Solar neutrino detection sensitivity in DARWIN via electron scattering

We detail the sensitivity of the proposed liquid xenon DARWIN observatory to solar neutrinos via elastic electron scattering. We find that DARWIN will have the potential to measure the fluxes of five solar neutrino components: pp, 7Be, 13N, 15O and pep. The precision of the 13N, 15O and pep components is hindered by the double-beta decay of 136Xe and, thus, would benefit from a depleted target. A high-statistics observation of pp neutrinos would allow us to infer the values of the electroweak mixing angle, sin 2θw, and the electron-type neutrino survival probability, Pee, in the electron recoil energy region from a few keV up to 200 keV for the first time, with relative precision of 5% and 4%, respectively, with 10 live years of data and a 30 tonne fiducial volume. An observation of pp and 7Be neutrinos would constrain the neutrino-inferred solar luminosity down to 0.2%. A combination of all flux measurements would distinguish between the high- (GS98) and low-metallicity (AGS09) solar models with 2.1–2.5σ significance, independent of external measurements from other experiments or a measurement of 8B neutrinos through coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering in DARWIN. Finally, we demonstrate that with a depleted target DARWIN may be sensitive to the neutrino capture process of 131Xe

Gratitude mediates quality of life differences between fibromyalgia patients and healthy controls

Purpose: Despite a growing literature on the benefits of gratitude for adjustment to chronic illness, little is known about gratitude in medical populations compared to healthy populations, or the degree to which potential deficits in gratitude might impact quality of life. The purpose of the present study was to (1) examine levels of gratitude and quality of life in fibromyalgia patients and healthy controls and (2) consider the role of gratitude in explaining quality of life differences between fibromyalgia patients and healthy controls. Methods: Participants were 173 fibromyalgia patients and 81 healthy controls. All participants completed measures of gratitude, quality of life, and socio-demographics. Results: Although gratitude was positively associated with quality of life, levels of gratitude and quality of life were lower in the fibromyalgia sample relative to the healthy controls. This difference in gratitude partially mediated differences in quality of life between the two groups after controlling for socio-demographic variables. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that gratitude is a valuable positive psychological trait for quality of life in people with fibromyalgia. Interventions to improve gratitude in this patient population may also bring enhancement in quality of life

Targeting of Peptide Cytotoxins to LHRH Receptors For Treatment of Cancer

Receptors for LHRH (luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone) are expressed in about 80% of human endometrial, ovarian and prostate cancers and are also found in more than 50% of breast cancers including triple negative breast cancers. In the human body, LHRH receptors are found at significant levels in the pituitary and reproductive organs. Other benign tissues or hematopoietic stem cells express only low levels of receptors for LHRH or no receptors. Thus LHRH receptors are promising targets for a receptor- mediated chemotherapy with cytotoxic hybrid molecules. Cytotoxic analogs of LHRH consist of a LHRH agonist, which is used as a carrier peptide and DOX or its derivatives. Cytotoxic analogs of LHRH, AEZS-108 (formerly known as AN-152) and AN-207, exhibit anti-cancer activity in various in vitro and in vivo models of LHRH-receptor positive cancers. In AEZS-108 (zoptarelin DOX) DOX is covalently linked to the LHRH agonist [D-Lys(6)]LHRH. Results of phase I and II clinical studies in patients with breast, endometrial and ovarian cancers demonstrated good anticancer activity with moderate toxic side effects and without any sign of cardiotoxicity so far. AEZS-108 is also being evaluated in phase I/II studies in castration resistant prostate cancer and metastatic bladder cancer. Because of the very promising phase II results in endometrial cancer, a multinational, multicenter phase III study of this malignancy has been initiated and is currently recruiting patients

Sensitivity of the DARWIN observatory to the neutrinoless double beta decay of 136 Xe

The DARWIN observatory is a proposed next-generation experiment to search for particle dark matter and for the neutrinoless double beta decay of 136Xe. Out of its 50 t total natural xenon inventory, 40 t will be the active target of a time projection chamber which thus contains about 3.6 t of 136Xe. Here, we show that its projected half-life sensitivity is 2.4 71027year, using a fiducial volume of 5 t of natural xenon and 10 year of operation with a background rate of less than 0.2 events/(t \ub7 year) in the energy region of interest. This sensitivity is based on a detailed Monte Carlo simulation study of the background and event topologies in the large, homogeneous target. DARWIN will be comparable in its science reach to dedicated double beta decay experiments using xenon enriched in 136Xe