Optimized Two-Baseline Beta-Beam Experiment

We propose a realistic Beta-Beam experiment with four source ions and two baselines for the best possible sensitivity to theta_{13}, CP violation and mass hierarchy. Neutrinos from 18Ne and 6He with Lorentz boost gamma=350 are detected in a 500 kton water Cerenkov detector at a distance L=650 km (first oscillation peak) from the source. Neutrinos from 8B and 8Li are detected in a 50 kton magnetized iron detector at a distance L=7000 km (magic baseline) from the source. Since the decay ring requires a tilt angle of 34.5 degrees to send the beam to the magic baseline, the far end of the ring has a maximum depth of d=2132 m for magnetic field strength of 8.3 T, if one demands that the fraction of ions that decay along the straight sections of the racetrack geometry decay ring (called livetime) is 0.3. We alleviate this problem by proposing to trade reduction of the livetime of the decay ring with the increase in the boost factor of the ions, such that the number of events at the detector remains almost the same. This allows to substantially reduce the maximum depth of the decay ring at the far end, without significantly compromising the sensitivity of the experiment to the oscillation parameters. We take 8B and 8Li with gamma=390 and 656 respectively, as these are the largest possible boost factors possible with the envisaged upgrades of the SPS at CERN. This allows us to reduce d of the decay ring by a factor of 1.7 for 8.3 T magnetic field. Increase of magnetic field to 15 T would further reduce d to 738 m only. We study the sensitivity reach of this two baseline two storage ring Beta-Beam experiment, and compare it with the corresponding reach of the other proposed facilities.Comment: 17 pages, 3 eps figures. Minor changes, matches version accepted in JHE

θ13\theta_{13}, δ\delta and the neutrino mass hierarchy at a γ=350\gamma=350 double baseline Li/B β\beta-Beam

We consider a $\beta$-Beam facility where $^8$Li and $^8$B ions are accelerated at $\gamma = 350$, accumulated in a 10 Km storage ring and let decay, so as to produce intense $\bar \nu_e$ and $\nu_e$ beams. These beams illuminate two iron detectors located at $L \simeq 2000$ Km and $L \simeq 7000$ Km, respectively. The physics potential of this setup is analysed in full detail as a function of the flux. We find that, for the highest flux ($10 \times 10^{18}$ ion decays per year per baseline), the sensitivity to $\theta_{13}$ reaches $\sin^2 2 \theta_{13} \geq 2 \times10^{-4}$; the sign of the atmospheric mass difference can be identified, regardless of the true hierarchy, for $\sin^2 2 \theta_{13} \geq 4\times10^{-4}$; and, CP-violation can be discovered in 70% of the $\delta$-parameter space for $\sin^2 2 \theta_{13} \geq 10^{-3}$, having some sensitivity to CP-violation down to $\sin^2 2 \theta_{13} \geq 10^{-4}$ for $|\delta| \sim 90^\circ$.Comment: 35 pages, 20 figures. Minor changes, matches the published versio

BGWM as Second Constituent of Complex Matrix Model

Earlier we explained that partition functions of various matrix models can be constructed from that of the cubic Kontsevich model, which, therefore, becomes a basic elementary building block in "M-theory" of matrix models. However, the less topical complex matrix model appeared to be an exception: its decomposition involved not only the Kontsevich tau-function but also another constituent, which we now identify as the Brezin-Gross-Witten (BGW) partition function. The BGW tau-function can be represented either as a generating function of all unitary-matrix integrals or as a Kontsevich-Penner model with potential 1/X (instead of X^3 in the cubic Kontsevich model).Comment: 42 page

Neutrino Probes of the Nature of Light Dark Matter

Dark matter particles gravitationally trapped inside the Sun may annihilate into Standard Model particles, producing a flux of neutrinos. The prospects of detecting these neutrinos in future multi-\kton{} neutrino detectors designed for other physics searches are explored here. We study the capabilities of a 34/100 \kton{} liquid argon detector and a 100 \kton{} magnetized iron calorimeter detector. These detectors are expected to determine the energy and the direction of the incoming neutrino with unprecedented precision allowing for tests of the dark matter nature at very low dark matter masses, in the range of 5-50 GeV. By suppressing the atmospheric background with angular cuts, these techniques would be sensitive to dark matter - nucleon spin dependent cross sections at the fb level, reaching down to a few ab for the most favorable annihilation channels and detector technology.Comment: Minor changes and clarifications, matches JCAP versio

Intercalibration of the barrel electromagnetic calorimeter of the CMS experiment at start-up

Calibration of the relative response of the individual channels of the barrel electromagnetic calorimeter of the CMS detector was accomplished, before installation, with cosmic ray muons and test beams. One fourth of the calorimeter was exposed to a beam of high energy electrons and the relative calibration of the channels, the intercalibration, was found to be reproducible to a precision of about 0.3%. Additionally, data were collected with cosmic rays for the entire ECAL barrel during the commissioning phase. By comparing the intercalibration constants obtained with the electron beam data with those from the cosmic ray data, it is demonstrated that the latter provide an intercalibration precision of 1.5% over most of the barrel ECAL. The best intercalibration precision is expected to come from the analysis of events collected in situ during the LHC operation. Using data collected with both electrons and pion beams, several aspects of the intercalibration procedures based on electrons or neutral pions were investigated

A review of diagnostic and functional imaging in headache

The neuroimaging of headache patients has revolutionised our understanding of the pathophysiology of primary headaches and provided unique insights into these syndromes. Modern imaging studies point, together with the clinical picture, towards a central triggering cause. The early functional imaging work using positron emission tomography shed light on the genesis of some syndromes, and has recently been refined, implying that the observed activation in migraine (brainstem) and in several trigeminal-autonomic headaches (hypothalamic grey) is involved in the pain process in either a permissive or triggering manner rather than simply as a response to first-division nociception per se. Using the advanced method of voxel-based morphometry, it has been suggested that there is a correlation between the brain area activated specifically in acute cluster headache — the posterior hypothalamic grey matter — and an increase in grey matter in the same region. No structural changes have been found for migraine and medication overuse headache, whereas patients with chronic tension-type headache demonstrated a significant grey matter decrease in regions known to be involved in pain processing. Modern neuroimaging thus clearly suggests that most primary headache syndromes are predominantly driven from the brain, activating the trigeminovascular reflex and needing therapeutics that act on both sides: centrally and peripherally

Exome sequencing of family trios from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study: Tapping into a rich resource of genetic and environmental data

Background: The National Birth Defects Prevention Study (NBDPS) is a multisite, population-based, case–control study of genetic and nongenetic risk factors for major structural birth defects. Eligible women had a pregnancy affected by a birth defect or a liveborn child without a birth defect between 1997 and 2011. They were invited to complete a telephone interview to collect pregnancy exposure data and were mailed buccal cell collection kits to collect specimens from themselves, their child (if living), and their child's father. Over 23,000 families representing more than 30 major structural birth defects provided DNA specimens. Methods: To evaluate their utility for exome sequencing (ES), specimens from 20 children with colonic atresia were studied. Evaluations were conducted on specimens collected using cytobrushes stored and transported in open versus closed packaging, on native genomic DNA (gDNA) versus whole genome amplified (WGA) products and on a library preparation protocol adapted to low amounts of DNA. Results: The DNA extracted from brushes in open packaging yielded higher quality sequence data than DNA from brushes in closed packaging. Quality metrics of sequenced gDNA were consistently higher than metrics from corresponding WGA products and were consistently high when using a low input protocol. Conclusions: This proof-of-principle study established conditions under which ES can be applied to NBDPS specimens. Successful sequencing of exomes from well-characterized NBDPS families indicated that this unique collection can be used to investigate the roles of genetic variation and gene–environment interaction effects in birth defect etiologies, providing a valuable resource for birth defect researchers

Identification of seven novel loci associated with amino acid levels using single-variant and gene-based tests in 8545 Finnish men from the METSIM study

Comprehensivemetabolite profiling capturesmany highly heritable traits, including amino acid levels, which are potentially sensitive biomarkers for disease pathogenesis. To better understand the contribution of genetic variation to amino acid levels, we performed single variant and gene-based tests of association between nine serumamino acids (alanine, glutamine, glycine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, and valine) and 16.6million genotyped and imputed variants in 8545 nondiabetic Finnishmen fromtheMETabolic Syndrome In Men (METSIM) study with replication in Northern Finland Birth Cohort (NFBC1966).We identified five novel loci associated with amino acid levels (P = < 5×10-8): LOC157273/PPP1R3B with glycine (rs9987289, P = 2.3×10-26); ZFHX3 (chr16:73326579,minor allele frequency (MAF) = 0.42%, P = 3.6×10-9), LIPC (rs10468017, P = 1.5×10-8), and WWOX (rs9937914, P = 3.8×10-8) with alanine; and TRIB1 with tyrosine (rs28601761, P = 8×10-9). Gene-based tests identified two novel genes harboringmissense variants ofMAF < 1% that show aggregate association with amino acid levels: PYCR1 with glycine (Pgene = 1.5×10-6) and BCAT2 with valine (Pgene = 7.4×10-7); neither gene was implicated by single variant association tests. These findings are among the first applications of gene-based tests to identify new loci for amino acid levels. In addition to the seven novel gene associations, we identified five independent signals at established amino acid loci, including two rare variant signals at GLDC (rs138640017,MAF=0.95%, Pconditional = 5.8×10-40) with glycine levels and HAL (rs141635447,MAF = 0.46%, Pconditional = 9.4×10-11) with histidine levels. Examination of all single variant association results in our data revealed a strong inverse relationship between effect size and MAF (Ptrend < 0.001). These novel signals provide further insight into the molecularmechanisms of amino acidmetabolismand potentially, their perturbations in disease