be able to extend the Standard Model to incorporate massive neutrinos first requires many theoretical uncertainties surrounding the particle and its interactions to be understood. Therefore, a dedicated experimental programme is needed over the coming decades to provide precision measurements of the neutrino oscillation parameters and also a possible measurement of CP violation in the lepton sector, which could have astrophysical consequences. An intense source of neutrinos is required to achieve these precision measurements and the leading contender proposed to provide this neutrino beam, is the Neutrino Factory. Before a Neutrino Factory facility can be realised, a number of technological challenges need to be evaluated and understood first. One of which, is reduce the large phase space volume (emittance) of the initial muon beam, which is eventually stored and through decay provides the neutrino beam. Ionisation cooling is the chosen method to achieve this and the Muon Ionisation Cooling Experiment (MICE) at Rutherford Laboratory in the UK, is required to demonstrate ionisation cooling and its feasibility for a Neutrino Factory. To demonstrate ionisation cooling, a section of a cooling channel will be constructed and single-particle measurements of emittance of a muon beam before and after the cooling channel from particle spectrometers will be compared. To measure emittance accurately requires precision measurements of the momenta and spatial coordinates at the spectrometers by tracking devices in a uniform magnetic field. The focus of this thesis is based around the construction and testing of the MICE tracker(s), including a study of its simulated performance and also construction and testing of a prototype

Image informatics strategies for deciphering neuronal network connectivity

Brain function relies on an intricate network of highly dynamic neuronal connections that rewires dramatically under the impulse of various external cues and pathological conditions. Among the neuronal structures that show morphologi- cal plasticity are neurites, synapses, dendritic spines and even nuclei. This structural remodelling is directly connected with functional changes such as intercellular com- munication and the associated calcium-bursting behaviour. In vitro cultured neu- ronal networks are valuable models for studying these morpho-functional changes. Owing to the automation and standardisation of both image acquisition and image analysis, it has become possible to extract statistically relevant readout from such networks. Here, we focus on the current state-of-the-art in image informatics that enables quantitative microscopic interrogation of neuronal networks. We describe the major correlates of neuronal connectivity and present workflows for analysing them. Finally, we provide an outlook on the challenges that remain to be addressed, and discuss how imaging algorithms can be extended beyond in vitro imaging studies