134 research outputs found
Residual cognitive deficits 50 years after lead poisoning during childhood
The long term neurobehavioural consequences of childhood lead poisoning are not known. In this study adult subjects with a documented history of lead poisoning before age 4 and matched controls were examined with an abbreviated battery of neuropsychological tests including measures of attention, reasoning, memory, motor speed, and current mood. The subjects exposed to lead were inferior to controls on almost all of the cognitive tasks. This pattern of widespread deficits resembles that found in children evaluated at the time of acute exposure to lead rather than the more circumscribed pattern typically seen in adults exposed to lead. Despite having completed as many years of schooling as controls, the subjects exposed to lead were lower in lifetime occupational status. Within the exposed group, performance on the neuropsychological battery and occupational status were related, consistent with the presumed impact of limitations in neuropsychological functioning on everyday life. The results suggest that many subjects exposed to lead suffered acute encephalopathy in childhood which resolved into a chronic subclinical encephalopathy with associated cognitive dysfunction still evident in adulthood. These findings lend support to efforts to limit exposure to lead in childhood
SPIDER: Probing the Early Universe with a Suborbital Polarimeter
We evaluate the ability of SPIDER, a balloon-borne polarimeter, to detect a
divergence-free polarization pattern ("B-modes") in the Cosmic Microwave
Background (CMB). In the inflationary scenario, the amplitude of this signal is
proportional to that of the primordial scalar perturbations through the
tensor-to-scalar ratio r. We show that the expected level of systematic error
in the SPIDER instrument is significantly below the amplitude of an interesting
cosmological signal with r=0.03. We present a scanning strategy that enables us
to minimize uncertainty in the reconstruction of the Stokes parameters used to
characterize the CMB, while accessing a relatively wide range of angular
scales. Evaluating the amplitude of the polarized Galactic emission in the
SPIDER field, we conclude that the polarized emission from interstellar dust is
as bright or brighter than the cosmological signal at all SPIDER frequencies
(90 GHz, 150 GHz, and 280 GHz), a situation similar to that found in the
"Southern Hole." We show that two ~20-day flights of the SPIDER instrument can
constrain the amplitude of the B-mode signal to r<0.03 (99% CL) even when
foreground contamination is taken into account. In the absence of foregrounds,
the same limit can be reached after one 20-day flight.Comment: 29 pages, 8 figures, 4 tables; v2: matches published version, flight
schedule updated, two typos fixed in Table 2, references and minor
clarifications added, results unchange
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Reactive Halogens in the Marine Boundary Layer (RHaMBLe): The tropical North Atlantic experiments
The NERC UK SOLAS-funded Reactive Halogens in the Marine Boundary Layer (RHaMBLe) programme comprised three field experiments. This manuscript presents an overview of the measurements made within the two simultaneous remote experiments conducted in the tropical North Atlantic in May and June 2007. Measurements were made from two mobile and one ground-based platforms. The heavily instrumented cruise D319 on the RRS Discovery from Lisbon, Portugal to São Vicente, Cape Verde and back to Falmouth, UK was used to characterise the spatial distribution of boundary layer components likely to play a role in reactive halogen chemistry. Measurements onboard the ARSF Dornier aircraft were used to allow the observations to be interpreted in the context of their vertical distribution and to confirm the interpretation of atmospheric structure in the vicinity of the Cape Verde islands. Long-term ground-based measurements at the Cape Verde Atmospheric Observatory (CVAO) on São Vicente were supplemented by long-term measurements of reactive halogen species and characterisation of additional trace gas and aerosol species during the intensive experimental period.
This paper presents a summary of the measurements made within the RHaMBLe remote experiments and discusses them in their meteorological and chemical context as determined from these three platforms and from additional meteorological analyses. Air always arrived at the CVAO from the North East with a range of air mass origins (European, Atlantic and North American continental). Trace gases were present at stable and fairly low concentrations with the exception of a slight increase in some anthropogenic components in air of North American origin, though NOx mixing ratios during this period remained below 20 pptv (note the non-IUPAC adoption in this manuscript of pptv and ppbv, equivalent to pmol mol−1 and nmol mol−1 to reflect common practice). Consistency with these air mass classifications is observed in the time series of soluble gas and aerosol composition measurements, with additional identification of periods of slightly elevated dust concentrations consistent with the trajectories passing over the African continent. The CVAO is shown to be broadly representative of the wider North Atlantic marine boundary layer; measurements of NO, O3 and black carbon from the ship are consistent with a clean Northern Hemisphere marine background. Aerosol composition measurements do not indicate elevated organic material associated with clean marine air. Closer to the African coast, black carbon and NO levels start to increase, indicating greater anthropogenic influence. Lower ozone in this region is possibly associated with the increased levels of measured halocarbons, associated with the nutrient rich waters of the Mauritanian upwelling. Bromide and chloride deficits in coarse mode aerosol at both the CVAO and on D319 and the continuous abundance of inorganic gaseous halogen species at CVAO indicate significant reactive cycling of halogens.
Aircraft measurements of O3 and CO show that surface measurements are representative of the entire boundary layer in the vicinity both in diurnal variability and absolute levels. Above the inversion layer similar diurnal behaviour in O3 and CO is observed at lower mixing ratios in the air that had originated from south of Cape Verde, possibly from within the ITCZ. ECMWF calculations on two days indicate very different boundary layer depths and aircraft flights over the ship replicate this, giving confidence in the calculated boundary layer depth
Measurement of the branching fraction
The branching fraction is measured in a data sample
corresponding to 0.41 of integrated luminosity collected with the LHCb
detector at the LHC. This channel is sensitive to the penguin contributions
affecting the sin2 measurement from The
time-integrated branching fraction is measured to be . This is the most precise measurement to
date
Model-independent search for CP violation in D0→K−K+π−π+ and D0→π−π+π+π− decays
A search for CP violation in the phase-space structures of D0 and View the MathML source decays to the final states K−K+π−π+ and π−π+π+π− is presented. The search is carried out with a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb−1 collected in 2011 by the LHCb experiment in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. For the K−K+π−π+ final state, the four-body phase space is divided into 32 bins, each bin with approximately 1800 decays. The p-value under the hypothesis of no CP violation is 9.1%, and in no bin is a CP asymmetry greater than 6.5% observed. The phase space of the π−π+π+π− final state is partitioned into 128 bins, each bin with approximately 2500 decays. The p-value under the hypothesis of no CP violation is 41%, and in no bin is a CP asymmetry greater than 5.5% observed. All results are consistent with the hypothesis of no CP violation at the current sensitivity
Measurement of the CP-violating phase \phi s in Bs->J/\psi\pi+\pi- decays
Measurement of the mixing-induced CP-violating phase phi_s in Bs decays is of
prime importance in probing new physics. Here 7421 +/- 105 signal events from
the dominantly CP-odd final state J/\psi pi+ pi- are selected in 1/fb of pp
collision data collected at sqrt{s} = 7 TeV with the LHCb detector. A
time-dependent fit to the data yields a value of
phi_s=-0.019^{+0.173+0.004}_{-0.174-0.003} rad, consistent with the Standard
Model expectation. No evidence of direct CP violation is found.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures; minor revisions on May 23, 201
Search for the lepton-flavor-violating decays Bs0→e±μ∓ and B0→e±μ∓
A search for the lepton-flavor-violating decays Bs0→e±μ∓ and B0→e±μ∓ is performed with a data sample, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb-1 of pp collisions at √s=7 TeV, collected by the LHCb experiment. The observed number of Bs0→e±μ∓ and B0→e±μ∓ candidates is consistent with background expectations. Upper limits on the branching fractions of both decays are determined to be B(Bs0→e±μ∓)101 TeV/c2 and MLQ(B0→e±μ∓)>126 TeV/c2 at 95% C.L., and are a factor of 2 higher than the previous bounds
Absolute luminosity measurements with the LHCb detector at the LHC
Absolute luminosity measurements are of general interest for colliding-beam
experiments at storage rings. These measurements are necessary to determine the
absolute cross-sections of reaction processes and are valuable to quantify the
performance of the accelerator. Using data taken in 2010, LHCb has applied two
methods to determine the absolute scale of its luminosity measurements for
proton-proton collisions at the LHC with a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. In
addition to the classic "van der Meer scan" method a novel technique has been
developed which makes use of direct imaging of the individual beams using
beam-gas and beam-beam interactions. This beam imaging method is made possible
by the high resolution of the LHCb vertex detector and the close proximity of
the detector to the beams, and allows beam parameters such as positions, angles
and widths to be determined. The results of the two methods have comparable
precision and are in good agreement. Combining the two methods, an overall
precision of 3.5% in the absolute luminosity determination is reached. The
techniques used to transport the absolute luminosity calibration to the full
2010 data-taking period are presented.Comment: 48 pages, 19 figures. Results unchanged, improved clarity of Table 6,
9 and 10 and corresponding explanation in the tex
Measurement of the ratio of branching fractions BR(B0 -> K*0 gamma)/BR(Bs0 -> phi gamma) and the direct CP asymmetry in B0 -> K*0 gamma
The ratio of branching fractions of the radiative B decays B0 -> K*0 gamma
and Bs0 phi gamma has been measured using an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb-1
of pp collision data collected by the LHCb experiment at a centre-of-mass
energy of sqrt(s)=7 TeV. The value obtained is BR(B0 -> K*0 gamma)/BR(Bs0 ->
phi gamma) = 1.23 +/- 0.06(stat.) +/- 0.04(syst.) +/- 0.10(fs/fd), where the
first uncertainty is statistical, the second is the experimental systematic
uncertainty and the third is associated with the ratio of fragmentation
fractions fs/fd. Using the world average value for BR(B0 -> K*0 gamma), the
branching fraction BR(Bs0 -> phi gamma) is measured to be (3.5 +/- 0.4) x
10^{-5}.
The direct CP asymmetry in B0 -> K*0 gamma decays has also been measured with
the same data and found to be A(CP)(B0 -> K*0 gamma) = (0.8 +/- 1.7(stat.) +/-
0.9(syst.))%.
Both measurements are the most precise to date and are in agreement with the
previous experimental results and theoretical expectations.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figues, 4 table
Absolute luminosity measurements with the LHCb detector at the LHC
Absolute luminosity measurements are of general interest for colliding-beam
experiments at storage rings. These measurements are necessary to determine the
absolute cross-sections of reaction processes and are valuable to quantify the
performance of the accelerator. Using data taken in 2010, LHCb has applied two
methods to determine the absolute scale of its luminosity measurements for
proton-proton collisions at the LHC with a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. In
addition to the classic "van der Meer scan" method a novel technique has been
developed which makes use of direct imaging of the individual beams using
beam-gas and beam-beam interactions. This beam imaging method is made possible
by the high resolution of the LHCb vertex detector and the close proximity of
the detector to the beams, and allows beam parameters such as positions, angles
and widths to be determined. The results of the two methods have comparable
precision and are in good agreement. Combining the two methods, an overall
precision of 3.5% in the absolute luminosity determination is reached. The
techniques used to transport the absolute luminosity calibration to the full
2010 data-taking period are presented.Comment: 48 pages, 19 figures. Results unchanged, improved clarity of Table 6,
9 and 10 and corresponding explanation in the tex
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