The measurement programme at the neutron time-of-flight facility n-TOF at CERN

Neutron-induced reaction cross sections are important for a wide variety of research fields ranging from the study of nuclear level densities, nucleosynthesis to applications of nuclear technology like design, and criticality and safety assessment of existing and future nuclear reactors, radiation dosimetry, medical applications, nuclear waste transmutation, accelerator-driven systems and fuel cycle investigations. Simulations and calculations of nuclear technology applications largely rely on evaluated nuclear data libraries. The evaluations in these libraries are based both on experimental data and theoretical models. CERN's neutron time-of-flight facility n-TOF has produced a considerable amount of experimental data since it has become fully operational with the start of its scientific measurement programme in 2001. While for a long period a single measurement station (EAR1) located at 185 m from the neutron production target was available, the construction of a second beam line at 20 m (EAR2) in 2014 has substantially increased the measurement capabilities of the facility. An outline of the experimental nuclear data activities at n-TOF will be presented

Scientific and Technical Report of the DRAGO 0511 Oceanographic Cruise. Extension of the Spanish Continental Shelf west off Canary Island

Informe científico de la campaña y de los resultados preliminaresLa campaña DRAGO 0511 forma parte de los trabajos para la extensión de la plataforma continental española al oeste de las islas Canarias conforme a la Convención de Naciones Unidas sobre Derecho del Mar (CONVEMAR). Han participado un total de 19 científicos y técnicos, 4 investigadores del Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO) y 4 investigadores del Instituto Geológico y Minero de España (IGME) del Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, 2 investigadores de TRAGSA (para la Secretaría General del Mar) del Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Medio Rural y Marino, y 6 hidrógrafos del Instituto Hidrográfico de la Marina (IHM) del Ministerio de Defensa, así como 5 estudiantes (2 de grado y 3 de postgrado) de la Facultad de Ciencias del Mar y Ambientales de la Universidad de Cádiz, y de la Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas (Titulación de Ingeniería Geológica) de la Universidad Complutense. El objetivo de esta campaña es la adquisición de los datos científicos necesarios para preparar la propuesta de ampliación de la plataforma continental española más allá de las 200 millas marinas del área situada al oeste de las Islas Canarias, conforme al artículo 76 de CONVEMAR. La información que se ha obtenido es fundamentalmente de batimetría multihaz y monohaz, perfiles de la velocidad del sonido, perfiles sísmicos de alta resolución, y muestreo de fondos principalmente mediante dragas de roca. Estos datos permitirán definir desde un punto de vista morfográfico, morfosedimentario y geológico, la región de la base del talud, así como llevar a cabo la localización de los posibles pies de talud (FOS) en esta región,y demostrar la estrecha relación existente entre la zona estudiada y el archipiélago de las Islas Canarias. En este sentido se han estudiado de forma preferente un conjunto de montes submarinos presentes al suroeste de las islas Canarias cuya génesis, de origen magmático, se debe encontrar en los mismos procesos de “punto caliente” que probablemente han debido generar los edificios volcánicos que constituyen las propias islas Canarias. Por otro lado, se ha localizado la presencia de grandes cuerpos sedimentarios constituidos por materiales procedentes de estos montes submarinos y generados por movimientos en masa de tipo gravitacional a favor de la pendiente del talud continental. La presencia tanto de estos montes submarinos, como de las grandes masas de sedimentos gravitacionales y, además la localización de escarpes en el talud, serán puntos clave de gran interés en esta región, siendo argumentos científicos válidos para demostrar la prolongación natural del territorio emergido del archipiélago canario así como para localizar los puntos del pie del talud continental. Durante la campaña DRAGO 0511 se han adquirido un total de 10895.4 km de registros con sonda multihaz EM302, sonda monohaz EA 600 y sonda paramétrica TOPAS PS 18. De dichas líneas, 9647.3 km se han realizado en las dos zonas de trabajo planificadas, 5603.2 km en la zona A y 4044.3 km en la zona B. En la zona A se ha cubierto un área total de 19996 km2 mientras que en la zona B la extensión ha sido de 13545 km2. En total se ha cubierto una extensión de 17795 km2 en el área de posible ampliación de la plataforma continental española. Por otra parte, cabe señalar que además 16471 km2 de líneas se han realizado dentro de la ZEE española del archipiélago canario, que se utilizarán, en algún caso, para demostrar la continuidad de estos cuerpos sedimentarios con las islas Canarias, y más adelante para la cartografía de este sector de la ZEE española. El resto de registros, 1151.5 km. corresponden a los tránsitos. En el total del tiempo de la campaña DRAGO 0511, un 70.5 % se ha trabajado sobre las zonas planificadas A y B localizadas sobre las áreas de ampliación de la plataforma continental española o sobre puntos concretos de la ZEE española que pueden ser utilizados para establecer los FOS, un 16.7 % en tránsitos sobre la ZEE española de las islas Canarias y un 7.1% de recalada en los puertos de Santa Cruz de Tenerife y de La Estaca de la Iila de El Hierro. Los datos obtenidos en la campaña DRAGO 0511 serán usados para elaborar la presentación del trazado del límite exterior de la plataforma continental de España más allá de las 200 millas marinas en el polígono del archipiélago de las islas Canarias conforme a la parte VI y el anexo II de CONVEMAR. Dicha presentación de datos e información científica se deberá realizar ante la Comisión de límites de la plataforma continental de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas en Nueva York, de conformidad con la CONVEMAR y con las directrices científico-técnicas de dicha Comisión, con anterioridad al 9 de mayo del año 2014.Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores y Cooperación (MAEC), Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO) e Instituto Geológico y Minero de España (IGME) ambos del Ministerio de Investigación, Ciencia e Industria (MICINN), Instituo Hidrográfico de la Marina (IHM) del Ministerio de Defensa (MDEF) y Secretaria General del Mar del Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Medio Rural y Marino (MARM). Acción Complementaria del Plan Nacional de I+D+i CTM2010-09496-

RICORS2040 : The need for collaborative research in chronic kidney disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a silent and poorly known killer. The current concept of CKD is relatively young and uptake by the public, physicians and health authorities is not widespread. Physicians still confuse CKD with chronic kidney insufficiency or failure. For the wider public and health authorities, CKD evokes kidney replacement therapy (KRT). In Spain, the prevalence of KRT is 0.13%. Thus health authorities may consider CKD a non-issue: very few persons eventually need KRT and, for those in whom kidneys fail, the problem is 'solved' by dialysis or kidney transplantation. However, KRT is the tip of the iceberg in the burden of CKD. The main burden of CKD is accelerated ageing and premature death. The cut-off points for kidney function and kidney damage indexes that define CKD also mark an increased risk for all-cause premature death. CKD is the most prevalent risk factor for lethal coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the factor that most increases the risk of death in COVID-19, after old age. Men and women undergoing KRT still have an annual mortality that is 10- to 100-fold higher than similar-age peers, and life expectancy is shortened by ~40 years for young persons on dialysis and by 15 years for young persons with a functioning kidney graft. CKD is expected to become the fifth greatest global cause of death by 2040 and the second greatest cause of death in Spain before the end of the century, a time when one in four Spaniards will have CKD. However, by 2022, CKD will become the only top-15 global predicted cause of death that is not supported by a dedicated well-funded Centres for Biomedical Research (CIBER) network structure in Spain. Realizing the underestimation of the CKD burden of disease by health authorities, the Decade of the Kidney initiative for 2020-2030 was launched by the American Association of Kidney Patients and the European Kidney Health Alliance. Leading Spanish kidney researchers grouped in the kidney collaborative research network Red de Investigación Renal have now applied for the Redes de Investigación Cooperativa Orientadas a Resultados en Salud (RICORS) call for collaborative research in Spain with the support of the Spanish Society of Nephrology, Federación Nacional de Asociaciones para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades del Riñón and ONT: RICORS2040 aims to prevent the dire predictions for the global 2040 burden of CKD from becoming true

Effectiveness of an mHealth intervention combining a smartphone app and smart band on body composition in an overweight and obese population: Randomized controlled trial (EVIDENT 3 study)

Background: Mobile health (mHealth) is currently among the supporting elements that may contribute to an improvement in health markers by helping people adopt healthier lifestyles. mHealth interventions have been widely reported to achieve greater weight loss than other approaches, but their effect on body composition remains unclear. Objective: This study aimed to assess the short-term (3 months) effectiveness of a mobile app and a smart band for losing weight and changing body composition in sedentary Spanish adults who are overweight or obese. Methods: A randomized controlled, multicenter clinical trial was conducted involving the participation of 440 subjects from primary care centers, with 231 subjects in the intervention group (IG; counselling with smartphone app and smart band) and 209 in the control group (CG; counselling only). Both groups were counselled about healthy diet and physical activity. For the 3-month intervention period, the IG was trained to use a smartphone app that involved self-monitoring and tailored feedback, as well as a smart band that recorded daily physical activity (Mi Band 2, Xiaomi). Body composition was measured using the InBody 230 bioimpedance device (InBody Co., Ltd), and physical activity was measured using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Results: The mHealth intervention produced a greater loss of body weight (–1.97 kg, 95% CI –2.39 to –1.54) relative to standard counselling at 3 months (–1.13 kg, 95% CI –1.56 to –0.69). Comparing groups, the IG achieved a weight loss of 0.84 kg more than the CG at 3 months. The IG showed a decrease in body fat mass (BFM; –1.84 kg, 95% CI –2.48 to –1.20), percentage of body fat (PBF; –1.22%, 95% CI –1.82% to 0.62%), and BMI (–0.77 kg/m2, 95% CI –0.96 to 0.57). No significant changes were observed in any of these parameters in men; among women, there was a significant decrease in BMI in the IG compared with the CG. When subjects were grouped according to baseline BMI, the overweight group experienced a change in BFM of –1.18 kg (95% CI –2.30 to –0.06) and BMI of –0.47 kg/m2 (95% CI –0.80 to –0.13), whereas the obese group only experienced a change in BMI of –0.53 kg/m2 (95% CI –0.86 to –0.19). When the data were analyzed according to physical activity, the moderate-vigorous physical activity group showed significant changes in BFM of –1.03 kg (95% CI –1.74 to –0.33), PBF of –0.76% (95% CI –1.32% to –0.20%), and BMI of –0.5 kg/m2 (95% CI –0.83 to –0.19). Conclusions: The results from this multicenter, randomized controlled clinical trial study show that compared with standard counselling alone, adding a self-reported app and a smart band obtained beneficial results in terms of weight loss and a reduction in BFM and PBF in female subjects with a BMI less than 30 kg/m2 and a moderate-vigorous physical activity level. Nevertheless, further studies are needed to ensure that this profile benefits more than others from this intervention and to investigate modifications of this intervention to achieve a global effect

Performance of reconstruction and identification of τ leptons decaying to hadrons and vτ in pp collisions at √s=13 TeV

The algorithm developed by the CMS Collaboration to reconstruct and identify τ leptons produced in proton-proton collisions at √s=7 and 8 TeV, via their decays to hadrons and a neutrino, has been significantly improved. The changes include a revised reconstruction of π⁰ candidates, and improvements in multivariate discriminants to separate τ leptons from jets and electrons. The algorithm is extended to reconstruct τ leptons in highly Lorentz-boosted pair production, and in the high-level trigger. The performance of the algorithm is studied using proton-proton collisions recorded during 2016 at √s=13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb¯¹. The performance is evaluated in terms of the efficiency for a genuine τ lepton to pass the identification criteria and of the probabilities for jets, electrons, and muons to be misidentified as τ leptons. The results are found to be very close to those expected from Monte Carlo simulation

Search for heavy resonances decaying to a top quark and a bottom quark in the lepton+jets final state in proton–proton collisions at 13 TeV

A search is presented for narrow heavy resonances decaying to a top quark and a bottom quark using data collected by the CMS experiment at √s = 13TeV in 2016. The data set analyzed corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb−1. Final states that include a single lepton (e, μ), multiple jets, and missing transverse momentum are analyzed. No evidence is found for the production of a W′ boson, and the production of right-handed W′ bosons is excluded at 95% confidence level for masses up to 3.6 TeV depending on the scenario considered. Exclusion limits for W′ bosons are also presented as a function of their coupling strength to left- and right-handed fermions. These limits on a W′ boson decaying via a top and a bottom quark are the most stringent published to date

Measurement of angular parameters from the decay B⁰ → K⁎0^{⁎0} μ⁺ μ⁻ in proton–proton collisions at √s 8 TeV

Angular distributions of the decay B⁰  → K$^{⁎0}$ μ⁺ μ⁻ are studied using a sample of proton–proton collisions at √s=8TeV collected with the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.5fb⁻¹ . An angular analysis is performed to determine the P₁ and P$^{\u27}$₅ parameters, where the P$^{\u27}$₅ parameter is of particular interest because of recent measurements that indicate a potential discrepancy with the standard model predictions. Based on a sample of 1397 signal events, the P₁ and P$^{\u27}$₅ parameters are determined as a function of the dimuon invariant mass squared. The measurements are in agreement with predictions based on the standard model