Precision measurements from the NOMAD experiment

The NOMAD experiment collected unprecedent neutrino data samples, matching both the large statistics of massive calorimeters and the reconstruction quality of bubble chambers. This paper describes the determination of the weak mixing angle which is ongoing in NOMAD, with a target precision of $\sim 1$. In addition, measurements of the $\nu_{\mu}$ quasi-elastic cross-section and of neutrino Charged Current differential cross-section on carbon are presented.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. To appear in the proceedings of the 32nd International Conference on High-Energy Physics (ICHEP04), Beijing, China, 16-22 Aug 200

Derivation of Einstein Cartan theory from general relativity

This work derives the elements of classical Einstein Cartan theory (EC) from classical general relativity (GR) in two ways. (I) Derive translational holonomy and the spin torsion field equation of EC for one Kerr mass in GR. (II) Derive the field equations of EC as the continuum limit of a sequence of discrete distributions of Kerr masses in classical GR with no electric charge. his derivation does not extend to the quantum domain because of inequality constraints. The convergence computations employ epsilon delta arguments, and are not as rigorous as weak convergence in Sobolev norm. Derivation of EC from GR strengthens the case for new physics derived from EC, including modeling exchange of intrinsic and orbital angular momentum, removing some gravitational singularities from Big Bang and black hole models, introducing a spin contact force that is a geometric candidate for the origin of cosmic inflation, and providing a better classical limit for theories of quantum gravity.Comment: 47 pages, 1 table, 66 equations, 3 figures, 93 lines of computer algebra, 33 references. This version improves organization and many sections. It argues that deriving EC from GR greatly strengthens the case for new physics that is derived from EC; the new physics is listed. Section 2 updates the 1986 paper below. Petti RJ, 1986, Gen Rel Grav vol 18, 441-46

Occupational risk for Legionella infection among dental healthcare workers: meta-analysis in occupational epidemiology

Objective The occupational risk for Legionella infection among dental healthcare workers (DHCWs) is conjectured because of the risk of routine inhalation of potentially contaminated aerosols produced by the dental instruments. Nevertheless, occupational epidemiology studies are contrasting. This metaanalysis assessed the level of scientific evidence regarding the relative occupational risk for Legionella infection among DHCWs. Methods Literature search was performed without time and language restrictions, using broad data banks (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, GOOGLE Scholar) and generic keywords (‘legionella’ AND ‘dent*’). Analytical cross-sectional studies comparing prevalence of high serum Legionella antibody levels in DHCWs and occupationally unexposed individuals were considered. The relative occupational risk was assessed through prevalence ratio (PR) with 95% CI. Between-study heterogeneity was assessed (Cochran’s Q test) and was used to choose the meta-analytic method. Study quality (modified Newcastle-Ottawa Scale) and publication bias (Begg and Mazumdar’s test, Egger and colleagues’ test, trim and fill R0 method) were assessed formally and considered for the sensitivity analysis. Sensitivity analysis to study inclusion, subgroup analyses (dental staff categories; publication year, before vs after 1998, ie, 5 years after the release by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the infection control guidelines in dental healthcare setting) were performed. Results Seven studies were included (2232 DHCWs, 1172 occupationally unexposed individuals). No evidence of publication bias was detected. The pooled PR estimate was statistically non-significant at 95% level (1.7; 95% CI 0.8 to 3.2), study-quality adjustment did not change the PR considerably (PR, 1.5; 95% CI 0.5 to 4.1). PR was statistically significant before 1998 and no longer significant after 1998. Subgroup analysis according to DHCW categories was inconclusive. Conclusions There is no scientific evidence that DHCWs are at high occupational risk. The differences between former and recent studies could be due to different characteristics of municipal water systems and the infection control guideline dissemination

Direct photons in Au+Au collisions measured with the PHENIX detector at RHIC

A major goal of experiments in heavy-ion physics is the characterization of the quark gluon plasma (QGP) produced in the collision of heavy ions at high energy. Direct photons are a particularly good probe of the produced medium because they do not interact strongly and so can escape the medium unmodified, carrying information about when the photon was produced. It is expected that direct photon contributions from different sources (QGP radiation, hard scattering, hadron gas radiation) dominate at different transverse momentum ranges. Low momentum direct photons are dominated by thermal radiation (both from the QGP and hadron gas), while high momentum direct photons dominantly come from hard parton scatterings in the initial collision. We present a summary of techniques to measure direct photons with the PHENIX detector, with a focus on low momentum direct photons through their external conversion to dilepton pairs.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, Winter Workshop on Nuclear Dynamics 2011, intended for publication in Journal of Physics Conference Series (JPCS