Probing nonstandard interactions with reactor neutrinos

New limits on the weak mixing angle and on the electron neutrino effective charge radius in the low energy regime, below 100 MeV, are obtained from a combined fit of all electron-(anti)neutrino electron elastic scattering measurements. We have included the recent TEXONO measurement with a CsI (Tl) detector. Only statistical error of this measurement has been taken into account. Weak mixing angle is found to be sin^2 theta_W = 0.255 +0.022 -0.023. The electron neutrino effective charge radius squared is bounded to be r^2 = (0.9 +0.9 -1.0) x 10^{-32} cm^2. The sensitivity of future low energy neutrino experiments to nonstandard interactions of neutrinos with quarks is also discussed.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, talk given at the Neutrino Oscillation Workshop (NOW 2008), Otranto, Italy, September 6-13, 2008. Misprints correcte

Putting context to numbers : a geotechnical risk trajectory to cost overrun extremism

The study investigates the cause of the unusually high cost overruns experienced in highway project delivery in the tropical wetland setting of the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. This is in view of the extensive literature supporting the link between geology, the lack of geotechnical best practices and cost overruns. An empirical profiling of cost overrun research further reveals the predominance of mono-method studies based on survey methods, correlative analysis and archival data modelling techniques, all of which are underlain by positivism. The study argues that such positivist philosophies, although methodologically valid, cannot adequately explain and provide in-depth understanding of the contextual cost overrun drivers in highway organisations., Using a robust and thoughtfully designed mix of methods, the paper examines the contribution of geotechnical risks to cost overruns experienced in highway project, and demonstrates the relevance of context in cost overrun research. Cost overrun data from documentary sources for 61 completed highway projects in the Niger Delta are gathered and analysed, revealing an average value of 216%, with extreme cases, ranging up to 1925% of budgeted cost. To uncover the intrinsic contextual drivers, 16 interviews were conducted with participants from the three highway agencies in the region, responsible for the execution of the sampled highway projects. Adopting a geotechnical narrative, the data is thematically analysed, deductively and inductively. The results of the analysis identified that poor project governance, management and procurement practices, have inhibited the competent management of geotechnical risk, creating a propensity for extreme cost overruns on the highway projects. The study submits the phenomenon of cost overruns in public infrastructure projects is underlain by a complexity of contextual social constructs, which would have been overlooked in positivists studies. Cost overrun research therefore, needs to be contextually and numerically anchored. Keywords: Context, Cost overruns, Highway projects, Mixed methods, Social Construct

Dopaminergic Neuronal Imaging in Genetic Parkinson's Disease: Insights into Pathogenesis

Objectives:To compare the dopaminergic neuronal imaging features of different subtypes of genetic Parkinson's Disease.Methods:A retrospective study of genetic Parkinson's diseases cases in which DaTSCAN (123I-FP-CIT) had been performed. Specific non-displaceable binding was calculated for bilateral caudate and putamen for each case. The right:left asymmetry index and striatal asymmetry index was calculated.Results:Scans were available from 37 cases of monogenetic Parkinson's disease (7 glucocerebrosidase (GBA) mutations, 8 alpha-synuclein, 3 LRRK2, 7 PINK1, 12 Parkin). The asymmetry of radioligand uptake for Parkinson's disease with GBA or LRRK2 mutations was greater than that for Parkinson's disease with alpha synuclein, PINK1 or Parkin mutations.Conclusions:The asymmetry of radioligand uptake in Parkinsons disease associated with GBA or LRRK2 mutations suggests that interactions with additional genetic or environmental factors may be associated with dopaminergic neuronal loss

DUNE Offline Computing Conceptual Design Report

International audienceThis document describes Offline Software and Computing for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) experiment, in particular, the conceptual design of the offline computing needed to accomplish its physics goals. Our emphasis in this document is the development of the computing infrastructure needed to acquire, catalog, reconstruct, simulate and analyze the data from the DUNE experiment and its prototypes. In this effort, we concentrate on developing the tools and systems thatfacilitate the development and deployment of advanced algorithms. Rather than prescribing particular algorithms, our goal is to provide resources that are flexible and accessible enough to support creative software solutions as HEP computing evolves and to provide computing that achieves the physics goals of the DUNE experiment