Using MiniBooNE neutral current elastic cross section results to constrain 3+1 sterile neutrino models

The MiniBooNE Neutral Current Elastic (NCEL) cross section results are used to extract limits in the $\Delta m^{2}-\sin^{2}\vartheta_{\mu s}$ plane for a 3+1 sterile neutrino model with a mass splitting $0.1 \leq \Delta m^{2} \leq 10.0$ eV$^{2}$. GENIE is used with a cross section model close to the one employed by MiniBooNE to make event rate predictions using simulations on the MiniBooNE target material CH$_{2}$. The axial mass is a free parameter in all fits. Sterile modifications to the flux and changes to the cross section in the simulation relate the two and allow limits to be set on sterile neutrino mixing using cross section results. The large axial mass problem makes it necessary for experiments to perform their own axial mass fits, but a prior fit to the same dataset could mask a sterile oscillation signal if the sterile and cross section model parameters are not independent. We find that for the NCEL dataset there are significant correlations between the sterile and cross section model parameters, making a fit to both models simultaneously necessary to get robust results. Failure to do this results in stronger than warranted limits on the sterile parameters. The general problems that the current uncertainty on charged-current quasi-elastic (CCQE) and NCEL cross sections at MiniBooNE energies pose for sterile neutrino measurements are discussed.Comment: Final version accepted for publication in JHE

Using MiniBooNE NCEL and CCQE cross section results to constrain 3+1 sterile neutrino models

The MiniBooNE NCEL and CCQE cross-section measurements (neutrino running) are used to set limits in the $\Delta m^{2}-\sin^{2}\vartheta_{\mu s}$ plane for a 3+1 sterile neutrino model with a mass splitting $0.1 \leq \Delta m^{2} \leq 10.0$ eV$^{2}$. GENIE is used, with a relativistic Fermi gas model, to relate $E_{\nu}$ and the reconstructed quantities measured. The issue of uncertainty in the underlying cross-section model and its effect on the sterile neutrino limits is explored, and robust sterile neutrino limits are produced by fitting the sterile parameters and the axial-mass cross-section parameter simultaneously.Comment: Contribution to the Proceedings of the NuPhys2013 Conference: Prospects in Neutrino Physics, 19-20 December 2013, IOP, Londo

Effect of Larval Nutrition on Maternal mRNA Contribution to the Drosophila Egg.

Embryonic development begins under the control of maternal gene products, mRNAs and proteins that the mother deposits into the egg; the zygotic genome is activated some time later. Maternal control of early development is conserved across metazoans. Gene products contributed by mothers are critical to many early developmental processes, and set up trajectories for the rest of development. Maternal deposition of these factors is an often-overlooked aspect of parental investment. If the mother experiences challenging environmental conditions, such as poor nutrition, previous studies in Drosophila melanogaster have demonstrated a plastic response wherein these mothers may produce larger eggs to buffer the offspring against the same difficult environment. This additional investment can produce offspring that are more fit in the challenging environment. With this study, we ask whether D. melanogaster mothers who experience poor nutrition during their own development change their gene product contribution to the egg. We perform mRNA-Seq on eggs at a stage where all mRNAs are maternally derived, from mothers with different degrees of nutritional limitation. We find that nutritional limitation produces similar transcript changes at all degrees of limitation tested. Genes that have lower transcript abundance in nutritionally limited mothers are those involved in translation, which is likely one of the most energetically costly processes occurring in the early embryo. We find an increase in transcripts for transport and localization of macromolecules, and for the electron transport chain. The eggs produced by nutrition-limited mothers show a plastic response in mRNA deposition, which may better prepare the future embryo for development in a nutrition-limited environment

Practical Strategies and Advice for Managing Ethical Concerns in End-of-Life Research

poster abstractProblem/Issue Statement A growing national interest in improving end-of-life care has increased the amount of research involving dying patients and their families. However, questions about how to best balance the pressing need for research with protecting participants trouble both investigators and institutional review boards (IRBs). Furthermore, ethical concerns were identified as a potential barrier to advancing end-of-life science at the 2004 NIH State of the Science Consensus Conference. This NIH-funded study describes ethical concerns and practical strategies for managing ethical challenges in the conduct of end-of-life research. Description of Research Methods: A qualitative, exploratory case study design followed the development of end-of-life research from proposal generation through the review process. Inclusion criteria mirrored those used in the NIH State of the Science Report. Cases were identified through a search of active studies in the NIH RePORT database and an internet search of active research funded by private foundations and institutions. Data were collected from a purposive sample of 34 principal investigators who participated by phone in semistructured interviews and provided document data regarding their experiences with the grant and IRB review processes. Interviews were recorded and transcribed with identifying information removed to protect confidentiality. Relevant document data were extracted and de-identified. Data were analyzed using exploratory qualitative case study methods. Results: The most common ethical concerns about research with end-of-life populations were recruitment strategies, the burden of study procedures, and population vulnerability. Strategies to address these concerns included gathering data about the benefits of research participation, consulting with the IRB and with more experienced researchers, using non-threatening language in the consent and other materials, being flexible in data collection protocols to accommodate participant limitations, creating back-up plans in the event of crisis, partnering with clinicians to ensure prompt attention to symptom reports, and addressing the training and emotional needs of research staff . PIs advise IRBs to seek out expert consultants for end-of-life studies, work collaboratively with investigators, simplify the consent process, and be open to the benefits of research participation for dying patients and their families rather than assuming harm will occur. Conclusion: Investigators use a variety of strategies to manage ethical issues in the conduct of end-oflife research. They advise IRBs to seek out expertise, enhance knowledge of the population, and work collaboratively with investigators. Future research will focus on gathering systematic data regarding the experiences of dying patients and their families with end-of-life research

Administrators' perspectives on ethical issues in long-term care research

ETHICAL ISSUES ARE A SIGNIFICANT potential barrier to much-needed research in long-term care settings. LTC stakeholder perspectives are largely absent from the development of regulation and guidelines. Fifteen long-term care administrators were interviewed as part of a study of ethical issues in community-based, long-term care research. Established qualitative procedures for conducting content analysis were used to organize the data. Findings suggest that existing mechanisms to protect human subjects do not take into account important differences between academic and long-term care settings. The full potential of LTC research will not be realized until supportive processes to enhance human subjects protections are developed in a way that is reflective of the LTC environment

Geologic studies to identify the source for high levels of radium and barium in Illinois ground-water supplies: a preliminary report

Analyses of water from municipal wells in Illinois by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency showed that more than 300 wells exceeded the upper limit, 3 picocuries/liter (U.S. Public Health Service, 1962), for gross alpha radiation in drinking water. More than 30 wells exceeded the upper limit, 1 milligram/liter (U.S. Public Health Service, 1962), for barium in drinking water. High levels of radiation in ground water were more extensive in areal distribution than the high levels of barium. All of the affected wells were finished in bedrock, primarily in rocks of the Cambrian and Ordovician Systems of northern Illinois. The geologic settings in which the high levels of radiation and barium were documented indicated that the problem was not restricted to Illinois.The source of the radiation in ground water was thought to be the natural occurrence of the radioactive elements.uranium-238 and thorium-232 in the aquifer rocks. Analyses of a limited number of rock samples indicated that uranium and thorium concentrations were highest in fine-grained sediments in the aquifer systems; the highest concentration was in shales that confine the aquifer.The occurrence of natural radioisotopes in ground water was thought to be complex, involving source rocks, ground water chemistry, and the hydraulic stress placed on the aquifer.Chemical analyses of rock samples indicated that high concentrations of barium were widespread in rocks of the Cambrian and Ordovician Systems. The concentration of barium in ground water was controlled by solubility equilibria reactions with sulfate ion. A map showing sulfate ion concentration in the Cambrian-Ordovician Aquifer could be used to delimit regions where barium might occur at concentrations exceeding 1 milligram/liter.U.S. Department of the InteriorU.S. Geological Surve

Astro2020 Science White Paper: Triggered High-Priority Observations of Dynamic Solar System Phenomena

Unexpected dynamic phenomena have surprised solar system observers in the past and have led to important discoveries about solar system workings. Observations at the initial stages of these events provide crucial information on the physical processes at work. We advocate for long-term/permanent programs on ground-based and space-based telescopes of all sizes - including Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs) - to conduct observations of high-priority dynamic phenomena, based on a predefined set of triggering conditions. These programs will ensure that the best initial dataset of the triggering event are taken; separate additional observing programs will be required to study the temporal evolution of these phenomena. While not a comprehensive list, the following are notional examples of phenomena that are rare, that cannot be anticipated, and that provide high-impact advances to our understandings of planetary processes. Examples include: new cryovolcanic eruptions or plumes on ocean worlds; impacts on Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, or Neptune; extreme eruptions on Io; convective superstorms on Saturn, Uranus, or Neptune; collisions within the asteroid belt or other small-body populations; discovery of an interstellar object passing through our solar system (e.g. 'Oumuamua); and responses of planetary atmospheres to major solar flares or coronal mass ejections.Comment: Astro2020 white pape

"Now he walks and walks, as if he didn't have a home where he could eat": food, healing, and hunger in Quechua narratives of madness

In the Quechua-speaking peasant communities of southern Peru, mental disorder is understood less as individualized pathology and more as a disturbance in family and social relationships. For many Andeans, food and feeding are ontologically fundamental to such relationships. This paper uses data from interviews and participant observation in a rural province of Cuzco to explore the significance of food and hunger in local discussions of madness. Carers’ narratives, explanatory models, and theories of healing all draw heavily from idioms of food sharing and consumption in making sense of affliction, and these concepts structure understandings of madness that differ significantly from those assumed by formal mental health services. Greater awareness of the salience of these themes could strengthen the input of psychiatric and psychological care with this population and enhance knowledge of the alternative treatments that they use. Moreover, this case provides lessons for the global mental health movement on the importance of openness to the ways in which indigenous cultures may construct health, madness, and sociality. Such local meanings should be considered by mental health workers delivering services in order to provide care that can adjust to the alternative ontologies of sufferers and carers