The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment: Exploring Fundamental Symmetries of the Universe

The preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early Universe, the dynamics of the supernova bursts that produced the heavy elements necessary for life and whether protons eventually decay --- these mysteries at the forefront of particle physics and astrophysics are key to understanding the early evolution of our Universe, its current state and its eventual fate. The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment (LBNE) represents an extensively developed plan for a world-class experiment dedicated to addressing these questions. LBNE is conceived around three central components: (1) a new, high-intensity neutrino source generated from a megawatt-class proton accelerator at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, (2) a near neutrino detector just downstream of the source, and (3) a massive liquid argon time-projection chamber deployed as a far detector deep underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility. This facility, located at the site of the former Homestake Mine in Lead, South Dakota, is approximately 1,300 km from the neutrino source at Fermilab -- a distance (baseline) that delivers optimal sensitivity to neutrino charge-parity symmetry violation and mass ordering effects. This ambitious yet cost-effective design incorporates scalability and flexibility and can accommodate a variety of upgrades and contributions. With its exceptional combination of experimental configuration, technical capabilities, and potential for transformative discoveries, LBNE promises to be a vital facility for the field of particle physics worldwide, providing physicists from around the globe with opportunities to collaborate in a twenty to thirty year program of exciting science. In this document we provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess.Comment: Major update of previous version. This is the reference document for LBNE science program and current status. Chapters 1, 3, and 9 provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess. 288 pages, 116 figure

Keystone XL: Down the Line

The proposed Keystone XL pipeline has enflamed the bitter fight over America's energy future. Opponents of the 1,700-mile pipeline, which is designed to bring oil extracted from Canadian tar sands down to the US, say it represents a furthering of a dead-end oil-based energy policy that is unsustainable and poisonous, and have turned the permit requests to build the pipeline into an environmental litmus test for President Barack Obama. Supporters of the Keystone XL say it represents a step toward America's energy independence. Beyond the Beltway, the real story of this pipeline is one about American frontiers - the lengths to which we go for oil and the intrusive effects that quest causes all the way down the line. Steve Mufson, a reporter for The Washington Post, journeyed by car along the length of the proposed pipeline to see what this policy debate looks like at the ground level. Each segment of his trip touched on different issues: climate change and the oil sands; the U.S. energy trade with Canada; the North Dakota shale boom and its woes; prairie populism in Nebraska and pipeline politics; the Ogallala aquifer and the threat of leaks; Native Americans and their desire to protect land, water and burial sites along the old Trail of Tears; the fight of ranchers and farmers against a Canadian company’s right to eminent domain; and why both oil sands producers and Texas refiners want to see the pipeline completed. As long as the world relies on fossil fuels for transportation and industry, we will face unappealing choices. The Keystone XL pipeline serves as a larger metaphor, illuminating the vast energy infrastructure it takes to sustain the American lifestyle and the debatable choices we must make in pursuit of short-term comfort. Which risks, now and in the future, are we willing to take

The Washington Post: In China, Wal-Mart presses suppliers on labor, environmental standards

This document is part of a digital collection provided by the Martin P. Catherwood Library, ILR School, Cornell University, pertaining to the effects of globalization on the workplace worldwide. Special emphasis is placed on labor rights, working conditions, labor market changes, and union organizing.CLW_2010_Report_China_Washington_Post.pdf: 59 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

Comparison of acetylcholinesterase and choline acetyltransferase staining patterns in the optic tectum of the goldfish carassius auratus: A histochemical and immunocytochemical analysis

Although the optic tectum of nonmammalian vertebrates has been extensively studied anatomically, there is little information about the identification of neuro-transmitters and the enzymes critical to their synthesis. Choline acetyltransferase (Ch AT), the enzyme responsible for acetylcholine synthesis, is presently regarded as the most reliable marker for cholinergic neurons, and its localization within putative cholinergic neurons has been made possible by the development of antibodies specific to ChAT. We have compared the immunocytochemical localization of ChAT to the histochemical staining of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in the goldfish optic tectum. Goldfish brains reacted with the monoclonal antibody AB8 to ChAT have revealed that: (1) type XIV neurons are the only ChAT-positive cells in the tectum, and there are approximately 15,000 such cells per tectal hemisphere; (2) these neurons and other ChAT-con-taining afferent fibers form bands of label which correspond to those seen after AChE staining, and (3) many AChE-stained neurons do not contain ChAT. The immunohisto-chemical localization of ChAT has provided a direct method for determining the localization and organization of putative cholinergic structures in the optic tectum of goldfish. Future studies may elucidate the relationship of these cholinergic systems to the retinotectal projections, as there is close correspondence between AChE and ChAT location and the retinotectal termination patterns. © 1987 S. Karger AG, Basel

Choline acetyltransferase immunohistochemical staining in the goldfish (Carassius auratus) brain: Evidence that the Mauthner cell does not contain choline acetyltransferase

In the hatchetfish, the Mauthner cell (M-cell) is thought to be cholinergic based on electrophysiological studies using cholinergic agents and on the localization of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and α-bungarotoxin to M-cell-giant fiber synapses. Immunocytochemical studies have shown that mammalian and non-mammalian cholinergic neurons stain positive for choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), the enzyme responsible for synthesizing acetylcholine. We processed tissue from the goldfish (Carassius auratus) for the immunohistochemical detection of ChAT using the monoclonal antibody AB8 and the peroxidase-antiperoxidase procedure. ChAT immunoreactivity was found in selected areas of the goldfish brain including the cranial nerve nuclei and the ventral horn motoneurons of the spinal cord. Interestingly, the M-cell soma which stains positive for AChE was ChAT negative. This immunohistochemical evidence does not support cholinergic functioning of the Mauthner cell. © 1986

Epidermal growth factor receptor expression in demented elderly: localization to vascular endothelial cells of brain, pituitary and skin

We have previously demonstrated that expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) was upregulated on vascular endothelial cells from brains of patients with dementia but not in brains from non-demented patients. The present study used a monoclonal antibody against EGFR to examine its expression in pituitary gland, scalp, abdominal skin and brain of 29 patients with and without various dementias and neurological deficits, as well as normal aged controls. Of 20 clinically demented patients examined postmortem, 15 exhibited EGFR immunoreactivity (IR) on brain and peripheral vascular endothelial cells. Examination of nine non-demented patients revealed only 1 patient with EGFR-IR. EGFR-IR was expressed on all blood vessels, regardless of size or location within the tissue examined. Ultrastructural analysis of EGFR revealed that in pituitary, like brain, the receptor was restricted to the lumenal cell surface of vascular endothelial cells. In all cases of EGFR-IR there was an absolute correlation between central nervous system and peripheral expression; if there was EGFR-IR in brain vessels it was present in skin. If there was no staining in brain there was no peripheral skin vessel staining; and vice versa. Increased EGFR expression may indicate proliferative or regenerative changes in the vasculature of affected patients and may provide a biological marker supporting the diagnosis of dementia by analysis of skin biopsy. © 1993

Putative cholinergic projections from the nucleus isthmi and the nucleus reticularis mesencephali to the optic tectum in the goldfish (Carassius auratus)

The nucleus isthmi of fish and amphibians has reciprocal connections with the optic tectum, and biochemical studies suggest that it may provide a major cholinergic input to the tectum. In goldfish, we have combined immunohistochemical staining for choline acetyltransferase with retrograde labeling of nucleus isthmi neurons after tectal injections of horseradish peroxidase. Seven fish received tectal horseradish peroxidase injections, and brain tissue from these animals was subsequently processed for the simultaneous visualization of horseradish peroxidase and choline acetyltransferase. In many nucleus isthmi neurons the dense horseradish peroxidase label obscured the choline acetyltransferase reaction product but horseradish peroxidase and choline acetyltransferase were colocalized in 54 cells from nine nuclei isthmi. The somata of nucleus reticularis mesencephali neurons stained so intensely for choline acetyltransferase that we could not determine whether they were labelled also with horseradish peroxidase. However, the large choline acetyltransferase‐immunoreactive axons of nucleus reticularis mesencephali neurons stained intensely enough for us to follow them rostrally; the axons are clustered together until the level of the rostral tectum where two groupings form: one travels into the tectum and the other travels rostroventrally to cross the midline and enter the contralateral diencephalic preoptic area. We conclude therefore that cholinergic neurons project to the optic tectum from the nucleus isthmi as well as nucleus reticularis mesencephali in goldfish. Copyright © 1988 Alan R. Liss, Inc

Human cholinergic basal forebrain: Chemoanatomy and neurologic dysfunction

The human cholinergic basal forebrain (CBF) is comprised of magnocellular hyperchromic neurons within the septal/diagonal band complex and nucleus basalis (NB) of Meynert. CBF neurons provide the major cholinergic innervation to the hippocampus, amygdala and neocortex. They play a role in cognition and attentional behaviors, and are dysfunctional in Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD). The human CBF displays a continuum of large cells that contain various cholinergic markers, nerve growth factor (NGF) and its cognate receptors, calbindin, glutamate receptors, and the estrogen receptors, ERα and ERβ. Admixed with these cholinergic neuronal phenotypes are smaller interneurons containing the m2 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChRs), NADPH-diaphorase, GABA, calcium binding proteins and several inhibitory neuropeptides including galanin (GAL), which is over expressed in AD. Studies using human autopsy material indicate an age-related dissociation of calbindin and the glutamate receptor GluR2 within CBF neurons, suggesting that these molecules act synergistically to induce excitotoxic cell death during aging, and possibly during AD. Choline acetyltrasnferease (ChAT) activity and CBF neuron number is preserved in the cholinergic basocortical system and up regulated in the septohippocampal system during prodromal as compared with end stage AD. In contrast, the number of CBF neurons containing NGF receptors is reduced early in the disease process suggesting a phenotypic silence and not a frank loss of neurons. In end stage AD, there is a selective reduction in trkA mRNA but not p75NTR in single CBF cells suggesting a neurotrophic defect throughout the progression of AD. These observations indicate the complexity of the chemoanatomy of the human CBF and suggest that multiple factors play different roles in its dysfunction in aging and AD. © 2003 Published by Elsevier B.V

Reduction of choline acetyltransferase activity in primary visual cortex in mild to moderate Alzheimer\u27s disease

Background: Cholinergic deficits in the primary visual cortex (PVC) may underlie some of the abnormalities in visual processing and global cognitive performance in Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD). Objective: To correlate measures of general cognition (Mini-Mental State Examination and Global Cognitive Score) and visuospatial function with choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activities, and nerve growth factor protein levels in the PVC. Design: The ChAT and AChE enzyme assays and a nerve growth factor protein enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay were performed on PVC tissue samples from subjects clinically diagnosed as having mild cognitive impairment (MCI), AD, or no cognitive impairment (NCI). Setting and Patients: Nuns, priests and brothers enrolled in the Religious Order Study, with annual premortem records of neuropsychological testing. Results: Significant differences in ChAT activity, but not in AChE activity or nerve growth factor protein levels, were found among diagnostic groups (P=.049). The ChAT activity was lower in AD than in MCI or NCI (P\.01); MCI was not different from NCI. The PVC ChAT activity correlated with measures of overall cognitive function (Mini-Mental State Examination and Global Cognitive Score), but less so with a composite measure of visuospatial function. Conclusions: The reduction in ChAT activity in the PVC of mild to moderate AD, but not in MCI, might serve to distinguish between clinical and preclinical forms of the disease. It appears that this change relates to generalized cognitive abnormalities but not specifically to visuospatial function