Research Program towards Observation of Neutrino-Nucleus Coherent Scattering

The article describes the research program pursued by the TEXONO Collaboration towards an experiment to observe coherent scattering between neutrinos and the nucleus at the power reactor. The motivations of studying this process are surveyed. In particular, a threshold of 100-200 eV has been achieved with an ultra-low-energy germanium detector prototype. This detection capability at low energy can also be adapted to conduct searches of Cold Dark Matter in the low-mass region as well as to enhance the sensitivities in the study of neutrino magnetic moments.Comment: 5 pages, 8 figures ; Proceedings of TAUP-2005 Workshop, Spain, 2005. Updated on 2006/9/15 for Proceedings of Neutrino-2006 Conference, Santa Fe, 200

Superconducting Superstructure for the TESLA Collider

We discuss the new layout of a cavity chain (superstructure) allowing, we hope, significant cost reduction of the RF system of both linacs of the TESLA linear collider. The proposed scheme increases the fill factor and thus makes an effective gradient of an accelerator higher. We present mainly computations we have performed up to now and which encouraged us to order the copper model of the scheme, still keeping in mind that experiments with a beam will be necessary to prove if the proposed solution can be used for the acceleration.Comment: 11 page

Self-reported chronic kidney disease and the risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality: Outcome-wide association study of 54 causes of death in the National Health Interview Survey

Background: A diagnosis of chronic kidney disease has been strongly associated with cardiovascular disease and mortality in a number of studies, but the association with specific causes of death has not been assessed in detail. We analysed the association between chronic kidney disease and all-cause mortality and 54 causes of death in the National Health Interview Survey, a prospective study of 210,748 US adults. Methods: We used multivariable Cox regression models to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for all-cause and cause-specific mortality associated with self-reported chronic kidney disease. Men and women aged 18–84 years were recruited between 1997 and 2004 and followed up for mortality through December 31, 2006. Results: During an average of 6 years follow-up, 9564 deaths occurred. A history of chronic kidney disease vs. no chronic kidney disease was associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality (HR = 2.69, 95% CI: 2.38–3.04), and mortality from septicemia (5.65, 2.84–11.25), viral hepatitis (10.67, 2.43–46.95), other infectious parasitic diseases (10.58, 3.59–31.21), total cancer (1.48, 1.05–2.09), lung cancer (1.94, 1.10–3.44), kidney cancer (4.74, 1.81–12.41), diabetes mellitus (8.57, 5.60–13.11), circulatory disease overall (3.36, 2.70–4.18) and 11 specific circulatory diseases with the strongest associations observed for primary hypertension/renal disease (13.60, 6.42–28.84), hypertensive heart/renal disease (10.72, 2.47–46.49), and other diseases of circulatory system (7.36, 3.22–16.81). Elevated risk was also observed for alcoholic liver disease (5.63, 1.90–16.66), other chronic liver disease (4.41, 1.74–11.17), kidney failure (13.07, 8.23–20.77), and five other causes of death. Conclusions: A history of chronic kidney disease was associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality and 27 out of 54 causes of death. Further studies are needed to clarify associations with less common causes of death

Body mass index measured repeatedly over 42 years as a risk factor for ischemic stroke: the HUNT study.

BACKGROUND: Higher BMI in middle age is associated with ischemic stroke, but little is known about BMI over adulthood, and the risk for ischemic stroke as most studies relied on a single measurement of BMI. METHODS: BMI was measured four times over a period of 42 years. We calculated average BMI values and group-based trajectory models and related these to the prospective risk of ischemic stroke after the last examination in Cox models with a follow-up time of 12 years. RESULTS: A total of 14,139 participants, with a mean age of 65.2 years and 55.4% women, had information on BMI from all four examinations, and we observed 856 ischemic strokes. People with overweight and obesity over adulthood had a higher risk for ischemic stroke with a multivariable-adjusted hazard ratio of 1.29 (95% CI 1.11-1.48) and 1.27 (95% CI 0.96-1.67), respectively, when compared to normal weight participants. Excess weight tended to have stronger effects earlier than later in life. A trajectory of developing obesity throughout life was associated with higher risk than other trajectories. CONCLUSIONS: High average BMI, especially at an early age, is a risk factor for ischemic stroke. Early weight control and long-term weight reduction for those with high BMI may decrease the later occurrence of ischemic stroke

The Study of TeV Variability and Duty Cycle of Mrk 421 from 3 Years of Observations with the Milagro Observatory

TeV flaring activity with time scales as short as tens of minutes and an orphan TeV flare have been observed from the blazar Markarian 421 (Mrk 421). The TeV emission from Mrk 421 is believed to be produced by leptonic synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) emission. In this scenario, correlations between the X-ray and the TeV fluxes are expected, TeV orphan flares are hardly explained and the activity (measured as duty cycle) of the source at TeV energies is expected to be equal or less than that observed in X-rays if only SSC is considered. To estimate the TeV duty cycle of Mrk 421 and to establish limits on its variability at different time scales, we continuously observed Mrk 421 with the Milagro observatory. Mrk 421 was detected by Milagro with a statistical significance of 7.1 standard deviations between 2005 September 21 and 2008 March 15. The observed spectrum is consistent with previous observations by VERITAS. We estimate the duty cycle of Mrk 421 for energies above 1 TeV for different hypothesis of the baseline flux and for different flare selections and we compare our results with the X-ray duty cycle estimated by Resconi et al. 2009. The robustness of the results is discussed.Comment: 27 pages, 6 figures, ApJ accepte

Discovery of Localized Regions of Excess 10-TeV Cosmic Rays

An analysis of 7 years of Milagro data performed on a 10-degree angular scale has found two localized regions of excess of unknown origin with greater than 12 sigma significance. Both regions are inconsistent with gamma-ray emission with high confidence. One of the regions has a different energy spectrum than the isotropic cosmic-ray flux at a level of 4.6 sigma, and it is consistent with hard spectrum protons with an exponential cutoff, with the most significant excess at ~10 TeV. Potential causes of these excesses are explored, but no compelling explanations are found.Comment: Submitted to PhysRevLet

Productivity of pigeon pea and maize rotation system in Balaka District, Southern Malawi

In Malawi, some parts of the country, such as Balaka District in Southern Malawi, are particularly prone to erratic rains with poor soil productivity. In the 2015/2016 rainy season some learning centres (LCs) focusing on pigeon-pea (Cajanus cajan) – maize (Zea mays L) rotations were established in four sections of Ulongwe Agriculture Extension Planning Area (EPA) in Balaka District to enhance soil fertility, nutrition and income diversification for increased resilience to production under erratic rain condition. Up to 132 plots of pigeon were established in 2005/2016 season. Of these 44 fields were sampled for yield, biomass, plant stand and 32 sites for soil data. In the second season of 2016/17, a maize fertilizer response trial with five rates of NPKS (0, 23:21:0+4S, 46:21:0+4S, 69:21:0+4S, and 92:21:0+4S) was super-imposed in the 44 fields, where farmers incorporated pigeon pea residues, a parallel study conducted in a nearby, adjacent field. In the first season, rainfall was low and erratic. Three dry spells (>10 non-rainy days) were recorded in two of four rain gauge stations, and two dry spells in one station. The soil test results showed low P, K and N status. Pigeon pea plant stand was low, with an average of 2.22 plants m-2 compared to an expected 4.44 plants m-2. Grain yields and stover weights were quite variable with a mean of 442 and 1698 kg/ha, respectively. In the second season maize yields grown in both old pigeon pea or continuous maize plots gave a linear response to fertilizer. The gains from pigeon rotation averaged 620, 308, 496 and -1072 for Chibwana Nsamala, Hindahinda, Mulambe and Chitseko sections respectively. The highest recorded yield was 4049 kg/ha from Hindahinda

Astroclimatic Characterization of Vallecitos: A candidate site for the Cherenkov Telescope Array at San Pedro Martir

We conducted an 18 month long study of the weather conditions of the Vallecitos, a proposed site in Mexico to harbor the northern array of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). It is located in Sierra de San Pedro Martir (SPM) a few kilometers away from Observatorio Astron\'omico Nacional. The study is based on data collected by the ATMOSCOPE, a multi-sensor instrument measuring the weather and sky conditions, which was commissioned and built by the CTA Consortium. Additionally, we compare the weather conditions of the optical observatory at SPM to the Vallecitos regarding temperature, humidity, and wind distributions. It appears that the excellent conditions at the optical observatory benefit from the presence of microclimate established in the Vallecitos.Comment: 16 pages, 16 figures, Publication of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, accepte

Productivity and profitability on groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L) and maize (Zea mays L) in a semi-arid area of southern Malawi

In many parts of Malawi, including Balaka district in Southern Malawi, are prone to erratic rains with poor soil productivity and famer practices. A research and outreach project was initiated in October 2015 to establish learning centres (LCs) of groundnut: maize rotations as an entry point to diversify nutrition and income base of smallholder farmers, while building up on soil fertility for increased resilience to production under climatic variation. Some 132 plots of groundnut were established in 2015/2016 in four sections of Ulongwe Extension Planning Area (EPA) in Balaka district. Of these, 44 fields were sampled for yield, biomass, plant stand and soils data. In the second season of 2016/2017, a maize fertilizer response trial (five rates of NP2O5K2O; 0, 23:21:0+4S, 46:21:0+4S, 69:21:0+4S, and 92:21:0+4S) was super-imposed in plots where farmers incorporated groundnut residues, in comparison with continuous maize from adjacent own field. In the first season, rainfall was below average and erratic, with 10-day dry spells recorded in two of four recording stations. The soils were generally poor, with test values below threshold for many variables including organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus. Groundnut average yields and standard deviation were 754 (±186) kg/ha, respectively. Plant stands were poor, with up to 24% of the 46 LCs attaining ≤50% of targeted plant stand of 8.88 plants m-2. Poor plant stand is suggested as a major contributor to low yields. Results from the 2016/2017 fertilizer response trials showed linear response of maize to fertilizer application. Yields ranged from an average of 1.47 t/ha without fertilizer application to 4.0 t/ha at 92:21:0+4S. It is concluded that the poor soil fertility, low field plant densities, and dry spells are the main causes of low yields. Gross margins were positive for groundnut yield of 1,000 kg/ha and fertilizer rates on maize of 46:23:0+4S and above