196 research outputs found
Quantitative Sensory Testing in adults with Tourette syndrome
INTRODUCTION:
Abnormal sensory perceptions, for instance hypersensitivity to certain external stimuli or premonitory urges preceding tics, are core features in Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS). Aberrant awareness of externally applied stimuli in terms of altered sensory perception thresholds might contribute to these sensory phenomena in GTS.
METHODS:
We used the well-established and standardized “Quantitative Sensory Testing” (QST) battery (German Research Network on Neuropathic Pain) to investigate 13 sensory parameters including thermal, mechanical/tactile and pain thresholds in 14 GTS patients without clinically significant comorbidities and 14 healthy controls matched for age and gender.
RESULTS:
There were no relevant group differences in any of the 13 QST parameters and no specific QST pattern in GTS patients. There was no correlation between QST parameters and “Premonitory Urge for Tics scale” (PUTS) scores.
CONCLUSION:
Our data show that the perceptual threshold detection of externally applied sensory stimuli is normal in adults with GTS. This indicates that other perceptual mechanisms, such as abnormal central sensorimotor processing and/or aberrant interoceptive awareness might underlie the clinically significant sensory abnormalities in GTS
Observational Constraints on the Ultra-high Energy Cosmic Neutrino Flux from the Second Flight of the ANITA Experiment
The Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) completed its second
long-duration balloon flight in January 2009, with 31 days aloft (28.5 live
days) over Antarctica. ANITA searches for impulsive coherent radio Cherenkov
emission from 200 to 1200 MHz, arising from the Askaryan charge excess in
ultra-high energy neutrino-induced cascades within Antarctic ice. This flight
included significant improvements over the first flight in the payload
sensitivity, efficiency, and a flight trajectory over deeper ice. Analysis of
in-flight calibration pulses from surface and sub-surface locations verifies
the expected sensitivity. In a blind analysis, we find 2 surviving events on a
background, mostly anthropogenic, of 0.97+-0.42 events. We set the strongest
limit to date for 1-1000 EeV cosmic neutrinos, excluding several current
cosmogenic neutrino models.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Ultra-Relativistic Magnetic Monopole Search with the ANITA-II Balloon-borne Radio Interferometer
We have conducted a search for extended energy deposition trails left by
ultra-relativistic magnetic monopoles interacting in Antarctic ice. The
non-observation of any satisfactory candidates in the 31 days of accumulated
ANITA-II flight data results in an upper limit on the diffuse flux of
relativistic monopoles. We obtain a 90% C.L. limit of order
10^{-19}/(cm^2-s-sr) for values of Lorentz boost factor 10^{10}<gamma at the
anticipated energy E=10^{16} GeV. This bound is stronger than all previously
published experimental limits for this kinematic range.Comment: updated to version accepted by Phys. Rev.
Observation of Ultra-high-energy Cosmic Rays with the ANITA Balloon-borne Radio Interferometer
We report the observation of sixteen cosmic ray events of mean energy of 1.5
x 10^{19} eV, via radio pulses originating from the interaction of the cosmic
ray air shower with the Antarctic geomagnetic field, a process known as
geosynchrotron emission. We present the first ultra-wideband, far-field
measurements of the radio spectral density of geosynchrotron emission in the
range from 300-1000 MHz. The emission is 100% linearly polarized in the plane
perpendicular to the projected geomagnetic field. Fourteen of our observed
events are seen to have a phase-inversion due to reflection of the radio beam
off the ice surface, and two additional events are seen directly from above the
horizon.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, new figure adde
Testing Lorentz Invariance and CPT Conservation with NuMI Neutrinos in the MINOS Near Detector
A search for a sidereal modulation in the MINOS near detector neutrino data
was performed. If present, this signature could be a consequence of Lorentz and
CPT violation as predicted by a class of extensions to the Standard Model. No
evidence for a sidereal signal in the data set was found, implying that there
is no significant change in neutrino propagation that depends on the direction
of the neutrino beam in a sun-centered inertial frame. Upper limits on the
magnitudes of the Lorentz and CPT violating terms in these extensions to the
Standard Model lie between 0.01-1% of the maximum expected, assuming a
suppression of these signatures by factor of .
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New constraints on muon-neutrino to electron-neutrino transitions in MINOS
This paper reports results from a search for ν_μ → ν_e transitions by the MINOS experiment based on a 7×10^(20) protons-on-target exposure. Our observation of 54 candidate ν_e events in the far detector with a background of 49.1±7.0(stat)±2.7(syst) events predicted by the measurements in the near detector requires 2sin^2(2θ_(13))sin^2θ_(23)<0.12(0.20) at the 90% C.L. for the normal (inverted) mass hierarchy at δ_(CP)=0. The experiment sets the tightest limits to date on the value of θ_(13) for nearly all values of δ_(CP) for the normal neutrino mass hierarchy and maximal sin^2(2θ_(23))
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