Light neutralino in the MSSM: An update with the latest LHC results

We discuss the scenario of light neutralino dark matter in the minimal supersymmetric standard model, which is motivated by the results of some of the direct detection experiments --- DAMA, CoGENT, and CRESST. We update our previous analysis with the latest results of the LHC. We show that new LHC constraints disfavour the parameter region that can reproduce the results of DAMA and CoGENT.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to appear in the conference proceedings of TAUP 2011, Munich Germany, 5-9 September 201

Physiotherapists and Osteopaths’ Attitudes: Training in Management of Temporomandibular Disorders

Temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) are a condition which has multifactorial etiology. The most acknowledged method to classify TMDs is the diagnostic criteria (DC) introduced firstly by Dworkin. This protocol considers different aspects that are not only biological, but even psychosocial. Diagnosis is often based on anamnesis, physical examination and instrumental diagnosis. TMDs are classified as intra-articular and/or extra-articular disorders. Common signs and symptoms include jaw pain and dysfunction, earache, headache, facial pain, limitation to opening the mouth, ear pain and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) noises. This study regards two kind of clinicians that started in the last years to be more involved in the treatment of TMDs: osteopaths (OOs) and physiotherapists (PTs). The purpose is to analyze their attitude and clinical approach on patients affected by TMDs. Four hundred therapists answered an anonymous questionnaire regarding TMJ and TMDs. OOs showed greater knowledges on TMDs and TMJ and, the therapists with both qualifications seemed to be most confident in treating patients with TMDs. In conclusion this study highlights OOs and all the clinicians with this qualification, have a higher confidence in treating patients with TMD than the others. Dentists and orthodontists, according to this study, should co-work with OOs and PTs, because they are the specialists more requested by them than other kinds of specialists

Exploring CEvNS with NUCLEUS at the Chooz Nuclear Power Plant

Coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CE$\nu$NS) offers a unique way to study neutrino properties and to search for new physics beyond the Standard Model. Nuclear reactors are promising sources to explore this process at low energies since they deliver large fluxes of (anti-)neutrinos with typical energies of a few MeV. In this paper, a new-generation experiment to study CE$\nu$NS is described. The NUCLEUS experiment will use cryogenic detectors which feature an unprecedentedly low energy threshold and a time response fast enough to be operated in above-ground conditions. Both sensitivity to low-energy nuclear recoils and a high event rate tolerance are stringent requirements to measure CE$\nu$NS of reactor antineutrinos. A new experimental site, denoted the Very-Near-Site (VNS) at the Chooz nuclear power plant in France is described. The VNS is located between the two 4.25 GW$_{\mathrm{th}}$ reactor cores and matches the requirements of NUCLEUS. First results of on-site measurements of neutron and muon backgrounds, the expected dominant background contributions, are given. In this paper a preliminary experimental setup with dedicated active and passive background reduction techniques is presented. Furthermore, the feasibility to operate the NUCLEUS detectors in coincidence with an active muon-veto at shallow overburden is studied. The paper concludes with a sensitivity study pointing out the promising physics potential of NUCLEUS at the Chooz nuclear power plant

Precision measurement of 65^{65}Zn electron-capture decays with the KDK coincidence setup

$^{65}$Zn is a common calibration source, moreover used as a radioactive tracer in medical and biological studies. In many cases, $\gamma$-spectroscopy is a preferred method of $^{65}$Zn standardization, which relies directly on the branching ratio of $J \pi (^{65}\text{Zn} ) = 5/2^- \rightarrow J \pi (^{65}\text{Cu}) = 5/2^-$ via electron capture (EC*). We measure the relative intensity of this branch to that proceeding directly to the ground state (EC$^0$) using a novel coincidence technique, finding $I_{\text{EC}^0}/I_{\text{EC*}} = 0.9684 \pm 0.0018$. Re-evaluating the decay scheme of $^{65}$Zn by adopting the commonly evaluated branching ratio of $I_{\beta^+}= 1.4271(7)\%$ we obtain $I_{\text{EC*}} = (50.08 \pm 0.06)\%$, and I_\text{EC^0} = (48.50 \pm 0.06) \%. The associated 1115 keV gamma intensity agrees with the previously reported NNDC value, and is now accessible with a factor of ~2 increase in precision. Our re-evaluation removes reliance on the deduction of this gamma intensity from numerous measurements, some of which disagree and depend directly on total activity determination. The KDK experimental technique provides a new avenue for verification or updates to the decay scheme of $^{65}$Zn, and is applicable to other isotopes.Comment: Uses similar methodology to the 40K measurement by the KDK Collaboration (Stukel et al PRL 2023, arXiv:2211.10319; Hariasz et al PRC 2023, arXiv:2211.10343), as such there may be some similarity in figures and tex

Complete results for five years of GNO solar neutrino observations

We report the complete GNO solar neutrino results for the measuring periods GNO III, GNO II, and GNO I. The result for GNO III (last 15 solar runs) is [54.3 + 9.9 - 9.3 (stat.)+- 2.3 (syst.)] SNU (1 sigma) or [54.3 + 10.2 - 9.6 (incl. syst.)] SNU (1 sigma) with errors combined. The GNO experiment is now terminated after altogether 58 solar exposure runs that were performed between May 20, 1998 and April 9, 2003. The combined result for GNO (I+II+III) is [62.9 + 5.5 - 5.3 (stat.) +- 2.5 (syst.)] SNU (1 sigma) or [62.9 + 6.0 - 5.9] SNU (1 sigma) with errors combined in quadrature. Overall, gallium based solar observations at LNGS (first in GALLEX, later in GNO) lasted from May 14, 1991 through April 9, 2003. The joint result from 123 runs in GNO and GALLEX is [69.3 +- 5.5 (incl. syst.)] SNU (1 sigma). The distribution of the individual run results is consistent with the hypothesis of a neutrino flux that is constant in time. Implications from the data in particle- and astrophysics are reiterated.Comment: 22 pages incl. 9 Figures and 8 Tables. to appear in: Physics Letters B (accepted April 13, 2005) PACS: 26.65.+t ; 14.60.P

The Bortoluzzi Mud Volcano (Ionian Sea, Italy) and its potential for tracking the seismic cycle of active faults

The Ionian Sea in southern Italy is at the center of active interaction and convergence between the Eurasian and African-Adriatic plates in the Mediterranean. This area is seismically active with instrumentally and/or historically recorded Mw > 7:0 earthquakes, and it is affected by recently discovered long strike-slip faults across the active Calabrian accretionary wedge. Many mud volcanoes occur on top of the wedge. A recently discovered one (called the Bortoluzzi Mud Volcano or BMV) was surveyed during the Seismofaults 2017 cruise (May 2017). High-resolution bathymetric backscatter surveys, seismic reflection profiles, geochemical and earthquake data, and a gravity core are used here to geologically, geochemically, and geophysically characterize this structure. The BMV is a circular feature ' 22 m high and ' 1100 m in diameter with steep slopes (up to a dip of 22). It sits atop the Calabrian accretionary wedge and a system of flower-like oblique-slip faults that are probably seismically active as demonstrated by earthquake hypocentral and focal data. Geochemistry of water samples from the seawater column on top of the BMV shows a significant contamination of the bottom waters from saline (evaporite-type) CH4-dominated crustal-derived fluids similar to the fluids collected from a mud volcano located on the Calabria mainland over the same accretionary wedge. These results attest to the occurrence of open crustal pathways for fluids through the BMV down to at least the Messinian evaporites at about-3000 m. This evidence is also substantiated by helium isotope ratios and by comparison and contrast with different geochemical data from three seawater columns located over other active faults in the Ionian Sea area. One conclusion is that the BMV may be useful for tracking the seismic cycle of active faults through geochemical monitoring. Due to the widespread diffusion of mud volcanoes in seismically active settings, this study contributes to indicating a future path for the use of mud volcanoes in the monitoring and mitigation of natural hazards

First results from the CRESST-III low-mass dark matter program

The CRESST experiment is a direct dark matter search which aims to measure interactions of potential dark matter particles in an earth-bound detector. With the current stage, CRESST-III, we focus on a low energy threshold for increased sensitivity towards light dark matter particles. In this manuscript we describe the analysis of one detector operated in the first run of CRESST-III (05/2016-02/2018) achieving a nuclear recoil threshold of 30.1eV. This result was obtained with a 23.6g CaWO$_4$ crystal operated as a cryogenic scintillating calorimeter in the CRESST setup at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS). Both the primary phonon/heat signal and the simultaneously emitted scintillation light, which is absorbed in a separate silicon-on-sapphire light absorber, are measured with highly sensitive transition edge sensors operated at ~15mK. The unique combination of these sensors with the light element oxygen present in our target yields sensitivity to dark matter particle masses as low as 160MeV/c$^2$.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure

Monitoraggio in area sismica di beni monumentali: tecniche NDT e procedure di verifica

Negli ultimi anni il concetto di vulnerabilità sismica è tristemente entrato a far parte delle conoscenze anche dei non addetti ai lavori. Infatti, gli eventi sismici che hanno interessato dagli inizi del ‘900 il territorio Italiano, hanno sistematicamente messo in risalto l’elevata vulnerabilità sismica del nostro patrimonio edilizio, ivi compresi i beni monumentali, nonché, l’inesistenza di qualsiasi attività di programmazione della manutenzione periodica ordinaria e straordinaria delle strutture sismo-resistenti, che garantiscono nel tempo la conservazione delle loro capacità di risposta alle perturbazioni esterne.Il progetto PON sul Monitoraggio in Area Sismica di SIstemi MOnumentali nasce con la prerogativa di produrre uno strumento dedicato alla tutela di strutture a valenza storico – artistica, attraverso un percorso di catalogazione, di analisi del bene inteso come elemento costituito da elementi resistenti e da materiali, di studio del sito dove la struttura è ubicata e di attività di monitoraggio

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 $e^-$/$\gamma$-events to nuclear recoils was observed with a five-fold improvement in the nuclear recoil baseline resolution, achieving $\sigma$ = 441 eV. Furthermore, we present a limit on the spin-independent dark-matter nucleon elastic scattering cross-section achieving a sensitivity of $\mathcal{O}$(pb) with an exposure of only 11.6 g d.Comment: 11 pages, 14 figure