Mass Hierarchy Resolution in Reactor Anti-neutrino Experiments: Parameter Degeneracies and Detector Energy Response

Determination of the neutrino mass hierarchy using a reactor neutrino experiment at $\sim$60 km is analyzed. Such a measurement is challenging due to the finite detector resolution, the absolute energy scale calibration, as well as the degeneracies caused by current experimental uncertainty of $|\Delta m^2_{32}|$. The standard $\chi^2$ method is compared with a proposed Fourier transformation method. In addition, we show that for such a measurement to succeed, one must understand the non-linearity of the detector energy scale at the level of a few tenths of percent.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, accepted by PR

The social security rights of older international migrants in the European Union

Europe is now home to a significant and diverse population of older international migrants. Social and demographic changes have forced the issue of social security in old age onto the European social policy agenda in the last decade. In spite of an increased interest in the financial well-being of older people, many retired international migrants who are legally resident in the European Union face structured disadvantages. Four linked factors are of particular importance in shaping the pension rights and levels of financial provision available to individual older migrants: migration history, socio-legal status, past relationship to the paid labour market, and location within a particular EU Member State. Building on a typology of older migrants, the paper outlines the ways in which policy at both the European Union and Member State levels serves to diminish rather than enhance the social security rights of certain older international migrants

Production of radioactive isotopes through cosmic muon spallation in KamLAND

Radioactive isotopes produced through cosmic muon spallation are a background for rare-event detection in ν detectors, double-β-decay experiments, and dark-matter searches. Understanding the nature of cosmogenic backgrounds is particularly important for future experiments aiming to determine the pep and CNO solar neutrino fluxes, for which the background is dominated by the spallation production of ^(11)C. Data from the Kamioka liquid-scintillator antineutrino detector (KamLAND) provides valuable information for better understanding these backgrounds, especially in liquid scintillators, and for checking estimates from current simulations based upon MUSIC, FLUKA, and GEANT4. Using the time correlation between detected muons and neutron captures, the neutron production yield in the KamLAND liquid scintillator is measured to be Y_n=(2.8±0.3)×10^(-4) μ^(-1) g^(-1) cm^2. For other isotopes, the production yield is determined from the observed time correlation related to known isotope lifetimes. We find some yields are inconsistent with extrapolations based on an accelerator muon beam experiment

Contestable adulthood: variability and disparity in markers for negotiating the transition to adulthood

Recent research has identified a discreet set of subjective markers that are seen as characterizing the transition to adulthood. The current study challenges this coherence by examining the disparity and variability in young people’s selection of such criteria. Four sentence-completion cues corresponding to four differentcontexts in which adult status might be contested were given to 156 British 16- to 17-year-olds. Their qualitative responses were analyzed to explore patterns whilst capturing some of their richness and diversity. An astonishing amount of variability emerged, both within and between cued contexts.The implications of this variability for how the transition to adulthood is experienced are explored. The argument is made that markers of the transition to adulthood are not merely reflective of the bio–psycho–social development of young people. Rather, adulthood here is seen as an essentially contested concept,located within the discursive interactional environment in which young people participate

Qualitative methods II: minding the gap

Copyright © 2008 SAGE Publications. Author's draft version; post-print. Final version published by Sage available on Sage Journals Online http://online.sagepub.com/In our last review we drew together work exploring interactions between the performativity of research practices and the spaces of qualitative research (Davies and Dwyer, 2007). In this, we focus on the oscillating political subjectivities mobilized in research by human geographers and other qualitative researchers

The mean and standard deviation of the distribution of group assembly sums

An interesting problem in linear programming is the group assembly problem which is mathematically equivalent to the general transportation problem of economics. Computer programs designed for the determination of exact and approximate optimal group assemblies have been available for some time. This paper presents formulas for the mean and squared standard deviation of the distribution of all possible group assembly sums. Computational techniques are presented and the results are related to those of the analysis of variance of a k -factor problem with n levels of each factor.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45717/1/11336_2005_Article_BF02289606.pd

White Paper: Measuring the Neutrino Mass Hierarchy

This white paper is a condensation of a report by a committee appointed jointly by the Nuclear Science and Physics Divisions at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). The goal of this study was to identify the most promising technique(s) for resolving the neutrino mass hierarchy. For the most part, we have relied on calculations and simulations presented by the proponents of the various experiments. We have included evaluations of the opportunities and challenges for these experiments based on what is available already in the literature.Comment: White paper prepared for Snowmass-201

The effect of clinical decision making for initiation of systemic anticancer treatments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in England: a retrospective analysis

BACKGROUND: Cancer services worldwide had to adapt in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to minimise risk to patients and staff. We aimed to assess the national impact of COVID-19 on the prescribing of systemic anticancer treatment in England, immediately after lockdown and after the introduction of new treatments to reduce patient risk. METHODS: We did a retrospective analysis using data from a central National Health Service England web database mandated for clinicians to register intention to start all new systemic anticancer treatments approved for use in England since 2016. We analysed the monthly number of treatment registrations in April, 2020, after the implementation of societal lockdown on March 23, 2020, and after implementation of treatment options to reduce patient risk such as oral or less immunosuppressive drugs, in May and June, 2020. We compared the number of registrations in April-June, 2020, with the mean number of registrations and SD during the previous 6 months of unaffected cancer care (September, 2019, to February, 2020). We calculated the percentage change and absolute difference in SD units for the number of registrations overall, by tumour type, and by type and line of therapy. FINDINGS: In April, 2020, 2969 registrations were recorded, representing 1417 fewer registrations than in the control period (monthly mean 4386; 32% reduction, absolute difference 4·2 SDs, p<0·0001). In May, 2020, total registrations increased to 3950, representing a 10% reduction compared with the control period (absolute difference 1·3 SDs, p<0·0001). In June, 2020, 5022 registrations were recorded, representing a 15% increase compared with the control period (absolute difference 1·9 SDs; p<0·0001]). INTERPRETATION: After the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a reduction in systemic anticancer treatment initiation in England. However, following introduction of treatment options to reduce patient risk, registrations began to increase in May, 2020, and reached higher numbers than the pre-pandemic mean in June, 2020, when other clinical and societal risk mitigation factors (such as telephone consultations, facemasks and physical distancing) are likely to have contributed. However, outcomes of providing less treatment or delaying treatment initiation, particularly for advanced cancers and neoadjuvant therapies, require continued assessment. FUNDING: None

The homotopy theory of dg-categories and derived Morita theory

The main purpose of this work is the study of the homotopy theory of dg-categories up to quasi-equivalences. Our main result provides a natural description of the mapping spaces between two dg-categories $C$ and $D$ in terms of the nerve of a certain category of $(C,D)$-bimodules. We also prove that the homotopy category $Ho(dg-Cat)$ is cartesian closed (i.e. possesses internal Hom's relative to the tensor product). We use these two results in order to prove a derived version of Morita theory, describing the morphisms between dg-categories of modules over two dg-categories $C$ and $D$ as the dg-category of $(C,D)$-bi-modules. Finally, we give three applications of our results. The first one expresses Hochschild cohomology as endomorphisms of the identity functor, as well as higher homotopy groups of the \emph{classifying space of dg-categories} (i.e. the nerve of the category of dg-categories and quasi-equivalences between them). The second application is the existence of a good theory of localization for dg-categories, defined in terms of a natural universal property. Our last application states that the dg-category of (continuous) morphisms between the dg-categories of quasi-coherent (resp. perfect) complexes on two schemes (resp. smooth and proper schemes) is quasi-equivalent to the dg-category of quasi-coherent complexes (resp. perfect) on their product.Comment: 50 pages. Few mistakes corrected, and some references added. Thm. 8.15 is new. Minor corrections. Final version, to appear in Inventione

Patient Attitudes Toward Telepsychiatry During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Nationwide, Multisite Survey.

Background The COVID-19 pandemic and its associated movement restrictions forced a rapid and massive transition to telepsychiatry to successfully maintain care continuity. Objective The aim of this study is to examine a large number of patients\u27 experiences of, use of, and attitudes toward telepsychiatry. Methods An anonymous 11-question survey was delivered electronically to 14,000 patients receiving telepsychiatry care at 18 participating centers across 11 US states between the months of April and June 2020, including questions about their age and length of service use, as well as experience and satisfaction with telepsychiatry on a 5-point Likert scale. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze and report data. Results In total, 3070 patients with different age ranges participated. The overall experience using telepsychiatry was either excellent or good for 1189 (82.2%) participants using video and 2312 (81.5%) using telephone. In addition, 1922 (63.6%) patients either agreed or strongly agreed that remote treatment sessions (telephone or video) have been just as helpful as in-person treatment. Lack of commute (n=1406, 46.1%) and flexible scheduling/rescheduling (n=1389, 45.5%) were frequently reported advantages of telepsychiatry, whereas missing the clinic/hospital (n=936, 30.7%) and not feeling as connected to their doctor/nurse/therapist (n=752, 24.6%) were the most frequently reported challenges. After the current pandemic resolves, 1937 (64.2%) respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that they would consider using remote treatment sessions in the future. Conclusions Telepsychiatry is very well perceived among a large sample of patients. After the current pandemic resolves, some patients may benefit from continued telepsychiatry, but longitudinal studies are needed to assess impact on clinical outcomes and determine whether patients\u27 perceptions change over time