Radiation data definitions and compilation for equipment qualification data bank

Dose definitions, physical properties, mechanical properties, electrical properties, and particle definitions are listed for insulators and dielectrics, elastomeric seals and gaskets, lubricants, adhesives, and coatings

Increasing Historically Underserved and Underrepresented Student Completion in STEM Pathways at a Hispanic-Serving Institution: An Action Research Study

There is a demand for accountability for higher education institutions to increase student completion, specifically for institutions that enroll many students from historically underserved and underrepresented populations (HUUP). Meanwhile, labor market analysis presents a demand for skilled and diverse workers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Hispanic-serving institutions (HSI) have an advantage when supporting student completion to meet this workforce demand. This inquiry employed participatory action research (PAR) through a partnership with an HSI in rural Washington State. Using transformative worldview as the theoretical framework, this study aimed to determine the influence of completion planning for STEM students who represent HUUP. Research participants were students in the institution’s mathematics, engineering, science achievement (MESA) program. Two research questions guided this study and centered on how Hispanic participants and their lived experiences may inform completion planning for students from HUUP. The researchers sought to understand to what extent the MESA program’s support services impact student participation at a rural institution. This study collected nonquantitative data through a two-phase approach consisting of a survey and focus groups. The data analysis determined two key themes related to the study’s research questions: student barriers to completion at entry and strategies to support completion. The study’s findings led to four program-specific recommendations and three implications for policy-making decisions for the community partner’s leadership and for other higher education leaders seeking to increase student completion for students from HUUP into STEM pathways

Expression of Interest: The Atmospheric Neutrino Neutron Interaction Experiment (ANNIE)

Neutron tagging in Gadolinium-doped water may play a significant role in reducing backgrounds from atmospheric neutrinos in next generation proton-decay searches using megaton-scale Water Cherenkov detectors. Similar techniques might also be useful in the detection of supernova neutrinos. Accurate determination of neutron tagging efficiencies will require a detailed understanding of the number of neutrons produced by neutrino interactions in water as a function of momentum transferred. We propose the Atmospheric Neutrino Neutron Interaction Experiment (ANNIE), designed to measure the neutron yield of atmospheric neutrino interactions in gadolinium-doped water. An innovative aspect of the ANNIE design is the use of precision timing to localize interaction vertices in the small fiducial volume of the detector. We propose to achieve this by using early production of LAPPDs (Large Area Picosecond Photodetectors). This experiment will be a first application of these devices demonstrating their feasibility for Water Cherenkov neutrino detectors.Comment: Submitted for the January 2014 Fermilab Physics Advisory Committee meetin

Bostonia: The Boston University Alumni Magazine. Volume 10

Founded in 1900, Bostonia magazine is Boston University's main alumni publication, which covers alumni and student life, as well as university activities, events, and programs

Search for Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay of 130^{130}Te with CUORE-0

We report the results of a search for neutrinoless double-beta decay in a 9.8~kg$\cdot$yr exposure of $^{130}$Te using a bolometric detector array, CUORE-0. The characteristic detector energy resolution and background level in the region of interest are $5.1\pm 0.3{\rm~keV}$ FWHM and $0.058 \pm 0.004\,(\mathrm{stat.})\pm 0.002\,(\mathrm{syst.})$~counts/(keV$\cdot$kg$\cdot$yr), respectively. The median 90%~C.L. lower-limit sensitivity of the experiment is $2.9\times 10^{24}~{\rm yr}$ and surpasses the sensitivity of previous searches. We find no evidence for neutrinoless double-beta decay of $^{130}$Te and place a Bayesian lower bound on the decay half-life, $T^{0\nu}_{1/2}>$~$2.7\times 10^{24}~{\rm yr}$ at 90%~C.L. Combining CUORE-0 data with the 19.75~kg$\cdot$yr exposure of $^{130}$Te from the Cuoricino experiment we obtain $T^{0\nu}_{1/2} > 4.0\times 10^{24}~\mathrm{yr}$ at 90%~C.L.~(Bayesian), the most stringent limit to date on this half-life. Using a range of nuclear matrix element estimates we interpret this as a limit on the effective Majorana neutrino mass, $m_{\beta\beta}< 270$ -- $760~\mathrm{meV}$.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, updated version as published in PR