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Clinical outcome analysis of patients with multiple sclerosis - Analysis from the UK Medical Cannabis Registry.
INTRODUCTION: Whilst disease-modifying therapies are the cornerstone for treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), there is a need to develop novel therapeutics for the symptomatic sequalae of the disease. Cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMPs) have been suggested as a potential therapy for the associated pain, spasticity, and mental health disorders. However, there is a paucity of clinical evidence on CBMPs in MS. The aim of this study is to assess changes in MS-specific and general health-related quality of life (HRQoL) outcomes alongside adverse event incidence in patients prescribed CBMPs for MS from the UK Medical Cannabis Registry (UKMCR). METHOD: Patients prescribed CBMPs for MS symptoms for longer than one month were identified from the UKMCR. The primary outcomes were changes from baseline in MS Quality of Life-54 (MSQoL-54), Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Single-Item Sleep Quality Scale (SQS), and EQ-5D-5L scales at one month, three months and six months. p < 0.050 was defined as statistically significant. RESULTS: 141 patients met the inclusion criteria for the study. There was an improvement in the following subscales of the MSQoL-54 at 6 months: change in health scale, cognitive function, mental health composition, physical health, role limitations due to physical limitation and due to emotional problems, as well as social and sexual function (p < 0.050). There were also improvements in the EQ-5D-5L index value, GAD-7 and SQS (p < 0.050). 146 (103.55 %) adverse events were reported in total. Most were considered mild (n = 47; 33.33 %) and moderate (n = 72; 51.06 %). CONCLUSIONS: This preliminary analysis demonstrates a possible association with improved general health-related quality of life in those prescribed CBMPs for MS. Moreover, the results suggest that CBMPs are well-tolerated in the first 6 months of treatment. However, this must be interpreted with caution considering the limitations of the observational study design
Doping liquid argon with xenon in ProtoDUNE Single-Phase: effects on scintillation light
Doping of liquid argon TPCs (LArTPCs) with a small concentration of xenon is a technique for light-shifting and facilitates the detection of the liquid argon scintillation light. In this paper, we present the results of the first doping test ever performed in a kiloton-scale LArTPC. From February to May 2020, we carried out this special run in the single-phase DUNE Far Detector prototype (ProtoDUNE-SP) at CERN, featuring 720 t of total liquid argon mass with 410 t of fiducial mass. A 5.4 ppm nitrogen contamination was present during the xenon doping campaign. The goal of the run was to measure the light and charge response of the detector to the addition of xenon, up to a concentration of 18.8 ppm. The main purpose was to test the possibility for reduction of non-uniformities in light collection, caused by deployment of photon detectors only within the anode planes. Light collection was analysed as a function of the xenon concentration, by using the pre-existing photon detection system (PDS) of ProtoDUNE-SP and an additional smaller set-up installed specifically for this run. In this paper we first summarize our current understanding of the argon-xenon energy transfer process and the impact of the presence of nitrogen in argon with and without xenon dopant. We then describe the key elements of ProtoDUNE-SP and the injection method deployed. Two dedicated photon detectors were able to collect the light produced by xenon and the total light. The ratio of these components was measured to be about 0.65 as 18.8 ppm of xenon were injected. We performed studies of the collection efficiency as a function of the distance between tracks and light detectors, demonstrating enhanced uniformity of response for the anode-mounted PDS. We also show that xenon doping can substantially recover light losses due to contamination of the liquid argon by nitrogen
Measurements of the and -induced Coherent Charged Pion Production Cross Sections on by the T2K experiment
We report an updated measurement of the -induced, and the first
measurement of the -induced coherent charged pion production
cross section on nuclei in the T2K experiment. This is measured in a
restricted region of the final-state phase space for which
GeV, and , and at a mean
(anti)neutrino energy of 0.85 GeV using the T2K near detector. The measured
CC coherent pion production flux-averaged cross section on
is . The new measurement
of the -induced cross section on is . The results are compatible with both the NEUT
5.4.0 Berger-Sehgal (2009) and GENIE 2.8.0 Rein-Sehgal (2007) model
predictions
Impact of cross-section uncertainties on supernova neutrino spectral parameter fitting in the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment
A primary goal of the upcoming Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is
to measure the MeV neutrinos produced by a Galactic
core-collapse supernova if one should occur during the lifetime of the
experiment. The liquid-argon-based detectors planned for DUNE are expected to
be uniquely sensitive to the component of the supernova flux, enabling
a wide variety of physics and astrophysics measurements. A key requirement for
a correct interpretation of these measurements is a good understanding of the
energy-dependent total cross section for charged-current
absorption on argon. In the context of a simulated extraction of
supernova spectral parameters from a toy analysis, we investigate the
impact of modeling uncertainties on DUNE's supernova neutrino
physics sensitivity for the first time. We find that the currently large
theoretical uncertainties on must be substantially reduced
before the flux parameters can be extracted reliably: in the absence of
external constraints, a measurement of the integrated neutrino luminosity with
less than 10\% bias with DUNE requires to be known to about 5%.
The neutrino spectral shape parameters can be known to better than 10% for a
20% uncertainty on the cross-section scale, although they will be sensitive to
uncertainties on the shape of . A direct measurement of
low-energy -argon scattering would be invaluable for improving the
theoretical precision to the needed level.Comment: 25 pages, 21 figure
Measurements of the ΜΌ and ÎœÂŻÎŒ -induced coherent charged pion production cross sections on C12 by the T2K experiment
We report an updated measurement of the
Μ
Ό
-induced, and the first measurement of the
ÂŻ
Μ
Ό
-induced coherent charged pion production cross section on
12
C
nuclei in the Tokai-to-Kamioka experiment. This is measured in a restricted region of the final-state phase space for which
p
Ό
,
Ï
>
0.2
â
â
GeV
,
cos
(
Ξ
Ό
)
>
0.8
and
cos
(
Ξ
Ï
)
>
0.6
, and at a mean (anti)neutrino energy of 0.85 GeV using the T2K near detector. The measured
Μ
Ό
charged current coherent pion production flux-averaged cross section on
12
C
is
(
2.98
±
0.37
(
stat
)
±
0.31
(
syst
)
+
0.49
â
0.00
(
Q
2
â
model
)
)
Ă
10
â
40
â
â
cm
2
. The new measurement of the
ÂŻ
Μ
Ό
-induced cross section on
12
C
is
(
3.05
±
0.71
(
stat
)
±
0.39
(
syst
)
+
0.74
â
0.00
(
Q
2
â
model
)
)
Ă
10
â
40
â
â
cm
2
. The results are compatible with both the NEUT 5.4.0 Berger-Sehgal (2009) and GENIE 2.8.0 Rein-Sehgal (2007) model predictions
Scintillator ageing of the T2K near detectors from 2010 to 2021
The T2K experiment widely uses plastic scintillator as a target for neutrino interactions and an active medium for the measurement of charged particles produced in neutrino interactions at its near detector complex. Over 10 years of operation the measured light yield recorded by the scintillator based subsystems has been observed to degrade by 0.9â2.2% per year. Extrapolation of the degradation rate through to 2040 indicates the recorded light yield should remain above the lower threshold used by the current reconstruction algorithms for all subsystems. This will allow the near detectors to continue contributing to important physics measurements during the T2K-II and Hyper-Kamiokande eras. Additionally, work to disentangle the degradation of the plastic scintillator and wavelength shifting fibres shows that the reduction in light yield can be attributed to the ageing of the plastic scintillator. The long component of the attenuation length of the wavelength shifting fibres was observed to degrade by 1.3â5.4% per year, while the short component of the attenuation length did not show any conclusive degradation
Highly-parallelized simulation of a pixelated LArTPC on a GPU
The rapid development of general-purpose computing on graphics processing units (GPGPU) is allowing the implementation of highly-parallelized Monte Carlo simulation chains for particle physics experiments. This technique is particularly suitable for the simulation of a pixelated charge readout for time projection chambers, given the large number of channels that this technology employs. Here we present the first implementation of a full microphysical simulator of a liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) equipped with light readout and pixelated charge readout, developed for the DUNE Near Detector. The software is implemented with an end-to-end set of GPU-optimized algorithms. The algorithms have been written in Python and translated into CUDA kernels using Numba, a just-in-time compiler for a subset of Python and NumPy instructions. The GPU implementation achieves a speed up of four orders of magnitude compared with the equivalent CPU version. The simulation of the current induced on 10^3 pixels takes around 1 ms on the GPU, compared with approximately 10 s on the CPU. The results of the simulation are compared against data from a pixel-readout LArTPC prototype
The DUNE far detector vertical drift technology. Technical design report
DUNE is an international experiment dedicated to addressing some of the questions at the forefront of particle physics and astrophysics, including the mystifying preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early universe. The dual-site experiment will employ an intense neutrino beam focused on a near and a far detector as it aims to determine the neutrino mass hierarchy and to make high-precision measurements of the PMNS matrix parameters, including the CP-violating phase. It will also stand ready to observe supernova neutrino bursts, and seeks to observe nucleon decay as a signature of a grand unified theory underlying the standard model. The DUNE far detector implements liquid argon time-projection chamber (LArTPC) technology, and combines the many tens-of-kiloton fiducial mass necessary for rare event searches with the sub-centimeter spatial resolution required to image those events with high precision. The addition of a photon detection system enhances physics capabilities for all DUNE physics drivers and opens prospects for further physics explorations. Given its size, the far detector will be implemented as a set of modules, with LArTPC designs that differ from one another as newer technologies arise. In the vertical drift LArTPC design, a horizontal cathode bisects the detector, creating two stacked drift volumes in which ionization charges drift towards anodes at either the top or bottom. The anodes are composed of perforated PCB layers with conductive strips, enabling reconstruction in 3D. Light-trap-style photon detection modules are placed both on the cryostat's side walls and on the central cathode where they are optically powered. This Technical Design Report describes in detail the technical implementations of each subsystem of this LArTPC that, together with the other far detector modules and the near detector, will enable DUNE to achieve its physics goals
The DUNE Far Detector Vertical Drift Technology. Technical Design Report
DUNE is an international experiment dedicated to addressing some of the questions at the forefront of particle physics and astrophysics, including the mystifying preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early universe. The dual-site experiment will employ an intense neutrino beam focused on a near and a far detector as it aims to determine the neutrino mass hierarchy and to make high-precision measurements of the PMNS matrix parameters, including the CP-violating phase. It will also stand ready to observe supernova neutrino bursts, and seeks to observe nucleon decay as a signature of a grand unified theory underlying the standard model. The DUNE far detector implements liquid argon time-projection chamber (LArTPC) technology, and combines the many tens-of-kiloton fiducial mass necessary for rare event searches with the sub-centimeter spatial resolution required to image those events with high precision. The addition of a photon detection system enhances physics capabilities for all DUNE physics drivers and opens prospects for further physics explorations. Given its size, the far detector will be implemented as a set of modules, with LArTPC designs that differ from one another as newer technologies arise. In the vertical drift LArTPC design, a horizontal cathode bisects the detector, creating two stacked drift volumes in which ionization charges drift towards anodes at either the top or bottom. The anodes are composed of perforated PCB layers with conductive strips, enabling reconstruction in 3D. Light-trap-style photon detection modules are placed both on the cryostat's side walls and on the central cathode where they are optically powered. This Technical Design Report describes in detail the technical implementations of each subsystem of this LArTPC that, together with the other far detector modules and the near detector, will enable DUNE to achieve its physics goals
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