The MINOS experiment: results and prospects

The MINOS experiment has used the world's most powerful neutrino beam to make precision neutrino oscillation measurements. By observing the disappearance of muon neutrinos, MINOS has made the world's most precise measurement of the larger neutrino mass splitting, and has measured the neutrino mixing angle $\theta_{23}$. Using a dedicated antineutrino beam, MINOS has made the first direct precision measurements of the corresponding antineutrino parameters. A search for \nue and \nuebar appearance has enabled a measurement of the mixing angle $\theta_{13}$. A measurement of the neutral-current interaction rate has confirmed oscillation between three active neutrino flavours. MINOS will continue as MINOS+ in an upgraded beam with higher energy and intensity, allowing precision tests of the three-flavour neutrino oscillation picture, in particular a very sensitive search for the existence of sterile neutrinos.Comment: Contribution to a special issue on Neutrino Masses and Oscillations in Advances in High Energy Physics (Hindawi Publications

Emotion And Cognition Analysis Of Intro And Senior CS Students In Software Engineering

he software engineering community has advanced the field in the past few decades towards making the software development life cycle more efficient, robust, and streamlined. Advances such as better integrated development environments and agile workflows have made the process more efficient as well as more flexible. Despite these many achievements software engineers still spend a great deal of time writing, reading and reviewing code. These tasks require a lot of attention from the engineer with many different variables affecting the performance of the tasks. In recent years many researchers have come to investigate how emotion and the way we think about code affect our ability to write and understand another’s code. In this work we look at how developers’ emotions affect their ability to solve software engineering tasks such as code writing and review. We also investigate how and to what extent emotions differ with the software engineering experience of the subject. The methodologies we employed utilize the Emotiv Epoc+ to take readings of subjects’ brain patterns while they perform code reviews as well as write basic code. We then examine how the electrical signals and patterns in the participants differ with experience in the field, as well as their efficiency and correctness in solving the software engineering tasks. We found in our study that senior students had much smaller distribution of emotions than novices with a few different emotion groups emerging. The novices, while able to be grouped, had a much wider dispersion of the emotion aspects recorded

The community development credit union : evaluating its success in improving the urban community

This study examines the fundamentals, operations, and performance of community development credit unions (COCUs) in urban communities throughout the Great Lakes region. It incorporates a system for evaluating their operation as well as an analysis of traits that can be linked to CDCU effectiveness. The two-pronged approach to the study begins with an evaluation matrix that utilizes a collection of criteria designated as performance benchmarks. Data collected via mail survey for each of the nine case studies are passed through the matrix, producing scores that provide a basis for comparison in the analysis section where a set of criteria is drafted to personify an ideally successful community development credit union. The analysis of trends within the case studies has produced the conclusion that effective CDCU operation is linked to a high loan-to-deposit ratio, presence of local small business support, and an existent level of citizen participation within the community. In addition, the thesis suggests continued improvement of small business lending and support as well as providing financial education programs for residents

Improving the Transparency of the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain through the Adoption of Quick Response (QR) Code, Internet of Things (IoT), and Blockchain Technology: One Result: Ending the Opioid Crisis

Over the past two years, Americans in nearly every state have suffered adverse effects from counterfeit medications, many of whom have died. The main culprit is Fentanyl-tainted counterfeit opiates which often lead to fatal overdoses. The increasing epidemic of counterfeit prescription medications extends beyond social classes, gender, race, and age. For instance, pop star Prince recently overdosed on counterfeit Hydrocodone containing synthetic Fentanyl. Shockingly, one in ten medications sold in developing countries are counterfeit; either containing incorrect doses of active ingredients or containing toxic contaminants retained from the production process. The popularity of counterfeit medications stems from cheaper costs, but also because of the ease with which these counterfeit products can be purchased. While the blockchain has gained its fame from Bitcoin, its potential implications are far reaching. In this paper, I propose the use of QR code and the IoT (Internet of Things) sensor devices leveraging the blockchain for increased transparency of the pharmaceutical supply chain and manufacturing process. The data collected from the devices would then be transferred to the blockchain, enabling consumers to use an app to verify the provenance of their medication

Explaining China\u27s Legal Flexibility: History and the Institutional Imperative

China’s legal system appears to harbor a major tension, or even a paradox. Certainty in law facilitates economic progress, which most observers agree the Communist Party requires to maintain its power—yet the Party has opted for a flexible legal system that often impedes predictability. Prior studies explain China’s legal system as a product of certain constraints and as an expedient that allows for policy adjustments. These factors undoubtedly are at work but do not fully explain the rationale for a legal design seemingly at odds with the Party’s economic goals. To obtain a fuller view, it is necessary to consult the historical circumstances in which the designers of China’s legal system were embedded. This Paper argues that the Party’s reformers achieved a percipient historical insight: the Party would require an ongoing competitive advantage in institutional entrepreneurship to survive after Mao. Moreover, the reformers understood this competency to embody not only the substance of policy, but also, crucially, the Party’s institutional stewardship. Of its many advantages, flexible law reinforces the Party’s dominance in institutional entrepreneurship, enabling the Party to impede rival entrepreneurs without disrupting the broader economic frameworks in place. Institutions with strategic functions emerge and viewed thusly, the economic tradeoffs inherent in China’s flexible laws are not the paradox that they seem. The Paper briefly considers the implications of this historical context for multinationals’ strategies in China and for states’ strategic uses of flexibility in international legal institutions

The effect of a seven-week exercise program on golf swing performance and musculoskeletal measures

As most golf exercise studies have shown improved golf performance as a result of two or three sessions per week, the present study investigated the effects of a supervised exercise session performed once a week for seven weeks on golf swing variables and musculoskeletal screening measures. Professional Golfers Association of Australia International Golf Institute student golfers (n ¼ 43) with a mean standard deviation handicap of 8.6 8.3 participated in the study. Each golfer performed 10 musculoskeletal tests and a standardised 60-shot golf performance test (TrackMan, Vedbaek, Denmark) on separate days before and after the seven-week program. Significant improvements in a number of musculoskeletal tests (i.e. left leg bridging (6.6%), thoracic extension (62.5%), right thoracic rotation (23.3%), and right (20.8%) and left single leg squat (29.1%)) were observed (all p 0.024); however, no significant differences were observed for any golf swing variables. Future research investigating different training protocols may help to determine whether the type or frequency of training has the greatest influence on golf swing performance

A Combined Limit on the Neutrino Mass from Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay and Constraints on Sterile Majorana Neutrinos

We present a framework to combine data from the latest neutrinoless double-beta decay experiments for multiple isotopes and derive a limit on the effective neutrino mass using the experimental energy distributions. The combined limits on the effective mass range between 130-310 meV, where the spread is due to different model calculations of nuclear matrix elements (NMEs). The statistical consistency (p values) between this result and the signal observation claimed by the Heidelberg-Moscow experiment is derived. The limits on the effective mass are also evaluated in a (3+1) sterile neutrino model, assuming all neutrinos are Majorana particles.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures. Version accepted by Phys Rev D, including latest CUORE-0 result