1,275 research outputs found
Accelerator Testing of the General Antiparticle Spectrometer, a Novel Approach to Indirect Dark Matter Detection
We report on recent accelerator testing of a prototype general antiparticle
spectrometer (GAPS). GAPS is a novel approach for indirect dark matter searches
that exploits the antideuterons produced in neutralino-neutralino
annihilations. GAPS captures these antideuterons into a target with the
subsequent formation of exotic atoms. These exotic atoms decay with the
emission of X-rays of precisely defined energy and a correlated pion signature
from nuclear annihilation. This signature uniquely characterizes the
antideuterons. Preliminary analysis of data from a prototype GAPS in an
antiproton beam at the KEK accelerator in Japan has confirmed the
multi-X-ray/pion star topology and indicated X-ray yields consistent with prior
expectations. Moreover our success in utilizing solid rather than gas targets
represents a significant simplification over our original approach and offers
potential gains in sensitivity through reduced dead mass in the target area.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures, submitted to JCA
Direct, Indirect and Collider Detection of Neutralino Dark Matter In SUSY Models with Non-universal Higgs Masses
In supersymmetric models with gravity-mediated SUSY breaking, universality of
soft SUSY breaking sfermion masses m_0 is motivated by the need to suppress
unwanted flavor changing processes. The same motivation, however, does not
apply to soft breaking Higgs masses, which may in general have independent
masses from matter scalars at the GUT scale. We explore phenomenological
implications of both the one-parameter and two-parameter non-universal Higgs
mass models (NUHM1 and NUHM2), and examine the parameter ranges compatible with
Omega_CDM h^2, BF(b --> s,gamma) and (g-2)_mu constraints. In contrast to the
mSUGRA model, in both NUHM1 and NUHM2 models, the dark matter A-annihilation
funnel can be reached at low values of tan(beta), while the higgsino dark
matter annihilation regions can be reached for low values of m_0. We show that
there may be observable rates for indirect and direct detection of neutralino
cold dark matter in phenomenologically aceptable ranges of parameter space. We
also examine implications of the NUHM models for the Fermilab Tevatron, the
CERN LHC and a Sqrt(s)=0.5-1 TeV e+e- linear collider. Novel possibilities
include: very light s-top_R, s-charm_R squark and slepton_L masses as well as
light charginos and neutralinos and H, A and H^+/- Higgs bosons.Comment: LaTeX, 48pages, 26 Figures. The version with high resolution Figures
is available at http://hep.pa.msu.edu/belyaev/public/projects/nuhm/nuhm.p
Religiousness as a Predictor of Suicide: An Analysis of 162 European Regions
Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149318/1/sltb12435.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149318/2/sltb12435_am.pd
Advanced multimodal laser imaging tool for urothelial carcinoma diagnosis (AMPLITUDE)
Bladder cancer (BC) is the eleventh most diagnosed cancer worldwide. The age-standardized incidence rate (per 100 000 person/years) is 9.0 for men and 2.2 for women [1]. Urothelial carcinoma (UC) represents about 90% of all bladder tumors, thus carrying an enormous social and economic burden [2]. UCs are classified in different stages and grades, depending on their invasiveness and on their degree of cytological abnormalities. The key aspect for a positive prognosis is the early and accurate diagnosis of the lesion stage, in order to identify the most aggressive disease forms and treat them promptly. It is well known that tissue metabolism constitutes a basic mechanism, which is at the base of many pathologies, especially BC. Being able to detect and characterize tissue metabolism and molecular fingerprints at the cellular level could be a key aspect in characterizing the pathology and enabling both early detection and therapy monitoring. The new European Union Horizon 2020 project called AMPLITUDE, the âAdvanced Multimodal Photonics Laser Imaging Tool for Urothelial Diagnosis in Endoscopyâ, starting in January 2020, proposes the development of an advanced multi-modal imaging tool exploiting new laser technologies in an approach combining confocal and non-linear imaging to fulfil unmet clinical needs in terms of the specificity and accuracy of urothelial cancer diagnosis and therapy monitoring. The project is coordinated by Tampere University (Finland) and carried out in cooperation with leading European research organizations including Aston Insitute of Photonic TechnologiesâAIPT (UK), Consiglio Nazionale delle RicercheâCNR (Italy), Institute of Photonic SciencesâICFO (Spain), University of Milan-Bicocca, Modus Research and Innovation Ltd. (UK) and University of Florence (Italy), as well as industrial partners: Ampliconyx Oy (Finland), Femtonics Ltd. (Hungary), HC Photonics (Taiwan), and LEONI Fiber Optics GmbH (Germany)
Non-syndromic cleft palate: Association analysis on three gene polymorphisms of the folate pathway in Asian and Italian populations
Periconceptional folic acid supplementation can reduce the risk of inborn malformations, including orofacial clefts. Polymorphisms of MTHFR, TCN2, and CBS folate-related genes seem to modulate the risk of cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P) in some populations. CL/P and cleft palate only (CPO) are different malformations that share several features and possibly etiological causes. In the present investigation, we conducted a family-based, candidate gene association study of non-syndromic CPO. Three single nucleotide polymorphisms, namely, rs1801133 of MTHFR, rs1801198 of TCN2, and rs4920037 of CBS, were investigated in a sample that included 129 Italian and 65 Asian families. No evidence of association between the three genotyped polymorphisms and CPO was found in the Italian and Asian cases, indeed the transmission disequilibrium test did not detect any asymmetry of transmission of alleles. This investigation, although with some limitation, further supports that CL/P and CPO diverge in their genetic background
High-Energy gamma-ray Astronomy and String Theory
There have been observations, first from the MAGIC Telescope (July 2005) and
quite recently (September 2008) from the FERMI Satellite Telescope, on
non-simultaneous arrival of high-energy photons from distant celestial sources.
In each case, the highest energy photons were delayed, as compared to their
lower-energy counterparts. Although the astrophysics at the source of these
energetic photons is still not understood, and such non simultaneous arrival
might be due to non simultaneous emission as a result of conventional physics
effects, nevertheless, rather surprisingly, the observed time delays can also
fit excellently some scenarios in quantum gravity, predicting Lorentz violating
space-time "foam" backgrounds with a non-trivial subluminal vacuum refractive
index suppressed linearly by a quantum gravity scale of the order of the
reduced Planck mass. In this pedagogical talk, I discuss the MAGIC and FERMI
findings in this context and I argue on a theoretical model of space-time foam
in string/brane theory that can accommodate the findings of those experiments
in agreement with all other stringent tests of Lorentz invariance. However, I
stress the current ambiguities/uncertainties on the source mechanisms, which
need to be resolved first before definite conclusions are reached regarding
quantum gravity foam scenarios.Comment: 34 pages latex, 12 eps figures incorporated, uses special macros.
Based on invited plenary talk at DICE 2008 Conference (Castiglioncello,
Italy), September 22-26 200
Measuring Future Time Perspective across Adulthood: Development and Evaluation of a Brief Multidimensional Questionnaire.
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY:
Despite calls for the consideration of future time perspective (FTP) as a multidimensional construct, mostly unidimensional measurement instruments have been used. This study had two objectives: (a) to develop a brief multidimensional questionnaire for assessing FTP in adulthood and evaluate its psychometric properties; and (b) to examine age associations and age-group differences of the dimensions of FTP.
DESIGN AND METHODS:
Data were collected from 625 community-residing adults between the ages of 18 and 93, representing young, middle-aged, and older adults. The psychometric evaluation involved exploratory factor analyses (EFA) and confirmatory FA (CFA), reliability and validity analyses, and measurement invariance testing. Zero-order and partial correlations were used to examine the association of the dimensions of FTP with age, and multivariate analysis of variance was used to examine age-group differences.
RESULTS:
EFA and CFA supported a three-factor solution: Future as Open, Future as Limited, and Future as Ambiguous. Metric measurement invariance for this factor structure was confirmed across the three age groups. Reliability and validity analyses provided evidence of sound psychometric properties of the brief questionnaire. Age was negatively associated with Future as Open and positively associated with Future as Limited. Young adults exhibited significantly greater ambiguity toward the future than middle-aged or older adults.
IMPLICATIONS:
This study provides evidence in support of the psychometric properties of a new brief multidimensional FTP scale. It also provides evidence for a pattern of age associations and age-group differences consistent with life-span developmental theory
Severe refractory autoimmune hemolytic anemia with both warm and cold autoantibodies that responded completely to a single cycle of rituximab: a case report
Identification of Single Spectral Lines through Supervised Machine Learning in a Large HST Survey (WISP): A Pilot Study for Euclid and WFIRST
Future surveys focusing on understanding the nature of dark energy (e.g., Euclid and WFIRST) will cover large fractions of the extragalactic sky in near-IR slitless spectroscopy. These surveys will detect a large number of galaxies that will have only one emission line in the covered spectral range. In order to maximize the scientific return of these missions, it is imperative that single emission lines are correctly identified. Using a supervised machine-learning approach, we classified a sample of single emission lines extracted from the WFC3 IR Spectroscopic Parallel survey, one of the closest existing analogs to future slitless surveys. Our automatic software integrates a spectral energy distribution (SED)-fitting strategy with additional independent sources of information. We calibrated it and tested it on a "gold" sample of securely identified objects with multiple lines detected. The algorithm correctly classifies real emission lines with an accuracy of 82.6%, whereas the accuracy of the SED-fitting technique alone is low (~50%) due to the limited amount of photometric data available (â€6 bands). While not specifically designed for the Euclid and WFIRST surveys, the algorithm represents an important precursor of similar algorithms to be used in these future missions
Identification of single spectral lines through supervised machine learning in a large HST survey (WISP): a pilot study for Euclid and WFIRST
Future surveys focusing on understanding the nature of dark energy (e.g.,
Euclid and WFIRST) will cover large fractions of the extragalactic sky in
near-IR slitless spectroscopy. These surveys will detect a large number of
galaxies that will have only one emission line in the covered spectral range.
In order to maximize the scientific return of these missions, it is imperative
that single emission lines are correctly identified. Using a supervised
machine-learning approach, we classified a sample of single emission lines
extracted from the WFC3 IR Spectroscopic Parallel survey (WISP), one of the
closest existing analogs to future slitless surveys. Our automatic software
integrates a SED fitting strategy with additional independent sources of
information. We calibrated it and tested it on a "gold" sample of securely
identified objects with multiple lines detected. The algorithm correctly
classifies real emission lines with an accuracy of 82.6%, whereas the accuracy
of the SED fitting technique alone is low (~50%) due to the limited amount of
photometric data available (<=6 bands). While not specifically designed for the
Euclid and WFIRST surveys, the algorithm represents an important precursor of
similar algorithms to be used in these future missions
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