1,089 research outputs found
Anterior Intraparietal Area: a Hub in the Observed Manipulative Action Network.
Current knowledge regarding the processing of observed manipulative actions (OMAs) (e.g., grasping, dragging, or dropping)
is limited to grasping and underlying neural circuitry remains controversial. Here, we addressed these issues by combining
chronic neuronal recordings along the anteroposterior extent of monkeys\u2019 anterior intraparietal (AIP) area with tracer
injections into the recorded sites. We found robust neural selectivity for 7 distinct OMAs, particularly in the posterior part of
AIP (pAIP), where it was associated with motor coding of grip type and own-hand visual feedback. This cluster of functional
properties appears to be specifically grounded in stronger direct connections of pAIP with the temporal regions of the
ventral visual stream and the prefrontal cortex, as connections with skeletomotor related areas and regions of the dorsal
visual stream exhibited opposite or no rostrocaudal gradients. Temporal and prefrontal areas may provide visual and
contextual information relevant for manipulative action processing. These results revise existing models of the action
observation network, suggesting that pAIP constitutes a parietal hub for routing information about OMA identity to the
other nodes of the network
Simulation-based design study for the passive shielding of the COSINUS dark matter experiment
The COSINUS (Cryogenic Observatory for SIgnatures seen in Next-generation
Underground Searches) experiment aims at the detection of dark matter-induced
recoils in sodium iodide (NaI) crystals operated as scintillating cryogenic
calorimeters. The detection of both scintillation light and phonons allows
performing an event-by-event signal to background discrimination, thus
enhancing the sensitivity of the experiment. The construction of the
experimental facility is foreseen to start by 2021 at the INFN Gran Sasso
National Laboratory (LNGS) in Italy. It consists of a cryostat housing the
target crystals shielded from the external radioactivity by a water tank
acting, at the same time, as an active veto against cosmic ray-induced events.
Taking into account both environmental radioactivity and intrinsic
contamination of materials used for cryostat, shielding and infrastructure, we
performed a careful background budget estimation. The goal is to evaluate the
number of events that could mimic or interfere with signal detection while
optimising the geometry of the experimental setup. In this paper we present the
results of the detailed Monte Carlo simulations we performed, together with the
final design of the setup that minimises the residual amount of background
particles reaching the detector volume.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure
Validation of techniques to mitigate copper surface contamination in CUORE
In this article we describe the background challenges for the CUORE
experiment posed by surface contamination of inert detector materials such as
copper, and present three techniques explored to mitigate these backgrounds.
Using data from a dedicated test apparatus constructed to validate and compare
these techniques we demonstrate that copper surface contamination levels better
than 10E-07 - 10E-08 Bq/cm2 are achieved for 238U and 232Th. If these levels
are reproduced in the final CUORE apparatus the projected 90% C.L. upper limit
on the number of background counts in the region of interest is 0.02-0.03
counts/keV/kg/y depending on the adopted mitigation technique.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, 6 table
Search for 14.4 keV solar axions from M1 transition of Fe-57 with CUORE crystals
We report the results of a search for axions from the 14.4 keV M1 transition
from Fe-57 in the core of the sun using the axio-electric effect in TeO2
bolometers. The detectors are 5x5x5 cm3 crystals operated at about 10 mK in a
facility used to test bolometers for the CUORE experiment at the Laboratori
Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy. An analysis of 43.65 kg d of data was made
using a newly developed low energy trigger which was optimized to reduce the
detectors energy threshold. An upper limit of 0.63 c kg-1 d-1 was established
at 95% C.L.. From this value, a lower bound at 95% C.L. was placed on the
Peccei-Quinn energy scale of fa >= 0.76 10**6 GeV for a value of S=0.55 for the
flavor-singlet axial vector matrix element. Bounds are given for the interval
0.15 < S < 0.55.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, submitted to JCA
Particle discrimination in a NaI crystal using the COSINUS remote TES design
The COSINUS direct dark matter experiment situated at Laboratori Nazionali
del Gran Sasso in Italy is set to investigate the nature of the annually
modulating signal detected by the DAMA/LIBRA experiment. COSINUS has already
demonstrated that sodium iodide crystals can be operated at mK temperature as
cryogenic scintillating calorimeters using transition edge sensors, despite the
complication of handling a hygroscopic and low melting point material. With
results from a new COSINUS prototype, we show that particle discrimination on
an event-by-event basis in NaI is feasible using the dual-channel readout of
both phonons and scintillation light. The detector was mounted in the novel
remoTES design and operated in an above-ground facility for 9.06 gd of
exposure. With a 3.7 g NaI crystal, e/ events could be clearly
distinguished from nuclear recoils down to the nuclear recoil energy threshold
of 15 keV.Comment: 7 pages, 9 figure
Measurement of the quasi-elastic axial vector mass in neutrino-oxygen interactions
The weak nucleon axial-vector form factor for quasi-elastic interactions is
determined using neutrino interaction data from the K2K Scintillating Fiber
detector in the neutrino beam at KEK. More than 12,000 events are analyzed, of
which half are charged-current quasi-elastic interactions nu-mu n to mu- p
occurring primarily in oxygen nuclei. We use a relativistic Fermi gas model for
oxygen and assume the form factor is approximately a dipole with one parameter,
the axial vector mass M_A, and fit to the shape of the distribution of the
square of the momentum transfer from the nucleon to the nucleus. Our best fit
result for M_A = 1.20 \pm 0.12 GeV. Furthermore, this analysis includes updated
vector form factors from recent electron scattering experiments and a
discussion of the effects of the nucleon momentum on the shape of the fitted
distributions.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures, 6 table
Deep-underground dark matter search with a COSINUS detector prototype
Sodium iodide (NaI) based cryogenic scintillating calorimeters using quantum
sensors for signal read out have shown promising first results towards a
model-independent test of the annually modulating signal detected by the
DAMA/LIBRA dark matter experiment. The COSINUS collaboration has previously
reported on the first above-ground measurements using a dual channel readout of
phonons and light based on transition edge sensors (TESs) that allows for
particle discrimination on an event-by-event basis. In this letter, we outline
the first underground measurement of a NaI cryogenic calorimeter read out via
the novel remoTES scheme. A 3.67 g NaI absorber with an improved silicon light
detector design was operated at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Italy.
A significant improvement in the discrimination power of /-events
to nuclear recoils was observed with a five-fold improvement in the nuclear
recoil baseline resolution, achieving = 441 eV. Furthermore, we
present a limit on the spin-independent dark-matter nucleon elastic scattering
cross-section achieving a sensitivity of (pb) with an exposure of
only 11.6 g d.Comment: 11 pages, 14 figure
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