Particle Flow Calorimetry

The motivation for PF calorimetry is to experimentally measure the energy of hadron jets with excellent resolution. In particle flow designs, sigma(E)/E < 5% should be possible for a range of jet energies from 50 GeV to 250 GeV, important particularly for experiments at electron-positron colliders (ILC, CLIC, FCCee, CEPC). The high granularity, which is essential for PF calorimetry, can also be very beneficial for removal of background from pile-up on an event-by-event basis making such calorimeters an attractive approach for hadron collider experiments, for example the HGCAL under construction for CMS at the CERN HL-LHC.Comment: Submitted to the Proceedings of Snowmass2021, Instrumentation Frontier, Calorimetr

User-centered design of a dynamic-autonomy remote interaction concept for manipulation-capable robots to assist elderly people in the home

In this article, we describe the development of a human-robot interaction concept for service robots to assist elderly people in the home with physical tasks. Our approach is based on the insight that robots are not yet able to handle all tasks autonomously with sufficient reliability in the complex and heterogeneous environments of private homes. We therefore employ remote human operators to assist on tasks a robot cannot handle completely autonomously. Our development methodology was user-centric and iterative, with six user studies carried out at various stages involving a total of 241 participants. The concept is under implementation on the Care-O-bot 3 robotic platform. The main contributions of this article are (1) the results of a survey in form of a ranking of the demands of elderly people and informal caregivers for a range of 25 robot services, (2) the results of an ethnography investigating the suitability of emergency teleassistance and telemedical centers for incorporating robotic teleassistance, and (3) a user-validated human-robot interaction concept with three user roles and corresponding three user interfaces designed as a solution to the problem of engineering reliable service robots for home environments

Cerebrospinal fluid findings in adults with acute Lyme neuroborreliosis

Presence of BB-specific antibodies in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) with evidence of their intrathecal production in conjunction with the white cell count in the CSF and typical clinical symptoms is the traditional diagnostic gold standard of Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB). Few data are available on the CSF lactate concentration in European adults with the diagnosis of acute LNB. The objective of the study was to investigate the CSF changes during acute LNB. Routine CSF parameters [leukocyte count, protein, lactate and albumin concentrations, CSF/serum quotients of albumin (QAlb), IgG, IgA and IgM, and oligoclonal IgG bands] and the Borrelia burgdorferi (BB)-specific antibody index were retrospectively studied in relation to the clinical presentation in patients diagnosed with acute LNB. A total of 118 patients with LNB were categorized into the following groups according to their symptoms at presentation; group 1: polyradiculoneuritis (Bannwarth’s syndrome), group 2: isolated facial palsy and group 3: predominantly meningitic course of the disease. In addition to the CSF of patients with acute LNB, CSF of 19 patients with viral meningitis (VM) and 3 with neurolues (NL) were analyzed. There were 97 patients classified with definite LNB, and 21 as probable LNB. Neck stiffness and fever were reported by 15.3% of patients. Most of these patients were younger than 50 years. Polyradiculoneuritis was frequently found in patients older than 50 years. Lymphopleocytosis was found in all patients. Only 5 patients had a CSF lactate ≥3.5 mmol/l, and the mean CSF lactate level was not elevated (2.1 ± 0.6 mmol/l). The patients with definite LNB had significantly higher lactate levels than patients with probable LNB. Elevated lactate levels were accompanied by fever and headache. In the Reiber nomograms, intrathecal immunoglobulin synthesis was found for IgM in 70.2% followed by IgG in 19.5%. Isoelectric focussing detected an intrathecal IgG synthesis in 83 patients (70.3%). Elevated BB AIs in the CSF were found in 97 patients (82.2%). Patients with VM showed lower CSF protein concentration and CSF/serum quotients of albumin than LNB patients. In acute LNB, all patients had elevated cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leukocyte counts. In contrast to infections by other bacteria, CSF lactate was lower than 3.5 mmol/l in all but 5 patients. The CSF findings did not differ between polyradiculoneuritis, facial palsy, and meningitis. The CSF in LNB patients strongly differed from CSF in VM patients with respect to protein concentration and the CSF/serum albumin quotient

Tests of model of color reconnection and a search for glueballs using gluon jets with a rapidity gap

Gluon jets with a mean energy of 22 GeV and purity of 95% are selected from hadronic Z0 decay events produced in e+e- annihilations. A subsample of these jets is identified which exhibits a large gap in the rapidity distribution of particles within the jet. After imposing the requirement of a rapidity gap, the gluon jet purity is 86%. These jets are observed to demonstrate a high degree of sensitivity to the presence of color reconnection, i.e. higher order QCD processes affecting the underlying color structure. We use our data to test three QCD models which include a simulation of color reconnection: one in the Ariadne Monte Carlo, one in the Herwig Monte Carlo, and the other by Rathsman in the Pythia Monte Carlo. We find the Rathsman and Ariadne color reconnection models can describe our gluon jet measurements only if very large values are used for the cutoff parameters which serve to terminate the parton showers, and that the description of inclusive Z0 data is significantly degraded in this case. We conclude that color reconnection as implemented by these two models is disfavored. The signal from the Herwig color reconnection model is less clear and we do not obtain a definite conclusion concerning this model. In a separate study, we follow recent theoretical suggestions and search for glueball-like objects in the leading part of the gluon jets. No clear evidence is observed for these objects.Comment: 42 pages, 18 figure

W Boson Polarisation at LEP2

Elements of the spin density matrix for W bosons in e+e- -> W+W- -> qqln events are measured from data recorded by the OPAL detector at LEP. This information is used calculate polarised differential cross-sections and to search for CP-violating effects. Results are presented for W bosons produced in e+e- collisions with centre-of-mass energies between 183 GeV and 209 GeV. The average fraction of W bosons that are longitudinally polarised is found to be (23.9 +- 2.1 +- 1.1)% compared to a Standard Model prediction of (23.9 +- 0.1)%. All results are consistent with CP conservation.Comment: 20 pages, 3 figures, Submitted to Phys. Letts.

A study of charm production in beauty decays with the OPAL detector at LEP

Using an inclusive method, BR(b -> D\bar{D}X) has been measured in hadronic Z^0 decays with the OPAL detector at LEP. The impact parameter significance of tracks opposite tagged b-jets is used to differentiate b -> D\bar{D}X decays from other decays. Using this result, the average number of charm and anti-charm quarks produced per beauty quark decay, n_c, is determined.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figure

A Measurement of Semileptonic B Decays to Narrow Orbitally-Excited Charm Mesons

The decay chain b -> Bbar -> D^{**0} l nu X, D^{**0} -> D^{*+} pi^-, D^{*+} -> D^0 pi^+, D^0 ->(Kpi or K3pi) is identified in a sample of 3.9 million hadronic Z decays collected with the OPAL detector at LEP. The branching ratio BR (b -> Bbar) x BR (Bbar -> D^0_1 l nu X) x BR (D^0_1 -> D^{*+} pi^-) is measured to be (2.64 +- 0.79 (stat) +- 0.39 (syst)) X 10^-3 for the J^P = 1^+ (D^0_1) state. For decays into the J^P = 2^+ (D^{*0}_2) state, an upper limit of 1.4 X 10^-3 is placed on the branching ratio at the 95% confidence level.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figure

Search for Nearly Mass-Degenerate Charginos and Neutralinos at LEP

A search was performed for charginos with masses close to the mass of the lightest neutralino in e+e- collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 189-209 GeV recorded by the OPAL detector at LEP. Events were selected if they had an observed high-energy photon from initial state radiation, reducing the dominant background from two-photon scattering to a negligible level. No significant excess over Standard Model expectations has been observed in the analysed data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 570pb-1. Upper limits were derived on the chargino pair-productin cross-section, and lower limits on the chargino mass were derived in the context of the Minimal Supersymmetric Extension of the Standard Model for the gravity and anomaly mediated Supersymmetry breaking scenarios.Comment: 26 pages, 9 figure

The state of the Martian climate

60°N was +2.0°C, relative to the 1981–2010 average value (Fig. 5.1). This marks a new high for the record. The average annual surface air temperature (SAT) anomaly for 2016 for land stations north of starting in 1900, and is a significant increase over the previous highest value of +1.2°C, which was observed in 2007, 2011, and 2015. Average global annual temperatures also showed record values in 2015 and 2016. Currently, the Arctic is warming at more than twice the rate of lower latitudes

A novel, integrated in vitro carcinogenicity test to identify genotoxic and non-genotoxic carcinogens using human lymphoblastoid cells

Human exposure to carcinogens occurs via a plethora of environmental sources, with 70–90% of cancers caused by extrinsic factors. Aberrant phenotypes induced by such carcinogenic agents may provide universal biomarkers for cancer causation. Both current in vitro genotoxicity tests and the animal-testing paradigm in human cancer risk assessment fail to accurately represent and predict whether a chemical causes human carcinogenesis. The study aimed to establish whether the integrated analysis of multiple cellular endpoints related to the Hallmarks of Cancer could advance in vitro carcinogenicity assessment. Human lymphoblastoid cells (TK6, MCL-5) were treated for either 4 or 23 h with 8 known in vivo carcinogens, with doses up to 50% Relative Population Doubling (maximum 66.6 mM). The adverse effects of carcinogens on wide-ranging aspects of cellular health were quantified using several approaches; these included chromosome damage, cell signalling, cell morphology, cell-cycle dynamics and bioenergetic perturbations. Cell morphology and gene expression alterations proved particularly sensitive for environmental carcinogen identification. Composite scores for the carcinogens’ adverse effects revealed that this approach could identify both DNA-reactive and non-DNA reactive carcinogens in vitro. The richer datasets generated proved that the holistic evaluation of integrated phenotypic alterations is valuable for effective in vitro risk assessment, while also supporting animal test replacement. Crucially, the study offers valuable insights into the mechanisms of human carcinogenesis resulting from exposure to chemicals that humans are likely to encounter in their environment. Such an understanding of cancer induction via environmental agents is essential for cancer prevention