First results from the CRESST-III low-mass dark matter program

The CRESST experiment is a direct dark matter search which aims to measure interactions of potential dark matter particles in an earth-bound detector. With the current stage, CRESST-III, we focus on a low energy threshold for increased sensitivity towards light dark matter particles. In this manuscript we describe the analysis of one detector operated in the first run of CRESST-III (05/2016-02/2018) achieving a nuclear recoil threshold of 30.1eV. This result was obtained with a 23.6g CaWO$_4$ crystal operated as a cryogenic scintillating calorimeter in the CRESST setup at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS). Both the primary phonon/heat signal and the simultaneously emitted scintillation light, which is absorbed in a separate silicon-on-sapphire light absorber, are measured with highly sensitive transition edge sensors operated at ~15mK. The unique combination of these sensors with the light element oxygen present in our target yields sensitivity to dark matter particle masses as low as 160MeV/c$^2$.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure

Limits on Dark Matter Effective Field Theory Parameters with CRESST-II

CRESST is a direct dark matter search experiment, aiming for an observation of nuclear recoils induced by the interaction of dark matter particles with cryogenic scintillating calcium tungstate crystals. Instead of confining ourselves to standard spin-independent and spin-dependent searches, we re-analyze data from CRESST-II using a more general effective field theory (EFT) framework. On many of the EFT coupling constants, improved exclusion limits in the low-mass region (< 3-4 GeV) are presented.Comment: 7 pages, 9 figure

A Low Nuclear Recoil Energy Threshold for Dark Matter Search with CRESST-III Detectors

The CRESST-III experiment (Cryogenic Rare Events Search with Superconducting Thermometers), located at the underground facility Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy, uses scintillating CaWO₄ crystals as cryogenic calorimeters to search for direct dark matter interactions in detectors. A large part of the parameter space for spin-independent scattering off nuclei remains untested for dark matter particles with masses below a few GeV/c², despite many naturally motivated theoretical models for light dark matter particles. The CRESST-III detectors are designed to achieve the performance required to probe the low-mass region of the parameter space with a sensitivity never reached before. In this paper, new results on the performance and an overview of the CRESST-III detectors will be presented, emphasizing the results about the low-energy threshold for nuclear recoil of CRESST-III Phase 1 which started collecting data in August 2016. Keywords: Cryogenic detectors; Dark matter; Rare-event searche

Low prevalence of mitral valve prolapse in bipolar affective disorder

PubMed ID: 3825583The authors report the prevalence of mitral valve prolapse in bipolar affective disorder. 22 bipolar patients (13 men and 9 women; age 17–75 years, mean 42.3) were selected at random from 41 bipolar patients for echocardiographic examination. Diagnosis of mitral valve prolapse was made if prolapsus of the anterior or posterior valve to the left atrium was seen in the two-dimensional echocardiography and if mid-to late-systolic posterior motion of the mitral valve was greater than 2 mm in M-mode echocardiography. Of the 22 bipolar patients, only two had mitral valve prolapse. This rate does not differ significantly from the 5% rate found in the general population. Copyright © 1986, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserve

Prediction of the hot metal silicon content in the Blast Furnace [Yüksek Firinda Sicak Metaldeki Silisyum Orani Tahmini]

24th Signal Processing and Communication Application Conference, SIU 2016 --16 May 2016 through 19 May 2016 -- --Transforming of raw iron ore to liquid hot metal is operated at blast furnace which is one of the main unit of integrated iron and steel factories. Silicon content of liquid hot metal is the most important parameter concerning of product quality and blast furnace thermal condition. In this study a prediction model is established with artificial neural network's multilayer perceptron module by using 564 heat data of Iskenderun Iron & Steel Plant (ISDEMIR) Blast Furnace No 3. The silicon content of the next heat is predicted with accuracy of 83%. © 2016 IEEE

Large inferoposterior wall pseudoaneurysm of the left ventricle with a thrombus after myocardial infarction

PubMed ID: 10653269[No abstract available

The effects of cholesterol lowering therapy with atorvastatin on flow-mediated vasodilation in patients with hypercholesterolemic coronary artery disease

Background. Hypercholesterolemia impairs the endothelial function. Lipid-lowering therapy has been reported to improve endothelial function. Aim. To assess the effects of atorvastatin on endothelial function by the measurement of flow-mediated vasodilatation (FMD) in patients with hypercholesterolemia and coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods. In twenty-six patients (mean age 55±5 years) with angiographically proven CAD a high-resolution vascular ultrasound was used at baseline and after two months of atorvastatin therapy (10 mg/day) in order to measure brachial artery responses to reactive hyperaemia and sublingual nitrate (endothelium-independent mechanism). The baseline FMD values obtained in patients were compared with those measured in healthy controls. Results. The FMD values in the control group were significantly higher than in the CAD group (12.5±6% versus 3.8±3%, p<0.001). The FMD improved significantly in CAD patients after the effective lowering of total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol by atorvastatin therapy (3.8±3% versus 7.2±3.5%, p<0.001) whereas no significant change in the endothelium-independent vasodilation was noted. Conclusions. Endothelium-dependent vasodilatation of the brachial artery is impaired in CAD patients. Significant lowering of cholesterol levels in CAD patients with atorvastatin markedly improves endothelium-dependent arterial vasodilatation