The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment: Exploring Fundamental Symmetries of the Universe

The preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early Universe, the dynamics of the supernova bursts that produced the heavy elements necessary for life and whether protons eventually decay --- these mysteries at the forefront of particle physics and astrophysics are key to understanding the early evolution of our Universe, its current state and its eventual fate. The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment (LBNE) represents an extensively developed plan for a world-class experiment dedicated to addressing these questions. LBNE is conceived around three central components: (1) a new, high-intensity neutrino source generated from a megawatt-class proton accelerator at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, (2) a near neutrino detector just downstream of the source, and (3) a massive liquid argon time-projection chamber deployed as a far detector deep underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility. This facility, located at the site of the former Homestake Mine in Lead, South Dakota, is approximately 1,300 km from the neutrino source at Fermilab -- a distance (baseline) that delivers optimal sensitivity to neutrino charge-parity symmetry violation and mass ordering effects. This ambitious yet cost-effective design incorporates scalability and flexibility and can accommodate a variety of upgrades and contributions. With its exceptional combination of experimental configuration, technical capabilities, and potential for transformative discoveries, LBNE promises to be a vital facility for the field of particle physics worldwide, providing physicists from around the globe with opportunities to collaborate in a twenty to thirty year program of exciting science. In this document we provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess.Comment: Major update of previous version. This is the reference document for LBNE science program and current status. Chapters 1, 3, and 9 provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess. 288 pages, 116 figure

Solar energy web-based exhibit for the National Museum of Science and Industry, London

The Museum of Science in London is developing a new Energy Gallery. Our team designed a website for the Solar Energy portion of this gallery. This web-based exhibit was developed based on interest surveys, a staff focus group, comments from our liaison, and personal experience. Our website communicates that Solar Energy is a viable and environmentally friendly energy source. The resulting website was an interactive and informative web-based display about Solar Energy that should appeal to all age groups

Virtual desktop -- dynamic scheduling and file management system

Our project is to create an online Virtual Desktop that performs several options which users will find helpful to their everyday lives. We accomplish this goal by combining two key elements into a complete online solution. The first part is to create an online scheduling system where users can keep track of personal and class-assigned tasks. The second part is to create a file management system where users can store and retrieve personal files online. Finally, we bring both together with an interface that is as intuitive and customizable as a local computer desktop with the ubiquitous advantage of being on the web

Shared processing of perception and imagery of music in decomposed EEG

Item does not contain fulltextThe current work investigates the brain activation shared between perception and imagery of music as measured with electroencephalography (EEG). Meta-analyses of four separate EEG experiments are presented, each focusing on perception and imagination of musical sound, with differing levels of stimulus complexity. Imagination and perception of simple accented metronome trains, as manifested in the clock illusion, as well as monophonic melodies are discussed, as well as more complex rhythmic patterns and ecologically natural music stimuli. By decomposing the data with principal component analysis (PCA), similar component distributions are found to explain most of the variance in each experiment. All data sets show a fronto-central and a more central component as the largest sources of variance, fitting with projections seen for the network of areas contributing to the N1/P2 complex. We expanded on these results using tensor decomposition. This allows us to add in the tasks to find shared activation, but does not make assumptions of independence or orthogonality and calculates the relative strengths of these components for each task. The components found in the PCA were shown to be further decomposable into parts that load primarily on to the perception or imagery task, or both, thereby adding more detail. It is shown that the frontal and central components have multiple parts that are differentially active during perception and imagination. A number of possible interpretations of these results are discussed, taking into account the different stimulus materials and measurement conditions.10 p

Discovery of AMG 232, a Potent, Selective, and Orally Bioavailable MDM2–p53 Inhibitor in Clinical Development

We recently reported the discovery of AM-8553 (<b>1</b>), a potent and selective piperidinone inhibitor of the MDM2–p53 interaction. Continued research investigation of the <i>N</i>-alkyl substituent of this series, focused in particular on a previously underutilized interaction in a shallow cleft on the MDM2 surface, led to the discovery of a one-carbon tethered sulfone which gave rise to substantial improvements in biochemical and cellular potency. Further investigation produced AMG 232 (<b>2</b>), which is currently being evaluated in human clinical trials for the treatment of cancer. Compound <b>2</b> is an extremely potent MDM2 inhibitor (SPR <i>K</i>_D = 0.045 nM, SJSA-1 EdU IC₅₀ = 9.1 nM), with remarkable pharmacokinetic properties and in vivo antitumor activity in the SJSA-1 osteosarcoma xenograft model (ED₅₀ = 9.1 mg/kg)