Study of the acoustic signature of UHE neutrino interactions in water and ice

The production of acoustic signals from the interactions of ultra-high energy (UHE) cosmic ray neutrinos in water and ice has been studied. A new computationally fast and efficient method of deriving the signal is presented. This method allows the implementation of up to date parameterisations of acoustic attenuation in sea water and ice that now includes the effects of complex attenuation, where appropriate. The methods presented here have been used to compute and study the properties of the acoustic signals which would be expected from such interactions. A matrix method of parameterising the signals, which includes the expected fluctuations, is also presented. These methods are used to generate the expected signals that would be detected in acoustic UHE neutrino telescopes.Comment: 21 pages and 13 figure

SO(10) Cosmic Strings and Baryon Number Violation

SO(10) cosmic strings formed during the phase transition Spin(10) $\rightarrow$ SU(5) $\times{\cal Z}_2$ are studied. Two types of strings --- one effectively Abelian and one non-Abelian --- are constructed and the string solutions are calculated numerically. The non-Abelian string can catalyze baryon number violation via the ``twisting'' of the scalar field which causes mixing of leptons and quarks in the fermion multiplet. The non-Abelian string is also found to have the lower energy possibly for the entire range of the parameters in the theory. Scattering of fermions in the fields of the strings is analyzed, and the baryon number violation cross section is calculated. The role of the self-adjoint parameters is discussed and the values are computed.Comment: LaTex (RevTex), 36 pages, 6 figures (available upon request), MIT-CTP#215

Long-ranged attraction between disordered heterogeneous surfaces

Long-ranged attractions across water between two surfaces that are randomly covered with (mobile) positive and negative charge domains have been attributed to induced correlation of the charges (positive lining up with negative) as the surfaces approach. Here we show, by directly measuring normal forces under a rapid shear field, that these attractions may not in fact be due to such correlations. It is rather the inherent interaction-asymmetry between equally- and between oppositely-charged domains that results in the long-ranged attraction even in the complete absence of any charge correlation

Regular breakfast consumption and type 2 diabetes risk markers in 9- to 10-year-old children in the child heart and health study in England (CHASE): a cross-sectional analysis.

BACKGROUND: Regular breakfast consumption may protect against type 2 diabetes risk in adults but little is known about its influence on type 2 diabetes risk markers in children. We investigated the associations between breakfast consumption (frequency and content) and risk markers for type 2 diabetes (particularly insulin resistance and glycaemia) and cardiovascular disease in children. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 4,116 UK primary school children aged 9-10 years. Participants provided information on breakfast frequency, had measurements of body composition, and gave fasting blood samples for measurements of blood lipids, insulin, glucose, and glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c). A subgroup of 2,004 children also completed a 24-hour dietary recall. Among 4,116 children studied, 3,056 (74%) ate breakfast daily, 450 (11%) most days, 372 (9%) some days, and 238 (6%) not usually. Graded associations between breakfast frequency and risk markers were observed; children who reported not usually having breakfast had higher fasting insulin (percent difference 26.4%, 95% CI 16.6%-37.0%), insulin resistance (percent difference 26.7%, 95% CI 17.0%-37.2%), HbA1c (percent difference 1.2%, 95% CI 0.4%-2.0%), glucose (percent difference 1.0%, 95% CI 0.0%-2.0%), and urate (percent difference 6%, 95% CI 3%-10%) than those who reported having breakfast daily; these differences were little affected by adjustment for adiposity, socioeconomic status, and physical activity levels. When the higher levels of triglyceride, systolic blood pressure, and C-reactive protein for those who usually did not eat breakfast relative to those who ate breakfast daily were adjusted for adiposity, the differences were no longer significant. Children eating a high fibre cereal breakfast had lower insulin resistance than those eating other breakfast types (p for heterogeneity <0.01). Differences in nutrient intakes between breakfast frequency groups did not account for the differences in type 2 diabetes markers. CONCLUSIONS: Children who ate breakfast daily, particularly a high fibre cereal breakfast, had a more favourable type 2 diabetes risk profile. Trials are needed to quantify the protective effect of breakfast on emerging type 2 diabetes risk. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary

Familial hypercholesterolaemia: identification and management. Evidence reviews for case-finding, diagnosis and statin monotherapy

This guideline covers identifying and managing familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH), a specific type of high cholesterol that runs in the family, in children, young people and adults. It aims to help identify people at increased risk of coronary heart disease as a result of having FH. In November 2017, we reviewed the evidence for case finding and diagnosis, identification using cascade testing, and management using statins. We amended recommendations in sections 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3

A Proposal for a Three Detector Short-Baseline Neutrino Oscillation Program in the Fermilab Booster Neutrino Beam

A Short-Baseline Neutrino (SBN) physics program of three LAr-TPC detectors located along the Booster Neutrino Beam (BNB) at Fermilab is presented. This new SBN Program will deliver a rich and compelling physics opportunity, including the ability to resolve a class of experimental anomalies in neutrino physics and to perform the most sensitive search to date for sterile neutrinos at the eV mass-scale through both appearance and disappearance oscillation channels. Using data sets of 6.6e20 protons on target (P.O.T.) in the LAr1-ND and ICARUS T600 detectors plus 13.2e20 P.O.T. in the MicroBooNE detector, we estimate that a search for muon neutrino to electron neutrino appearance can be performed with ~5 sigma sensitivity for the LSND allowed (99% C.L.) parameter region. In this proposal for the SBN Program, we describe the physics analysis, the conceptual design of the LAr1-ND detector, the design and refurbishment of the T600 detector, the necessary infrastructure required to execute the program, and a possible reconfiguration of the BNB target and horn system to improve its performance for oscillation searches.Comment: 209 pages, 129 figure

The PTTG1-binding factor (PBF/PTTG1IP) regulates p53 activity in thyroid cells

The PTTG1-Binding Factor (PBF/PTTG1IP) has an emerging repertoire of roles, especially in thyroid biology, and functions as a proto-oncogene. High PBF expression is independently associated with poor prognosis and lower disease-specific survival in human thyroid cancer. However, the precise role of PBF in thyroid tumorigenesis is unclear. Here, we present extensive evidence demonstrating that PBF is a novel regulator of p53, a tumor suppressor protein with a key role in maintaining genetic stability, which is infrequently mutated in differentiated thyroid cancer. By coimmunoprecipitation and proximity ligation assays, we show that PBF binds specifically to p53 in thyroid cells, and significantly represses transactivation of responsive promoters. Further, we identify that PBF decreases p53 stability by enhancing ubiquitination, which appears dependent on the E3 ligase activity of Mdm2. Impaired p53 function was evident in a transgenic mouse model with thyroid-specific PBF over-expression (PBF-Tg), which had significantly increased genetic instability as indicated by FISSR-PCR analysis. Consistent with this, ~40% of all DNA repair genes examined were repressed in PBF-Tg primary cultures, including genes with critical roles in maintaining genomic integrity such as Mgmt, Rad51 and Xrcc3. Our data also revealed that PBF induction resulted in upregulation of the E2 enzyme Rad6 in murine thyrocytes, and was associated with Rad6 expression in human thyroid tumors. Overall, this work provides novel insights into the role of the proto-oncogene PBF as a negative regulator of p53 function in thyroid tumorigenesis, where PBF is generally over-expressed and p53 mutations are rare compared to other tumor types

Search for short baseline nu(e) disappearance with the T2K near detector

8 pages, 6 figures, submitted to PRD rapid communication8 pages, 6 figures, submitted to PRD rapid communicationWe thank the J-PARC staff for superb accelerator performance and the CERN NA61 collaboration for providing valuable particle production data. We acknowledge the support of MEXT, Japan; NSERC, NRC and CFI, Canada; Commissariat `a l’Energie Atomique and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique–Institut National de Physique Nucle´aire et de Physique des Particules, France; DFG, Germany; INFN, Italy; National Science Centre (NCN), Poland; Russian Science Foundation, RFBR and Ministry of Education and Science, Russia; MINECO and European Regional Development Fund, Spain; Swiss National Science Foundation and State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation, Switzerland; STFC, UK; and DOE, USA. We also thank CERN for the UA1/NOMAD magnet, DESY for the HERA-B magnet mover system, NII for SINET4, the WestGrid and SciNet consortia in Compute Canada, GridPP, UK. In addition participation of individual researchers and institutions has been further supported by funds from ERC (FP7), EU; JSPS, Japan; Royal Society, UK; DOE Early Career program, USA

Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF) and Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) Conceptual Design Report Volume 2: The Physics Program for DUNE at LBNF

The Physics Program for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) at the Fermilab Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF) is described

Targeted vertebrate surveys enhance the faunal importance and improve explanatory models within the Eastern Arc Mountains of Kenya and Tanzania

Detailed knowledge of species distributions, endemism patterns and threats is critical to site prioritization and conservation planning. However, data from biodiversity inventories are still limited, especially for tropical forests, and even well recognized hotspots remain understudied. We provide an example of how updated knowledge on species occurrence from strategically directed biodiversity surveys can change knowledge on perceived biodiversity importance, and facilitate understanding diversity patterns and the delivery of conservation recommendations.Francesco Rovero, Michele Menegon, Jon Fjeldså, Leah Collett, Nike Doggart, Charles Leonard, Guy Norton, Nisha Owen, Andrew Perkin, Daniel Spitale, Antje Ahrends and Neil D. Burges