A Search for Neutrinos from the Solar hep Reaction and the Diffuse Supernova Neutrino Background with the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory

A search has been made for neutrinos from the hep reaction in the Sun and from the diffus

Quantifying K, U, and Th contents of marine sediments using shipboard natural gamma radiation spectra measured on DV JOIDES Resolution

During International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) expeditions, shipboard-generated data provide the first insights into the cored sequences. The natural gamma radiation (NGR) of the recovered material, for example, is routinely measured on the ocean drilling research vessel DV JOIDES Resolution. At present, only total NGR counts are readily available as shipboard data, although full NGR spectra (counts as a function of gamma-ray energy level) are produced and archived. These spectra contain unexploited information, as one can estimate the sedimentary contents of potassium (K), thorium (Th), and uranium (U) from the characteristic gamma-ray energies of isotopes in the ^(40)K, ^(232)Th, and ^(238)U radioactive decay series. Dunlea et al. [2013] quantified K, Th and U contents in sediment from the South Pacific Gyre by integrating counts over specific energy levels of the NGR spectrum. However, the algorithm used in their study is unavailable to the wider scientific community due to commercial proprietary reasons. Here, we present a new MATLAB algorithm for the quantification of NGR spectra that is transparent and accessible to future NGR users. We demonstrate the algorithm's performance by comparing its results to shore-based inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), inductively coupled plasma-emission spectrometry (ICP-ES), and quantitative wavelength-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyses. Samples for these comparisons come from eleven sites (U1341, U1343, U1366-U1369, U1414, U1428-U1430, U1463) cored in two oceans during five expeditions. In short, our algorithm rapidly produces detailed high-quality information on sediment properties during IODP expeditions at no extra cost

The sexual and reproductive rights and benefit derived from sexual and reproductive health services of people with physical disabilities in South Africa: beliefs of non-disabled people

There is a body of theoretical work, and some empirical research, which suggests that non-disabled people assume people with physical disabilities not to be suitable romantic partners, not have sexual drives or desires, or not be sexually active. Access to sexual and reproductive health services for the latter group is a challenge: it has been proposed that people with physical disabilities face barriers to sexual health care access which are structural (such as inaccessible health care provider offices) as well as social (such as health care providers suggesting that people with physical disabilities should not procreate). The present paper explores non-disabled South Africans’ beliefs concerning the degree to which individuals have sexual and reproductive rights, and benefit from sexual and reproductive healthcare, for people with physical disabilities and people without disability. Using a survey, we asked 1,989 South Africans to estimate the degree to which people with physical disabilities and people without disability have sexual rights, and benefit from sexual and reproductive healthcare services, respectively. Respondents were more likely to support the idea that the population without disability were deserving of sexual rights compared to people with physical disabilities. Respondents were also more likely to rate the degree to which people with physical disability benefit from sexual and reproductive healthcare as less than that for people without physical disabilities. These findings provide some of the first empirical support that nondisabled people perceive people with physical disabilities as having fewer sexual and reproductive rights, and deriving less benefit from sexual and reproductive health services, than the population without disability. To have diminished sexual rights, and benefit less from sexual and reproductive healthcare, we suggest, evinces a negation of the sexual and reproductive needs and capacity of people with physical disabilities

Measurement of the νe\nu_e and Total 8^{8}B Solar Neutrino Fluxes with the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory Phase I Data Set

This article provides the complete description of results from the Phase I data set of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO). The Phase I data set is based on a 0.65 kt-year exposure of heavy water to the solar $^8$B neutrino flux. Included here are details of the SNO physics and detector model, evaluations of systematic uncertainties, and estimates of backgrounds. Also discussed are SNO's approach to statistical extraction of the signals from the three neutrino reactions (charged current, neutral current, and elastic scattering) and the results of a search for a day-night asymmetry in the $\nu_e$ flux. Under the assumption that the $^8$B spectrum is undistorted, the measurements from this phase yield a solar $\nu_e$ flux of $\phi(\nu_e) = 1.76^{+0.05}_{-0.05}{(stat.)}^{+0.09}_{-0.09} {(syst.)} \times 10^{6}$ cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$, and a non-$\nu_e$ component $\phi(\nu_{\mu\tau}) = 3.41^{+0.45}_{-0.45}{(stat.)}^{+0.48}_{-0.45} {(syst.)} \times 10^{6}$ cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$. The sum of these components provides a total flux in excellent agreement with the predictions of Standard Solar Models. The day-night asymmetry in the $\nu_e$ flux is found to be $A_{e} = 7.0 \pm 4.9 \mathrm{(stat.)^{+1.3}_{-1.2}}$, when the asymmetry in the total flux is constrained to be zero.Comment: Complete (archival) version of SNO Phase I results. 78 pages, 46 figures, 34 table

International ocean discovery program expedition 372 preliminary report creeping gas hydrate slides and Hikurangi LWD

International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 372 combined two research topics, slow slip events (SSEs) on subduction faults (IODP Proposal 781A-Full) and actively deforming gas hydrate-bearing landslides (IODP Proposal 841-APL). Our study area on the Hikurangi margin, east of the coast of New Zealand, provided unique locations for addressing both research topics.SSEs at subduction zones are an enigmatic form of creeping fault behavior. They typically occur on subduction zones at depths beyond the capabilities of ocean floor drilling. However, at the northern Hikurangi subduction margin they are among the best-documented and shallowest on Earth. Here, SSEs may extend close to the trench, where clastic and pelagic sediments about 1.0-1.5 km thick overlie the subducting, seamount-studded Hikurangi Plateau. Geodetic data show that these SSEs recur about every 2 years and are associated with measurable seafloor displacement. The northern Hikurangi subduction margin thus provides an excellent setting to use IODP capabilities to discern the mechanisms behind slow slip fault behaviour

Spatial Power Combining Oscillators Based On An Extended Resonance Technique

Several spatial power comblniDg oscillators employing an extended resonance technlque have been designed and fabricated for the first time on single layer mlcrostrlp structures. Power comblolng efficiency, circuit tolerance to individual device variations aDdthe effect of device failures on circuit performance were studied. Results obtained indicate exceptional circult tolerance to individual device parameter variations as well as to device faDores. The combiners described berein were designed and operated at 8 GHz with effective ndiated powers of 0.22 W, 0.64 Wand 4.3 W for 8 two, four and a nine device combiner, respectively