Status of atmospheric neutrino(mu)<-->neutrino(tau) oscillations and decoherence after the first K2K spectral data

We review the status of nu_mu-->nu_tau flavor transitions of atmospheric neutrinos in the 92 kton-year data sample collected in the first phase of the Super-Kamiokande (SK) experiment, in combination with the recent spectral data from the KEK-to-Kamioka (K2K) accelerator experiment (including 29 single-ring muon events). We consider a theoretical framework which embeds flavor oscillations plus hypothetical decoherence effects, and where both standard oscillations and pure decoherence represent limiting cases. It is found that standard oscillations provide the best description of the SK+K2K data, and that the associated mass-mixing parameters are determined at 1 sigma (and d.o.f.=1) as: Delta m^2=(2.6 +- 0.4)x10^{-3} eV^2 and sin^2(2theta)=1.00+0.00-0.05. As compared with standard oscillations, the case of pure decoherence is disfavored, although it cannot be ruled out yet. In the general case, additional decoherence effects in the nu_mu-->nu_tau channel do not improve the fit to the SK and K2K data, and upper bounds can be placed on the associated decoherence parameter. Such indications, presently dominated by SK, could be strengthened by further K2K data, provided that the current spectral features are confirmed with higher statistics. A detailed description of the statistical analysis of SK and K2K data is also given, using the so-called ``pull'' approach to systematic uncertainties.Comment: 18 pages (RevTeX) + 12 figures (PostScript

Structural and optical characterization of WO3 deposited on glass and ITO

Electrochromic materials exhibit variable and reversible optical properties under the action of voltage pulses. The interest in these materials has increased in the last few years due to their potential application in a wide variety of optical modulation devices. Tungsten oxide (WO3) is typical in such devices. In this work, we present a study of the structural and optical properties of tungsten oxide films deposited on glass and indium tin oxide. The films were produced by reactive dc magnetron sputtering at different temperatures (room temperature and 200°C) and bias voltage (−60 to +60 V). The sputtering atmosphere was composed of an Ar+O2 mixture so that sample could be deposited with different oxygen partial pressure (0.2⩽ p(O2)⩽0.8). Spectral transmission in the visible and near infrared was measured using a double-beam spectrophotometer. X-ray diffraction was used in order to characterize the film structure. The surface microtopography was analyzed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). XRD results show that for low p(O2) the films present an amorphous WO3 phase, while for high oxygen partial pressure they present a mixture of a more crystalline WO3 phase and a W20O58 phase. The structure change is for p(O2)=0.5–0.6. A corresponding minimum was observed in the transmission and in the optical band gap, at these oxygen partial pressures. These results show that the optical properties of the films are dependent on the presence of oxygen deficient regions on the films. This was also observed in the samples deposited with an applied bias voltage. Microstructure (AFM) and X-ray measurements in these samples show that electron bombardment (positive bias) favors crystallinity and ion bombardment (negative bias) favors amorphization of the tungsten oxide phases present on the films

Regulation during the second year: Executive function and emotion regulation links to joint attention, temperament, and social vulnerability in a Latin American sample

© 2019 Gago Galvagno, De Grandis, Clerici, Mustaca, Miller and Elgier. Although a growing body of work has established developing regulatory abilities during the second year of life, more work is needed to better understand factors that influence this emerging control. The purpose of the present study was to examine regulation capacities in executive functions (i.e., EF or cognitive control) and emotion regulation (i.e., ER or control focused on modulating negative and sustaining positive emotions) in a Latin American sample, with a focus on how joint attention, social vulnerability, and temperament contribute to performance. Sixty Latin American dyads of mothers and children aged 18 to 24 months completed several EF tasks, a Still-Face Paradigm (SFP) to examine ER (Weinberg et al., 2008), and the Early Social Communication Scale to measure joint attention (Mundy et al., 2003). Parents completed the Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire Very Short Form to measure temperament (ECBQ-VS, Putnam et al., 2010) and the Social Economic Level Scale (SES) from INDEC (2000). Results revealed the typical responses expected for toddlers of this age in these EF tasks and in the SFP. Also, we found associations between EF and ER and between non-verbal communication related to monitoring infants\u27 attention to objects (i.e., responding to joint attention) and initiation of pointing (e.g., pointing and showing of an object while the child alternates his gaze to an adult) with EF. Regarding social factors, family differences and type of housing contribute to regulation. For temperament, effortful control was associated with both regulatory capacities. Finally, only age predicted EF. These results suggest that many patterns regarding the development of these abilities are duplicated in the first months of life in a Latin American sample while further highlighting the importance of considering how the environment and the individual characteristics of infants may associate to these regulatory abilities, which is particularly relevant to developing public policies to promote their optimal development

Results for Greenland halibut, American plaice and Atlantic cod of the Spanish survey in NAFO Div. 3NO for the period 1997-2019

Greenland halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides), American plaice (Hippoglossoides platessoides) and Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) indices from the bottom trawl survey that Spain carries out in Spring since 1995 in Div. 3NO of the NAFO Regulatory Area are presented. Biomass, stratified mean catches and mean number per tow for the three species are presented since 1997, year in which the survey extended the depth strata. Mean catch per tow, length distribution and age distribution (this last except for American plaice) are presented for the last five years (2015-2019). Greenland halibut biomass and abundance estimates presented a decreasing trend since 1999, cut in 2007- 2009 with a high increase. In 2011 the biomass drops under the 2008 value, being stable since then until 2014 with a slight increase in 2015-2019 comprising a big increase in 2017, reaching the maximum of the series. In last years it can be seen a presence of juveniles, mainly in 2004, but the greatest lengths have failed, although in 2009 there is a quite good presence of individuals of ages 6-7 and in 2010 between 5-7. In 2011-2019 the presence of all ages is poor. In 2018 the mode was at 1-2 years, and 2-3 years in 2019, suggesting a fairly strong 2017 cohort. For American plaice we can see a slightly increasing trend from 1999 to 2015, reaching a maximum of mean catch and number in 2006, and a severe decline since 2016, being the 2019 the lowest value of the entire series. The greatest recruitment in the presented series occurred in 2004 and we can follow their mode along the years. No good recruitments were seen since then. In last years the level of all the ages is low. No 2019 age indices are available at this moment. For Atlantic cod, it can be seen a low biomass until 2008, being higher and variable since then, reaching a historical maximum in 2014. From 2015, biomass decreased reaching in 2019 poor values at the level of the 2005 biomass. In 2007-2008 the youngest length classes were much over the rest of the length classes. With the 2006 cohort the series reaches the maximum number of its historical values at five years in 2011. There have been no good recruitments since 2009, although in 2015 and 2016 a discrete presence of individuals of age 1 can be seen

Global Analysis of the post-SNO Solar Neutrino Data for Standard and Non-Standard Oscillation Mechanisms

What can we learn from solar neutrino observations? Is there any solution to the solar neutrino anomaly which is favored by the present experimental panorama? After SNO results, is it possible to affirm that neutrinos have mass? In order to answer such questions we analyze the current available data from the solar neutrino experiments, including the recent SNO result, in view of many acceptable solutions to the solar neutrino problem based on different conversion mechanisms, for the first time, using the same statistical procedure. This allows us to do a direct comparison of the goodness of the fit among different solutions, from which we can discuss and conclude on the current status of each proposed dynamical mechanism. These solutions are based on different assumptions: (a) neutrino mass and mixing, (b) non-vanishing neutrino magnetic moment, (c) the existence of non-standard flavor-changing and non-universal neutrino interactions and (d) the tiny violation of the equivalence principle. We investigate the quality of the fit provided by each one of these solutions not only to the total rate measured by all the solar neutrino experiments but also to the recoil electron energy spectrum measured at different zenith angles by the Super-Kamiokande collaboration. We conclude that several non-standard neutrino flavor conversion mechanisms provide a very good fit to the experimental data which is comparable with (or even slightly better than) the most famous solution to the solar neutrino anomaly based on the neutrino oscillation induced by mass.Comment: Minor changes in the solar magnetic field profile used, and some refferences added. Final version to appear in PR

Damping signatures in future neutrino oscillation experiments

We discuss the phenomenology of damping signatures in the neutrino oscillation probabilities, where either the oscillating terms or the probabilities can be damped. This approach is a possibility for tests of non-oscillation effects in future neutrino oscillation experiments, where we mainly focus on reactor and long-baseline experiments. We extensively motivate different damping signatures due to small corrections by neutrino decoherence, neutrino decay, oscillations into sterile neutrinos, or other mechanisms, and classify these signatures according to their energy (spectral) dependencies. We demonstrate, at the example of short baseline reactor experiments, that damping can severely alter the interpretation of results, e.g., it could fake a value of $\sin(2\theta_{13})$ smaller than the one provided by Nature. In addition, we demonstrate how a neutrino factory could constrain different damping models with emphasis on how these different models could be distinguished, i.e., how easily the actual non-oscillation effects could be identified. We find that the damping models cluster in different categories, which can be much better distinguished from each other than models within the same cluster.Comment: 33 pages, 5 figures, LaTeX. Final version published in JHE

Hydrographic variability (1994-2020) in the Ría de Vigo and adjacent shelf (NW Iberia)

The Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO-CSIC) carries out monthly oceanographic samplings at across-shelf sections off the northern Spanish coast under the monitoring program RADIALES (https://www.seriestemporales-ieo.net/). This is a multidisciplinary marine research effort addressing long-term variability issues at the ecosystem level (Bode et al., 2015; Valdés et al., 2002). Currently, the monitoring program includes 5 perpendicular coastal transects in Northern Spain: Santander, Gijón, Cudillero, A Coruña and Vigo. Focusing on the section located in the Ría de Vigo and adjacent shelf, we have analysed a 27-year time series (1994 - 2020) of temperature and salinity obtained through CTD profiles in three stations, two inside the Ría (~30 and ~40 m depth) and one in the mid-shelf (~90 m depth). This study summarizes the hydrographic variability in the region through the construction of a local climatology. In addition, long-term trends and interannual changes in seasonality are examined. The results show a change in the salinity regime in medium depth waters in 2013, although not in temperature. Near the surface, the temperature undergoes a negative shift from 2016, in correspondence with the entry of the AMO into a new negative phase

Exploring social patterns of participation in university-entrance level mathematics in England

In recent years in England there has been considerable attention given to a range of apparent crises in mathematics education, one of which has been the long term decline of participation in university-entrance level (Advanced or A) mathematics. Given the negative impact upon mathematics participation of Curriculum 2000, together with the government’s emphasis on Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects, the political intent to increase participation in Advanced level mathematics is clear. This paper uses the National Pupil Database (NPD) to develop a descriptive statistical account of how completion of Advanced level mathematics varies along the social axes of SES, ethnicity and gender. The process of working with the NPD is discussed in some depth in order to clarify the processes involved in this type of quantitative analysis and to illustrate how this analysis can be used to raise questions about who is doing what mathematics in the post-16 age-range