Measurement of the antineutrino neutral-current elastic differential cross section

arXiv:1309.7257v1 [hep-ex

An ecological method for the sampling of nonverbal signalling behaviours of young children with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD)

- Background: Profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) are a complex range of disabilities that affect the general health and wellbeing of the individual and their capacity to interact and learn. - Method: We developed a new methodology to capture the nonsymbolic signalling behaviours of children with PMLD within the context of a face-to-face interaction with a caregiver to provide analysis at a micro-level of descriptive detail incorporating the use of the ELAN digital video software. - Conclusion: The signalling behaviours of participants in a natural, everyday interaction can be better understood with the use of this innovation in methodology, which is predicated on the ecology of communication. Recognition of the developmental ability of the participants is an integral factor within that ecology. The method presented establishes an advanced account of the modalities through which a child affected by PMLD is able to communicate

Using L/E Oscillation Probability Distributions

This paper explores the use of $L/E$ oscillation probability distributions to compare experimental measurements and to evaluate oscillation models. In this case, $L$ is the distance of neutrino travel and $E$ is a measure of the interacting neutrino's energy. While comparisons using allowed and excluded regions for oscillation model parameters are likely the only rigorous method for these comparisons, the $L/E$ distributions are shown to give qualitative information on the agreement of an experiment's data with a simple two-neutrino oscillation model. In more detail, this paper also outlines how the $L/E$ distributions can be best calculated and used for model comparisons. Specifically, the paper presents the $L/E$ data points for the final MiniBooNE data samples and, in the Appendix, explains and corrects the mistaken analysis published by the ICARUS collaboration

Children's reactions to hospitalization and illness

The paper describes children's reactions to illness and hospitalizations from a developmental point of view. Taking the latter into account, it becomes easier to understand not only the child's reaction at different ages and the reasons for it, but the nature of the potential damage, that is, where and why it takes place, as well as the resources available to the child that may help, if wisely used, to minimize the potential traumas.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43971/1/10578_2005_Article_BF01463215.pd

Contrasting vertical and horizontal representations of affect in emotional visual search

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/ 10.3758/s13423-015-0884-6Independent lines of evidence suggest that the representation of emotional evaluation recruits both vertical and horizontal spatial mappings. These two spatial mappings differ in their experiential origins and their productivity, and available data suggest that they differ in their saliency. Yet, no study has so far compared their relative strength in an attentional orienting reaction time task that affords the simultaneous manifestation of both of them. Here we investigated this question using a visual search task with emotional faces. We presented angry and happy face targets and neutral distracter faces in top, bottom, left, and right locations on the computer screen. Conceptual congruency effects were observed along the vertical dimension supporting the ‘up=good’ metaphor, but not along the horizontal dimension. This asymmetrical processing pattern was observed when faces were presented in a cropped (Experiment 1) and whole (Experiment 2) format. These findings suggest that the ‘up=good’ metaphor is more salient and readily activated than the ‘right=good’ metaphor, and that the former outcompetes the latter when the task context affords the simultaneous activation of both mappings

Improved Search for νˉμ→νˉe\bar ν_μ\rightarrow \bar ν_e Oscillations in the MiniBooNE Experiment

Submitted to PRL. Further information provided in arXiv:1207.4809Submitted to PRL. Further information provided in arXiv:1207.4809The MiniBooNE experiment at Fermilab reports results from an analysis of $\bar \nu_e$ appearance data from $11.27 \times 10^{20}$ protons on target in antineutrino mode, an increase of approximately a factor of two over the previously reported results. An event excess of $78.4 \pm 28.5$ events ($2.8 \sigma$) is observed in the energy range $200<E_\nu^{QE}<1250$ MeV. If interpreted in a two-neutrino oscillation model, $\bar{\nu}_{\mu}\rightarrow\bar{\nu}_e$, the best oscillation fit to the excess has a probability of 66% while the background-only fit has a $\chi^2$-probability of 0.5% relative to the best fit. The data are consistent with antineutrino oscillations in the $0.01 < \Delta m^2 < 1.0$ eV$^2$ range and have some overlap with the evidence for antineutrino oscillations from the Liquid Scintillator Neutrino Detector (LSND). All of the major backgrounds are constrained by in-situ event measurements so non-oscillation explanations would need to invoke new anomalous background processes. The neutrino mode running also shows an excess at low energy of $162.0 \pm 47.8$ events ($3.4 \sigma$) but the energy distribution of the excess is marginally compatible with a simple two neutrino oscillation formalism. Expanded models with several sterile neutrinos can reduce the incompatibility by allowing for CP violating effects between neutrino and antineutrino oscillations

Offspring Hormones Reflect the Maternal Prenatal Social Environment: Potential for Foetal Programming?

Females of many species adaptively program their offspring to predictable environmental conditions, a process that is often mediated by hormones. Laboratory studies have shown, for instance, that social density affects levels of maternal cortisol and testosterone, leading to fitness-relevant changes in offspring physiology and behaviour. However, the effects of social density remain poorly understood in natural populations due to the difficulty of disentangling confounding influences such as climatic variation and food availability. Colonially breeding marine mammals offer a unique opportunity to study maternal effects in response to variable colony densities under similar ecological conditions. We therefore quantified maternal and offspring hormone levels in 84 Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella) from two closely neighbouring colonies of contrasting density. Hair samples were used as they integrate hormone levels over several weeks or months and therefore represent in utero conditions during foetal development. We found significantly higher levels of cortisol and testosterone (both P < 0.001) in mothers from the high density colony, reflecting a more stressful and competitive environment. In addition, offspring testosterone showed a significant positive correlation with maternal cortisol (P < 0.05). Although further work is needed to elucidate the potential consequences for offspring fitness, these findings raise the intriguing possibility that adaptive foetal programming might occur in fur seals in response to the maternal social environment. They also lend support to the idea that hormonally mediated maternal effects may depend more strongly on the maternal regulation of androgen rather than cortisol levels

Chemical injuries of the oesophagus: aetiopathological issues in Nigeria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Chemical injuries of the oesophagus occur worldwide. There is paucity of information on aetiopathological profile of chemical injuries of the oesophagus in Nigeria.</p> <p>Aim</p> <p>The aim of the study was to determine the aetiopathological pattern of chemical injuries of the oesophagus in Nigeria.</p> <p>Materials and methods</p> <p>This is a multi-centre hospital based study in Lagos metropolis spanning a period of 10 years.</p> <p>The patients' bio data, substances ingested, sources of corrosives, reasons for ingesting corrosives and patients' mental state were recorded.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In all, there were 78 patients (61 Males, 17 Females). The offending agents were acids in 55.1% of cases and it was accidental ingestion in 62 patients. The highest incidence of 57.6% was found in the middle 1/3 of the oesophagus.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Accidental ingestion of acids is the commonest cause of oesophageal injuries in Nigeria. The incidence of severe strictures necessitating oesophageal substitution could be reduced if early management of corrosive oesophagitis improves in Nigeria.</p

Neutrinos

229 pages229 pages229 pagesThe Proceedings of the 2011 workshop on Fundamental Physics at the Intensity Frontier. Science opportunities at the intensity frontier are identified and described in the areas of heavy quarks, charged leptons, neutrinos, proton decay, new light weakly-coupled particles, and nucleons, nuclei, and atoms

Some comments on the significance and development of midline behavior during infancy

With the waning of the tonic neck reflex beginning with the 8th to 12th week, and disappearing, in most instances, by the 16th week, the infant begins to become bilateral and makes symmetrical movements and engages his hands in the midline usually over the chest while in a supine position. The developmental significance of such behavior is considered—for example, its participation in the emerging sense of self and its role in the consolidation of emerging ego skills. Consideration is given to the possible implications of faulty midline behavior for development, and to whether failure to engage in an optimal amount of midline behavior, in interaction with other factors, can be used to alert observers to possible future developmental disturbances.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43965/1/10578_2005_Article_BF01435498.pd