Ultrahigh energy neutrinos at the pierre auger observatory

The observation of ultrahigh energy neutrinos (UHEs) has become a priority in experimental astroparticle physics. UHEs can be detected with a variety of techniques. In particular, neutrinos can interact in the atmosphere (downward-going ) or in the Earth crust (Earth-skimming ), producing air showers that can be observed with arrays of detectors at the ground. With the surface detector array of the Pierre Auger Observatory we can detect these types of cascades. The distinguishing signature for neutrino events is the presence of very inclined showers produced close to the ground (i.e., after having traversed a large amount of atmosphere). In this work we review the procedure and criteria established to search for UHEs in the data collected with the ground array of the Pierre Auger Observatory.This includes Earth-skimming as well as downward-going neutrinos. No neutrino candidates have been found, which allows us to place competitive limits to the diffuse flux of UHEs in the EeV range and above

Inventory of current EU paediatric vision and hearing screening programmes

Background: We examined the diversity in paediatric vision and hearing screening programmes in Europe. Methods: Themes relevant for comparison of screening programmes were derived from literature and used to compile three questionnaires on vision, hearing and public-health screening. Tests used, professions involved, age and frequency of testing seem to influence sensitivity, specificity and costs most. Questionnaires were sent to ophthalmologists, orthoptists, otolaryngologists and audiologists involved in paediatric screening in all EU fullmember, candidate and associate states. Answers were cross-checked. Results: Thirty-nine countries participated; 35 have a vision screening programme, 33 a nation-wide neonatal hearing screening programme. Visual acuity (VA) is measured in 35 countries, in 71% more than once. First measurement of VA varies from three to seven years of age, but is usually before the age of five. At age three and four picture charts, including Lea Hyvarinen are used most, in children over four Tumbling-E and Snellen. As first hearing screening test otoacoustic emission (OAE) is used most in healthy neonates, and auditory brainstem response (ABR) in premature newborns. The majority of hearing testing programmes are staged; children are referred after one to four abnormal tests. Vision screening is performed mostly by paediatricians, ophthalmologists or nurses. Funding is mostly by health insurance or state. Coverage was reported as >95% in half of countries, but reporting was often not first-hand. Conclusion: Largest differences were found in VA charts used (12), professions involved in vision screening (10), number of hearing screening tests before referral (1-4) and funding sources (8)

Search for point-like sources of ultra-high energy neutrinos at the Pierre Auger Observatory and improved limit on the diffuse flux of tau neutrinos

The surface detector array of the Pierre Auger Observatory can detect neutrinos with energy E ν between 1017 eV and 10 20 eV from point-like sources across the sky south of +55° and north of -65° declinations. A search has been performed for highly inclined extensive air showers produced by the interaction of neutrinos of all flavors in the atmosphere (downward-going neutrinos), and by the decay of tau leptons originating from tau neutrino interactions in Earth\u27s crust (Earth-skimming neutrinos). No candidate neutrinos have been found in data up to 2010 May 31. This corresponds to an equivalent exposure of ∼3.5years of a full surface detector array for the Earth-skimming channel and ∼2 years for the downward-going channel. An improved upper limit on the diffuse flux of tau neutrinos has been derived. Upper limits on the neutrino flux from point-like sources have been derived as a function of the source declination. Assuming a differential neutrino flux k PS E -2ν from a point-like source, 90% confidence level upper limits for k PS at the level of ≈5 × 10-7 and 2.5 × 10-6 GeV cm-2 s-1 have been obtained over a broad range of declinations from the searches for Earth-skimming and downward-going neutrinos, respectively. © 2012 The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved

The Simons Genome Diversity Project: 300 genomes from 142 diverse populations

Here we report the Simons Genome Diversity Project data set: high quality genomes from 300 individuals from 142 diverse populations. These genomes include at least 5.8 million base pairs that are not present in the human reference genome. Our analysis reveals key features of the landscape of human genome variation, including that the rate of accumulation of mutations has accelerated by about 5% in non-Africans compared to Africans since divergence. We show that the ancestors of some pairs of present-day human populations were substantially separated by 100,000 years ago, well before the archaeologically attested onset of behavioural modernity. We also demonstrate that indigenous Australians, New Guineans and Andamanese do not derive substantial ancestry from an early dispersal of modern humans; instead, their modern human ancestry is consistent with coming from the same source as that of other non-Africans.The sequencing was funded by the Simons Foundation (SFARI 280376) and the US National Science Foundation (BCS-1032255). I.M. was supported by a Long Term Fellowship grant LT001095/2014 from the Human Frontier Science program. P.S. was supported by the Wenner-Gren foundation and the Swedish Research Council (VR grant 2014-453). T.W. and M.G. were supported by an NIJ grant 2014-DN-BX-K089. Y.E. was supported by a Career Award at the Scientific Interface from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund and by NIJ grant 2014-DN-BX-K089. D.L. was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. T.K. was supported by ERC Starting Investigator grant FP7 - 261213. R.S. received support from Russian Foundation for Basic Research (#15-04-02543). S.D. received support from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (#16-34-00599). R.K., E.K. and S.L. were supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (11-04-00725-a). E.B. was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (16-06-00303). O.B. was supported by the Russian Scientific Fund (14-04-00827) and by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (16-04-00890). D.M.B., H.S., E.M., R.V. and M.M. were supported by Institutional Research Funding from the Estonian Research Council IUT24-1 and by the European Regional Development Fund (European Union) through the Centre of Excellence in Genomics to Estonian Biocentre and University of Tartu. D.C. was supported by the Spanish MINECO grant CGL-44351-P. L.B.J. and W.S.W. were supported by NIH grant GM59290. S.A.T. was supported by NIH grants 5DP1ES022577 05, 1R01DK104339-01, and 1R01GM113657-01. C.T.-S. and Y.X. were supported by The Wellcome Trust grant 098051. C.M.B. was supported by NSF grants 0924726 and 1153911. K.T. was supported by CSIR Network Project grant (GENESIS: BSC0121). J.P.S. and Y.S.S. were supported in part by an NIH grant R01-GM094402, and a Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering. G.R., J.K and S.P. were funded by the Max Planck Society. N.P. and D.R. were supported by NIH grant GM100233 and D.R. is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigato