Brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) social interactions and their implications for bovine tuberculosis epidemiology

The brushtail possum is the main reservoir of bovine tuberculosis in New Zealand. Disease prevalence is generally higher in males than in females. This has conventionally been assumed due to greater infection rates of males, but recent work has raised the hypothesis that it may instead be driven by survival differences. With bovine tuberculosis transmission among possums most likely occurring between individuals in close proximity, here we analyse social networks built on data from wild possums collared with contact loggers inhabiting a native New Zealand forest, to investigate whether there is mechanistic support for higher male infection rates. Our results revealed that adult female possums were generally just as connected with adult male possums as other adult males are, with male-female connection patterns not being significantly different. This result suggest that the new 'survivorship' hypothesis for the sex bias is more likely than the conventional 'infection rate' hypothesis. © 2018 Copyright 2018 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands

Search for Neutrinoless Double- β Decay with the Complete EXO-200 Dataset

A search for neutrinoless double-β decay (0νββ) in Xe136 is performed with the full EXO-200 dataset using a deep neural network to discriminate between 0νββ and background events. Relative to previous analyses, the signal detection efficiency has been raised from 80.8% to 96.4±3.0%, and the energy resolution of the detector at the Q value of Xe136 0νββ has been improved from σ/E=1.23% to 1.15±0.02% with the upgraded detector. Accounting for the new data, the median 90% confidence level 0νββ half-life sensitivity for this analysis is 5.0×1025 yr with a total Xe136 exposure of 234.1 kg yr. No statistically significant evidence for 0νββ is observed, leading to a lower limit on the 0νββ half-life of 3.5×1025 yr at the 90% confidence level

Search for Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay with the Upgraded EXO-200 Detector

Results from a search for neutrinoless double-beta decay (0νββ) of Xe136 are presented using the first year of data taken with the upgraded EXO-200 detector. Relative to previous searches by EXO-200, the energy resolution of the

MULTIWAVELENGTH MONITORING OF THE NARROW-LINE SEYFERT 1 GALAXY ARAKELIAN 564. III. OPTICAL OBSERVATIONS AND THE OPTICAL--UV--X-RAY CONNECTION

We present the results of a 2 yr long optical monitoring program of the narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy Ark 564. The majority of this monitoring project was also covered by X-ray observations (RXT E), and for a period of ~50 days, we observed the galaxy in UV (HST) and X-rays (RXTE and ASCA) simultaneously with the ground-based observations. Rapid and large-amplitude variations seen in the X-ray band, on a daily and hourly timescale, were not detected at optical and UV wavelengths, which in turn exhibited much lower variability either on short (1 day) or long (several months) timescales. The only significant optical variations can be described as two 2È4 day events with ~10% flux variations. We detect no significant optical line variations and thus cannot infer a reverberation size for the broad-line region. Similarly, the large X-ray variations seem to vanish when the light curve is smoothed over a period of 30 days. The UV continuum follows the X-rays with a lag of ~0.4 days, and the optical band lags the UV band by ~2 days. No signiÐcant correlation was found between the entire X-ray data set and the optical band. Focusing on a 20 day interval around the strongest optical event we detect a significant X-ray--optical correlation with similar events seen in the UV and X-rays. Our data are consistent with reprocessing models on the grounds of the energy emitted in this single event. However, several large X-ray flares produced no corresponding optical emission

On the Charge Collection Efficiency of the PERCIVAL Detector

The PERCIVAL soft X-ray imager is being developed by DESY, RAL, Elettra, DLS, and PAL to address the challenges at high brilliance Light Sources such as new-generation Synchrotrons and Free Electron Lasers. Typical requirements for detector systems at these sources are high frame rates, large dynamic range, single-photon counting capability with low probability of false positives, high quantum efficiency, and (multi)-mega-pixel arrangements. PERCIVAL is a monolithic active pixel sensor, based on CMOS technology. It is designed for the soft X-ray regime and, therefore, it is post-processed in order to achieve high quantum efficiency in its primary energy range (250 eV to 1 keV) . This work will report on the latest experimental results on charge collection efficiency obtained for multiple back-side-illuminated test sensors during two campaigns, at the P04 beam-line at PETRA III, and the CiPo beam-line at Elettra, spanning most of the primary energy range as well as testing the performance for photon-energies below 250 eV . In addition, XPS surface analysis was used to cross-check the obtained result