1,916 research outputs found
Light sterile neutrino sensitivity of 163Ho experiments
We explore the sensitivity of Ho electron capture experiments to
neutrino masses in the standard framework of three-neutrino mixing and in the
framework of 3+1 neutrino mixing with a sterile neutrino which mixes with the
three standard active neutrinos, as indicated by the anomalies found in
short-baseline neutrino oscillations experiments. We calculate the sensitivity
to neutrino masses and mixing for different values of the energy resolution of
the detectors, of the unresolved pileup fraction and of the total statistics of
events, considering the expected values of these parameters in the two planned
stages of the ECHo project (ECHo-1k and ECHo-1M). We show that an extension of
the ECHo-1M experiment with the possibility to collect events will be
competitive with the KATRIN experiment. This statistics will allow to explore
part of the 3+1 mixing parameter space indicated by the global analysis of
short-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments. In order to cover all the
allowed region, a statistics of about events will be needed.Comment: 11 page
Evidence for coal forest refugia in the seasonally dry Pennsylvanian tropical lowlands of the Illinois Basin, USA
The Moscovian plant macroflora at Cottage Grove southeastern Illinois, USA, is a key example of Pennsylvanian (323â299 Million years ago) dryland vegetation. There is currently no palynological data from the same stratigraphic horizons as the plant macrofossils, leaves and other vegetative and reproductive structures, at this locality. Consequently, reconstructions of the standing vegetation at Cottage Grove from these sediments lack the complementary information and a more regional perspective that can be provided by sporomorphs (prepollen, pollen, megaspores and spores). In order to provide this, we have analysed the composition of fossil sporomorph assemblages in two rock samples taken from macrofossil-bearing inter-coal shale at Cottage Grove. Our palynological data differ considerably in composition and in the dominance-diversity profile from the macrofossil vegetation at this locality. Walchian conifers and pteridosperms are common elements in the macroflora, but are absent in the sporomorph assemblages. Reversely, the sporomorph assemblages at Cottage Grove comprise 17 spore taxa (âŒ16% and âŒ63% of the total assemblages) that are known from the lycopsid orders Isoetales, Lepidodendrales and Selaginallales, while Cottage Groveâs macrofloral record fails to capture evidence of a considerable population of coal forest lycopsids. We interpret our results as evidence that the Pennsylvanian dryland glacial landscape at Cottage Grove included fragmented populations of wetland plants living in refugia
LOZANO ESTĂVALIS, MarĂa (ed.) Las imĂĄgenes de la maternidad. El imaginario social de la maternidad en Occidente desde sus orĂgenes hasta la cultura de masas
When risk becomes illness: The personal and social consequences of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia medical surveillance
[Abstract]
Background,
After the early detection of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), medical surveillance of
the precancerous lesions is carried out to control risk factors to avoid the development of
cervical cancer.
Objective.
To explore the effects of medical surveillance on the personal and social lives of women
undergoing CIN follow-up and treatment.
Methodology.
A generic qualitative study using a poststructuralist perspective of risk management was
carried out in a gynecology clinic in a public hospital of the Galician Health Care System
(Spain). Participants were selected through purposive sampling. The sample consisted of
21 women with a confirmed diagnosis of CIN. Semistructured interviews were recorded and
transcribed, and a thematic analysis was carried out, including researcher triangulation to
verify the results of the analysis.
Findings.
Two main themes emerged from the participantsâ experiences: CIN medical surveillance
encounters and risk management strategies are shaped by the biomedical discourse, and
the effects of ârisk treatmentâ for patients include (a) profound changes expected of patients,
(b) increased patient risk management, and (c) resistance to risk management. While doctorsâ surveillance aimed to prevent the development of cervical cancer, women felt they
were sick because they had to follow strict recommendations over an unspecified period of
time and live with the possibility of a life-threatening disease. Clinical risk management resulted in the medicalization of womenâs personal and social lives and produced great
uncertainty.
Conclusions.
This study is the first to conceptualize CIN medical surveillance as an illness experience for
patients. It also problematizes the effects of preventative practices in womenâs lives.
Patients deal with great uncertainty, as CIN medical surveillance performed by gynecologists simultaneously trivializes the changes expected of patients and underestimates the
effects of medical recommendations on patientsâ personal wellbeing and social relations
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