High intensity neutrino oscillation facilities in Europe

The EUROnu project has studied three possible options for future, high intensity neutrino oscillation facilities in Europe. The first is a Super Beam, in which the neutrinos come from the decay of pions created by bombarding targets with a 4 MW proton beam from the CERN High Power Superconducting Proton Linac. The far detector for this facility is the 500 kt MEMPHYS water Cherenkov, located in the Fréjus tunnel. The second facility is the Neutrino Factory, in which the neutrinos come from the decay of μ+ and μ− beams in a storage ring. The far detector in this case is a 100 kt magnetized iron neutrino detector at a baseline of 2000 km. The third option is a Beta Beam, in which the neutrinos come from the decay of beta emitting isotopes, in particular He6 and Ne18, also stored in a ring. The far detector is also the MEMPHYS detector in the Fréjus tunnel. EUROnu has undertaken conceptual designs of these facilities and studied the performance of the detectors. Based on this, it has determined the physics reach of each facility, in particular for the measurement of CP violation in the lepton sector, and estimated the cost of construction. These have demonstrated that the best facility to build is the Neutrino Factory. However, if a powerful proton driver is constructed for another purpose or if the MEMPHYS detector is built for astroparticle physics, the Super Beam also becomes very attractive

Random-Matrix Theory of Quantum Transport

This is a comprehensive review of the random-matrix approach to the theory of phase-coherent conduction in mesocopic systems. The theory is applied to a variety of physical phenomena in quantum dots and disordered wires, including universal conductance fluctuations, weak localization, Coulomb blockade, sub-Poissonian shot noise, reflectionless tunneling into a superconductor, and giant conductance oscillations in a Josephson junction.Comment: 85 pages including 52 figures, to be published in Rev.Mod.Phy

Transition of adolescents with pediatric-onset hepatobiliary diseases: systematic review of literature

Objectives and Study: Long-term prognosis of adolescents with chronic paediatric-onset hepatobiliary diseases (POHD) has dramatically improved in recent decades. Since there is no accepted pathway of care for transition from paediatric (P) to adult (A) hepatologists, we aimed to provide a) a systematic review of literature, and b) an analysis of existing information derived from documents borrowed from other chronic diseases transition experiences. Method: Out of 657 screened studies published between 1980 and August 2017, identified on Pubmed and Google Scholar by means of keywords (“transition of care” or “health care” and “pediatrics” or “adolescence” or “young adults”), 87 were considered appropriate to be evaluated with the GRADE system (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation). Evaluation of international corporate documents included American Academy of Paediatrics, Got transition, ON TRAC (Transitioning Responsibly to Adult Care), Good 2 Go, Stepping Up, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines. Results: Existing models of transition have rarely been assessed in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with outcomes' measurements. Eighty-five per cent of the retrieved studies have a low level of evidence (C/D) according to GRADE system. Consistent with them, transition is generally defined as an active and evolving process that may benefit from a unified approach by P/A staff. Timing of transition should consider the young person's mental and physical development, the socio-economic family circumstances, and the availability of A physicians rather than chronological age only (usually 18 years). Although only 50% of the programs have performed a valid assessment of adolescents readiness for self-empowerment, it is accepted that early training predicts a successful transition. To implement an effective program, a well-coordinated multi-professional team and a integrated and multidisciplinary approach, is requested. Several barriers are reported to impede the transition process. The most relevant for patients/families are poor knowledge on health care system and rights to services, difficulties in identifying the appropriate A specialist, lack of knowledge of their own disease. Lack of a) time for the transition process, b) experienced adult-oriented centres, and c) financial reimbursement appear as critical aspects for P doctors. Adult's physicians consider as significant barriers the scarce training in paediatric diseases and poor communication with paediatricians. A few RCTs have recommended regular web-meetings and suitable technological connections to improve programs effectiveness. Conclusion: Our systematic review shows that 1. there is still no large unanimity on what constitutes a successful transition for adolescents with paediatric-onset diseases and even less for those with POHD; 2. an evidence-based implementation of an efficient transition policy is still limited by the relative lack of studies resulting in solid data. This preliminary analysis will be used in the making of a specific ESPGHAN/European Association for the Study of the Liver agreed document pointing to remove barriers, influence medical adherence, reduce the prevalence and severity of complications, and improve health-related quality of life for adolescent with POHD

Design of a neutrino source based on beta beams

``Beta beams'' produce collimated pure electron (anti)neutrino beams by accelerating beta active ions to high energies and having them decay in a racetrack shaped storage ring of 7 km circumference, the decay ring. EUROnu beta beams are based on CERN infrastructures and existing machines. Using existing machines may be an advantage for the cost evaluation, but will also constrain the physics performance. The isotope pair of choice for the beta beam is $^{6}\mathrm{He}$ and $^{18}\mathrm{Ne}$. However, before the EUROnu studies one of the required isotopes, $^{18}\mathrm{Ne}$, could not be produced in rates that satisfy the needs for physics of the beta beam. Therefore, studies of alternative beta emitters, $^{8}\mathrm{Li}$ and $^{8}\mathrm{B}$, with properties interesting for a beta beam have been proposed and have been studied within EUROnu. These alternative isotopes could be produced by using a small storage ring, in which the beam traverses a target, creating the $^{8}\mathrm{Li}$ and $^{8}\mathrm{B}$ isotopes. This production ring, the injection linac and the target system have been evaluated. Measurements of the cross section of the reactions to produce the beta beam isotopes show interesting results. A device to collect the produced isotopes from the target has been developed and tested. However, the yields of $^{8}\mathrm{Li}$ and $^{8}\mathrm{B}$, using the production ring for production of $^{8}\mathrm{Li}$ and $^{8}\mathrm{B}$, is not yet, according to simulations, giving the rates of isotopes that would be needed. Therefore, a new method of producing the $^{18}\mathrm{Ne}$ isotope has been developed and tested giving good production rates. A 60 GHz ECRIS prototype, the first in the world, was developed and tested for ion production with contributions from EUROnu. The decay ring lattices for the $^{8}\mathrm{Li}$ and $^{8}\mathrm{B}$ have been developed and the lattice for $^{6}\mathrm{He}$ and $^{18}\mathrm{Ne}$ has been optimized to ensure the high intensity ion beam stability