Probing New Physics Models of Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay with SuperNEMO

The possibility to probe new physics scenarios of light Majorana neutrino exchange and right-handed currents at the planned next generation neutrinoless double beta decay experiment SuperNEMO is discussed. Its ability to study different isotopes and track the outgoing electrons provides the means to discriminate different underlying mechanisms for the neutrinoless double beta decay by measuring the decay half-life and the electron angular and energy distributions.Comment: 17 pages, 14 figures, to be published in E.P.J.

Background rejection in NEXT using deep neural networks

[EN] We investigate the potential of using deep learning techniques to reject background events in searches for neutrinoless double beta decay with high pressure xenon time projection chambers capable of detailed track reconstruction. The differences in the topological signatures of background and signal events can be learned by deep neural networks via training over many thousands of events. These networks can then be used to classify further events as signal or background, providing an additional background rejection factor at an acceptable loss of efficiency. The networks trained in this study performed better than previous methods developed based on the use of the same topological signatures by a factor of 1.2 to 1.6, and there is potential for further improvement.The NEXT Collaboration acknowledges support from the following agencies and institutions: the European Research Council (ERC) under the Advanced Grant 339787-NEXT; the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad of Spain and FEDER under grants CONSOLIDER-Ingenio 2010 CSD2008-0037 (CUP), FIS2014-53371-C04 and the Severo Ochoa Program SEV-2014-0398; GVA under grant PROMETEO/2016/120. Fermilab is operated by Fermi Research Alliance, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC02-07CH11359 with the United States Department of Energy. JR acknowledges support from a Fulbright Junior Research Award.Renner, J.; Farbin, A.; Muñoz Vidal, J.; Benlloch-Rodríguez, J.; Botas, A.; Ferrario, P.; Gómez-Cadenas, J.... (2017). Background rejection in NEXT using deep neural networks. Journal of Instrumentation. 12. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-0221/12/01/T01004S1

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities 1,2 . This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity 3�6 . Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55 of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017�and more than 80 in some low- and middle-income regions�was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing�and in some countries reversal�of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories. © 2019, The Author(s)

Tri- And Tetrametaphosphates Of Lanthanidic Elements

The preparation and properties of some lanthanide trimetaphosphates as well as the corresponding tetrametaphosphates are described. Conductivity measurements and i.r. spectra are presented. The comparison between the neodymium trimetaphosphate and the lanthanide tetrametaphosphate spectra with the spectrum of Nd(BrO3)3. 9H2O suggests that the coordination number of Nd3+ in the tri- and tetrametaphosphate is nine. © 1972.34721792187Monk, Davies, (1949) J. chem. Soc., p. 413Monk, 239. The condensed phosphoric acids and their salts. Part VII. Ion association between some tervalent cations and the tri- and tetra-metaphosphates (1952) Journal of the Chemical Society (Resumed), p. 1317Serra, Giesbrecht, (1968) J. inorg. nucl. Chem., 30, p. 793Serra, (1969) Doctoral Thesis, , Dep. Química da Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras, Universidade de São PauloBell, (1950) Inorg. Synth., 3, p. 103Bernhart, Chess, (1959) Analyt. Chim., 31, p. 1026Cotton, Goodgame, Sacco, (1961) J. Am. chem. Soc., 83, p. 4157Steger, Spektroskopische Untersuchungen an kondensierten Phosphaten und Phosphors�uren. IV. Die Ultrarotspektren einiger Tetrametaphosphate (1958) Zeitschrift f�r anorganische und allgemeine Chemie, 294, p. 146Steger, Simon, Spektroskopische Untersuchungen an kondensierten Phosphaten und Phosphors�uren. III. DieRAMAN-Spektren kristallisierter Tetrametaphosphate (1958) Zeitschrift f�r anorganische und allgemeine Chemie, 294, p. 1Koster, Wagner, Reinvestigation of the crystal structure of ammoniumtetrametaphosphate, (NH4)4P4O12 (1970) Journal of the Chemical Society A: Inorganic, Physical, Theoretical, A, p. 435Romers, Ketelaar, MacGillavry, The crystal structure of amoniumtetrametaphosphate (NH4)4P4O12 (1951) Acta Crystallographica, 4, p. 114Ondik, The structure of the triclinic form of sodium tetrametaphosphate tetrahydrate (1964) Acta Crystallographica, 17, p. 1139Ondik, Block, MacGillavry, The structure of the monoclinic form of sodium tetrametaphosphate tetrahydrate (1961) Acta Crystallographica, 14, p. 555Pauling, Sherman, (1937) Z. Kristallogr., 96, p. 481Simon, Steger, RAMAN-spektroskopische Untersuchungen an kondensierten Phosphaten und Phosphors�uren. I. �ber Trimetaphosphate und Trimetaphosphors�ure (1954) Zeitschrift f�r anorganische und allgemeine Chemie, 287, p. 209Eanes, Ondik, The structure of lithium dipotassium trimetaphosphate monohydrate (1962) Acta Crystallographica, 15, p. 1280Kawano, (1971) MSc. Thesis, , Instituto de Química da Universidade de São PauloCousin, Hart, Lanthanide complexes—V complexes of yttrium and lanthanide nitrates with triphenylarsine oxide (1967) Journal of Inorganic and Nuclear Chemistry, 29, p. 2965Parris, Long, (1970) J. inorg. nucl. Chem., 32, p. 1593Karraker, (1967) Inorg. Chem., 6, p. 1863Karraker, (1968) Inorg. Chem., 7, p. 473Karraker, (1969) J. inorg. nucl. Chem., 31, p. 2815Helmholz, (1939) J. Am. chem. Soc., 61, p. 154