Determination of a time-shift in the OPERA set-up using high energy horizontal muons in the LVD and OPERA detectors

The purpose of this work is to report the measurement of a time-shift in the OPERA set-up in a totally independent way from Time Of Flight (TOF) measurements of CNGS neutrino events. The LVD and OPERA experiments are both installed in the same laboratory: LNGS. The relative position of the two detectors, separated by an average distance of ~ 160 m, allows the use of very high energy horizontal muons to cross-calibrate the timing systems of the two detectors, using a TOF technique which is totally independent from TOF of CNGS neutrino events. Indeed, the OPERA-LVD direction lies along the so-called "Teramo anomaly", a region in the Gran Sasso massif where LVD has established, many years ago, the existence of an anomaly in the mountain structure, which exhibits a low m. w. e. thickness for horizontal directions. The "abundant" high-energy horizontal muons (nearly 100 per year) going through LVD and OPERA exist because of this anomaly in the mountain orography. The total live time of the data in coincidence correspond to 1200 days from mid 2007 until March 2012. The time coincidence study of LVD and OPERA detectors is based on 306 cosmic horizontal muon events and shows the existence of a negative time shift in the OPERA set-up of the order of deltaT(AB) = - (73 \pm 9) ns when two calendar periods, A and B, are compared. This result shows a systematic effect in the OPERA timing system from August 2008 until December 2011. The size of the effect is comparable with the neutrino velocity excess recently measured by OPERA. It is probably interesting not to forget that with the MRPC technology developed by the ALICE Bologna group the TOF world record accuracy of 20 ps was reached. That technology can be implemented at LNGS for a high precision determination of TOF with the CNGS neutrino beams of an order of magnitude smaller than the value of the OPERA systematic effect

Observation of a first ντ\nu_\tau candidate in the OPERA experiment in the CNGS beam

The OPERA neutrino detector in the underground Gran Sasso Laboratory (LNGS) has been designed to perform the first detection of neutrino oscillations in direct appearance mode through the study of the $\nu_\mu\rightarrow\nu_\tau$ channel. The hybrid apparatus consists of an emulsion/lead target complemented by electronic detectors and it is placed in the high energy long-baseline CERN to LNGS beam (CNGS) 730 km away from the neutrino source. Runs with CNGS neutrinos were successfully carried out in 2008 and 2009. After a brief description of the beam, the experimental setup and the procedures used for the analysis of the neutrino events, we describe the topology and kinematics of a first candidate $\nu_\tau$ charged-current event satisfying the kinematical selection criteria. The background calculations and their cross-check are explained in detail and the significance of the event is assessed.Comment: 19 pages, 3 figure

A direct comparison of neuronavigated and non-neuronavigated intermittent theta burst stimulation in the treatment of depression

Objective To investigate whether a four-week course of neuronavigated intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is superior to the non-neuronavigated F3-EEG method of positioning. Methods We conducted a single-center, two-arm, randomized and double-blinded study (clinicaltrials.gov NCT03953521). 37 inpatients with an at least moderate depressive episode were randomized to receive either neuronavigated or 10-20-EEG-system based F3 guided iTBS. Both groups received twenty week daily sessions of iTBS while continuing to receive standard-of-care treatment by their ward physicians. For navigated iTBS, we used magnetic resonance imaging to target the border between the anterior and middle third of the middle frontal gyrus considered to represent the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (lDLPFC). Differences in the treatment arms were blinded by completely mimicking the procedures of the respective other treatment group. Rating physicians were not involved in the treatment procedure. Primary outcome was defined as the change of the 21-item version of the Hamilton Depression Score (HAMD) from baseline to end of treatment at week 4. Secondary outcomes included HAMD score during the treatment, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, WHO Quality of Life-BREF and Clinical Global Impression. For primary outcome, we used a planned group comparison for the absolute change in the HAMD. For secondary outcome measures we calculated analyses of variance (ANOVAs) with the within-subjects factor time (primary: baseline vs. week 4; secondary: all visits) and the between-subjects factor group (navigated vs. F3 guided group). We also did planned contrasts between both groups for all variables and all treatment and follow-up visits with the aim not to oversee any group differences. For group contrasts we used Student T-tests for metric and chi-square tests for categorial variables. Significance threshold was set to 5% uncorrected for multiple comparisons. Results Enrolment of 80 patients with interim analysis was planned. Interim analysis was performed after 37 patients (intention to treat). 6 patients dropped out, leaving 31 for analysis. With respect to primary outcome criteria, absolute change in the HAMD did not differ significantly between groups. In accordance, relative change and number of responders and remitters were not significantly different. Overall number of responders was 53% and of remitters was 60%. On a descriptive level, the results favor the clinical effects of the F3 group for the absolute and relative change in the HAMD and the number of responders. Number of remitters were exactly the same for both groups. Therefore, we decided to stop the trial due to the added burden of magnetic resonance imaging and neuronavigated treatment in relation to the effect. Secondary outcomes did also not differ significantly between groups. Patients did not differ in their baseline characteristics nor with respect to intake of medication during the trial period and all had access to the same therapeutic interventions. Conclusion We noticed a high antidepressive effect of add-on iTBS treatment to standard inpatient treatment but failed to demonstrate a clinical superiority of neuronavigated localization. The non-navigated, F3 guided iTBS treatment used as a control group may be sophisticated enough to dilute potential added benefits, and the difference between the localization approaches is either negligible or too small to justify the additional efforts of navigation. The effects of concomitant treatment may mask effects, but our patient population reflects clinical reality in an inpatient setting. Further prospective studies are warranted to compare neuronavigated with surface-based approaches

Einfluss der Komorbidität auf das Outcome bei Patienten mit Kopf-Hals-Tumoren: Eine Populations-bezogene Studie in Thüringen

Einleitung: Im Hinblick auf den demographischen Wandel wurden die Charakteristika und die Komorbiditäten bei Patienten mit Kopf-Hals-Tumoren (KHT) in Thüringen zum therapeutischen Outcome verglichen. Methoden: Der Einfluss der Komorbidität auf das Gesamtüberleben (OS) wurde in einer Populations-basierten Studie an 1094 Patienten mit KHT, die zwischen 2009-2011 in Thüringen behandelt wurden, untersucht. Die folgenden Komorbiditäts-Scores wurden verwendet: Charlson Comorbidity (CCI), alters-adjustierter CCI (ACCI), head and neck CCI (HNCCI), simplified comorbidity score (SCS) und adult comorbidity evaluation-27 (ACE-27). Ergebnisse: Die meisten Patienten waren männlich, das mittlere Lebensalter betrug 60 Jahre und 50% der Patienten wiesen ein Tumorstadium von IV auf. Folgende Risikofaktoren zeigten die Patienten: chronischer Nikotin- (38%), Alkoholabusus (33%), Anämie (23%). Zur Therapie der KHT wurde in der Studie die Chirurgie mit Radiochemotherapie (30%), die alleinige Chirurgie (29%) und die Chirurgie mit Radiatio (21%) eingesetzt. Folgende signifikante Risikofaktoren für ein schlechtes OS konnten nachgewiesen werden: hohes Lebensalter, hohes Tumorstadium, keine Therapie, chronischer Alkoholabusus, Anämie und hohe Komorbidität (p<0.05). Bezogen auf die Trennschärfe konnte in keinem Komorbiditäts-Score eine bessere prognostische Aussage zum OS nachgewiesen werden. Schlussfolgerung: Die Komorbidität ist unabhängig vom Tumorstadium in Deutschland ein wichtiger Risikofaktor für das OS bei Patienten mit KHT. Daten zur Komorbidität sollten deshalb im Tumorregister routinemäßig prospektiv erfasst werden, um einen validen Komorbiditäts-Score zu etablieren und die Prognose bei Patienten mit KHT besser zu erfassen.Unterstützt durch: -Der Erstautor gibt keinen Interessenkonflikt an

Alignment methods for the OPERA drift tube detector

The goal of the OPERA experiment is to give the first direct evidence for neutrino oscillations in the channel νμ→ντ . The OPERA detector is designed to observe the appearance of tau neutrinos in the originally pure muon neutrino CNGS beam. An important part of the magnetic spectrometer is the Precision Tracker (PT), a drift tube detector consisting of 9504 drift tubes. Its main task is the determination of the muon charge and momentum. The alignment strategy for the PT consists of two parts: the hardware measurement by theodolite and the software alignment using long muon tracks. In this paper, the hardware and the software alignment are described, and the track-based alignment methods are explained in detail. Results of the software alignment are presented with a focus on the analysis of cosmic particles