4,653 research outputs found
Electrical conductivity cell and method for fabricating the same
A flask having a threaded neck and a cap adapted for threaded engagement on the neck are used. A laminated disc between the cap and the neck forms a gas tight seal and the cap has a central opening that exposes a medial region of the disc. Piercing the disc through the opening are two electrodes, the inner ends of which contact the sample within the flask and the outer ends of which can be connected to test equipment. Cylindric glass tubes are fitted over the external portion of the electrodes to provide physical support and silicone rubber or a similar material serves to retain the glass cylinders in place and form a gas tight seal between the cylinders and the electrodes. Shrinkable tubing is shrunk over the glass tubes to afford further mechanical support and sealing. A final relatively large diameter shrinkable tube is shrunk over both electrodes and their associated glass cylinders. The support and sealing means for the electrodes is confined to a limited portion of the medial region of the disc so that the remainder of such region can be punctured by a hollow needle to introduce a test sample within the flask
How robust is the evidence of an emerging or increasing female excess in physical morbidity between childhood and adolescence? Results of a systematic literature review and meta-analyses
For asthma and psychological morbidity, it is well established that higher prevalence among males in childhood is replaced by higher prevalence among females by adolescence. This review investigates whether there is evidence for a similar emerging female ‘excess’ in relation to a broad range of physical morbidity measures. Establishing whether this pattern is generalised or health outcome-specific will further understandings of the aetiology of gender differences in health. Databases (Medline; Embase; CINAHL; PsycINFO; ERIC) were searched for English language studies (published 1992–2010) presenting physical morbidity prevalence data for males and females, for at least two age-bands within the age-range 4–17 years. A three-stage screening process (initial sifting; detailed inspection; extraction of full papers), was followed by study quality appraisals. Of 11 245 identified studies, 41 met the inclusion criteria. Most (n = 31) presented self-report survey data (five longitudinal, 26 cross-sectional); 10 presented routinely collected data (GP/hospital statistics). Extracted data, supplemented by additional data obtained from authors of the included studies, were used to calculate odds ratios of a female excess, or female:male incident rate ratios as appropriate. To test whether these changed with age, the values were logged and regressed on age in random effects meta-regressions. These showed strongest evidence of an emerging/increasing female excess for self-reported measures of headache, abdominal pain, tiredness, migraine and self-assessed health. Type 1 diabetes and epilepsy, based on routinely collected data, did not show a significant emerging/increasing female excess. For most physical morbidity measures reviewed, the evidence broadly points towards an emerging/increasing female excess during the transition to adolescence, although results varied by morbidity measure and study design, and suggest that this may occur at a younger age than previously thought
CPT-violating neutrino oscillations
We propose a simple phenomenological model predicting, through Lorentz
symmetry breaking, a CPT-violating asymmetry between particle and antiparticle
states in neutrino oscillations involving sterile neutrinos. Such a model is
able to explain the apparently observed anomalous excess of low-energy
\nu_e-like events, reported by the MiniBooNE collaboration, as well as the
non-observation of the corresponding anomalous excess of \ov{\nu}_e-like
events. The present model leads to very specific physical predictions in the
neutrino oscillations scenario, and account for the observed anomalies in terms
of only one CPT-Lorentz violation parameter of the order of the
Grand-Unification energy scale.Comment: revtex, 4 pages, no figure
Search for Lorentz Invariance and CPT Violation with the MINOS Far Detector
We searched for a sidereal modulation in the MINOS far detector neutrino rate. Such a signal would be
a consequence of Lorentz and CPT violation as described by the standard-model extension framework. It
also would be the first detection of a perturbative effect to conventional neutrino mass oscillations. We
found no evidence for this sidereal signature, and the upper limits placed on the magnitudes of the Lorentz
and CPT violating coefficients describing the theory are an improvement by factors of 20–510 over the
current best limits found by using the MINOS near detector
Improved Measurement of Muon Antineutrino Disappearance in MINOS
We report an improved measurement of ν̅_μ disappearance over a distance of 735 km using the MINOS detectors and the Fermilab Main Injector neutrino beam in a ν̅_μ-enhanced configuration. From a total exposure of 2.95×10^20 protons on target, of which 42% have not been previously analyzed, we make the most precise measurement of Δm̅^2=[2.62_(-0.28)^(+0.31)(stat)±0.09(syst)]×10^(-3)  eV^2 and constrain the ν_μ mixing angle sin^(2)(2θ̅)>0.75 (90% C.L.). These values are in agreement with Δm^2 and sin^(2)(2θ) measured for νμ, removing the tension reported in [ P. Adamson et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 107 021801 (2011)]
Global neutrino data and recent reactor fluxes: status of three-flavour oscillation parameters
We present the results of a global neutrino oscillation data analysis within
the three-flavour framework. We include latest results from the MINOS
long-baseline experiment (including electron neutrino appearance as well as
anti-neutrino data), updating all relevant solar (SK II+III), atmospheric (SK
I+II+III) and reactor (KamLAND) data. Furthermore, we include a recent
re-calculation of the anti-neutrino fluxes emitted from nuclear reactors. These
results have important consequences for the analysis of reactor experiments and
in particular for the status of the mixing angle . In our
recommended default analysis we find from the global fit that the hint for
non-zero remains weak, at 1.8 for both neutrino mass
hierarchy schemes. However, we discuss in detail the dependence of these
results on assumptions concerning the reactor neutrino analysis.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures and 2 tables, v2: corrected version, main
conclusions unchanged, references adde
Detecting Hidden Differences via Permutation Symmetries
We present a method for describing and characterizing the state of N
particles that may be distinguishable in principle but not in practice due to
experimental limitations. The technique relies upon a careful treatment of the
exchange symmetry of the state among experimentally accessible and
experimentally inaccessible degrees of freedom. The approach we present allows
a new formalisation of the notion of indistinguishability and can be
implemented easily using currently available experimental techniques. Our work
is of direct relevance to current experiments in quantum optics, for which we
provide a specific implementation.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figur
Uncovering Spiral Structure in Flocculent Galaxies
We present K'(2.1 micron) observations of four nearby flocculent spirals,
which clearly show low-level spiral structure and suggest that kiloparsec-scale
spiral structure is more prevalent in flocculent spirals than previously
supposed. In particular, the prototypical flocculent spiral NGC 5055 is shown
to have regular, two-arm spiral structure to a radius of 4 kpc in the near
infrared, with an arm-interarm contrast of 1.3. The spiral structure in all
four galaxies is weaker than that in grand design galaxies. Taken in unbarred
galaxies with no large, nearby companions, these data are consistent with the
modal theory of spiral density waves, which maintains that density waves are
intrinsic to the disk. As an alternative, mechanisms for driving spiral
structure with non-axisymmetric perturbers are also discussed. These
observations highlight the importance of near infrared imaging for exploring
the range of physical environments in which large-scale dynamical processes,
such as density waves, are important.Comment: 12 pages AASTeX; 3 compressed PS figures can be retrieved from
ftp://ftp.astro.umd.edu/pub/michele as file thornley.tar (1.6Mbytes).
Accepted to Ap.J. Letters.(Figures now also available here, and from
ftp://ftp.astro.umd.edu/pub/michele , in GIF format.
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