Large-Mass Ultra-Low Noise Germanium Detectors: Performance and Applications in Neutrino and Astroparticle Physics

A new type of radiation detector, a p-type modified electrode germanium diode, is presented. The prototype displays, for the first time, a combination of features (mass, energy threshold and background expectation) required for a measurement of coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering in a nuclear reactor experiment. The device hybridizes the mass and energy resolution of a conventional HPGe coaxial gamma spectrometer with the low electronic noise and threshold of a small x-ray semiconductor detector, also displaying an intrinsic ability to distinguish multiple from single-site particle interactions. The present performance of the prototype and possible further improvements are discussed, as well as other applications for this new type of device in neutrino and astroparticle physics (double-beta decay, neutrino magnetic moment and WIMP searches).Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev.

EP-1245: Gated Rapidarc using KV intrafraction verification for liver stereotactic treatment

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Algorithm and performance of a clinical IMRT beam-angle optimization system

This paper describes the algorithm and examines the performance of an IMRT beam-angle optimization (BAO) system. In this algorithm successive sets of beam angles are selected from a set of predefined directions using a fast simulated annealing (FSA) algorithm. An IMRT beam-profile optimization is performed on each generated set of beams. The IMRT optimization is accelerated by using a fast dose calculation method that utilizes a precomputed dose kernel. A compact kernel is constructed for each of the predefined beams prior to starting the FSA algorithm. The IMRT optimizations during the BAO are then performed using these kernels in a fast dose calculation engine. This technique allows the IMRT optimization to be performed more than two orders of magnitude faster than a similar optimization that uses a convolution dose calculation engine.Comment: Final version that appeared in Phys. Med. Biol. 48 (2003) 3191-3212. Original EPS figures have been converted to PNG files due to size limi

Prevalence and Prognostic Influence of Peripheral Arterial Disease in Patients ≥40 Years Old Admitted into Hospital Following an Acute Coronary Event

AbstractObjectiveA significant proportion of patients with ischemic heart disease have associated peripheral arterial disease (PAD), but many are asymptomatic and this condition remains underdiagnosed. We aimed to study the prevalence of PAD in patients with an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and to evaluate its influence in hospital clinical outcomes.MethodsThe PAMISCA register is a prospective, multicenter study involving patients ≥40 years old with ACS admitted to selected Spanish hospitals. All patients had their ankle-brachial index (ABI) measured between days 3 and 7 after the ischemic event.Results1410 ACS patients (71.4% male) were included. PAD determined by ABI was documented in 561 patients (39.8%). Factors independently related to PAD were age (OR: 1.04; 95% CI: 1.03–1.06; p<0.001), smoking (OR: 1.88; 95% CI: 1.41–2.49; p<0.0001), diabetes (OR: 1.30; 95% CI: 1.02–1.65; p<0.05), previous cardiac disease (OR: 1.54; 95% CI: 1.22–1.95; p<0.001) and previous cerebrovascular disease (OR: 1.90; 95% CI: 1.28–2.80; p<0.001). Following the ACS, an ABI≤0.90 was associated with increased cardiovascular mortality (OR: 5.45; 95% CI: 1.16–25.59; p<0.05) and a higher risk of cardiovascular complications.ConclusionThe prevalence of PAD in patients ≥40 years presenting with ACS is high and it is associated with increased cardiovascular risk

Studies on the coastal ecology and management of the Nabq Protected Area, South Sinai, Egypt.

The dopaminergic system provides the basis for the interaction between motivation and cognition. It is triggered by the possibility of obtaining rewards to initiate the neurobehavioral adaptations necessary to achieve them by directing the information from motivational circuits to cognitive and action circuits. In drug addiction, the altered dopamine (DA) modulation of the meso-cortico-limbic reward circuitry, such as the prefrontal cortex (PFC), underlies the disproportionate motivational value of drug use at the expense of other nondrug reinforcers and the user''s loss of control over his/her drug intake. We examine how the magnitude of the reward affects goal-directed processes in healthy control (HC) subjects and abstinent cocaine dependent (ACD) patients by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a counting Stroop task with blocked levels of monetary incentives of different magnitudes (€0, €0.01, €0.5, €1 or €1.5). Our results showed that increasing reward magnitude enhances (1) performance facilitation in both groups; (2) left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) activity in HC and left superior occipital cortex activity in ACD; and (3) left DLPFC and left putamen connectivity in ACD compared to HC. Moreover, we observed that (4) dorsal striatal and pallidum activity was associated with craving and addiction severity during the parametric increases in the monetary reward. In conclusion, the brain response to gradients in monetary value was different in HC and ACD, but both groups showed improved task performance due to the possibility of obtaining greater monetary rewards

Search for chargino-neutralino production with mass splittings near the electroweak scale in three-lepton final states in √s=13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for supersymmetry through the pair production of electroweakinos with mass splittings near the electroweak scale and decaying via on-shell W and Z bosons is presented for a three-lepton final state. The analyzed proton-proton collision data taken at a center-of-mass energy of √s=13  TeV were collected between 2015 and 2018 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139  fb−1. A search, emulating the recursive jigsaw reconstruction technique with easily reproducible laboratory-frame variables, is performed. The two excesses observed in the 2015–2016 data recursive jigsaw analysis in the low-mass three-lepton phase space are reproduced. Results with the full data set are in agreement with the Standard Model expectations. They are interpreted to set exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level on simplified models of chargino-neutralino pair production for masses up to 345 GeV

Hunt for new phenomena using large jet multiplicities and missing transverse momentum with ATLAS in 4.7 fb−1 of s√=7TeV proton-proton collisions

Results are presented of a search for new particles decaying to large numbers of jets in association with missing transverse momentum, using 4.7 fb−1 of pp collision data at s√=7TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider in 2011. The event selection requires missing transverse momentum, no isolated electrons or muons, and from ≥6 to ≥9 jets. No evidence is found for physics beyond the Standard Model. The results are interpreted in the context of a MSUGRA/CMSSM supersymmetric model, where, for large universal scalar mass m 0, gluino masses smaller than 840 GeV are excluded at the 95% confidence level, extending previously published limits. Within a simplified model containing only a gluino octet and a neutralino, gluino masses smaller than 870 GeV are similarly excluded for neutralino masses below 100 GeV

Measurements of Higgs boson production and couplings in diboson final states with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements are presented of production properties and couplings of the recently discovered Higgs boson using the decays into boson pairs, H →γ γ, H → Z Z∗ →4l and H →W W∗ →lνlν. The results are based on the complete pp collision data sample recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider at centre-of-mass energies of √s = 7 TeV and √s = 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 25 fb−1. Evidence for Higgs boson production through vector-boson fusion is reported. Results of combined fits probing Higgs boson couplings to fermions and bosons, as well as anomalous contributions to loop-induced production and decay modes, are presented. All measurements are consistent with expectations for the Standard Model Higgs boson

Standalone vertex finding in the ATLAS muon spectrometer

A dedicated reconstruction algorithm to find decay vertices in the ATLAS muon spectrometer is presented. The algorithm searches the region just upstream of or inside the muon spectrometer volume for multi-particle vertices that originate from the decay of particles with long decay paths. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated using both a sample of simulated Higgs boson events, in which the Higgs boson decays to long-lived neutral particles that in turn decay to bbar b final states, and pp collision data at √s = 7 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC during 2011

Measurement of the top quark-pair production cross section with ATLAS in pp collisions at \sqrt{s}=7\TeV

A measurement of the production cross-section for top quark pairs(\ttbar) in $pp$ collisions at \sqrt{s}=7 \TeV is presented using data recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Events are selected in two different topologies: single lepton (electron $e$ or muon $\mu$) with large missing transverse energy and at least four jets, and dilepton ($ee$, $\mu\mu$ or $e\mu$) with large missing transverse energy and at least two jets. In a data sample of 2.9 pb-1, 37 candidate events are observed in the single-lepton topology and 9 events in the dilepton topology. The corresponding expected backgrounds from non-\ttbar Standard Model processes are estimated using data-driven methods and determined to be $12.2 \pm 3.9$ events and $2.5 \pm 0.6$ events, respectively. The kinematic properties of the selected events are consistent with SM \ttbar production. The inclusive top quark pair production cross-section is measured to be \sigmattbar=145 \pm 31 ^{+42}_{-27} pb where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. The measurement agrees with perturbative QCD calculations.Comment: 30 pages plus author list (50 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables, CERN-PH number and final journal adde