987 research outputs found
Including Systematic Uncertainties in Confidence Interval Construction for Poisson Statistics
One way to incorporate systematic uncertainties into the calculation of
confidence intervals is by integrating over probability density functions
parametrizing the uncertainties. In this note we present a development of this
method which takes into account uncertainties in the prediction of background
processes, uncertainties in the signal detection efficiency and background
efficiency and allows for a correlation between the signal and background
detection efficiencies. We implement this method with the Feldman & Cousins
unified approach with and without conditioning. We present studies of coverage
for the Feldman & Cousins and Neyman ordering schemes. In particular, we
present two different types of coverage tests for the case where systematic
uncertainties are included. To illustrate the method we show the relative
effect of including systematic uncertainties the case of dark matter search as
performed by modern neutrino tel escopes.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures, replaced to match published versio
PpCRN7 and PpCRN20 of phythophthora parasitica regulate plant cell death leading to enhancement of host susceptibility
Phytophthora species secrete cytoplasmic effectors from a family named Crinkler (CRN), which are characterised by the presence of conserved specific domains in the N- and C-terminal regions. P. parasitica causes disease in a wide range of host plants, however the role of CRN effectors in these interactions remains unclear. Here, we aimed to: (i) identify candidate CRN encoding genes in P. parasitica genomes; (ii) evaluate the transcriptional expression of PpCRN (Phytophthora parasitica Crinkler candidate) during the P. parasitica interaction with Citrus sunki (high susceptible) and Poncirus trifoliata (resistant); and (iii) functionally characterize two PpCRNs in the model plant Nicotiana benthamiana. Results Our in silico analyses identified 80 putative PpCRN effectors in the genome of P. parasitica isolate 'IAC 01/95.1'. Transcriptional analysis revealed differential gene expression of 20 PpCRN candidates during the interaction with the susceptible Citrus sunki and the resistant Poncirus trifoliata. We have also found that P. parasitica is able to recognize different citrus hosts and accordingly modulates PpCRNs expression. Additionally, two PpCRN effectors, namely PpCRN7 and PpCRN20, were further characterized via transient gene expression in N. benthamiana leaves. The elicitin INF-1-induced Hypersensitivity Response (HR) was increased by an additive effect driven by PpCRN7 expression, whereas PpCRN20 expression suppressed HR response in N. benthamiana leaves. Despite contrasting functions related to HR, both effectors increased the susceptibility of plants to P. parasitica. Conclusions PpCRN7 and PpCRN20 have the ability to increase P. parasitica pathogenicity and may play important roles at different stages of infection. These PpCRN-associated mechanisms are now targets of biotechnological studies aiming to break pathogen's virulence and to promote plant resistance19CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQ445390/2014–0; 465440/2014–
Core patient-reported outcome measures for chronic pain patients treated with spinal cord stimulation or dorsal root ganglia stimulation
Background: Neurostimulation is a highly effective therapy for the treatment of chronic Intractable pain, however, due to the complexity of pain, measuring a subject’s long-term response to the therapy remains difficult. Frequent measurement of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) to reflect multiple aspects of subjects’ pain is a crucial step in determining therapy outcomes. However, collecting full-length PROs is burdensome for both patients and clinicians. The objective of this work is to identify the reduced set of questions from multiple validated PROs that can accurately characterize chronic pain patients’ responses to neurostimulation therapies. Methods: Validated PROs were used to capture pain, physical function and disability, as well as psychometric, satisfaction, and global health metrics. PROs were collected from 509 patients implanted with Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS) or Dorsal Root Ganglia (DRG) neurostimulators enrolled in the prospective, international, post-market REALITY study (NCT03876054, Registration Date: March 15, 2019). A combination of linear regression, Pearson’s correlation, and factor analysis were used to eliminate highly correlated questions and find the minimal meaningful set of questions within the predefined domains of each scale. Results: The shortened versions of the questionnaires presented almost identical accuracy for classifying the therapy outcomes as compared to the validated full-length versions. In addition, principal component analysis was performed on all the PROs and showed a robust clustering of pain intensity, psychological factors, physical function, and sleep across multiple PROs. A selected set of questions captured from multiple PROs can provide adequate information for measuring neurostimulation therapy outcomes. Conclusions: PROs are important subjective measures to evaluate the physiological and psychological aspects of pain. However, these measures are cumbersome to collect. These shorter and more targeted PROs could result in better patient engagement, and enhanced and more frequent data collection processes for digital health platforms that minimize patient burden while increasing therapeutic benefits for chronic pain patients.</p
The AMANDA Neutrino Telescope and the Indirect Search for Dark Matter
With an effective telescope area of order 10^4 m^2, a threshold of ~50 GeV
and a pointing accuracy of 2.5 degrees, the AMANDA detector represents the
first of a new generation of high energy neutrino telescopes, reaching a scale
envisaged over 25 years ago. We describe its performance, focussing on the
capability to detect halo dark matter particles via their annihilation into
neutrinos.Comment: Latex2.09, 16 pages, uses epsf.sty to place 15 postscript figures.
Talk presented at the 3rd International Symposium on Sources and Detection of
Dark Matter in the Universe (DM98), Santa Monica, California, Feb. 199
Tribimaximal Neutrino Mixing and a Relation Between Neutrino- and Charged Lepton-Mass Spectra
Brannen has recently pointed out that the observed charged lepton masses
satisfy the relation m_e +m_\mu +m_\tau = {2/3}
(\sqrt{m_e}+\sqrt{m_\mu}+\sqrt{m_\tau})^2, while the observed neutrino masses
satisfy the relation m_{\nu 1} +m_{\nu 2} +m_{\nu 3} = {2/3} (-\sqrt{m_{\nu
1}}+\sqrt{m_{\nu 2}}+\sqrt{m_{\nu 3}})^2. It is discussed what neutrino Yukawa
interaction form is favorable if we take the fact pointed out by Brannen
seriously.Comment: 13 pages, presentation modifie
The AMANDA Neutrino Telescope
With an effective telescope area of order m for TeV neutrinos, a
threshold near 50 GeV and a pointing accuracy of 2.5 degrees per muon
track, the AMANDA detector represents the first of a new generation of high
energy neutrino telescopes, reaching a scale envisaged over 25 years ago. We
describe early results on the calibration of natural deep ice as a particle
detector as well as on AMANDA's performance as a neutrino telescope.Comment: 12 pages, Latex2.09, uses espcrc2.sty and epsf.sty, 13 postscript
files included. Talk presented at the 18th International Conference on
Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics (Neutrino 98), Takayama, Japan, June 199
The AMANDA Neutrino Telescope: Principle of Operation and First Results
AMANDA is a high-energy neutrino telescope presently under construction at
the geographical South Pole. In the Antarctic summer 1995/96, an array of 80
optical modules (OMs) arranged on 4 strings (AMANDA-B4) was deployed at depths
between 1.5 and 2 km. In this paper we describe the design and performance of
the AMANDA-B4 prototype, based on data collected between February and November
1996. Monte Carlo simulations of the detector response to down-going
atmospheric muon tracks show that the global behavior of the detector is
understood. We describe the data analysis method and present first results on
atmospheric muon reconstruction and separation of neutrino candidates. The
AMANDA array was upgraded with 216 OMs on 6 new strings in 1996/97
(AMANDA-B10), and 122 additional OMs on 3 strings in 1997/98.Comment: 36 pages, 23 figures, submitted to Astroparticle Physic
e+e--pair production in Pb-Au collisions at 158 GeV per nucleon
We present the combined results on electron-pair production in 158 GeV/n
{Pb-Au} (= 17.2 GeV) collisions taken at the CERN SPS in 1995 and
1996, and give a detailed account of the data analysis. The enhancement over
the reference of neutral meson decays amounts to a factor of 2.31 for semi-central collisions (28%
) when yields are integrated over 200 MeV/ in
invariant mass. The measured yield, its stronger-than-linear scaling with
, and the dominance of low pair strongly suggest an
interpretation as {\it thermal radiation} from pion annihilation in the
hadronic fireball. The shape of the excess centring at 500
MeV/, however, cannot be described without strong medium modifications of
the meson. The results are put into perspective by comparison to
predictions from Brown-Rho scaling governed by chiral symmetry restoration, and
from the spectral-function many-body treatment in which the approach to the
phase boundary is less explicit.Comment: 39 pages, 40 figures, to appear in Eur.Phys.J.C. (2005
Limits on diffuse fluxes of high energy extraterrestrial neutrinos with the AMANDA-B10 detector
Data from the AMANDA-B10 detector taken during the austral winter of 1997
have been searched for a diffuse flux of high energy extraterrestrial
muon-neutrinos, as predicted from, e.g., the sum of all active galaxies in the
universe. This search yielded no excess events above those expected from the
background atmospheric neutrinos, leading to upper limits on the
extraterrestrial neutrino flux. For an assumed E^-2 spectrum, a 90% classical
confidence level upper limit has been placed at a level E^2 Phi(E) = 8.4 x
10^-7 GeV cm^-2 s^-1 sr^-1 (for a predominant neutrino energy range 6-1000 TeV)
which is the most restrictive bound placed by any neutrino detector. When
specific predicted spectral forms are considered, it is found that some are
excluded.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review Letter
IceCube - the next generation neutrino telescope at the South Pole
IceCube is a large neutrino telescope of the next generation to be
constructed in the Antarctic Ice Sheet near the South Pole. We present the
conceptual design and the sensitivity of the IceCube detector to predicted
fluxes of neutrinos, both atmospheric and extra-terrestrial. A complete
simulation of the detector design has been used to study the detector's
capability to search for neutrinos from sources such as active galaxies, and
gamma-ray bursts.Comment: 8 pages, to be published with the proceedings of the XXth
International Conference on Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics, Munich 200
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