Detection of Neutrinos from Galactic and Cosmic Supernovae

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beacom, John

2010-11-01

Detecting neutrinos is the key to understanding core-collapse supernovae, but this is notoriously difficult due to the small interaction cross section of neutrinos and the low frequency of supernovae. The prospects for detecting Galactic supernovae depend almost completely on the probability of a fluctuation from the low supernova rate; the detection aspects are largely under control. The prospects for detecting Cosmic supernovae instead depend almost completely on the detection aspects, especially regarding reducing detector backgrounds; the supernova rate and neutrino flux of the universe are now rather well measured or predicted. After decades of effort and patience, we have good reasons to anticipate that detecting supernova neutrinos is within reach.

AIRBORNE DETECTION AND ANALYSIS OF PRIMARY COSMIC PARTICLES WITH A SCINTILLATION DEVICE

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Corkhill, deP.J.; Hoffman, R.A.

1960-07-01

Data are presented as derived from telemetered irformation from a primary cosmic-particle detecting device. The data are preliminury in nature in that comparison between the cosmic-particle spectrum (as shown by the mechanical detector) was not made with similar information provided by nuclear emulsions exposed to regions of pri

Purified discord and multipartite entanglement

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brown, Eric G.; Webster, Eric J.; Martín-Martínez, Eduardo, E-mail: emmfis@gmail.com

2013-10-15

We study bipartite quantum discord as a manifestation of a multipartite entanglement structure in the tripartite purified system. In particular, we find that bipartite quantum discord requires the presence of both bipartite and tripartite entanglement in the purification. This allows one to understand the asymmetry of quantum discord, D(A,B)≠D(B,A) in terms of entanglement monogamy. As instructive special cases, we study discord for qubits and Gaussian states in detail. As a result of this we shed new light on a counterintuitive property of Gaussian states: the presence of classical correlations necessarily requires the presence of quantum correlations. Finally, our results alsomore » shed new light on a protocol for remote activation of entanglement by a third party. -- Highlights: •Bipartite quantum discord as a manifestation of multipartite entanglement. •Relevance of quantum discord as a utilizable resource for quantum info. tasks. •Quantum discord manifests itself in entanglement in the purified state. •Relation between asymmetry of discord and entanglement monogamy. •Protocol for remote activation of entanglement by a third party.« less

Exploring results of the possibility on detecting cosmic ray particles by acoustic way

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jiang, Y.; Yuan, Y.; Li, Y.; Chen, D.; Zheng, R.; Song, J.

1985-01-01

It has been demonstrated experimentally and theoretically that high energy particles produce detectable sounds in water. However, no one has been able to detect an acoustic signal generated by a high energy cosmic ray particle in water. Results show that transient ultrasonic signals in a large lake or reservoir are fairly complex and that the transient signals under water may arise mainly from sound radiation from microbubbles. This field is not explored in detail. Perhaps, the sounds created by cosmic ray particles hide in these ultrasonic signals. In order to develop the technique of acoustic detection, it is most important to make a thorough investigation of these ultrasonic signals in water.

Impact of muon detection thresholds on the separability of primary cosmic rays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Müller, S.; Engel, R.; Pierog, T.; Roth, M.

2018-01-01

Knowledge of the mass composition of cosmic rays in the transition region of galactic to extragalactic cosmic rays is needed to discriminate different astrophysical models on their origin, acceleration, and propagation. An important observable to separate different mass groups of cosmic rays is the number of muons in extensive air showers. We performed a CORSIKA simulation study to analyze the impact of the detection threshold of muons on the separation quality of different primary cosmic rays in the energy region of the ankle. Using only the number of muons as the composition-sensitive observable, we find a clear dependence of the separation power on the detection threshold for ideal measurements. Although the number of detected muons increases when lowering the threshold, the discrimination power is reduced. If statistical fluctuations for muon detectors of limited size are taken into account, the threshold dependence remains qualitatively the same for small distances to the shower core but is reduced for large core distances. We interpret the impact of the detection threshold of muons on the composition sensitivity in terms of a change of the correlation of the number of muons nμ with the shower maximum Xmax as function of the muon energy as a result of the underlying hadronic interactions and the shower geometry. We further investigate the role of muons produced in a shower by photon-air interactions and conclude that, in addition to the effect of the nμ -Xmax correlation, the separability of primaries is reduced as a consequence of the presence of more muons from photonuclear reactions in proton than in iron showers.

Topology of quantum discord

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguyen, Nga T. T.; Joynt, Robert

2017-04-01

Quantum discord is an important measure of quantum correlations that can serve as a resource for certain types of quantum information processing. Like entanglement, discord is subject to destruction by external noise. The routes by which this destruction can take place depends on the shape of the hypersurface of zero discord C in the space of generalized Bloch vectors. For 2 qubits, we show that with a few points subtracted, this hypersurface is a simply-connected 9-dimensional manifold embedded in a 15-dimensional background space. We do this by constructing an explicit homeomorphism from a known manifold to the subtracted version of C . We also construct a coordinate map on C that can be used for integration or other purposes. This topological characterization of C has important implications for the classification of the possible time evolutions of discord in physical models. The classification for discord contrasts sharply with the possible evolutions of entanglement. We classify the possible joint evolutions of entanglement and discord. There are 9 allowed categories: 6 categories for a Markovian process and 3 categories for a non-Markovian process, respectively. We illustrate these conclusions with an anisotropic XY spin model. All 9 categories can be obtained by adjusting parameters in this model.

Application of two tests of multivariate discordancy to fisheries data sets

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stapanian, M.A.; Kocovsky, P.M.; Garner, F.C.

2008-01-01

The generalized (Mahalanobis) distance and multivariate kurtosis are two powerful tests of multivariate discordancies (outliers). Unlike the generalized distance test, the multivariate kurtosis test has not been applied as a test of discordancy to fisheries data heretofore. We applied both tests, along with published algorithms for identifying suspected causal variable(s) of discordant observations, to two fisheries data sets from Lake Erie: total length, mass, and age from 1,234 burbot, Lota lota; and 22 combinations of unique subsets of 10 morphometrics taken from 119 yellow perch, Perca flavescens. For the burbot data set, the generalized distance test identified six discordant observations and the multivariate kurtosis test identified 24 discordant observations. In contrast with the multivariate tests, the univariate generalized distance test identified no discordancies when applied separately to each variable. Removing discordancies had a substantial effect on length-versus-mass regression equations. For 500-mm burbot, the percent difference in estimated mass after removing discordancies in our study was greater than the percent difference in masses estimated for burbot of the same length in lakes that differed substantially in productivity. The number of discordant yellow perch detected ranged from 0 to 2 with the multivariate generalized distance test and from 6 to 11 with the multivariate kurtosis test. With the kurtosis test, 108 yellow perch (90.7%) were identified as discordant in zero to two combinations, and five (4.2%) were identified as discordant in either all or 21 of the 22 combinations. The relationship among the variables included in each combination determined which variables were identified as causal. The generalized distance test identified between zero and six discordancies when applied separately to each variable. Removing the discordancies found in at least one-half of the combinations (k=5) had a marked effect on a principal components

Detection of cosmic microwave background structure in a second field with the Cosmic Anisotropy Telescope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baker, Joanne C.; Grainge, Keith; Hobson, M. P.; Jones, Michael E.; Kneissl, R.; Lasenby, A. N.; O'Sullivan, C. M. M.; Pooley, Guy; Rocha, G.; Saunders, Richard; Scott, P. F.; Waldram, E. M.

1999-10-01

We describe observations at frequencies near 15GHz of the second 2x2deg^2 field imaged with the Cambridge Cosmic Anisotropy Telescope (CAT). After the removal of discrete radio sources, structure is detected in the images on characteristic scales of about half a degree, corresponding to spherical harmonic multipoles in the range l~330-680. A Bayesian analysis confirms that the signal arises predominantly from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation for multipoles in the lower half of this range; the average broad-band power in a bin with centroid l=422 (θ~51arcmin) is estimated to be ΔTT 2.1-0.5+0.4 x10-5. For multipoles centred on l=615 (θ~35arcmin), we find contamination from Galactic emission is significant, and constrain the CMB contribution to the measured power in this bin to be ΔTT<2.0x10^-5 (1σ upper limit). These new results are consistent with the first detection made by CAT in a completely different area of sky. Together with data from other experiments, this new CAT detection adds weight to earlier evidence from CAT for a downturn in the CMB power spectrum on scales smaller than 1deg. Improved limits on the values of H0 and Ω are determined using the new CAT data.

Ghost Imaging without Discord

PubMed Central

Shapiro, Jeffrey H.; Venkatraman, Dheera; Wong, Franco N. C.

2013-01-01

Ragy and Adesso argue that quantum discord is involved in the formation of a pseudothermal ghost image. We show that quantum discord plays no role in spatial light modulator ghost imaging, i.e., ghost-image formation based on structured illumination realized with laser light that has undergone spatial light modulation by the output from a pseudorandom number generator. Our analysis thus casts doubt on the degree to which quantum discord is necessary for ghost imaging. PMID:23673426

Thermal Quantum Discord and Super Quantum Discord Teleportation Via a Two-Qubit Spin-Squeezing Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahadpour, S.; Mirmasoudi, F.

2018-04-01

We study thermal quantum correlations (quantum discord and super quantum discord) in a two-spin model in an external magnetic field and obtain relations between them and entanglement. We study their dependence on the magnetic field, the strength of the spin squeezing, and the temperature in detail. One interesting result is that when the entanglement suddenly disappears, quantum correlations still survive. We study thermal quantum teleportation in the framework of this model. The main goal is investigating the possibility of increasing the thermal quantum correlations of a teleported state in the presence of a magnetic field, strength of the spin squeezing, and temperature. We note that teleportation of quantum discord and super quantum discord can be realized over a larger temperature range than teleportation of entanglement. Our results show that quantum discord and super quantum discord can be a suitable measure for controlling quantum teleportation with fidelity. Moreover, the presence of entangled states is unnecessary for the exchange of quantum information.

Detection prospects for the Cosmic Neutrino Background using laser interferometers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Domcke, Valerie; Spinrath, Martin

2017-06-01

The cosmic neutrino background is a key prediction of Big Bang cosmology which has not been observed yet. The movement of the earth through this neutrino bath creates a force on a pendulum, as if it were exposed to a cosmic wind. We revise here estimates for the resulting pendulum acceleration and compare it to the theoretical sensitivity of an experimental setup where the pendulum position is measured using current laser interferometer technology as employed in gravitational wave detectors. We discuss how a significant improvement of this setup can be envisaged in a micro gravity environment. The proposed setup could also function as a dark matter detector in the sub-MeV range, which currently eludes direct detection constraints.

Discordant Treatment Responses to Combination Antiretroviral Therapy in Rwanda: A Prospective Cohort Study

PubMed Central

Kayigamba, Felix R.; Franke, Molly F.; Bakker, Mirjam I.; Rodriguez, Carly A.; Bagiruwigize, Emmanuel; Wit, Ferdinand WNM; Rich, Michael L.; Schim van der Loeff, Maarten F.

2016-01-01

Introduction Some antiretroviral therapy naïve patients starting combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) experience a limited CD4 count rise despite virological suppression, or vice versa. We assessed the prevalence and determinants of discordant treatment responses in a Rwandan cohort. Methods A discordant immunological cART response was defined as an increase of <100 CD4 cells/mm3 at 12 months compared to baseline despite virological suppression (viral load [VL] <40 copies/mL). A discordant virological cART response was defined as detectable VL at 12 months with an increase in CD4 count ≥100 cells/mm3. The prevalence of, and independent predictors for these two types of discordant responses were analysed in two cohorts nested in a 12-month prospective study of cART-naïve HIV patients treated at nine rural health facilities in two regions in Rwanda. Results Among 382 patients with an undetectable VL at 12 months, 112 (29%) had a CD4 rise of <100 cells/mm3. Age ≥35 years and longer travel to the clinic were independent determinants of an immunological discordant response, but sex, baseline CD4 count, body mass index and WHO HIV clinical stage were not. Among 326 patients with a CD4 rise of ≥100 cells/mm3, 56 (17%) had a detectable viral load at 12 months. Male sex was associated with a virological discordant treatment response (P = 0.05), but age, baseline CD4 count, BMI, WHO HIV clinical stage, and travel time to the clinic were not. Conclusions Discordant treatment responses were common in cART-naïve HIV patients in Rwanda. Small CD4 increases could be misinterpreted as a (virological) treatment failure and lead to unnecessary treatment changes. PMID:27438000

Hadron-rich cosmic-ray families detected by emulsion chamber.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Navia, C. E.; Augusto, C. R. K.; Pinto, F. A.; Shibuya, H.

1995-11-01

Observed hadrons in excess, larger-than-expected charged mesons (pions) in cosmic-ray families detected in emulsion chamber experiment at mountain altitude and produced in a cosmic-ray hadronic interaction not far from the PeV energy region are studied. The hypothesis that these extra hadrons could be a bundle of surviving nuclear fragments (nucleons) is verified through a simulation method using a hybrid code composed of a superposition model to describe the number of interacting nucleon-nucleon pairs in a nucleus-nucleus collision. Together with the UA5 algorithm to describe a nucleon-nucleon collision, atmospheric propagation structure is also considered. A comparison between simulation output with experimental data shows that the surviving-nuclear-fragments hypothesis is not enough to explain the non-pionic hadron excess, even if a heavy dominance composition in the primary flux is considered.

Detection prospects for the Cosmic Neutrino Background using laser interferometers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Domcke, Valerie; Spinrath, Martin, E-mail: valerie.domcke@apc.univ-paris7.fr, E-mail: martin.spinrath@cts.nthu.edu.tw

The cosmic neutrino background is a key prediction of Big Bang cosmology which has not been observed yet. The movement of the earth through this neutrino bath creates a force on a pendulum, as if it were exposed to a cosmic wind. We revise here estimates for the resulting pendulum acceleration and compare it to the theoretical sensitivity of an experimental setup where the pendulum position is measured using current laser interferometer technology as employed in gravitational wave detectors. We discuss how a significant improvement of this setup can be envisaged in a micro gravity environment. The proposed setup couldmore » also function as a dark matter detector in the sub-MeV range, which currently eludes direct detection constraints.« less

Investigation of soft component in cosmic ray detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oláh, László; Varga, Dezső

2017-07-01

Cosmic ray detection is a research area which finds various applications in tomographic imaging of large size objects. In such applications, the background sources which contaminate cosmic muon signal require a good understanding of the creation processes, as well as reliable simulation frameworks with high predictive power are needed. One of the main background source is the ;soft component;, that is electrons and positrons. In this paper a simulation framework based on GEANT4 has been established to pin down the key features of the soft component. We have found that the electron and positron flux shows a remarkable invariance against various model parameters including the muon emission altitude or primary particle energy distribution. The correlation between simultaneously arriving particles have been quantitatively investigated, demonstrating that electrons and positrons tend to arrive within a close distance and with low relative angle. This feature, which is highly relevant for counting detectors, has been experimentally verified under open sky and at shallow depth underground. The simulation results have been compared to existing other measurements as well as other simulation programs.

Cosmic Radiation Detection and Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramirez Chavez, Juan; Troncoso, Maria

Cosmic rays consist of high-energy particles accelerated from remote supernova remnant explosions and travel vast distances throughout the universe. Upon arriving at earth, the majority of these particles ionize gases in the upper atmosphere, while others interact with gas molecules in the troposphere and producing secondary cosmic rays, which are the main focus of this research. To observe these secondary cosmic rays, a detector telescope was designed and equipped with two silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs). Each SiPM is coupled to a bundle of 4 wavelength shifting optical fibers that are embedded inside a plastic scintillator sheet. The SiPM signals were amplified using a fast preamplifier with coincidence between detectors established using a binary logic gate. The coincidence events were recorded with two devices; a digital counter and an Arduino micro-controller. For detailed analysis of the SiPM waveforms, a DRS4 sensory digitizer captured the waveforms for offline analysis with the CERN software package Physics Analysis Workstation in a Linux environment. Results from our experiments would be presented. Hartnell College STEM Internship Program.

Radio detection of cosmic-ray air showers and high-energy neutrinos

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schröder, Frank G.

2017-03-01

In the last fifteen years radio detection made it back to the list of promising techniques for extensive air showers, firstly, due to the installation and successful operation of digital radio experiments and, secondly, due to the quantitative understanding of the radio emission from atmospheric particle cascades. The radio technique has an energy threshold of about 100 PeV, which coincides with the energy at which a transition from the highest-energy galactic sources to the even more energetic extragalactic cosmic rays is assumed. Thus, radio detectors are particularly useful to study the highest-energy galactic particles and ultra-high-energy extragalactic particles of all types. Recent measurements by various antenna arrays like LOPES, CODALEMA, AERA, LOFAR, Tunka-Rex, and others have shown that radio measurements can compete in precision with other established techniques, in particular for the arrival direction, the energy, and the position of the shower maximum, which is one of the best estimators for the composition of the primary cosmic rays. The scientific potential of the radio technique seems to be maximum in combination with particle detectors, because this combination of complementary detectors can significantly increase the total accuracy for air-shower measurements. This increase in accuracy is crucial for a better separation of different primary particles, like gamma-ray photons, neutrinos, or different types of nuclei, because showers initiated by these particles differ in average depth of the shower maximum and in the ratio between the amplitude of the radio signal and the number of muons. In addition to air-shower measurements, the radio technique can be used to measure particle cascades in dense media, which is a promising technique for detection of ultra-high-energy neutrinos. Several pioneering experiments like ARA, ARIANNA, and ANITA are currently searching for the radio emission by neutrino-induced particle cascades in ice. In the next years

Observing the operational significance of discord consumption

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gu, Mile; Chrzanowski, Helen M.; Assad, Syed M.; Symul, Thomas; Modi, Kavan; Ralph, Timothy C.; Vedral, Vlatko; Lam, Ping Koy

2012-09-01

Coherent interactions that generate negligible entanglement can still exhibit unique quantum behaviour. This observation has motivated a search beyond entanglement for a complete description of all quantum correlations. Quantum discord is a promising candidate. Here, we demonstrate that under certain measurement constraints, discord between bipartite systems can be consumed to encode information that can only be accessed by coherent quantum interactions. The inability to access this information by any other means allows us to use discord to directly quantify this `quantum advantage'. We experimentally encode information within the discordant correlations of two separable Gaussian states. The amount of extra information recovered by coherent interaction is quantified and directly linked with the discord consumed during encoding. No entanglement exists at any point of this experiment. Thus we introduce and demonstrate an operational method to use discord as a physical resource.

A binned clustering algorithm to detect high-Z material using cosmic muons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomay, C.; Velthuis, J. J.; Baesso, P.; Cussans, D.; Morris, P. A. W.; Steer, C.; Burns, J.; Quillin, S.; Stapleton, M.

2013-10-01

We present a novel approach to the detection of special nuclear material using cosmic rays. Muon Scattering Tomography (MST) is a method for using cosmic muons to scan cargo containers and vehicles for special nuclear material. Cosmic muons are abundant, highly penetrating, not harmful for organic tissue, cannot be screened against, and can easily be detected, which makes them highly suited to the use of cargo scanning. Muons undergo multiple Coulomb scattering when passing through material, and the amount of scattering is roughly proportional to the square of the atomic number Z of the material. By reconstructing incoming and outgoing tracks, we can obtain variables to identify high-Z material. In a real life application, this has to happen on a timescale of 1 min and thus with small numbers of muons. We have built a detector system using resistive plate chambers (RPCs): 12 layers of RPCs allow for the readout of 6 x and 6 y positions, by which we can reconstruct incoming and outgoing tracks. In this work we detail the performance of an algorithm by which we separate high-Z targets from low-Z background, both for real data from our prototype setup and for MC simulation of a cargo container-sized setup. (c) British Crown Owned Copyright 2013/AWE

Quantum discord, local operations, and Maxwell's demons

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brodutch, Aharon; Terno, Daniel R.

2010-06-15

Quantum discord was proposed as a measure of the quantumness of correlations. There are at least three different discordlike quantities, two of which determine the difference between the efficiencies of a Szilard's engine under different sets of restrictions. The three discord measures vanish simultaneously. We introduce an easy way to test for zero discord, relate it to the Cerf-Adami conditional entropy and show that there is no simple relation between the discord and the local distinguishability.

Radio detection of high-energy cosmic rays with the Auger Engineering Radio Array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schröder, Frank G.; Pierre Auger Collaboration

2016-07-01

The Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) is an enhancement of the Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina. Covering about 17km2, AERA is the world-largest antenna array for cosmic-ray observation. It consists of more than 150 antenna stations detecting the radio signal emitted by air showers, i.e., cascades of secondary particles caused by primary cosmic rays hitting the atmosphere. At the beginning, technical goals had been in focus: first of all, the successful demonstration that a large-scale antenna array consisting of autonomous stations is feasible. Moreover, techniques for calibration of the antennas and time calibration of the array have been developed, as well as special software for the data analysis. Meanwhile physics goals come into focus. At the Pierre Auger Observatory air showers are simultaneously detected by several detector systems, in particular water-Cherenkov detectors at the surface, underground muon detectors, and fluorescence telescopes, which enables cross-calibration of different detection techniques. For the direction and energy of air showers, the precision achieved by AERA is already competitive; for the type of primary particle, several methods are tested and optimized. By combining AERA with the particle detectors we aim for a better understanding of cosmic rays in the energy range from approximately 0.3 to 10 EeV, i.e., significantly higher energies than preceding radio arrays.

One-way unlocalizable quantum discord

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xi, Zhengjun; Fan, Heng; Li, Yongming

2012-05-01

In this paper, we present the concept of the one-way unlocalizable quantum discord and investigate its properties. We provide a polygamy inequality for it in a tripartite pure quantum system of arbitrary dimension. Several tradeoff relations between the one-way unlocalizable quantum discord and other correlations are given. If the von Neumann measurement is made on a part of the system, we give two expressions of the one-way unlocalizable quantum discord in terms of partial distillable entanglement and quantum disturbance. Finally, we also provide a lower bound for bipartite shareability of quantum correlation beyond entanglement in a tripartite system.

Method for registration of solar cosmic rays by detecting neutrons

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Andreev, A. V.; Mordovskoy, M. V., E-mail: mvmordovsk@mail.ru; Skorkin, V. M.

2016-12-15

We consider a method of detecting the ionizing component of solar cosmic rays (SCRs) with energy from tens of MeV to tens of GeV by measuring the energy loss of SCR protons and light nuclei in scintillators and the multiplicity of the local neutron generation in a converter. Scintillation detectors based on stilbene, lithium glass, and solid-state photomultiplier tubes are capable of detecting fast neutrons with a temporal resolution of 10 ns and rejecting the gamma-ray background in the measuring system. The method will allow investigating the nucleon components of primary SCRs in circumterrestrial space.

Measurement of cosmic-ray muons with the Distributed Electronic Cosmic-ray Observatory, a network of smartphones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vandenbroucke, J.; BenZvi, S.; Bravo, S.; Jensen, K.; Karn, P.; Meehan, M.; Peacock, J.; Plewa, M.; Ruggles, T.; Santander, M.; Schultz, D.; Simons, A. L.; Tosi, D.

2016-04-01

Solid-state camera image sensors can be used to detect ionizing radiation in addition to optical photons. We describe the Distributed Electronic Cosmic-ray Observatory (DECO), an app and associated public database that enables a network of consumer devices to detect cosmic rays and other ionizing radiation. In addition to terrestrial background radiation, cosmic-ray muon candidate events are detected as long, straight tracks passing through multiple pixels. The distribution of track lengths can be related to the thickness of the active (depleted) region of the camera image sensor through the known angular distribution of muons at sea level. We use a sample of candidate muon events detected by DECO to measure the thickness of the depletion region of the camera image sensor in a particular consumer smartphone model, the HTC Wildfire S. The track length distribution is fit better by a cosmic-ray muon angular distribution than an isotropic distribution, demonstrating that DECO can detect and identify cosmic-ray muons despite a background of other particle detections. Using the cosmic-ray distribution, we measure the depletion thickness to be 26.3 ± 1.4 μm. With additional data, the same method can be applied to additional models of image sensor. Once measured, the thickness can be used to convert track length to incident polar angle on a per-event basis. Combined with a determination of the incident azimuthal angle directly from the track orientation in the sensor plane, this enables direction reconstruction of individual cosmic-ray events using a single consumer device. The results simultaneously validate the use of cell phone camera image sensors as cosmic-ray muon detectors and provide a measurement of a parameter of camera image sensor performance which is not otherwise publicly available.

Quantum discord and Maxwell's demons

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zurek, Wojciech Hubert

2003-01-01

Quantum discord was proposed as an information-theoretic measure of the 'quantumness' of correlations. I show that discord determines the difference between the efficiency of quantum and classical Maxwell's demons - that is, entities that can or cannot measure nonlocal observables or carry out conditional quantum operations - in extracting work from collections of correlated quantum systems.

Aerial Neutron Detection of Cosmic-Ray Interactions with the Earth's Surface

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Richard Maurer

2008-09-18

We have demonstrated the ability to measure the neutron flux produced by the cosmic-ray interaction with nuclei in the ground surface using aerial neutron detection. High energy cosmic-rays (primarily muons with GeV energies) interact with the nuclei in the ground surface and produce energetic neutrons via spallation. At the air-surface interface, the neutrons produced by spallation will either scatter within the surface material, become thermalized and reabsorbed, or be emitted into the air. The mean free path of energetic neutrons in air can be hundreds of feet as opposed to a few feet in dense materials. As such, the fluxmore » of neutrons escaping into the air provides a measure of the surface nuclei composition. It has been demonstrated that this effect can be measured at long range using neutron detectors on low flying helicopters. Radiological survey measurements conducted at Government Wash in Las Vegas, Nevada, have shown that the neutron background from the cosmic-soil interactions is repeatable and directly correlated to the geological data. Government Wash has a very unique geology, spanning a wide variety of nuclide mixtures and formations. The results of the preliminary measurements are presented.« less

Cosmic Ray Experiments and the Implications for Indirect Detection of Dark Matter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mitchell, John W.; Ormes, Jonathan F.; Streitmatter, Robert E.

2013-01-01

Detection of cosmic-ray antiprotons was first reported by Golden et al. in 1979 and their existence was firmly established by the BESS and IMAX collaborations in the early 1990s. Increasingly precise measurements of the antiproton spectrum, most recently from BESS-Polar and PAMELA, have made it an important tool for investigating cosmic-ray transport in the galaxy and heliosphere and for constraining dark-matter models. The history of antiproton measurements will be briefly reviewed. The current status will be discussed, focusing on the results of BESS-Polar II and their implications for the possibility of antiprotons from primordial black hole evaporation. The current results of the BESS-Polar II antihelium search are also presented.

Collapse–revival of quantum discord and entanglement

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yan, Xue-Qun, E-mail: xqyan867@tom.com; Zhang, Bo-Ying

2014-10-15

In this paper the correlations dynamics of two atoms in the case of a micromaser-type system is investigated. Our results predict certain quasi-periodic collapse and revival phenomena for quantum discord and entanglement when the field is in Fock state and the two atoms are initially in maximally mixed state, which is a special separable state. Our calculations also show that the oscillations of the time evolution of both quantum discord and entanglement are almost in phase and they both have similar evolution behavior in some time range. The fact reveals the consistency of quantum discord and entanglement in some dynamicalmore » aspects. - Highlights: • The correlations dynamics of two atoms in the case of a micromaser-type system is investigated. • A quasi-periodic collapse and revival phenomenon for quantum discord and entanglement is reported. • A phenomenon of correlations revivals different from that of non-Markovian dynamics is revealed. • The oscillations of time evolution of both quantum discord and entanglement are almost in phase in our system. • Quantum discord and entanglement have similar evolution behavior in some time range.« less

Global quantum discord and matrix product density operators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Hai-Lin; Cheng, Hong-Guang; Guo, Xiao; Zhang, Duo; Wu, Yuyin; Xu, Jian; Sun, Zhao-Yu

2018-06-01

In a previous study, we have proposed a procedure to study global quantum discord in 1D chains whose ground states are described by matrix product states [Z.-Y. Sun et al., Ann. Phys. 359, 115 (2015)]. In this paper, we show that with a very simple generalization, the procedure can be used to investigate quantum mixed states described by matrix product density operators, such as quantum chains at finite temperatures and 1D subchains in high-dimensional lattices. As an example, we study the global discord in the ground state of a 2D transverse-field Ising lattice, and pay our attention to the scaling behavior of global discord in 1D sub-chains of the lattice. We find that, for any strength of the magnetic field, global discord always shows a linear scaling behavior as the increase of the length of the sub-chains. In addition, global discord and the so-called "discord density" can be used to indicate the quantum phase transition in the model. Furthermore, based upon our numerical results, we make some reliable predictions about the scaling of global discord defined on the n × n sub-squares in the lattice.

[Birth weight discordance in dichorionic twins: diagnosis, obstetrical and neonatal prognosis].

PubMed

Mottet, N; Guillaume, M; Martin, A; Ramanah, R; Riethmuller, D

2014-09-01

To describe neonatal and obstetrical prognosis in dichorionic (DC) twins with a birth weight discordance under 20% and evaluate the influence of intrauterine growth restriction on the management. We studied retrospectively 67 DC twins birth between July 2002 and July 2012 at our university labour ward. Birth weight discordance was considered slight between 20-25%, moderate between 25-30%, and severe over 30%. Prevalence of birth weight discordance in DC twins is estimated at 11.4% in our study. Eighty percent of severe discordance was diagnosed before delivery, 41% for moderate discordance and 20% for slight discordance. We note 30% of pre eclampsia in our population with 44% in the severe discordance group. Mean gestational age was 35.1 weeks for slight and moderate discordances, and 33 weeks for severe discordance. Caesarean section rate was 48% for severe discordance and only 36% for slight discordance. Vaginal delivery rate is 56.7%. More than half of patient with a severe discordance gave birth vaginally. Intrauterine growth restriction rate under the 10th percentile was 18.7%. Prevalence of IUGR was 24% in sever discordance group, 23.5% in the moderate discordance group and 10% in the slight group. Neonatal morbidity rate was 20.8% mainly in children with IUGR. Neonatal mortality and morbidity rate are mainly increased in severe discordant twins. These pregnancies are at high risk of maternal morbidity. Vaginal delivery must be preferred for slight and moderate discordances. In case of severe discordance, vaginal delivery should be considered depending on the degree of intrauterine growth retardation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Underground measurements on secondary cosmic rays

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, C. W.; Fenton, A. G.; Fenton, K. B.

1985-01-01

Measurements made at the Poatina cosmic ray station (41.8 S 149.9 E, 347 m.w.e.) from August 1983 to July 1984 are summarized. The cosmic ray primary particles responsible for events detected at the station have a median primary energy of 1.2 TeV. The motivation for part of this work came from the reported detection of narrow angle anisotropies in the arrival direction of cosmic rays.

The high energy cosmic-radiation detection (HERD) facility onboard China's Space Station

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, S. N.; Adriani, O.; Albergo, S.; Ambrosi, G.; An, Q.; Bao, T. W.; Battiston, R.; Bi, X. J.; Cao, Z.; Chai, J. Y.; Chang, J.; Chen, G. M.; Chen, Y.; Cui, X. H.; Dai, Z. G.; D'Alessandro, R.; Dong, Y. W.; Fan, Y. Z.; Feng, C. Q.; Feng, H.; Feng, Z. Y.; Gao, X. H.; Gargano, F.; Giglietto, N.; Gou, Q. B.; Guo, Y. Q.; Hu, B. L.; Hu, H. B.; He, H. H.; Huang, G. S.; Huang, J.; Huang, Y. F.; Li, H.; Li, L.; Li, Y. G.; Li, Z.; Liang, E. W.; Liu, H.; Liu, J. B.; Liu, J. T.; Liu, S. B.; Liu, S. M.; Liu, X.; Lu, J. G.; Mazziotta, M. N.; Mori, N.; Orsi, S.; Pearce, M.; Pohl, M.; Quan, Z.; Ryde, F.; Shi, H. L.; Spillantini, P.; Su, M.; Sun, J. C.; Sun, X. L.; Tang, Z. C.; Walter, R.; Wang, J. C.; Wang, J. M.; Wang, L.; Wang, R. J.; Wang, X. L.; Wang, X. Y.; Wang, Z. G.; Wei, D. M.; Wu, B. B.; Wu, J.; Wu, X.; Wu, X. F.; Xia, J. Q.; Xiao, H. L.; Xu, H. H.; Xu, M.; Xu, Z. Z.; Yan, H. R.; Yin, P. F.; Yu, Y. W.; Yuan, Q.; Zha, M.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, L. Y.; Zhang, Y.; Zhang, Y. J.; Zhang, Y. L.; Zhao, Z. G.

2014-07-01

The High Energy cosmic-Radiation Detection (HERD) facility is one of several space astronomy payloads of the cosmic lighthouse program onboard China's Space Station, which is planned for operation starting around 2020 for about 10 years. The main scientific objectives of HERD are indirect dark matter search, precise cosmic ray spectrum and composition measurements up to the knee energy, and high energy gamma-ray monitoring and survey. HERD is composed of a 3-D cubic calorimeter (CALO) surrounded by microstrip silicon trackers (STKs) from five sides except the bottom. CALO is made of about 104 cubes of LYSO crystals, corresponding to about 55 radiation lengths and 3 nuclear interaction lengths, respectively. The top STK microstrips of seven X-Y layers are sandwiched with tungsten converters to make precise directional measurements of incoming electrons and gamma-rays. In the baseline design, each of the four side SKTs is made of only three layers microstrips. All STKs will also be used for measuring the charge and incoming directions of cosmic rays, as well as identifying back scattered tracks. With this design, HERD can achieve the following performance: energy resolution of 1% for electrons and gamma-rays beyond 100 GeV, 20% for protons from 100 GeV to 1 PeV; electron/proton separation power better than 10-5; effective geometrical factors of >3 m2sr for electron and diffuse gamma-rays, >2 m2sr for cosmic ray nuclei. R and D is under way for reading out the LYSO signals with optical fiber coupled to image intensified CCD and the prototype of one layer of CALO.

Cosmic Ray Inspection and Passive Tomography for SNM Detection

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Armitage, John; Oakham, Gerald; Bryman, Douglas

2009-12-02

The Cosmic Ray Inspection and Passive Tomography (CRIPT) project has recently started investigating the detection of illicit Special Nuclear Material in cargo using cosmic ray muon tomography and complementary neutron detectors. We are currently performing simulation studies to help with the design of small scale prototypes. Based on the prototype tests and refined simulations, we will determine whether the muon tracking system for the full scale prototype will be based on drift chambers or extruded scintillator trackers. An analysis of the operations of the Port of Montreal has determined how long muon scan times should take if all or amore » subset of the cargo is to be screened. As long as the throughput of the muon system(s) is equal to the rate at which containers are unloaded from ships, the impact on port operations would not be great if a muon scanning stage were required for all cargo. We also show preliminary simulation results indicating that excellent separation between Al, Fe and Pb is possible under ideal conditions. The discrimination power is reduced but still significant when realistic momentum resolution measurements are considered.« less

Cosmic Ray Inspection and Passive Tomography for SNM Detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Armitage, John; Bryman, Douglas; Cousins, Thomas; Gallant, Grant; Jason, Andrew; Jonkmans, Guy; Noël, Scott; Oakham, Gerald; Stocki, Trevor J.; Waller, David

2009-12-01

The Cosmic Ray Inspection and Passive Tomography (CRIPT) project has recently started investigating the detection of illicit Special Nuclear Material in cargo using cosmic ray muon tomography and complementary neutron detectors. We are currently performing simulation studies to help with the design of small scale prototypes. Based on the prototype tests and refined simulations, we will determine whether the muon tracking system for the full scale prototype will be based on drift chambers or extruded scintillator trackers. An analysis of the operations of the Port of Montreal has determined how long muon scan times should take if all or a subset of the cargo is to be screened. As long as the throughput of the muon system(s) is equal to the rate at which containers are unloaded from ships, the impact on port operations would not be great if a muon scanning stage were required for all cargo. We also show preliminary simulation results indicating that excellent separation between Al, Fe and Pb is possible under ideal conditions. The discrimination power is reduced but still significant when realistic momentum resolution measurements are considered.

The High Energy cosmic-Radiation Detection (HERD) Facility onboard China's Future Space Station

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Bobing

2015-08-01

The High Energy cosmic-Radiation Detection (HERD) facility is one of several space astronomy payloads of the cosmic lighthouse program onboard China's Space Station, which is planned for operation starting around 2020 for about 10 years. The main scientific objectives of HERD are indirect dark matter search, precise cosmic ray spectrum and composition measurements up to the knee energy, and high energy gamma-ray monitoring and survey. HERD is composed of a 3-D cubic calorimeter (CALO) surrounded by microstrip silicon trackers (STKs)from five sides except the bottom. CALO is made of about 10^4 cubes of LYSO crystals, corresponding to about 55 radiation lengths and 3 nuclear interaction lengths, respectively. HERD can achieve the following performance: energy resolution of 1% for electrons and gamma-rays beyond 100 GeV, 20% for protons from 100 GeV to 1 PeV; 2) electron/proton separation power better than 10^5 ; effective geometrical factors of > 3 m^2 sr for electron and diffuse gamma-rays, > 2 m^2 sr for cosmic ray nuclei. The prototype of about 1/40 of HERD calorimeter is under construction. A beam test in CERN with the prototype is approved and will be carried out in Nov. 2015.

Can body surface microvolt T-wave alternans distinguish concordant and discordant intracardiac alternans?

PubMed

Floré, Vincent; Claus, Piet; Symons, Rolf; Smith, Godfrey L; Sipido, Karin R; Willems, Rik

2013-08-01

There is convincing experimental evidence that cellular action potential duration (APD) alternans is arrhythmogenic but its relationship with body surface microvolt T-wave alternans (MTWA) remains unclear. We investigated the relationship between MTWA and APD alternans induced by alternating cycle length (CL) pacing in a pig model. In 10 pigs, catheters in the right atrium (RA) and right (RV) and left ventricle (LV) allowed pacing and recording of monophasic action potentials (MAP). During RA pacing at stable 500-ms CL, LV was paced at alternating CL (505 ms and 495 ms). Changing the alternating LV (A-LV) pacing delay changes the size of the region with alternating ventricular activation. Spectral analysis of intracardiac MAP was correlated with body surface MTWA. In a similar setup (during alternating pacing in RV and LV), we investigated concordant versus discordant APD alternans. Pacing the LV with subtle alternating cycle lengths at short A-LV delay leads to broad QRS (97 ± 10 ms), body surface MTWA (mean Valt 4.2 ± 1.8 µV), and positive RR-interval alternans. At longer A-LV delay, not resulting in QRS widening (68 ± 5 ms), body surface RR alternans was absent but MTWA remained detectable and was even more pronounced (8.7 ± 5.1 µV, P < 0.01). During both concordant and discordant pacing MTWA was present. The precordial leads were better for detecting discordant APD alternans (8.0 ± 2.9 µV and 12.8 ± 4.52 µV, P = 0.02). MTWA is a potent technique to detect subtle and isolated intracardiac APD alternans that is artificially induced by alternating pacing. In the same model, discordant activation alternans can only be discriminated from concordant when using a quantifying approach of MTWA analysis. ©2013, The Authors. Journal compilation ©2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Detecting dark matter in the Milky Way with cosmic and gamma radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carlson, Eric C.

Over the last decade, experiments in high-energy astroparticle physics have reached unprecedented precision and sensitivity which span the electromagnetic and cosmic-ray spectra. These advances have opened a new window onto the universe for which little was previously known. Such dramatic increases in sensitivity lead naturally to claims of excess emission, which call for either revised astrophysical models or the existence of exotic new sources such as particle dark matter. Here we stand firmly with Occam, sharpening his razor by (i) developing new techniques for discriminating astrophysical signatures from those of dark matter, and (ii) by developing detailed foreground models which can explain excess signals and shed light on the underlying astrophysical processes at hand. We concentrate most directly on observations of Galactic gamma and cosmic rays, factoring the discussion into three related parts which each contain significant advancements from our cumulative works. In Part I we introduce concepts which are fundamental to the Indirect Detection of particle dark matter, including motivations, targets, experiments, production of Standard Model particles, and a variety of statistical techniques. In Part II we introduce basic and advanced modelling techniques for propagation of cosmic-rays through the Galaxy and describe astrophysical gamma-ray production, as well as presenting state-of-the-art propagation models of the Milky Way.Finally, in Part III, we employ these models and techniques in order to study several indirect detection signals, including the Fermi GeV excess at the Galactic center, the Fermi 135 GeV line, the 3.5 keV line, and the WMAP-Planck haze.

Cosmic Ray Astronomy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wu, S. T.

2000-01-01

The cosmic ray division participation in the cooperative agreement was activated in the second year. The scientific goals will be analysis of cosmic ray data from the Japanese-American Cooperative Emulsion Experiments (JACEE). Measurements of primary cosmic rays in the JACEE emulsion chambers will be made to derive for each detected particle the deposited energy in the chamber and the primary charge (atomic number). The data will be corrected to the primary flux above the atmosphere, and the composition and energy spectra will be derived. The spectra of the individual elements will be interpreted in context with the supernova shock and other models of cosmic ray acceleration. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

High discordance in blood and genital tract HIV-1 drug resistance in Indian women failing first-line therapy.

PubMed

Saravanan, Shanmugam; Gomathi, Selvamurthi; Delong, Allison; Kausalya, Bagavathi; Sivamalar, Sathasivam; Poongulali, Selvamuthu; Brooks, Katherine; Kumarasamy, Nagalingeswaran; Balakrishnan, Pachamuthu; Solomon, Sunil S; Cu-Uvin, Susan; Kantor, Rami

2018-05-24

Examine HIV-1 plasma viral load (PVL) and genital tract (GT) viral load (GVL) and drug resistance in India. At the YRG Centre for AIDS Research and Education, Chennai, we tested: PVL in women on first-line ART for ≥6 months; GVL when PVL >2000 copies/mL; and plasma, genital and proviral reverse transcriptase drug resistance when GVL >2000 copies/mL. Wilcoxon rank-sum and Fisher's exact tests were used to identify failure and resistance associations. Pearson correlations were calculated to evaluate PVL-GVL associations. Inter-compartmental resistance discordance was evaluated using generalized estimating equations. Of 200 women, 37% had detectable (>400 copies/mL) PVL and 31% had PVL >1000 copies/mL. Of women with detectable PVL, 74% had PVL >2000 copies/mL, of which 74% had detectable GVL. Higher PVL was associated with higher GVL. Paired plasma and genital sequences were available for 21 women; mean age of 34 years, median ART duration of 33 months, median CD4 count of 217 cells/mm3, median PVL of 5.4 log10 copies/mL and median GVL of 4.6 log10 copies/mL. Drug resistance was detected in 81%-91% of samples and 67%-76% of samples had dual-class resistance. Complete three-compartment concordance was seen in only 10% of women. GT-proviral discordance was significantly larger than plasma-proviral discordance. GT or proviral mutations discordant from plasma led to clinically relevant resistance in 24% and 30%, respectively. We identified high resistance and high inter-compartmental resistance discordance in Indian women, which might lead to unrecognized resistance transmission and re-emergence compromising treatment outcomes, particularly relevant to countries like India, where sexual HIV transmission is predominant.

Multipartite distribution property of one way discord beyond measurement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Si-Yuan; Zhang, Yu-Ran; Yang, Wen-Li; Fan, Heng

2015-03-01

We investigate the distribution property of one way discord in the multipartite system by introducing the concept of polygamy deficit for one way discord. The difference between one way discord and quantum discord is analogue to the one between entanglement of assistance and entanglement of formation. For tripartite pure states, two kinds of polygamy deficits are presented with the equivalent expressions and physical interpretations regardless of measurement. For four-partite pure states, we provide a condition which makes one way discord polygamy satisfied. In addition, we generalize these results to the case for N-partite pure states. Those results can be applicable to multipartite quantum systems and are complementary to our understanding of the shareability of quantum correlations.

Parental Marital Discord and Treatment Response in Depressed Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Amaya, Meredith M.; Reinecke, Mark A.; Silva, Susan G.; March, John S.

2011-01-01

Evidence suggests that parental marital discord contributes to the development of internalizing and externalizing symptoms in children and adolescents. Few studies, however, have examined the association between parental marital discord and youth's response to treatment. The present study examined the impact of interparental discord on treatment…

A cosmic microwave background feature consistent with a cosmic texture.

PubMed

Cruz, M; Turok, N; Vielva, P; Martínez-González, E; Hobson, M

2007-12-07

The Cosmic Microwave Background provides our most ancient image of the universe and our best tool for studying its early evolution. Theories of high-energy physics predict the formation of various types of topological defects in the very early universe, including cosmic texture, which would generate hot and cold spots in the Cosmic Microwave Background. We show through a Bayesian statistical analysis that the most prominent 5 degrees -radius cold spot observed in all-sky images, which is otherwise hard to explain, is compatible with having being caused by a texture. From this model, we constrain the fundamental symmetry-breaking energy scale to be (0) approximately 8.7 x 10(15) gigaelectron volts. If confirmed, this detection of a cosmic defect will probe physics at energies exceeding any conceivable terrestrial experiment.

Sexual Orientation Discordance and Young Adult Mental Health.

PubMed

Lourie, Michael A; Needham, Belinda L

2017-05-01

During the course of sexual development, many people experience dissonance between dimensions of sexual orientation, including attraction, behavior, and identity. This study assesses the relationship between sexual orientation discordance and mental health. Data were obtained from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (n = 8,915; female = 54.62 %; non-Hispanic black = 18.83 %, Hispanic = 14.91 %, other race (non-white) = 10.79 %). Multivariable linear regression evaluated the correlation between sexual orientation discordance and perceived stress and depressive symptomatology. Models were stratified by sex and sexual identity. Among self-identified heterosexual females and mostly heterosexual males, sexual orientation discordance predicted significantly increased depressive symptomatology. No other subpopulation demonstrated a significant correlation between sexual orientation discordance and depressive symptomatology or perceived stress. The association between sexual orientation discordance and depressive symptomatology suggests a link between sexuality, self-concept, and mental health.

Oxygen isotopic composition and U-Pb discordance in zircon

USGS Publications Warehouse

Booth, A.L.; Kolodny, Y.; Chamberlain, C.P.; McWilliams, M.; Schmitt, A.K.; Wooden, J.

2005-01-01

We have investigated U-Pb discordance and oxygen isotopic composition of zircon using high-spatial resolution ??18O measurement by ion microprobe. ??18O in both concordant and discordant zircon grains provides an indication of the relationship between fluid interaction and discordance. Our results suggest that three characteristics of zircon are interrelated: (1) U-Pb systematics and concomitant age discordance, (2) ??18O and the water-rock interactions implied therein, and (3) zircon texture, as revealed by cathodoluminescence and BSE imaging. A key observation is that U-Pb-disturbed zircons are often also variably depleted in 18O, but the relationship between discordance and ??18O is not systematic. ??18O values of discordant zircons are generally lighter but irregular in their distribution. Textural differences between zircon grains can be correlated with both U-Pb discordance and ??18O. Discordant grains exhibit either a recrystallized, fractured, or strongly zoned CL texture, and are characteristic of 18O depletion. We interpret this to be a result of metamictization, leading to destruction of the zircon lattice and an increased susceptibility to lead loss. Conversely, grains that are concordant have less-expressed zoning and a smoother CL texture and are enriched in 18O. From this it is apparent that various stages of water-rock interaction, as evidenced by systematic variations in ??18O, leave their imprint on both the texture and U-Pb systematics of zircon. Copyright ?? 2005 Elsevier Ltd.

Quantum discord as a resource for quantum cryptography.

PubMed

Pirandola, Stefano

2014-11-07

Quantum discord is the minimal bipartite resource which is needed for a secure quantum key distribution, being a cryptographic primitive equivalent to non-orthogonality. Its role becomes crucial in device-dependent quantum cryptography, where the presence of preparation and detection noise (inaccessible to all parties) may be so strong to prevent the distribution and distillation of entanglement. The necessity of entanglement is re-affirmed in the stronger scenario of device-independent quantum cryptography, where all sources of noise are ascribed to the eavesdropper.

Sudden change of geometric quantum discord in finite temperature reservoirs

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hu, Ming-Liang, E-mail: mingliang0301@163.com; Sun, Jian

2015-03-15

We investigate sudden change (SC) behaviors of the distance-based measures of geometric quantum discords (GQDs) for two non-interacting qubits subject to the two-sided and the one-sided thermal reservoirs. We found that the GQDs defined by different distances exhibit different SCs, and thus the SCs are the combined result of the chosen discord measure and the property of a state. We also found that the thermal reservoir may generate states having different orderings related to different GQDs. These inherent differences of the GQDs reveal that they are incompatible in characterizing quantum correlations both quantitatively and qualitatively. - Highlights: • Comparable studymore » of different distance-based geometric quantum discords. • Evolution of the geometric quantum discords in finite temperature reservoirs. • Different geometric quantum discords exhibit distinct sudden changes. • Nonunique states ordering imposed by different geometric quantum discords.« less

“I Do Not Take My Medicine while Hiding” - A Longitudinal Qualitative Assessment of HIV Discordant Couples’ Beliefs in Discordance and ART as Prevention in Uganda

PubMed Central

King, Rachel; Kim, Jiho; Nanfuka, Mastula; Shafic, Murisho; Nyonyitono, Maureen; Galenda, Florence; Moore, David

2017-01-01

Background HIV negative members of serostatus discordant couples are at high risk for HIV acquisition, but few interventions are in place to target them in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods In this study, we interviewed 28 couples, 3 times over a period of one year to understand their perceptions and attitudes around discordance, their relationship dynamics, their HIV risk behaviour, their beliefs and attitudes about antiretroviral therapy (ART) and their views of the community perceptions of discordance and treatment for HIV. Results Findings revealed that at baseline there were multiple complex explanations and interpretations about discordance among discordant couples and their surrounding community. Shifts in beliefs and attitudes about discordance, HIV risk reduction and ART over time were enabled through re-testing negative members of discordant couples and repeat counselling but some beliefs remain solidly embedded in cultural imperatives of the importance of childbearing as well as culturally determined and enforced gender roles. Conclusions Interventions that aim to target discordant couples must embrace the complex and dynamic understandings of HIV diagnosis and treatment in context of fluid relationships, and changing beliefs about HIV risk and treatment. PMID:28081158

Association Between Obesity and Discordance in Fibrosis Stage Determination by Magnetic Resonance vs Transient Elastography in Patients With Nonalcoholic Liver Disease.

PubMed

Caussy, Cyrielle; Chen, Jun; Alquiraish, Mosab H; Cepin, Sandra; Nguyen, Phirum; Hernandez, Carolyn; Yin, Meng; Bettencourt, Ricki; Cachay, Edward R; Jayakumar, Saumya; Fortney, Lynda; Hooker, Jonathan; Sy, Ethan; Valasek, Mark A; Rizo, Emily; Richards, Lisa; Brenner, David A; Sirlin, Claude B; Ehman, Richard L; Loomba, Rohit

2018-01-17

Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) and transient elastography (TE) are noninvasive techniques used to detect liver fibrosis in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. MRE detects fibrosis more accurately than TE, but MRE is more expensive, and the concordance between MRE and TE have not been optimally assessed in obese patients. It is important to determine under which conditions TE and MRE produce the same readings, so that some patients can simply undergo TE evaluation to detect fibrosis. We aimed to assess the association between body mass index (BMI) and discordancy between MRE and TE findings, using liver biopsy as the reference, and validated our findings in a separate cohort. We performed a cross-sectional study of 119 adults with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease who underwent MRE, TE with M and XL probe, and liver biopsy analysis from October 2011 through January 2017 (training cohort). MRE and TE results were considered to be concordant if they found patients to have the same stage fibrosis as liver biopsy analysis. We validated our findings in 75 adults with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease who underwent contemporaneous MRE, TE, and liver biopsy at a separate institution from March 2010 through May 2013. The primary outcome was rate of discordance between MRE and TE in determining stage of fibrosis (stage 2-4 vs 0-1). Secondary outcomes were the rate of discordance between MRE and TE in determining dichotomized stage of fibrosis (1-4 vs 0, 3-4 vs 0-2, and 4 vs 0-3). In the training cohort, there was 43.7% discordance in findings from MRE versus TE. BMI associated significantly with discordance in findings from MRE versus TE (odds ratio, 1.69; 95% confidence interval, 1.15-2.51; P = .008) after multivariable adjustment by age and sex. The findings were confirmed in the validation cohort: there was 45.3% discordance in findings from MRE versus TE. BMI again associated significantly with discordance in findings from MRE versus TE (odds ratio, 1.52; 95

Quantum Discord for d⊗2 Systems

PubMed Central

Ma, Zhihao; Chen, Zhihua; Fanchini, Felipe Fernandes; Fei, Shao-Ming

2015-01-01

We present an analytical solution for classical correlation, defined in terms of linear entropy, in an arbitrary system when the second subsystem is measured. We show that the optimal measurements used in the maximization of the classical correlation in terms of linear entropy, when used to calculate the quantum discord in terms of von Neumann entropy, result in a tight upper bound for arbitrary systems. This bound agrees with all known analytical results about quantum discord in terms of von Neumann entropy and, when comparing it with the numerical results for 106 two-qubit random density matrices, we obtain an average deviation of order 10−4. Furthermore, our results give a way to calculate the quantum discord for arbitrary n-qubit GHZ and W states evolving under the action of the amplitude damping noisy channel. PMID:26036771

Steady state quantum discord for circularly accelerated atoms

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hu, Jiawei, E-mail: hujiawei@nbu.edu.cn; Yu, Hongwei, E-mail: hwyu@hunnu.edu.cn; Synergetic Innovation Center for Quantum Effects and Applications, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081

2015-12-15

We study, in the framework of open quantum systems, the dynamics of quantum entanglement and quantum discord of two mutually independent circularly accelerated two-level atoms in interaction with a bath of fluctuating massless scalar fields in the Minkowski vacuum. We assume that the two atoms rotate synchronically with their separation perpendicular to the rotating plane. The time evolution of the quantum entanglement and quantum discord of the two-atom system is investigated. For a maximally entangled initial state, the entanglement measured by concurrence diminishes to zero within a finite time, while the quantum discord can either decrease monotonically to an asymptoticmore » value or diminish to zero at first and then followed by a revival depending on whether the initial state is antisymmetric or symmetric. When both of the two atoms are initially excited, the generation of quantum entanglement shows a delayed feature, while quantum discord is created immediately. Remarkably, the quantum discord for such a circularly accelerated two-atom system takes a nonvanishing value in the steady state, and this is distinct from what happens in both the linear acceleration case and the case of static atoms immersed in a thermal bath.« less

Quantum discord as a resource for quantum cryptography

PubMed Central

Pirandola, Stefano

2014-01-01

Quantum discord is the minimal bipartite resource which is needed for a secure quantum key distribution, being a cryptographic primitive equivalent to non-orthogonality. Its role becomes crucial in device-dependent quantum cryptography, where the presence of preparation and detection noise (inaccessible to all parties) may be so strong to prevent the distribution and distillation of entanglement. The necessity of entanglement is re-affirmed in the stronger scenario of device-independent quantum cryptography, where all sources of noise are ascribed to the eavesdropper. PMID:25378231

Relating quantum discord with the quantum dense coding capacity

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, Xin; Qiu, Liang, E-mail: lqiu@cumt.edu.cn; Li, Song

2015-01-15

We establish the relations between quantum discord and the quantum dense coding capacity in (n + 1)-particle quantum states. A necessary condition for the vanishing discord monogamy score is given. We also find that the loss of quantum dense coding capacity due to decoherence is bounded below by the sum of quantum discord. When these results are restricted to three-particle quantum states, some complementarity relations are obtained.

Design And Development Of An Autonomous Radar Receiver For The Detection Of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kunwar, Samridha

The detection of ultra-high energy cosmic rays is constrained by their flux, requiring detectors with apertures of hundreds or even thousands of square kilometers and close to one hundred percent duty cycle. The sheer scale that would be required of conventional detectors, to acquire sufficient statistics for energy, composition or anisotropy studies, means that new techniques that reduce manpower and financial resources are continually being sought. In this dissertation, the development of a remote sensing technique based observatory known as bistatic radar, which aims to achieve extensive coverage of the Earth's surface, cf. Telescope Array's 700 km2 surface detector, is discussed. Construction of the radar projects transmitter station was completed in the summer of 2013, and remote receiver stations were deployed in June and November of 2014. These stations accomplish radar echo detection using an analog signal chain. Subject to less radio interference, the remote stations add stereoscopic measurement capabilities that theoretically allow unique determination of cosmic ray geometry and core location. An FPGA is used as a distributed data processing node within the project. The FPGA provides triggering logic for data sampled at 200 MSa/s, detecting Cosmic Ray shower echoes chirping at -1 to -10 Megahertz/microsecond (depending on the geometry) for several microseconds. The data acquisition system with low power consumption at a cost that is also comparatively inexpensive is described herein.

Disentangling methodological and biological sources of gene tree discordance on Oryza (Poaceae) chromosome 3.

PubMed

Zwickl, Derrick J; Stein, Joshua C; Wing, Rod A; Ware, Doreen; Sanderson, Michael J

2014-09-01

We describe new methods for characterizing gene tree discordance in phylogenomic data sets, which screen for deviations from neutral expectations, summarize variation in statistical support among gene trees, and allow comparison of the patterns of discordance induced by various analysis choices. Using an exceptionally complete set of genome sequences for the short arm of chromosome 3 in Oryza (rice) species, we applied these methods to identify the causes and consequences of differing patterns of discordance in the sets of gene trees inferred using a panel of 20 distinct analysis pipelines. We found that discordance patterns were strongly affected by aspects of data selection, alignment, and alignment masking. Unusual patterns of discordance evident when using certain pipelines were reduced or eliminated by using alternative pipelines, suggesting that they were the product of methodological biases rather than evolutionary processes. In some cases, once such biases were eliminated, evolutionary processes such as introgression could be implicated. Additionally, patterns of gene tree discordance had significant downstream impacts on species tree inference. For example, inference from supermatrices was positively misleading when pipelines that led to biased gene trees were used. Several results may generalize to other data sets: we found that gene tree and species tree inference gave more reasonable results when intron sequence was included during sequence alignment and tree inference, the alignment software PRANK was used, and detectable "block-shift" alignment artifacts were removed. We discuss our findings in the context of well-established relationships in Oryza and continuing controversies regarding the domestication history of O. sativa. © The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of the Society of Systematic Biologists. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

COSMIC RAYS AND COSMIC SPACE (in Russian)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vernova, S.N.

1960-08-01

An account is given of recent studies of cosmic rays utilizing both earthbound stations and artificial earth satellites. Phenomena recently uncovered by sputniks are described. A description is given of the cosmic ray laboratory of Moscow University. A particle possessing an energy of l0/sup 15/ ev was detected and the equipment and procedure by which this was done are described. mu mesons in a particle shower produced by cosmic rays were detected at a depth of thirty meters underground. The apparatus required in the sputriks for the study of cosmic rays outside the earth's atmosphere is discussed. The equipment inmore » the sputniks launched to date was transistorized; scintillation counters were used to determine particle energies. A description is given of the large burst of radiation detected by the second sputnik on Nov. 7, 1957. This burst was observed only at latitudes of about 50 to 70 degrees north latitude. The third sputnik had a scintillation counter of high sensitivity which detected relatively weak fluxes of electrons. This equipment fixed the location of the high intensity radiation belt around the earth. A typical graph of count rate and energy current versus geographic location is given. Data are given that indicate the coincidence of peak radiation intensities with those regions where the aurora borealis is seen. The radiation belt extends up to approximately 60,000 km from the earth's surface and is bounded by the magnetic lines of force that intersect the earth' s surface at geomagnetic latitudes of 55 deg and 70 deg . The earth's magnetic field traps these particles and holds them in an orbit that follows magnetic lines of force and oscillates from the northern to the southern hemisphere for long periods of time. A diagram is given of the trajectory of the first Soviet cosmic rocket and changes in radiation intensity along this trajectory are indicated. A maximum radiation intensity was detected at a distance of 20,000 km from the earth

The detection of the imprint of filaments on cosmic microwave background lensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Siyu; Alam, Shadab; Ferraro, Simone; Chen, Yen-Chi; Ho, Shirley

2018-05-01

Galaxy redshift surveys, such as the 2-Degree-Field Survey (2dF)1, Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)2, 6-Degree-Field Survey (6dF)3, Galaxy And Mass Assembly survey (GAMA)4 and VIMOS Public Extragalactic Redshift Survey (VIPERS)5, have shown that the spatial distribution of matter forms a rich web, known as the cosmic web6. Most galaxy survey analyses measure the amplitude of galaxy clustering as a function of scale, ignoring information beyond a small number of summary statistics. Because the matter density field becomes highly non-Gaussian as structure evolves under gravity, we expect other statistical descriptions of the field to provide us with additional information. One way to study the non-Gaussianity is to study filaments, which evolve non-linearly from the initial density fluctuations produced in the primordial Universe. In our study, we report the detection of lensing of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) by filaments, and we apply a null test to confirm our detection. Furthermore, we propose a phenomenological model to interpret the detected signal, and we measure how filaments trace the matter distribution on large scales through filament bias, which we measure to be around 1.5. Our study provides new scope to understand the environmental dependence of galaxy formation. In the future, the joint analysis of lensing and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich observations might reveal the properties of `missing baryons', the vast majority of the gas that resides in the intergalactic medium, which has so far evaded most observations.

Robust constraint on cosmic textures from the cosmic microwave background.

PubMed

Feeney, Stephen M; Johnson, Matthew C; Mortlock, Daniel J; Peiris, Hiranya V

2012-06-15

Fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) contain information which has been pivotal in establishing the current cosmological model. These data can also be used to test well-motivated additions to this model, such as cosmic textures. Textures are a type of topological defect that can be produced during a cosmological phase transition in the early Universe, and which leave characteristic hot and cold spots in the CMB. We apply bayesian methods to carry out a rigorous test of the texture hypothesis, using full-sky data from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe. We conclude that current data do not warrant augmenting the standard cosmological model with textures. We rule out at 95% confidence models that predict more than 6 detectable cosmic textures on the full sky.

Operational meaning of discord in terms of teleportation fidelity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adhikari, Satyabrata; Banerjee, Subhashish

2012-12-01

Quantum discord is a prominent measure of quantum correlations, playing an important role in expanding its horizon beyond entanglement. Here we provide an operational meaning of (geometric) discord, which quantifies the amount of nonclassical correlations of an arbitrary quantum system based on its minimal distance from the set of classical states, in terms of teleportation fidelity for general two-qubit and (d⊗d)-dimensional isotropic and Werner states. A critical value of the discord is found beyond which the two-qubit state must violate Bell's inequality. This is illustrated by an open-system model of a dissipative two-qubit state. For the (d⊗d)-dimensional states the lower bound of discord is shown to be obtainable from an experimentally measurable witness operator.

One-norm geometric quantum discord and critical point estimation in the XY spin chain

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cheng, Chang-Cheng; Wang, Yao; Guo, Jin-Liang, E-mail: guojinliang80@163.com

2016-11-15

In contrast with entanglement and quantum discord (QD), we investigate the thermal quantum correlation in terms of Schatten one-norm geometric quantum discord (GQD) in the XY spin chain, and analyze their capabilities in detecting the critical point of quantum phase transition. We show that the one-norm GQD can reveal more properties about quantum correlation between two spins, especially for the long-range quantum correlation at finite temperature. Under the influences of site distance, anisotropy and temperature, one-norm GQD and its first derivative make it possible to detect the critical point efficiently for a general XY spin chain. - Highlights: • Comparingmore » with entanglement and QD, one-norm GQD is more robust versus the temperature. • One-norm GQD is more efficient in characterization of long-range quantum correlation between two distant qubits. • One-norm GQD performs well in highlighting the critical point of QPT at zero or low finite temperature. • One-norm GQD has a number of advantages over QD in detecting the critical point of the spin chain.« less

Planck data versus large scale structure: Methods to quantify discordance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Charnock, Tom; Battye, Richard A.; Moss, Adam

2017-06-01

Discordance in the Λ cold dark matter cosmological model can be seen by comparing parameters constrained by cosmic microwave background (CMB) measurements to those inferred by probes of large scale structure. Recent improvements in observations, including final data releases from both Planck and SDSS-III BOSS, as well as improved astrophysical uncertainty analysis of CFHTLenS, allows for an update in the quantification of any tension between large and small scales. This paper is intended, primarily, as a discussion on the quantifications of discordance when comparing the parameter constraints of a model when given two different data sets. We consider Kullback-Leibler divergence, comparison of Bayesian evidences and other statistics which are sensitive to the mean, variance and shape of the distributions. However, as a byproduct, we present an update to the similar analysis in [R. A. Battye, T. Charnock, and A. Moss, Phys. Rev. D 91, 103508 (2015), 10.1103/PhysRevD.91.103508], where we find that, considering new data and treatment of priors, the constraints from the CMB and from a combination of large scale structure (LSS) probes are in greater agreement and any tension only persists to a minor degree. In particular, we find the parameter constraints from the combination of LSS probes which are most discrepant with the Planck 2015 +Pol +BAO parameter distributions can be quantified at a ˜2.55 σ tension using the method introduced in [R. A. Battye, T. Charnock, and A. Moss, Phys. Rev. D 91, 103508 (2015), 10.1103/PhysRevD.91.103508]. If instead we use the distributions constrained by the combination of LSS probes which are in greatest agreement with those from Planck 2015 +Pol +BAO this tension is only 0.76 σ .

Discordant CSF/plasma HIV-1 RNA in individuals on virologically suppressive antiretroviral therapy in Western India.

PubMed

Dravid, Ameet N; Natrajan, Kartik; Kulkarni, Milind M; Saraf, Chinmay K; Mahajan, Uma S; Kore, Sachin D; Rathod, Niranjan M; Mahajan, Umakant S; Wadia, Rustom S

2018-02-01

Aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)/Plasma HIV-1 RNA discordance in virologically suppressed individuals presenting with incident neurologic symptoms.In this retrospective cohort study conducted between March 1, 2009, and March 1, 2017, HIV-1 infected adults exposed to atleast 12 months of antiretroviral therapy (ART) and having plasma viral load (VL) <1000 copies/mL (virologically suppressed) were included. Among these, individuals presenting with neurologic symptoms during follow-up were assessed for CSF/Plasma HIV-1 RNA discordance by measuring HIV-1 RNA in collected plasma and CSF samples. CSF/plasma HIV-1 RNA discordance was defined as either detectable CSF HIV-1 RNA (VL > 20 copies/mL) with an undetectable plasma RNA (complete viral suppression, VL ≤20 copies/mL) or CSF HIV-1 RNA ≥ 0.5 log10 higher than plasma RNA when plasma VL was between 20 and 1000 copies/mL (low-level viremia, LLV).Out of 1584 virologically suppressed patients, 71 (4.4%) presented with incident neurologic symptoms. Twenty out of 71 (28.2%) patients were diagnosed with CSF/Plasma HIV-1 discordance. Median plasma and CSF VL in patients with discordance was 120 [interquartile range (IQR): <20 to 332.5] and 4250 (IQR: 2550.0- 9615.0) copies/mL, respectively. All 9 individuals in which CSF HIV-1 genotypic resistance testing was done showed mutations that would compromise efficacy of prescribed ART regimen. Prevalence of CSF/plasma HIV-1 RNA discordance was higher among neurologically symptomatic patients with plasma LLV as compared with those with complete viral suppression (70% vs 11.8%, P < .001). The risk of discordance was also greater in patients who received protease inhibitor (PI) containing ART (P < .001) and those on ART regimens with central nervous system (CNS) penetration effectiveness (CPE) value <6 (P = .006).CSF/plasma HIV-1 RNA discordance indicates replication of HIV-1 that has adapted to the CNS or has

Separation of gravitational-wave and cosmic-shear contributions to cosmic microwave background polarization.

PubMed

Kesden, Michael; Cooray, Asantha; Kamionkowski, Marc

2002-07-01

Inflationary gravitational waves (GW) contribute to the curl component in the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Cosmic shear--gravitational lensing of the CMB--converts a fraction of the dominant gradient polarization to the curl component. Higher-order correlations can be used to map the cosmic shear and subtract this contribution to the curl. Arcminute resolution will be required to pursue GW amplitudes smaller than those accessible by the Planck surveyor mission. The blurring by lensing of small-scale CMB power leads with this reconstruction technique to a minimum detectable GW amplitude corresponding to an inflation energy near 10(15) GeV.

Distribution of geometric quantum discord in photon-added coherent states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daoud, M.; Kaydi, W.; El Hadfi, H.

2015-12-01

In this paper, we examine the influence of photon excitation on the monogamy property of quantum discord in tripartite coherent states of Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) type. The Hilbert-Schmidt norm is used as quantifier of pairwise quantum correlations. The geometric quantum discord in all bipartite subsystems are explicitly given. We show that the geometric discord is monogamous for any photon excitation order.

First Detection of the Acoustic Oscillation Phase Shift Expected from the Cosmic Neutrino Background.

PubMed

Follin, Brent; Knox, Lloyd; Millea, Marius; Pan, Zhen

2015-08-28

The unimpeded relativistic propagation of cosmological neutrinos prior to recombination of the baryon-photon plasma alters gravitational potentials and therefore the details of the time-dependent gravitational driving of acoustic oscillations. We report here a first detection of the resulting shifts in the temporal phase of the oscillations, which we infer from their signature in the cosmic microwave background temperature power spectrum.

Discord as a quantum resource for bi-partite communication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chrzanowski, Helen M.; Gu, Mile; Assad, Syed M.; Symul, Thomas; Modi, Kavan; Ralph, Timothy C.; Vedral, Vlatko; Lam, Ping Koy

2014-12-01

Coherent interactions that generate negligible entanglement can still exhibit unique quantum behaviour. This observation has motivated a search beyond entanglement for a complete description of all quantum correlations. Quantum discord is a promising candidate. Here, we experimentally demonstrate that under certain measurement constraints, discord between bipartite systems can be consumed to encode information that can only be accessed by coherent quantum interactions. The inability to access this information by any other means allows us to use discord to directly quantify this `quantum advantage'.

Discordant KCNQ1OT1 imprinting in sets of monozygotic twins discordant for Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome.

PubMed

Weksberg, Rosanna; Shuman, Cheryl; Caluseriu, Oana; Smith, Adam C; Fei, Yan-Ling; Nishikawa, Joy; Stockley, Tracy L; Best, Lyle; Chitayat, David; Olney, Ann; Ives, Elizabeth; Schneider, Adele; Bestor, Timothy H; Li, Madeline; Sadowski, Paul; Squire, Jeremy

2002-05-15

Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS) presents with visceromegaly, macroglossia, tumor predisposition and other congenital abnormalities, and is usually associated with abnormalities of chromosome 11p15. A number of identical twin pairs, mostly female, have been reported to be discordant for BWS. We show here that the incidence of female monozygotic twins among patients with BWS is dramatically increased over that of the general population. A cluster of imprinted genes within 11p15 is thought to be coordinately regulated via the imprinted expression of KCNQ1OT1, which encodes an untranslated RNA. In skin fibroblasts from five monozygotic twin pairs discordant for BWS, each affected twin had an imprinting defect at KCNQ1OT1 on 11p15, whereas the unaffected twin did not. Five additional monozygotic twin pairs, for whom only blood was available, also displayed an imprinting defect at KCNQ1OT1. It is possible that discordance for BWS in MZ twins is due to unequal splitting of the inner cell mass during twinning, thereby causing differential maintenance of imprinting at KCNQ1OT1. Alternatively, we propose that KCNQ1OT1 is especially vulnerable to a loss of imprinting event, caused by a lack of maintenance DNA methylation at a critical stage of preimplantation development, and that this loss of imprinting predisposes to twinning as well as to discordance for BWS. These data underscore the importance of continued surveillance of children born following assisted reproductive technologies that impact the preimplantation embryo.

Can cosmic shear shed light on low cosmic microwave background multipoles?

PubMed

Kesden, Michael; Kamionkowski, Marc; Cooray, Asantha

2003-11-28

The lowest multipole moments of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) are smaller than expected for a scale-invariant power spectrum. One possible explanation is a cutoff in the primordial power spectrum below a comoving scale of k(c) approximately equal to 5.0 x 10(-4) Mpc(-1). Such a cutoff would increase significantly the cross correlation between the large-angle CMB and cosmic-shear patterns. The cross correlation may be detectable at >2sigma which, combined with the low CMB moments, may tilt the balance between a 2sigma result and a firm detection of a large-scale power-spectrum cutoff. The cutoff also increases the large-angle cross correlation between the CMB and the low-redshift tracers of the mass distribution.

The sudden death and sudden birth of quantum discord.

PubMed

Xia, Wei; Hou, Jin-Xing; Wang, Xiao-Hui; Liu, Si-Yuan

2018-03-28

The interaction of quantum system and its environment brings out abundant quantum phenomenons. The sudden death of quantum resources, including entanglement, quantum discord and coherence, have been studied from the perspective of quantum breaking channels (QBC). QBC of quantum resources reveal the common features of quantum resources. The definition of QBC implies the relationship between quantum resources. However, sudden death of quantum resources can also appear under some other quantum channels. We consider the dynamics of Bell-diagonal states under a stochastic dephasing noise along the z-direction, and the sudden death and sudden birth of quantum discord are investigated. Next we explain this phenomenon from the geometric structure of quantum discord. According to the above results, the states with sudden death and sudden birth can be filtered in three-parameter space. Then we provide two necessary conditions to judge which kind of noise channels can make Bell-diagonal states sudden death and sudden birth. Moreover, the relation between quantum discord and coherence indicates that the sudden death and sudden birth of quantum discord implies the sudden death and sudden birth of coherence in an optimal basis.

Time-invariant discord: high temperature limit and initial environmental correlations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tabesh, F. T.; Karpat, G.; Maniscalco, S.; Salimi, S.; Khorashad, A. S.

2018-04-01

We present a thorough investigation of the phenomena of frozen and time-invariant quantum discord for two-qubit systems independently interacting with local reservoirs. Our work takes into account several significant effects present in decoherence models, which have not been yet explored in the context of time-invariant quantum discord, but which in fact must be typically considered in almost all realistic models. Firstly, we study the combined influence of dephasing, dissipation and heating reservoirs at finite temperature. Contrarily to previous claims in the literature, we show the existence of time-invariant discord at high temperature limit in the weak coupling regime and also examine the effect of thermal photons on the dynamical behavior of frozen discord. Secondly, we explore the consequences of having initial correlations between the dephasing reservoirs. We demonstrate in detail how the time-invariant discord is modified depending on the relevant system parameters such as the strength of the initial amount of entanglement between the reservoirs.

Entanglement as minimal discord over state extensions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, Shunlong

2016-09-01

The characterization and quantification of quantum correlations, which play an instrumental role in exploring and exploiting the quantum world, have been extensively and intensively studied in the past few decades. Of special prominence and significance are the concepts of entanglement and discord, which are usually regarded as very distinctive quantum correlations, with the latter going beyond the former. In this work we establish a direct and natural link between entanglement and discord via state extensions and reveal that entanglement is actually the intrinsic discord, by which we mean that entanglement is the irreducible residue of discord viewed from ambient spaces. Our approach, taking into account the contextuality of a quantum state and being of a global nature, stands in sharp contrast to the local operations and classical communication paradigm of entanglement, which focuses on the state itself via a local approach. Furthermore, we introduce a figure of merit which, on the one hand, captures the essence of entanglement, i.e., nonlocality and quantumness of correlations, and, on the other hand, leads to a quantitative decomposition of total correlations into classical correlations, dissonance, and entanglement. This demystifies the meaning of entanglement from the perspective of quantum measurements and provides a unified framework for the interplay of various correlations in terms of quantum measurements and mutual information.

Quantum discord of two-qubit X states

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen Qing; Yu Sixia; Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale and Department of Modern Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026 Anhui

Quantum discord provides a measure for quantifying quantum correlations beyond entanglement and is very hard to compute even for two-qubit states because of the minimization over all possible measurements. Recently a simple algorithm to evaluate the quantum discord for two-qubit X states was proposed by Ali, Rau, and Alber [Phys. Rev. A 81, 042105 (2010)] with minimization taken over only a few cases. Here we shall at first identify a class of X states, whose quantum discord can be evaluated analytically without any minimization, for which their algorithm is valid, and also identify a family of X states for whichmore » their algorithm fails. And then we demonstrate that this special family of X states provides furthermore an explicit example for the inequivalence between the minimization over positive operator-valued measures and that over von Neumann measurements.« less

Fitting cosmic microwave background data with cosmic strings and inflation.

PubMed

Bevis, Neil; Hindmarsh, Mark; Kunz, Martin; Urrestilla, Jon

2008-01-18

We perform a multiparameter likelihood analysis to compare measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) power spectra with predictions from models involving cosmic strings. Adding strings to the standard case of a primordial spectrum with power-law tilt ns, we find a 2sigma detection of strings: f10=0.11+/-0.05, where f10 is the fractional contribution made by strings in the temperature power spectrum (at l=10). CMB data give moderate preference to the model ns=1 with cosmic strings over the standard zero-strings model with variable tilt. When additional non-CMB data are incorporated, the two models become on a par. With variable ns and these extra data, we find that f10<0.11, which corresponds to Gmicro<0.7x10(-6) (where micro is the string tension and G is the gravitational constant).

Lipid discordance and carotid plaque in obese patients in primary prevention.

PubMed

Masson, Walter; Siniawski, Daniel; Lobo, Martín; Molinero, Graciela

2018-01-01

Obese patients with lipid discordance (non-HDL cholesterol levels 30mg/dL above the LDL-c value) may have a greater prevalence of carotid atherosclerotic plaque (CAP). Our study objectives were: 1) To assess the prevalence of lipid discordance in a primary prevention population of obese patients; 2) To investigate the association between lipid discordance and presence of CAP. Obese subjects aged >18 years (BMI ≥30kg/m 2 ) with no cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or lipid-lowering treatment from six cardiology centers were included. Lipid discordance was defined when, regardless of the LDL-c level, the non-HDL cholesterol value exceeded the LDL-c value by 30mg/dL. Presence of CAP was identified by ultrasonography. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to explore the association between lipid discordance and presence of CAP. The study simple consisted of 325 obese patients (57.2% men; mean age, 52.3 years). Prevalence of lipid discordance was 57.9%. CAP was found in 38.6% of patients, but the proportion was higher in subjects with lipid discordance as compared to those without this lipid pattern (44.4% vs. 30.7%, P=.01). In both the univariate (OR: 1.80; 95% CI: 1.14-2.87; P=.01) and the multivariate analysis (OR: 2.07; 95% CI: 1.22-3.54; P=.007), presence of lipid discordance was associated to an increased probability of CAP. In these obese patients, lipid discordance was associated to greater prevalence of CAP. Evaluation of obese patients with this strategy could help identify subjects with higher residual cardiovascular risk. Copyright © 2017 SEEN y SED. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Implementation of a custom time-domain firmware trigger for RADAR-based cosmic ray detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prohira, S.; Besson, D.; Kunwar, S.; Ratzlaff, K.; Young, R.

2018-05-01

Interest in Radio-based detection schemes for ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR) has surged in recent years, owing to the potentially very low cost/detection ratio. The method of radio-frequency (RF) scatter has been proposed as potentially the most economical detection technology. Though the first dedicated experiment to employ this method, the Telescope Array RADAR experiment (TARA) reported no signal, efforts to develop more robust and sensitive trigger techniques continue. This paper details the development of a time-domain firmware trigger that exploits characteristics of the expected scattered signal from an UHECR extensive-air shower (EAS). The improved sensitivity of this trigger is discussed, as well as implementation in two separate field deployments from 2016 to 2017.

Large-scale Distribution of Arrival Directions of Cosmic Rays Detected Above 1018 eV at the Pierre Auger Observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pierre Auger Collaboration; Abreu, P.; Aglietta, M.; Ahlers, M.; Ahn, E. J.; Albuquerque, I. F. M.; Allard, D.; Allekotte, I.; Allen, J.; Allison, P.; Almela, A.; Alvarez Castillo, J.; Alvarez-Muñiz, J.; Alves Batista, R.; Ambrosio, M.; Aminaei, A.; Anchordoqui, L.; Andringa, S.; Antiči'c, T.; Aramo, C.; Arganda, E.; Arqueros, F.; Asorey, H.; Assis, P.; Aublin, J.; Ave, M.; Avenier, M.; Avila, G.; Badescu, A. M.; Balzer, M.; Barber, K. B.; Barbosa, A. F.; Bardenet, R.; Barroso, S. L. C.; Baughman, B.; Bäuml, J.; Baus, C.; Beatty, J. J.; Becker, K. H.; Bellétoile, A.; Bellido, J. A.; BenZvi, S.; Berat, C.; Bertou, X.; Biermann, P. L.; Billoir, P.; Blanco, F.; Blanco, M.; Bleve, C.; Blümer, H.; Boháčová, M.; Boncioli, D.; Bonifazi, C.; Bonino, R.; Borodai, N.; Brack, J.; Brancus, I.; Brogueira, P.; Brown, W. C.; Bruijn, R.; Buchholz, P.; Bueno, A.; Buroker, L.; Burton, R. E.; Caballero-Mora, K. S.; Caccianiga, B.; Caramete, L.; Caruso, R.; Castellina, A.; Catalano, O.; Cataldi, G.; Cazon, L.; Cester, R.; Chauvin, J.; Cheng, S. H.; Chiavassa, A.; Chinellato, J. A.; Chirinos Diaz, J.; Chudoba, J.; Cilmo, M.; Clay, R. W.; Cocciolo, G.; Collica, L.; Coluccia, M. R.; Conceição, R.; Contreras, F.; Cook, H.; Cooper, M. J.; Coppens, J.; Cordier, A.; Coutu, S.; Covault, C. E.; Creusot, A.; Criss, A.; Cronin, J.; Curutiu, A.; Dagoret-Campagne, S.; Dallier, R.; Daniel, B.; Dasso, S.; Daumiller, K.; Dawson, B. R.; de Almeida, R. M.; De Domenico, M.; De Donato, C.; de Jong, S. J.; De La Vega, G.; de Mello Junior, W. J. M.; de Mello Neto, J. R. T.; De Mitri, I.; de Souza, V.; de Vries, K. D.; del Peral, L.; del Río, M.; Deligny, O.; Dembinski, H.; Dhital, N.; Di Giulio, C.; Díaz Castro, M. L.; Diep, P. N.; Diogo, F.; Dobrigkeit, C.; Docters, W.; D'Olivo, J. C.; Dong, P. N.; Dorofeev, A.; dos Anjos, J. C.; Dova, M. T.; D'Urso, D.; Dutan, I.; Ebr, J.; Engel, R.; Erdmann, M.; Escobar, C. O.; Espadanal, J.; Etchegoyen, A.; Facal San Luis, P.; Falcke, H.; Fang, K.; Farrar, G.; Fauth, A. C.; Fazzini, N.; Ferguson, A. P.; Fick, B.; Figueira, J. M.; Filevich, A.; Filipčič, A.; Fliescher, S.; Fracchiolla, C. E.; Fraenkel, E. D.; Fratu, O.; Fröhlich, U.; Fuchs, B.; Gaior, R.; Gamarra, R. F.; Gambetta, S.; García, B.; Garcia Roca, S. T.; Garcia-Gamez, D.; Garcia-Pinto, D.; Garilli, G.; Gascon Bravo, A.; Gemmeke, H.; Ghia, P. L.; Giller, M.; Gitto, J.; Glass, H.; Gold, M. S.; Golup, G.; Gomez Albarracin, F.; Gómez Berisso, M.; Gómez Vitale, P. F.; Gonçalves, P.; Gonzalez, J. G.; Gookin, B.; Gorgi, A.; Gouffon, P.; Grashorn, E.; Grebe, S.; Griffith, N.; Grillo, A. F.; Guardincerri, Y.; Guarino, F.; Guedes, G. P.; Hansen, P.; Harari, D.; Harrison, T. A.; Harton, J. L.; Haungs, A.; Hebbeker, T.; Heck, D.; Herve, A. E.; Hill, G. C.; Hojvat, C.; Hollon, N.; Holmes, V. C.; Homola, P.; Hörandel, J. R.; Horvath, P.; Hrabovský, M.; Huber, D.; Huege, T.; Insolia, A.; Ionita, F.; Italiano, A.; Jansen, S.; Jarne, C.; Jiraskova, S.; Josebachuili, M.; Kadija, K.; Kampert, K. H.; Karhan, P.; Kasper, P.; Katkov, I.; Kégl, B.; Keilhauer, B.; Keivani, A.; Kelley, J. L.; Kemp, E.; Kieckhafer, R. M.; Klages, H. O.; Kleifges, M.; Kleinfeller, J.; Knapp, J.; Koang, D.-H.; Kotera, K.; Krohm, N.; Krömer, O.; Kruppke-Hansen, D.; Kuempel, D.; Kulbartz, J. K.; Kunka, N.; La Rosa, G.; Lachaud, C.; LaHurd, D.; Latronico, L.; Lauer, R.; Lautridou, P.; Le Coz, S.; Leão, M. S. A. B.; Lebrun, D.; Lebrun, P.; Leigui de Oliveira, M. A.; Letessier-Selvon, A.; Lhenry-Yvon, I.; Link, K.; López, R.; Lopez Agüera, A.; Louedec, K.; Lozano Bahilo, J.; Lu, L.; Lucero, A.; Ludwig, M.; Lyberis, H.; Maccarone, M. C.; Macolino, C.; Maldera, S.; Maller, J.; Mandat, D.; Mantsch, P.; Mariazzi, A. G.; Marin, J.; Marin, V.; Maris, I. C.; Marquez Falcon, H. R.; Marsella, G.; Martello, D.; Martin, L.; Martinez, H.; Martínez Bravo, O.; Martraire, D.; Masías Meza, J. J.; Mathes, H. J.; Matthews, J.; Matthews, J. A. J.; Matthiae, G.; Maurel, D.; Maurizio, D.; Mazur, P. O.; Medina-Tanco, G.; Melissas, M.; Melo, D.; Menichetti, E.; Menshikov, A.; Mertsch, P.; Messina, S.; Meurer, C.; Meyhandan, R.; Mi'canovi'c, S.; Micheletti, M. I.; Minaya, I. A.; Miramonti, L.; Molina-Bueno, L.; Mollerach, S.; Monasor, M.; Monnier Ragaigne, D.; Montanet, F.; Morales, B.; Morello, C.; Moreno, E.; Moreno, J. C.; Mostafá, M.; Moura, C. A.; Muller, M. A.; Müller, G.; Münchmeyer, M.; Mussa, R.; Navarra, G.; Navarro, J. L.; Navas, S.; Necesal, P.; Nellen, L.; Nelles, A.; Neuser, J.; Nhung, P. T.; Niechciol, M.; Niemietz, L.; Nierstenhoefer, N.; Nitz, D.; Nosek, D.; Nožka, L.; Oehlschläger, J.; Olinto, A.; Ortiz, M.; Pacheco, N.; Pakk Selmi-Dei, D.; Palatka, M.; Pallotta, J.; Palmieri, N.; Parente, G.; Parizot, E.; Parra, A.; Pastor, S.; Paul, T.; Pech, M.; Peķala, J.; Pelayo, R.; Pepe, I. M.; Perrone, L.; Pesce, R.; Petermann, E.; Petrera, S.; Petrolini, A.; Petrov, Y.; Pfendner, C.; Piegaia, R.; Pierog, T.; Pieroni, P.; Pimenta, M.; Pirronello, V.; Platino, M.; Plum, M.; Ponce, V. H.; Pontz, M.; Porcelli, A.; Privitera, P.; Prouza, M.; Quel, E. J.; Querchfeld, S.; Rautenberg, J.; Ravel, O.; Ravignani, D.; Revenu, B.; Ridky, J.; Riggi, S.; Risse, M.; Ristori, P.; Rivera, H.; Rizi, V.; Roberts, J.; Rodrigues de Carvalho, W.; Rodriguez, G.; Rodriguez Cabo, I.; Rodriguez Martino, J.; Rodriguez Rojo, J.; Rodríguez-Frías, M. D.; Ros, G.; Rosado, J.; Rossler, T.; Roth, M.; Rouillé-d'Orfeuil, B.; Roulet, E.; Rovero, A. C.; Rühle, C.; Saftoiu, A.; Salamida, F.; Salazar, H.; Salesa Greus, F.; Salina, G.; Sánchez, F.; Santo, C. E.; Santos, E.; Santos, E. M.; Sarazin, F.; Sarkar, B.; Sarkar, S.; Sato, R.; Scharf, N.; Scherini, V.; Schieler, H.; Schiffer, P.; Schmidt, A.; Scholten, O.; Schoorlemmer, H.; Schovancova, J.; Schovánek, P.; Schröder, F.; Schuster, D.; Sciutto, S. J.; Scuderi, M.; Segreto, A.; Settimo, M.; Shadkam, A.; Shellard, R. C.; Sidelnik, I.; Sigl, G.; Silva Lopez, H. H.; Sima, O.; 'Smiałkowski, A.; Šmída, R.; Snow, G. R.; Sommers, P.; Sorokin, J.; Spinka, H.; Squartini, R.; Srivastava, Y. N.; Stanic, S.; Stapleton, J.; Stasielak, J.; Stephan, M.; Stutz, A.; Suarez, F.; Suomijärvi, T.; Supanitsky, A. D.; Šuša, T.; Sutherland, M. S.; Swain, J.; Szadkowski, Z.; Szuba, M.; Tapia, A.; Tartare, M.; Taşcău, O.; Tcaciuc, R.; Thao, N. T.; Thomas, D.; Tiffenberg, J.; Timmermans, C.; Tkaczyk, W.; Todero Peixoto, C. J.; Toma, G.; Tomankova, L.; Tomé, B.; Tonachini, A.; Torralba Elipe, G.; Travnicek, P.; Tridapalli, D. B.; Tristram, G.; Trovato, E.; Tueros, M.; Ulrich, R.; Unger, M.; Urban, M.; Valdés Galicia, J. F.; Valiño, I.; Valore, L.; van Aar, G.; van den Berg, A. M.; van Velzen, S.; van Vliet, A.; Varela, E.; Vargas Cárdenas, B.; Vázquez, J. R.; Vázquez, R. A.; Veberič, D.; Verzi, V.; Vicha, J.; Videla, M.; Villaseñor, L.; Wahlberg, H.; Wahrlich, P.; Wainberg, O.; Walz, D.; Watson, A. A.; Weber, M.; Weidenhaupt, K.; Weindl, A.; Werner, F.; Westerhoff, S.; Whelan, B. J.; Widom, A.; Wieczorek, G.; Wiencke, L.; Wilczyńska, B.; Wilczyński, H.; Will, M.; Williams, C.; Winchen, T.; Wommer, M.; Wundheiler, B.; Yamamoto, T.; Yapici, T.; Younk, P.; Yuan, G.; Yushkov, A.; Zamorano Garcia, B.; Zas, E.; Zavrtanik, D.; Zavrtanik, M.; Zaw, I.; Zepeda, A.; Zhou, J.; Zhu, Y.; Zimbres Silva, M.; Ziolkowski, M.

2012-12-01

A thorough search for large-scale anisotropies in the distribution of arrival directions of cosmic rays detected above 1018 eV at the Pierre Auger Observatory is presented. This search is performed as a function of both declination and right ascension in several energy ranges above 1018 eV, and reported in terms of dipolar and quadrupolar coefficients. Within the systematic uncertainties, no significant deviation from isotropy is revealed. Assuming that any cosmic-ray anisotropy is dominated by dipole and quadrupole moments in this energy range, upper limits on their amplitudes are derived. These upper limits allow us to test the origin of cosmic rays above 1018 eV from stationary Galactic sources densely distributed in the Galactic disk and predominantly emitting light particles in all directions.

Comparison of Genomic and Epigenomic Expression in Monozygotic Twins Discordant for Rett Syndrome

PubMed Central

Kunio, Miyake; Yang, Chunshu; Minakuchi, Yohei; Ohori, Kenta; Soutome, Masaki; Hirasawa, Takae; Kazuki, Yasuhiro; Adachi, Noboru; Suzuki, Seiko; Itoh, Masayuki; Goto, Yu-ichi; Andoh, Tomoko; Kurosawa, Hiroshi; Akamatsu, Wado; Ohyama, Manabu; Okano, Hideyuki; Oshimura, Mitsuo; Sasaki, Masayuki; Toyoda, Atsushi; Kubota, Takeo

2013-01-01

Monozygotic (identical) twins have been widely used in genetic studies to determine the relative contributions of heredity and the environment in human diseases. Discordance in disease manifestation between affected monozygotic twins has been attributed to either environmental factors or different patterns of X chromosome inactivation (XCI). However, recent studies have identified genetic and epigenetic differences between monozygotic twins, thereby challenging the accepted experimental model for distinguishing the effects of nature and nurture. Here, we report the genomic and epigenomic sequences in skin fibroblasts of a discordant monozygotic twin pair with Rett syndrome, an X-linked neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by autistic features, epileptic seizures, gait ataxia and stereotypical hand movements. The twins shared the same de novo mutation in exon 4 of the MECP2 gene (G269AfsX288), which was paternal in origin and occurred during spermatogenesis. The XCI patterns in the twins did not differ in lymphocytes, skin fibroblasts, and hair cells (which originate from ectoderm as does neuronal tissue). No reproducible differences were detected between the twins in single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), insertion-deletion polymorphisms (indels), or copy number variations. Differences in DNA methylation between the twins were detected in fibroblasts in the upstream regions of genes involved in brain function and skeletal tissues such as Mohawk Homeobox (MKX), Brain-type Creatine Kinase (CKB), and FYN Tyrosine Kinase Protooncogene (FYN). The level of methylation in these upstream regions was inversely correlated with the level of gene expression. Thus, differences in DNA methylation patterns likely underlie the discordance in Rett phenotypes between the twins. PMID:23805272

Comparison of Genomic and Epigenomic Expression in Monozygotic Twins Discordant for Rett Syndrome.

PubMed

Miyake, Kunio; Yang, Chunshu; Minakuchi, Yohei; Ohori, Kenta; Soutome, Masaki; Hirasawa, Takae; Kazuki, Yasuhiro; Adachi, Noboru; Suzuki, Seiko; Itoh, Masayuki; Goto, Yu-Ichi; Andoh, Tomoko; Kurosawa, Hiroshi; Oshimura, Mitsuo; Sasaki, Masayuki; Toyoda, Atsushi; Kubota, Takeo

2013-01-01

Monozygotic (identical) twins have been widely used in genetic studies to determine the relative contributions of heredity and the environment in human diseases. Discordance in disease manifestation between affected monozygotic twins has been attributed to either environmental factors or different patterns of X chromosome inactivation (XCI). However, recent studies have identified genetic and epigenetic differences between monozygotic twins, thereby challenging the accepted experimental model for distinguishing the effects of nature and nurture. Here, we report the genomic and epigenomic sequences in skin fibroblasts of a discordant monozygotic twin pair with Rett syndrome, an X-linked neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by autistic features, epileptic seizures, gait ataxia and stereotypical hand movements. The twins shared the same de novo mutation in exon 4 of the MECP2 gene (G269AfsX288), which was paternal in origin and occurred during spermatogenesis. The XCI patterns in the twins did not differ in lymphocytes, skin fibroblasts, and hair cells (which originate from ectoderm as does neuronal tissue). No reproducible differences were detected between the twins in single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), insertion-deletion polymorphisms (indels), or copy number variations. Differences in DNA methylation between the twins were detected in fibroblasts in the upstream regions of genes involved in brain function and skeletal tissues such as Mohawk Homeobox (MKX), Brain-type Creatine Kinase (CKB), and FYN Tyrosine Kinase Protooncogene (FYN). The level of methylation in these upstream regions was inversely correlated with the level of gene expression. Thus, differences in DNA methylation patterns likely underlie the discordance in Rett phenotypes between the twins.

Determination of HIV Status in African Adults With Discordant HIV Rapid Tests.

PubMed

Fogel, Jessica M; Piwowar-Manning, Estelle; Donohue, Kelsey; Cummings, Vanessa; Marzinke, Mark A; Clarke, William; Breaud, Autumn; Fiamma, Agnès; Donnell, Deborah; Kulich, Michal; Mbwambo, Jessie K K; Richter, Linda; Gray, Glenda; Sweat, Michael; Coates, Thomas J; Eshleman, Susan H

2015-08-01

In resource-limited settings, HIV infection is often diagnosed using 2 rapid tests. If the results are discordant, a third tie-breaker test is often used to determine HIV status. This study characterized samples with discordant rapid tests and compared different testing strategies for determining HIV status in these cases. Samples were previously collected from 173 African adults in a population-based survey who had discordant rapid test results. Samples were classified as HIV positive or HIV negative using a rigorous testing algorithm that included two fourth-generation tests, a discriminatory test, and 2 HIV RNA tests. Tie-breaker tests were evaluated, including rapid tests (1 performed in-country), a third-generation enzyme immunoassay, and two fourth-generation tests. Selected samples were further characterized using additional assays. Twenty-nine samples (16.8%) were classified as HIV positive and 24 of those samples (82.8%) had undetectable HIV RNA. Antiretroviral drugs were detected in 1 sample. Sensitivity was 8.3%-43% for the rapid tests; 24.1% for the third-generation enzyme immunoassay; 95.8% and 96.6% for the fourth-generation tests. Specificity was lower for the fourth-generation tests than the other tests. Accuracy ranged from 79.5% to 91.3%. In this population-based survey, most HIV-infected adults with discordant rapid tests were virally suppressed without antiretroviral drugs. Use of individual assays as tie-breaker tests was not a reliable method for determining HIV status in these individuals. More extensive testing algorithms that use a fourth-generation screening test with a discriminatory test and HIV RNA test are preferable for determining HIV status in these cases.

A demonstration device for cosmic rays telescopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Esposito, Salvatore

2018-01-01

We describe a hands-on accurate demonstrator for cosmic rays realized by six high school students. The main aim is to show the relevance and the functioning of the principal parts of a cosmic ray telescope (muon detector), with the help of two large sized wooden artefacts. The first one points out how cosmic rays can be tracked in a muon telescope, while the other one shows the key avalanche process of electronic ionization that effectively allows muon detection through a photomultiplier. Incoming cosmic rays are visualized in terms of laser beams, whose 3D trajectory is highlighted by turning on LEDs on two orthogonal matrices. Instead the avalanche ionization process is demonstrated through the avalanche falling off glass marbles on an inclined plane, finally turning on a LED. A pictured poster accompanying the demonstrator is as effective in assisting cosmic ray demonstration and its detection. The success of the demonstrator has been fully proven by the general public during a science festival, in which the corresponding project won the Honorable Mention in a dedicated competition.

Longitudinal weight differences, gene expression, and blood biomarkers in BMI discordant identical twins

PubMed Central

van Dongen, Jenny; Willemsen, Gonneke; Heijmans, Bastiaan T.; Neuteboom, Jacoline; Kluft, Cornelis; Jansen, Rick; Penninx, Brenda W.J.; Slagboom, P. Eline; de Geus, Eco J.C.; Boomsma, Dorret I.

2015-01-01

Background BMI discordant monozygotic (MZ) twins allows an examination of the causes and consequences of adiposity in a genetically controlled design. Few studies have examined longitudinal BMI discordance in MZ pairs. Objectives To study the development over time of BMI discordance in adolescent and adult MZ twin pairs, and to examine lifestyle, metabolic, inflammatory, and gene expression differences associated with concurrent and long-term BMI discordance in MZ pairs. Subjects/Methods BMI data from 2775 MZ twin pairs, collected in eight longitudinal surveys and a biobank project between 1991 and 2011, were analyzed to characterize longitudinal discordance. Lifestyle characteristics were compared within discordant pairs (ΔBMI ≥ 3 kg/m2) and biomarkers (lipids, glucose, insulin, CRP, fibrinogen, IL-6, TNF-α and sIL-6R and liver enzymes AST, ALT and GGT) and gene expression were compared in peripheral blood from discordant pairs who participated in the NTR biobank project. Results The prevalence of discordance ranged from 3.2% in 1991 (mean age=17, SD=2.4) to 17.4% (N=202 pairs) in 2009 (mean age=35, SD=15), and was 16.5% (N=174) among pairs participating in the biobank project (mean age=35, SD=12). Of 699 MZ with BMI data from 3-5 time points, 17 pairs (2.4%) were long-term discordant (at all available time points; mean follow-up range=6.4 years). Concurrently discordant pairs showed significant differences in self-ratings of which twin eats most (p=2.3×10−13), but not in leisure time exercise activity (p=0.28) and smoking (p>0.05). Ten out of 14 biomarkers showed significantly more unfavorable levels in the heavier of twin of the discordant pairs (p-values < 0.001); most of these biomarker differences were largest in longitudinally discordant pairs. No significant gene expression differences were identified, although high ranking genes were enriched for Gene Ontology (GO) terms highlighting metabolic gene regulation and inflammation pathways. Conclusions

Food reinforcement and delay discounting in zBMI-discordant siblings.

PubMed

Feda, Denise M; Roemmich, James N; Roberts, April; Epstein, Leonard H

2015-02-01

The interaction of food reinforcement and the inability to delay gratification are related to adult energy intake and obesity. This study was designed to test the association of sibling pair differences in relative reinforcing efficacy of food and delay discounting on sibling pair differences in zBMI scores of same-gender zBMI-discordant siblings. We tested main and interactive relationships between delay discounting and relative reinforcing efficacy of food on zBMI discordance in 14 zBMI-discordant biological sibling pairs (6 female pairs) using a discordant sibling study design. Sibling pair differences in relative reinforcing efficacy of food were associated with sibling pair differences in zBMI (p= 0.046); this effect was moderated by delay discounting (p <0.002). Sibling pairs with greater differences in relative reinforcing efficacy and delay discounting had greater differences in zBMI. The combination of greater sibling pair differences in delay discounting and relative reinforcing efficacy is associated with greater discordance in zBMI in adolescent sibling pairs. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sexual Orientation Discordance and Nonfatal Suicidal Behaviors in U.S. High School Students.

PubMed

Annor, Francis B; Clayton, Heather B; Gilbert, Leah K; Ivey-Stephenson, Asha Z; Irving, Shalon M; David-Ferdon, Corinne; Kann, Laura K

2018-04-01

Studies among adults have documented association between sexual orientation discordance and some suicide risk factors. However, studies examining sexual orientation discordance and nonfatal suicidal behaviors in youth are rare. This study examines the association between sexual orientation discordance and suicidal ideation/suicide attempts among a nationally representative sample of U.S. high school students. Using sexual identity and sex of sexual contact measures from the 2015 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (n=6,790), a sexual orientation discordance variable was constructed describing concordance and discordance (agreement and disagreement, respectively, between sexual identity and sex of sexual contacts). Three suicide-related questions (seriously considered attempting suicide, making a plan about how they would attempt suicide, and attempting suicide) were combined to create a two-level nonfatal suicide risk variable. Analyses were restricted to students who identified as heterosexual or gay/lesbian, who had sexual contact, and who had no missing data for sex or suicide variables. The association between sexual orientation discordance and nonfatal suicide risk was assessed using logistic regression. Analyses were performed in 2017. Approximately 4.0% of students experienced sexual orientation discordance. High suicide risk was significantly more common among discordant students compared with concordant students (46.3% vs 22.4%, p<0.0001). In adjusted models, discordant students were 70% more likely to have had suicidal ideation/suicide attempts compared with concordant students (adjusted prevalence ratio=1.7, 95% CI=1.4, 2.0). Sexual orientation discordance was associated with increased likelihood of nonfatal suicidal behaviors. Discordant adolescents may experience unique stressors that should be considered when developing and implementing suicide prevention programs. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Cosmic ray interactions in the ground: Temporal variations in cosmic ray intensities and geophysical studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lal, D.

1986-01-01

Temporal variations in cosmic ray intensity have been deduced from observations of products of interactions of cosmic ray particles in the Moon, meteorites, and the Earth. Of particular interest is a comparison between the information based on Earth and that based on other samples. Differences are expected at least due to: (1) differences in the extent of cosmic ray modulation, and (2) changes in the geomagnetic dipole field. Any information on the global changes in the terrestrial cosmic ray intensity is therefore of importance. In this paper a possible technique for detecting changes in cosmic ray intensity is presented. The method involves human intervention and is applicable for the past 10,000 yrs. Studies of changes over longer periods of time are possible if supplementary data on age and history of the sample are available using other methods. Also discussed are the possibilities of studying certain geophysical processes, e.g., erosion, weathering, tectonic events based on studies of certain cosmic ray-produced isotopes for the past several million years.

The COBE cosmic 3 K anisotropy experiment: A gravity wave and cosmic string probe

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bennett, Charles L.; Smoot, George F.

1989-01-01

Among the experiments to be carried into orbit next year, by the COBE satellite, are differential microwave radiometers. They will make sensitive all-sky maps of the temperature of the cosmic microwave background radiation at three frequencies, giving dipole, quadrupole, and higher order multipole measurements of the background radiation. The experiment will either detect, or place significant constraints on, the existence of cosmic strings and long wavelength gravity waves.

Determinants of Patient-Oncologist Prognostic Discordance in Advanced Cancer

PubMed Central

Gramling, Robert; Fiscella, Kevin; Xing, Guibo; Hoerger, Michael; Duberstein, Paul; Plumb, Sandy; Mohile, Supriya; Fenton, Joshua J.; Tancredi, Daniel J.; Kravitz, Richard L.; Epstein, Ronald M.

2018-01-01

IMPORTANCE Patients with advanced cancer often report expectations for survival that differ from their oncologists’ expectations. Whether patients know that their survival expectations differ from those of their oncologists remains unknown. This distinction is important because knowingly expressing differences of opinion is important for shared decision making, whereas patients not knowing that their understanding differs from that of their treating physician is a potential marker of inadequate communication. OBJECTIVE To describe the prevalence, distribution, and proportion of prognostic discordance that is due to patients’ knowingly vs unknowingly expressing an opinion that differs from that of their oncologist. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Cross-sectional study conducted at academic and community oncology practices in Rochester, New York, and Sacramento, California. The sample comprises 236 patients with advanced cancer and their 38 oncologists who participated in a randomized trial of an intervention to improve clinical communication. Participants were enrolled from August 2012 to June 2014 and followed up until October 2015. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES We ascertained discordance by comparing patient and oncologist ratings of 2-year survival probability. For discordant pairs, we determined whether patients knew that their opinions differed from those of their oncologists by asking the patients to report how they believed their oncologists rated their 2-year survival. RESULTS Among the 236 patients (mean [SD] age, 64.5 [11.4] years; 54%female), 161 patient-oncologist survival prognosis ratings (68%; 95%CI, 62%–75%) were discordant. Discordance was substantially more common among nonwhite patients compared with white patients (95%[95%CI, 86%–100%] vs 65%[95%CI, 58%–73%], respectively; P = .03). Among 161 discordant patients, 144 (89%) did not know that their opinions differed from that of their oncologists and nearly all of them (155 of 161 [96

JUPITER AS A GIANT COSMIC RAY DETECTOR

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rimmer, P. B.; Stark, C. R.; Helling, Ch., E-mail: pr33@st-andrews.ac.uk

We explore the feasibility of using the atmosphere of Jupiter to detect ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs). The large surface area of Jupiter allows us to probe cosmic rays of higher energies than previously accessible. Cosmic ray extensive air showers in Jupiter's atmosphere could in principle be detected by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on the Fermi observatory. In order to be observed, these air showers would need to be oriented toward the Earth, and would need to occur sufficiently high in the atmosphere that the gamma rays can penetrate. We demonstrate that, under these assumptions, Jupiter provides an effective cosmicmore » ray ''detector'' area of 3.3 × 10{sup 7} km{sup 2}. We predict that Fermi-LAT should be able to detect events of energy >10{sup 21} eV with fluence 10{sup –7} erg cm{sup –2} at a rate of about one per month. The observed number of air showers may provide an indirect measure of the flux of cosmic rays ≳ 10{sup 20} eV. Extensive air showers also produce a synchrotron signature that may be measurable by Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Simultaneous observations of Jupiter with ALMA and Fermi-LAT could be used to provide broad constraints on the energies of the initiating cosmic rays.« less

The MIDAS telescope for microwave detection of ultra-high energy cosmic rays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alvarez-Muñiz, J.; Amaral Soares, E.; Berlin, A.; Bogdan, M.; Boháčová, M.; Bonifazi, C.; Carvalho, W. R.; de Mello Neto, J. R. T.; Facal San Luis, P.; Genat, J. F.; Hollon, N.; Mills, E.; Monasor, M.; Privitera, P.; Ramos de Castro, A.; Reyes, L. C.; Richardson, M.; Rouille d'Orfeuil, B.; Santos, E. M.; Wayne, S.; Williams, C.; Zas, E.; Zhou, J.

2013-08-01

We present the design, implementation and data taking performance of the MIcrowave Detection of Air Showers (MIDAS) experiment, a large field of view imaging telescope designed to detect microwave radiation from extensive air showers induced by ultra-high energy cosmic rays. This novel technique may bring a tenfold increase in detector duty cycle when compared to the standard fluorescence technique based on detection of ultraviolet photons. The MIDAS telescope consists of a 4.5 m diameter dish with a 53-pixel receiver camera, instrumented with feed horns operating in the commercial extended C-Band (3.4-4.2 GHz). A self-trigger capability is implemented in the digital electronics. The main objectives of this first prototype of the MIDAS telescope - to validate the telescope design, and to demonstrate a large detector duty cycle - were successfully accomplished in a dedicated data taking run at the University of Chicago campus prior to installation at the Pierre Auger Observatory.

Do cosmic ray air showers initiate lightning?: A statistical analysis of cosmic ray air showers and lightning mapping array data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hare, B. M.; Dwyer, J. R.; Winner, L. H.; Uman, M. A.; Jordan, D. M.; Kotovsky, D. A.; Caicedo, J. A.; Wilkes, R. A.; Carvalho, F. L.; Pilkey, J. T.; Ngin, T. K.; Gamerota, W. R.; Rassoul, H. K.

2017-08-01

It has been argued in the technical literature, and widely reported in the popular press, that cosmic ray air showers (CRASs) can initiate lightning via a mechanism known as relativistic runaway electron avalanche (RREA), where large numbers of high-energy and low-energy electrons can, somehow, cause the local atmosphere in a thundercloud to transition to a conducting state. In response to this claim, other researchers have published simulations showing that the electron density produced by RREA is far too small to be able to affect the conductivity in the cloud sufficiently to initiate lightning. In this paper, we compare 74 days of cosmic ray air shower data collected in north central Florida during 2013-2015, the recorded CRASs having primary energies on the order of 1016 eV to 1018 eV and zenith angles less than 38°, with Lightning Mapping Array (LMA) data, and we show that there is no evidence that the detected cosmic ray air showers initiated lightning. Furthermore, we show that the average probability of any of our detected cosmic ray air showers to initiate a lightning flash can be no more than 5%. If all lightning flashes were initiated by cosmic ray air showers, then about 1.6% of detected CRASs would initiate lightning; therefore, we do not have enough data to exclude the possibility that lightning flashes could be initiated by cosmic ray air showers.

First detection of cosmic microwave background lensing and Lyman- α forest bispectrum

DOE PAGES

Doux, Cyrille; Schaan, Emmanuel; Aubourg, Eric; ...

2016-11-09

We present the first detection of a correlation between the Lyman-α forest and cosmic microwave background gravitational lensing. For each Lyman-α forest in SDSS-III/BOSS DR12, we correlate the one-dimensional power spectrum with the cosmic microwave background lensing convergence on the same line of sight from Planck. This measurement constitutes a position-dependent power spectrum, or a squeezed bispectrum, and quantifies the nonlinear response of the Lyman-α forest power spectrum to a large-scale overdensity. The signal is measured at 5σ and is consistent with the expectation of the standard ΛCDM cosmological model. We measure the linear bias of the Lyman-α forest withmore » respect to the dark matter distribution and constrain a combination of nonlinear terms including the nonlinear bias. This new observable provides a consistency check for the Lyman-α forest as a large-scale structure probe and tests our understanding of the relation between intergalactic gas and dark matter. In the future, it could be used to test hydrodynamical simulations and calibrate the relation between the Lyman-α forest and dark matter.« less

Discordance between location of positive cores in biopsy and location of positive surgical margin following radical prostatectomy.

PubMed

Kim, Ji Won; Park, Hyoung Keun; Kim, Hyeong Gon; Ham, Dong Yeub; Paick, Sung Hyun; Lho, Yong Soo; Choi, Woo Suk

2015-10-01

We compared location of positive cores in biopsy and location of positive surgical margin (PSM) following radical prostatectomy. This retrospective analysis included patients who were diagnosed as prostate cancer by standard 12-core transrectal ultrasonography guided prostate biopsy, and who have PSM after radical prostatectomy. After exclusion of number of biopsy cores <12, and lack of biopsy location data, 46 patients with PSM were identified. Locations of PSM in pathologic specimen were reported as 6 difference sites (apex, base and lateral in both sides). Discordance of biopsy result and PSM was defined when no positive cores in biopsy was identified at the location of PSM. Most common location of PSM were right apex (n=21) and left apex (n=15). Multiple PSM was reported in 21 specimens (45.7%). In 32 specimens (69.6%) with PSM, one or more concordant positive biopsy cores were identified, but 14 specimens (28%) had no concordant biopsy cores at PSM location. When discordant rate was separated by locations of PSM, right apex PSM had highest rate of discordant (38%). The discordant group had significantly lower prostate volume and lower number of positive cores in biopsy than concordant group. This study showed that one fourth of PSM occurred at location where tumor was not detected at biopsy and that apex PSM had highest rate of discordant. Careful dissection to avoid PSM should be performed in every location, including where tumor was not identified in biopsy.

Effective osimertinib treatment in a patient with discordant T790 M mutation detection between liquid biopsy and tissue biopsy.

PubMed

Mambetsariev, Isa; Vora, Lalit; Yu, Kim Wai; Salgia, Ravi

2018-03-21

We report the successful treatment of the patient with osimertinib 80 mg/day following disease progression and a discordance in the detection of a mechanism of resistance epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR) T790 M between liquid biopsy and tissue biopsy methods. A 57-year-old Hispanic male patient initially diagnosed with an EGFR 19 deletion positive lung adenocarcinoma and clinically responded to initial erlotinib treatment. The patient subsequently progressed on erlotinib 150 mg/day and repeat biopsies both tissue and liquid were sent for next-generation sequencing (NGS). A T790 M EGFR mutation was detected in the blood sample using a liquid biopsy technique, but the tissue biopsy failed to show a T790 M mutation in a newly biopsied tissue sample. He was then successfully treated with osimertinib 80 mg/day, has clinically and radiologically responded, and remains on osimertinib treatment after 10 months. Second-line osimertinib treatment, when administered at 80 mg/day, is both well tolerated and efficacious in a patient with previously erlotinib treated lung adenocarcinoma and a T790 M mutation detected by liquid biopsy.

Outcome prediction in monochorionic diamniotic twin pregnancies with moderately discordant amniotic fluid.

PubMed

Van Mieghem, T; Eixarch, E; Gucciardo, L; Done, E; Gonzales, I; Van Schoubroeck, D; Lewi, L; Gratacos, E; Deprest, J

2011-01-01

The aim of this study was to identify predictors of twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) and selective intrauterine growth restriction (sIUGR) in monochorionic diamniotic (MCDA) twin pregnancies with moderate amniotic fluid discordance (mAFD). Monochorionic twins with mAFD (n = 45; gestational age, 15-29 weeks) were assessed for extent of fluid discordance, fetal growth discordance and fetal cardiac dysfunction, and were followed longitudinally. A prediction algorithm was constructed for TTTS and sIUGR and validated in an unrelated cohort (n = 52). Cardiac dysfunction could not predict TTTS or sIUGR. Twins below 20 weeks of gestation with a fluid discordance of ≥ 3.1 cm had a risk of TTTS of 85.7%. Sensitivity for TTTS was nevertheless only 55%. An intertwin weight discordance of ≥ 25% had 63% sensitivity and 76% specificity for sIUGR without TTTS. The outcome of MCDA twins with mAFD remains unpredictable, yet high-risk and low-risk subgroups for TTTS can be identified based on severity of fluid discordance and gestational age.

[Perinatal management of twins with discordant congenital defects].

PubMed

Yu, Hai-yan; Xing, Ai-yun; You, Yong; Liu, Xing-hui; Wang, Xiao-dong

2014-11-01

To review the outcomes of perinatal management of twins with discordant congenital defects. We retrospectively examined the cases of twins with discordant congenital defects treated in the West China Second University Hospital from December 2011 to December 2013. There were 26 cases of twins (14 dichorionic and 12 monochorionic) with one anomalous fetus. Of those twins, 16 were conceived by nature and 10 by in vitro fertilization and embryo tansfer (IVF-ET). Counselling services were offered to the parents by a multidisciplinary team about options of pregnancy. Termination of pregnancy was chosen on three monochorionic twins. Twelve pairs of twin were delivered at 26(+3)-37(+6) weeks gestation. One pair ended with neonatal death, and another one with gastroschisis was given intrapartum fetal operation. Selective termination was chosen on 11 cases using intracardiac injection of potassium chloride under ultrasonographic guidance (9 cases) or bipolar cord coagulation (2 cases). This resulted in ten live births delivered at 25(+5)-38(+4) gustation and one neonatal death. Early diagnosis of twins with discordant congenital defects is important. Multidisciplinary counselling services to parents are recommended for determination of options. Intensive prenatal care is essential in management of twins with discordant congenital defects.

Population Levels and Geographic Distribution of HIV RNA in Rural Ugandan and Kenyan Communities and Sero-Discordant Couples: a Cross-Sectional Analysis

PubMed Central

Jain, Vivek; Petersen, Maya L.; Liegler, Teri; Byonanebye, Dathan M.; Kwarisiima, Dalsone; Chamie, Gabriel; Sang, Norton; Black, Doug; Clark, Tamara D.; Ladai, Andras; Plenty, Albert; Kabami, Jane; Ssemmondo, Emmanuel; Bukusi, Elizabeth A.; Cohen, Craig R.; Charlebois, Edwin D.; Kamya, Moses R.; Havlir, Diane V.

2017-01-01

Background As Sub-Saharan Africa transitions to a new era of universal ART, up-to-date assessments of HIV RNA (viral load, VL) suppression at a population level are needed to understand demographic and geographic sources of ongoing viremia and to inform interventions to optimize ART delivery. We sought to measure population viral load (VL) metrics to assess current viral suppression levels and characterize demographic groups and geographic locations with high-level detectable viremia in East Africa. Methods In the SEARCH HIV test-and-treat study (NCT01864683), we conducted baseline HIV testing (89% uptake) and HIV RNA assessments in 32 rural communities in 2013–2014 in Uganda and Kenya (N=303,461). We measured VL in 8,828 HIV+ adults, and defined viral suppression as VL<500 copies/mL. To assess geographic sources of transmission risk, we determined the proportion of all adults (both HIV-positive and HIV-negative) with detectable VL (termed ‘local prevalence of viremia’). Transmission risk ‘hotspots’ were defined as geopolitical subunits within communities with >5.0% local prevalence of viremia. We also assessed sero-discordant couples, measuring the proportion in which the HIV+ partner had detectable viremia. Findings Viral suppression was 82% (3,427/4,202) among adults on ART, and 51% (4,490/8,828) among all HIV+ adults. Regional viral suppression among HIV+ adults was 48% (West Uganda), 45% (East Uganda) and 53% (Western Kenya). Transmission risk ‘hotspots’ included 1/21 W.Uganda, 0/18 E.Uganda, and 16/26 Kenya geopolitical subunits. In Uganda, sero-discordancy was 3.1% (492 discordant/16,023 total couples). In 58% of discordant couples, the HIV+ partner was viremic (14% had VL>100,000). In Kenya, sero-discordancy was 10.0% (859/8,616 total couples). In 53%, the HIV+ partner was viremic (15% with VL>100,000). Interpretation Prior to the 2013–2014 start of the SEARCH trial, 51% of East African HIV+ adults had viral suppression, reflecting ART scale

A machine-learning approach reveals that alignment properties alone can accurately predict inference of lateral gene transfer from discordant phylogenies.

PubMed

Roettger, Mayo; Martin, William; Dagan, Tal

2009-09-01

Among the methods currently used in phylogenomic practice to detect the presence of lateral gene transfer (LGT), one of the most frequently employed is the comparison of gene tree topologies for different genes. In cases where the phylogenies for different genes are incompatible, or discordant, for well-supported branches there are three simple interpretations for the result: 1) gene duplications (paralogy) followed by many independent gene losses have occurred, 2) LGT has occurred, or 3) the phylogeny is well supported but for reasons unknown is nonetheless incorrect. Here, we focus on the third possibility by examining the properties of 22,437 published multiple sequence alignments, the Bayesian maximum likelihood trees for which either do or do not suggest the occurrence of LGT by the criterion of discordant branches. The alignments that produce discordant phylogenies differ significantly in several salient alignment properties from those that do not. Using a support vector machine, we were able to predict the inference of discordant tree topologies with up to 80% accuracy from alignment properties alone.

Nineteenth International Cosmic Ray Conference. OG Sessions, Volume 3

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, F. C. (Compiler)

1985-01-01

Papers submitted for presentation at the 19th International Cosmic Ray Conference are compiled. This volume addresses cosmic ray sources and acceleration, interstellar propagation and nuclear interactions, and detection techniques and instrumentation.

Food reinforcement and delay discounting in zBMI-discordant siblings ☆

PubMed Central

Feda, Denise M.; Roemmich, James N.; Roberts, April; Epstein, Leonard H.

2014-01-01

Objective The interaction of food reinforcement and the inability to delay gratification are related to adult energy intake and obesity. This study was designed to test the association of sibling pair differences in relative reinforcing efficacy of food and delay discounting on sibling pair differences in zBMI scores of same-gender zBMI-discordant siblings. Design and methods We tested main and interactive relationships between delay discounting and relative reinforcing efficacy of food on zBMI discordance in 14 zBMI-discordant biological sibling pairs (6 female pairs) using a discordant sibling study design. Results Sibling pair differences in relative reinforcing efficacy of food were associated with sibling pair differences in zBMI (p = 0.046); this effect was moderated by delay discounting (p < 0.002). Sibling pairs with greater differences in relative reinforcing efficacy and delay discounting had greater differences in zBMI. Conclusions The combination of greater sibling pair differences in delay discounting and relative reinforcing efficacy is associated with greater discordance in zBMI in adolescent sibling pairs. PMID:25464024

Discordant transsexualism in male monozygotic twins: neuroanatomical and psychological differences.

PubMed

Andreazza, Tahiana Signorini; Costa, Angelo Brandelli; Massuda, Raffael; Salvador, Jaqueline; Silveira, Esalba Maria; Piccon, Felipe; Carvalho, Renata; Fontanari, Anna Martha Vaitses; Koff, Walter; Belmonte-de-Abreu, Paulo; Lobato, Maria Inês Rodrigues

2014-02-01

One monozygotic male twin pair discordant for transsexualism is described. Both twins were interviewed and tested with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale battery for cognitive functions and they underwent magnetic resonance imaging to measure the volumes of specific cerebral structures. Interviews with the twins and their mother indicated no unusual medical or life history events that could have had a causal role in the emergence of the disorder. Both cognitive function testing and neuroimaging detected differences between the twins that could be related to unexplained epigenetic effects and exogenous hormone usage.

Cosmic Dawn Science Interest Group

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lazio, T. Joseph W.; Cosmic Origins Program Analysis Group

2016-01-01

Cosmic Dawn was identified as one of the three science objectives for this decade in the _New Worlds, New Horizons_ Decadal report, and it will likely continue to be a research focus well into the next decade. Cosmic Dawn refers to the interval during which the Universe transitioned from a nearly completely neutral state back to a nearly fully ionized state and includes the time during which the first stars formed and the first galaxies assembled.The Cosmic Dawn Science Interest Group (SIG) was formed recently under the auspices of the Cosmic Origins Program Analysis Group (COPAG). The Cosmic Dawn SIG focusses on the science cases, observations, and technology development needed to address the "great mystery" of Cosmic Origins. The reach of this SIG is broad, involving the nature of the first stars and the detectability of gamma-ray bursts at high redshifts, the extent to which the first galaxies and first supermassive black holes grew together, and the technology required to pursue these questions.For further information, consult the Cosmic Dawn SIG Web site http://cd-sig.jpl.nasa.gov/ and join the mailing list (by contacting the author).Part of this research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Cosmic Ray Studies with IceCube

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gonzalez, Javier

In this contribution we will give an overview of the cosmic ray studies conducted within the IceCube collaboration. The IceCube detector in the geographical south pole can be used to measure various characteristics of the extensive air showers induced by high energy cosmic rays. With IceTop, the surface component of the detector, we detect the electromagnetic and muon components of the air showers, while with the deep detector we detect the high energy muons. We have measured the energy spectrum of cosmic ray primaries in the range between 1.58PeV and 1.26 EeV. A combined analysis of the high energy muon bundles in the ice and the air shower footprint in IceTop provides a measure of primary composition. We will also discuss how the sensitivity to low energy muons in the air showers has the potential to produce additional measures of primary composition.

Modeling the Radio Foreground for Detection of CMB Spectral Distortions from the Cosmic Dawn and the Epoch of Reionization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sathyanarayana Rao, Mayuri; Subrahmanyan, Ravi; Udaya Shankar, N.; Chluba, Jens

2017-05-01

Cosmic baryon evolution during the Cosmic Dawn and Reionization results in redshifted 21-cm spectral distortions in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). These encode information about the nature and timing of first sources over redshifts 30-6 and appear at meter wavelengths as a tiny CMB distortion along with the Galactic and extragalactic radio sky, which is orders of magnitude brighter. Therefore, detection requires precise methods to model foregrounds. We present a method of foreground fitting using maximally smooth (MS) functions. We demonstrate the usefulness of MS functions over traditionally used polynomials to separate foregrounds from the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) signal. We also examine the level of spectral complexity in plausible foregrounds using GMOSS, a physically motivated model of the radio sky, and find that they are indeed smooth and can be modeled by MS functions to levels sufficient to discern the vanilla model of the EoR signal. We show that MS functions are loss resistant and robustly preserve EoR signal strength and turning points in the residuals. Finally, we demonstrate that in using a well-calibrated spectral radiometer and modeling foregrounds with MS functions, the global EoR signal can be detected with a Bayesian approach with 90% confidence in 10 minutes’ integration.

Modeling the Radio Foreground for Detection of CMB Spectral Distortions from the Cosmic Dawn and the Epoch of Reionization

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sathyanarayana Rao, Mayuri; Subrahmanyan, Ravi; Shankar, N Udaya

Cosmic baryon evolution during the Cosmic Dawn and Reionization results in redshifted 21-cm spectral distortions in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). These encode information about the nature and timing of first sources over redshifts 30–6 and appear at meter wavelengths as a tiny CMB distortion along with the Galactic and extragalactic radio sky, which is orders of magnitude brighter. Therefore, detection requires precise methods to model foregrounds. We present a method of foreground fitting using maximally smooth (MS) functions. We demonstrate the usefulness of MS functions over traditionally used polynomials to separate foregrounds from the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) signal.more » We also examine the level of spectral complexity in plausible foregrounds using GMOSS, a physically motivated model of the radio sky, and find that they are indeed smooth and can be modeled by MS functions to levels sufficient to discern the vanilla model of the EoR signal. We show that MS functions are loss resistant and robustly preserve EoR signal strength and turning points in the residuals. Finally, we demonstrate that in using a well-calibrated spectral radiometer and modeling foregrounds with MS functions, the global EoR signal can be detected with a Bayesian approach with 90% confidence in 10 minutes’ integration.« less

The Formation of Solid Particles from their Gas-Phase Molecular Precursors in Cosmic Environments with NASA Ames' COSmIC Facility

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Salama, Farid

2014-01-01

We present and discuss the unique characteristics and capabilities of the laboratory facility, COSmIC, that was developed at NASA Ames to generate, process and analyze interstellar, circumstellar and planetary analogs in the laboratory. COSmIC stands for Cosmic Simulation Chamber and is dedicated to the study of molecules and ions under the low temperature and high vacuum conditions that are required to simulate interstellar, circumstellar and planetary physical environments in space. COSmIC integrates a variety of state-of-the-art instruments that allow forming, processing and monitoring simulated space conditions for planetary, circumstellar and interstellar materials in the laboratory. COSmIC is composed of a Pulsed Discharge Nozzle (PDN) expansion that generates a free jet supersonic expansion coupled to two ultrahigh-sensitivity, complementary in situ diagnostics: a Cavity Ring Down Spectroscopy (CRDS) system for photonic detection and a Reflectron Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (ReTOF-MS) for mass detection. Recent, unique, laboratory astrophysics results that were obtained using the capabilities of COSmIC will be discussed, in particular the progress that have been achieved in monitoring in the laboratory the formation of solid gains from their gas-phase molecular precursors in environments as varied as stellar/circumstellar outflow and planetary atmospheres. Plans for future, next generation, laboratory experiments on cosmic molecules and grains in the growing field of laboratory astrophysics will also be addressed as well as the implications of these studies for current and upcoming space missions.

Generation of a non-zero discord bipartite state with classical second-order interference.

PubMed

Choi, Yujun; Hong, Kang-Hee; Lim, Hyang-Tag; Yune, Jiwon; Kwon, Osung; Han, Sang-Wook; Oh, Kyunghwan; Kim, Yoon-Ho; Kim, Yong-Su; Moon, Sung

2017-02-06

We report an investigation on quantum discord in classical second-order interference. In particular, we theoretically show that a bipartite state with D = 0.311 of discord can be generated via classical second-order interference. We also experimentally verify the theory by obtaining D = 0.197 ± 0.060 of non-zero discord state. Together with the fact that the nonclassicalities originated from physical constraints and information theoretic perspectives are not equivalent, this result provides an insight to understand the nature of quantum discord.

Concept and Analysis of a Satellite for Space-Based Radio Detection of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romero-Wolf, Andrew; Gorham, P.; Booth, J.; Chen, P.; Duren, R. M.; Liewer, K.; Nam, J.; Saltzberg, D.; Schoorlemmer, H.; Wissel, S.; Zairfian, P.

2014-01-01

We present a concept for on-orbit radio detection of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) that has the potential to provide collection rates of ~100 events per year for energies above 10^20 eV. The synoptic wideband orbiting radio detector (SWORD) mission's high event statistics at these energies combined with the pointing capabilities of a space-borne antenna array could enable charged particle astronomy. The detector concept is based on ANITA's successful detection UHECRs where the geosynchrotron radio signal produced by the extended air shower is reflected off the Earth's surface and detected in flight.

Monozygotic twins discordant for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: ascertainment and clinical characteristics.

PubMed

Sharp, Wendy S; Gottesman, Rebecca F; Greenstein, Deanna K; Ebens, Christen L; Rapoport, Judith L; Castellanos, F Xavier

2003-01-01

Nongenetic factors and phenomenology of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were examined in monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs discordant for ADHD. Recruitment included telephone screening (n = 297 pairs), behavioral ratings obtained from parents and teachers (n = 59 pairs), and, finally, in-person assessment (n = 25 pairs; structured classroom observation, diagnostic interview, psychoeducational evaluation, birth record review, establishment of monozygosity, and anatomic brain imaging). Affected twins were further contrasted with previously studied affected singletons. Of the 25 MZ twin pairs qualifying for in-person evaluation, only 10 proved discordant for ADHD. Affected twins were mostly comparable with affected singletons on clinical measures, although fathers' self-ratings of childhood ADHD status were significantly lower in twins than in singletons. Discordance for ADHD in MZ twins appears to be ascribable to greater environmental discordance and decreased familiality. Despite these differences, affected twins were phenotypically comparable with affected singletons. Thus MZ twins discordant for ADHD, while rare, can inform research on the etiology and pathophysiology of this disorder.

The relation between the quantum discord and quantum teleportation: The physical interpretation of the transition point between different quantum discord decay regimes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roszak, K.; Cywiński, Ł.

2015-10-01

We study quantum teleportation via Bell-diagonal mixed states of two qubits in the context of the intrinsic properties of the quantum discord. We show that when the quantum-correlated state of the two qubits is used for quantum teleportation, the character of the teleportation efficiency changes substantially depending on the Bell-diagonal-state parameters, which can be seen when the worst-case-scenario or best-case-scenario fidelity is studied. Depending on the parameter range, one of two types of single-qubit states is hardest/easiest to teleport. The transition between these two parameter ranges coincides exactly with the transition between the range of classical correlation decay and quantum correlation decay characteristic for the evolution of the quantum discord. The correspondence provides a physical interpretation for the prominent feature of the decay of the quantum discord.

Fasting plasma total ghrelin concentrations in monozygotic twins discordant for obesity.

PubMed

Leskelä, Piia; Ukkola, Olavi; Vartiainen, Johanna; Rönnemaa, Tapani; Kaprio, Jaakko; Bouchard, Claude; Kesäniemi, Y Antero

2009-02-01

Ghrelin is a hormone that is involved in the regulation of food intake. Neuronal, endocrine, and genetic factors have been shown to regulate plasma ghrelin levels; but the determinants of fasting ghrelin concentrations are not yet fully understood. The main aim was to explore the roles of adiposity and genetic differences in determining fasting plasma total ghrelin levels. We measured total ghrelin levels in a population of 23 monozygotic twin pairs discordant for obesity. In addition, 2 variants of ghrelin gene, namely, Arg51Gln and Leu72Met, were genotyped in 3 populations of monozygotic twin pairs: 23 obesity-discordant, 43 lean-concordant, and 46 obesity-concordant twin pairs. In discordant twins, lean co-twins had higher fasting plasma total ghrelin levels (950 pg/mL, SD = 328 pg/mL) than obese twins (720 pg/mL, SD = 143 pg/mL; P = .003). Arg51Gln-polymorphism of the ghrelin gene was equally distributed between the twin groups. However, there were significant differences in genotype frequencies at the Leu72Met polymorphism between the discordant and obese-concordant groups (P = .003) and between the discordant and lean-concordant groups (P = .011), but not between the 2 concordant groups. In the discordant group, there were fewer Met carriers (4%) than among the obese (17%) or the lean-concordant groups (15%). Plasma total ghrelin levels are affected by acquired obesity independent of genetic background. The Leu72 allele is particularly common among monozygotic twins discordant for obesity, suggesting that this ghrelin allele is more permissive in the regulation of energy balance. The ghrelin gene may thus play a role in the regulation of variability of body weight, such that Leu72 allele carriers are more prone to weight variability in response to environmental factors.

Quantum Discord Preservation for Two Quantum-Correlated Qubits in Two Independent Reserviors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Lan

2018-03-01

We investigate the dynamics of quantum discord using an exactly solvable model where two qubits coupled to independent thermal environments. The quantum discord is employed as a non-classical correlation quantifier. By studying the quantum discord of a class of initial states, we find discord remains preserve for a finite time. The effects of the temperature, initial-state parameter, system-reservoir coupling constant and temperature difference parameter of the two independent reserviors are also investigated. We discover that the quantum nature loses faster in high temperature, however, one can extend the time of quantum nature by choosing smaller system-reservoir coupling constant, larger certain initial-state parameter and larger temperature difference parameter.

Postoperative Surgical Site Infections: Understanding the Discordance Between Surveillance Systems.

PubMed

Ali-Mucheru, Mariam N; Seville, Maria T; Miller, Vickie; Sampathkumar, Priya; Etzioni, David A

2018-04-18

To characterize agreement in the ascertainment of surgical site infections (SSIs) between the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP), National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), and administrative data. The NSQIP, NHSN, and administrative data are the primary systems used to monitor and report SSIs for the purpose of quality control and benchmarking of hospitals and surgeons. These systems have different methods for identifying SSIs. We queried the NHSN, NSQIP, and administrative data systems for patients who had an operation at 1 of 4 hospitals within a single health system between January 2013 and September 2015. The detection of an SSI during a postoperative hospitalization was the outcome of analysis. Any SSI detected by one (or more) of these systems was analyzed by 2 reviewers to determine the presence of discrete elements of documentation constituting evidence of SSI. Concordance between the 3 systems (NHSN, NSQIP, and administrative data) was analyzed using Cohen's kappa. After application of appropriate exclusion criteria, a cohort of 9447 inpatient operations was analyzed. In total, 130 SSIs were detected by 1 or more of the 3 systems, with reported SSI rates of 0.5% (NHSN), 0.7% (administrative data), and 1.0% (NSQIP). Of these 130 SSIs, only 17 SSIs were reported by all 3 systems. The concordance between these 3 systems was moderate (kappa values NSQIP-NHSN = 0.50 [0.40-0.60], administrative-NHSN = 0.36 [0.24-0.47], and administrative-NSQIP = 0.47 [0.38-0.57]). Chart review found that reasons for discordance were related to issues of different criteria as well as inaccuracies. There is significant discordance in the determination of SSIs reported by the NHSN, NSQIP, and administrative data. The differences and limitations of each of these systems have to be recognized, especially when using these data for quality reports and pay for performance.

Hierarchy of Efficiently Computable and Faithful Lower Bounds to Quantum Discord

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piani, Marco

2016-08-01

Quantum discord expresses a fundamental nonclassicality of correlations that is more general than entanglement, but that, in its standard definition, is not easily evaluated. We derive a hierarchy of computationally efficient lower bounds to the standard quantum discord. Every nontrivial element of the hierarchy constitutes by itself a valid discordlike measure, based on a fundamental feature of quantum correlations: their lack of shareability. Our approach emphasizes how the difference between entanglement and discord depends on whether shareability is intended as a static property or as a dynamical process.

Cluster richness-mass calibration with cosmic microwave background lensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geach, James E.; Peacock, John A.

2017-11-01

Identifying galaxy clusters through overdensities of galaxies in photometric surveys is the oldest1,2 and arguably the most economical and mass-sensitive detection method3,4, compared with X-ray5-7 and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect8 surveys that detect the hot intracluster medium. However, a perennial problem has been the mapping of optical `richness' measurements onto total cluster mass3,9-12. Emitted at a conformal distance of 14 gigaparsecs, the cosmic microwave background acts as a backlight to all intervening mass in the Universe, and therefore has been gravitationally lensed13-15. Experiments such as the Atacama Cosmology Telescope16, South Pole Telescope17-19 and the Planck20 satellite have now detected gravitational lensing of the cosmic microwave background and produced large-area maps of the foreground deflecting structures. Here we present a calibration of cluster optical richness at the 10% level by measuring the average cosmic microwave background lensing measured by Planck towards the positions of large numbers of optically selected clusters, detecting the deflection of photons by structures of total mass of order 1014 M⊙. Although mainly aimed at the study of larger-scale structures, the Planck estimate of the cosmic microwave background lensing field can be used to recover a nearly unbiased lensing signal for stacked clusters on arcminute scales15,21. This approach offers a clean measure of total cluster masses over most of cosmic history, largely independent of baryon physics.

Do MZ twins have discordant experiences of friendship? A qualitative hypothesis-generating MZ twin differences study

PubMed Central

Moran, Nicola; Plomin, Robert

2017-01-01

Using a qualitative monozygotic (MZ) twin differences design we explored whether adolescent MZ twins report discordant peer relationships and, if so, whether they perceive them as causes, consequences or correlates of discordant behaviour. We gathered free-response questionnaire data from 497 families and conducted in-depth telephone interviews with 97 of them. Within this dataset n = 112 families (23% of the sample) described discordant peer relationships. Six categories of discordance were identified (peer victimisation, peer rejection, fewer friends, different friends, different attitudes to friendship and dependence on co-twin). Participants described peer relationship discordance arising as a result of chance occurrences, enhanced vulnerability in one twin or discordant behaviour. Consequences of discordant peer relationships were seen as discordance in self-confidence, future plans, social isolation, mental health and interests. In all cases the twin with worse peer experiences was seen as having a worse outcome. Specific hypotheses are presented. PMID:28727730

Intratumoral heterogeneity as a source of discordance in breast cancer biomarker classification.

PubMed

Allott, Emma H; Geradts, Joseph; Sun, Xuezheng; Cohen, Stephanie M; Zirpoli, Gary R; Khoury, Thaer; Bshara, Wiam; Chen, Mengjie; Sherman, Mark E; Palmer, Julie R; Ambrosone, Christine B; Olshan, Andrew F; Troester, Melissa A

2016-06-28

Spatial heterogeneity in biomarker expression may impact breast cancer classification. The aims of this study were to estimate the frequency of spatial heterogeneity in biomarker expression within tumors, to identify technical and biological factors contributing to spatial heterogeneity, and to examine the impact of discordant biomarker status within tumors on clinical record agreement. Tissue microarrays (TMAs) were constructed using two to four cores (1.0 mm) for each of 1085 invasive breast cancers from the Carolina Breast Cancer Study, which is part of the AMBER Consortium. Immunohistochemical staining for estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) was quantified using automated digital imaging analysis. The biomarker status for each core and for each case was assigned using clinical thresholds. Cases with core-to-core biomarker discordance were manually reviewed to distinguish intratumoral biomarker heterogeneity from misclassification of biomarker status by the automated algorithm. The impact of core-to-core biomarker discordance on case-level agreement between TMAs and the clinical record was evaluated. On the basis of automated analysis, discordant biomarker status between TMA cores occurred in 9 %, 16 %, and 18 % of cases for ER, PR, and HER2, respectively. Misclassification of benign epithelium and/or ductal carcinoma in situ as invasive carcinoma by the automated algorithm was implicated in discordance among cores. However, manual review of discordant cases confirmed spatial heterogeneity as a source of discordant biomarker status between cores in 2 %, 7 %, and 8 % of cases for ER, PR, and HER2, respectively. Overall, agreement between TMA and clinical record was high for ER (94 %), PR (89 %), and HER2 (88 %), but it was reduced in cases with core-to-core discordance (agreement 70 % for ER, 61 % for PR, and 57 % for HER2). Intratumoral biomarker heterogeneity may impact breast

Method for detecting moisture in soils using secondary cosmic radiation

DOEpatents

Condreva, Kenneth

2003-12-16

Water content in a soil is determined by measuring the attenuation of secondary background cosmic radiation as this radiation propagates through a layer of soil and water. By measuring the attenuation of secondary cosmic radiation in the range of 5 MeV-15 MeV it is possible to obtain a relative measure of the water content in a soil layer above a suitable radiation detector and thus establish when and how much irrigation is needed. The electronic circuitry is designed so that a battery pack can be used to supply power.

Detection of the power spectrum of cosmic microwave background lensing by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope.

PubMed

Das, Sudeep; Sherwin, Blake D; Aguirre, Paula; Appel, John W; Bond, J Richard; Carvalho, C Sofia; Devlin, Mark J; Dunkley, Joanna; Dünner, Rolando; Essinger-Hileman, Thomas; Fowler, Joseph W; Hajian, Amir; Halpern, Mark; Hasselfield, Matthew; Hincks, Adam D; Hlozek, Renée; Huffenberger, Kevin M; Hughes, John P; Irwin, Kent D; Klein, Jeff; Kosowsky, Arthur; Lupton, Robert H; Marriage, Tobias A; Marsden, Danica; Menanteau, Felipe; Moodley, Kavilan; Niemack, Michael D; Nolta, Michael R; Page, Lyman A; Parker, Lucas; Reese, Erik D; Schmitt, Benjamin L; Sehgal, Neelima; Sievers, Jon; Spergel, David N; Staggs, Suzanne T; Swetz, Daniel S; Switzer, Eric R; Thornton, Robert; Visnjic, Katerina; Wollack, Ed

2011-07-08

We report the first detection of the gravitational lensing of the cosmic microwave background through a measurement of the four-point correlation function in the temperature maps made by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope. We verify our detection by calculating the levels of potential contaminants and performing a number of null tests. The resulting convergence power spectrum at 2° angular scales measures the amplitude of matter density fluctuations on comoving length scales of around 100 Mpc at redshifts around 0.5 to 3. The measured amplitude of the signal agrees with Lambda cold dark matter cosmology predictions. Since the amplitude of the convergence power spectrum scales as the square of the amplitude of the density fluctuations, the 4σ detection of the lensing signal measures the amplitude of density fluctuations to 12%.

Nineteenth International Cosmic Ray Conference. SH Sessions, Volume 5

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, F. C. (Compiler)

1985-01-01

Papers submitted for presentation at the 19th International Cosmic Ray Conference are compiled. This volume contains papers addressing cosmic ray gradients in the heliosphere; siderial, diurnal, and long term modulations; geomagnetic and atmospheric effects; cosmogenic nuclides; solar neutrinos; and detection techniques.

Fabrication of Antenna-Coupled KID Array for Cosmic Microwave Background Detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Q. Y.; Barry, P. S.; Basu Thakur, R.; Kofman, A.; Nadolski, A.; Vieira, J.; Shirokoff, E.

2018-05-01

Kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs) have become an attractive alternative to traditional bolometers in the sub-mm and mm observing community due to their innate frequency multiplexing capabilities and simple lithographic processes. These advantages make KIDs a viable option for the O(500,000) detectors needed for the upcoming Cosmic Microwave Background-Stage 4 experiment. We have fabricated an antenna-coupled MKID array in the 150 GHz band optimized for CMB detection. Our design uses a twin-slot antenna coupled to an inverted microstrip made from a superconducting Nb/Al bilayer as the strip, a Nb ground plane and a SiN_x dielectric layer in between, which is then coupled to an Al KID grown on high-resistivity Si. We present the fabrication process and measurements of SiN_x microstrip resonators.

Cosmic-ray anisotropy studies with IceCube

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McNally, Frank

2014-03-01

The IceCube neutrino observatory detects tens of billions of energetic muons per year produced by cosmic-ray interactions with the atmosphere. The size of this sample has allowed IceCube to observe a significant anisotropy in arrival direction for cosmic rays with median energies between 20 and 400 TeV. This anisotropy is characterized by a large scale structure of per-mille amplitude accompanied by structures with smaller amplitudes and with typical angular sizes between 10° and 20°. IceTop, the surface component of IceCube, has observed a similar anisotropy in the arrival direction distribution of cosmic rays, extending the study to PeV energies. The better energy resolution of IceTop allows for additional studies of the anisotropy, for example a comparison of the energy spectrum in regions of a cosmic-ray excess or deficit to the rest of the sky. We present an update on the cosmic-ray anisotropy observed with IceCube and IceTop and the results of first studies of the energy spectrum at locations of cosmic-ray excess or deficit.

Cosmic strings and superconducting cosmic strings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Copeland, Edmund

1988-01-01

The possible consequences of forming cosmic strings and superconducting cosmic strings in the early universe are discussed. Lecture 1 describes the group theoretic reasons for and the field theoretic reasons why cosmic strings can form in spontaneously broken gauge theories. Lecture 2 discusses the accretion of matter onto string loops, emphasizing the scenario with a cold dark matter dominated universe. In lecture 3 superconducting cosmic strings are discussed, as is a mechanism which leads to the formation of structure from such strings.

Metabolome and fecal microbiota in monozygotic twin pairs discordant for weight: a Big Mac challenge.

PubMed

Bondia-Pons, Isabel; Maukonen, Johanna; Mattila, Ismo; Rissanen, Aila; Saarela, Maria; Kaprio, Jaakko; Hakkarainen, Antti; Lundbom, Jesper; Lundbom, Nina; Hyötyläinen, Tuulia; Pietiläinen, Kirsi H; Orešič, Matej

2014-09-01

Postprandial responses to food are complex, involving both genetic and environmental factors. We studied postprandial responses to a Big Mac meal challenge in monozygotic co-twins highly discordant for body weight. This unique design allows assessment of the contribution of obesity, independent of genetic liability. Comprehensive metabolic profiling using 3 analytical platforms was applied to fasting and postprandial serum samples from 16 healthy monozygotic twin pairs discordant for weight (body mass index difference >3 kg/m(2)). Nine concordant monozygotic pairs were examined as control pairs. Fecal samples were analyzed to assess diversity of the major bacterial groups by using 5 different validated bacterial group specific denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis methods. No differences in fecal bacterial diversity were detected when comparing co-twins discordant for weight (ANOVA, P<0.05). We found that within-pair similarity is a dominant factor in the metabolic postprandial response, independent of acquired obesity. Branched chain amino acids were increased in heavier as compared with leaner co-twins in the fasting state, but their levels converged postprandially (paired t tests, FDR q<0.05). We also found that specific bacterial groups were associated with postprandial changes of specific metabolites. Our findings underline important roles of genetic and early life factors in the regulation of postprandial metabolite levels. © FASEB.

A Discordance Weighting Approach Estimating Occupational and Income Returns to Education.

PubMed

Andersson, Matthew A

2018-04-23

Schooling differences between identical twins are often utilized as a natural experiment to estimate returns to education. Despite longstanding doubts about the truly random nature of within-twin-pair schooling discordance, such discordance has not yet been understood comprehensively, in terms of diverse between- and within-family peer, academic, familial, social, and health exposures. Here, a predictive analysis using national U.S. midlife twin data shows that within-pair schooling differences are endogenous to a variety of childhood exposures. Using discordance propensities, returns to education under a true natural experiment are simulated. Results for midlife occupation and income reveal differences in estimated returns to education that are statistically insignificant, suggesting that twin-based estimates of causal effects are robust. Moreover, identical and fraternal twins show similar levels of discordance endogeneity and similar responses to propensity weighting, suggesting that the identical twins may not provide demonstrably better leverage in the causal identification of educational returns.

Temporal signatures of the Cherenkov light induced by extensive air showers of cosmic rays detected with the Yakutsk array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ivanov, A. A.; Timofeev, L. V.

2016-05-01

We analyze temporal characteristics of signals from the wide field-of-view (WFOV) Cherenkov telescope (CT) detecting extensive air showers (EAS) of cosmic rays (CRs) in coincidence with surface detectors of the Yakutsk array. Our aim is to reveal causal relationships between measured characteristics and physical properties of EAS.

Compact cosmic ray detector for unattended atmospheric ionization monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aplin, K. L.; Harrison, R. G.

2010-12-01

Two vertical cosmic ray telescopes for atmospheric cosmic ray ionization event detection are compared. Counter A, designed for low power remote use, was deployed in the Welsh mountains; its event rate increased with altitude as expected from atmospheric cosmic ray absorption. Independently, Counter B's event rate was found to vary with incoming particle acceptance angle. Simultaneous co-located comparison of both telescopes exposed to atmospheric ionization showed a linear relationship between their event rates.

Discordance Between Preoperative and Postoperative Bladder Cancer Location: Implications for Partial-Bladder Radiation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Goldsmith, Benjamin; Tucker, Kai; Conway, Robert Greg

2013-03-01

Purpose: There is strong interest in partial-bladder radiation whether as a boost or definitive therapy to limit long-term toxicity. It is unclear that a standard preoperative examination can accurately identify all sites of disease within the bladder. The purpose of this study was to determine the correlation between preoperative localization of bladder tumors with postoperative findings to facilitate partial-bladder radiation techniques when appropriate. Methods and Materials: We examined patients with clinically staged T1-T4 invasive transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) or TCC with variant histology with no history of radiation or partial cystectomy undergoing radical cystectomy. Patients were scored as “under-detected” ifmore » a bladder site was involved with invasive disease (≥T1) at the time of cystectomy, but not identified preoperatively. Patients were additionally scored as “widely under-detected” if they had postoperative lesions that were not identified preoperatively in a given site, nor in any adjacent site. Rates of under-detected and widely under-detected lesions, as well as univariate and multivariate association between clinical variables and under-detection, were evaluated using logistic regression. Results: Among 222 patients, 96% (213/222) had at least 1 area of discordance. Fifty-eight percent of patients were under-detected in at least 1 location, whereas 12% were widely under-detected. Among 24 patients with a single site of disease on preoperative evaluation, 21/24 (88%) had at least 1 under-detected lesion and 14/24 (58%) were widely under-detected. On multivariate analysis, only solitary site of preoperative disease was associated with increased levels of under-detection of invasive disease (OR = 4.161, 95% CI, 1.368-12.657). Conclusion: Our study shows a stark discordance between preoperative and postoperative localization of bladder tumors. From a clinical perspective, incomplete localization of all sites of disease within the

Carl Sagan's Cosmic Connection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sagan, Carl; Agel, Jerome

2000-08-01

Foreword Freeman Dyson; Personal reflections Ann Druyan; Preface; Part I. Cosmic Perspective: 1. A transitional animal; 2. The Unicorn of Cetus; 3. A message from earth; 4. A message to earth; 5. Experiments in utopias; 6. Chauvinism; 7. Space exploration as a human enterprise I. The scientific interest; 8. Space exploration as a human enterprise II. The public interest; 9. Space exploration as a human enterprise III. The historical interest; Part II. The Solar System: 10. On teaching the first grade; 11. 'The ancient and legendary Gods of old'; 12. The Venus detective story; 13. Venus is hell; 14. Science and 'intelligence'; 15. The moons of Barsoom; 16. The mountains of Mars I. Observations from earth; 17. The mountains of Mars II. Observations from space; 18. The canals of Mars; 19. The lost pictures of Mars; 20. The Ice Age and the cauldron; 21. Beginnings and ends of the Earth; 22. Terraforming the plants; 23. The exploration and utlization of the solar system; Part III. Beyond the Solar System: 24. Some of my best friends are dolphins; 25. 'Hello, central casting? Send me twenty extraterrestrials'; 26. The cosmic connection; 27. Extraterrestrial life: an idea whose time has come; 28. Has the Earth been visited?; 29. A search strategy for detecting extraterrestrial intelligence; 30. If we succeed 31. Cables, drums, and seashells; 32. The night freight to the stars; 33. Astroengineering; 34. Twenty questions: a classification of cosmic civilisations; 35. Galactic cultural exchanges; 36. A passage to elsewhere; 37. Starfolk I. A Fable; 38. Starfolk II. A future; 39. Starfolk III. The cosmic Cheshire cats; Epilog David Morrison; Index.

Dark cosmic rays

DOE PAGES

Hu, Ping-Kai; Kusenko, Alexander; Takhistov, Volodymyr

2017-02-22

If dark matter particles have an electric charge, as in models of millicharged dark matter, such particles should be accelerated in the same astrophysical accelerators that produce ordinary cosmic rays, and their spectra should have a predictable rigidity dependence. Depending on the charge, the resulting “dark cosmic rays” can be detected as muon-like or neutrino-like events in Super-Kamiokande, IceCube, and other detectors. We present new limits and propose several new analyses, in particular, for the Super-Kamiokande experiment, which can probe a previously unexplored portion of the millicharged dark matter parameter space. Here, most of our results are fairly general andmore » apply to a broad class of dark matter models.« less

The Dynamics of Quantum Discord and Entanglement of Three Atoms Coupled to Three Spatially Separate Cavities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Juan; Wu, Tao; Ye, Liu

2013-10-01

In this paper, we study the dynamics of quantum discord and entanglement of three identical two-level atoms simultaneously resonantly interacting with three spatially separate single-mode of high- Q cavities respectively. Taking advantage of the depiction quantum discord and entanglement of formation (EoF), we conclude that the discord and entanglement of atoms and cavities can be mediated by changing some parameters and the maximum values of discord and entanglement are independent on the couplings of cavities and atoms. In particular, there also exists quantum discord sudden death as well as entanglement sudden death and the time interval of the former is shorter than that of the later in the proposed quantum system. It is shown that the discord and entanglement of any two atoms among three atoms can be transferred to the corresponding cavities, and there exists discord and entanglement exchanging between the atoms and the corresponding cavities.

Outlier detection in a new half-circular distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rambli, Adzhar; Mohamed, Ibrahim Bin; Shimizu, Kunio; Khalidin, Nurliza

2015-10-01

In this paper, we use a discordancy test based on spacing theory to detect outlier in a half-circular data. Up to now, numerous discordancy tests have been proposed to detect outlier in circular distributions which are defined in [0,2π). However, some circular data lie within just half of this range. Therefore, first we introduce a new half-circular distribution developed using the inverse stereographic projection technique on a gamma distributed variable. Then, we develop a new discordancy test to detect single or multiple outliers in the half-circular data based on the spacing theory. We show the practical value of the test by applying it to an eye data set obtained from a glaucoma clinic at the University of Malaya Medical Centre, Malaysia.

Astroparticle Physics: Detectors for Cosmic Rays

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Salazar, Humberto; Villasenor, Luis

2006-09-25

We describe the work that we have done over the last decade to design and construct instruments to measure properties of cosmic rays in Mexico. We describe the measurement of the muon lifetime and the ratio of positive to negative muons in the natural background of cosmic ray muons at 2000 m.a.s.l. Next we describe the detection of decaying and crossing muons in a water Cherenkov detector as well as a technique to separate isolated particles. We also describe the detection of isolated muons and electrons in a liquid scintillator detector and their separation. Next we describe the detection ofmore » extensive air showers (EAS) with a hybrid detector array consisting of water Cherenkov and liquid scintillator detectors, located at the campus of the University of Puebla. Finally we describe work in progress to detect EAS at 4600 m.a.s.l. with a water Cherenkov detector array and a fluorescence telescope at the Sierra Negra mountain.« less

Metabolome and fecal microbiota in monozygotic twin pairs discordant for weight: a Big Mac challenge

PubMed Central

Bondia-Pons, Isabel; Maukonen, Johanna; Mattila, Ismo; Rissanen, Aila; Saarela, Maria; Kaprio, Jaakko; Hakkarainen, Antti; Lundbom, Jesper; Lundbom, Nina; Hyötyläinen, Tuulia; Pietiläinen, Kirsi H.; Orešič, Matej

2014-01-01

Postprandial responses to food are complex, involving both genetic and environmental factors. We studied postprandial responses to a Big Mac meal challenge in monozygotic co-twins highly discordant for body weight. This unique design allows assessment of the contribution of obesity, independent of genetic liability. Comprehensive metabolic profiling using 3 analytical platforms was applied to fasting and postprandial serum samples from 16 healthy monozygotic twin pairs discordant for weight (body mass index difference >3 kg/m2). Nine concordant monozygotic pairs were examined as control pairs. Fecal samples were analyzed to assess diversity of the major bacterial groups by using 5 different validated bacterial group specific denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis methods. No differences in fecal bacterial diversity were detected when comparing co-twins discordant for weight (ANOVA, P<0.05). We found that within-pair similarity is a dominant factor in the metabolic postprandial response, independent of acquired obesity. Branched chain amino acids were increased in heavier as compared with leaner co-twins in the fasting state, but their levels converged postprandially (paired t tests, FDR q<0.05). We also found that specific bacterial groups were associated with postprandial changes of specific metabolites. Our findings underline important roles of genetic and early life factors in the regulation of postprandial metabolite levels.—Bondia-Pons, I., Maukonen, J., Mattila, I., Rissanen, A., Saarela, M., Kaprio, J., Hakkarainen, A., Lundbom, J., Lundbom, N., Hyötyläinen, T., Pietiläinen, K. H., Orešič, M. Metabolome and fecal microbiota in monozygotic twin pairs discordant for weight: a Big Mac challenge. PMID:24846387

Analytic renormalized bipartite and tripartite quantum discords with quantum phase transition in XXZ spins chain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Joya, Wajid; Khan, Salman; Khalid Khan, M.; Alam, Sher

2017-05-01

The behavior of bipartite quantum discord (BQD) and tripartite quantum discord (TQD) in the Heisenberg XXZ spins chain is investigated with the increasing size of the system using the approach of the quantum renormalization group method. Analytical relations for both BQD and TQD are obtained and the results are checked through numerical optimization. In the thermodynamics limit, both types of discord exhibit quantum phase transition (QPT). The boundary of QPT links the phases of saturated discord and zero discord. The first derivative of both discords becomes discontinuous at the critical point, which corresponds to the second-order phase transition. Qualitatively identical, the amount of saturated BQD strongly depends on the relative positions of spins inside a block. TQD can be a better candidate than BQD both for analyzing QPT and implementing quantum information tasks. The scaling behavior in the vicinity of the critical point is discussed.

PRIMORDIAL GRAVITATIONAL WAVE DETECTABILITY WITH DEEP SMALL-SKY COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND EXPERIMENTS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Farhang, M.; Bond, J. R.; Netterfield, C. B.

2013-07-01

We use the Bayesian estimation on direct T - Q - U cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization maps to forecast errors on the tensor-to-scalar power ratio r, and hence on primordial gravitational waves, as a function of sky coverage f{sub sky}. This map-based likelihood filters the information in the pixel-pixel space into the optimal combinations needed for r detection for cut skies, providing enhanced information over a first-step linear separation into a combination of E, B, and mixed modes, and ignoring the latter. With current computational power and for typical resolutions appropriate for r detection, the large matrix inversions requiredmore » are accurate and fast. Our simulations explore two classes of experiments, with differing bolometric detector numbers, sensitivities, and observational strategies. One is motivated by a long duration balloon experiment like Spider, with pixel noise {proportional_to}{radical}(f{sub sky}) for a specified observing period. This analysis also applies to ground-based array experiments. We find that, in the absence of systematic effects and foregrounds, an experiment with Spider-like noise concentrating on f{sub sky} {approx} 0.02-0.2 could place a 2{sigma}{sub r} Almost-Equal-To 0.014 boundary ({approx}95% confidence level), which rises to 0.02 with an l-dependent foreground residual left over from an assumed efficient component separation. We contrast this with a Planck-like fixed instrumental noise as f{sub sky} varies, which gives a Galaxy-masked (f{sub sky} = 0.75) 2{sigma}{sub r} Almost-Equal-To 0.015, rising to Almost-Equal-To 0.05 with the foreground residuals. Using as the figure of merit the (marginalized) one-dimensional Shannon entropy of r, taken relative to the first 2003 WMAP CMB-only constraint, gives -2.7 bits from the 2012 WMAP9+ACT+SPT+LSS data, and forecasts of -6 bits from Spider (+ Planck); this compares with up to -11 bits for CMBPol, COrE, and PIXIE post-Planck satellites and -13 bits for a

[Transcervical Embryoscopy after Missed Abortion in Monoamniotic Twins with Discordant Exencephaly].

PubMed

Engels, A C; Haide, S; Schanz, K; Knabl, J; Bartzsch, F; Kainer, F

2016-06-01

Monoamniotic twins are considered a cause of high-risk pregnancies. Thereby, discordant malformations do occur rarely. A discordant exencephaly has been described in only a few cases. Transcervical embryoscopy can be performed in cases of monoamniotic twins with missed abortion directly before the abort-curettage. The case of a 35-year-old G1/P0 women in the 12(th) week of pregnancy is described. She had a monoamniotic twin pregnancy with discordant exencephaly and missed abortion diagnosed at 11+2 weeks. A transcervical embryoscopy was performed immediately before the abort-curettage and identified the discordant exencephaly and an additional umbilical cord knot of the 2 foetuses as a probable cause for the abortion. The transcervical embryoscopy lead in our case report to the diagnosis of a umbilical cord knot in a monoamniotic twin pregnancy with missed abortion. We also identified a discordant exencephaly by embryoscopy. With blunt access to the amniotic cavity, the transcervical embryoscopy applies only a minor additional risk to the abort-curettage. However, it should only be performed when the patient explicitly asks for enhanced diagnostics. Transcervical embryoscopy can be performed as an additional diagnostic tool in cases of monoamniotic twins with missed abortion. However, a detailed risk-benefit analysis should be done upfront in consultation with the patient. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Discordant CSF/plasma HIV-1 RNA in patients with unexplained low-level viraemia.

PubMed

Nightingale, Sam; Geretti, Anna Maria; Beloukas, Apostolos; Fisher, Martin; Winston, Alan; Else, Laura; Nelson, Mark; Taylor, Stephen; Ustianowski, Andrew; Ainsworth, Jonathan; Gilson, Richard; Haddow, Lewis; Ong, Edmund; Watson, Victoria; Leen, Clifford; Minton, Jane; Post, Frank; Pirmohamed, Munir; Solomon, Tom; Khoo, Saye

2016-12-01

The central nervous system has been proposed as a sanctuary site where HIV can escape antiretroviral control and develop drug resistance. HIV-1 RNA can be at higher levels in CSF than plasma, termed CSF/plasma discordance. We aimed to examine whether discordance in CSF is associated with low level viraemia (LLV) in blood. In this MRC-funded multicentre study, we prospectively recruited patients with LLV, defined as one or more episode of unexplained plasma HIV-1 RNA within 12 months, and undertook CSF examination. Separately, we prospectively collected CSF from patients undergoing lumbar puncture for a clinical indication. Patients with durable suppression of viraemia and no evidence of CNS infection were identified as controls from this group. Factors associated with CSF/plasma HIV-1 discordance overall were examined. One hundred fifty-three patients were recruited across 13 sites; 40 with LLV and 113 undergoing clinical lumbar puncture. Seven of the 40 (18 %) patients with LLV had CSF/plasma discordance, which was significantly more than 0/43 (0 %) with durable suppression in blood from the clinical group (p = 0.005). Resistance associated mutations were shown in six CSF samples from discordant patients with LLV (one had insufficient sample for testing), which affected antiretroviral therapy at sampling in five. Overall discordance was present in 20/153 (13 %) and was associated with nadir CD4 but not antiretroviral concentrations in plasma or CSF. CSF/plasma discordance is observed in patients with LLV and is associated with antiretroviral resistance associated mutations in CSF. The implications for clinical practice require further investigation.

Post-Markovian dynamics of quantum correlations: entanglement versus discord

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohammadi, Hamidreza

2017-02-01

Dynamics of an open two-qubit system is investigated in the post-Markovian regime, where the environments have a short-term memory. Each qubit is coupled to separate environment which is held in its own temperature. The inter-qubit interaction is modeled by XY-Heisenberg model in the presence of spin-orbit interaction and inhomogeneous magnetic field. The dynamical behavior of entanglement and discord has been considered. The results show that quantum discord is more robust than quantum entanglement, during the evolution. Also the asymmetric feature of quantum discord can be monitored by introducing the asymmetries due to inhomogeneity of magnetic field and temperature difference between the reservoirs. By employing proper parameters of the model, it is possible to maintain nonvanishing quantum correlation at high degree of temperature. The results can provide a useful recipe for studying dynamical behavior of two-qubit systems such as trapped spin electrons in coupled quantum dots.

Gut microbiomes of Malawian twin pairs discordant for kwashiorkor

PubMed Central

Smith, Michelle I.; Yatsunenko, Tanya; Manary, Mark J.; Trehan, Indi; Mkakosya, Rajhab; Cheng, Jiye; Kau, Andrew L.; Rich, Stephen S.; Concannon, Patrick; Mychaleckyj, Josyf C.; Liu, Jie; Houpt, Eric; Li, Jia V.; Holmes, Elaine; Nicholson, Jeremy; Knights, Dan; Ursell, Luke K.; Knight, Rob; Gordon, Jeffrey I.

2013-01-01

Kwashiorkor, an enigmatic form of severe acute malnutrition, is the consequence of inadequate nutrient intake plus additional environmental insults. To investigate the role of the gut microbiome, we studied 317 Malawian twin pairs during the first 3 years of life. During this time, half of the twin pairs remained well-nourished, while 43% became discordant and 7% manifested concordance for acute malnutrition. Both children in twin pairs discordant for kwashiorkor were treated with a peanut-based, ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF). Time-series metagenomic studies revealed that RUTF produced a transient maturation of metabolic functions in kwashiorkor microbiomes that regressed when RUTF was stopped. Previously frozen fecal communities from several discordant pairs were each transplanted into gnotobiotic mice. The combination of Malawian diet and kwashiorkor microbiome produced marked weight loss in recipient mice, accompanied by perturbations in amino acid, carbohydrate and intermediary metabolism that were only transiently ameliorated with RUTF. These findings implicate the gut microbiome as a causal factor in kwashiorkor. PMID:23363771

Recalled Explanations for Adolescent Girls' Engagement in Age-Discordant Sexual Relationships.

PubMed

Cort, Natalie A; Senn, Theresa E; Carey, Michael P; Braksmajer, Amy

2016-06-01

Age-discordant sexual relationships are associated with negative sexual health outcomes for adolescent females. We were particularly interested in females' motivations for engaging in these relationships, and in contextual factors that increase receptivity to age-discordant relationships in the United States (U.S.). However, recent research addressing this topic in the U.S. has been sparse. To address this gap in the literature, we recruited 15 women (Mdn age = 26 years; 93 % African American) from an urban, publicly funded sexually transmitted disease clinic to qualitative interviews. Reasons given by women for their involvement in age-discordant sexual relationships as adolescents included: (a) desire for an actively engaged father figure, (b) to obtain material support, (c) to escape from a troubled home life, and (d) to express independence and maturity. Thus, familial, economic, and developmental factors motivate socioeconomically disadvantaged adolescent females to enter into age-discordant sexual relationships. Efforts to reduce females' participation in these relationships will need to address socioeconomic vulnerability and family relationships.

Detection of Ultrahigh-Energy Cosmic Rays with the Auger Engineering Radio Array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krause, Raphael; Pierre Auger Collaboration

2017-02-01

Ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays interact with the Earth's atmosphere and produce great numbers of secondary particles forming an extensive air shower. These air showers emit radiation in the radio frequency range which delivers important information about the processes of radio emission in extensive air showers and properties of the primary cosmic rays, e.g. arrival direction, energy and mass with a duty cycle close to 100%. The radio extension of the world's largest cosmic-ray experiment, the Pierre Auger Observatory, is called the Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA). In addition to the particle and fluorescence detectors of the Pierre Auger Observatory, AERA investigates the electromagnetic component of extensive air showers using 153 autonomous radio stations on an area of 17km2 .

Copy Number Variants and Exome Sequencing Analysis in Six Pairs of Chinese Monozygotic Twins Discordant for Congenital Heart Disease.

PubMed

Xu, Yuejuan; Li, Tingting; Pu, Tian; Cao, Ruixue; Long, Fei; Chen, Sun; Sun, Kun; Xu, Rang

2017-12-01

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is one of the most common birth defects. More than 200 susceptibility loci have been identified for CHDs, yet a large part of the genetic risk factors remain unexplained. Monozygotic (MZ) twins are thought to be completely genetically identical; however, discordant phenotypes have been found in MZ twins. Recent studies have demonstrated genetic differences between MZ twins. We aimed to test whether copy number variants (CNVs) and/or genetic mutation differences play a role in the etiology of CHDs by using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping arrays and whole exome sequencing of twin pairs discordant for CHDs. Our goal was to identify mutations present only in the affected twins, which could identify novel candidates for CHD susceptibility loci. We present a comprehensive analysis for the CNVs and genetic mutation results of the selected individuals but detected no consistent differences within the twin pairs. Our study confirms that chromosomal structure or genetic mutation differences do not seem to play a role in the MZ twins discordant for CHD.

Deciphering the origin of mito-nuclear discordance in two sibling caddisfly species.

PubMed

Weigand, Hannah; Weiss, Martina; Cai, Huimin; Li, Yongping; Yu, Lili; Zhang, Christine; Leese, Florian

2017-10-01

An increasing number of phylogenetic studies have reported discordances among nuclear and mitochondrial markers. These discrepancies are highly relevant to widely used biodiversity assessment approaches, such as DNA barcoding, that rely almost exclusively on mitochondrial markers. Although the theoretical causes of mito-nuclear discordances are well understood, it is often extremely challenging to determine the principal underlying factor in a given study system. In this study, we uncovered significant mito-nuclear discordances in a pair of sibling caddisfly species. Application of genome sequencing, ddRAD and DNA barcoding revealed ongoing hybridization, as well as historical hybridization in Pleistocene refugia, leading us to identify introgression as the ultimate cause of the observed discordance pattern. Our novel genomic data, the discovery of a European-wide hybrid zone and the availability of established techniques for laboratory breeding make this species pair an ideal model system for studying species boundaries with ongoing gene flow. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

An improved cosmic crystallography method to detect holonomies in flat spaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fujii, H.; Yoshii, Y.

2011-05-01

A new, improved version of a cosmic crystallography method for constraining cosmic topology is introduced. Like the circles-in-the-sky method using CMB data, we work in a thin, shell-like region containing plenty of objects. Two pairs of objects (quadruplet) linked by a holonomy show a specific distribution pattern, and three filters of separation, vectorial condition, and lifetime of objects extract these quadruplets. Each object Pi is assigned an integer si, which is the number of candidate quadruplets including Pi as their members. Then an additional device of si-histogram is used to extract topological ghosts, which tend to have high values of si. In this paper we consider flat spaces with Euclidean geometry, and the filters are designed to constrain their holonomies. As the second filter, we prepared five types that are specialized for constraining specific holonomies: one for translation, one for half-turn corkscrew motion and glide reflection, and three for nth turn corkscrew motion for n = 4,3, and 6. Every multiconnected space has holonomies that are detected by at least one of these five filters.Our method is applied to the catalogs of toy quasars in flat Λ-CDM universes whose typical sizes correspond to z ~ 5. With these simulations our method is found to work quite well. These are the situations in which type-II pair crystallography methods are insensitive because of the tiny number of ghosts. Moreover, in the flat cases, our method should be more sensitive than the type-I pair (or, in general, n-tuplet) methods because of its multifilter construction and its independence from n.

Detecting signatures of cosmological recombination and reionization in the cosmic radio background

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Subrahmanyan, Ravi; Shankar Narayana Rao, Udaya; Sathyanarayana Rao, Mayuri; Singh, Saurabh

2015-08-01

Evolution of the baryons during the Epochs of cosmological Recombination and Reionization has left traces in the cosmic radio background in the form of spectral distortions (Sunyaev & Chluba 2008 Astron. Nachrichten, 330, 657; Pritchard & Loeb 2012 Rep Prog Phys 75(8):086901). The spectral signature depends on the evolution in the ionization state in hydrogen and helium and on the spin temperature of hydrogen. These probe the physics of energy release beyond the last scattering surface at redshifts exceeding 1090 and the nature of the first sources and gas evolution down to redshift about 6. The spectral distortions are sensitive to the nature of the first stars, ultra-dwarf galaxies, accreting compact objects, and the evolving ambient radiation field: X-rays and UV from the first sources. Detection of the all-sky or global spectral distortions in the radio background is hence a probe of cosmological recombination and reionization.We present new spectral radiometers that we have purpose designed for precision measurements of spectral distortions at radio wavelengths. New antenna elements include frequency independent and electrically small fat-dipole (Raghunathan et al. 2013 IEEE TAP, 61, 3411) and monopole designs. Receiver configurations have been devised that are self-calibratable (Patra et al. 2013 Expt Astron, 36, 319) so that switching of signal paths and of calibration noise sources provide real time calibration for systematics and receiver noise. Observing strategies (Patra et al. arXiv:1412.7762) and analysis methods (Satyanarayana Rao et al. arXiv:1501.07191) have been evolved that are capable of discriminating between the cosmological signals and the substantially brighter foregrounds. We have also demonstrated the value of system designs that exploit advantages of interferometer detection (Mahesh et al. arXiv:1406.2585) of global spectral distortions.Finally we discuss how the Square Kilometer Array stations may be outfitted with precision spectral

Direct observations of galactic cosmic rays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Müller, Dietrich

2012-08-01

The mysterious " radiation ... entering our atmosphere from above" discovered by Hess in 1912 is now known to be dominated by relativistic charged particles, mostly with energies in the GeV-range, but extending to energies higher by many orders of magnitude. As none of these particles can penetrate the earth's atmosphere without interaction, detailed studies of their composition and energy spectra require observations with high-altitude balloons or spacecraft. This became possible only towards the middle of the 20th century. The direct measurements have now revealed much detail about the Galactic cosmic rays below 1015eV, but do not yet provide much overlap with the air-shower region of energies. A historic overview of the measurements is given, beginning with the realization that the majority of the cosmic rays are protons. The discovery and astrophysical significance of the heavier nuclei, and of the ultra-heavy nuclei beyond iron and up to the actinides, are then described, and measurements of the isotopic composition are discussed. Observations of the individual energy spectra are reviewed, and finally, the detection of electrons, positrons, and anti-protons in the cosmic rays, and the searches for exotic or unusual phenomena are summarized. Emphasis is given to the fact that all of these discoveries have become possible through the evolution of increasingly sophisticated detection techniques, a process that is continuing through the present time. The precise knowledge of the abundance distributions of the elements in the cosmic rays and of their isotopic composition permits a comparison with the "universal abundance scale" and provides strong constraints on the origin of the cosmic-ray material in the interstellar medium. "Clock-isotopes" reveal the time history of the particles. The shapes of the energy spectra of the individual cosmic-ray components are related to evolving ideas about particle acceleration and propagation in the Galaxy. In conclusion

Discordant sex in monozygotic XXY/XX twins: a case report.

PubMed

Tachon, G; Lefort, G; Puechberty, J; Schneider, A; Jeandel, C; Boulot, P; Prodhomme, O; Meyer, P; Taviaux, S; Touitou, I; Pellestor, F; Geneviève, D; Gatinois, V

2014-12-01

We report a case of discordant phenotypic sex in monozygotic twins mosaic 47,XXY/46,XX: monozygotic heterokaryotypic twins. The twins presented with cognitive and comprehension delay, behavioural and language disorders, all symptoms frequently reported in Klinefelter syndrome. Molecular zygosity analysis with several markers confirmed that the twins are in effect monozygotic (MZ). Array comparative genomic hybridization found no evidence for the implication of copy number variation in the phenotypes. Ultrasound scans of the reproductive organs revealed no abnormalities. Endocrine tests showed a low testosterone level in Twin 1 (male phenotype) and a low gonadotrophin level in Twin 2 (female phenotype) which, combined with the results from ultrasound examination, provided useful information for potentially predicting the future fertility potential of the twins. Blood karyotypes revealed the presence of a normal 46,XX cell line and an aneuploïd 47,XXY cell line in both patients. Examination of the chromosome constitutions of various tissues such as blood, buccal smear and urinary sediment not surprisingly showed different proportions for the 46,XX and 47,XXY cell lines, which most likely explains the discordant phenotypic sex and mild Klinefelter features. The most plausible underlying biological mechanism is a post-zygotic loss of the Y chromosome in an initially 47,XXY zygote. This would result in an embryo with both 46,XX and 47,XXY cells lines which could subsequently divide into two monozygotic embryos through a twinning process. The two cell lines would then be distributed differently between tissues which could result in phenotypic discordances in the twins. These observations emphasize the importance of regular paediatric evaluations to determine the optimal timing for fertility preservation measures and to detect new Klinefelter features which could appear throughout childhood in the two subjects. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on

Patient-Physician Discordance in Global Assessment in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Systematic Literature Review With Meta-Analysis.

PubMed

Desthieux, Carole; Hermet, Aurore; Granger, Benjamin; Fautrel, Bruno; Gossec, Laure

2016-12-01

The integration of the patient in therapeutic decision-making is important in the management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but the patient opinion regarding disease status may differ from the physician's opinion. The aim of this study was to assess in the published literature the frequency and drivers of patient-physician discordance in global assessment in RA. A systematic literature review of all articles published up to January 2015 in Medline or Embase, reporting discordance in RA, was conducted by 2 investigators. Discordance was defined based on the absolute difference of patient global (PGA) and physician global assessments (PhGA) on 0-10-cm scales. The frequency of discordance and its predictors were collected in each study. Frequencies of discordance were pooled by meta-analysis using random effect. In all, 12 studies were selected (i.e., 11,879 patients): weighted mean ± SD age was 55.1 ± 13.9 years, weighted mean ± SD disease duration was 10.4 ± 9.3 years, and 80.7% were women. The value of the difference |PGA - PhGA| defining discordance varied between ≥0.5 cm (n = 2 studies) to ≥3 cm (n = 5 studies); the weighted mean value was 2.7 cm. The pooled percentage of patients with discordance was 43% (95% confidence interval 36%-51%; range 25%-76%). PGA was usually higher than PhGA. The drivers of PGA were pain and functional incapacity, whereas drivers of PhGA were joint counts and acute-phase reactants. Discordance in global assessment was most frequently defined as a difference of 3 points or more; even with such a stringent definition, up to half the patients were found to be discordant. The long-term consequences of this discordance remain to be determined. © 2016, American College of Rheumatology.

Family Discord, Parental Depression, and Psychopathology in Offspring: 20-Year Follow-up

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pilowsky, Daniel J.; Wickramaratne, Priya; Nomura, Yoko; Weissman, Myrna M.

2006-01-01

Objective: To determine the independent effects of parental depression and family discord on offspring psychopathology among children at high and low risk of depression. Method: Family discord factors were assessed when subjects were approximately 17 years old, and offspring diagnoses were assessed about 20 years later. Parental and offspring…

Searching for TeV cosmic electrons with the CREST experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coutu, S.; Anderson, T.; Bower, C.; Gennaro, J.; Geske, M.; Müller, D.; Musser, J.; Nutter, S.; Park, N. H.; Schubnell, M.; Tarlé, G.; Wakely, S.; Yagi, A.

2011-06-01

The Cosmic Ray Electron Synchrotron Telescope (CREST) high-altitude balloon experiment is a pathfinding effort to detect for the first time multi-TeV cosmic-ray electrons. Such would be the markers of nearby cosmic accelerators, as energetic electrons from distant Galactic sources are expected to be depleted by radiative losses during interstellar transport. Electrons will be detected indirectly by the characteristic signature of their geomagnetic synchrotron losses, in the form of a burst of coaligned x-ray photons intersecting the plane of the instrument. Since the primary electron itself need not traverse the payload, an effective detection area is achieved that is several times the nominal 6.4 m2 instrument. The payload is composed of an array of 1024 BaF2 crystals surrounded by a set of veto scintillator detectors. A long-duration balloon flight in Antarctica is planned for the 2011-12 season.

Applications of Cosmic Muon Tracking at Shallow Depth Underground

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oláh, L.; Barnaföldi, G. G.; Hamar, G.; Melegh, H. G.; Surányi, G.; Varga, D.

2014-06-01

A portable cosmic muon telescope has been developed for environmental and geophysical applications, as well as cosmic background measurements for nuclear research in underground labs by the REGARD group (Wigner RCP of the HAS and Eötvös Loránd University collaboration on gaseous detector R&D). The modular, low power consuming (5 W) Close Cathode Chamber-based tracking system has 10 mrad angular resolution with its sensitive area of 0.1 m2. The angular distribution of cosmic muons has been measured at shallow depth underground (< 70 meter-rock-equivalent) in four different remote locations. Application of cosmic muon detection for the reconstruction of underground caverns and building structures are demonstrated by the measurements.

Discordance between patient and physician assessments of global disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis and association with work productivity.

PubMed

Smolen, Josef S; Strand, Vibeke; Koenig, Andrew S; Szumski, Annette; Kotak, Sameer; Jones, Thomas V

2016-05-21

Discordance between patient and physician ratings of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) severity occurs in clinical practice and correlates with pain scores and measurements of joint disease. However, information is lacking on whether discordance impacts patients' ability to work. We evaluated the discordance between patient and physician ratings of RA disease activity before and after treatment with etanercept and investigated the associations between discordance, clinical outcomes, and work productivity. In the PRESERVE clinical trial, patients with moderate RA received open-label etanercept 50 mg once weekly plus methotrexate for 36 weeks. Baseline and week-36 disease characteristics and clinical and work productivity outcomes were categorized according to week-36 concordance category, defined as positive discordance (patient global assessment - physician global assessment ≥2), negative discordance (patient global assessment - physician global assessment ≤ -2), and concordance (absolute difference between the two disease activity assessments = 0 or 1). Correlations between discordance, clinical outcomes, and predictors of discordance were determined. At baseline, 520/762 (68.2 %) patient and physician global assessment scores were concordant, 194 (25.5 %) were positively discordant, and 48 (6.3 %) were negatively discordant. After 36 weeks of therapy, 556/763 (72.9 %) scores were concordant, 189 (24.8 %) were positively discordant, and 18 (2.4 %) were negatively discordant. Patients with week-36 concordance had the best 36-week clinical and patient-reported outcomes, and overall, the greatest improvement between baseline and week 36. Baseline pain, swollen joint count, duration of morning stiffness, fatigue, and patient general health significantly correlated with week-36 discordance, p < 0.0001 to p < 0.05. Additionally, baseline pain, patient general health, and C-reactive protein were predictors of week-36 discordance (odds ratios 1.22, 1

The Taxometrics of Marriage: Is Marital Discord Categorical?

PubMed Central

Beach, Steven R. H.; Amir, Nader; Fincham, Frank D.; Leonard, Kenneth E.

2014-01-01

This study used taxometric methods to investigate the latent structure of the construct of marital adjustment as indexed by the Marital Adjustment Test (MAT; H. J. Locke & K. M. Wallace, 1959). That is, the authors examined whether marital adjustment is best thought of as a “dimension” of adjustment only or whether there also are categorical differences between “discordant” and “nondiscordant” couples. Analyses of data provided by 447 couples married for approximately 2 years provided converging evidence for a latent category of marital discord, suggesting that marital discord can be viewed as a qualitatively distinct state experienced by approximately 20% of the couples in the current sample. Implications for marital assessment are outlined. PMID:15982105

Interpretation of the cosmic microwave background radiation anisotropy detected by the COBE Differential Microwave Radiometer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wright, E. L.; Meyer, S. S.; Bennett, C. L.; Boggess, N. W.; Cheng, E. S.; Hauser, M. G.; Kogut, A.; Lineweaver, C.; Mather, J. C.; Smoot, G. F.

1992-01-01

The large-scale cosmic background anisotropy detected by the COBE Differential Microwave Radiometer (DMR) instrument is compared to the sensitive previous measurements on various angular scales, and to the predictions of a wide variety of models of structure formation driven by gravitational instability. The observed anisotropy is consistent with all previously measured upper limits and with a number of dynamical models of structure formation. For example, the data agree with an unbiased cold dark matter (CDM) model with H0 = 50 km/s Mpc and Delta-M/M = 1 in a 16 Mpc radius sphere. Other models, such as CDM plus massive neutrinos (hot dark matter (HDM)), or CDM with a nonzero cosmological constant are also consistent with the COBE detection and can provide the extra power seen on 5-10,000 km/s scales.

Disclosure of HIV results among discordant couples in Rakai, -Uganda: A facilitated couple counselling approach

PubMed Central

Kairania, Robert M.; Gray, Ronald H.; Kiwanuka, Noah; Makumbi, Fredrick; Sewankambo, Nelson K.; Serwadda, David; Nalugoda, Fred; Kigozi, Godfrey; Semanda, John; Wawer, Maria J.

2010-01-01

Disclosure of HIV seropositive results among HIV-discordant couples in sub-Saharan Africa is generally low. We describe a facilitated couple counselling approach to enhance disclosure among HIV-discordant couples. Using unique identifiers, 293 HIV-discordant couples were identified through retrospective linkage of married or cohabiting consenting adults individually enrolled into a cohort study and into two randomized trials of male circumcision in Rakai, Uganda. HIV discordant couples and a random sample of HIV-infected concordant and HIV-negative concordant couples (to mask HIV status) were invited to sensitization meetings to discuss the benefits of disclosure and couple counselling. HIV-infected partners were subsequently contacted to encourage HIV disclosure to their HIV uninfected partners. If the index positive partner agreed, the counsellor facilitated the disclosure of HIV results, and provided ongoing support. The proportion of disclosure was determined. 81% of HIV-positive partners in discordant relationships disclosed their status to their HIV-uninfected partners in the presence of the counsellor. The rates of disclosure were 81.3% in male HIV-positive and 80.2% in female HIV-positive discordant couples. Disclosure did not vary by age, education or occupation. In summary, disclosure of HIV-positive results in discordant couples using facilitated couple counselling approach is high, but requires a stepwise process of sensitization and agreement by the infected partner. PMID:20824557

Gut DNA viromes of Malawian twins discordant for severe acute malnutrition

PubMed Central

Reyes, Alejandro; Blanton, Laura V.; Cao, Song; Zhao, Guoyan; Manary, Mark; Trehan, Indi; Smith, Michelle I.; Wang, David; Virgin, Herbert W.; Rohwer, Forest; Gordon, Jeffrey I.

2015-01-01

The bacterial component of the human gut microbiota undergoes a definable program of postnatal development. Evidence is accumulating that this program is disrupted in children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and that their persistent gut microbiota immaturity, which is not durably repaired with current ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) interventions, is causally related to disease pathogenesis. To further characterize gut microbial community development in healthy versus malnourished infants/children, we performed a time-series metagenomic study of DNA isolated from virus-like particles (VLPs) recovered from fecal samples collected during the first 30 mo of postnatal life from eight pairs of mono- and dizygotic Malawian twins concordant for healthy growth and 12 twin pairs discordant for SAM. Both members of discordant pairs were sampled just before, during, and after treatment with a peanut-based RUTF. Using Random Forests and a dataset of 17,676 viral contigs assembled from shotgun sequencing reads of VLP DNAs, we identified viruses that distinguish different stages in the assembly of the gut microbiota in the concordant healthy twin pairs. This developmental program is impaired in both members of SAM discordant pairs and not repaired with RUTF. Phage plus members of the Anelloviridae and Circoviridae families of eukaryotic viruses discriminate discordant from concordant healthy pairs. These results disclose that apparently healthy cotwins in discordant pairs have viromes associated with, although not necessarily mediators, of SAM; as such, they provide a human model for delineating normal versus perturbed postnatal acquisition and retention of the gut microbiota’s viral component in populations at risk for malnutrition. PMID:26351661

Detection of B-mode polarization in the cosmic microwave background with data from the South Pole Telescope.

PubMed

Hanson, D; Hoover, S; Crites, A; Ade, P A R; Aird, K A; Austermann, J E; Beall, J A; Bender, A N; Benson, B A; Bleem, L E; Bock, J J; Carlstrom, J E; Chang, C L; Chiang, H C; Cho, H-M; Conley, A; Crawford, T M; de Haan, T; Dobbs, M A; Everett, W; Gallicchio, J; Gao, J; George, E M; Halverson, N W; Harrington, N; Henning, J W; Hilton, G C; Holder, G P; Holzapfel, W L; Hrubes, J D; Huang, N; Hubmayr, J; Irwin, K D; Keisler, R; Knox, L; Lee, A T; Leitch, E; Li, D; Liang, C; Luong-Van, D; Marsden, G; McMahon, J J; Mehl, J; Meyer, S S; Mocanu, L; Montroy, T E; Natoli, T; Nibarger, J P; Novosad, V; Padin, S; Pryke, C; Reichardt, C L; Ruhl, J E; Saliwanchik, B R; Sayre, J T; Schaffer, K K; Schulz, B; Smecher, G; Stark, A A; Story, K T; Tucker, C; Vanderlinde, K; Vieira, J D; Viero, M P; Wang, G; Yefremenko, V; Zahn, O; Zemcov, M

2013-10-04

Gravitational lensing of the cosmic microwave background generates a curl pattern in the observed polarization. This "B-mode" signal provides a measure of the projected mass distribution over the entire observable Universe and also acts as a contaminant for the measurement of primordial gravity-wave signals. In this Letter we present the first detection of gravitational lensing B modes, using first-season data from the polarization-sensitive receiver on the South Pole Telescope (SPTpol). We construct a template for the lensing B-mode signal by combining E-mode polarization measured by SPTpol with estimates of the lensing potential from a Herschel-SPIRE map of the cosmic infrared background. We compare this template to the B modes measured directly by SPTpol, finding a nonzero correlation at 7.7σ significance. The correlation has an amplitude and scale dependence consistent with theoretical expectations, is robust with respect to analysis choices, and constitutes the first measurement of a powerful cosmological observable.

Quantum Discord in Photon-Added Glauber Coherent States of GHZ-Type

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daoud, M.; Kaydi, W.; El Hadfi, H.

2015-11-01

We investigate the influence of photon excitations on quantum correlations in tripartite Glauber coherent states of Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger type (GHZ-type). The pairwise correlations are measured by means of the entropy-based quantum discord. We also analyze the monogamy property of quantum discord in this class of tripartite states in terms of the strength of Glauber coherent states and the photon excitation order.

Operation and performance of the EEE network array for the detection of cosmic rays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abbrescia, M.; Avanzini, C.; Baldini, L.; Baldini Ferroli, R.; Batignani, G.; Bencivenni, G.; Bossini, E.; Chiavassa, A.; Cicalò, C.; Cifarelli, L.; Coccia, E.; Corvaglia, A.; De Gruttola, D.; De Pasquale, S.; Di Giovanni, A.; D'Incecco, M.; Dreucci, M.; Fabbri, F. L.; Fattibene, E.; Ferraro, A.; Frolov, V.; Galeotti, P.; Garbini, M.; Gemme, G.; Gnesi, I.; Grazzi, S.; Gustavino, C.; Hatzifotiadou, D.; La Rocca, P.; Licciulli, F.; Maggiora, A.; Maragoto Rodriguez, O.; Maron, G.; Martelli, B.; Mazziotta, M. N.; Miozzi, S.; Nania, R.; Noferini, F.; Nozzoli, F.; Panareo, M.; Panetta, M. P.; Paoletti, R.; Park, W.; Perasso, L.; Pilo, F.; Piragino, G.; Riggi, F.; Righini, G. C.; Sartorelli, G.; Scapparone, E.; Schioppa, M.; Scribano, A.; Selvi, M.; Serci, S.; Siddi, E.; Squarcia, S.; Stori, L.; Taiuti, M.; Terreni, G.; Visnyei, O. B.; Vistoli, M. C.; Votano, L.; Williams, M. C. S.; Zani, S.; Zichichi, A.; Zuyeuski, R.

2017-02-01

The EEE (Extreme Energy Events) Project is an experiment for the detection of cosmic ray muons by means of a sparse array of telescopes, each made of three Multigap Resistive Plate Chambers (MRPC), distributed over all the Italian territory and at CERN. The main scientific goals of the Project are the investigation of the properties of the local muon flux, the detection of Extensive Air Showers (EAS) and the search for long-distance correlations between far telescopes. The Project is also characterized by a strong educational and outreach aspect since the telescopes are managed by teams of students and teachers who had previously constructed them at CERN. In this paper an overall description of the experiment is given, including the design, construction and performance of the telescopes. The operation of the whole array, which currently consists of more than 50 telescopes, is also presented by showing the most recent physics results.

Detection of weak gravitational lensing distortions of distant galaxies by cosmic dark matter at large scales

PubMed

Wittman; Tyson; Kirkman; Dell'Antonio; Bernstein

2000-05-11

Most of the matter in the Universe is not luminous, and can be observed only through its gravitational influence on the appearance of luminous matter. Weak gravitational lensing is a technique that uses the distortions of the images of distant galaxies as a tracer of dark matter: such distortions are induced as the light passes through large-scale distributions of dark matter in the foreground. The patterns of the induced distortions reflect the density of mass along the line of sight and its distribution, and the resulting 'cosmic shear' can be used to distinguish between alternative cosmologies. But previous attempts to measure this effect have been inconclusive. Here we report the detection of cosmic shear on angular scales of up to half a degree using 145,000 galaxies and along three separate lines of sight. We find that the dark matter is distributed in a manner consistent with either an open universe, or a flat universe that is dominated by a cosmological constant. Our results are inconsistent with the standard cold-dark-matter model.

Advanced optical systems for ultra high energy cosmic rays detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gambicorti, L.; Pace, E.; Mazzinghi, P.

2017-11-01

A new advanced optical system is proposed and analysed in this work with the purpose to improve the photons collection efficiency of Multi-AnodePhotoMultipliers (MAPMT) detectors, which will be used to cover large focal surface of instruments dedicated to the Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs, above 1019eV) and Ultra High Energy Neutrino (UHEN) detection. The employment of the advanced optical system allows to focus all photons inside the sensitive area of detectors and to improve the signal-to-noise ratios in the wavelength range of interest (300-400nm), thus coupling imaging and filtering capability. Filter is realised with a multilayer coating to reach high transparency in UV range and with a sharp cut-off outside. In this work the applications on different series of PMTs have been studied and results of simulations are shown. First prototypes have been realised. Finally, this paper proposes another class of adapters to be optically coupled on each pixel of MAPMT detector selected, consisting of non-imaging concentrators as Winston cones.

The Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bennett, C. L.

1994-12-01

The properties of the cosmic microwave background radiation provide unique constraints on the history and evolution of the universe. The first detection of anisotropy of the microwave radiation was reported by the COBE Team in 1992, based on the first year of flight data. The latest analyses of the first two years of COBE data are reviewed in this talk, including the amplitude of the microwave anisotropy as a function of angular scale and the statistical nature of the fluctuations. The two-year results are generally consistent with the earlier first year results, but the additional data allow for a better determination of the key cosmological parameters. In this talk the COBE results are compared with other observational anisotropy results and directions for future cosmic microwave anisotropy observations will be discussed. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration/Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA/GSFC) is responsible for the design, development, and operation of the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE). Scientific guidance is provided by the COBE Science Working Group.

Cosmic ray interactions in starbursting galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoast-Hull, Tova M.

High quality gamma-ray and radio observations of nearby galaxies offer an unprecedented opportunity to quantitatively study the properties of their cosmic ray populations. Accounting for various interactions and energy losses, I developed a multi-component, single-zone model of the cosmic ray populations in the central molecular zones of star-forming galaxies. Using observational knowledge of the interstellar medium and star formation, I successfully predicted the radio, gamma-ray, and neutrino spectra for nearby starbursts. Using chi-squared tests to compare the models with observational radio and gamma-ray data, I placed constraints on magnetic field strengths, cosmic ray energy densities, and galactic wind (advection) speeds. The initial models were applied to and tested on the prototypical starburst galaxy M82. To further test the model and to explore the differences in environment between starbursts and active galactic nuclei, I studied NGC 253 and NGC 1068, both nearby giant spiral galaxies which have been detected in gamma-rays. Additionally, I demonstrated that the excess GeV energy gamma-ray emission in the Galactic Center is likely not diffuse emission from an additional population of cosmic rays accelerated in supernova remnants. Lastly, I investigated cosmic ray populations in the starburst nuclei of Arp 220, a nearby ultraluminous infrared galaxy which displays a high-intensity mode of star formation more common in young galaxies, and I showed that the nuclei are efficient cosmic-ray proton calorimeters.

Scientists Detect Radio Emission from Rapidly Rotating Cosmic Dust Grains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2001-11-01

Astronomers have made the first tentative observations of a long-speculated, but never before detected, source of natural radio waves in interstellar space. Data from the National Science Foundation's 140 Foot Radio Telescope at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, W.Va., show the faint, tell-tale signals of what appear to be dust grains spinning billions of times each second. This discovery eventually could yield a powerful new tool for understanding the interstellar medium - the immense clouds of gas and dust that populate interstellar space. The NRAO 140 Foot Radio Telescope The NRAO 140-Foot Radio Telescope "What we believe we have found," said Douglas P. Finkbeiner of Princeton University's Department of Astrophysics, "is the first hard evidence for electric dipole emission from rapidly rotating dust grains. If our studies are confirmed, it will be the first new source of continuum emission to be conclusively identified in the interstellar medium in nearly the past 20 years." Finkbeiner believes that these emissions have the potential in the future of revealing new and exciting information about the interstellar medium; they also may help to refine future studies of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation. The results from this study, which took place in spring 1999, were accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal. Other contributors to this paper include David J. Schlegel, department of astrophysics, Princeton University; Curtis Frank, department of astronomy, University of Maryland; and Carl Heiles, department of astronomy, University of California at Berkeley. "The idea of dust grains emitting radiation by rotating is not new," comments Finkbeiner, "but to date it has been somewhat speculative." Scientists first proposed in 1957 that dust grains could emit radio signals, if they were caused to rotate rapidly enough. It was believed, however, that these radio emissions would be negligibly small - too weak to be of any impact to

Constraints on cosmic ray and PeV neutrino production in blazars

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang, B. Theodore; Li, Zhuo, E-mail: zhangbing91@pku.edu.cn, E-mail: zhuo.li@pku.edu.cn

2017-03-01

IceCube has detected a cumulative flux of PeV neutrinos, which origin is unknown. Blazars, active galactic nuclei with relativistic jets pointing to us, are long and widely expected to be one of the strong candidates of high energy neutrino sources. The neutrino production depends strongly on the cosmic ray power of blazar jets, which is largely unknown. The recent null results in stacking searches of neutrinos for several blazar samples by IceCube put upper limits on the neutrino fluxes from these blazars. Here we compute the cosmic ray power and PeV neutrino flux of Fermi-LAT blazars, and find that themore » upper limits for known blazar sources give stringent constraint on the cosmic ray loading factor of blazar jets (i.e., the ratio of the cosmic ray to bolometric radiation luminosity of blazar jets), ξ{sub cr} ∼< (2–10)ζ{sup −1} (with ζ ∼< 1 the remained fraction of cosmic ray energy when propagate into the blazar broad line region) for flat cosmic ray spectrum, and that the cumulative PeV neutrino flux contributed by all-sky blazars is a fraction ∼< (10–50)% of the IceCube detected flux.« less

X-ray Observations of Cosmic Ray Acceleration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Petre, Robert

2012-01-01

Since the discovery of cosmic rays, detection of their sources has remained elusive. A major breakthrough has come through the identification of synchrotron X-rays from the shocks of supernova remnants through imaging and spectroscopic observations by the most recent generation of X-ray observatories. This radiation is most likely produced by electrons accelerated to relativistic energy, and thus has offered the first, albeit indirect, observational evidence that diffusive shock acceleration in supernova remnants produces cosmic rays to TeV energies, possibly as high as the "knee" in the cosmic ray spectrum. X-ray observations have provided information about the maximum energy to which these shOCks accelerate electrons, as well as indirect evidence of proton acceleration. Shock morphologies measured in X-rays have indicated that a substantial fraction of the shock energy can be diverted into particle acceleration. This presentation will summarize what we have learned about cosmic ray acceleration from X-ray observations of supernova remnants over the past two decades.

Determination and study of the cosmic-ray composition above 100 TeV

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sinnis, G.; Haines, T.J.; Hoffman, C.M.

1998-11-01

This is the final report of a three-year, Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The goal of this project was to develop a new technique using ground-based measurements to determine the cosmic-ray composition at energies around 10{sup 15} eV (the knee in the cosmic-ray spectrum). Cosmic rays are high-energy nuclei that continuously bombard the earth. Though cosmic rays were first detected in the 1870s it wasn`t until 1915 that their cosmic origin was established. At present, the authors still do not know the source of cosmic rays. At energies above 50 TeVmore » (1 TeV = 1 trillion electron-volts) they do not know the composition of the cosmic rays. At about 5 PeV (1PeV = 10{sup 15} eV) the cosmic ray spectrum steepens. Knowledge of the composition above and below this point can help determine the origin of cosmic rays.« less

Geometric measure of pairwise quantum discord for superpositions of multipartite generalized coherent states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daoud, M.; Ahl Laamara, R.

2012-07-01

We give the explicit expressions of the pairwise quantum correlations present in superpositions of multipartite coherent states. A special attention is devoted to the evaluation of the geometric quantum discord. The dynamics of quantum correlations under a dephasing channel is analyzed. A comparison of geometric measure of quantum discord with that of concurrence shows that quantum discord in multipartite coherent states is more resilient to dissipative environments than is quantum entanglement. To illustrate our results, we consider some special superpositions of Weyl-Heisenberg, SU(2) and SU(1,1) coherent states which interpolate between Werner and Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states.

Should HCV discordant couples with a seropositive male partner be treated with assisted reproduction techniques (ART)?

PubMed

Savasi, Valeria; Oneta, Monica; Parrilla, Bina; Cetin, Irene

2013-04-01

The debate on HCV discordant couples requiring assisted reproduction is still open today, and specific guidelines have not yet been established on whether or not physicians should treat HCV discordant couples who require ART. We studied the results of our reproductive assistance with sperm washing in HCV discordant couples, all treated in a single center, including the serological status of mothers and babies, and the outcome of the pregnancies. Prospective study conducted between January 2008 and December 2010 in our Reproductive Center in Sacco Hospital, University of Milan. Thirty-five HCV serodiscordant infertile couples with an HCV viremic positive male partner were enrolled. All of them completed the immuno-virological and fertility triage, and were treated according to our clinical protocols. Forty-seven superovulation and IUI and 38 second-level ART procedures are reported. The pregnancy rates for IUI and ICSI are similar to those reported by the Italian ART register. All the 85 sperm samples were treated with sperm washing technique to reduce HCV in semen and the possible risk of transmission. We did not observe any preterm delivery or negative perinatal outcome. No mothers or babies are infected by HCV. This is the biggest prospective study conducted in a single center involving HCV discordant infertile couples in an ART program. Although sexual transmission of HCV is very low, in subfertile or infertile couples sperm washing should be used to treat HCV positive semen before ART. We suggest that it is not necessary to perform nested PCR to detect HCV RNA in the final swim-up. Since the presence of HCV in semen implies a possible risk of nosocomial contamination, safety regulations must be strictly applied in assisted reproduction laboratories. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Patient-physician discordance in global assessment in early spondyloarthritis and its change over time: the DESIR cohort.

PubMed

Desthieux, Carole; Molto, Anna; Granger, Benjamin; Saraux, Alain; Fautrel, Bruno; Gossec, Laure

2016-09-01

To assess patient-physician discordance in global assessment of disease activity in early axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) over time and determinants of discordance. DESIR (Devenir des Spondyloarthropathies Indifférenciées Récentes) is a French, multicentre, longitudinal cohort of patients with early inflammatory back pain suggestive of axSpA. Patient global assessment (PGA) and physician global assessment (PhGA) were rated with a 0-10 numerical rating scale, every 6 months during 2 years then at 3 years. Discordance was defined by the absolute difference |PGA-PhGA|≥3 (range 0-10) and was analysed at each visit. Determinants of (PGA-PhGA) were assessed at the visit level by a generalised linear mixed model. A total of 702 patients were analysed at baseline (401 with complete data over 3 years): mean age 33.8±8.6 years, 379 (54.0%) female, mean symptom duration 18.1±10.5 months. Mean PGA values were always higher than mean PhGA values with a mean absolute difference of 1.8 points. At baseline, 202 (28.8%) patients had discordance mainly by PGA>PhGA; over 3 years the frequency of discordance was stable (range 25.5-28.8%). Discordance was not stable at the patient level, 118 (29.4%) patients were discordant once and 88 (22.0%) twice, and only 92 (22.9%) more than twice. Determinants of (PGA-PhGA) were spine pain (β=0.24, p<0.001) and fatigue (β=0.13, p<0.001). Discordance concerned a quarter of patients with early axSpA. Over 3 years of follow-up, discordance did not decrease (no 'reference shift'). Discordance was not a stable trait, indicating discordance is not a patient characteristic. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Gaussian geometric discord in terms of Hellinger distance

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Suciu, Serban, E-mail: serban.suciu@theory.nipne.ro; Isar, Aurelian

2015-12-07

In the framework of the theory of open systems based on completely positive quantum dynamical semigroups, we address the quantification of general non-classical correlations in Gaussian states of continuous variable systems from a geometric perspective. We give a description of the Gaussian geometric discord by using the Hellinger distance as a measure for quantum correlations between two non-interacting non-resonant bosonic modes embedded in a thermal environment. We evaluate the Gaussian geometric discord by taking two-mode squeezed thermal states as initial states of the system and show that it has finite values between 0 and 1 and that it decays asymptoticallymore » to zero in time under the effect of the thermal bath.« less

Measurement of Cosmic-Ray TeV Electrons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schubnell, Michael; Anderson, T.; Bower, C.; Coutu, S.; Gennaro, J.; Geske, M.; Mueller, D.; Musser, J.; Nutter, S.; Park, N.; Tarle, G.; Wakely, S.

2011-09-01

The Cosmic Ray Electron Synchrotron Telescope (CREST) high-altitude balloon experiment is a pathfinding effort to detect for the first time multi-TeV cosmic-ray electrons. At these energies distant sources will not contribute to the local electron spectrum due to the strong energy losses of the electrons and thus TeV observations will reflect the distribution and abundance of nearby acceleration sites. CREST will detect electrons indirectly by measuring the characteristic synchrotron photons generated in the Earth's magnetic field. The instrument consist of an array of 1024 BaF2 crystals viewed by photomultiplier tubes surrounded by a hermetic scintillator shield. Since the primary electron itself need not traverse the payload, an effective detection area is achieved that is several times the nominal 6.4 m2 instrument. CREST is scheduled to fly in a long duration circumpolar orbit over Antarctica during the 2011-12 season.

Maternal Concern about Child Weight in a Study of Weight-Discordant Siblings

PubMed Central

Kral, Tanja V.E.; Moore, Reneé H.; Compher, Charlene W.

2014-01-01

Objective This study examined concern about child weight in mothers of weight-discordant siblings and determined the accuracy of maternal self-report versus measured child height, weight, and corresponding body mass index (BMI; kg/m2) z-score. Design Discordant-sibling design. Sample Forty-seven mothers of 5- to 12-year-old, weight-discordant siblings. Measurements Mothers self-reported their concern about child weight for each child separately and, for a subset of children, self-reported their heights and weights. Siblings’ height, weight, waist circumference, and adiposity were measured. Results The majority (83%) of mothers expressed concern about their overweight/obese child’s weight and 20% of mothers expressed concern about their normal-weight child’s weight (P<0.001). Difference scores in maternal concern about child weight were positively associated with difference scores in sibling BMI z-score (r=0.42; P=0.01) and percent body fat (r=0.56; P<0.001). For overweight/obese children only, maternal-reported child heights and weights were significantly lower compared to the measured values (P<0.03). Conclusions One fifth of mothers of weight-discordant siblings were unconcerned about their overweight/obese child’s weight and, for overweight/obese children only, mothers tended to under-report children’s height and weight. Mothers’ concern for their overweight/obese child’s weight was greater for sibling pairs who were more discordant in their weight. PMID:24612012

Maternal concern about child weight in a study of weight-discordant siblings.

PubMed

Kral, Tanja V E; Moore, Reneé H; Compher, Charlene W

2015-01-01

This study examined concern about child weight in mothers of weight-discordant siblings and determined the accuracy of maternal self-report versus measured child height, weight, and corresponding body mass index (BMI; kg/m(2) ) z-score. Discordant sibling design. Forty-seven mothers of 5- to 12-year-old, weight-discordant siblings. Mothers self-reported their concern about child weight for each child separately and for a subset of children, self-reported their heights and weights. Siblings' height, weight, waist circumference, and adiposity were measured. The majority (83%) of mothers expressed concern about their overweight/obese child's weight and 20% of mothers expressed concern about their normal-weight child's weight (p < .001). Difference scores in maternal concern about child weight were positively associated with difference scores in sibling BMI z-score (r = 0.42; p = .01) and percent body fat (r = 0.56; p < .001). For overweight/obese children only, maternal-reported child heights and weights were significantly lower compared to the measured values (p < .03). One fifth of mothers of weight-discordant siblings were unconcerned about their overweight/obese child's weight and for overweight/obese children only, mothers tended to underreport children's height and weight. Mothers' concern for their overweight/obese child's weight was greater for sibling pairs who were more discordant in their weight. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The double switch for atrioventricular discordance.

PubMed

Brawn, William J

2005-01-01

Conventional surgery for atrioventricular discordance usually associated with ventricular arterial discordance leaves the morphologic right ventricle in the systemic circulation. Long-term follow-up results with this approach reveal a high incidence of right ventricular failure. The double switch procedure was introduced to restore the morphologic left ventricle to the systemic circulation. This operation is performed in two main ways: the atrial-arterial switch and the atrial switch plus Rastelli procedure. This double switch approach has been successful at least in the medium term in abolishing morphologic right ventricular failure and its associated tricuspid valve regurgitation. In the atrial-arterial switch group, there is an incidence of morphologic left ventricular dysfunction, sometimes associated with neoaortic valve regurgitation, and the minority of cases need aortic valve replacement. The long-term function of the morphologic left ventricle and the aortic valve need careful surveillance in the future. The atrial-Rastelli group of patients has not in the medium term shown evidence of ventricular dysfunction but will require change on a regular basis of their ventricular to pulmonary artery valved conduits.

Discordant Dry Eye Disease (An American Ophthalmological Society Thesis).

PubMed

Shtein, Roni M; Harper, Daniel E; Pallazola, Vincent; Harte, Steven E; Hussain, Munira; Sugar, Alan; Williams, David A; Clauw, Daniel J

2016-08-01

To improve understanding of dry eye disease and highlight a subgroup of patients who have a component of central sensitization and neuropathic pain contributing to their condition. Prospective, cross-sectional, IRB-approved study comparing isolated dry eye disease (n=48) to fibromyalgia (positive control; n=23) and healthy (negative control; n=26) individuals with ocular surface examination, corneal confocal microscopy, quantitative sensory testing, and self-reported ocular symptoms and systemic associations. A subset of patients also underwent skin biopsy and/or brain neuroimaging. Dry eye patients were split into concordant (ie, those with dry eyes on examination) and discordant (ie, those with dry eye symptoms but normal examination) subgroups for further analysis. We hypothesized that on the systemic measures included, concordant patients would resemble healthy controls, whereas discordant patients would show evidence of centralized mechanisms similar to fibromyalgia. Schirmer test and Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) scores indicated significant decreases in tear production (Schirmer: healthy, 18.5±8.2 mm; dry, 11.2±5.4 mm; fibromyalgia, 14.4±7.5; P <.001) and increases in self-reported dry eye symptoms (OSDI: healthy, 1.9±3.0; dry, 20.3±17.7; fibromyalgia, 20.3±17.1; P <.001) in the dry eye and fibromyalgia patients, compared to controls. The discordant subgroup had decreased corneal nerve density and decreased visual quality-of-life scores, similar to patients with fibromyalgia. Concordant patients were more similar to healthy controls on these measures. Individuals with discordant dry eye may have a central pathophysiologic mechanism leading to their eye pain symptoms, which could be an important factor to consider in treatment of chronic idiopathic dry eye.

Quantum Discord Determines the Interferometric Power of Quantum States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Girolami, Davide; Souza, Alexandre M.; Giovannetti, Vittorio; Tufarelli, Tommaso; Filgueiras, Jefferson G.; Sarthour, Roberto S.; Soares-Pinto, Diogo O.; Oliveira, Ivan S.; Adesso, Gerardo

2014-05-01

Quantum metrology exploits quantum mechanical laws to improve the precision in estimating technologically relevant parameters such as phase, frequency, or magnetic fields. Probe states are usually tailored to the particular dynamics whose parameters are being estimated. Here we consider a novel framework where quantum estimation is performed in an interferometric configuration, using bipartite probe states prepared when only the spectrum of the generating Hamiltonian is known. We introduce a figure of merit for the scheme, given by the worst-case precision over all suitable Hamiltonians, and prove that it amounts exactly to a computable measure of discord-type quantum correlations for the input probe. We complement our theoretical results with a metrology experiment, realized in a highly controllable room-temperature nuclear magnetic resonance setup, which provides a proof-of-concept demonstration for the usefulness of discord in sensing applications. Discordant probes are shown to guarantee a nonzero phase sensitivity for all the chosen generating Hamiltonians, while classically correlated probes are unable to accomplish the estimation in a worst-case setting. This work establishes a rigorous and direct operational interpretation for general quantum correlations, shedding light on their potential for quantum technology.

The KASCADE-Grande observatory and the composition of very high-energy cosmic rays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arteaga-Velázquez, J. C.; Apel, W. D.; Bekk, K.; Bertaina, M.; Blümer, J.; Bozdog, H.; Brancus, I. M.; Cantoni, E.; Chiavassa, A.; Cossavella, F.; Daumiller, K.; de Souza, V.; Di Pierro, F.; Doll, P.; Engel, R.; Engler, J.; Fuchs, B.; Fuhrmann, D.; Gils, H. J.; Glasstetter, R.; Grupen, C.; Haungs, A.; Heck, D.; Hörandel, J. R.; Huber, D.; Huege, T.; Kampert, K.-H.; Kang, D.; Klages, H. O.; Link, K.; Łuczak, P.; Ludwig, M.; Mathes, H. J.; Mayer, H. J.; Melissas, M.; Milke, J.; Mitrica, B.; Morello, C.; Oehlschläger, J.; Ostapchenko, S.; Palmieri, N.; Petcu, M.; Pierog, T.; Rebel, H.; Roth, M.; Schieler, H.; Schröder, F. G.; Sima, O.; Toma, G.; Trinchero, G. C.; Ulrich, H.; Weindl, A.; Wochele, J.; Zabierowski, J.

2015-11-01

KASCADE-Grande is an air-shower observatory devoted to the detection of cosmic rays with energies in the range of 1016 to 1018 eV. This energy region is of particular interest for the cosmic ray astrophysics, since it is the place where some models predict the existence of a transition from galactic to extragalactic origin of cosmic rays and the presence of a break in the flux of its heavy component. The detection of these features requires detailed and simultaneous measurements of the energy and composition of cosmic rays with sufficient statistics. These kinds of studies are possible for the first time in KASCADE-Grande due to the accurate measurements of several air-shower observables, i.e., the number of charged particles, electrons and muons in the shower, using the different detector systems of the observatory. In this contribution, a detailed look into the composition of 1016 — 1018 eV cosmic rays with KASCADE-Grande is presented.

Design and Optimization of a Dual-HPGe Gamma Spectrometer and Its Cosmic Veto System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Weihua; Ro, Hyunje; Liu, Chuanlei; Hoffman, Ian; Ungar, Kurt

2017-03-01

In this paper, a dual high purity germanium (HPGe) gamma spectrometer detection system with an increased solid angle was developed. The detection system consists of a pair of Broad Energy Germanium (BE-5030p) detectors and an XIA LLC digital gamma finder/Pixie-4 data-acquisition system. A data file processor was developed containing five modules that parses Pixie-4 list-mode data output files and classifies detections into anticoincident/coincident events and their specific coincidence types (double/triple/quadruple) for further analysis. A novel cosmic veto system was installed in the detection system. It was designed to be easy to install around an existing system while still providing sufficient cosmic veto shielding comparable to other designs. This paper describes the coverage and efficiency of this cosmic veto and the data processing system. It has been demonstrated that the cosmic veto system can provide a mean background reduction of 66.1%, which results in a mean MDA improvement of 58.3%. The counting time to meet the required MDA for specific radionuclide can be reduced by a factor of 2-3 compared to those using a conventional HPGe system. This paper also provides an initial overview of coincidence timing distributions between an incoming event from a cosmic veto plate and HPGe detector.

NEXUS: tracing the cosmic web connection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cautun, Marius; van de Weygaert, Rien; Jones, Bernard J. T.

2013-02-01

We introduce the NEXUS algorithm for the identification of cosmic web environments: clusters, filaments, walls and voids. This is a multiscale and automatic morphological analysis tool that identifies all the cosmic structures in a scale free way, without preference for a certain size or shape. We develop the NEXUS method to incorporate the density, tidal field, velocity divergence and velocity shear as tracers of the cosmic web. We also present the NEXUS+ procedure which, taking advantage of a novel filtering of the density in logarithmic space, is very successful at identifying the filament and wall environments in a robust and natural way. To assess the algorithms we apply them to an N-body simulation. We find that all methods correctly identify the most prominent filaments and walls, while there are differences in the detection of the more tenuous structures. In general, the structures traced by the density and tidal fields are clumpier and more rugged than those present in the velocity divergence and velocity shear fields. We find that the NEXUS+ method captures much better the filamentary and wall networks and is successful in detecting even the fainter structures. We also confirm the efficiency of our methods by examining the dark matter particle and halo distributions.

Cosmic Ray research in Armenia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chilingarian, A.; Mirzoyan, R.; Zazyan, M.

2009-11-01

Cosmic Ray research on Mt. Aragats began in 1934 with the measurements of East-West anisotropy by the group from Leningrad Physics-Technical Institute and Norair Kocharian from Yerevan State University. Stimulated by the results of their experiments in 1942 Artem and Abraham Alikhanyan brothers organized a scientific expedition to Aragats. Since that time physicists were studying Cosmic Ray fluxes on Mt. Aragats with various particle detectors: mass spectrometers, calorimeters, transition radiation detectors, and huge particle detector arrays detecting protons and nuclei accelerated in most violent explosions in Galaxy. Latest activities at Mt. Aragats include Space Weather research with networks of particle detectors located in Armenia and abroad, and detectors of Space Education center in Yerevan.

Can the Catholic Church agree to condom use by HIV-discordant couples?

PubMed

Bovens, L

2009-12-01

Does the position of the Roman Catholic Church on contraception also imply that the usage of condoms by HIV-discordant couples is illicit? A standard argument is to appeal to the doctrine of double effect to condone such usage, but this meets with the objection that there exists an alternative action that brings about the good effect-namely, abstinence. I argue against this objection, because an HIV-discordant couple does not bring about any bad outcome through condom usage-there is no disrespect displayed for the generative function of sex. One might retort that the badness of condom usage consists in thwarting the unitive function of sex. I argue that also this objection cannot be upheld. In conclusion, if there are no in-principle objections against condom usage for HIV-discordant couples, then policies that deny access to condoms to such couples are indefensible. HIV-discordant couples have a right to continue consummating their marriage in a manner that is minimally risky and this right cannot be trumped by utilitarian concerns that the distribution of condoms might increase promiscuity and along with it the HIV infection rate.

Disentangling methodological and biological sources of gene tree discordance on oryza (poaceae) chromosome 3

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

We describe new methods for characterizing gene tree discordance in phylogenomic datasets, which screen for deviations from neutral expectations, summarize variation in statistical support among gene trees, and allow comparison of the patterns of discordance induced by various analysis choices. Usin...

Angular correlation of cosmic neutrinos with ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays and implications for their sources

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Moharana, Reetanjali; Razzaque, Soebur, E-mail: reetanjalim@uj.ac.za, E-mail: srazzaque@uj.ac.za

2015-08-01

Cosmic neutrino events detected by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory with energy 0∼> 3 TeV have poor angular resolutions to reveal their origin. Ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs), with better angular resolutions at 0>6 EeV energies, can be used to check if the same astrophysical sources are responsible for producing both neutrinos and UHECRs. We test this hypothesis, with statistical methods which emphasize invariant quantities, by using data from the Pierre Auger Observatory, Telescope Array and past cosmic-ray experiments. We find that the arrival directions of the cosmic neutrinos are correlated with 0≥ 10 EeV UHECR arrival directions at confidence level ≈ 90%. The strengthmore » of the correlation decreases with decreasing UHECR energy and no correlation exists at energy 0∼ 6 EeV . A search in astrophysical databases within 3{sup o} of the arrival directions of UHECRs with energy 0≥ 10 EeV, that are correlated with the IceCube cosmic neutrinos, resulted in 18 sources from the Swift-BAT X-ray catalog with redshift z≤ 0.06. We also found 3 objects in the Kühr catalog of radio sources using the same criteria. The sources are dominantly Seyfert galaxies with Cygnus A being the most prominent member. We calculate the required neutrino and UHECR fluxes to produce the observed correlated events, and estimate the corresponding neutrino luminosity (25 TeV–2.2 PeV) and cosmic-ray luminosity (500 TeV–180 EeV), assuming the sources are the ones we found in the Swift-BAT and Kühr catalogs. We compare these luminosities with the X-ray luminosity of the corresponding sources and discuss possibilities of accelerating protons to 0∼> 10 EeV and produce neutrinos in these sources.« less

Variation in neurophysiological function and evidence of quantitative electroencephalogram discordance: predicting cocaine-dependent treatment attrition.

PubMed

Venneman, Sandy; Leuchter, Andrew; Bartzokis, George; Beckson, Mace; Simon, Sara L; Schaefer, Melodie; Rawson, Richard; Newton, Tom; Cook, Ian A; Uijtdehaage, Sebastian; Ling, Walter

2006-01-01

Cocaine treatment trials suffer from a high rate of attrition. We examined pretreatment neurophysiological factors to identify participants at greatest risk. Twenty-five participants were divided into concordant and discordant groups following electroencephalogram (EEG) measures recorded prior to a double-blind, placebo-controlled treatment trial. Three possible outcomes were examined: successful completion, dropout, and removal. Concordant (high perfusion correlate) participants had an 85% rate of successful completion, while discordant participants had a 15% rate of successful completion. Twenty-five percent of dropouts and 50% of participants removed were discordant (low perfusion correlate), while only 25% of those who completed were discordant. Failure to complete the trial was not explained by depression, craving, benzoylecgonine levels or quantitative electroencephalogram (QEEG) power; thus cordance may help identify attrition risk.

Discordant Dry Eye Disease (An American Ophthalmological Society Thesis)

PubMed Central

Shtein, Roni M.; Harper, Daniel E.; Pallazola, Vincent; Harte, Steven E.; Hussain, Munira; Sugar, Alan; Williams, David A.; Clauw, Daniel J.

2016-01-01

Purpose To improve understanding of dry eye disease and highlight a subgroup of patients who have a component of central sensitization and neuropathic pain contributing to their condition. Methods Prospective, cross-sectional, IRB-approved study comparing isolated dry eye disease (n=48) to fibromyalgia (positive control; n=23) and healthy (negative control; n=26) individuals with ocular surface examination, corneal confocal microscopy, quantitative sensory testing, and self-reported ocular symptoms and systemic associations. A subset of patients also underwent skin biopsy and/or brain neuroimaging. Dry eye patients were split into concordant (ie, those with dry eyes on examination) and discordant (ie, those with dry eye symptoms but normal examination) subgroups for further analysis. We hypothesized that on the systemic measures included, concordant patients would resemble healthy controls, whereas discordant patients would show evidence of centralized mechanisms similar to fibromyalgia. Results Schirmer test and Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) scores indicated significant decreases in tear production (Schirmer: healthy, 18.5±8.2 mm; dry, 11.2±5.4 mm; fibromyalgia, 14.4±7.5; P<.001) and increases in self-reported dry eye symptoms (OSDI: healthy, 1.9±3.0; dry, 20.3±17.7; fibromyalgia, 20.3±17.1; P<.001) in the dry eye and fibromyalgia patients, compared to controls. The discordant subgroup had decreased corneal nerve density and decreased visual quality-of-life scores, similar to patients with fibromyalgia. Concordant patients were more similar to healthy controls on these measures. Conclusions Individuals with discordant dry eye may have a central pathophysiologic mechanism leading to their eye pain symptoms, which could be an important factor to consider in treatment of chronic idiopathic dry eye. PMID:28050051

LORD Space Experiment for Investigation of Ultrahigh Energy Cosmic-ray Particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ryabov, V. A.; Gusev, G. A.; Chechin, V. A.

2013-02-01

The problem of detecting cosmic rays and neutrinos of energies above the GZK cutoff is reviewed. Nowadays, it becomes clear that registration of nature's most energetic particles requires approaches based on new principles. First of all, we imply the detection of the coherent Cherenkov radio emission in cascades of ultrahigh-energy particles in radio-transparent natural dense media, i.e., ice shields of Antarctica, mineral salt, and lunar regolith. The Luna-Glob space mission planned for launching in the near future involves the Lunar Orbital Radio Detector (LORD) whose aperture for cosmic rays and neutrinos of energies E >= 1020 eV exceeds all existing ground-based arrays. The feasibility of LORD to detect radio signals from showers initiated by ultrahigh-energy particles interacting with the lunar regolith is examined. The design of the LORD space instrument and its scientific potentialities for registration of low-intense cosmic-ray particle fluxes above the GZK cut-off up to 1025 eV is discussed.

Wavelet-Bayesian inference of cosmic strings embedded in the cosmic microwave background

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McEwen, J. D.; Feeney, S. M.; Peiris, H. V.; Wiaux, Y.; Ringeval, C.; Bouchet, F. R.

2017-12-01

Cosmic strings are a well-motivated extension to the standard cosmological model and could induce a subdominant component in the anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), in addition to the standard inflationary component. The detection of strings, while observationally challenging, would provide a direct probe of physics at very high-energy scales. We develop a framework for cosmic string inference from observations of the CMB made over the celestial sphere, performing a Bayesian analysis in wavelet space where the string-induced CMB component has distinct statistical properties to the standard inflationary component. Our wavelet-Bayesian framework provides a principled approach to compute the posterior distribution of the string tension Gμ and the Bayesian evidence ratio comparing the string model to the standard inflationary model. Furthermore, we present a technique to recover an estimate of any string-induced CMB map embedded in observational data. Using Planck-like simulations, we demonstrate the application of our framework and evaluate its performance. The method is sensitive to Gμ ∼ 5 × 10-7 for Nambu-Goto string simulations that include an integrated Sachs-Wolfe contribution only and do not include any recombination effects, before any parameters of the analysis are optimized. The sensitivity of the method compares favourably with other techniques applied to the same simulations.

Signatures of cosmic-ray interactions on the solar surface

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seckel, D.; Stanev, Todor; Gaisser, T. K.

1991-01-01

The fluxes of neutrinos, gamma rays, antiprotons, neutrons, and antineutrons that result from collisions of high-energy Galactic cosmic rays with the solar atmosphere are estimated. The results are sensitive to assumptions about cosmic-ray transport in the magnetic fields of the inner solar system. The high-energy photon flux should be observable by the Gamma Ray Observatory. The neutrino flux should produce less than one event per year in the next generation of neutrino telescopes. The antiproton flux is unobservable against the Galactic background. The neutron and antineutron fluxes are detectable only if neutrons produced in terrestrial cosmic-ray events may be discriminated against.

Brane inflation and cosmic string tension in superstring theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Firouzjahi, Hassan; Tye, S.-H. Henry

2005-03-01

In a simple reanalysis of the KKLMMT scenario, we argue that the slow roll condition in the D3-overline {D}3 -brane inflationary scenario in superstring theory requires no more than a moderate tuning. The cosmic string tension is very sensitive to the conformal coupling: with less fine-tuning, the cosmic string tension (as well as the ratio of tensor to scalar perturbation mode) increases rapidly and can easily saturate the present observational bound. In a multi-throat brane inflationary scenario, this feature substantially improves the chance of detecting and measuring the properties of the cosmic strings as a window to the superstring theory and our pre-inflationary universe.

ESA's Integral detects closest cosmic gamma-ray burst

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2004-08-01

5 August 2004 A gamma-ray burst detected by ESA's Integral gamma-ray observatory on 3 December 2003 has been thoroughly studied for months by an armada of space and ground-based observatories. Astronomers have now concluded that this event, called GRB 031203, is the closest cosmic gamma-ray burst on record, but also the faintest. This also suggests that an entire population of sub-energetic gamma-ray bursts has so far gone unnoticed... Gamma ray burst model hi-res Size hi-res: 22 KB Credits: CXC/M. Weiss Artist impression of a low-energy gamma-ray burst This illustration describes a model for a gamma-ray burst, like the one detected by Integral on 3 December 2003 (GRB 031203). A jet of high-energy particles from a rapidly rotating black hole interacts with surrounding matter. Observations with Integral on 3 December 2003 and data on its afterglow, collected afterwards with XMM-Newton, Chandra and the Very Large Array telescope, show that GRB 031203 radiated only a fraction of the energy of normal gamma-ray bursts. Like supernovae, gamma-ray bursts are thought to be produced by the collapse of the core of a massive star. However, while the process leading to supernovae is relatively well understood, astronomers still do not know what happens when a core collapses to form a black hole. The discovery of 'under-energetic' gamma-ray bursts, like GRB 031203, should provide valuable clues as to links between supernovae, black holes and gamma-ray bursts. Lo-res JPG (22 Kb) Hi-res TIFF (5800 Kb) Cosmic gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are flashes of gamma rays that can last from less than a second to a few minutes and occur at random positions in the sky. A large fraction of them is thought to result when a black hole is created from a dying star in a distant galaxy. Astronomers believe that a hot disc surrounding the black hole, made of gas and matter falling onto it, somehow emits an energetic beam parallel to the axis of rotation. According to the simplest picture, all GRBs

Prediction of birth weight discordance from fetal weight estimations at 21-24 weeks' scans in monochorionic and dichorionic twins.

PubMed

Queirós, Alexandra; Blickstein, Isaac; Valdoleiros, Sandra; Felix, Nisa; Cohen, Alvaro; Simões, Teresinha

2017-08-01

To evaluate if inter-twin estimated fetal weight (EFW) differences at 21-24 weeks' scans predict birth weight discordance in monochorionic and dichorionic twins born at three gestational age periods. We counted the number of pairs with discordant EFWs (EFWs greater than the mean + 1SD; i.e. a difference above 12% in dichorionic and 21% in monochorionic twins) derived during a 21-24 weeks' scan as compared to actual discordant birth weight (>25%) in monochorionic and dichorionic pairs born at ≤32, 33-36 and >36 weeks. We studied 416 dichorionic and 244 monochorionic twins. The frequency of EFWs discordance at 21-24 weeks was the same for dichorionic and monochorionic twins but the total number of birth weight discordant pairs was significantly smaller among dichorionic twins (OR 0.2, 95% CI 0.1, 0.6). Generally, the positive predictive values for birth weight discordance by using the EFWs difference were quite poor, but always better in monochorionic than in dichorionic twins. Whereas the negative predictive value and hence the sensitivity for monochorionic twins was 100% irrespective of gestational age at birth, it was much lower in the dichorionic pairs. Concordant EFWs at 21-24 weeks exclude discordant birth weight in monochorionic twins whereas discordant EFWs are poor predictors of birth weight discordance especially in dichorionic twins irrespective when the twins were born.

Role-exit theory and marital discord following extended military deployment.

PubMed

Gambardella, Lucille C

2008-07-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of applying role-exit theory concepts in the counseling of military couples experiencing marital discord following extended periods of deployment. Qualitative case-study methodology was utilized to assess, diagnose, and treat 10 military couples using a framework based on role-exit theory. Six couples self-reported improvement in the marital relationship following this counseling approach. Role-exit theory based counseling may benefit other couples who experience marital discord due to role issues. The clinical nurse specialist might consider this paradigm when working with couples in marital therapy.

Analytic Expression of Geometric Discord in Arbitrary Mixture of any Two Bi-qubit Product Pure States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Chuan-Mei; Liu, Yi-Min; Xing, Hang; Zhang, Zhan-Jun

2015-04-01

Quantum correlations in a family of states comprising any mixture of a pair of arbitrary bi-qubit product pure states are studied by employing geometric discord [Phys. Rev. Lett. 105 (2010) 190502] as the quantifier. First, the inherent symmetry in the family of states about local unitary transformations is revealed. Then, the analytic expression of geometric discords in the states is worked out. Some concrete discussions and analyses on the captured geometric discords are made so that their distinct features are exposed. It is found that, the more averagely the two bi-qubit product states are mixed, the bigger geometric discord the mixed state owns. Moreover, the monotonic relationships of geometric discord with different parameters are revealed. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NNSFC) under Grant Nos. 11375011 and 11372122, the Natural Science Foundation of Anhui Province under Grant No. 1408085MA12, and the 211 Project of Anhui University

Demonstration of Cosmic Microwave Background Delensing Using the Cosmic Infrared Background.

PubMed

Larsen, Patricia; Challinor, Anthony; Sherwin, Blake D; Mak, Daisy

2016-10-07

Delensing is an increasingly important technique to reverse the gravitational lensing of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and thus reveal primordial signals the lensing may obscure. We present a first demonstration of delensing on Planck temperature maps using the cosmic infrared background (CIB). Reversing the lensing deflections in Planck CMB temperature maps using a linear combination of the 545 and 857 GHz maps as a lensing tracer, we find that the lensing effects in the temperature power spectrum are reduced in a manner consistent with theoretical expectations. In particular, the characteristic sharpening of the acoustic peaks of the temperature power spectrum resulting from successful delensing is detected at a significance of 16σ, with an amplitude of A_{delens}=1.12±0.07 relative to the expected value of unity. This first demonstration on data of CIB delensing, and of delensing techniques in general, is significant because lensing removal will soon be essential for achieving high-precision constraints on inflationary B-mode polarization.

Geographic Discordance Between Patient Residence and Incident Location in Emergency Medical Services Responses.

PubMed

Hsia, Renee Y; Dai, Mengtao; Wei, Ran; Sabbagh, Sarah; Mann, N Clay

2017-01-01

The location of a patient's residence is often used for emergency medical services (EMS) system planning. Our objective is to evaluate the association between patient residence and emergency incident zip codes for 911 calls. We used data from the 2013 National Emergency Medical Services Information System (NEMSIS) Public-Release Research Dataset. We studied all 911 calls with a valid complaint by dispatch, identifying zip codes for both the residence and incident locations (n=12,376,784). The primary outcomes were geographic and distance discordances between patient residence and incident zip codes. We used a multivariate logistic regression model to determine geographic discordance between residence and incident zip codes by dispatch complaint, age, and sex. We also measured distances between locations with geospatial processing. The overall proportion of geographic discordance for all 911 calls was 27.7% (95% confidence interval [CI] 27.7% to 27.8%) and the median distance discordance was 11.5 miles (95% CI 11.5 to 11.5 miles). Lower geographic discordance rates were found among patients aged 65 to 79 years (20.2%; 95% CI 20.1% to 20.2%) and 80 years and older (14.5%; 95% CI 14.5% to 14.6%). Motor vehicle crashes (63.5%; 95% CI 63.5% to 63.6%), industrial accidents (59.3%; 95% CI 58.0% to 60.6%), and mass casualty incidents (50.6%; 95% CI 49.6% to 51.5%) were more likely to occur outside a patient's residence zip code. Median network distance between home and incident zip centroid codes ranged from 8.6 to 23.5 miles. In NEMSIS, there was geographic discordance between patient residence zip code and call location zip code in slightly more than one quarter of EMS responses records. The geographic discordance rates between residence and incident zip codes were associated with dispatch complaints and age. Although a patient's residence might be a valid proxy for incident location for elderly patients, this relationship holds less true for other age groups and among

Cosmic gamma-ray bursts detected in the RELEC experiment onboard the Vernov satellite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bogomolov, A. V.; Bogomolov, V. V.; Iyudin, A. F.; Kuznetsova, E. A.; Minaev, P. Yu.; Panasyuk, M. I.; Pozanenko, A. S.; Prokhorov, A. V.; Svertilov, S. I.; Chernenko, A. M.

2017-08-01

The RELEC scientific instrumentation onboard the Vernov spacecraft launched on July 8, 2014, included the DRGE gamma-ray and electron spectrometer. This instrument incorporates a set of scintillation phoswich detectors, including four identical X-ray and gamma-ray detectors in the energy range from 10 keV to 3 MeV with a total area of 500 cm2 directed toward the nadir, and an electron spectrometer containing three mutually orthogonal detector units with a geometry factor of 2 cm2 sr, which is also sensitive to X-rays and gamma-rays. The goal of the space experiment with the DRGE instrument was to investigate phenomena with fast temporal variability, in particular, terrestrial gammaray flashes (TGFs) and magnetospheric electron precipitations. However, the detectors of the DRGE instrument could record cosmic gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and allowed one not only to perform a detailed analysis of the gamma-ray variability but also to compare the time profiles with the measurements made by other instruments of the RELEC scientific instrumentation (the detectors of optical and ultraviolet flashes, the radio-frequency and low-frequency analyzers of electromagnetic field parameters). We present the results of our observations of cosmicGRB 141011A and GRB 141104A, compare the parameters obtained in the GBM/Fermi and KONUS-Wind experiments, and estimate the redshifts and E iso for the sources of these GRBs. The detectability of GRBs and good agreement between the independent estimates of their parameters obtained in various experiments are important factors of the successful operation of similar detectors onboard the Lomonosov spacecraft.

Galactic Cosmic Rays: From Earth to Sources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brandt, Theresa J.

2012-01-01

For nearly 100 years we have known that cosmic rays come from outer space, yet proof of their origin, as well as a comprehensive understanding of their acceleration, remains elusive. Direct detection of high energy (up to 10(exp 15)eV), charged nuclei with experiments such as the balloon-born, antarctic Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder (TIGER) have provided insight into these mysteries through measurements of cosmic ray abundances. The abundance of these rare elements with respect to certain intrinsic properties suggests that cosmic rays include a component of massive star ejecta. Supernovae and their remnants (SNe & SNRs), often occurring at the end of a massive star's life or in an environment including massive star material, are one of the most likely candidates for sources accelerating galactic comic ray nuclei up to the requisite high energies. The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Large Area Detector (Fermi LAT) has improved our understanding of such sources by widening the window of observable energies and thus into potential sources' energetic processes. In combination with multiwavelength observations, we are now better able to constrain particle populations (often hadron-dominated at GeV energies) and environmental conditions, such as the magnetic field strength. The SNR CTB 37A is one such source which could contribute to the observed galactic cosmic rays. By assembling populations of SNRs, we will be able to more definitively define their contribution to the observed galactic cosmic rays, as well as better understand SNRs themselves. Such multimessenger studies will thus illuminate the long-standing cosmic ray mysteries, shedding light on potential sources, acceleration mechanisms, and cosmic ray propagation.

Genetic and teratological considerations in the analysis of concordant and discordant abnormalities in twins.

PubMed

Gericke, G S

1986-01-18

Results from monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twin research are often used in an attempt to gain a clearer understanding of the 'nature v. nurture' dilemma. Discordance between MZ twins has been considered to be environmental, and greater concordance in MZ compared with DZ pairs to be genetic. Current genetic and teratological theories considerably complicate the interpretation of concordance and discordance of abnormalities. The high rate of discordant intra-uterine death recently demonstrated in twins may profoundly influence the value of epidemiological studies usually performed in later life. Furthermore, indirect zygosity estimations based on sex ratios in DZ twins may be flawed because it is now recognized that increasing numbers of conditions are genetically heterogeneous. Emphasis is laid on problems of interpretation of discordance and concordance for developmental abnormalities in twins, and some possible mechanisms for their induction are discussed. Basic genetic concepts relevant to the expression of abnormalities in twins are outlined.

Medical history of discordant twins and environmental etiologies of autism.

PubMed

Willfors, C; Carlsson, T; Anderlid, B-M; Nordgren, A; Kostrzewa, E; Berggren, S; Ronald, A; Kuja-Halkola, R; Tammimies, K; Bölte, S

2017-01-31

The environmental contributions to autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their informative content for diagnosing the condition are still largely unknown. The objective of this study was to investigate associations between early medical events and ASD, as well as autistic traits, in twins, to test the hypothesis of a cumulative environmental effect on ASD risk. A total of 80 monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs (including a rare sample of 13 twin pairs discordant for clinical ASD) and 46 dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs with varying autistic traits, were examined for intra-pair differences in early medical events (for example, obstetric and neonatal factors, first year infections). First, differences in early medical events were investigated using multisource medical records in pairs qualitatively discordant for ASD. The significant intra-pair differences identified were then tested in relation to autistic traits in the remaining sample of 100 pairs, applying generalized estimating equations analyses. Significant association of the intra-pair differences in the MZ pairs were found for the cumulative load of early medical events and clinical ASD (Z=-2.85, P=0.004) and autistic traits (β=78.18, P=0.002), as well as infant dysregulation (feeding, sleeping abnormalities, excessive crying and worriedness), when controlling for intelligence quotient and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder comorbidity. The cumulative load of early medical events in general, and infant dysregulation in particular, may index children at risk of ASD owing to non-shared environmental contributions. In clinical practice, these findings may facilitate screening and early detection of ASD.

DNDO Report: Predicting Solar Modulation Potentials for Modeling Cosmic Background Radiation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Behne, Patrick Alan

The modeling of the detectability of special nuclear material (SNM) at ports and border crossings requires accurate knowledge of the background radiation at those locations. Background radiation originates from two main sources, cosmic and terrestrial. Cosmic background is produced by high-energy galactic cosmic rays (GCR) entering the atmosphere and inducing a cascade of particles that eventually impact the earth’s surface. The solar modulation potential represents one of the primary inputs to modeling cosmic background radiation. Usosokin et al. formally define solar modulation potential as “the mean energy loss [per unit charge] of a cosmic ray particle inside the heliosphere…” Modulationmore » potential, a function of elevation, location, and time, shares an inverse relationship with cosmic background radiation. As a result, radiation detector thresholds require adjustment to account for differing background levels, caused partly by differing solar modulations. Failure to do so can result in higher rates of false positives and failed detection of SNM for low and high levels of solar modulation potential, respectively. This study focuses on solar modulation’s time dependence, and seeks the best method to predict modulation for future dates using Python. To address the task of predicting future solar modulation, we utilize both non-linear least squares sinusoidal curve fitting and cubic spline interpolation. This material will be published in transactions of the ANS winter meeting of November, 2016.« less

Studies of the cosmic ray spectrum and large scale anisotropies with the KASCADE-Grande experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chiavassa, A.; Apel, W. D.; Arteaga-Velázquez, J. C.; Bekk, K.; Bertaina, M.; Blümer, J.; Bozdog, H.; Brancus, I. M.; Cantoni, E.; Cossavella, F.; Curcio, C.; Daumiller, K.; de Souza, V.; Di Pierro, F.; Doll, P.; Engel, R.; Engler, J.; Fuchs, B.; Fuhrmann, D.; Gils, H. J.; Glasstetter, R.; Grupen, C.; Haungs, A.; Heck, D.; Hörandel, J. R.; Huber, D.; Huege, T.; Kampert, K.-H.; Kang, D.; Klages, H. O.; Link, K.; Łuczak, P.; Ludwig, M.; Mathes, H. J.; Mayer, H. J.; Melissas, M.; Milke, J.; Mitrica, B.; Morello, C.; Oehlschläger, J.; Ostapchenko, S.; Palmieri, N.; Petcu, M.; Pierog, T.; Rebel, H.; Roth, M.; Schieler, H.; Schoo, S.; Schröder, F. G.; Sima, O.; Toma, G.; Trinchero, G. C.; Ulrich, H.; Weindl, A.; Wochele, J.; Zabierowski, J.

2014-08-01

KASCADE-Grande is an air shower observatory devoted to the detection of cosmic rays in the 1016 - 1018eV energy range. For each event the arrival direction, the total number of charged particles (Nch) and the total number of muons (Nμ), at detection level (i.e. 110 m a.s.l.), are measured. The detection of these observarbles, with high accuracy, allows the study of the primary spectrum, chemical composition and large scale anisotropies, that are the relevant informations to investigate the astrophysics of cosmic rays in this energy range. These studies are of main importance to deeply investigate the change of slope of the primary spectrum detected at ~ 4 × 1015 eV, also known as the knee, and to search for the transition from galactic to extra-galactic cosmic rays.

Cosmic gamma-rays and cosmic nuclei above 1 TeV

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Watson, A. A.

1986-01-01

Work on cosmic gamma rays and cosmic nuclei above I TeV is described and evaluated. The prospect that gamma ray astronomy above I TeV will give new insights into high energy cosmic ray origin within our galaxy is particularly bright.

A cocoon of freshly accelerated cosmic rays detected by Fermi in the Cygnus superbubble.

PubMed

Ackermann, M; Ajello, M; Allafort, A; Baldini, L; Ballet, J; Barbiellini, G; Bastieri, D; Belfiore, A; Bellazzini, R; Berenji, B; Blandford, R D; Bloom, E D; Bonamente, E; Borgland, A W; Bottacini, E; Brigida, M; Bruel, P; Buehler, R; Buson, S; Caliandro, G A; Cameron, R A; Caraveo, P A; Casandjian, J M; Cecchi, C; Chekhtman, A; Cheung, C C; Chiang, J; Ciprini, S; Claus, R; Cohen-Tanugi, J; de Angelis, A; de Palma, F; Dermer, C D; do Couto E Silva, E; Drell, P S; Dumora, D; Favuzzi, C; Fegan, S J; Focke, W B; Fortin, P; Fukazawa, Y; Fusco, P; Gargano, F; Germani, S; Giglietto, N; Giordano, F; Giroletti, M; Glanzman, T; Godfrey, G; Grenier, I A; Guillemot, L; Guiriec, S; Hadasch, D; Hanabata, Y; Harding, A K; Hayashida, M; Hayashi, K; Hays, E; Jóhannesson, G; Johnson, A S; Kamae, T; Katagiri, H; Kataoka, J; Kerr, M; Knödlseder, J; Kuss, M; Lande, J; Latronico, L; Lee, S-H; Longo, F; Loparco, F; Lott, B; Lovellette, M N; Lubrano, P; Martin, P; Mazziotta, M N; McEnery, J E; Mehault, J; Michelson, P F; Mitthumsiri, W; Mizuno, T; Monte, C; Monzani, M E; Morselli, A; Moskalenko, I V; Murgia, S; Naumann-Godo, M; Nolan, P L; Norris, J P; Nuss, E; Ohsugi, T; Okumura, A; Orlando, E; Ormes, J F; Ozaki, M; Paneque, D; Parent, D; Pesce-Rollins, M; Pierbattista, M; Piron, F; Pohl, M; Prokhorov, D; Rainò, S; Rando, R; Razzano, M; Reposeur, T; Ritz, S; Parkinson, P M Saz; Sgrò, C; Siskind, E J; Smith, P D; Spinelli, P; Strong, A W; Takahashi, H; Tanaka, T; Thayer, J G; Thayer, J B; Thompson, D J; Tibaldo, L; Torres, D F; Tosti, G; Tramacere, A; Troja, E; Uchiyama, Y; Vandenbroucke, J; Vasileiou, V; Vianello, G; Vitale, V; Waite, A P; Wang, P; Winer, B L; Wood, K S; Yang, Z; Zimmer, S; Bontemps, S

2011-11-25

The origin of Galactic cosmic rays is a century-long puzzle. Indirect evidence points to their acceleration by supernova shockwaves, but we know little of their escape from the shock and their evolution through the turbulent medium surrounding massive stars. Gamma rays can probe their spreading through the ambient gas and radiation fields. The Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) has observed the star-forming region of Cygnus X. The 1- to 100-gigaelectronvolt images reveal a 50-parsec-wide cocoon of freshly accelerated cosmic rays that flood the cavities carved by the stellar winds and ionization fronts from young stellar clusters. It provides an example to study the youth of cosmic rays in a superbubble environment before they merge into the older Galactic population.

Cosmic ray spectrum, composition, and anisotropy measured with IceCube

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tamburro, Alessio

2014-04-01

Analysis of cosmic ray surface data collected with the IceTop array of Cherenkov detectors at the South Pole provides an accurate measurement of the cosmic ray spectrum and its features in the "knee" region up to energies of about 1 EeV. IceTop is part of the IceCube Observatory that includes a deep-ice cubic kilometer detector that registers signals of penetrating muons and other particles. Surface and in-ice signals detected in coincidence provide clear insights into the nuclear composition of cosmic rays. IceCube already measured an increase of the average primary mass as a function of energy. We present preliminary results on both IceTop-only and coincident events analysis. Furthermore, we review the recent measurement of the cosmic ray anisotropy with IceCube.

The potential of detecting intermediate-scale biomass and canopy interception in a coniferous forest using cosmic-ray neutron intensity measurements and neutron transport modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andreasen, M.; Looms, M. C.; Bogena, H. R.; Desilets, D.; Zreda, M. G.; Sonnenborg, T. O.; Jensen, K. H.

2014-12-01

The water stored in the various compartments of the terrestrial ecosystem (in snow, canopy interception, soil and litter) controls the exchange of the water and energy between the land surface and the atmosphere. Therefore, measurements of the water stored within these pools are critical for the prediction of e.g. evapotranspiration and groundwater recharge. The detection of cosmic-ray neutron intensity is a novel non-invasive method for the quantification of continuous intermediate-scale soil moisture. The footprint of the cosmic-ray neutron probe is a hemisphere of a few hectometers and subsurface depths of 10-70 cm depending on wetness. The cosmic-ray neutron method offers measurements at a scale between the point-scale measurements and large-scale satellite retrievals. The cosmic-ray neutron intensity is inversely correlated to the hydrogen stored within the footprint. Overall soil moisture represents the largest pool of hydrogen and changes in the soil moisture clearly affect the cosmic-ray neutron signal. However, the neutron intensity is also sensitive to variations of hydrogen in snow, canopy interception and biomass offering the potential to determine water content in such pools from the signal. In this study we tested the potential of determining canopy interception and biomass using cosmic-ray neutron intensity measurements within the framework of the Danish Hydrologic Observatory (HOBE) and the Terrestrial Environmental Observatories (TERENO). Continuous measurements at the ground and the canopy level, along with profile measurements were conducted at towers at forest field sites. Field experiments, including shielding the cosmic-ray neutron probes with cadmium foil (to remove lower-energy neutrons) and measuring reference intensity rates at complete water saturated conditions (on the sea close to the HOBE site), were further conducted to obtain an increased understanding of the physics controlling the cosmic-ray neutron transport and the equipment used

EXPLAINING TEV COSMIC-RAY ANISOTROPIES WITH NON-DIFFUSIVE COSMIC-RAY PROPAGATION

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Harding, J. Patrick; Fryer, Chris L.; Mendel, Susan, E-mail: jpharding@lanl.gov, E-mail: fryer@lanl.gov, E-mail: smendel@lanl.gov

2016-05-10

Constraining the behavior of cosmic ray data observed at Earth requires a precise understanding of how the cosmic rays propagate in the interstellar medium. The interstellar medium is not homogeneous; although turbulent magnetic fields dominate over large scales, small coherent regions of magnetic field exist on scales relevant to particle propagation in the nearby Galaxy. Guided propagation through a coherent field is significantly different from random particle diffusion and could be the explanation of spatial anisotropies in the observed cosmic rays. We present a Monte Carlo code to propagate cosmic particle through realistic magnetic field structures. We discuss the detailsmore » of the model as well as some preliminary studies which indicate that coherent magnetic structures are important effects in local cosmic-ray propagation, increasing the flux of cosmic rays by over two orders of magnitude at anisotropic locations on the sky. The features induced by coherent magnetic structure could be the cause of the observed TeV cosmic-ray anisotropy.« less

Cosmic archaeology with gravitational waves from cosmic strings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cui, Yanou; Lewicki, Marek; Morrissey, David E.; Wells, James D.

2018-06-01

Cosmic strings are generic cosmological predictions of many extensions of the standard model of particle physics, such as a U (1 )' symmetry-breaking phase transition in the early Universe or remnants of superstring theory. Unlike other topological defects, cosmic strings can reach a scaling regime that maintains a small fixed fraction of the total energy density of the Universe from a very early epoch until today. If present, they will oscillate and generate gravitational waves with a frequency spectrum that imprints the dominant sources of total cosmic energy density throughout the history of the Universe. We demonstrate that current and future gravitational wave detectors, such as LIGO and LISA, could be capable of measuring the frequency spectrum of gravitational waves from cosmic strings and discerning the energy composition of the Universe at times well before primordial nucleosynthesis and the cosmic microwave background where standard cosmology has yet to be tested. This work establishes a benchmark case that gravitational waves may provide an unprecedented, powerful tool for probing the evolutionary history of the very early Universe.

Effect of serotesting with counselling on condom use and seroconversion among HIV discordant couples in Africa.

PubMed Central

Allen, S.; Tice, J.; Van de Perre, P.; Serufilira, A.; Hudes, E.; Nsengumuremyi, F.; Bogaerts, J.; Lindan, C.; Hulley, S.

1992-01-01

OBJECTIVE--To determine whether HIV testing and counselling increased condom use and decreased heterosexual transmission of HIV in discordant couples. DESIGN--Prospective study. SETTING--Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. SUBJECTS--Cohabiting couples with discordant HIV serology results. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Condom use in the couple and HIV seroconversion in the negative partners. RESULTS--60 HIV discordant couples were identified, of whom 53 were followed for an average of 2.2 years. The proportion of discordant couples using condoms increased from 4% to 57% after one year of follow up. During follow up two of the 23 HIV negative men and six of the 30 HIV negative women seroconverted (seroconversion rates of 4 and 9 per 100 person years). The rate among women was less than half that estimated for similar women in discordant couples whose partners had not been serotested. Condom use was less common among those who seroconverted (100% v 5%, p = 0.01 in men; 67% v 25%, p = 0.14 in women). CONCLUSIONS--Roughly one in seven cohabiting couples in Kigali have discordant HIV serological results. Confidential HIV serotesting with counselling caused a large increase in condom use and was associated with a lower rate of new HIV infections. HIV testing is a promising intervention for preventing the spread of HIV in African cities. PMID:1628088

Hilbert-Schmidt Measure of Pairwise Quantum Discord for Three-Qubit X States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daoud, M.; Laamara, R. Ahl; Seddik, S.

2015-10-01

The Hilbert-Schmidt distance between a mixed three-qubit state and its closest state is used to quantify the amount of pairwise quantum correlations in a tripartite system. Analytical expressions of geometric quantum discord are derived. A particular attention is devoted to two special classes of three-qubit X states. They include three-qubit states of W, GHZ and Bell type. We also discuss the monogamy property of geometric quantum discord in some mixed three-qubit systems.

Cosmic Gamma-Rays

Science.gov Websites

[Argonne Logo] [DOE Logo] Cosmic Gamma-Rays Home Publications Talks People Students Argonne > ; HEP > Cosmic Gamma-Rays Projects VERITAS Past Projects TrICE What's New CTA Cosmic Gamma-Rays The

Discordant Reporting of Nonmedical Opioid Use in a Nationally Representative Sample of US High School Seniors

PubMed Central

Palamar, Joseph J.; Shearston, Jenni A.; Cleland, Charles M.

2016-01-01

Background Nonmedical opioid use has become a major public health concern due to increases in treatment admissions, overdoses, and deaths. Use has also been linked to heroin initiation. Reliable data on nonmedical opioid use is needed to continue to inform prevention. Objective To determine the prevalence and correlates of discordant self-reports of nonmedical use of opioids in a national sample. Methods Utilizing a nationally representative sample of 31,149 American high school seniors in the Monitoring the Future study (2009–2013), discordant responses between self-reported 12-month nonmedical opioid use and self-reported 12-month nonmedical Vicodin and OxyContin use (reporting Vicodin/OxyContin use, but not reporting “opioid” use) were assessed. We also determined characteristics of students who were most likely to provide a discordant response. Results 37.1% of those reporting nonmedical Vicodin use and 28.2% of those reporting nonmedical OxyContin use did not report overall nonmedical opioid use. Prevalence of nonmedical opioid use (8.3%) would increase when factoring in Vicodin, OxyContin, or both, by 2.8%, 1.3%, and 3.3%, respectively. Females were more likely to provide a discordant response for Vicodin and highly religious students were more likely to provide a discordant response regarding OxyContin use. Those who reported cocaine or nonmedical tranquilizer use were at consistently low odds for discordant responses. Nonmedical amphetamine users were at low odds for providing a discordant Vicodin response. Conclusion Prevalence of nonmedical opioid use may be underreported on some surveys, particularly among specific subpopulations. Further research on the affect of question order and skip-patterns (e.g., “gate” questions) is needed. PMID:27315427

Cosmic-ray physics with the milagro gamma-ray observatory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sinnis, Gus

2008-01-01

The Milagro gamma-ray observatory is a water Cherenkov detector with an energy response between 100 GeV and 100 TeV. While the major scientific goals of Milagro were to detect and study cosmic sources of TeV gamma rays, Milagro has made measurements important to furthering our understanding of the cosmic radiation that pervades our Galaxy. Milagro has made the first measurement of the Galactic diffuse emission in the TeV energy band. In the Cygnus Region we measure a flux {approx}2.7 times that predicted by GALPROP. Milagro has also made measurements of the anisotropy of the arrival directions of the local cosmicmore » radiation. On large scales the measurements made by Milagro agree with those previously reported by the Tibet AS{gamma} array. However, we have also discovered a time dependence to this anisotropy, perhaps due to solar modulation. On smaller scales, {approx}10 degrees, we have detected two regions of excess. These excesses have a spectrum that is inconsistent with the local cosmic-ray spectrum.« less

Patterns of the cosmic microwave background from evolving string networks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bouchet, Francois R.; Bennett, David P.; Stebbins, Albert

1988-01-01

A network of cosmic strings generated in the early universe may still exist today. As the strings move across the sky, they produce, by gravitational lensing, a characteristic pattern of anisotropies in the temperature of the cosmic microwave background. The observed absence of such anisotropies places constraints on theories in which galaxy formation is seeded by strings, but it is anticipated that the next generation of experiments will detect them.

Measuring the Cosmic Particle Radiation from electrons to actinides - HNX/TIGERISS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mitchell, John

2017-01-01

The Heavy Nuclei eXplorer (HNX) mission will measure the abundances of nuclei from Carbon (Z =6) to Curium (Z =96) in the cosmic radiation with the resolution to identify the atomic number of each detected nucleus. HNX will measure a significant number of actinides. HNX utilizes two high-precision instruments, the Extremely-heavy Cosmic-ray Composition Observer (ECCO) and the Cosmic-Ray Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder (CosmicTIGER), located in a SpaceX DragonLab capsule orbiting the Earth. This talk will discuss the motivating science, the HNX mission, the design and performance of the HNX instruments, and another new instrument, TIGERISS (Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder on the ISS), that will be proposed as an intermediate between SuperTIGER and HNX.

Development of AACAP practice parameters for gender nonconformity and gender discordance in children and adolescents.

PubMed

Adelson, Stewart L

2011-10-01

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) is preparing a publication, Practice Parameter on Gay, Lesbian or Bisexual Sexual Orientation, Gender-Nonconformity, and Gender Discordance in Children and Adolescents. This article discusses the development of the part of the parameter related to gender nonconformity and gender discordance and describes the practice parameter preparation process,rationale, key scientific evidence, and methodology. Also discussed are terminology considerations, related clinical issues and practice skills, and overall organization of information including influences on gender development, gender role behavior, gender nonconformity and gender discordance, and their relationship to the development of sexual orientation.

Achieving 95% cross-methodological concordance in HER2 testing: causes and implications of discordant cases.

PubMed

Grimm, Erin E; Schmidt, Rodney A; Swanson, Paul E; Dintzis, Suzanne M; Allison, Kimberly H

2010-08-01

We were interested in determining our concordance between fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and a previously validated immunohistochemical HER2 assay to identify possible reasons for discordance and to determine if all reasons for discordance were addressed by the American Society of Clinical Oncology/College of American Pathologists guidelines. We reviewed 697 cases (2004-2007) in which HER2 immunohistochemical and FISH testing were concurrently done. Overall concordance between nonequivocal immunohistochemical and FISH results was 96%. Of the 19 discordant cases, 13 (68%) were interpreted as positive immunohistochemically but negative by FISH. The primary reason for this discordance was immunohistochemical interpretation. Weak stain intensity, granular staining, and interpretation in areas of crush artifact were identified as the most common issues. Of the 6 cases interpreted as immunohistochemically negative and FISH-positive, 2 were from patients known to be receiving trastuzumab at the time of biopsy, 1 was very close to the FISH equivocal category, and 4 cases had fewer than 1.5 CEP17 signals per cell (1 patient in this group was also receiving trastuzumab). Focusing on issues with HER2 immunohistochemical interpretation can improve concordance rates for immunohistochemically positive cases, but biologic reasons may explain some discordant immunohistochemically negative cases.

Quantifying cosmic variance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Driver, Simon P.; Robotham, Aaron S. G.

2010-10-01

We determine an expression for the cosmic variance of any `normal' galaxy survey based on examination of M* +/- 1 mag galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7 (DR7) data cube. We find that cosmic variance will depend on a number of factors principally: total survey volume, survey aspect ratio and whether the area surveyed is contiguous or comprising independent sightlines. As a rule of thumb cosmic variance falls below 10 per cent once a volume of 107h-30.7Mpc3 is surveyed for a single contiguous region with a 1:1 aspect ratio. Cosmic variance will be lower for higher aspect ratios and/or non-contiguous surveys. Extrapolating outside our test region we infer that cosmic variance in the entire SDSS DR7 main survey region is ~7 per cent to z < 0.1. The equation obtained from the SDSS DR7 region can be generalized to estimate the cosmic variance for any density measurement determined from normal galaxies (e.g. luminosity densities, stellar mass densities and cosmic star formation rates) within the volume range 103-107h-30.7Mpc3. We apply our equation to show that two sightlines are required to ensure that cosmic variance is <10 per cent in any ASKAP galaxy survey (divided into Δ z ~ 0.1 intervals, i.e. ~1Gyr intervals for z < 0.5). Likewise 10 MeerKAT sightlines will be required to meet the same conditions. GAMA, VVDS and zCOSMOS all suffer less than 10 per cent cosmic variance (~3-8 per cent) in Δ z intervals of 0.1, 0.25 and 0.5, respectively. Finally we show that cosmic variance is potentially at the 50-70 per cent level, or greater, in the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Ultra Deep Field depending on assumptions as to the evolution of clustering. 100 or 10 independent sightlines will be required to reduce cosmic variance to a manageable level (<10 per cent) for HST ACS or HST WFC3 surveys, respectively (in Δ z ~ 1 intervals). Cosmic variance is therefore a significant factor in the z > 6 HST studies currently underway.

Cannabis Involvement and Nonsuicidal Self-Injury: A Discordant Twin Approach.

PubMed

Few, Lauren R; Grant, Julia D; Nelson, Elliot C; Trull, Timothy J; Grucza, Richard A; Bucholz, Kathleen K; Verweij, Karin J H; Martin, Nicholas G; Statham, Dixie J; Madden, Pamela A F; Heath, Andrew C; Lynskey, Michael T; Agrawal, Arpana

2016-11-01

Cannabis use, particularly at an early age, has been linked to suicidal thoughts and behavior, but minimal work has examined the association between cannabis use and lifetime nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). The current study aims to characterize the overlap between lifetime and early cannabis use and NSSI and to examine genetic and environmental mechanisms of this association. Adult male and female twins from the Australian Twin Registry (N = 9,583) were used to examine the odds of NSSI associated with lifetime cannabis use and early cannabis use (i.e., <17 years of age). These associations were also examined within monozygotic (MZ) twins discordant for cannabis use and MZ twins discordant for early cannabis use. Analyses were replicated in an independent sample of female twins (n = 3,787) accounting for the age at onset of cannabis use and NSSI. Lifetime cannabis use (odds ratio [OR] = 2.84, 95% CI [2.23, 3.61]) and early cannabis use were associated with increased odds of NSSI (OR = 2.15, 95% CI [1.75, 2.65]), and this association remained when accounting for covariates. The association was only significant, however, in MZ twin pairs discordant for early cannabis use (OR = 3.20, 95% CI [1.17, 8.73]). Replication analyses accounting for the temporal ordering of cannabis use and NSSI yielded similar findings of nominal significance. Results suggest that NSSI is associated with cannabis involvement via differing mechanisms. For lifetime cannabis use, the lack of association in discordant pairs suggests the role of shared genes and family environment. However, in addition to such shared familial influences, person-specific and putatively causal factors contribute to the relationship between early cannabis use and NSSI. Therefore, delaying the onset of cannabis use may reduce exposure to influences that exacerbate vulnerabilities to NSSI.

Advances in Interstellar and Planetary Laboratory Astrophysics with Ames’ COSmIC Facility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salama, Farid; Sciamma-O'Brien, Ella; Bejaoui, Salma

2017-06-01

The COSmIC facility was developed at NASA Ames to study interstellar, circumstellar and planetary analogs in the laboratory [1]. COSmIC stands for “Cosmic Simulation Chamber” and is dedicated to the study of neutral and ionized molecules and nanoparticles under the low temperature and high vacuum conditions that are required to simulate space environments. COSmIC integrates a variety of instruments that allow forming, processing and monitoring simulated space conditions in the laboratory. It is composed of a Pulsed Discharge Nozzle (PDN) expansion that generates a plasma in a free supersonic jet expansion coupled to high-sensitivity, complementary in situ diagnostics tools, used for the detection and characterization of the species present in the expansion: a Cavity Ring Down Spectroscopy (CRDS) and fluorescence spectroscopy systems for photonic detection and a Reflectron Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (ReTOF-MS) for mass detection [2].Recent advances achieved in laboratory astrophysics using COSmIC will be presented, in particular the advances that have been achieved in the domain of the diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) [3] and in monitoring, in the laboratory, the formation of dust grains and aerosols from their gas-phase molecular precursors in environments as varied as circumstellar outflows [4] and planetary atmospheres [5, 6]. Plans for future laboratory experiments on cosmic molecules and grains in the growing field of laboratory astrophysics (NIR-MIR CRDS, Laser Induced Fluorescence spectra of cosmic molecule analogs and the laser induced incandescence spectra of cosmic grain analogs will also be addressed as well as the implications of the on-going studies for astronomy.References: [1] Salama F., In Organic Matter in Space, IAU S251, Kwok & Sandford eds.CUP, 4, 357 (2008).[2] Ricketts C., Contreras C., Walker, R., Salama F., Int. J. Mass Spec, 300, 26 (2011)[3] Salama F., Galazutdinov G., Krelowski J., Biennier L., Beletsky Y., In-Ok Song, The

A high-resolution study of ultra-heavy cosmic-ray nuclei (A0178)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Osullivan, D.; Thompson, A.; Oceallaigh, C.; Domingo, V.; Wenzel, K. P.

1984-01-01

The main objective of the experiment is a detailed study of the charge spectra of ultraheavy cosmic-ray nuclei from zinc (Z = 30) to uranium (Z = 92) and beyond using solid-state track detectors. Special emphasis will be placed on the relative abundances in the region Z or - 65, which is thought to be dominated by r-process nucleosynthesis. Subsidiary objectives include the study of the cosmic-ray transiron spectrum a search for the postulated long-lived superheavy (SH) nuclei (Z or = 110), such as (110) SH294, in the contemporary cosmic radiation. The motivation behind the search for super-heavy nuclei is based on predicted half-lives that are short compared to the age of the Earth but long compared to the age of cosmic rays. The detection of such nuclei would have far-reaching consequences for nuclear structure theory. The sample of ultraheavy nuclei obtained in this experiment will provide unique opportunities for many tests concerning element nucleosynthesis, cosmic-ray acceleration, and cosmic-ray propagation.

Detection of High Energy Cosmic Rays with Advanced Thin Ionization Calorimeter, ATIC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Adams, J. H.; Ahn, E. J.; Ahn, H. S.; Bashindzhagyan, G.; Case, G.; Chang, J.; Christl, M.; Ellison, S.; Fazely, A. R.; Ganel, O.

2002-01-01

The author presents preliminary results of the first flight of the Advanced Thin Ionization Calorimeter (ATIC). ATIC is a multiple, long duration balloon flight, investigation for the study of cosmic ray spectra from below 50 GeV to near 100 TeV total energy, using a fully active Bismuth Germanate (BGO) calorimeter. It is equipped with the first large area mosaic of small fully depleted silicon detector pads capable of charge identification of cosmic rays from H to Fe. As a redundancy check for the charge identification and a coarse particle tracking system, three projective layers of x-y scintillator hodoscopes were employed, above, in the center and below a Carbon interaction 'target'.

The road not taken: life experiences in monozygotic twin pairs discordant for major depression

PubMed Central

Kendler, KS; Halberstadt, LJ

2012-01-01

In an effort to understand how environmental experiences contribute to risk for major depression (MD), we conducted joint autobiographical interviews with 14 pairs of monozygotic twins (mean age 51.2) rigorously discordant for a lifetime history of MD. Twelve of the pairs could be sorted into four broad categories. In two pairs, discordance was associated with a single traumatic event occurring to the affected twin. In seven pairs, the well twin had one stable, long-term, successful romantic relationship, whereas the affected co-twin had romantic reversals one or more of which precipitated depressive episodes. These pairs varied in the degree to which the romantic problems seemed to arise from bad luck or poor choices. In one pair, occupational difficulties were strongly related to discordance in experiences with MD. In two pairs, several mechanisms seemed to be at work. Discordance in the quality of intimate love relationships was the most common etiological factor revealed by interview in these discordant pairs, with single dramatic events and occupational problems being considerably rarer. Even in this best of natural experiments, the causal interrelationship between personality, environment and depressive episodes was not always clear. Many pairs illustrated the protective effects of planfulness and the malignant effect of cumulative continuity where early difficulties in relationships shaped the subsequent life course. These results speak both to the importance of environmental influences on human well-being and psychopathology, and the complexity of the causal paths underlying their effects. PMID:22641178

NASA Ames’ COSmIC Laboratory Astrophysics Facility: Recent Results and Progress

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salama, Farid; Sciamma-O'Brien, Ella; Bejaoui, Salma

2018-06-01

The COSmIC facility was developed at NASA Ames to study interstellar, circumstellar and planetary analogs in the laboratory [1, 2]. COSmIC stands for “Cosmic Simulation Chamber” and is dedicated to the study of molecules, ions and nanoparticles under the low temperature and high vacuum conditions that are required to simulate space environments. COSmIC integrates a variety of instruments that allow generating; processing and monitoring simulated space conditions in the laboratory. It is composed of a Pulsed Discharge Nozzle expansion that generates a plasma in a free supersonic jet expansion coupled to high-sensitivity, complementary in situ diagnostic tools, used for the detection and characterization of the species present in the expansion: a Cavity Ring Down Spectroscopy (CRDS) and fluorescence spectroscopy systems for photonic detection, and a Reflectron Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (ReTOF-MS) for mass detection [3, 4].Recent advances achieved in laboratory astrophysics using COSmIC will be presented, in particular in the domain of the diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) [5, 6] and the monitoring, in the laboratory, of the formation of dust grains and aerosols from their gas-phase molecular precursors in environments as varied as circumstellar outflows [7] and planetary atmospheres [8, 9, 10]. Plans for future laboratory experiments on cosmic molecules and grains in the growing field of laboratory astrophysics (NIR-MIR CRDS, Laser Induced Fluorescence spectra of cosmic molecule analogs and the laser induced incandescence spectra of cosmic grain analogs) will also be addressed as well as the implications for astronomy.References: [1] Salama F., Proceed. IAU S251, Kwok & Sandford eds. CUP, 4, 357 (2008).[2] Salama F., et al., Proceed. IAU S332, Y. Aikawa, M. Cunningham, T. Millar, eds., CUP (2018)[3] Biennier L., et al., J. Chem. Phys., 118, 7863 (2003)[4] Ricketts C. et al. IJMS, 300, 26 (2011)[5] Salama F., et al., ApJ., 728, 154 (2011)[6] EDIBLES

Complementarity of quantum discord and classically accessible information

DOE PAGES

Zwolak, Michael P.; Zurek, Wojciech H.

2013-05-20

The sum of the Holevo quantity (that bounds the capacity of quantum channels to transmit classical information about an observable) and the quantum discord (a measure of the quantumness of correlations of that observable) yields an observable-independent total given by the quantum mutual information. This split naturally delineates information about quantum systems accessible to observers – information that is redundantly transmitted by the environment – while showing that it is maximized for the quasi-classical pointer observable. Other observables are accessible only via correlations with the pointer observable. In addition, we prove an anti-symmetry property relating accessible information and discord. Itmore » shows that information becomes objective – accessible to many observers – only as quantum information is relegated to correlations with the global environment, and, therefore, locally inaccessible. Lastly, the resulting complementarity explains why, in a quantum Universe, we perceive objective classical reality while flagrantly quantum superpositions are out of reach.« less

Catching Cosmic Rays with a DSLR

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sibbernsen, Kendra

2010-01-01

Cosmic rays are high-energy particles from outer space that continually strike the Earth's atmosphere and produce cascades of secondary particles, which reach the surface of the Earth, mainly in the form of muons. These particles can be detected with scintillator detectors, Geiger counters, cloud chambers, and also can be recorded with commonly…

Discordant reporting of nonmedical opioid use in a nationally representative sample of US high school seniors.

PubMed

Palamar, Joseph J; Shearston, Jenni A; Cleland, Charles M

2016-09-01

Nonmedical opioid use has become a major public health concern due to increases in treatment admissions, overdoses, and deaths. Use has also been linked to heroin initiation. Reliable data on nonmedical opioid use are needed to continue to inform prevention. To determine the prevalence and correlates of discordant self-report of nonmedical use of opioids in a national sample. Utilizing a nationally representative sample of 31,149 American high school seniors in the Monitoring the Future study (2009-2013), discordant responses between self-reported 12-month nonmedical opioid use and self-reported 12-month nonmedical Vicodin and OxyContin use (reporting Vicodin/OxyContin use, but not reporting "opioid" use) were assessed. We also used multivariable logistic regression to determine the characteristics of students who were most likely to provide a discordant response. 37.1% of those reporting nonmedical Vicodin use and 28.2% of those reporting nonmedical OxyContin use did not report overall nonmedical opioid use. Prevalence of nonmedical opioid use (8.3%) would increase when factoring in Vicodin, OxyContin, or both, by 2.8%, 1.3%, and 3.3%, respectively. Females were more likely to provide a discordant response to Vicodin and highly religious students were more likely to provide a discordant response regarding OxyContin use. Those who reported cocaine or nonmedical tranquilizer use were at consistently low odds for discordant responses. Nonmedical amphetamine users were at low odds for providing a discordant Vicodin response. Prevalence of nonmedical opioid use may be underreported on some surveys, particularly among specific subpopulations. Further research on the effect of question order and skip-patterns (e.g., "gate" questions) is needed. Reliable data on nonmedical opioid use are needed to continue to accurately inform prevention.

Cosmic void clumps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lares, M.; Luparello, H. E.; Garcia Lambas, D.; Ruiz, A. N.; Ceccarelli, L.; Paz, D.

2017-10-01

Cosmic voids are of great interest given their relation to the large scale distribution of mass and the way they trace cosmic flows shaping the cosmic web. Here we show that the distribution of voids has, in consonance with the distribution of mass, a characteristic scale at which void pairs are preferentially located. We identify clumps of voids with similar environments and use them to define second order underdensities. Also, we characterize its properties and analyze its impact on the cosmic microwave background.

Clinicopathological concordance and discordance in three monozygotic twin pairs with familial Alzheimer's disease

PubMed Central

Brickell, Kiri L; Leverenz, James B; Steinbart, Ellen J; Rumbaugh, Malia; Schellenberg, Gerard D; Nochlin, David; Lampe, Thomas H; Holm, Ida E; Van Deerlin, Vivianna; Yuan, Wuxing; Bird, Thomas D

2007-01-01

Aim Neuropathological examination of both individuals in a monozygotic (MZ) twin pair with Alzheimer's disease (AD) is rare, especially in the molecular genetic era. We had the opportunity to assess the concordance and discordance of clinical presentation and neuropathology in three MZ twin pairs with AD. Methods The MZ twins were identified and characterised by the University of Washington Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. We reviewed the available clinical and neuropathological records for all six cases looking specifically for concordance and discordance of clinical phenotype, neuritic amyloid plaques (NP), neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) and Lewy related pathology (LRP). Results Discordance in age of onset for developing AD in the MZ twins varied from 4 to 18 years. Clinical presentations also differed between twins. One twin presented with a dementia with Lewy Body clinical syndrome while the other presented with typical clinical AD. Neuropathology within the MZ twin pairs was concordant for NP and NFT, regardless of duration of disease, and was discordant for LRP. This difference was most marked in the late onset AD twin pair. One pair was found to have a mutation in presenilin‐1 (PS1) (A79V) with remarkably late onset in a family member. Conclusions MZ twins with AD can vary considerably in age of onset, presentation and disease duration. The concordance of NP and NFT pathological change and the discordance of LRP support the concept that, in AD, the former are primarily under genetic control whereas the latter (LRP) is more influenced by disease duration and environmental factors. The A79V mutation in PS1 can be associated with very late onset of dementia. PMID:17615170

Exploring the Galactic Cosmic Rays at the lowest energies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shapiro, M. M.

2001-08-01

The solar wind prevents the lowest-energy Galactic cosmic rays (GCR) from entering the Heliosphere. Consequently, space probes have thus far been unable to sample them. We suggest that astrochemistry may provide a handle on these particles. Clouds in the interstellar medium (ISM) are sites of chemical-reaction networks that produce various molecular species detectable by their radioastronomical signatures. Highly ionizing low-energy cosmic rays are thought to be the principal agents of molecule production in clouds. Some anomalous abundances, e.g., of deuterium molecules, have been detected. Could studies of the foregoing networks of reactions and their products yield clues to the fluxes and energy spectra of the lowest-energy GCR in the ISM? Other approaches to this problem are also cited.

Unveiling the Synchrotron Cosmic Web: Pilot Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brown, Shea; Rudnick, Lawrence; Pfrommer, Christoph; Jones, Thomas

2011-10-01

The overall goal of this project is to challenge our current theoretical understanding of the relativistic particle populations in the inter-galactic medium (IGM) through deep 1.4 GHz observations of 13 massive, high-redshift clusters of galaxies. Designed to compliment/extend the GMRT radio halo survey (Venturi et al. 2007), these observations will attempt to detect the peaks of the purported synchrotron cosmic-web, and place serious limits on models of CR acceleration and magnetic field amplification during large-scale structure formation. The primary goals of this survey are: 1) Confirm the bi-modal nature of the radio halo population, which favors turbulent re-acceleration of cosmic-ray electrons (CRe) during cluster mergers as the source of the diffuse radio emission; 2) Directly test hadronic secondary models which predict the presence of cosmic-ray protons (CRp) in the cores of massive X-ray clusters; 3) Search in polarization for shock structures, a potential source of CR acceleration in the IGM.

The association between weight gain during pregnancy and intertwin delivery weight discordance using 2011-2015 birth registration data from the USA.

PubMed

Xiao, Yanni; Shen, Minxue; Ma, Shujuan; Tao, Xuan; Wen, Shi Wu; Tan, Hongzhuan

2018-06-01

To assess the effect of weight gain during pregnancy on intertwin delivery weight discordance. In the present retrospective cohort study using twin delivery records, data were extracted from the 2011-2015 USA birth registration dataset created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The outcome variable was delivery weight discordance. The nonlinear association of weight gain during pregnancy with delivery weight discordance was examined using a generalized additive model, adjusting for potential confounders. A total of 255 627 twin pairs were included in this analysis. Weight gain during pregnancy showed an inverse, yet nonlinear, association with intertwin delivery weight discordance. Women with weight gain of approximately 25 kg exhibited the lowest level of discordance. When stratified by pre-pregnancy body mass index, the association of weight gain with discordance became insignificant among obese women. When categorizing weight gain according to recommendations from the Institute of Medicine, inadequate weight gain was associated with increased risk of discordance among women of any pre-pregnancy body mass index. Twin pregnancies with maternal weight gain of approximately 25 kg demonstrated the lowest risk of developing intertwin delivery weight discordance, while inadequate weight gain was a risk factor for delivery weight discordance in all pre-pregnancy body mass index categories. © 2018 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics.

Review of the Theoretical and Experimental Status of Dark Matter Identification with Cosmic-Ray Antideuterons

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Aramaki, T.; Boggs, S.; Bufalino, S.; Dal, L.; von Doetinchem, P.; Donato, F.; Fornengo, N.; Fuke, H.; Grefe, M.; Hailey, C.;

Explaining TeV cosmic-ray anisotropies with non-diffusive cosmic-ray propagation

DOE PAGES

Harding, James Patrick; Fryer, Chris Lee; Mendel, Susan Marie

2016-05-11

Constraining the behavior of cosmic ray data observed at Earth requires a precise understanding of how the cosmic rays propagate in the interstellar medium. The interstellar medium is not homogeneous; although turbulent magnetic fields dominate over large scales, small coherent regions of magnetic field exist on scales relevant to particle propagation in the nearby Galaxy. Guided propagation through a coherent field is significantly different from random particle diffusion and could be the explanation of spatial anisotropies in the observed cosmic rays. We present a Monte Carlo code to propagate cosmic particle through realistic magnetic field structures. We discuss the detailsmore » of the model as well as some preliminary studies which indicate that coherent magnetic structures are important effects in local cosmic-ray propagation, increasing the flux of cosmic rays by over two orders of magnitude at anisotropic locations on the sky. Furthermore, the features induced by coherent magnetic structure could be the cause of the observed TeV cosmic-ray anisotropy.« less

McCune-Albright syndrome in a discordant monozygotic twin.

PubMed

Peleg, Roni; Luba, Avizov; Eliakim, Alon; Israeli-Shani, Lilach; Manor, Esther; Birk, Ruth; Parvari, Ruti

2009-06-01

McCune-Albright syndrome is a sporadic disorder characterized by polystotic fibrous dysplasia, pigmented patches of skin, and endocrinological abnormalities. To compare the genetic characteristics of the GNAS1 gene in a monozygotic pair of twins, one of whom was diagnosed with MAS while the other had no indication of the syndrome. We performed a molecular analysis of the GNAS1 gene in DNA extracted from peripheral blood cells and quantification of mRNA extracted from lymphoblastoid cells from both twins by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Monozygosity of the twins was confirmed by typing them to four highly polymorphic microsatellites. Molecular analysis of the GNAS1 gene extracted from both twins did not reveal the cause of this discordance. It is possible that the exact molecular mechanism for the MAS discordance can only be determined by sampling affected tissues.

Anisotropy in the Arrival Directions of Ultrahigh-Energy Cosmic Rays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Villaseñor, Luis

2017-06-01

In this article we illustrate, in an interactive way, the analysis and visualization of anisotropy properties in the arrival directions of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays detected by the Telescope Array and the Pierre Auger experiments by using data released by both collaborations. We describe the use of several programs that we have written in Python and Julia languages for this purpose. We also discuss the potential sources and analyse the effect of correcting the arrival directions to take into account the deflections of the cosmic rays by the magnetic field of our galaxy for one specific model of the galactic magnetic field under several assumptions about the composition of the primary cosmic rays.

Development of an Interferometric Phased Array Trigger for Balloon-Borne Detection of the Highest Energy Cosmic Particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vieregg, Abigail

interferometric phased array trigger for these impulsive radio detectors, a new type of trigger that will improve sensitivity substantially and expedite the discovery of the highest energy particles in our universe. We have developed an 8- channel interferometric trigger board for ground-based applications that will be deployed in December 2017 with the ground-based Askaryan Radio Array (ARA) experiment at the South Pole. Preliminary Monte Carlo simulations indicate that the cosmogenic neutrino event rate will go up by a factor of 3 with the new trigger. The true power of the interferometric trigger is in scaling to large numbers of channels, and the discovery space that is only available from a balloon platform at the highest energies is extremely appealing. We will build on and extend the NASA investment in the ANITA Long Duration Balloon (LDB) mission and the many other complementary particle astrophysics LDB missions by developing the electronics required to bring a large-scale radio interferometric trigger to a balloon platform, extending the scientific reach of any future LDB or Super Pressure Balloon (SPB) mission for radio detection of the highest energy cosmic particles. We will develop an interferometric trigger system that is scalable to O(100) channels and suitable for use on a balloon platform. Under this proposal, we will: 1) Design and fabricate interferometric trigger hardware for balloon-borne cosmic particle detectors that is scalable to large numbers of channels O(100) by reducing the power consumption per channel, increasing the number of channels per board, and developing high-speed communication capability between boards. 2) Perform a trade study and inform design decisions for future balloon missions by further developing our Monte Carlo simulation and adapting it to balloon geometries.

Recent Progress in Laboratory Astrophysics and Astrochemistry Achieved with the COSmIC Facility

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Salama, Farid; Sciamma-O'Brien, Ella; Bejaoui, Salma

2017-01-01

We describe the characteristics and the capabilities of the laboratory facility, COSmIC, that was developed at NASA Ames to generate, process and analyze interstellar, circumstellar and planetary analogs in the laboratory. COSmIC stands for "Cosmic Simulation Chamber" and is dedicated to the study of neutral and ionized molecules and nanoparticles under the low temperature and high vacuum conditions that are required to simulate various space environments such as diffuse interstellar clouds, circumstellar outflows and planetary atmospheres. COSmIC integrates a variety of state-of-the-art instruments that allow recreating simulated space conditions to generate, process and monitor cosmic analogs in the laboratory. The COSmIC experimental setup is composed of a Pulsed Discharge Nozzle (PDN) expansion, that generates a plasma in the stream of a free supersonic jet expansion, coupled to high-sensitivity, complementary in situ diagnostics: cavity ring down spectroscopy (CRDS) and laser induced fluorescence (LIF) systems for photonic detection, and Reflectron Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (ReTOF-MS) for mass detection. Recent results obtained using COSmIC will be highlighted. In particular, the progress that has been achieved in the domain of the diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) and in monitoring, in the laboratory, the formation of circumstellar dust grains and planetary atmosphere aerosols from their gas-phase molecular precursors. Plans for future laboratory experiments on interstellar and planetary molecules and grains will also be addressed, as well as the implications of the studies underway for astronomical observations and past and future space mission data analysis.

A Detector for Cosmic Microwave Background Polarimetry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wollack, E.; Cao, N.; Chuss, D.; Hsieh, W.-T.; Moseley, S. Harvey; Stevenson, T.; U-yen, K.

2008-01-01

We present preliminary design and development work on polarized detectors intended to enable Cosmic Microwave Background polarization measurements that will probe the first moments of the universe. The ultimate measurement will be challenging, requiring background-limited detectors and good control of systematic errors. Toward this end, we are integrating the beam control of HE-11 feedhorns with the sensitivity of transition-edge sensors. The coupling between these two devices is achieved via waveguide probe antennas and superconducting microstrip lines. This implementation allows band-pass filters to be incorporated on the detector chip. We believe that a large collection of single-mode polarized detectors will eventually be required for the reliable detection of the weak polarized signature that is expected to result from gravitational waves produced by cosmic inflation. This focal plane prototype is an important step along the path to this detection, resulting in a capability that will enable various future high performance instrument concepts.

HIV Sero-discordance and dual contraceptive method use among HIV-infected men and women in Lilongwe, Malawi.

PubMed

Gausi, Blessings; Chagomerana, Maganizo B; Tang, Jennifer H; Haddad, Lisa B; Hosseinipour, Mina C; Tweya, Hannock; Phiri, Sam

2018-05-31

Some HIV sero-discordant couples are faced with the dual challenge of preventing HIV transmission to the uninfected partner and avoiding unintended pregnancy. Therefore, we hypothesized that sero-discordance is associated with dual method use at last sex. We analyzed data from a cross-sectional survey of HIV-infected men and women attending 2 ART clinics in Lilongwe, Malawi. We used Fisher's exact test and Wilcoxon rank sum to assess for associations between sero-discordance, covariates, and dual method use. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate the adjusted odds ratio (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of dual method use at last sex, comparing sero-discordant to sero-concordant relationships. Separate analyses were conducted for men and women. We surveyed 253 HIV infected men, of which 44 (17.4%) were in a known sero-discordant relationship and 63 (24.9%) were utilizing dual methods at last sex. Likewise, among 302 HIV infected women surveyed, 57 (18.9%) were in a known sero-discordant relationship, and 80 (26.5%) were utilizing dual method at last sex. Sero-discordance was not significantly associated with dual method use at last sex for among HIV infected men (aOR = 0.62, 95% CI: 0.27-1.44) or women (aOR = 1.21, 95% CI: 0.59-2.47). Dual method use was low among all HIV-infected individuals, irrespective of their partner's HIV status. Given these findings, we recommend greater efforts to encourage HIV providers to counsel their patients about the importance of dual method use to prevent both unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

Anomalous cosmic-microwave-background polarization and gravitational chirality.

PubMed

Contaldi, Carlo R; Magueijo, João; Smolin, Lee

2008-10-03

We consider the possibility that gravity breaks parity, with left and right-handed gravitons coupling to matter with a different Newton's constant and show that this would affect their zero-point vacuum fluctuations during inflation. Should there be a cosmic background of gravity waves, the effect would translate into anomalous cosmic microwave background polarization. Nonvanishing temperature-magnetic (TB) mode [and electric-magnetic mode] components emerge, revealing interesting experimental targets. Indeed, if reasonable chirality is present a TB measurement would provide the easiest way to detect a gravitational wave background. We speculate on the theoretical implications of such an observation.

Cosmic Rays in Thunderstorms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buitink, Stijn; Scholten, Olaf; van den Berg, Ad; Ebert, Ute

2013-04-01

Cosmic Rays in Thunderstorms Cosmic rays are protons and heavier nuclei that constantly bombard the Earth's atmosphere with energies spanning a vast range from 109 to 1021 eV. At typical altitudes up to 10-20 km they initiate large particle cascades, called extensive air showers, that contain millions to billions of secondary particles depending on their initial energy. These particles include electrons, positrons, hadrons and muons, and are concentrated in a compact particle front that propagates at relativistic speed. In addition, the shower leaves behind a trail of lower energy electrons from ionization of air molecules. Under thunderstorm conditions these electrons contribute to the electrical and ionization processes in the cloud. When the local electric field is strong enough the secondary electrons can create relativistic electron run-away avalanches [1] or even non-relativistic avalanches. Cosmic rays could even trigger lightning inception. Conversely, strong electric fields also influence the development of the air shower [2]. Extensive air showers emit a short (tens of nanoseconds) radio pulse due to deflection of the shower particles in the Earth's magnetic field [3]. Antenna arrays, such as AERA, LOFAR and LOPES detect these pulses in a frequency window of roughly 10-100 MHz. These systems are also sensitive to the radiation from discharges associated to thunderstorms, and provide a means to study the interaction of cosmic ray air showers and the electrical processes in thunderstorms [4]. In this presentation we discuss the involved radiation mechanisms and present analyses of thunderstorm data from air shower arrays [1] A. Gurevich et al., Phys. Lett. A 165, 463 (1992) [2] S. Buitink et al., Astropart. Phys. 33, 1 (2010) [3] H. Falcke et al., Nature 435, 313 (2005) [4] S. Buitink et al., Astron. & Astrophys. 467, 385 (2007)

Connecting blazars with ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays and astrophysical neutrinos

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Resconi, E.; Coenders, S.; Padovani, P.; Giommi, P.; Caccianiga, L.

2017-06-01

We present a strong hint of a connection between high-energy γ-ray emitting blazars, very high energy neutrinos, and ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays. We first identify potential hadronic sources by filtering γ-ray emitters in spatial coincidence with the high-energy neutrinos detected by IceCube. The neutrino filtered γ-ray emitters are then correlated with the ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays from the Pierre Auger Observatory and the Telescope Array by scanning in γ-ray flux (Fγ) and angular separation (θ) between sources and cosmic rays. A maximal excess of 80 cosmic rays (42.5 expected) is found at θ ≤ 10° from the neutrino-filtered γ-ray emitters selected from the second hard Fermi-LAT catalogue (2FHL) and for Fγ(>50 GeV) ≥ 1.8 × 10-11 ph cm-2 s-1. The probability for this to happen is 2.4 × 10-5, which translates to ˜2.4 × 10-3 after compensation for all the considered trials. No excess of cosmic rays is instead observed for the complement sample of γ-ray emitters (I.e. not in spatial connection with IceCube neutrinos). A likelihood ratio test comparing the connection between the neutrino-filtered and the complement source samples with the cosmic rays favours a connection between neutrino-filtered emitters and cosmic rays with a probability of ˜1.8 × 10-3 (2.9σ) after compensation for all the considered trials. The neutrino-filtered γ-ray sources that make up the cosmic rays excess are blazars of the high synchrotron peak type. More statistics is needed to further investigate these sources as candidate cosmic ray and neutrino emitters.

Cosmic Ray Flux Measurement with AMANDA-II

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chirkin, Dmitry A.; AMANDA Collaboration

2003-07-01

AMANDA-I I is a neutrino telescope composed of 677 optical sensors organized along 19 strings buried deep in the Antarctic ice cap. It is designed to detect Cherenkov light produced by cosmic-rayand neutrino-induced muons. The ma jority of events recorded by AMANDA-I I are caused by muons which are produced in the atmosphere by high-energy cosmic rays. The leading uncertainties in simulating such events come from the choice of the high-energy model used to describe the first interaction of the cosmic rays, uncertainties in our knowledge and implementation of the ice properties at the depth of the detector, and individual optical module sensitivities. A method is developed that results in a flux measurement of cosmic rays with energies 1.5-200 TeV per nucleon (95% of primaries causing low-multiplicity events in AMANDA-I I have energies in this range) indep endent of ice model and optical module sensitivities. Predictions of six commonly-used high-energy interaction models QGSJET, VENUS, NEXUS, DPMJET, HDPM, and SYBILL are compared to data. Best agreement with direct measurements is achieved with QGSJET, VENUS, and NEXUS (preliminary: Φ0,H = 0.106 ± 0.007 m-2 s-1 sr-1 TeV-1 , γH = 2.70 ± 0.02).

CosmicSIG science and plans

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olinto, Angela V.

2014-03-01

Recent activities of the Cosmic Ray Science Interest Group (CosmicSIG) of the Physics of the Cosmos PAG will be reviewed. CosmicSIG was formed to provide an assessment to NASA HQ and the PCOS program office of the status of current and future missions in the area of cosmic-ray astrophysics. CosmicSIG also strives to act as a focal point and forum for the cosmic ray community.

Diagnosing TB infection in children: analysis of discordances using in vitro tests and the tuberculin skin test.

PubMed

Altet-Gómez, N; De Souza-Galvao, M; Latorre, I; Milà, C; Jiménez, M A; Solsona, J; Cantos, A; Zamora, J J; Ruiz-Manzano, J; Ausina, V; Domínguez, J

2011-05-01

The aim of the present study was to compare the performance of the interferon (IFN)-γ tests (QuantiFERON®-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-G-IT) and T-SPOT®.TB) with the tuberculin skin test (TST) in diagnosing tuberculosis (TB) infection in children, and to analyse discordant results. This was a prospective study including 98 children from contact-tracing studies and 68 children with TST indurations ≥ 5 mm recruited during public health screenings. Positive IFN-γ tests results were associated with risk of exposure (p<0.0001). T-SPOT.TB was positive in 11 (78.6%) out of 14 cases with active TB and QFT-G-IT in nine (64.3%) out of 14 cases. Sensitised T-cells against Mycobacterium avium were detected in six out of 12 children not vaccinated with bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG), a TST induration 5-9 mm in diameter and both IFN-γ tests negative. In concordant IFN-γ tests results, a positive correlation was found (p = 0.0001) between the number of responding cells and the amount of IFN-γ released. However, in discordant IFN-γ tests results this correlation was negative (p = 0.371): an increase in the number of spot-forming cells correlated with a decrease in the amount of IFN-γ released. The use of IFN-γ tests is helpful for the diagnosis of TB infection, avoiding cross-reactions with BCG immunisation and nontuberculous mycobacterial infections. The analysis of highly discordant results requires further investigation to elucidate possible clinical implications.

Cosmic PeV neutrinos and the sources of ultrahigh energy protons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kistler, Matthew D.; Stanev, Todor; Yüksel, Hasan

2014-12-01

The IceCube experiment recently detected the first flux of high-energy neutrinos in excess of atmospheric backgrounds. We examine whether these neutrinos originate from within the same extragalactic sources as ultrahigh energy cosmic rays. Starting from rather general assumptions about spectra and flavors, we find that producing a neutrino flux at the requisite level through pion photoproduction leads to a flux of protons well below the cosmic-ray data at ˜1 018 eV , where the composition is light, unless pions/muons cool before decaying. This suggests a dominant class of accelerator that allows for cosmic rays to escape without significant neutrino yields.

Calculation of Cosmic Ray Induced Single Event Upsets: Program CRUP, Cosmic Ray Upset Program

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-09-14

1.., 0 .j ~ u M ~ t R A’- ~~ ’ .~ ; I .: ’ 1 J., ) ’- CALCULATION OF COSMIC RAY INDUCED SINGLE EVEI’o"T UPSETS: PROGRAM CRUP , COSMIC RAY UPSET...neceuety end Identity by blo..;k number) 0Thls report documents PROGR.Al\\1 CRUP , COSMIC RAY UPSET PROGRAM. The computer program calculates cosmic...34. » » •-, " 1 » V »1T"~ Calculation of Cosmic Ray Induced Single Event Upsets: PROGRAM CRUP , COSMIC RAY UPSET PROGRAM I. INTRODUCTION Since the

Dosimeter design, construction, and implantation. [for recording HZE cosmic particle tracks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Winter, D. L.; Suri, K.; Durso, J. A.; Cota, F. L.; Ashley, W. W.; Binnard, R. M.; Haymaker, W.; Benton, E. V.; Cruty, M. R.; Zeman, W.

1975-01-01

To detect the passage of cosmic ray particles through the heads of the pocket mice during the Apollo XVII flight, a 'monitor' (dosimeter) composed of plastics was prepared and implanted under the scalp. The monitor was mounted on a platform, the undersurface of which fitted the contour of the skull. Numerous tests were run to assure that the presence of the monitor assembly beneath the scalp would be compatible with the well-being of the mice and that the capacity of the monitor to detect the traversal of cosmic ray particles would be preserved over the several weeks during which it would remain under the scalp.

Influence of acquired obesity on coronary vessel wall late gadolinium enhancement in discordant monozygote twins.

PubMed

Makowski, Marcus R; Jansen, Christian H P; Ebersberger, Ullrich; Schaeffter, Tobias; Razavi, Reza; Mangino, Massimo; Spector, Tim D; Botnar, Rene M; Greil, Gerald F

2017-11-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of BMI on late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) of the coronary artery wall in identical monozygous twins discordant for BMI. Coronary LGE represents a useful parameter for the detection and quantification of atherosclerotic coronary vessel wall disease. Thirteen monozygote female twin pairs (n = 26) with significantly different BMIs (>1.6 kg/m2) were recruited out of >10,000 twin pairs (TwinsUK Registry). A coronary 3D-T2prep-TFE MR angiogram and 3D-IR-TFE vessel wall scan were performed prior to and following the administration of 0.2 mmol/kg of Gd-DTPA on a 1.5 T MR scanner. The number of enhancing coronary segments and contrast to noise ratios (CNRs) of the coronary wall were quantified. An increase in BMI was associated with an increased number of enhancing coronary segments (5.3 ± 1.5 vs. 3.5 ± 1.6, p < 0.0001) and increased coronary wall enhancement (6.1 ± 1.1 vs. 4.8 ± 0.9, p = 0.0027) compared to matched twins with lower BMI. This study in monozygous twins indicates that acquired factors predisposing to obesity, including lifestyle and environmental factors, result in increased LGE of the coronary arteries, potentially reflecting an increase in coronary atherosclerosis in this female study population. • BMI-discordant twins allow the investigation of the influence of lifestyle factors independent from genetic confounders. • Only thirteen obesity-discordant twins were identified underlining the strong genetic component of BMI. • In female twins, a BMI increase is associated with increased coronary late gadolinium enhancement. • Increased late gadolinium enhancement in the coronary vessel wall potentially reflects increased atherosclerosis.

Measurement of the energy of horizontal cosmic ray muons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gettert, Michael

1993-03-01

An experiment in which the energy of cosmic ray muons is determined by measuring the electron positron pairs that they radiate off when passing through matter is described. The detector is a stack of lead converters interspersed with ionization chambers for particle detection. The chambers use as active medium the liquid tetra methyl silane (TMS). The radiated quanta initiate electromagnetic cascades in the lead and are recognized due to the characteristic shower development. The energy spectrum of horizontal muons is presented and from this the primary cosmic ray spectrum is deduced.

Cosmic Ray-Air Shower Measurement from Space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Takahashi, Yoshiyuki

1997-01-01

A feasibility study has been initiated to observe from space the highest energy cosmic rays above 1021 eV. A satellite observatory concept, the Maximum-energy Auger (Air)-Shower Satellite (MASS), is recently renamed as the Orbital Wide-angle Collector (OWL) by taking its unique feature of using a very wide field-of-view (FOV) optics. A huge array of imaging devices (about 10(exp 6) pixels) is required to detect and record fluorescent light profiles of cosmic ray cascades in the atmosphere. The FOV of MASS could extend to as large as about 60 in. diameter, which views (500 - 1000 km) of earth's surface and more than 300 - 1000 cosmic ray events per year could be observed above 1020 eV. From far above the atmosphere, the MASS/OWL satellite should be capable of observing events at all angles including near horizontal tracks, and would have considerable aperture for high energy photon and neutrino observation. With a large aperture and the spatial and temporal resolution, MASS could determine the energy spectrum, the mass composition, and arrival anisotropy of cosmic rays from 1020 eV to 1022 eV; a region hitherto not explored by ground-based detectors such as the Fly's Eye and air-shower arrays. MASS/OWL's ability to identify cosmic neutrinos and gamma rays may help providing evidence for the theory which attributes the above cut-off cosmic ray flux to the decay of topological defects. Very wide FOV optics system of MASS/OWL with a large array of imaging devices is applicable to observe other atmospheric phenomena including upper atmospheric lightning. The wide FOV MASS optics being developed can also improve ground-based gamma-ray observatories by allowing simultaneous observation of many gamma ray sources located at different constellations.

The Emergence of Cosmic Education. Spotlight: Cosmic Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trudeau, Sr. Christina Marie

2002-01-01

Discusses the influence of Hindu, Moslem, and Buddhist metaphysics on Maria Montessori's own pedagogical philosophy of Cosmic Education, which she regarded as the core of all learning experiences, after her visit to India. Considers the relationship between Montessori's ideas of child development and Cosmic Education, and the effect of Indian…

Decoherence, discord, and the quantum master equation for cosmological perturbations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hollowood, Timothy J.; McDonald, Jamie I.

2017-05-01

We examine environmental decoherence of cosmological perturbations in order to study the quantum-to-classical transition and the impact of noise on entanglement during inflation. Given an explicit interaction between the system and environment, we derive a quantum master equation for the reduced density matrix of perturbations, drawing parallels with quantum Brownian motion, where we see the emergence of fluctuation and dissipation terms. Although the master equation is not in Lindblad form, we see how typical solutions exhibit positivity on super-horizon scales, leading to a physically meaningful density matrix. This allows us to write down a Langevin equation with stochastic noise for the classical trajectories which emerge from the quantum system on super-horizon scales. In particular, we find that environmental decoherence increases in strength as modes exit the horizon, with the growth driven essentially by white noise coming from local contributions to environmental correlations. Finally, we use our master equation to quantify the strength of quantum correlations as captured by discord. We show that environmental interactions have a tendency to decrease the size of the discord and that these effects are determined by the relative strength of the expansion rate and interaction rate of the environment. We interpret this in terms of the competing effects of particle creation versus environmental fluctuations, which tend to increase and decrease the discord respectively.

Increased Expression and Altered Methylation of HERVWE1 in the Human Placentas of Smaller Fetuses from Monozygotic, Dichorionic, Discordant Twins

PubMed Central

Wang, Zilian; Luo, Yanmin; Sun, Hongyu; Zhou, Yi; Huang, Linhuan; Li, Manchao; Fang, Qun; Jiang, Shiwen

2012-01-01

Background The human endogenous retroviral family W, Env(C7), member 1 gene (HERVWE1) is thought to participate in trophoblast cell fusion, and its expression is diminished in the placentas of singleton intrauterine growth-retarded pregnancies. However, there is limited information about the role of HERVWE1 in discordant fetal growth in twins. This study was to compare HERVWE1 gene expression between the placentas of discordant monozygotic twins and to identify its regulation by methylation. Methodology/Principal Findings Fetuses from twenty-one pairs of monozygotic, dichorionic, discordant twins were marked as “smaller” or “larger” according to birth weight. Placental HERVWE1 mRNA and protein expression profiles were analyzed using quantitative RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining. Methylation profiles of the HERVWE1 promoter region were analyzed using a pyrosequencing assay. DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) transcript levels were analyzed by RT-PCR. 5-methyl cytosine (5-MC) was stained using an immunohistochemical assay. There was a significant negative correlation between HERVWE1 mRNA levels and birth weight in twins (P<0.01). Whereas the mean methylation level of the HERVWE1 promoter region was diminished in the smaller group in discordant twins(P<0.01), increased mRNA and protein levels of HERVWE1 were found in smaller fetuses compared with larger fetuses in discordant twins(P<0.01). There was no significant difference in 5-MC staining intensity between discordant twins (P>0.05). The DNMT3b3 mRNA levels in the smaller group were significantly downregulated compared with the larger group in discordant twins(P<0.05), whereas the DNMT3b7 mRNA levels in the smaller group were significantly upregulated compared with the larger group in discordant twins(P<0.05). Conclusions/Significance In discordant, monozygotic, dichorionic twins, HERVWE1 expression was higher in smaller fetuses and lower in larger fetuses. Methylation of the HERVWE1 gene promoter

Efficacy of Stochastic Vestibular Stimulation to Improve Locomotor Performance in a Discordant Sensory Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Temple, D. R.; De Dios, Y. E.; Layne, C. S.; Bloomberg, J. J.; Mulavara, A. P.

2016-01-01

Astronauts exposed to microgravity face sensorimotor challenges incurred when readapting to a gravitational environment. Sensorimotor Adaptability (SA) training has been proposed as a countermeasure to improve locomotor performance during re-adaptation, and it is suggested that the benefits of SA training may be further enhanced by improving detection of weak sensory signals via mechanisms such as stochastic resonance when a non-zero level of stochastic white noise based electrical stimulation is applied to the vestibular system (stochastic vestibular stimulation, SVS). The purpose of this study was to test the efficacy of using SVS to improve short-term adaptation in a sensory discordant environment during performance of a locomotor task.

First cosmic-ray images of bone and soft tissue

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mrdja, Dusan; Bikit, Istvan; Bikit, Kristina; Slivka, Jaroslav; Hansman, Jan; Oláh, László; Varga, Dezső

2016-11-01

More than 120 years after Roentgen's first X-ray image, the first cosmic-ray muon images of bone and soft tissue are created. The pictures, shown in the present paper, represent the first radiographies of structures of organic origin ever recorded by cosmic rays. This result is achieved by a uniquely designed, simple and versatile cosmic-ray muon-imaging system, which consists of four plastic scintillation detectors and a muon tracker. This system does not use scattering or absorption of muons in order to deduct image information, but takes advantage of the production rate of secondaries in the target materials, detected in coincidence with muons. The 2D image slices of cow femur bone are obtained at several depths along the bone axis, together with the corresponding 3D image. Real organic soft tissue, polymethyl methacrylate and water, never seen before by any other muon imaging techniques, are also registered in the images. Thus, similar imaging systems, placed around structures of organic or inorganic origin, can be used for tomographic imaging using only the omnipresent cosmic radiation.

Cosmic Dawn Intensity Mapper (CDIM): a New Probe of Cosmic Dawn and Reionization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Tzu-Ching; CDIM Team

2018-01-01

The Cosmic Dawn Intensity Mapper, CDIM, is a NASA Probe-class Mission Study currently under study. CDIM is designed to be a near-IR survey instrument optimized for Cosmic Dawn and reionization sciences, answering critical questions on how and when galaxies and quasars first formed, the history of metal build-up, and the history and topology of reionization, among other questions. CDIM will provide R=300 spectroscopic imaging over ~10 sq. degree instantaneous field of view at 1 arcsecond resolution, over the wavelength range of 0.75 to 7.5 mm. A two-tiered wedding-cake survey will consist of a shallow tier spanning close to 300 deg2 and a deep tier of about 25 deg2. CDIM survey data will allow us to (i) determine spectroscopic redshifts of WFIRST-detected Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs) out to a redshift of 10; (ii) establish the environmental dependence of star formation during reionization through clustering and other environmental measurements; (iii) establish the metal abundance of first-light galaxies during reionization over two decades of stellar mass by spectrally separating NII from Hα, and detecting both Hβ and [OIII]; (iv) measure 3D tomographic intensity fluctuations during reionization in both Lyα at z > 6 and Hα at 0 < z < 10; and (v) cross-correlating intensity fluctuations with 21-cm data to establish the topology of reionization bubbles.

Ashra Neutrino Telescope Array (NTA): Combined Imaging Observation of Astroparticles — For Clear Identification of Cosmic Accelerators and Fundamental Physics Using Cosmic Beams —

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sasaki, Makoto; Kifune, Tadashi

In VHEPA (very high energy particle astronomy) 2014 workshop, focused on the next generation explorers for the origin of cosmic rays, held in Kashiwa, Japan, reviewing and discussions were presented on the status of the observation of GeV-TeV photons, TeV-PeV neutrinos, EeV-ZeV hadrons, test of interaction models with Large Hadron Collider (LHC), and theoretical aspects of astrophysics. The acceleration sites of hadrons, i.e., sources of PeV-EeV cosmic rays, should exist in the universe within the GZK-horizon even in the remotest case. We also affirmed that the hadron acceleration mechanism correlates with cosmic ray composition so that it is important to investigate the acceleration mechanism in relevance to the composition survey at PeV-EeV energy. We regard that LHC and astrophysics theories are ready to be used to probe into hadron acceleration mechanism in the universe. Recently, IceCube has reported detection of three events of neutrinos with energies around 1 PeV and additional events at lower energies, which significantly deviate from the expected level of background events. It is necessary to observe GeV-TeV photon, EeV-ZeV hadron and TeV-PeV neutrino all together, in order to understand hadronic interactions of cosmic rays in the PeV-EeV energy region. It is required to make a step further toward exploring the PeV-EeV universe with high accuracy and high statistics observations for both neutrinos and gamma rays simultaneously, by using the instrument such as Ashra Neutrino Telescope Array (NTA). Wide and fine survey of gamma-rays and neutrinos with simultaneously detecting Cherenkov and fluorescence light with NTA will guide us to a new intriguing stage of recognizing astronomical objects and non-thermal phenomena in ultra-high energy region, in addition, new aspect about the fundamental concepts of physics beyond our presently limited understanding; the longstanding problem of cosmic ray origin, the radiation mechanism of gamma-rays, neutrino and

Measuring the Velocity of Cosmic Photons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vazquez, Gerardo Arturo

2018-01-01

The position of the JWST in space—close to the L2 point at a distance of 1.5 million kilometers from Earth—allows us a unique chance to measure the speed of cosmic photons through a double detection in two different telescopes. The speed of cosmic photons has been considered constant as a matter of principle, but in the same way, the energy lost by these photons could have a contribution due to a different nature such as dark matter. In this work, an experiment to measure the speed of photons is proposed based on the detection on two different telescopes located at a considerable distance. Some of the most important results of this experiment could be variations of the speed of light as it passes through dark matter and, as a consequence, the ability to map dark matter in the universe. Although JWST is not in the direction to measure the difference in time of 5 seconds, the fact that it can move up to a 50 arc degree angle will allow us to measure a difference in detection between 3 to 4.5 seconds. The observations needed to do this experiment should come from the detection of gamma ray bursts and then, the simultaneous detection by the sudden pointing of JWST plus a secondary telescope—on ground or in space—to catch the afterglow of the GRB in longer wavelengths. The new technology in telescopes will allow us to catch a difference in magnitude between both telescopes or even to measure single photon detection in time in order to accomplish the purpose of the experiment.

Strong Cosmic Censorship

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Isenberg, James

2017-01-01

The Hawking-Penrose theorems tell us that solutions of Einstein's equations are generally singular, in the sense of the incompleteness of causal geodesics (the paths of physical observers). These singularities might be marked by the blowup of curvature and therefore crushing tidal forces, or by the breakdown of physical determinism. Penrose has conjectured (in his `Strong Cosmic Censorship Conjecture`) that it is generically unbounded curvature that causes singularities, rather than causal breakdown. The verification that ``AVTD behavior'' (marked by the domination of time derivatives over space derivatives) is generically present in a family of solutions has proven to be a useful tool for studying model versions of Strong Cosmic Censorship in that family. I discuss some of the history of Strong Cosmic Censorship, and then discuss what is known about AVTD behavior and Strong Cosmic Censorship in families of solutions defined by varying degrees of isometry, and discuss recent results which we believe will extend this knowledge and provide new support for Strong Cosmic Censorship. I also comment on some of the recent work on ``Weak Null Singularities'', and how this relates to Strong Cosmic Censorship.

Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays: Strangelets?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Ren-Xin; Wu, Fei

2003-06-01

The conjecture that ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) are actually strangelets is discussed. Besides the reason that strangelets can do as cosmic rays beyond the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin-cutoff, another argument to support the conjecture is addressed by the study of formation of TeV-scale microscopic black holes when UHECRs bombarding bare strange stars. It is proposed that the exotic quark surface of a bare strange star could be an effective astro-laboratory in the investigations of the extra dimensions and of the detection of ultra-high-energy neutrino fluxes. The flux of neutrinos (and other point-like particles) with energy larger than 2.3×1020 eV could be expected to be smaller than 10-26 cm-2 s-1 if there are two extra spatial dimensions.

Our Cosmic Insignificance

PubMed Central

Kahane, Guy

2014-01-01

The universe that surrounds us is vast, and we are so very small. When we reflect on the vastness of the universe, our humdrum cosmic location, and the inevitable future demise of humanity, our lives can seem utterly insignificant. Many philosophers assume that such worries about our significance reflect a banal metaethical confusion. They dismiss the very idea of cosmic significance. This, I argue, is a mistake. Worries about cosmic insignificance do not express metaethical worries about objectivity or nihilism, and we can make good sense of the idea of cosmic significance and its absence. It is also possible to explain why the vastness of the universe can make us feel insignificant. This impression does turn out to be mistaken, but not for the reasons typically assumed. In fact, we might be of immense cosmic significance—though we cannot, at this point, tell whether this is the case. PMID:25729095

The origin of cosmic rays

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eichler, D.

1986-01-01

Data related to the development of cosmic rays are discussed. The relationship between cosmic ray production and the steady-state Boltzmann equation is analyzed. The importance of the power-law spectrum, the scattering rate, the theory of shock acceleration, anisotropic instabilities, and cosmic ray diffusion in the formation of cosmic rays is described. It is noted that spacecraft observations at the earth's bow shock are useful for studying cosmic rays and that the data support the collisionless shock-wave theory of cosmic ray origin.

Cosmic discordance: are Planck CMB and CFHTLenS weak lensing measurements out of tune?

DOE PAGES

MacCrann, Niall; Zuntz, Joe; Bridle, Sarah; ...

2015-06-17

We examine the level of agreement between low-redshift weak lensing data and the cosmic microwave background using measurements from the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope Lensing Survey (CFHTLenS) and Planck+Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) polarization. We perform an independent analysis of the CFHTLenS six bin tomography results of Heymans et al. We extend their systematics treatment and find the cosmological constraints to be relatively robust to the choice of non-linear modelling, extension to the intrinsic alignment model and inclusion of baryons. We find that when marginalized in the Ωm–σ8 plane, the 95 percent confidence contours of CFHTLenS and Planck+WMAP only just touch, butmore » the discrepancy is less significant in the full six-dimensional parameter space of Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM). Allowing a massive active neutrino or tensor modes does not significantly resolve the tension in the full n-dimensional parameter space. Our results differ from some in the literature because we use the full tomographic information in the weak lensing data and marginalize over systematics. We note that adding a sterile neutrino to ΛCDM brings the 2D marginalized contours into greater overlap, mainly due to the extra effective number of neutrino species, which we find to be 0.88 ± 0.43 (68 per cent) greater than standard on combining the data sets. We discuss why this is not a completely satisfactory resolution, leaving open the possibility of other new physics or observational systematics as contributing factors. We provide updated cosmology fitting functions for the CFHTLenS constraints and discuss the differences from ones used in the literature.« less

Two monozygotic twin pairs discordant for female-to-male transsexualism.

PubMed

Segal, Nancy L

2006-06-01

Two monozygotic female twin pairs discordant for transsexualism are described. These reports double the number of such case studies in the current scientific literature. Interviews with the twins and their families indicated that unusual medical and life history factors did not play causal roles. However, inspection of medical records for one transsexual twin suggested that some early life experiences may have exacerbated tendencies toward male gender identification. In both pairs, the twins' gender identity differences emerged early, consistent with, but not proof of, co-twin differences in prenatal hormonal influences. The identification of additional discordant MZ female twin pairs can advance biological and psychological understanding of transsexualism. Suggestions for future research, based upon findings from these two twin pairs and from studies of female-to-male transsexuals, are provided.

Detecting Patchy Reionization in the Cosmic Microwave Background.

PubMed

Smith, Kendrick M; Ferraro, Simone

2017-07-14

Upcoming cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments will measure temperature fluctuations on small angular scales with unprecedented precision. Small-scale CMB fluctuations are a mixture of late-time effects: gravitational lensing, Doppler shifting of CMB photons by moving electrons [the kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (KSZ) effect], and residual foregrounds. We propose a new statistic which separates the KSZ signal from the others, and also allows the KSZ signal to be decomposed in redshift bins. The decomposition extends to high redshift and does not require external data sets such as galaxy surveys. In particular, the high-redshift signal from patchy reionization can be cleanly isolated, enabling future CMB experiments to make high-significance and qualitatively new measurements of the reionization era.

Concordance and discordance between measured and perceived balance and the effect on gait speed and falls following stroke

PubMed Central

Liphart, Jodi; Gallichio, Joann; Tilson, Julie K; Pei, Qinglin; Wu, Samuel S; Duncan, Pamela W

2016-01-01

Objective To ascertain the existence of discordance between perceived and measured balance in persons with stroke and to examine the impact on walking speed and falls. Design A secondary analysis of a phase three, multicentered randomized controlled trial examining walking recovery following stroke. Subjects A total of 352 participants from the Locomotor Experience Applied Post-Stroke (LEAPS) trial. Methods Participants were categorized into four groups: two concordant and two discordant groups in relation to measured and perceived balance. Number and percentage of individuals with concordance and discordance were evaluated at two and 12 months. Walking speed and fall incidence between groups were examined. Main measures Perceived balance was measured by the Activity-specific Balance Confidence scale, measured balance was determined by the Berg Balance Scale and gait speed was measured by the 10-meter walk test. Results Discordance was present for 35.8% of participants at two months post-stroke with no statistically significant change in proportion at 12 months. Discordant participants with high perceived balance and low measured balance walked 0.09 m/s faster at two months than participants with concordant low perceived and measured balance (p < 0.05). Discordant participants with low perceived balance and high measured balance walked 0.15 m/s slower than those that were concordant with high perceived and measured balance (p ⩽ 0.0001) at 12 months. Concordant participants with high perceived and measured balance walked fastest and had fewer falls. Conclusions Discordance existed between perceived and measured balance in one-third of individuals at two and 12 months post-stroke. Perceived balance impacted gait speed but not fall incidence. PMID:25810426

Cosmic ray experimental observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Balasubrahmanyan, V. K.; Mcdonald, F. B.

1974-01-01

The current experimental situation in cosmic ray studies is discussed, with special emphasis on the development of new detector systems. Topics covered are the techniques for particle identification, energy measurements, gas Cerenkov counters, magnet spectrometers, ionization spectrometers, track detectors, nuclear emulsions, multiparameter analysis using arrays of detectors, the Goddard ionization spectrometer, charge spectra, relative abundances, isotope composition, antinuclei in cosmic rays, electrons, the measurement of cosmic ray arrival directions, and the prehistory of cosmic rays.

Progress towards a measurement of the UHE cosmic ray electron flux using the CREST Instrument

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Musser, Jim; Wakely, Scott; Coutu, Stephane; Geske, Matthew; Nutter, Scott; Tarle, Gregory; Park, Nahee; Schubnell, Michael; Gennaro, Joseph; Muller, Dietrich

2012-07-01

Electrons of energy beyond about 3 TeV have never been detected in the flux of cosmic rays at Earth despite strong evidence of their presence in a number of supernova remnants (e.g., SN 1006). The detection of high energy electrons at Earth would be extremely significant, yielding information about the spatial distribution of nearby cosmic ray sources. With the Cosmic Ray Electron Synchrotron Telescope (CREST), our collaboration has adopted a novel approach to the detection of electrons of energies between 2 and 50 TeV which results in a substantial increase in the acceptance and sensitivity of the apparatus relative to its physics size. The first LDB flight of the CREST detector took place in January 2012, with a float duration of approximately 10 days. In this paper we describe the flight performance of the instrument, and progress in the analysis of the data obtained in this flight.

Large aperture and wide field of view space telescope for the detection of ultra high energy cosmic rays and neutrinos

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mazzinghi, Piero; Bratina, Vojko; Gambicorti, Lisa; Simonetti, Francesca; Zuccaro Marchi, Alessandro

2017-11-01

New technologies are proposed for large aperture and wide Field of View (FOV) space telescopes dedicated to detection of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays and Neutrinos flux, through observation of fluorescence traces in atmosphere and diffused Cerenkov signals. The presented advanced detection system is a spaceborne LEO telescope, with better performance than ground-based observatories, detecting up to 103 - 104 events/year. Different design approaches are implemented, all with very large FOV and focal surface detectors with sufficient segmentation and time resolution to allow precise reconstructions of the arrival direction. In particular, two Schmidt cameras are suggested as an appropriate solution to match most of the optical and technical requirements: large FOV, low f/#, reduction of stray light, optionally flat focal surface, already proven low-cost construction technologies. Finally, a preliminary proposal of a wideFOV retrofocus catadioptric telescope is explained.

Recent Progresses in Laboratory Astrophysics with Ames’ COSmIC Facility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salama, Farid; Contreras, Cesar; Sciamma-O'Brien, Ella; Bejaoui, Salma

2016-06-01

We present and discuss the characteristics and the capabilities of the laboratory facility, COSmIC, that was developed at NASA Ames to generate, process and analyze interstellar, circumstellar and planetary analogs in the laboratory [1]. COSmIC stands for “Cosmic Simulation Chamber” and is dedicated to the study of neutral and ionized molecules and nano particles under the low temperature and high vacuum conditions that are required to simulate space environments. COSmIC integrates a variety of state-of-the-art instruments that allow forming, processing and monitoring simulated space conditions for planetary, circumstellar and interstellar materials in the laboratory. COSmIC is composed of a Pulsed Discharge Nozzle (PDN) expansion that generates a plasma in free supersonic jet expansion coupled to two high-sensitivity, complementary in situ diagnostics: a Cavity Ring Down Spectroscopy (CRDS) and laser induced fluorescence (LIF) systems for photonic detection and a Reflectron Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (ReTOF-MS) for mass detection [2].Recent laboratory results that were obtained using COSmIC will be presented, in particular the progress that has been achieved in the domain of the diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) [3] and in monitoring, in the laboratory, the formation of dust grains and aerosols from their gas-phase molecular precursors in environments as varied as stellar/circumstellar outflows [4] and planetary atmospheres [5]. Plans for future, next generation, laboratory experiments on cosmic molecules and grains in the growing field of laboratory astrophysics will also be addressed as well as the implications of the current studies for astronomy.References: [1] Salama F., In Organic Matter in Space, IAU Symposium 251, Kwok & Sandford Eds.Cambridge University Press, Vol. 4, S251, p. 357 (2008) and references therein.[2] Ricketts C., Contreras C., Walker, R., Salama F., Int. J. Mass Spec, 300, 26 (2011)[3] Salama F., Galazutdinov G., Krelowski J

Identifying ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray accelerators with future ultrahigh-energy neutrino detectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fang, Ke; Kotera, Kumiko; Miller, M. Coleman; Murase, Kohta; Oikonomou, Foteini

2016-12-01

The detection of ultrahigh-energy (UHE) neutrino sources would contribute significantly to solving the decades-old mystery of the origin of the highest-energy cosmic rays. We investigate the ability of a future UHE neutrino detector to identify the brightest neutrino point sources, by exploring the parameter space of the total number of observed events and the angular resolution of the detector. The favored parameter region can be translated to requirements for the effective area, sky coverage and angular resolution of future detectors, for a given source number density and evolution history. Moreover, by studying the typical distance to sources that are expected to emit more than one event for a given diffuse neutrino flux, we find that a significant fraction of the identifiable UHE neutrino sources may be located in the nearby Universe if the source number density is above ~10-6 Mpc-3. If sources are powerful and rare enough, as predicted in blazar scenarios, they can first be detected at distant locations. Our result also suggests that if UHE cosmic-ray accelerators are neither beamed nor transients, it will be possible to associate the detected UHE neutrino sources with nearby UHE cosmic-ray and gamma-ray sources, and that they may also be observed using other messengers, including ones with limited horizons such as TeV gamma rays, UHE gamma rays and cosmic rays. We find that for a gtrsim5σ detection of UHE neutrino sources with a uniform density, ns~10-7-10-5 Mpc-3, at least ~100-1000 events and sub-degree angular resolution are needed, and the results depend on the source evolution model.

'We keep her status to ourselves': experiences of stigma and discrimination among HIV-discordant couples in South Africa, Tanzania and Ukraine.

PubMed

Rispel, Laetitia C; Cloete, Allanise; Metcalf, Carol A

2015-01-01

In HIV-discordant relationships, the HIV-negative partner also carries the burden of a stigmatised disease. For this reason, couples often hide their HIV-discordant status from family, friends and community members. This perpetuates the silence around HIV-discordant relationships and impacts on targeted HIV prevention, treatment and counselling efforts. This article reports on experiences of stigma and discrimination among HIV-discordant couples in South Africa, Tanzania and Ukraine. During 2008, HIV-discordant couples who had been in a relationship for at least one year were recruited purposively through health-care providers and civil society organisations in the three countries. Participants completed a brief self-administered questionnaire, while semi-structured interviews were conducted with each partner separately and with both partners together. Interviews were analysed using thematic content analysis. Fifty-one couples were recruited: 26 from South Africa, 10 from Tanzania, and 15 from Ukraine. Although most participants had disclosed their HIV status to someone other than their partner, few were living openly with HIV discordance. Experiences of stigma were common and included being subjected to gossip, rumours and name-calling, and HIV-negative partners being labelled as HIV-positive. Perpetrators of discrimination included family members and health workers. Stigma and discrimination present unique and complex challenges to couples in HIV sero-discordant relationships in these three diverse countries. Addressing stigmatisation of HIV-discordant couples requires a holistic human rights approach and specific programme efforts to address discrimination in the health system.

Quantum discord length is enhanced while entanglement length is not by introducing disorder in a spin chain.

PubMed

Sadhukhan, Debasis; Roy, Sudipto Singha; Rakshit, Debraj; Prabhu, R; Sen De, Aditi; Sen, Ujjwal

2016-01-01

Classical correlation functions of ground states typically decay exponentially and polynomially, respectively, for gapped and gapless short-range quantum spin systems. In such systems, entanglement decays exponentially even at the quantum critical points. However, quantum discord, an information-theoretic quantum correlation measure, survives long lattice distances. We investigate the effects of quenched disorder on quantum correlation lengths of quenched averaged entanglement and quantum discord, in the anisotropic XY and XYZ spin glass and random field chains. We find that there is virtually neither reduction nor enhancement in entanglement length while quantum discord length increases significantly with the introduction of the quenched disorder.

Maternal mosaicism is a significant contributor to discordant sex chromosomal aneuploidies associated with noninvasive prenatal testing.

PubMed

Wang, Yanlin; Chen, Yan; Tian, Feng; Zhang, Jianguang; Song, Zhuo; Wu, Yi; Han, Xu; Hu, Wenjing; Ma, Duan; Cram, David; Cheng, Weiwei

2014-01-01

In the human fetus, sex chromosome aneuploidies (SCAs) are as prevalent as the common autosomal trisomies 21, 18, and 13. Currently, most noninvasive prenatal tests (NIPTs) offer screening only for chromosomes 21, 18, and 13, because the sensitivity and specificity are markedly higher than for the sex chromosomes. Limited studies suggest that the reduced accuracy associated with detecting SCAs is due to confined placental, placental, or true fetal mosaicism. We hypothesized that an altered maternal karyotype may also be an important contributor to discordant SCA NIPT results. We developed a rapid karyotyping method that uses massively parallel sequencing to measure the degree of chromosome mosaicism. The method was validated with DNA models mimicking XXX and XO mosaicism and then applied to maternal white blood cell (WBC) DNA from patients with discordant SCA NIPT results. Sequencing karyotyping detected chromosome X (ChrX) mosaicism as low as 5%, allowing an accurate assignment of the maternal X karyotype. In a prospective NIPT study, we showed that 16 (8.6%) of 181 positive SCAs were due to an abnormal maternal ChrX karyotype that masked the true contribution of the fetal ChrX DNA fraction. The accuracy of NIPT for ChrX and ChrY can be improved substantially by integrating the results of maternal-plasma sequencing with those for maternal-WBC sequencing. The relatively high frequency of maternal mosaicism warrants mandatory WBC testing in both shotgun sequencing- and single-nucleotide polymorphism-based clinical NIPT after the finding of a potential fetal SCA.

Differences in knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of Israeli HIV-uninfected gay men in HIV-discordant vs. concordant steady relationships.

PubMed

Tairy, Daniel; Levy, Itzchak; Turner, Dan; Livnat, Yuval; Mor, Zohar

2018-06-01

HIV-discordant gay male couples may play an important role in HIV-transmissions. This cross-sectional study compared the knowledge, attitudes and sexual behaviors of HIV-uninfected gay men, between those in HIV-discordant and those in HIV-concordant steady relationships. Anonymous questionnaires were distributed electronically in designated gay-related internet sites and in AIDS-clinics in 2015. The dependent variable was defined as a steady relationship of an HIV-uninfected man with an HIV-infected partner. Risky sexual behavior was defined as unprotected anal intercourse (UAI) with a sex partner whose HIV-status was either positive or unknown. Of 2,319 responders, 460 (20%) were HIV-uninfected gay men in steady relationships, of whom 72 were in HIV-discordant relationships and 388 were in HIV-concordant relationships. Those in HIV-discordant relationships presented better established knowledge regarding HIV-transmission, more lenient attitudes regarding UAI, and reported being involved in riskier sexual behavior, both within and outside their steady relationship compared to men in HIV-concordant relationships. UAI was performed by 48% of the HIV-discordant couples and was associated with the use of sero-positioning strategy and with achieving undetectable viral-load. These findings reflect the complexity of constant use of condoms during long-term sero-discordant relationships. Targeted interventions for HIV-prevention in HIV-discordant couples should be employed for balancing the partners' desire for intimacy and sexual pleasure in the relationship, while reducing the risk for acquiring HIV. ART: Antiretroviral therapy; PEP: Post exposure prophylaxis; PrEP: Pre exposure prophylaxis; STI: Sexually transmitted infections; UAI: Unprotected anal intercourse.

Cosmic microwave background polarization signals from tangled magnetic fields.

PubMed

Seshadri, T R; Subramanian, K

2001-09-03

Tangled, primordial cosmic magnetic fields create small rotational velocity perturbations on the last scattering surface of the cosmic microwave background radiation. For fields which redshift to a present value of B0 = 3 x 10(-9) G, these vector modes are shown to generate polarization anisotropies of order 0.1-4 microK on small angular scales (500detection.

Review of the theoretical and experimental status of dark matter identification with cosmic-ray antideuterons

DOE PAGES

Aramaki, T.; Boggs, S.; Bufalino, S.; ...

2016-01-27

Recent years have seen increased theoretical and experimental effort towards the first-ever detection of cosmic-ray antideuterons, in particular as an indirect signature of dark matter annihilation or decay. In contrast to indirect dark matter searches using positrons, antiprotons, or γ-rays, which suffer from relatively high and uncertain astrophysical backgrounds, searches with antideuterons benefit from very suppressed conventional backgrounds, offering a potential breakthrough in unexplored phase space for dark matter. This article is based on the first dedicated cosmic-ray antideuteron workshop, which was held at UCLA in June 2014. It reviews broad classes of dark matter candidates that result in detectablemore » cosmic-ray antideuteron fluxes, as well as the status and prospects of current experimental searches. The coalescence model of antideuteron production and the influence of antideuteron measurements at particle colliders are discussed. This is followed by a review of the modeling of antideuteron propagation through the magnetic fields, plasma currents, and molecular material of our Galaxy, the solar system, the Earth’s geomagnetic field, and the atmosphere. Lastly, the three ongoing or planned experiments that are sensitive to cosmic-ray antideuterons, BESS, AMS-02, and GAPS, are detailed. As cosmic-ray antideuteron detection is a rare event search, multiple experiments with orthogonal techniques and backgrounds are essential. Furthermore, the combination of AMS-02 and GAPS antideuteron searches is highly desirable. Many theoretical and experimental groups have contributed to these studies over the last decade, this review aims to provide the first coherent discussion of the relevant dark matter theories that antideuterons probe, the challenges to predictions and interpretations of antideuteron signals, and the experimental efforts toward cosmic antideuteron detection.« less

Visual Bias Predicts Gait Adaptability in Novel Sensory Discordant Conditions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brady, Rachel A.; Batson, Crystal D.; Peters, Brian T.; Mulavara, Ajitkumar P.; Bloomberg, Jacob J.

2010-01-01

We designed a gait training study that presented combinations of visual flow and support-surface manipulations to investigate the response of healthy adults to novel discordant sensorimotor conditions. We aimed to determine whether a relationship existed between subjects visual dependence and their postural stability and cognitive performance in a new discordant environment presented at the conclusion of training (Transfer Test). Our training system comprised a treadmill placed on a motion base facing a virtual visual scene that provided a variety of sensory challenges. Ten healthy adults completed 3 training sessions during which they walked on a treadmill at 1.1 m/s while receiving discordant support-surface and visual manipulations. At the first visit, in an analysis of normalized torso translation measured in a scene-movement-only condition, 3 of 10 subjects were classified as visually dependent. During the Transfer Test, all participants received a 2-minute novel exposure. In a combined measure of stride frequency and reaction time, the non-visually dependent subjects showed improved adaptation on the Transfer Test compared to their visually dependent counterparts. This finding suggests that individual differences in the ability to adapt to new sensorimotor conditions may be explained by individuals innate sensory biases. An accurate preflight assessment of crewmembers biases for visual dependence could be used to predict their propensities to adapt to novel sensory conditions. It may also facilitate the development of customized training regimens that could expedite adaptation to alternate gravitational environments.

Calculation of cosmic ray induced single event upsets: Program CRUP (Cosmic Ray Upset Program)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shapiro, P.

1983-09-01

This report documents PROGRAM CRUP, COSMIC RAY UPSET PROGRAM. The computer program calculates cosmic ray induced single-event error rates in microelectronic circuits exposed to several representative cosmic-ray environments.

Nanogeochronology of discordant zircon measured by atom probe microscopy of Pb-enriched dislocation loops

PubMed Central

Peterman, Emily M.; Reddy, Steven M.; Saxey, David W.; Snoeyenbos, David R.; Rickard, William D. A.; Fougerouse, Denis; Kylander-Clark, Andrew R. C.

2016-01-01

Isotopic discordance is a common feature in zircon that can lead to an erroneous age determination, and it is attributed to the mobilization and escape of radiogenic Pb during its post-crystallization geological evolution. The degree of isotopic discordance measured at analytical scales of ~10 μm often differs among adjacent analysis locations, indicating heterogeneous distributions of Pb at shorter length scales. We use atom probe microscopy to establish the nature of these sites and the mechanisms by which they form. We show that the nanoscale distribution of Pb in a ~2.1 billion year old discordant zircon that was metamorphosed c. 150 million years ago is defined by two distinct Pb reservoirs. Despite overall Pb loss during peak metamorphic conditions, the atom probe data indicate that a component of radiogenic Pb was trapped in 10-nm dislocation loops that formed during the annealing of radiation damage associated with the metamorphic event. A second Pb component, found outside the dislocation loops, represents homogeneous accumulation of radiogenic Pb in the zircon matrix after metamorphism. The 207Pb/206Pb ratios measured from eight dislocation loops are equivalent within uncertainty and yield an age consistent with the original crystallization age of the zircon, as determined by laser ablation spot analysis. Our results provide a specific mechanism for the trapping and retention of radiogenic Pb during metamorphism and confirm that isotopic discordance in this zircon is characterized by discrete nanoscale reservoirs of Pb that record different isotopic compositions and yield age data consistent with distinct geological events. These data may provide a framework for interpreting discordance in zircon as the heterogeneous distribution of discrete radiogenic Pb populations, each yielding geologically meaningful ages. PMID:27617295

Cosmic ray diffusion: Report of the Workshop in Cosmic Ray Diffusion Theory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Birmingham, T. J.; Jones, F. C.

1975-01-01

A workshop in cosmic ray diffusion theory was held at Goddard Space Flight Center on May 16-17, 1974. Topics discussed and summarized are: (1) cosmic ray measurements as related to diffusion theory; (2) quasi-linear theory, nonlinear theory, and computer simulation of cosmic ray pitch-angle diffusion; and (3) magnetic field fluctuation measurements as related to diffusion theory.

Sleep-EEG in dizygotic twins discordant for Williams syndrome.

PubMed

Bódizs, Róbert; Gombos, Ferenc; Szocs, Katalin; Réthelyi, János M; Gerván, Patrícia; Kovács, Ilona

2014-01-30

Reports on twin pairs concordant and discordant for Williams syndrome were published before, but no study unravelled sleep physiology in these cases yet. We aim to fill this gap by analyzing sleep records of a twin pair discordant for Williams syndrome extending our focus on presleep wakefulness and sleep spindling. We performed multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification of the 7q11.23 region of a 17 years old dizygotic opposite-sex twin pair discordant for Williams syndrome. Polysomnography of laboratory sleep at this age was analyzed and followed-up after 1.5 years by ambulatory polysomnography. Sleep stages scoring, EEG power spectra and sleep spindle analyses were carried out. The twin brother showed reduced levels of amplification for all of the probes in the 7q11.23 region indicating a typical deletion spanning at least 1.038 Mb between FKBP6 and CLIP2. The results of the twin sister showed normal copy numbers in the investigated region. Lower sleep times and efficiencies, as well as higher slow wave sleep percents of the twin brother were evident during both recordings. Roughly equal NREM, Stage 2 and REM sleep percents were found. EEG analyses revealed state and derivation-independent decreases in alpha power, lack of an alpha spectral peak in presleep wakefulness, as well as higher NREM sleep sigma peak frequency in the twin brother. Faster sleep spindles with lower amplitude and shorter duration characterized the records of the twin brother. Spectra show a striking reliability and correspondence between the two situations (laboratory vs. home records). Alterations in sleep and specific neural oscillations including the alpha/sigma waves are inherent aspects of Williams syndrome.

Specificity of the Association between Marital Discord and Longitudinal Changes in Symptoms of Depression and Generalized Anxiety Disorder in the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing.

PubMed

Whisman, Mark A; Robustelli, Briana L; Labrecque, Lindsay T

2018-03-25

This longitudinal study was conducted to evaluate actor and partner effects of marital discord on changes in symptoms of depression and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in a large population sample of Irish adults (N = 1,445 couples), adjusting for the potential confounds of quality of other social relationships and other psychopathology symptoms. The Actor-Partner Interdependence Model was used to examine actor and partner effects of marital discord on changes in symptoms of depression and GAD at a 2-year follow-up. Additional models examined these associations adjusting for family and friend discord and symptoms of the other type of psychopathology (depressive or GAD symptoms). Actor effects of marital discord on depressive and anxiety symptoms were greater for men than for women. There were significant, positive actor effects of marital discord on depressive symptoms for husbands and wives, which remained significant when adjusting for family and friend discord and GAD symptoms. There were significant, positive actor effects of marital discord on GAD symptoms for husbands, which remained significant when adjusting for family and friend discord and depressive symptoms. Results demonstrate that longitudinal associations between marital discord and depressive symptoms (for wives and husbands) and GAD symptoms (for husbands) are incremental to other rival explanations (family and friend discord and the other set of symptoms). Findings provide evidence for a potential causal association leading from marital discord to symptoms of depression and GAD. © 2018 Family Process Institute.

CMB ISW-lensing bispectrum from cosmic strings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamauchi, Daisuke; Sendouda, Yuuiti; Takahashi, Keitaro

2014-02-01

We study the effect of weak lensing by cosmic (super-)strings on the higher-order statistics of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). A cosmic string segment is expected to cause weak lensing as well as an integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) effect, the so-called Gott-Kaiser-Stebbins (GKS) effect, to the CMB temperature fluctuation, which are thus naturally cross-correlated. We point out that, in the presence of such a correlation, yet another kind of the post-recombination CMB temperature bispectra, the ISW-lensing bispectra, will arise in the form of products of the auto- and cross-power spectra. We first present an analytic method to calculate the autocorrelation of the temperature fluctuations induced by the strings, and the cross-correlation between the temperature fluctuation and the lensing potential both due to the string network. In our formulation, the evolution of the string network is assumed to be characterized by the simple analytic model, the velocity-dependent one scale model, and the intercommutation probability is properly incorporated in order to characterize the possible superstringy nature. Furthermore, the obtained power spectra are dominated by the Poisson-distributed string segments, whose correlations are assumed to satisfy the simple relations. We then estimate the signal-to-noise ratios of the string-induced ISW-lensing bispectra and discuss the detectability of such CMB signals from the cosmic string network. It is found that in the case of the smaller string tension, Gμ << 10-7, the ISW-lensing bispectrum induced by a cosmic string network can constrain the string-model parameters even more tightly than the purely GKS-induced bispectrum in the ongoing and future CMB observations on small scales.

GNSS Radio Occultation Observations as a data source for Ionospheric Assimilation: COSMIC-1 & COSMIC-2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yue, X.; Schreiner, W. S.; Kuo, Y. H.

2014-12-01

Since the pioneer GPS/MET mission, low Earth orbit (LEO) based global navigation satellite system (GNSS) Radio Occultation (RO) technique has been a powerful technique in ionosphere monitoring. After that, many LEO satellites were launched with RO payload, include: CHAMP , GRACE, SAC-C/D, COSMIC, C/NOFS, Metop-A/B, TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X, and etc. COSMIC was the first constellation of satellites dedicated primarily to RO and delivering RO data in near real time. Currently in UCAR CDAAC, we process most of these missions' RO data for the community. Due to the success of COSMIC mission, a follow on mission called COSMIC-2 will be launched in 2016 and 2018, respectively. The COSMIC-2 RO data will be 4-6 times of COSMIC due to the doubled satellite and GNSS signals. In this paper we will describe: (1) Data process and quality in UCAR/CDAAC; (2) Ionospheric data assimilation results based on COSMIC data; (3) OSSE study for COSMIC-2.

DISCORDANCE BETWEEN BLUE-LIGHT AUTOFLUORESCENCE AND NEAR-INFRARED AUTOFLUORESCENCE IN AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION.

PubMed

Heiferman, Michael J; Fawzi, Amani A

2016-12-01

To identify the origin and significance of discordance between blue-light autofluorescence (BL-AF; 488 nm) and near-infrared autofluorescence (NI-AF; 787 nm) in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). A total of 86 eyes of 59 patients with a diagnosis of AMD were included in this cross-sectional study conducted between March 9, 2015 and May 1, 2015. A masked observer examined the BL-AF, NI-AF, and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography images. Areas with discordance of autofluorescence patterns between NI-AF and BL-AF images were correlated with structural findings at the corresponding location in optical coherence tomography scans. Seventy-nine eyes had discordance between BL-AF and NI-AF. The most common optical coherence tomography finding accounting for these discrepancies was pigment migration accounting for 35 lesions in 21 eyes. The most clinically relevant finding was geographic atrophy missed on BL-AF in 7 eyes. Our findings indicate that variations in the distribution of lipofuscin, melanin and melanolipofuscin account for the majority of discordance between BL-AF and NI-AF. Given our finding of missed geographic atrophy lesions on BL-AF in 24% of eyes with geographic atrophy (7/29 eyes), clinicians should consider multimodal imaging, including NI-AF and optical coherence tomography, especially in clinical trials of geographic atrophy.

Discordance between Blue-Light Autofluorescence and Near-Infrared Autofluorescence in Age-Related Macular Degeneration

PubMed Central

Heiferman, Michael J.; Fawzi, Amani A.

2016-01-01

Purpose To identify the origin and significance of discordance between blue-light autofluorescence (BL-AF; 488nm) and near-infrared autofluorescence (NI-AF; 787nm) in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Methods A total of 86 eyes of 59 patients with a diagnosis of AMD were included in this cross-sectional study conducted between March 9, 2015 and May 1, 2015. A masked observer examined the BL-AF, NI-AF, and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) images. Areas with discordance of autofluorescence patterns between NI-AF and BL-AF images were correlated with structural findings at the corresponding location in OCT scans. Results 79 eyes had discordance between BL-AF and NI-AF. The most common OCT finding accounting for these discrepancies was pigment migration accounting for 35 lesions in 21 eyes. The most clinically relevant finding was geographic atrophy missed on BL-AF in seven eyes. Conclusions Our findings indicate that variations in the distribution of lipofuscin, melanin and melanolipofuscin account for the majority of discordance between BL-AF and NI-AF. Given our finding of missed geographic atrophy lesions on BL-AF in 24% of eyes with geographic atrophy (7/29 eyes), clinicians should consider multimodal imaging, including NI-AF and OCT, especially in clinical trials of geographic atrophy. PMID:28005672

Equivalence of qubit-environment entanglement and discord generation via pure dephasing interactions and the resulting consequences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roszak, Katarzyna; Cywiński, Łukasz

2018-01-01

We find that when a qubit initialized in a pure state experiences pure dephasing due to interaction with an environment, separable qubit-environment states generated during the evolution also have zero quantum discord with respect to the environment. What follows is that the set of separable states which can be reached during the evolution has zero volume, and hence, such effects as sudden death of qubit-environment entanglement are very unlikely. In the case of the discord with respect to the qubit, a vast majority of qubit-environment separable states is discordant, but in specific situations zero-discord states are possible. This is conceptually important since there is a connection between the discordance with respect to a given subsystem and the possibility of describing the evolution of this subsystem using completely positive maps. Finally, we use the formalism to find an exemplary evolution of an entangled state of two qubits that is completely positive, and occurs solely due to interaction of only one of the qubits with its environment (so one could guess that it corresponds to a local operation, since it is local in a physical sense), but which nevertheless causes the enhancement of entanglement between the qubits. While this simply means that the considered evolution is completely positive, but does not belong to local operations and classical communication, it shows how much caution has to be exercised when identifying evolution channels that belong to that class.

Cosmic strings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bennett, David P.

1988-01-01

Cosmic strings are linear topological defects which are predicted by some grand unified theories to form during a spontaneous symmetry breaking phase transition in the early universe. They are the basis for the only theories of galaxy formation aside from quantum fluctuations from inflation based on fundamental physics. In contrast to inflation, they can also be observed directly through gravitational lensing and their characterisitc microwave background anisotropy. It was recently discovered that details of cosmic string evolution are very differnt from the so-called standard model that was assumed in most of the string-induced galaxy formation calculations. Therefore, the details of galaxy formation in the cosmic string models are currently very uncertain.

Cosmic ray propagation and containment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Parker, E. N.

1976-01-01

The cosmic rays, an active gaseous component of the disk of the galaxy, are considered along with their propagation and containment as a part of the general dynamics of the disk. The sources of cosmic rays are a matter of speculation. The disk is inflated by the cosmic ray gas pressure comparable to the magnetic pressure, but the rate of inflation is unknown. The time spent by the individual cosmic ray particles in the disk is inversely proportional to the cosmic ray production rate. It is evident from the decay of Be(1c) that the cosmic rays circulate through a volume of space perhaps ten times the thickness of the gaseous disk, suggesting a magnetic halo extending out approximately 1 kpc from either face of the disk. The cosmic rays may be responsible for the halo by inflating the magnetic fields of the disk. Extension of the fields to 1 kpc would imply a high production rate and short life of cosmic rays in the dense gaseous disk of the galaxy.

A Cosmic Variance Cookbook

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moster, Benjamin P.; Somerville, Rachel S.; Newman, Jeffrey A.; Rix, Hans-Walter

2011-04-01

Deep pencil beam surveys (<1 deg2) are of fundamental importance for studying the high-redshift universe. However, inferences about galaxy population properties (e.g., the abundance of objects) are in practice limited by "cosmic variance." This is the uncertainty in observational estimates of the number density of galaxies arising from the underlying large-scale density fluctuations. This source of uncertainty can be significant, especially for surveys which cover only small areas and for massive high-redshift galaxies. Cosmic variance for a given galaxy population can be determined using predictions from cold dark matter theory and the galaxy bias. In this paper, we provide tools for experiment design and interpretation. For a given survey geometry, we present the cosmic variance of dark matter as a function of mean redshift \\bar{z} and redshift bin size Δz. Using a halo occupation model to predict galaxy clustering, we derive the galaxy bias as a function of mean redshift for galaxy samples of a given stellar mass range. In the linear regime, the cosmic variance of these galaxy samples is the product of the galaxy bias and the dark matter cosmic variance. We present a simple recipe using a fitting function to compute cosmic variance as a function of the angular dimensions of the field, \\bar{z}, Δz, and stellar mass m *. We also provide tabulated values and a software tool. The accuracy of the resulting cosmic variance estimates (δσ v /σ v ) is shown to be better than 20%. We find that for GOODS at \\bar{z}=2 and with Δz = 0.5, the relative cosmic variance of galaxies with m *>1011 M sun is ~38%, while it is ~27% for GEMS and ~12% for COSMOS. For galaxies of m * ~ 1010 M sun, the relative cosmic variance is ~19% for GOODS, ~13% for GEMS, and ~6% for COSMOS. This implies that cosmic variance is a significant source of uncertainty at \\bar{z}=2 for small fields and massive galaxies, while for larger fields and intermediate mass galaxies, cosmic variance is

Searches for anisotropies in the arrival directions of the highest energy cosmic rays detected by the Pierre Auger Observatory

DOE PAGES

Aab, Alexander

2015-05-01

We analyze the distribution of arrival directions of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays recorded at the Pierre Auger Observatory in 10 years of operation. The data set, about three times larger than that used in earlier studies, includes arrival directions with zenith angles up to 80°, thus covering from -90° to +45° in declination. After updating the fraction of events correlating with the active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in the Véron-Cetty and Véron catalog, we subject the arrival directions of the data with energies in excess of 40 EeV to different tests for anisotropy. We search for localized excess fluxes, self-clustering of event directions at angular scales up to 30°, and different threshold energies between 40 and 80 EeV. We then look for correlations of cosmic rays with celestial structures both in the Galaxy (the Galactic Center and Galactic Plane) and in the local universe (the Super-Galactic Plane). We also examine their correlation with different populations of nearby extragalactic objects: galaxies in the 2MRS catalog, AGNs detected by Swift-BAT, radio galaxies with jets, and the Centaurus A (Cen A) galaxy. None of the tests show statistically significant evidence of anisotropy. As a result, the strongest departures from isotropy (post-trial probabilitymore » $$\\sim 1.4$$%) are obtained for cosmic rays with $$E\\gt 58$$ EeV in rather large windows around Swift AGNs closer than 130 Mpc and brighter than 10 44 erg s -1 (18° radius), and around the direction of Cen A (15° radius).« less

Very high-energy gamma-ray signature of ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray acceleration in Centaurus A

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Joshi, Jagdish C.; Miranda, Luis Salvador; Razzaque, Soebur; Yang, Lili

2018-04-01

The association of at least a dozen ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray (UHECR) events with energy ≳ 55 EeV detected by the Pierre Auger Observatory (PAO) from the direction of Centaurus-A, the nearest radio galaxy, supports the scenario of UHECR acceleration in the jets of radio galaxies. In this work, we model radio to very high energy (VHE,≳ 100 GeV) γ-ray emission from Cen A, including GeV hardness detected by Fermi-LAT and TeV emission detected by HESS. We consider two scenarios: (i) Two zone synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) and external-Compton (EC) models, (ii) Two zone SSC, EC and photo-hadronic emission from cosmic ray interactions. The GeV hardness observed by Fermi-LAT can be explained using these two scenarios, where zone 2 EC emission is very important. Hadronic emission in scenario (ii) can explain VHE data with the same spectral slope as obtained through fitting UHECRs from Cen A. The peak luminosity in cosmic ray proton at 1 TeV, to explain the VHE γ-ray data is ≈2.5 × 1046 erg/s. The bolometric luminosity in cosmic ray protons is consistent with the luminosity required to explain the origin of 13 UHECR signal events that are correlated with Cen A.

Earth's magnetic field as a radiator to detect cosmic ray electrons of energy greater than 10 to the 12th eV

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Balasubrahmanyan, V. K.; Stephens, S. A.

1983-01-01

Synchrotron emission by a high-energy electron in the geomagnetic field and its dependence upon different arrival directions over Palestine, Texas, where major balloon-borne experiments are being conducted, is studied. The dependence of detector response on the arrival direction of electron, the different criteria which are adopted to identify an electron event, the area of the detector, and the energy of the electron are discussed. An omnidirectional circular detector is used to examine whether it is possible to determine the energy of an electron without knowing its arrival direction. The collecting power of a detector is estimated as a function of the energy of electrons for different detector areas with different selection criteria, and this information is used to calculate the event rates expected by folding in the energy spectrum of cosmic ray electrons to show the viability of detecting cosmic ray electrons at energies greater than a few TeV.

New Target for Cosmic Axion Searches.

PubMed

Baumann, Daniel; Green, Daniel; Wallisch, Benjamin

2016-10-21

Future cosmic microwave background experiments have the potential to probe the density of relativistic species at the subpercent level. This sensitivity allows light thermal relics to be detected up to arbitrarily high decoupling temperatures. Conversely, the absence of a detection would require extra light species never to have been in equilibrium with the Standard Model. In this Letter, we exploit this feature to demonstrate the sensitivity of future cosmological observations to the couplings of axions to photons, gluons, and charged fermions. In many cases, the constraints achievable from cosmology will surpass existing bounds from laboratory experiments and astrophysical observations by orders of magnitude.

The imprint of Gould's belt on the local cosmic ray electron spectrum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pohl, M.; Perrot, C.; Grenier, I.

2001-08-01

In a recent paper Pohl and Esposito (1998) demonstrated that if the sources of cosmic-rays are discrete, as are Supernova Remnants (SNR), then the spectra of cosmic-ray electrons largely vary with location and time and the locally measured electron spectrum may not be representative of the electron spectra elsewhere in the Galaxy, which could be substantially harder than the local one. They have shown that the observed excess of γ-ray emission above 1 GeV can in fact be partially explained as a correspondingly hard inverse Compton component, provided the bulk of cosmic-ray electrons is produced in SNR. As part of a program to model the Galactic γ-ray foreground we have continued the earlier studies by investigating the impact of the star forming region Gould's Belt on the local electron spectrum. If the electron sources in Gould's Belt were continous, the local electron spectrum would be slightly hardened. If the electron sources are discrete, which is the more probable case, the variation in the local electron spectrum found by Pohl & Esposito persists. 1 The local cosmic-ray electron spectrum The recent detections of non-thermal X-ray synchrotron radiation from the supernova remnants SN1006 (Koyama et al., 1995), RX J1713.7-3946 (Koyama et al., 1997), IC443 (Keohane et al., 1997; Slane et al., 1999), Cas A (Allen et al., 1997), and RCW86 (Borkowski et al., 2001) and the subsequent detections of SN1006 (Tanimori et al., 1998), RX J1713.7-3946 (Muraishi et al., 2000), and Cas A (Aharonian et al., 2001) at TeV energies support the hypothesis that at least Galactic cosmic-ray electrons are accelerated predominantly in SNR. The Galactic distribution and spectrum of cosmic-ray electrons are intimately linked to the distribution and nature of their sources. Supernovae and hence their remnants are tran-

Exploring the Excluded Galactic Cosmic Rays--those at the Lowest Energies.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shapiro, Maurice M.

2001-04-01

The solar wind prevents the lowest- energy Galactic cosmic rays (GCR) from entering the heliosphere. Consequently, space probes have thus far been unable to sample them. We suggest that astrochemistry may provide a ``handle" on these particles. Clouds in the interstellar medium (ISM) are sites of chemical-reaction networks that produce various molecular species detectable by their radioastronomical signatures. Highly ionizing low-energy cosmic rays are thought to be the principal agents of molecule production in clouds. Some anomalous abundances, e.g., of deuterium molecules, have been detected. Could studies of the foregoing networks of reactions and their products yield clues to the fluxes and energy spectra of the lowest-energy GCR in the ISM? Other approaches to this problem are also cited.

Epigenetic differences in monozygotic twins discordant for major depressive disorder

PubMed Central

Malki, K; Koritskaya, E; Harris, F; Bryson, K; Herbster, M; Tosto, M G

2016-01-01

Although monozygotic (MZ) twins share the majority of their genetic makeup, they can be phenotypically discordant on several traits and diseases. DNA methylation is an epigenetic mechanism that can be influenced by genetic, environmental and stochastic events and may have an important impact on individual variability. In this study we explored epigenetic differences in peripheral blood samples in three MZ twin studies on major depressive disorder (MDD). Epigenetic data for twin pairs were collected as part of a previous study using 8.1-K-CpG microarrays tagging DNA modification in white blood cells from MZ twins discordant for MDD. Data originated from three geographical regions: UK, Australia and the Netherlands. Ninety-seven MZ pairs (194 individuals) discordant for MDD were included. Different methods to address non independently-and-identically distributed (non-i.i.d.) data were evaluated. Machine-learning methods with feature selection centered on support vector machine and random forest were used to build a classifier to predict cases and controls based on epivariations. The most informative variants were mapped to genes and carried forward for network analysis. A mixture approach using principal component analysis (PCA) and Bayes methods allowed to combine the three studies and to leverage the increased predictive power provided by the larger sample. A machine-learning algorithm with feature reduction classified affected from non-affected twins above chance levels in an independent training-testing design. Network analysis revealed gene networks centered on the PPAR−γ (NR1C3) and C-MYC gene hubs interacting through the AP-1 (c-Jun) transcription factor. PPAR−γ (NR1C3) is a drug target for pioglitazone, which has been shown to reduce depression symptoms in patients with MDD. Using a data-driven approach we were able to overcome challenges of non-i.i.d. data when combining epigenetic studies from MZ twins discordant for MDD. Individually, the studies

Epigenetic differences in monozygotic twins discordant for major depressive disorder.

PubMed

Malki, K; Koritskaya, E; Harris, F; Bryson, K; Herbster, M; Tosto, M G

2016-06-14

Although monozygotic (MZ) twins share the majority of their genetic makeup, they can be phenotypically discordant on several traits and diseases. DNA methylation is an epigenetic mechanism that can be influenced by genetic, environmental and stochastic events and may have an important impact on individual variability. In this study we explored epigenetic differences in peripheral blood samples in three MZ twin studies on major depressive disorder (MDD). Epigenetic data for twin pairs were collected as part of a previous study using 8.1-K-CpG microarrays tagging DNA modification in white blood cells from MZ twins discordant for MDD. Data originated from three geographical regions: UK, Australia and the Netherlands. Ninety-seven MZ pairs (194 individuals) discordant for MDD were included. Different methods to address non independently-and-identically distributed (non-i.i.d.) data were evaluated. Machine-learning methods with feature selection centered on support vector machine and random forest were used to build a classifier to predict cases and controls based on epivariations. The most informative variants were mapped to genes and carried forward for network analysis. A mixture approach using principal component analysis (PCA) and Bayes methods allowed to combine the three studies and to leverage the increased predictive power provided by the larger sample. A machine-learning algorithm with feature reduction classified affected from non-affected twins above chance levels in an independent training-testing design. Network analysis revealed gene networks centered on the PPAR-γ (NR1C3) and C-MYC gene hubs interacting through the AP-1 (c-Jun) transcription factor. PPAR-γ (NR1C3) is a drug target for pioglitazone, which has been shown to reduce depression symptoms in patients with MDD. Using a data-driven approach we were able to overcome challenges of non-i.i.d. data when combining epigenetic studies from MZ twins discordant for MDD. Individually, the studies yielded

‘We keep her status to ourselves’: Experiences of stigma and discrimination among HIV-discordant couples in South Africa, Tanzania and Ukraine

PubMed Central

Rispel, Laetitia C.; Cloete, Allanise; Metcalf, Carol A.

2015-01-01

Abstract In HIV-discordant relationships, the HIV-negative partner also carries the burden of a stigmatised disease. For this reason, couples often hide their HIV-discordant status from family, friends and community members. This perpetuates the silence around HIV-discordant relationships and impacts on targeted HIV prevention, treatment and counselling efforts. This article reports on experiences of stigma and discrimination among HIV-discordant couples in South Africa, Tanzania and Ukraine. During 2008, HIV-discordant couples who had been in a relationship for at least one year were recruited purposively through health-care providers and civil society organisations in the three countries. Participants completed a brief self-administered questionnaire, while semi-structured interviews were conducted with each partner separately and with both partners together. Interviews were analysed using thematic content analysis. Fifty-one couples were recruited: 26 from South Africa, 10 from Tanzania, and 15 from Ukraine. Although most participants had disclosed their HIV status to someone other than their partner, few were living openly with HIV discordance. Experiences of stigma were common and included being subjected to gossip, rumours and name-calling, and HIV-negative partners being labelled as HIV-positive. Perpetrators of discrimination included family members and health workers. Stigma and discrimination present unique and complex challenges to couples in HIV sero-discordant relationships in these three diverse countries. Addressing stigmatisation of HIV-discordant couples requires a holistic human rights approach and specific programme efforts to address discrimination in the health system. PMID:25778765

Marital adjustment, marital discord over childrearing, and child behavior problems: moderating effects of child age.

PubMed

Mahoney, A; Jouriles, E N; Scavone, J

1997-12-01

Examined whether marital discord over childrearing contributes to child behavior problems after taking into account general marital adjustment, and if child age moderates associations between child behavior problems and either general marital adjustment or marital discord over childrearing. Participants were 146 two-parent families seeking services for their child's (4 to 9 years of age) conduct problems. Data on marital functioning and child behavior problems were collected from both parents. Mothers' and fathers' reports of marital discord over childrearing related positively to child externalizing problems after accounting for general marital adjustment. Child age moderated associations between fathers' reports of general marital adjustment and both internalizing and externalizing child problems, with associations being stronger in families with younger children. The discussion highlights the role that developmental factors may play in understanding the link between marital and child behavior problems in clinic-referred families.

Identifying ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray accelerators with future ultrahigh-energy neutrino detectors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fang, Ke; Miller, M. Coleman; Kotera, Kumiko

2016-12-01

The detection of ultrahigh-energy (UHE) neutrino sources would contribute significantly to solving the decades-old mystery of the origin of the highest-energy cosmic rays. We investigate the ability of a future UHE neutrino detector to identify the brightest neutrino point sources, by exploring the parameter space of the total number of observed events and the angular resolution of the detector. The favored parameter region can be translated to requirements for the effective area, sky coverage and angular resolution of future detectors, for a given source number density and evolution history. Moreover, by studying the typical distance to sources that are expectedmore » to emit more than one event for a given diffuse neutrino flux, we find that a significant fraction of the identifiable UHE neutrino sources may be located in the nearby Universe if the source number density is above ∼10{sup −6} Mpc{sup −3}. If sources are powerful and rare enough, as predicted in blazar scenarios, they can first be detected at distant locations. Our result also suggests that if UHE cosmic-ray accelerators are neither beamed nor transients, it will be possible to associate the detected UHE neutrino sources with nearby UHE cosmic-ray and gamma-ray sources, and that they may also be observed using other messengers, including ones with limited horizons such as TeV gamma rays, UHE gamma rays and cosmic rays. We find that for a ∼>5σ detection of UHE neutrino sources with a uniform density, n {sub s} {sub ∼}10{sup −7}−10{sup −5} Mpc{sup −3}, at least ∼100−1000 events and sub-degree angular resolution are needed, and the results depend on the source evolution model.« less

High Energy Cosmic Electrons: Messengers from Nearby Cosmic Ray Sources or Dark Matter?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moiseev, Alexander

2011-01-01

This slide presentation reviews the recent discoveries by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) and the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) on board the Fermi Gamma-Ray Telescope in reference to high energy cosmic electrons, and whether their source is cosmic rays or dark matter. Specific interest is devoted to Cosmic Ray electrons anisotropy,

Discordant Syphilis Immunoassays in Pregnancy: Perinatal Outcomes and Implications for Clinical Management.

PubMed

Mmeje, Okeoma; Chow, Joan M; Davidson, Lisette; Shieh, Jennifer; Schapiro, Jeffrey M; Park, Ina U

2015-10-01

The reverse sequence algorithm is often used for prenatal syphilis screening by high-volume laboratories, beginning with a treponemal test such as the chemiluminescence immunoassay (CIA), followed by testing of CIA-positive (CIA(+)) specimens with the rapid plasma reagin test (RPR). The clinical significance of discordant serology (CIA(+)/RPR(-)) for maternal and neonatal outcomes is unknown. From August 2007 to August 2010, all pregnant women at Kaiser Permanente Northern California with discordant treponemal serology underwent reflexive testing with Treponema pallidum particle agglutination assay (TP-PA) and were categorized as "TP-PA confirmed" (CIA(+)/RPR(-)/TP-PA(+)) or "isolated CIA positive" (CIA(+)/RPR(-)/TP-PA(-)). Demographic variables and clinical data were abstracted from the medical record and compared by TP-PA status. Of 194 pregnant women, 156 (80%) were CIA(+)/RPR(-)/TP-PA(-) and 38 (20%) were CIA(+)/RPR(-)/TP-PA(+). Among the 77 (49%) CIA(+)/RPR(-)/TP-PA(-) women who were retested, 53% became CIA(-). CIA(+)/RPR(-)/TP-PA(+) (n = 38) women were more likely to be older, have a prior history of sexually transmitted infections, and receive treatment for syphilis during pregnancy than women who were CIA(+)/RPR(-)/TP-PA(-) (all P < .005). Most pregnancies (189/194 [97.5%]) resulted in a live birth; there was no difference in birth outcomes according to TP-PA status and no stillbirths attributable to syphilis. Most pregnant women with discordant serology were CIA(+)/RPR(-)/TP-PA(-); more than half who were retested became CIA(-). CIA(+)/RPR(-)/TP-PA(-) serology in pregnancy is likely to be falsely positive. Reflexive testing of discordant specimens with TP-PA is important to stratify risk given the likelihood of false-positive results in this population. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Detection of High Energy Cosmic Ray with the Advanced Thin Ionization Calorimeter (ATIC)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fazely, Ali R.

2003-01-01

ATIC is a balloon-borne investigation of cosmic ray spectra, from below 50 GeV to near 100 TeV total energy, using a fully active Bismuth Gemmate (BGO) calorimeter. It is equipped with the first large area mosaic of small fully depleted silicon detector pixels capable of charge identification in cosmic rays from H to Fe. As a redundancy check for the charge identification and a coarse particle tracking system, three projective layers of x-y scintillator hodoscopes were employed, above, in the center and below a Carbon interaction 'target'. Very high energy gamma-rays and their energy spectrum may provide insight to the flux of extremely high energy neutrinos which will be investigated in detail with several proposed cubic kilometer scale neutrino observatories in the next decade.

The cosmic merger rate of stellar black hole binaries from the Illustris simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mapelli, Michela; Giacobbo, Nicola; Ripamonti, Emanuele; Spera, Mario

2017-12-01

The cosmic merger rate density of black hole binaries (BHBs) can give us an essential clue to constraining the formation channels of BHBs, in light of current and forthcoming gravitational wave detections. Following a Monte Carlo approach, we couple new population-synthesis models of BHBs with the Illustris cosmological simulation, to study the cosmic history of BHB mergers. We explore six population-synthesis models, varying the prescriptions for supernovae, common envelope and natal kicks. In most considered models, the cosmic BHB merger rate follows the same trend as the cosmic star formation rate. The normalization of the cosmic BHB merger rate strongly depends on the treatment of common envelope and on the distribution of natal kicks. We find that most BHBs merging within LIGO's instrumental horizon come from relatively metal-poor progenitors (<0.2 Z⊙). The total masses of merging BHBs span a large range of values, from ∼6 to ∼82 M⊙. In our fiducial model, merging BHBs consistent with GW150914, GW151226 and GW170104 represent ∼6, 3 and 12 per cent of all BHBs merging within the LIGO horizon, respectively. The heavy systems, like GW150914, come from metal-poor progenitors (<0.15 Z⊙). Most GW150914-like systems merging in the local Universe appear to have formed at high redshift, with a long delay time. In contrast, GW151226-like systems form and merge all the way through the cosmic history, from progenitors with a broad range of metallicities. Future detections will be crucial to put constraints on common envelope, on natal kicks, and on the BHB mass function.

Probing cosmic strings with satellite CMB measurements

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jeong, E.; Baccigalupi, Carlo; Smoot, G.F., E-mail: ehjeong@sissa.it, E-mail: bacci@sissa.it, E-mail: gfsmoot@lbl.gov

2010-09-01

We study the problem of searching for cosmic string signal patterns in the present high resolution and high sensitivity observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). This article discusses a technique capable of recognizing Kaiser-Stebbins effect signatures in total intensity anisotropy maps from isolated strings. We derive the statistical distributions of null detections from purely Gaussian fluctuations and instrumental performances of the operating satellites, and show that the biggest factor that produces confusion is represented by the acoustic oscillation features of the scale comparable to the size of horizon at recombination. Simulations show that the distribution of null detections convergesmore » to a χ{sup 2} distribution, with detectability threshold at 99% confidence level corresponding to a string induced step signal with an amplitude of about 100 μK which corresponds to a limit of roughly Gμ ∼ 1.5 × 10{sup −6}. We implement simulations for deriving the statistics of spurious detections caused by extra-Galactic and Galactic foregrounds. For diffuse Galactic foregrounds, which represents the dominant source of contamination, we construct sky masks outlining the available region of the sky where the Galactic confusion is sub-dominant, specializing our analysis to the case represented by the frequency coverage and nominal sensitivity and resolution of the Planck experiment. As for other CMB measurements, the maximum available area, corresponding to 7%, is reached where the foreground emission is expected to be minimum, in the 70–100 GHz interval.« less

Cosmic-ray propagation and containment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Parker, E. N.

1977-01-01

The cosmic rays are an active gaseous component of the disk of the galaxy, and their propagation and containment is a part of the general dynamics of the disk. The sources of cosmic rays are a matter of speculation. The disk is inflated by the cosmic-ray gas pressure, P, comparable to the magnetic pressure B super 2/ 8 pi, but the rate of inflation is unknown. The time spent by the individual cosmic-ray particles in the disk is inversely proportional to the cosmic-ray production rate and may be anything from 100,000 to more than 10 million years. It is evident from the decay of Be(10) that the cosmic rays circulate through a volume of space perhaps ten times the thickness of the gaseous disk, suggesting a magnetic halo extending out approximately 1 kpc from either face of the disk. The cosmic rays may be responsible for the halo by inflating the magnetic fields of the disk. Extension of the fields to 1 kpc would imply a high production rate and short life of cosmic rays in the dense gaseous disk of the galaxy.

THE FLOW AROUND A COSMIC STRING. I. HYDRODYNAMIC SOLUTION

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Beresnyak, Andrey; Nordita, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm University, SE-10691

2015-05-10

Cosmic strings are linear topological defects which are hypothesized to be produced during inflation. Most searches for strings have relied on the string’s lensing of background galaxies or the cosmic microwave background. In this paper, I obtained a solution for the supersonic flow of collisional gas past the cosmic string which has two planar shocks with a shock compression ratio that depends on the angle defect of the string and its speed. The shocks result in the compression and heating of the gas and, given favorable conditions, particle acceleration. Gas heating and over-density in an unusual wedge shape can bemore » detected by observing the Hi line at high redshifts. Particle acceleration can occur in the present-day universe when the string crosses the hot gas contained in galaxy clusters and, since the consequences of such a collision persist for cosmological timescales, could be located by looking at unusual large-scale radio sources situated on a single spatial plane.« less

Lunar surface cosmic ray experiment S-152, Apollo 16

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fleischer, R. L.; Hart, H. R., Jr.; Carter, M.; Comostock, G. M.; Renshaw, A.; Woods, R. T.

1973-01-01

This investigation was directed at determining the energy spectra and abundances of low energy heavy cosmic rays (0.03 E or = 150 MeV/nucleon). The cosmic rays were detected using plastic and glass particle track detectors. Particles emitted during the 17 April 1972 solar flare dominated the spectra for energies below about 70 MeV/nucleon. Two conclusions emerge from the low energy data: (1) The differential energy spectra for solar particles vary rapidly for energies as low as 0.05 MeV/nucleon for iron-group nuclei. (2) The abundance ratio of heavy elements changes with energy at low energies; heavy elements are enhanced relative to higher elements increasingly as the energy decreases. Galactic particle fluxes recorded within the spacecraft are in agreement with those predicted taking into account solar modulation and spacecraft shielding. The composition of the nuclei at energies above 70 MeV/nucleon imply that these particles originate outside the solar system and hence are galactic cosmic rays.

CMB ISW-lensing bispectrum from cosmic strings

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yamauchi, Daisuke; Sendouda, Yuuiti; Takahashi, Keitaro, E-mail: yamauchi@resceu.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp, E-mail: sendouda@cc.hirosaki-u.ac.jp, E-mail: keitaro@sci.kumamoto-u.ac.jp

2014-02-01

We study the effect of weak lensing by cosmic (super-)strings on the higher-order statistics of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). A cosmic string segment is expected to cause weak lensing as well as an integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) effect, the so-called Gott-Kaiser-Stebbins (GKS) effect, to the CMB temperature fluctuation, which are thus naturally cross-correlated. We point out that, in the presence of such a correlation, yet another kind of the post-recombination CMB temperature bispectra, the ISW-lensing bispectra, will arise in the form of products of the auto- and cross-power spectra. We first present an analytic method to calculate the autocorrelation ofmore » the temperature fluctuations induced by the strings, and the cross-correlation between the temperature fluctuation and the lensing potential both due to the string network. In our formulation, the evolution of the string network is assumed to be characterized by the simple analytic model, the velocity-dependent one scale model, and the intercommutation probability is properly incorporated in order to characterize the possible superstringy nature. Furthermore, the obtained power spectra are dominated by the Poisson-distributed string segments, whose correlations are assumed to satisfy the simple relations. We then estimate the signal-to-noise ratios of the string-induced ISW-lensing bispectra and discuss the detectability of such CMB signals from the cosmic string network. It is found that in the case of the smaller string tension, Gμ << 10{sup -7}, the ISW-lensing bispectrum induced by a cosmic string network can constrain the string-model parameters even more tightly than the purely GKS-induced bispectrum in the ongoing and future CMB observations on small scales.« less

Enhancing the Spectral Hardening of Cosmic TeV Photons by Mixing with Axionlike Particles in the Magnetized Cosmic Web.

PubMed

Montanino, Daniele; Vazza, Franco; Mirizzi, Alessandro; Viel, Matteo

2017-09-08

Large-scale extragalactic magnetic fields may induce conversions between very-high-energy photons and axionlike particles (ALPs), thereby shielding the photons from absorption on the extragalactic background light. However, in simplified "cell" models, used so far to represent extragalactic magnetic fields, this mechanism would be strongly suppressed by current astrophysical bounds. Here we consider a recent model of extragalactic magnetic fields obtained from large-scale cosmological simulations. Such simulated magnetic fields would have large enhancement in the filaments of matter. As a result, photon-ALP conversions would produce a significant spectral hardening for cosmic TeV photons. This effect would be probed with the upcoming Cherenkov Telescope Array detector. This possible detection would give a unique chance to perform a tomography of the magnetized cosmic web with ALPs.

Genome and epigenome analysis of monozygotic twins discordant for congenital heart disease.

PubMed

Lyu, Guoliang; Zhang, Chao; Ling, Te; Liu, Rui; Zong, Le; Guan, Yiting; Huang, Xiaoke; Sun, Lei; Zhang, Lijun; Li, Cheng; Nie, Yu; Tao, Wei

2018-06-04

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the leading non-infectious cause of death in infants. Monozygotic (MZ) twins share nearly all of their genetic variants before and after birth. Nevertheless, MZ twins are sometimes discordant for common complex diseases. The goal of this study is to identify genomic and epigenomic differences between a pair of twins discordant for a form of congenital heart disease, double outlet right ventricle (DORV). A monoamniotic monozygotic (MZ) twin pair discordant for DORV were subjected to genome-wide sequencing and methylation analysis. We identified few genomic differences but 1566 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) between the MZ twins. Twenty percent (312/1566) of the DMRs are located within 2 kb upstream of transcription start sites (TSS), containing 121 binding sites of transcription factors. Particularly, ZIC3 and NR2F2 are found to have hypermethylated promoters in both the diseased twin and additional patients suffering from DORV. The results showed a high correlation between hypermethylated promoters at ZIC3 and NR2F2 and down-regulated gene expression levels of these two genes in patients with DORV compared to normal controls, providing new insight into the potential mechanism of this rare form of CHD.

The Cosmic Connection

Science.gov Websites

Macy High School We have a simple cosmic ray detector that can be built by high school teachers. This cosmic rays vary with elevation. In addition, it is a valuable tool to teach elementary measurement

Background-Source Cosmic-Photon Elevation Scaling and Cosmic-Neutron/Photon Date Scaling in MCNP6

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tutt, J.; Anderson, C.; McKinney, G.

Cosmic neutron and photon fluxes are known to scale exponentially with elevation. Consequently, cosmic neutron elevation scaling was implemented for use with the background-source option shortly after its introduction into MCNP6, whereby the neutron flux weight factor was adjusted by the elevation scaling factor when the user-specified elevation differed from the selected background.dat grid-point elevation. At the same time, an elevation scaling factor was suggested for the cosmic photon flux, however, cosmic photon elevation scaling is complicated by the fact that the photon background consists of two components: cosmic and terrestrial. Previous versions of the background.dat file did not provide any way to separate these components. With Rel. 4 of this file in 2015, two new columns were added that provide the energy grid and differential cosmic photon flux separately from the total photon flux. Here we show that the cosmic photon flux component can now be scaled independently and combined with the terrestrial component to form the total photon flux at a user-specified elevation in MCNP6. Cosmic background fluxes also scale with the solar cycle due to solar modulation. This modulation has been shown to be nearly sinusoidal over time, with an inverse effect - increased modulation leads to a decrease in cosmic fluxes. This effect was initially included with the cosmic source option in MCNP6 and has now been extended for use with the background source option when: (1) the date is specified in the background.dat file, and (2) when the user specifies a date on the source definition card. A description of the cosmic-neutron/photon date scaling feature will be presented along with scaling results for past and future date extrapolations.

How discordant morphological and molecular evolution among microorganisms can revise our notions of biodiversity on earth

PubMed Central

Lahr, Daniel J. G.; Laughinghouse, H. Dail; Oliverio, Angela; Gao, Feng; Katz, Laura A.

2014-01-01

Microscopy has revealed a tremendous diversity of bacterial and eukaryotic forms. More recent molecular analyses show discordance in estimates of biodiversity based on morphological analyses. Moreover, phylogenetic analyses of the diversity of microbial forms have revealed evidence of convergence at scales as large as interdomain – i.e. convergent forms shared between bacteria and eukaryotes. Here, we highlight examples of such discordance, focusing on exemplary lineages such as testate amoebae, ciliates and cyanobacteria, which have long histories of morphological study. We discuss examples in two categories: 1) morphologically identical (or highly similar) individuals that are genetically distinct and 2) morphologically distinct individuals that are genetically distinct. We argue that hypotheses about discordance can be tested using the concept of neutral morphologies, or more broadly neutral phenotypes, as a null hypothesis. PMID:25156897

Discordance Between Appropriate Use Criteria for Nuclear Myocardial Perfusion Imaging From Different Specialty Societies: A Potential Concern for Health Policy.

PubMed

Winchester, David E; Wolinsky, David; Beyth, Rebecca J; Shaw, Leslee J

2016-05-01

methods for assessing the appropriateness of advanced imaging tests. Discordance in methods may translate into differences in clinically relevant outcomes, such as the detection of myocardial ischemia.

Nineteenth International Cosmic Ray Conference. HE Sessions, Volume 8

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, F. C. (Compiler)

1985-01-01

Papers submitted for presentation at the 19th International Cosmic Ray Conference are compiled. The present volume contains papers addressing high energy interactions and related phenomena. Specific topic areas include muons, neutrinos, magnetic monopoles, nucleon decay, searches for new particles, and acoustic and thermoluminescence detection techniques.

Space Weather Observations by GNSS Radio Occultation: From FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC to FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2

PubMed Central

Yue, Xinan; Schreiner, William S; Pedatella, Nicholas; Anthes, Richard A; Mannucci, Anthony J; Straus, Paul R; Liu, Jann-Yenq

2014-01-01

The joint Taiwan-United States FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC (Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate) mission, hereafter called COSMIC, is the first satellite constellation dedicated to remotely sense Earth's atmosphere and ionosphere using a technique called Global Positioning System (GPS) radio occultation (RO). The occultations yield abundant information about neutral atmospheric temperature and moisture as well as space weather estimates of slant total electron content, electron density profiles, and an amplitude scintillation index, S4. With the success of COSMIC, the United States and Taiwan are moving forward with a follow-on RO mission named FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 (COSMIC-2), which will ultimately place 12 satellites in orbit with two launches in 2016 and 2019. COSMIC-2 satellites will carry an advanced Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) RO receiver that will track both GPS and Russian Global Navigation Satellite System signals, with capability for eventually tracking other GNSS signals from the Chinese BeiDou and European Galileo system, as well as secondary space weather payloads to measure low-latitude plasma drifts and scintillation at multiple frequencies. COSMIC-2 will provide 4–6 times (10–15X in the low latitudes) the number of atmospheric and ionospheric observations that were tracked with COSMIC and will also improve the quality of the observations. In this article we focus on COSMIC/COSMIC-2 measurements of key ionospheric parameters. PMID:26213514

Space Weather Observations by GNSS Radio Occultation: From FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC to FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2.

PubMed

Yue, Xinan; Schreiner, William S; Pedatella, Nicholas; Anthes, Richard A; Mannucci, Anthony J; Straus, Paul R; Liu, Jann-Yenq

2014-11-01

The joint Taiwan-United States FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC (Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate) mission, hereafter called COSMIC, is the first satellite constellation dedicated to remotely sense Earth's atmosphere and ionosphere using a technique called Global Positioning System (GPS) radio occultation (RO). The occultations yield abundant information about neutral atmospheric temperature and moisture as well as space weather estimates of slant total electron content, electron density profiles, and an amplitude scintillation index, S4. With the success of COSMIC, the United States and Taiwan are moving forward with a follow-on RO mission named FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 (COSMIC-2), which will ultimately place 12 satellites in orbit with two launches in 2016 and 2019. COSMIC-2 satellites will carry an advanced Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) RO receiver that will track both GPS and Russian Global Navigation Satellite System signals, with capability for eventually tracking other GNSS signals from the Chinese BeiDou and European Galileo system, as well as secondary space weather payloads to measure low-latitude plasma drifts and scintillation at multiple frequencies. COSMIC-2 will provide 4-6 times (10-15X in the low latitudes) the number of atmospheric and ionospheric observations that were tracked with COSMIC and will also improve the quality of the observations. In this article we focus on COSMIC/COSMIC-2 measurements of key ionospheric parameters.

The Origin of Cosmic Rays

ScienceCinema

Blasi, Pasquale

2017-12-22

Cosmic Rays reach the Earth from space with energies of up to more than 1020 eV, carrying information on the most powerful particle accelerators that Nature has been able to assemble. Understanding where and how cosmic rays originate has required almost one century of investigations, and, although the last word is not written yet, recent observations and theory seem now to fit together to provide us with a global picture of the origin of cosmic rays of unprecedented clarity. Here we will describe what we learned from recent observations of astrophysical sources (such as supernova remnants and active galaxies) and we will illustrate what these observations tell us about the physics of particle acceleration and transport. We will also discuss the “end” of the Galactic cosmic ray spectrum, which bridges out attention towards the so called ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs). At ~1020 eV the gyration scale of cosmic rays in cosmic magnetic fields becomes large enough to allow us to point back to their sources, thereby allowing us to perform “cosmic ray astronomy”, as confirmed by the recent results obtained with the Pierre Auger Observatory. We will discuss the implications of these observations for the understanding of UHECRs, as well as some questions which will likely remain unanswered and will be the target of the next generation of cosmic ray experiments.

What can we learn from the dynamics of entanglement and quantum discord in the Tavis-Cummings model?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Restrepo, Juliana; Rodriguez, Boris A.

We revisit the problem of the dynamics of quantum correlations in the exact Tavis-Cummings model. We show that many of the dynamical features of quantum discord attributed to dissipation are already present in the exact framework and are due to the well known non-linearities in the model and to the choice of initial conditions. Through a comprehensive analysis, supported by explicit analytical calculations, we find that the dynamics of entanglement and quantum discord are far from being trivial or intuitive. In this context, we find states that are indistinguishable from the point of view of entanglement and distinguishable from the point of view of quantum discord, states where the two quantifiers give opposite information and states where they give roughly the same information about correlations at a certain time. Depending on the initial conditions, this model exhibits a fascinating range of phenomena that can be used for experimental purposes such as: Robust states against change of manifold or dissipation, tunable entanglement states and states with a counterintuitive sudden birth as the number of photons increase. We furthermore propose an experiment called quantum discord gates where discord is zero or non-zero depending on the number of photons. This work was supported by the Vicerrectoria de Investigacion of the Universidad Antonio Narino, Colombia under Project Number 20141031 and by the Departamento Administrativo de Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacion (COLCIENCIAS) of Colombia under Grant Number.

Cosmic Ray Induced Neutron Irradiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Overholt, Andrew

2011-11-01

After cancer studies performed on flight crews during the 1970s, it was found that cosmic rays produce a signficant flux of thermal neutrons at airplane altitudes. In the case of high energy cosmic rays these biologically threatening neutrons are increased at ground level. Our work models the flux of neutrons produced by high energy cosmic rays, exploring the possibility of biological impact due to extended periods of increase high energy cosmic ray flux.

Constraints on cosmic strings due to black holes formed from collapsed cosmic string loops

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Caldwell, R. R.; Gates, Evalyn

1993-01-01

The cosmological features of primordial black holes formed from collapsed cosmic string loops are studied. Observational restrictions on a population of primordial black holes are used to restrict f, the fraction of cosmic string loops which collapse to form black holes, and mu, the cosmic string mass-per-unit length. Using a realistic model of cosmic strings, we find the strongest restriction on the parameters f and mu is due to the energy density in 100MeV photons radiated by the black holes. We also find that inert black hole remnants cannot serve as the dark matter. If earlier, crude estimates of f are reliable, our results severely restrict mu, and therefore limit the viability of the cosmic string large-scale structure scenario.

Antibiotic and Diagnostic Discordance Between ED Physicians and Hospitalists for Pediatric Respiratory Illness.

PubMed

Coon, Eric R; Maloney, Christopher G; Shen, Mark W

2015-03-01

Imperfect diagnostic tools make it difficult to know the extent to which a bacterial process is contributing to respiratory illness, complicating the decision to prescribe antibiotics. We sought to quantify diagnostic and antibiotic prescribing disagreements between emergency department (ED) and pediatric hospitalist physicians for children admitted with respiratory illness. Manual chart review was used to identify testing, diagnostic, and antibiotic prescribing decisions for consecutive children admitted for respiratory illness in a winter (starting February 20, 2012) and a summer (starting August 20, 2012) season to a tertiary, freestanding children's hospital. Respiratory illness diagnoses were grouped into 3 categories: bacterial, viral, and asthma. A total of 181 children admitted for respiratory illness were studied. Diagnostic discordance was significant for all 3 types of respiratory illness but greatest for bacterial (P<.001). Antibiotic prescribing discordance was significant (P<.001), with pediatric hospitalists changing therapy for 93% of patients prescribed antibiotics in the ED, including stopping antibiotics altogether for 62% of patients. Significant diagnostic and antibiotic discordance between ED and pediatric hospitalist physicians exists for children admitted to the hospital for respiratory illness. Copyright © 2015 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Tomographic-spectral approach for dark matter detection in the cross-correlation between cosmic shear and diffuse γ-ray emission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Camera, S.; Fornasa, M.; Fornengo, N.; Regis, M.

2015-06-01

We recently proposed to cross-correlate the diffuse extragalactic γ-ray background with the gravitational lensing signal of cosmic shear. This represents a novel and promising strategy to search for annihilating or decaying particle dark matter (DM) candidates. In the present work, we demonstrate the potential of a tomographic-spectral approach: measuring the cross-correlation in separate bins of redshift and energy significantly improves the sensitivity to a DM signal. Indeed, the technique proposed here takes advantage of the different scaling of the astrophysical and DM components with redshift and, simultaneously of their different energy spectra and different angular extensions. The sensitivity to a particle DM signal is extremely promising even when the DM-induced emission is quite faint. We first quantify the prospects of detecting DM by cross-correlating the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) diffuse γ-ray background with the cosmic shear expected from the Dark Energy Survey. Under the hypothesis of a significant subhalo boost, such a measurement can deliver a 5σ detection of DM, if the DM particle is lighter than 300 GeV and has a thermal annihilation rate. We then forecast the capability of the European Space Agency Euclid satellite (whose launch is planned for 2020), in combination with an hypothetical future γ-ray detector with slightly improved specifications compared to current telescopes. We predict that the cross-correlation of their data will allow a measurement of the DM mass with an uncertainty of a factor of 1.5-2, even for moderate subhalo boosts, for DM masses up to few hundreds of GeV and thermal annihilation rates.

Cherenkov detection of cosmic rays in Hanoi: Response to low signals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thao, N. T.; Anh, P. T.; Darriulat, P.; Diep, P. N.; Dong, P. N.; Hiep, N. V.; Hoai, D. T.; Nhung, P. T. T.

2013-05-01

A replica of one of the 1660 Cherenkov detectors used in the ground array of the Pierre Auger Cosmic Ray Observatory in Argentina has been constructed on the roof of the VATLY astrophysics laboratory in Ha Noi (Viet Nam). We report on measurements of low amplitude signals using the detector to study event pairs occurring within a small time window. The data include time autocorrelation and charge distributions.

D-term inflation, cosmic strings, and consistency with cosmic microwave background measurements.

PubMed

Rocher, Jonathan; Sakellariadou, Mairi

2005-01-14

Standard D-term inflation is studied in the framework of supergravity. D-term inflation produces cosmic strings; however, it can still be compatible with cosmic microwave background (CMB) measurements without invoking any new physics. The cosmic strings contribution to the CMB data is not constant, nor dominant, contrary to some previous results. Using current CMB measurements, the free parameters (gauge and superpotential couplings, as well as the Fayet-Iliopoulos term) of D-term inflation are constrained.

IR lasers in a struggle against dangerous cosmic objects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuzyakov, Boris A.

2001-03-01

Humanity can struggle with the small dangerous cosmic objects in our time and its parameter knowledge are needed. A present paper deals with prospects for the perspective of the laser methods applications for a dangerous asteroids discovering and a remote sensing and for the course correction systems of the influence expedients. The cosmic IR lasers will be used for remote sensing measurement of the various cosmic objects parameters: dimensions are more than 50 m, velocity is more than 10 km/s. The laser methods have the good perspectives among a large fleet of diagnostics technical means. The more effective CO2-laser parameters were defined for the solar systems smaller bodies velocity analysis. The laser is supplied with modulated laser radiation and an automatic tuning optical system. The CO2-lidars are needed for the asteroids detections and remote sensing at the distances of 30,000 km to 1 Mkm. A laser Doppler anemometer method with adaptive selection is used. The power calculations were made for the various asteroids in a cosmic space. The possibilities are estimated for remote sensing and for the course correction systems of the influence expedients also. The such system must be good for the distances nearby 12600 km, as the asteroids velocity can be more than 70 km/s.

Background-Source Cosmic-Photon Elevation Scaling and Cosmic-Neutron/Photon Date Scaling in MCNP6

DOE PAGES

Tutt, James Robert; Anderson, Casey Alan; McKinney, Gregg Walter

2017-10-26

Here, cosmic neutron and photon fluxes are known to scale exponentially with elevation. Consequently, cosmic neutron elevation scaling was implemented for use with the background-source option shortly after its introduction into MCNP6, whereby the neutron flux weight factor was adjusted by the elevation scaling factor when the user-specified elevation differed from the selected background.dat grid-point elevation. At the same time, an elevation scaling factor was suggested for the cosmic photon flux, however, cosmic photon elevation scaling is complicated by the fact that the photon background consists of two components: cosmic and terrestrial. Previous versions of the background.dat file did notmore » provide any way to separate these components. With Rel. 4 of this file in 2015, two new columns were added that provide the energy grid and differential cosmic photon flux separately from the total photon flux. Here we show that the cosmic photon flux component can now be scaled independently and combined with the terrestrial component to form the total photon flux at a user-specified elevation in MCNP6.« less

Background-Source Cosmic-Photon Elevation Scaling and Cosmic-Neutron/Photon Date Scaling in MCNP6

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tutt, James Robert; Anderson, Casey Alan; McKinney, Gregg Walter

Here, cosmic neutron and photon fluxes are known to scale exponentially with elevation. Consequently, cosmic neutron elevation scaling was implemented for use with the background-source option shortly after its introduction into MCNP6, whereby the neutron flux weight factor was adjusted by the elevation scaling factor when the user-specified elevation differed from the selected background.dat grid-point elevation. At the same time, an elevation scaling factor was suggested for the cosmic photon flux, however, cosmic photon elevation scaling is complicated by the fact that the photon background consists of two components: cosmic and terrestrial. Previous versions of the background.dat file did notmore » provide any way to separate these components. With Rel. 4 of this file in 2015, two new columns were added that provide the energy grid and differential cosmic photon flux separately from the total photon flux. Here we show that the cosmic photon flux component can now be scaled independently and combined with the terrestrial component to form the total photon flux at a user-specified elevation in MCNP6.« less

Nexus of the Cosmic Web

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cautun, Marius; van de Weygaert, Rien; Jones, Bernard J. T.; Frenk, Carlos S.; Hellwing, Wojciech A.

2015-01-01

One of the important unknowns of current cosmology concerns the effects of the large scale distribution of matter on the formation and evolution of dark matter haloes and galaxies. One main difficulty in answering this question lies in the absence of a robust and natural way of identifying the large scale environments and their characteristics. This work summarizes the NEXUS+ formalism which extends and improves our multiscale scale-space MMF method. The new algorithm is very successful in tracing the Cosmic Web components, mainly due to its novel filtering of the density in logarithmic space. The method, due to its multiscale and hierarchical character, has the advantage of detecting all the cosmic structures, either prominent or tenuous, without preference for a certain size or shape. The resulting filamentary and wall networks can easily be characterized by their direction, thickness, mass density and density profile. These additional environmental properties allows to us to investigate not only the effect of environment on haloes, but also how it correlates with the environment characteristics.

Very high-energy gamma-ray signature of ultrahigh-energy cosmic ray acceleration in Centaurus A

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Joshi, Jagdish C.; Miranda, Luis Salvador; Razzaque, Soebur; Yang, Lili

2018-07-01

The association of at least a dozen ultrahigh-energy cosmic ray (UHECR) events with energy ≳ 55 EeV detected by the Pierre Auger Observatory from the direction of Centaurus-A, the nearest radio galaxy, supports the scenario of UHECR acceleration in the jets of radio galaxies. In this work, we model radio to very high energy (VHE,≳ 100 GeV) γ-ray emission from Cen A, including GeV hardness detected by Fermi-LAT and TeV emission detected by the High Energy Stereoscopic System (HESS). We consider two scenarios: (i) two-zone synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) and external-Compton (EC) models, (ii) two-zone SSC, EC, and photohadronic emission from cosmic ray interactions. The GeV hardness observed by Fermi-LAT can be explained using these two scenarios, where zone 2 EC emission is very important. Hadronic emission in scenario (ii) can explain VHE data with the same spectral slope as obtained through fitting UHECRs from Cen A. The peak luminosity in cosmic ray proton at 1 TeV, to explain the VHE γ-ray data is ≈2.5 × 1046 erg s-1. The bolometric luminosity in cosmic ray protons is consistent with the luminosity required to explain the origin of 13 UHECR signal events that are correlated with Cen A.

Priming the search for cosmic superstrings using GADGET2 simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cousins, Bryce; Jia, Hewei; Braverman, William; Chernoff, David

2018-01-01

String theory is an extensive mathematical theory which, despite its broad explanatory power, is still lacking empirical support. However, this may change when considering the scope of cosmology, where “cosmic superstrings” may serve as observational evidence. According to string theory, these superstrings were stretched to cosmic scales in the early Universe and may now be detectable, via microlensing or gravitational radiation. Negative results from prior surveys have put some limits on superstring properties, so to investigate the parameter space more effectively, we ask: “where should we expect to find cosmic superstrings, and how many should we predict?” This research investigates these questions by simulating cosmic string behavior during structure formation in the universe using GADGET2. The sizes and locations of superstring clusters are assessed using kernel density estimation and radial correlation functions. Currently, only preliminary small-scale simulations have been performed, producing superstring clustering with low sensitivity. However, future simulations of greater magnitude will offer far higher resolution, allowing us to more precisely track superstring behavior within structures. Such results will guide future searches, most imminently those made possible by LSST and WFIRST.

Analyzing the cosmic variance limit of remote dipole measurements of the cosmic microwave background using the large-scale kinetic Sunyaev Zel'dovich effect

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Terrana, Alexandra; Johnson, Matthew C.; Harris, Mary-Jean, E-mail: aterrana@perimeterinstitute.ca, E-mail: mharris8@perimeterinstitute.ca, E-mail: mjohnson@perimeterinstitute.ca

Due to cosmic variance we cannot learn any more about large-scale inhomogeneities from the primary cosmic microwave background (CMB) alone. More information on large scales is essential for resolving large angular scale anomalies in the CMB. Here we consider cross correlating the large-scale kinetic Sunyaev Zel'dovich (kSZ) effect and probes of large-scale structure, a technique known as kSZ tomography. The statistically anisotropic component of the cross correlation encodes the CMB dipole as seen by free electrons throughout the observable Universe, providing information about long wavelength inhomogeneities. We compute the large angular scale power asymmetry, constructing the appropriate transfer functions, andmore » estimate the cosmic variance limited signal to noise for a variety of redshift bin configurations. The signal to noise is significant over a large range of power multipoles and numbers of bins. We present a simple mode counting argument indicating that kSZ tomography can be used to estimate more modes than the primary CMB on comparable scales. A basic forecast indicates that a first detection could be made with next-generation CMB experiments and galaxy surveys. This paper motivates a more systematic investigation of how close to the cosmic variance limit it will be possible to get with future observations.« less

Monozygotic twins discordant for ROHHAD phenotype.

PubMed

Patwari, Pallavi P; Rand, Casey M; Berry-Kravis, Elizabeth M; Ize-Ludlow, Diego; Weese-Mayer, Debra E

2011-09-01

Rapid-onset obesity with hypothalamic dysfunction, hypoventilation, and autonomic dysregulation (ROHHAD) falls within a group of pediatric disorders with both respiratory control and autonomic nervous system dysregulation. Children with ROHHAD typically present after 1.5 years of age with rapid weight gain as the initial sign. Subsequently, they develop alveolar hypoventilation, autonomic nervous system dysregulation, and, if untreated, cardiorespiratory arrest. To our knowledge, this is the first report of discordant presentation of ROHHAD in monozygotic twins. Twin girls, born at term, had concordant growth and development until 8 years of age. From 8 to 12 years of age, the affected twin developed features characteristic of ROHHAD including obesity, alveolar hypoventilation, scoliosis, hypothalamic dysfunction (central diabetes insipidus, hypothyroidism, premature pubarche, and growth hormone deficiency), right paraspinal/thoracic ganglioneuroblastoma, seizures, and autonomic dysregulation including altered pain perception, large and sluggishly reactive pupils, hypothermia, and profound bradycardia that required a cardiac pacemaker. Results of genetic testing for PHOX2B (congenital central hypoventilation syndrome disease-defining gene) mutations were negative. With early recognition and conservative management, the affected twin had excellent neurocognitive outcome that matched that of the unaffected twin. The unaffected twin demonstrated rapid weight gain later in age but not development of signs/symptoms consistent with ROHHAD. This discordant twin pair demonstrates key features of ROHHAD including the importance of early recognition (especially hypoventilation), complexity of signs/symptoms and clinical course, and importance of initiating comprehensive, multispecialty care. These cases confound the hypothesis of a monogenic etiology for ROHHAD and indicate alternative etiologies including autoimmune or epigenetic phenomenon or a combination of genetic

Cosmic Ray Energetics and Mass (CREAM)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Coutu, Stephane

2005-01-01

The CREAM instrument was flown on a Long Duration Balloon in Antarctica in December 2004 and January 2005, achieving a flight duration record of nearly 42 days. It detected and recorded cosmic ray primary particles ranging in type from hydrogen to iron nuclei and in energy from 1 TeV to several hundred TeV. With the data collected we will have the world's best measurement of the energy spectra and mass composition of nuclei in the primary cosmic ray flux at these energies, close to the astrophysical knee . The instrument utilized a thin calorimeter, a transition radiation detector and a timing charge detector, which also provided time-of-flight information. The responsibilities of our group have been with the timing charge detector (TCD), and with the data acquisition electronics and ground station support equipment. The TCD utilized fast scintillators to measure the charge of the primary cosmic ray before any interactions could take place within the calorimeter. The data acquisition electronics handled the output of the various detectors, in a fashion fully integrated with the payload bus. A space-qualified flight computer controlled the acquisition, and was used for preliminary trigger information processing and decision making. Ground support equipment was used to monitor the health of the payload, acquire and archive the data transmitted to the ground, and to provide real-time control of the instrument in flight.

Imaging discordance between hepatic angiography versus Tc-99m-MAA SPECT/CT: a case series, technical discussion and clinical implications.

PubMed

Kao, Yung Hsiang; Tan, Eik Hock; Teo, Terence Kiat Beng; Ng, Chee Eng; Goh, Soon Whatt

2011-11-01

During pre-therapy evaluation for yttrium-90 (Y-90) radioembolization, it is uncommon to find severe imaging discordance between hepatic angiography versus technetium-99m-macroaggregated albumin (Tc-99m-MAA) single photon emission computed tomography with integrated low-dose CT (SPECT/CT). The reasons for severe imaging discordance are unclear, and literature is scarce. We describe 3 patients with severe imaging discordance, whereby tumor angiographic contrast hypervascularity was markedly mismatched to the corresponding Tc-99m-MAA SPECT/CT, and its clinical impact. The incidence of severe imaging discordance at our institution was 4% (3 of 74 cases). We postulate that imaging discordance could be due to a combination of 3 factors: (1) different injection rates between soluble contrast molecules versus Tc-99m-MAA; (2) different arterial flow hemodynamics between soluble contrast molecules versus Tc-99m-MAA; (3) eccentric release position of Tc-99m-MAA due to microcatheter tip location, inadvertently selecting non-target microparticle trajectories. Tc-99m-MAA SPECT/CT more accurately represents hepatic microparticle biodistribution than soluble contrast hepatic angiography and should be a key criterion in patient selection for Y-90 radioembolization. Tc-99m-MAA SPECT/CT provides more information than planar scintigraphy to guide radiation planning and clinical decision making. Severe imaging discordance at pre-therapy evaluation is ominous and should be followed up by changes to the final vascular approach during Y-90 radioembolization.

Whole-genome sequencing in a pair of monozygotic twins with discordant cleft lip and palate subtypes.

PubMed

Takahashi, Masahiro; Hosomichi, Kazuyoshi; Yamaguchi, Tetsutaro; Nagahama, Ryo; Yoshida, Hiroshi; Maki, Koutaro; Marazita, Mary L; Weinberg, Seth M; Tajima, Atsushi

2018-06-06

Orofacial clefts (OFCs) are common and aetiologically complex birth defects. This study explored potential genetic differences in a pair of Japanese monozygotic (MZ) twins with different forms of OFC using whole-genome sequencing. One co-twin (MZ-1) presented with non-syndromic bilateral cleft lip and palate; the other co-twin (MZ-2) had non-syndromic bilateral cleft lip and unilateral left-sided cleft alveolus. Neither parent had an OFC. Craniofacial morphologic features and potential genetic differences were compared using standard cephalometry and whole-genome sequencing, respectively. Morphologically, MZ-1 had a smaller vertical mandibular height, compared to MZ-2. However, no discordant genetic differences were detected. Moreover, both twins and their parents harboured rare candidate gene variants (GRHL3; TPM1) considered to be associated with OFCs. The observed differences between MZ-1 and MZ-2 in craniofacial morphology assessed by cephalograms might be directly attributable to the effects of the OFC on growth and/or differences in surgical history, given the lack of any differences in genetic background. However, comparisons of discordant MZ twins should continue to identify novel candidates that might control OFC or that might partly explain the missing heritability for this common birth defect, in addition to understanding craniofacial growth and development. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Detection of polarization in the cosmic microwave background using DASI. Degree Angular Scale Interferometer.

PubMed

Kovac, J M; Leitch, E M; Pryke, C; Carlstrom, J E; Halverson, N W; Holzapfel, W L

The past several years have seen the emergence of a standard cosmological model, in which small temperature differences in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation on angular scales of the order of a degree are understood to arise from acoustic oscillations in the hot plasma of the early Universe, arising from primordial density fluctuations. Within the context of this model, recent measurements of the temperature fluctuations have led to profound conclusions about the origin, evolution and composition of the Universe. Using the measured temperature fluctuations, the theoretical framework predicts the level of polarization of the CMB with essentially no free parameters. Therefore, a measurement of the polarization is a critical test of the theory and thus of the validity of the cosmological parameters derived from the CMB measurements. Here we report the detection of polarization of the CMB with the Degree Angular Scale Interferometer (DASI). The polarization is deteced with high confidence, and its level and spatial distribution are in excellent agreement with the predictions of the standard theory.

Spectral distortion of the CMB by the cumulative CO emission from galaxies throughout cosmic history

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mashian, Natalie; Loeb, Abraham; Sternberg, Amiel

2016-05-01

We show that the cumulative CO emission from galaxies throughout cosmic history distorts the spectrum of the cosmic microwave background at a level that is well above the detection limit of future instruments, such as the Primordial Inflation Explorer. The modelled CO signal has a prominent bump in the frequency interval 100-200 GHz, with a characteristic peak intensity of ˜2 × 10-23 W m-2 Hz-1 sr-1. Most of the CO foreground originates from modest redshifts, z ˜ 2-5, and needs to be efficiently removed for more subtle distortions from the earlier Universe to be detected.

Deepening Cosmic Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leonard, Gerard

2013-01-01

This article is a special blend of research, theory, and practice, with clear insight into the origins of Cosmic Education and cosmic task, while recalling memories of student explorations in botany, in particular, episodes from Mr. Leonard's teaching. Mr. Leonard speaks of a storytelling curriculum that eloquently puts perspective into dimensions…

Predictors of Discordance between Symptoms and Signs in Dry Eye Disease.

PubMed

Vehof, Jelle; Sillevis Smitt-Kamminga, Nicole; Nibourg, Simone A; Hammond, Christopher J

2017-03-01

To investigate predictors of discordance between symptoms and signs in dry eye disease (DED). Cross-sectional association study. A total of 648 patients with dry eye from the Groningen LOngitudinal Sicca StudY (GLOSSY), a tertiary dry eye clinic patient cohort from the Netherlands. Patient symptoms were assessed using the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire. Dry eye signs were assessed by tear osmolarity, Schirmer test, tear breakup time, corneal and conjunctival staining, and meibomian gland dysfunction, all in both eyes, and a composite dry eye signs severity score was calculated from these 6 tests for each patient. Linear regression analysis was used to test the association of discordance between symptoms and signs with a wide range of independent variables (demographic and environmental variables, systemic diseases, ocular traits, and medications). Predictors of discordance between symptoms and signs in DED, defined by the difference between the rank score of the OSDI and the rank score of the dry eye signs severity score. Of the 648 subjects in this cohort, 536 (82.7%) were female and the mean age was 55.8 years (standard deviation, 15.6 years). Significant predictors of greater symptoms than signs were the presence of a chronic pain syndrome, atopic diseases, a known allergy, the use of antihistamines (all P < 0.001), depression (P = 0.003), osteoarthritis (P = 0.008), and the use of antidepressants (P = 0.02). Predictors of lesser symptoms than signs were increased age (P < 0.001) and the presence of Sjögren's disease (P < 0.001) (primary Sjögren's disease, P < 0.001) more than secondary Sjögren's disease (P = 0.08), and graft-versus-host disease (P = 0.04). Furthermore, greater symptoms compared with signs were highly associated with lower self-perceived health (P < 0.001). This large clinical study has shown that discordance between symptoms and signs in DED is an indicator of self-perceived health. The study found important

Locating chambers in an Egyptian pyramid using cosmic ray muons

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lynch, G.R.

From symposium on advanced technology arising from particle physics research; Argonne, Illinois, USA (17 May 1973). A brief report is given on the attempt to detect a chamber or chambers in the Second Pyramid of Chephen at Giza by using cosmic-ray muons. (WDM)

Cosmic Rays: "A Thin Rain of Charged Particles."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Friedlander, Michael

1990-01-01

Discussed are balloons and electroscopes, understanding cosmic rays, cosmic ray paths, isotopes and cosmic-ray travel, sources of cosmic rays, and accelerating cosmic rays. Some of the history of the discovery and study of cosmic rays is presented. (CW)

The complex nature of discordant severe calcified aortic valve disease grading: new insights from combined Doppler echocardiographic and computed tomographic study.

PubMed

Clavel, Marie-Annick; Messika-Zeitoun, David; Pibarot, Philippe; Aggarwal, Shivani R; Malouf, Joseph; Araoz, Phillip A; Michelena, Hector I; Cueff, Caroline; Larose, Eric; Capoulade, Romain; Vahanian, Alec; Enriquez-Sarano, Maurice

2013-12-17

With concomitant Doppler echocardiography and multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) measuring aortic valve calcification (AVC) load, this study aimed at defining: 1) independent physiologic/structural determinants of aortic valve area (AVA)/mean gradient (MG) relationship; 2) AVC thresholds best associated with severe aortic stenosis (AS); and 3) whether, in AS with discordant MG, severe calcified aortic valve disease is generally detected. Aortic stenosis with discordant markers of severity, AVA in severe range but low MG, is a conundrum, unresolved by outcome studies. Patients (n = 646) with normal left ventricular ejection fraction AS underwent Doppler echocardiography and AVC measurement by MDCT. On the basis of AVA-indexed-to-body surface area (AVAi) and MG, patients were categorized as concordant severity grading (CG) with moderate AS (AVAi >0.6 cm²/m², MG <40 mm Hg), severe AS (AVAi ≤0.6 cm²/m², MG ≥ 40 mm Hg), discordant-severity-grading (DG) with low-MG (AVAi ≤0.6 cm(2)/m(2), MG <40 mm Hg), or high-MG (AVAi >0.6 cm(2)/m(2), MG ≥40 mm Hg). The MG (discordant in 29%) was strongly determined by AVA and flow but also independently and strongly influenced by AVC-load (p < 0.0001) and systemic arterial compliance (p < 0.0001). The AVC-load (median [interquartile range]) was similar within patients with DG (low-MG: 1,619 [965 to 2,528] arbitrary units [AU]; high-MG: 1,736 [1,209 to 2,894] AU; p = 0.49), higher than CG-moderate-AS (861 [427 to 1,519] AU; p < 0.0001) but lower than CG-severe-AS (2,931 [1,924 to 4,292] AU; p < 0.0001). The AVC-load thresholds separating severe/moderate AS were defined in CG-AS with normal flow (stroke-volume-index >35 ml/m(2)). The AVC-load, absolute or indexed, identified severe AS accurately (area under the curve ≥0.89, sensitivity ≥86%, specificity ≥79%) in men and women. Upon application of these criteria to DG-low MG, at least one-half of the patients were identified as severe calcified

Cosmic strings and ultra-high energy cosmic rays

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bhattacharjee, Pijushpani

1989-01-01

The flux is calculated of ultrahigh energy protons due to the process of cusp evaporation from cosmic string loops. For the standard value of the dimensionless cosmic string parameter epsilon is identical to G(sub mu) approx. = 10(exp -6), the flux is several orders of magnitude below the observed cosmic ray flux of ultrahigh energy protons. However, the flux at any energy initially increases as the value of epsilon is decreased. This at first suggests that there may be a lower limit on the value of epsilon, which would imply a lower limit on the temperature of a cosmic string forming phase transition in the early universe. However, the calculation shows that this is not the case -- the particle flux at any energy reaches its highest value at epsilon approx. = 10(exp -15) and it then decreases for further decrease of the value of epsilon. This is due to the fact that for too small values of epsilon (less than 10(exp -15)), the energy loss of the loops through the cusp evaporation process itself (rather than gravitational energy loss of the loops) becomes the dominant factor that controls the behavior of the number density of the loops at the relevant times of emission of the particles. The highest flux at any energy remains at least four orders of magnitude below the observed flux. There is thus no lower limit on epsilon.

SOLAR COSMIC RAYS AND SOFT RADIATION OBSERVED AT 5,000,000 KILOMETERS FROM EARTH

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Arnoldy, R.L.; Hoffman, R.A.; Winckler, J.R.

1960-09-01

During the period Mar. 27 to Apr. 6, 1960, the integrating ionization chamber and Geiger counter in Pioneer V detected solar cosmic rays and some soft- radiation effects associated with a high level of solar activity. The space probe was 5 x 10/sup 6/ km from the earth, approximately in the plane of the ecliptic, and located somewhat behind the sunearth radius toward the sun. The solar activity was associated with McMath plage region 5615 and was characterized by numerous flares of all sizes, large loops and surge prominences, and strong emission over a wide range of frequencies. On Mar.more » 31 at 0800 UT, a severe geomagnetic storm began on earth accompanied by major earth-current disturbances, a complete blackout of the North Atlantic communications channel, and auroral displays. At the same time, a large Forbush decrease occurred in the galactic cosmic radiation. An intense series of balloon flights was conducted to record the counting-rate increases at high altitudes due to solar cosmic rays and auroral x rays. Explorer VII showed substantial changes in the radiation belts and detected the solar cosmic rays. The observations of Pioneer V are summarized and compared to the findings of Explorer VII for the same period. (B.O.G.)« less

Neutrinos from cosmic ray interactions in the Sun

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Edsjö, J.; Elevant, J.; Niblaeus, C.

Cosmic rays hitting the solar atmosphere generate neutrinos that interact and oscillate in the Sun and oscillate on the way to Earth. These neutrinos could potentially be detected with neutrino telescopes and will be a background for searches for neutrinos from dark matter annihilation in the Sun. We calculate the flux of neutrinos from these cosmic ray interactions in the Sun and also investigate the interactions near a detector on Earth that give rise to muons. We compare this background with both regular Earth-atmospheric neutrinos and signals from dark matter annihilation in the Sun. Our calculation is performed with anmore » event-based Monte Carlo approach that should be suitable as a simulation tool for experimental collaborations. Our program package is released publicly along with this paper.« less

Relationship between Discordance in Parental Monitoring and Behavioral Problems among Chilean Adolescents

PubMed Central

Han, Yoonsun; Grogan-Kaylor, Andrew; Bares, Cristina; Ma, Julie; Castillo, Marcela; Delva, Jorge

2012-01-01

This study investigated the role of discrepancies between parent and youth reports of perceived parental monitoring in adolescent problem behaviors with a Chilean sample (N= 850). Higher levels of discordance concerning parental monitoring predicted greater levels of maladaptive youth behaviors. A positive association between parent-youth discordance and externalizing problems indicated that large adult-youth disagreement in parental monitoring may impose a great risk, despite protective efforts of parental monitoring. Although the direct relationship between parental monitoring and youth internalizing behaviors was not significant, parent-youth incongruence in monitoring was associated with greater levels of internalizing behaviors. Therefore, differing assessments of parental behaviors, as an indicator of less optimal family functioning, may provide important information about youth maladjustment and may potentially provide a beginning point for family-focused intervention. PMID:23097593

The microphysics and macrophysics of cosmic rays

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zweibel, Ellen G.

2013-05-15

This review paper commemorates a century of cosmic ray research, with emphasis on the plasma physics aspects. Cosmic rays comprise only ∼10{sup −9} of interstellar particles by number, but collectively their energy density is about equal to that of the thermal particles. They are confined by the Galactic magnetic field and well scattered by small scale magnetic fluctuations, which couple them to the local rest frame of the thermal fluid. Scattering isotropizes the cosmic rays and allows them to exchange momentum and energy with the background medium. I will review a theory for how the fluctuations which scatter the cosmicmore » rays can be generated by the cosmic rays themselves through a microinstability excited by their streaming. A quasilinear treatment of the cosmic ray–wave interaction then leads to a fluid model of cosmic rays with both advection and diffusion by the background medium and momentum and energy deposition by the cosmic rays. This fluid model admits cosmic ray modified shocks, large scale cosmic ray driven instabilities, cosmic ray heating of the thermal gas, and cosmic ray driven galactic winds. If the fluctuations were extrinsic turbulence driven by some other mechanism, the cosmic ray background coupling would be entirely different. Which picture holds depends largely on the nature of turbulence in the background medium.« less

The COsmic-ray Soil Moisture Interaction Code (COSMIC) for use in data assimilation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shuttleworth, J.; Rosolem, R.; Zreda, M.; Franz, T.

2013-08-01

Soil moisture status in land surface models (LSMs) can be updated by assimilating cosmic-ray neutron intensity measured in air above the surface. This requires a fast and accurate model to calculate the neutron intensity from the profiles of soil moisture modeled by the LSM. The existing Monte Carlo N-Particle eXtended (MCNPX) model is sufficiently accurate but too slow to be practical in the context of data assimilation. Consequently an alternative and efficient model is needed which can be calibrated accurately to reproduce the calculations made by MCNPX and used to substitute for MCNPX during data assimilation. This paper describes the construction and calibration of such a model, COsmic-ray Soil Moisture Interaction Code (COSMIC), which is simple, physically based and analytic, and which, because it runs at least 50 000 times faster than MCNPX, is appropriate in data assimilation applications. The model includes simple descriptions of (a) degradation of the incoming high-energy neutron flux with soil depth, (b) creation of fast neutrons at each depth in the soil, and (c) scattering of the resulting fast neutrons before they reach the soil surface, all of which processes may have parameterized dependency on the chemistry and moisture content of the soil. The site-to-site variability in the parameters used in COSMIC is explored for 42 sample sites in the COsmic-ray Soil Moisture Observing System (COSMOS), and the comparative performance of COSMIC relative to MCNPX when applied to represent interactions between cosmic-ray neutrons and moist soil is explored. At an example site in Arizona, fast-neutron counts calculated by COSMIC from the average soil moisture profile given by an independent network of point measurements in the COSMOS probe footprint are similar to the fast-neutron intensity measured by the COSMOS probe. It was demonstrated that, when used within a data assimilation framework to assimilate COSMOS probe counts into the Noah land surface model at the

Psychiatric outcomes of bullying victimization: a study of discordant monozygotic twins.

PubMed

Silberg, J L; Copeland, W; Linker, J; Moore, A A; Roberson-Nay, R; York, T P

2016-07-01

Bullying victimization in childhood is associated with a broad array of serious mental health disturbances, including anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation and behavior. The key goal of this study was to evaluate whether bullying victimization is a true environmental risk factor for psychiatric disturbance using data from 145 bully-discordant monozygotic (MZ) juvenile twin pairs from the Virginia Twin Study of Adolescent Behavioral Development (VTSABD) and their follow-up into young adulthood. Since MZ twins share an identical genotype and familial environment, a higher rate of psychiatric disturbance in a bullied MZ twin compared to their non-bullied MZ co-twin would be evidence of an environmental impact of bullying victimization. Environmental correlations between being bullied and the different psychiatric traits were estimated by fitting structural equation models to the full sample of MZ and DZ twins (N = 2824). Environmental associations were further explored using the longitudinal data on the bullying-discordant MZ twins. Being bullied was associated with a wide range of psychiatric disorders in both children and young adults. The analysis of data on the MZ-discordant twins supports a genuine environmental impact of bullying victimization on childhood social anxiety [odds ratio (OR) 1.7], separation anxiety (OR 1.9), and young adult suicidal ideation (OR 1.3). There was a shared genetic influence on social anxiety and bullying victimization, consistent with social anxiety being both an antecedent and consequence of being bullied. Bullying victimization in childhood is a significant environmental trauma and should be included in any mental health assessment of children and young adults.

Cosmic 21 cm delensing of microwave background polarization and the minimum detectable energy scale of inflation.

PubMed

Sigurdson, Kris; Cooray, Asantha

2005-11-18

We propose a new method for removing gravitational lensing from maps of cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization anisotropies. Using observations of anisotropies or structures in the cosmic 21 cm radiation, emitted or absorbed by neutral hydrogen atoms at redshifts 10 to 200, the CMB can be delensed. We find this method could allow CMB experiments to have increased sensitivity to a background of inflationary gravitational waves (IGWs) compared to methods relying on the CMB alone and may constrain models of inflation which were heretofore considered to have undetectable IGW amplitudes.

The Cosmic Origins Spectrograph

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Green, James C.; Froning, Cynthia S.; Osterman, Steve; Ebbets, Dennis; Heap, Sara H.; Leitherer, Claus; Linsky, Jeffrey L.; Savage, Blair D.; Sembach, Kenneth; Shull, J. Michael;

The Cosmic Origins Spectrograph

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Green, James C.; Froning, Cynthia S.; Osterman, Steve; Ebbets, Dennis; Heap, Sara H.; Leitherer, Claus; Linsky, Jeffrey L.; Savage, Blair D.; Sembach, Kenneth; Shull, J. Michael; Siegmund, Oswald H. W.; Snow, Theodore P.; Spencer, John; Stern, S. Alan; Stocke, John; Welsh, Barry; Béland, Stéphane; Burgh, Eric B.; Danforth, Charles; France, Kevin; Keeney, Brian; McPhate, Jason; Penton, Steven V.; Andrews, John; Brownsberger, Kenneth; Morse, Jon; Wilkinson, Erik

2012-01-01

The Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) is a moderate-resolution spectrograph with unprecedented sensitivity that was installed into the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in 2009 May, during HST Servicing Mission 4 (STS-125). We present the design philosophy and summarize the key characteristics of the instrument that will be of interest to potential observers. For faint targets, with flux F λ ≈ 1.0 × 10-14 erg cm-2 s-1 Å-1, COS can achieve comparable signal to noise (when compared to Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph echelle modes) in 1%-2% of the observing time. This has led to a significant increase in the total data volume and data quality available to the community. For example, in the first 20 months of science operation (2009 September-2011 June) the cumulative redshift pathlength of extragalactic sight lines sampled by COS is nine times than sampled at moderate resolution in 19 previous years of Hubble observations. COS programs have observed 214 distinct lines of sight suitable for study of the intergalactic medium as of 2011 June. COS has measured, for the first time with high reliability, broad Lyα absorbers and Ne VIII in the intergalactic medium, and observed the He II reionization epoch along multiple sightlines. COS has detected the first CO emission and absorption in the UV spectra of low-mass circumstellar disks at the epoch of giant planet formation, and detected multiple ionization states of metals in extra-solar planetary atmospheres. In the coming years, COS will continue its census of intergalactic gas, probe galactic and cosmic structure, and explore physics in our solar system and Galaxy.

Rényi squashed entanglement, discord, and relative entropy differences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seshadreesan, Kaushik P.; Berta, Mario; Wilde, Mark M.

2015-10-01

The squashed entanglement quantifies the amount of entanglement in a bipartite quantum state, and it satisfies all of the axioms desired for an entanglement measure. The quantum discord is a measure of quantum correlations that are different from those due to entanglement. What these two measures have in common is that they are both based upon the conditional quantum mutual information. In Berta et al (2015 J. Math. Phys. 56 022205), we recently proposed Rényi generalizations of the conditional quantum mutual information of a tripartite state on ABC (with C being the conditioning system), which were shown to satisfy some properties that hold for the original quantity, such as non-negativity, duality, and monotonicity with respect to local operations on the system B (with it being left open to show that the Rényi quantity is monotone with respect to local operations on system A). Here we define a Rényi squashed entanglement and a Rényi quantum discord based on a Rényi conditional quantum mutual information and investigate these quantities in detail. Taking as a conjecture that the Rényi conditional quantum mutual information is monotone with respect to local operations on both systems A and B, we prove that the Rényi squashed entanglement and the Rényi quantum discord satisfy many of the properties of the respective original von Neumann entropy based quantities. In our prior work (Berta et al 2015 Phys. Rev. A 91 022333), we also detailed a procedure to obtain Rényi generalizations of any quantum information measure that is equal to a linear combination of von Neumann entropies with coefficients chosen from the set \\{-1,0,1\\}. Here, we extend this procedure to include differences of relative entropies. Using the extended procedure and a conjectured monotonicity of the Rényi generalizations in the Rényi parameter, we discuss potential remainder terms for well known inequalities such as monotonicity of the relative entropy, joint convexity of the relative

A Novel Study Connecting Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays, Neutrinos, and Gamma-Rays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coenders, Stefan; Resconi, Elisa; Padovani, Paolo; Giommi, Paolo; Caccianiga, Lorenzo

We present a novel study connecting ultra-high energy cosmic rays, neutrinos, and gamma-rays with the objective to identify common counterparts of the three astrophysical messengers. In the test presented here, we first identify potential hadronic sources by filtering gamma-ray emitters that are in spatial coincidence with IceCube neutrinos. Subsequently, these objects are correlated against ultra-high energy cosmic rays detected by the Pierre Auger Observatory and the Telescope Array, scanning in gamma-ray flux and angular separation between sources and cosmic rays. A maximal excess of 80 cosmic rays (41.9 expected) is observed for the second catalog of hard Fermi-LAT objects of blazars of the high synchrotron peak type. This corresponds to a deviation from the null-hypothesis of 2.94σ . No excess is observed for objects not in spatial connection with neutrinos. The gamma-ray sources that make up the excess are blazars of the high synchrotron peak type.

Supernova Remnant Kes 17: An Efficient Cosmic Ray Accelerator inside a Molecular Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gelfand, Joseph D.; Castro, Daniel; Slane, Patrick O.; Temim, Tea; Hughes, John P.; Rakowski, Cara

2013-11-01

The supernova remnant Kes 17 (SNR G304.6+0.1) is one of a few but growing number of remnants detected across the electromagnetic spectrum. In this paper, we analyze recent radio, X-ray, and γ-ray observations of this object, determining that efficient cosmic ray acceleration is required to explain its broadband non-thermal spectrum. These observations also suggest that Kes 17 is expanding inside a molecular cloud, though our determination of its age depends on whether thermal conduction or clump evaporation is primarily responsible for its center-filled thermal X-ray morphology. Evidence for efficient cosmic ray acceleration in Kes 17 supports recent theoretical work concluding that the strong magnetic field, turbulence, and clumpy nature of molecular clouds enhance cosmic ray production in supernova remnants. While additional observations are needed to confirm this interpretation, further study of Kes 17 is important for understanding how cosmic rays are accelerated in supernova remnants.

Geometric phase for a static two-level atom in cosmic string spacetime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cai, Huabing; Ren, Zhongzhou

2018-05-01

We investigate the geometric phase of a static two-level atom immersed in a bath of fluctuating vacuum electromagnetic field in the background of a cosmic string. Our results indicate that due to the existence of the string, the geometric phase depends crucially on the position and the polarizability of the atom relative to the string. This can be ascribed to the fact that the presence of the string profoundly modify the distribution of electric field in Minkowski spacetime. So in principle, we can detect the cosmic string by experiments involving geometric phase.

Cosmic rays: a review for astrobiologists.

PubMed

Ferrari, Franco; Szuszkiewicz, Ewa

2009-05-01

Cosmic rays represent one of the most fascinating research themes in modern astronomy and physics. Significant progress is being made toward an understanding of the astrophysics of the sources of cosmic rays and the physics of interactions in the ultrahigh-energy range. This is possible because several new experiments in these areas have been initiated. Cosmic rays may hold answers to a great number of fundamental questions, but they also shape our natural habitat and influence the radiation environment of our planet Earth. The importance of the study of cosmic rays has been acknowledged in many fields, including space weather science and astrobiology. Here, we concentrate on the astrobiological aspects of cosmic rays with regard to the enormous amount of new data available, some of which may, in fact, improve our knowledge about the radiation of cosmic origin on Earth. We focus on fluxes arriving at Earth and doses received, and will guide the reader through the wealth of scientific literature on cosmic rays. We have prepared a concise and self-contained source of data and recipes useful for performing interdisciplinary research in cosmic rays and their effects on life on Earth.

The Cosmic Connection

Science.gov Websites

The Nuclear Science Division has produced a 25 minute video called The Cosmic Connection. The narrator and author is Tim Middleton, a teacher from Austin, Texas. This video describes cosmic rays and and Mount Diablo are shown. The video is suitable for grades 6 - 12. It can be found at http

Construction of cosmic string induced temperature anisotropy maps with CMBFAST and statistical analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simatos, N.; Perivolaropoulos, L.

2001-01-01

We use the publicly available code CMBFAST, as modified by Pogosian and Vachaspati, to simulate the effects of wiggly cosmic strings on the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Using the modified CMBFAST code, which takes into account vector modes and models wiggly cosmic strings by the one-scale model, we go beyond the angular power spectrum to construct CMB temperature maps with a resolution of a few degrees. The statistics of these maps are then studied using conventional and recently proposed statistical tests optimized for the detection of hidden temperature discontinuities induced by the Gott-Kaiser-Stebbins effect. We show, however, that these realistic maps cannot be distinguished in a statistically significant way from purely Gaussian maps with an identical power spectrum.

Footprint Characteristics of Cosmic-Ray Neutron Sensors for Soil Moisture Monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schrön, Martin; Köhli, Markus; Zreda, Marek; Dietrich, Peter; Zacharias, Steffen

2015-04-01

Cosmic-ray neutron sensing is a unique and an increasingly accepted method to monitor the effective soil water content at the field scale. The technology is famous for its low maintenance, non-invasiveness, continuous measurement, and most importantly, for its large footprint. Being more representative than point data and finer resolved than remote-sensing products, cosmic-ray neutron derived soil moisture products provide unrivaled advantage for mesoscale hydrologic and land surface models. The method takes advantage of neutrons induced by cosmic radiation which are extraordinarily sensitive to hydrogen and behave like a hot gas. Information about nearby water sources are quickly mixed in a domain of tens of hectares in air. Since experimental determination of the actual spatial extent is hardly possible, scientists have applied numerical models to address the footprint characteristics. We have revisited previous neutron transport simulations and present a modified conceptual design and refined physical assumptions. Our revised study reveals new insights into probing distance and water sensitivity of detected neutrons under various environmental conditions. These results sharpen the range of interpretation concerning the spatial extent of integral soil moisture products derived from cosmic-ray neutron counts. Our findings will have important impact on calibration strategies, on scales for data assimilation and on the interpolation of soil moisture data derived from mobile cosmic-ray neutron surveys.

First Results from the DUNE 35-ton Prototype using Cosmics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Insler, Jonathan; DUNE Collaboration

2016-03-01

The 35-ton prototype for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) Far Detector is a single-phase liquid argon time projection chamber (LAr-TPC) integrated detector that will take cosmics data for a two month run beginning in February 2016. The 35-ton prototype will characterize DUNE's Far Detector technology performance and provide a sample of real data for DUNE reconstruction algorithms. The 35-ton prototype has two drift volumes of lengths 2.23 m and 0.23 m on either side of its anode plane assembly (APA) and makes use of wire planes with wrapped wires and a photon detection system (PDS) utilizing photon detection panels read out by silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs). Data from the 35-ton LAr detector are expected to provide rich information on scintillation light and charged particle tracks. We present a preliminary analysis of cosmics data taken with the 35-ton detector with a focus on stopping muons.

COSMIC program documentation experience

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kalar, M. C.

1970-01-01

A brief history of COSMIC as it relates to the handling of program documentation is summarized; the items that are essential for computer program documentation are also discussed. COSMIC documentation and program standards handbook is appended.

Fast radio bursts as a cosmic probe?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Bei; Li, Xiang; Wang, Tao; Fan, Yi-Zhong; Wei, Da-Ming

2014-05-01

We discuss the possibility of using fast radio bursts (FRBs)—if cosmological—as a viable cosmic probe. We find that the contribution of the host galaxies to the detected dispersion measures can be inapparent for the FRBs that are not from galaxy centers or star-forming regions. The inhomogeneity of the intergalactic medium (IGM), however, causes significant deviation of the dispersion measure from that predicted in the simplified homogeneous IGM model for an individual event. Fortunately, with sufficient FRBs along different sightlines but within a very narrow redshift interval (e.g., Δz ˜0.05), the mean obtained from averaging observed dispersion measures does not suffer such a problem and hence may be used as a cosmic probe. We show that in the optimistic case (e.g., about 20 FRBs in each Δz have been measured; the most distant FRBs were at redshift ≥3; the host galaxies and the FRB sources contribute little to the detected dispersion measures) and with all the uncertainties (i.e., the inhomogeneity of the IGM, the contribution and uncertainty of host galaxies, and the evolution and error of fIGM) considered, FRBs could help constrain the equation of state of dark energy.

A New Approach in Coal Mine Exploration Using Cosmic Ray Muons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Darijani, Reza; Negarestani, Ali; Rezaie, Mohammad Reza; Fatemi, Syed Jalil; Akhond, Ahmad

2016-08-01

Muon radiography is a technique that uses cosmic ray muons to image the interior of large scale geological structures. The muon absorption in matter is the most important parameter in cosmic ray muon radiography. Cosmic ray muon radiography is similar to X-ray radiography. The main aim in this survey is the simulation of the muon radiography for exploration of mines. So, the production source, tracking, and detection of cosmic ray muons were simulated by MCNPX code. For this purpose, the input data of the source card in MCNPX code were extracted from the muon energy spectrum at sea level. In addition, the other input data such as average density and thickness of layers that were used in this code are the measured data from Pabdana (Kerman, Iran) coal mines. The average thickness and density of these layers in the coal mines are from 2 to 4 m and 1.3 gr/c3, respectively. To increase the spatial resolution, a detector was placed inside the mountain. The results indicated that using this approach, the layers with minimum thickness about 2.5 m can be identified.

Sexual relations and childbearing decisions of HIV-discordant couples: an exploratory study in South Africa and Tanzania.

PubMed

Rispel, Laetitia C; Metcalf, Carol A; Moody, Kevin; Cloete, Allanise; Caswell, Georgina

2011-05-01

This article reports on the influence of HIV on sexual relations and childbearing decisions of 36 HIV-discordant couples, 26 in South Africa and 10 in Tanzania, recruited into an exploratory study through hospital antiretroviral treatment clinics and civil society organisations working with people living with HIV. Self-administered questionnaires were used to obtain social and demographic information, while couples' sexual relations and childbearing decisions were explored through in-depth, semi-structured individual and couple interviews. The majority of the HIV-positive partners were women, who were on antiretroviral treatment. Almost one-third of South African respondents and half of those in Tanzania reported experiences of tension related to HIV-discordance, while more than half of the South Africans and almost three-quarters of the Tanzanians reported that intimacy had been affected by their discordant status. Those without children were more likely to desire children (17/23) than those who already had children (16/44), although this desire was influenced by fear of HIV transmission to the negative partner and medical professional advice. The study points to the need for targeted information for HIV discordant couples, as well as couple counselling and support services. Copyright © 2011 Reproductive Health Matters. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Searching for New Physics with Ultrahigh Energy Cosmic Rays

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stecker, Floyd W.; Scully, Sean T.

2009-01-01

Ultrahigh energy cosmic rays that produce giant extensive showers of charged particles and photons when they interact in the Earth's atmosphere provide a unique tool to search for new physics. Of particular interest is the possibility of detecting a very small violation of Lorentz invariance such as may be related to the structure of space-time near the Planck scale of approximately 10 (exp -35) m. We discuss here the possible signature of Lorentz invariance violation on the spectrum of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays as compared with present observations of giant air showers. We also discuss the possibilities of using more sensitive detection techniques to improve searches for Lorentz invariance violation in the future. Using the latest data from the Pierre Auger Observatory, we derive a best fit to the LIV parameter of 3 .0 + 1.5 - 3:0 x 10 (exp -23) ,corresponding to an upper limit of 4.5 x 10-23 at a proton Lorentz factor of approximately 2 x 10(exp 11) . This result has fundamental implications for quantum gravity models.

Using discordance to improve classification in narrative clinical databases: an application to community-acquired pneumonia.

PubMed

Hripcsak, George; Knirsch, Charles; Zhou, Li; Wilcox, Adam; Melton, Genevieve B

2007-03-01

Data mining in electronic medical records may facilitate clinical research, but much of the structured data may be miscoded, incomplete, or non-specific. The exploitation of narrative data using natural language processing may help, although nesting, varying granularity, and repetition remain challenges. In a study of community-acquired pneumonia using electronic records, these issues led to poor classification. Limiting queries to accurate, complete records led to vastly reduced, possibly biased samples. We exploited knowledge latent in the electronic records to improve classification. A similarity metric was used to cluster cases. We defined discordance as the degree to which cases within a cluster give different answers for some query that addresses a classification task of interest. Cases with higher discordance are more likely to be incorrectly classified, and can be reviewed manually to adjust the classification, improve the query, or estimate the likely accuracy of the query. In a study of pneumonia--in which the ICD9-CM coding was found to be very poor--the discordance measure was statistically significantly correlated with classification correctness (.45; 95% CI .15-.62).

Multi-resolution anisotropy studies of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays detected at the Pierre Auger Observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aab, A.; Abreu, P.; Aglietta, M.; Samarai, I. Al; Albuquerque, I. F. M.; Allekotte, I.; Almela, A.; Alvarez Castillo, J.; Alvarez-Muñiz, J.; Anastasi, G. A.; Anchordoqui, L.; Andrada, B.; Andringa, S.; Aramo, C.; Arqueros, F.; Arsene, N.; Asorey, H.; Assis, P.; Aublin, J.; Avila, G.; Badescu, A. M.; Balaceanu, A.; Barreira Luz, R. J.; Baus, C.; Beatty, J. J.; Becker, K. H.; Bellido, J. A.; Berat, C.; Bertaina, M. E.; Bertou, X.; Biermann, P. L.; Billoir, P.; Biteau, J.; Blaess, S. G.; Blanco, A.; Blazek, J.; Bleve, C.; Boháčová, M.; Boncioli, D.; Bonifazi, C.; Borodai, N.; Botti, A. M.; Brack, J.; Brancus, I.; Bretz, T.; Bridgeman, A.; Briechle, F. L.; Buchholz, P.; Bueno, A.; Buitink, S.; Buscemi, M.; Caballero-Mora, K. S.; Caccianiga, L.; Cancio, A.; Canfora, F.; Caramete, L.; Caruso, R.; Castellina, A.; Cataldi, G.; Cazon, L.; Chavez, A. G.; Chinellato, J. A.; Chudoba, J.; Clay, R. W.; Colalillo, R.; Coleman, A.; Collica, L.; Coluccia, M. R.; Conceição, R.; Contreras, F.; Cooper, M. J.; Coutu, S.; Covault, C. E.; Cronin, J.; D'Amico, S.; Daniel, B.; Dasso, S.; Daumiller, K.; Dawson, B. R.; de Almeida, R. M.; de Jong, S. J.; De Mauro, G.; de Mello Neto, J. R. T.; De Mitri, I.; de Oliveira, J.; de Souza, V.; Debatin, J.; Deligny, O.; Di Giulio, C.; Di Matteo, A.; Díaz Castro, M. L.; Diogo, F.; Dobrigkeit, C.; D'Olivo, J. C.; dos Anjos, R. C.; Dova, M. T.; Dundovic, A.; Ebr, J.; Engel, R.; Erdmann, M.; Erfani, M.; Escobar, C. O.; Espadanal, J.; Etchegoyen, A.; Falcke, H.; Farrar, G.; Fauth, A. C.; Fazzini, N.; Fick, B.; Figueira, J. M.; Filipčič, A.; Fratu, O.; Freire, M. M.; Fujii, T.; Fuster, A.; Gaior, R.; García, B.; Garcia-Pinto, D.; Gaté, F.; Gemmeke, H.; Gherghel-Lascu, A.; Ghia, P. L.; Giaccari, U.; Giammarchi, M.; Giller, M.; Głas, D.; Glaser, C.; Golup, G.; Gómez Berisso, M.; Gómez Vitale, P. F.; González, N.; Gorgi, A.; Gorham, P.; Gouffon, P.; Grillo, A. F.; Grubb, T. D.; Guarino, F.; Guedes, G. P.; Hampel, M. R.; Hansen, P.; Harari, D.; Harrison, T. A.; Harton, J. L.; Hasankiadeh, Q.; Haungs, A.; Hebbeker, T.; Heck, D.; Heimann, P.; Herve, A. E.; Hill, G. C.; Hojvat, C.; Holt, E.; Homola, P.; Hörandel, J. R.; Horvath, P.; Hrabovský, M.; Huege, T.; Hulsman, J.; Insolia, A.; Isar, P. G.; Jandt, I.; Jansen, S.; Johnsen, J. A.; Josebachuili, M.; Kääpä, A.; Kambeitz, O.; Kampert, K. H.; Katkov, I.; Keilhauer, B.; Kemp, E.; Kemp, J.; Kieckhafer, R. M.; Klages, H. O.; Kleifges, M.; Kleinfeller, J.; Krause, R.; Krohm, N.; Kuempel, D.; Kukec Mezek, G.; Kunka, N.; Kuotb Awad, A.; LaHurd, D.; Lauscher, M.; Legumina, R.; Leigui de Oliveira, M. A.; Letessier-Selvon, A.; Lhenry-Yvon, I.; Link, K.; Lopes, L.; López, R.; López Casado, A.; Luce, Q.; Lucero, A.; Malacari, M.; Mallamaci, M.; Mandat, D.; Mantsch, P.; Mariazzi, A. G.; Mariş, I. C.; Marsella, G.; Martello, D.; Martinez, H.; Martínez Bravo, O.; Masías Meza, J. J.; Mathes, H. J.; Mathys, S.; Matthews, J.; Matthews, J. A. J.; Matthiae, G.; Mayotte, E.; Mazur, P. O.; Medina, C.; Medina-Tanco, G.; Melo, D.; Menshikov, A.; Messina, S.; Micheletti, M. I.; Middendorf, L.; Minaya, I. A.; Miramonti, L.; Mitrica, B.; Mockler, D.; Mollerach, S.; Montanet, F.; Morello, C.; Mostafá, M.; Müller, A. L.; Müller, G.; Muller, M. A.; Müller, S.; Mussa, R.; Naranjo, I.; Nellen, L.; Nguyen, P. H.; Niculescu-Oglinzanu, M.; Niechciol, M.; Niemietz, L.; Niggemann, T.; Nitz, D.; Nosek, D.; Novotny, V.; Nožka, H.; Núñez, L. A.; Ochilo, L.; Oikonomou, F.; Olinto, A.; Pakk Selmi-Dei, D.; Palatka, M.; Pallotta, J.; Papenbreer, P.; Parente, G.; Parra, A.; Paul, T.; Pech, M.; Pedreira, F.; Pȩkala, J.; Pelayo, R.; Peña-Rodriguez, J.; Pereira, L. A. S.; Perlín, M.; Perrone, L.; Peters, C.; Petrera, S.; Phuntsok, J.; Piegaia, R.; Pierog, T.; Pieroni, P.; Pimenta, M.; Pirronello, V.; Platino, M.; Plum, M.; Porowski, C.; Prado, R. R.; Privitera, P.; Prouza, M.; Quel, E. J.; Querchfeld, S.; Quinn, S.; Ramos-Pollan, R.; Rautenberg, J.; Ravignani, D.; Revenu, B.; Ridky, J.; Risse, M.; Ristori, P.; Rizi, V.; Rodrigues de Carvalho, W.; Rodriguez Fernandez, G.; Rodriguez Rojo, J.; Rogozin, D.; Roncoroni, M. J.; Roth, M.; Roulet, E.; Rovero, A. C.; Ruehl, P.; Saffi, S. J.; Saftoiu, A.; Salazar, H.; Saleh, A.; Salesa Greus, F.; Salina, G.; Sánchez, F.; Sanchez-Lucas, P.; Santos, E. M.; Santos, E.; Sarazin, F.; Sarmento, R.; Sarmiento, C. A.; Sato, R.; Schauer, M.; Scherini, V.; Schieler, H.; Schimp, M.; Schmidt, D.; Scholten, O.; Schovánek, P.; Schröder, F. G.; Schulz, A.; Schulz, J.; Schumacher, J.; Sciutto, S. J.; Segreto, A.; Settimo, M.; Shadkam, A.; Shellard, R. C.; Sigl, G.; Silli, G.; Sima, O.; Śmiałkowski, A.; Šmída, R.; Snow, G. R.; Sommers, P.; Sonntag, S.; Sorokin, J.; Squartini, R.; Stanca, D.; Stanič, S.; Stasielak, J.; Stassi, P.; Strafella, F.; Suarez, F.; Suarez Durán, M.; Sudholz, T.; Suomijärvi, T.; Supanitsky, A. D.; Swain, J.; Szadkowski, Z.; Taboada, A.; Taborda, O. A.; Tapia, A.; Theodoro, V. M.; Timmermans, C.; Todero Peixoto, C. J.; Tomankova, L.; Tomé, B.; Torralba Elipe, G.; Torri, M.; Travnicek, P.; Trini, M.; Ulrich, R.; Unger, M.; Urban, M.; Valdés Galicia, J. F.; Valiño, I.; Valore, L.; van Aar, G.; van Bodegom, P.; van den Berg, A. M.; van Vliet, A.; Varela, E.; Vargas Cárdenas, B.; Varner, G.; Vázquez, J. R.; Vázquez, R. A.; Veberič, D.; Vergara Quispe, I. D.; Verzi, V.; Vicha, J.; Villaseñor, L.; Vorobiov, S.; Wahlberg, H.; Wainberg, O.; Walz, D.; Watson, A. A.; Weber, M.; Weindl, A.; Wiencke, L.; Wilczyński, H.; Winchen, T.; Wittkowski, D.; Wundheiler, B.; Yang, L.; Yelos, D.; Yushkov, A.; Zas, E.; Zavrtanik, D.; Zavrtanik, M.; Zepeda, A.; Zimmermann, B.; Ziolkowski, M.; Zong, Z.; Zuccarello, F.

2017-06-01

We report a multi-resolution search for anisotropies in the arrival directions of cosmic rays detected at the Pierre Auger Observatory with local zenith angles up to 80o and energies in excess of 4 EeV (4 × 1018 eV). This search is conducted by measuring the angular power spectrum and performing a needlet wavelet analysis in two independent energy ranges. Both analyses are complementary since the angular power spectrum achieves a better performance in identifying large-scale patterns while the needlet wavelet analysis, considering the parameters used in this work, presents a higher efficiency in detecting smaller-scale anisotropies, potentially providing directional information on any observed anisotropies. No deviation from isotropy is observed on any angular scale in the energy range between 4 and 8 EeV. Above 8 EeV, an indication for a dipole moment is captured; while no other deviation from isotropy is observed for moments beyond the dipole one. The corresponding p-values obtained after accounting for searches blindly performed at several angular scales, are 1.3 × 10-5 in the case of the angular power spectrum, and 2.5 × 10-3 in the case of the needlet analysis. While these results are consistent with previous reports making use of the same data set, they provide extensions of the previous works through the thorough scans of the angular scales.

Acoustic instability driven by cosmic-ray streaming

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Begelman, Mitchell C.; Zweibel, Ellen G.

1994-01-01

We study the linear stability of compressional waves in a medium through which cosmic rays stream at the Alfven speed due to strong coupling with Alfven waves. Acoustic waves can be driven unstable by the cosmic-ray drift, provided that the streaming speed is sufficiently large compared to the thermal sound speed. Two effects can cause instability: (1) the heating of the thermal gas due to the damping of Alfven waves driven unstable by cosmic-ray streaming; and (2) phase shifts in the cosmic-ray pressure perturbation caused by the combination of cosmic-ray streaming and diffusion. The instability does not depend on the magnitude of the background cosmic-ray pressure gradient, and occurs whether or not cosmic-ray diffusion is important relative to streaming. When the cosmic-ray pressure is small compared to the gas pressure, or cosmic-ray diffusion is strong, the instability manifests itself as a weak overstability of slow magnetosonic waves. Larger cosmic-ray pressure gives rise to new hybrid modes, which can be strongly unstable in the limits of both weak and strong cosmic-ray diffusion and in the presence of thermal conduction. Parts of our analysis parallel earlier work by McKenzie & Webb (which were brought to our attention after this paper was accepted for publication), but our treatment of diffusive effects, thermal conduction, and nonlinearities represent significant extensions. Although the linear growth rate of instability is independent of the background cosmic-ray pressure gradient, the onset of nonlinear eff ects does depend on absolute value of DEL (vector differential operator) P(sub c). At the onset of nonlinearity the fractional amplitude of cosmic-ray pressure perturbations is delta P(sub C)/P(sub C) approximately (kL) (exp -1) much less than 1, where k is the wavenumber and L is the pressure scale height of the unperturbed cosmic rays. We speculate that the instability may lead to a mode of cosmic-ray transport in which plateaus of uniform cosmic

The Role of BDNF Genotype, Parental Depression, and Relationship Discord in Predicting Early-Emerging Negative Emotionality

PubMed Central

Hayden, Elizabeth P.; Klein, Daniel N.; Dougherty, Lea R.; Olino, Thomas M.; Dyson, Margaret W.; Durbin, C. Emily; Sheikh, Haroon I.; Singh, Shiva M.

2012-01-01

The brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene is a plausible candidate for early-emerging negative emotionality (NE), and evidence suggests that the effects of this gene may be especially salient in the context of familial risk for child maladjustment. We therefore examined whether the BDNF val66met polymorphism was associated with child NE in the context of parental depression and relationship discord. A sample of 413 three-year-old children was assessed for NE using standardized laboratory measures. Parents completed clinical interviews and a measure of marital satisfaction. Children with at least one BDNF met allele exhibited elevated NE when a parent had a history of depressive disorder, or when relationship discord was present. In contrast, this allele was associated with especially low NE when parent depression was absent, and when the parental relationship was not discordant. Findings suggest that the BDNF met allele confers increased child sensitivity to both positive and negative familial influences. PMID:20921572

Cosmic ray transport in astrophysical plasmas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schlickeiser, R.

2015-09-15

Since the development of satellite space technology about 50 years ago the solar heliosphere is explored almost routinely by several spacecrafts carrying detectors for measuring the properties of the interplanetary medium including energetic charged particles (cosmic rays), solar wind particle densities, and electromagnetic fields. In 2012, the Voyager 1 spacecraft has even left what could be described as the heliospheric modulation region, as indicated by the sudden disappearance of low energy heliospheric cosmic ray particles. With the available in-situ measurements of interplanetary turbulent electromagnetic fields and of the momentum spectra of different cosmic ray species in different interplanetary environments, themore » heliosphere is the best cosmic laboratory to test our understanding of the transport and acceleration of cosmic rays in space plasmas. I review both the historical development and the current state of various cosmic ray transport equations. Similarities and differences to transport theories for terrestrial fusion plasmas are highlighted. Any progress in cosmic ray transport requires a detailed understanding of the electromagnetic turbulence that is responsible for the scattering and acceleration of these particles.« less

Alexithymia predicts arousal-based processing deficits and discordance between emotion response systems during emotional imagery.

PubMed

Peasley-Miklus, Catherine E; Panayiotou, Georgia; Vrana, Scott R

2016-03-01

Alexithymia is believed to involve deficits in emotion processing and imagery ability. Previous findings suggest that it is especially related to deficits in processing the arousal dimension of emotion, and that discordance may exist between self-report and physiological responses to emotional stimuli in alexithymia. The current study used a well-established emotional imagery paradigm to examine emotion processing deficits and discordance in participants (N = 86) selected based on their extreme scores on the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20. Physiological (skin conductance, heart rate, and corrugator and zygomaticus electromyographic responses) and self-report (valence, arousal ratings) responses were monitored during imagery of anger, fear, joy, and neutral scenes and emotionally neutral high arousal (action) scenes. Results from regression analyses indicated that alexithymia was largely unrelated to responses on valence-based measures (facial electromyography, valence ratings), but that it was related to arousal-based measures. Specifically, alexithymia was related to higher heart rate during neutral and lower heart rate during fear imagery. Alexithymia did not predict differential responses to action versus neutral imagery, suggesting specificity of deficits to emotional contexts. Evidence for discordance between physiological responses and self-report in alexithymia was obtained from within-person analyses using multilevel modeling. Results are consistent with the idea that alexithymic deficits are specific to processing emotional arousal, and suggest difficulties with parasympathetic control and emotion regulation. Alexithymia is also associated with discordance between self-reported emotional experience and physiological response to emotion, consistent with prior evidence. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Observation of the 60Fe Nucleosynthesis-Clock Isotope in Galactic Cosmic Rays

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Binns, W. R.; Israel, M. H.; Christian, E. R.; Cummings, A. C.; de Nolfo, G. A.; Lave, K. A.; Leske, R. A.; Mewaldt, R. A.; Stone, E. C.; von Rosenvinge, T. T.

2016-01-01

Iron-60 (60Fe) is a radioactive isotope in cosmic rays that serves as a clock to infer an upper limit on the time between nucleosynthesis and acceleration. We have used the ACE-CRIS instrument to collect 3.55 105 iron nuclei, with energies 195 to 500 megaelectron volts per nucleon, of which we identify 15 60Fe nuclei. The 60Fe56Fe source ratio is (7.5 2.9) 105. The detection of supernova-produced 60Fe in cosmic rays implies that the time required for acceleration and transport to Earth does not greatly exceed the 60Fe half-life of 2.6 million years and that the 60Fe source distance does not greatly exceed the distance cosmic rays can diffuse over this time, 1 kiloparsec. A natural place for 60Fe origin is in nearby clusters of massive stars.

Relic neutrinos, monopoles, and cosmic rays above ~1020 eV

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weiler, Thomas J.

1998-06-01

The observation of cosmic ray events above the Greisen-Kuzmin-Zatsepin (GZK) cut-off of 5×1019 eV offers an enormous opportunity for the discovery of new physics. We explore two possible origins for these super-GZK events. The first example uses Standard Model (SM) physics augmented only by <~ eV neutrino masses as suggested by solar, atmospheric, and terrestrial neutrino detection, and by the cosmological need for a hot dark matter component. In this example, cosmic ray neutrinos from distant, highest energy sources annihilate relatively nearby on the relic neutrino background to produce ``Z-bursts,'' highly collimated, highly boosted (γZ~1011) hadronic jets. The SM and hot Big Bang cosmology give the probability for each neutrino flavor at its resonant energy to annihilate within the halo of our galactic supercluster as likely within an order of magnitude of 1%. The kinematics are completely determined by the neutrino masses and the properties of the Z boson. The burst energy is ER=4 (eV/mν)×1021 eV, and the burst content includes, on average, thirty photons and 2.7 nucleons with super-GZK energies. The second example goes beyond SM physics to invoke relativistic magnetic monopoles as the cosmic ray primaries. Motivations for this hypothesis are twofold: (i) conventional primaries are problematic, while monopoles are naturally accelerated to E~1020 eV by galactic magnetic fields; (ii) the observed highest energy cosmic ray flux is just a few orders of magnitude below the Parker flux limit for monopoles. By matching the cosmic monopole production mechanism to the observed highest energy cosmic ray flux we estimate the monopole mass to be <~1010 GeV. Several tests of the neutrino annihilation and monopole hypotheses are indicated.

Cosmic Rays at Earth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grieder, P. K. F.

In 1912 Victor Franz Hess made the revolutionary discovery that ionizing radiation is incident upon the Earth from outer space. He showed with ground-based and balloon-borne detectors that the intensity of the radiation did not change significantly between day and night. Consequently, the sun could not be regarded as the sources of this radiation and the question of its origin remained unanswered. Today, almost one hundred years later the question of the origin of the cosmic radiation still remains a mystery. Hess' discovery has given an enormous impetus to large areas of science, in particular to physics, and has played a major role in the formation of our current understanding of universal evolution. For example, the development of new fields of research such as elementary particle physics, modern astrophysics and cosmology are direct consequences of this discovery. Over the years the field of cosmic ray research has evolved in various directions: Firstly, the field of particle physics that was initiated by the discovery of many so-called elementary particles in the cosmic radiation. There is a strong trend from the accelerator physics community to reenter the field of cosmic ray physics, now under the name of astroparticle physics. Secondly, an important branch of cosmic ray physics that has rapidly evolved in conjunction with space exploration concerns the low energy portion of the cosmic ray spectrum. Thirdly, the branch of research that is concerned with the origin, acceleration and propagation of the cosmic radiation represents a great challenge for astrophysics, astronomy and cosmology. Presently very popular fields of research have rapidly evolved, such as high-energy gamma ray and neutrino astronomy. In addition, high-energy neutrino astronomy may soon initiate as a likely spin-off neutrino tomography of the Earth and thus open a unique new branch of geophysical research of the interior of the Earth. Finally, of considerable interest are the biological

Cosmic superstrings: Observable remnants of brane inflation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wyman, Mark Charles

Brane inflation provides a natural dynamical model for the physics which underlie the inflationary paradigm. Besides their inflationary predictions, brane models imply another observable consequence: cosmic strings. In this dissertation I outline the background of how cosmic strings arise in brane inflationary models and how the properties of the strings and the models are mutually tied (Chapter 2). I then use cosmological observations to put limits on the properties of any actually-existing cosmic string network (Chapter 3). Next, I study the question of how cosmic superstrings, as the cosmic strings arising from string theory are known, could be distinct from classical gauge- theory cosmic strings. In particular, I propose an analytical model for the cosmological evolution of a network of binding cosmic strings (Chapter 4); I also describe the distinctive gravitational lensing phenomena that are caused by binding strings (Chapter 5). Finally, I lay out the background for the numerical study of a gauge theory model for the dynamics of cosmic superstring binding (Chapter 6).

Cosmic voids detection without density measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elyiv, Andrii; Marulli, Federico; Pollina, Giorgia; Baldi, Marco; Branchini, Enzo; Cimatti, Andrea; Moscardini, Lauro

2015-03-01

Cosmic voids are effective cosmological probes to discriminate among competing world models. Their identification is generally based on density or geometry criteria that, because of their very nature, are prone to shot noise. We propose two void finders that are based on dynamical criterion to select voids in Lagrangian coordinates and minimize the impact of sparse sampling. The first approach exploits the Zel'dovich approximation to trace back in time the orbits of galaxies located in voids and their surroundings; the second uses the observed galaxy-galaxy correlation function to relax the objects' spatial distribution to homogeneity and isotropy. In both cases voids are defined as regions of the negative velocity divergence, which can be regarded as sinks of the back-in-time streamlines of the mass tracers. To assess the performance of our methods we used a dark matter halo mock catalogue CODECS, and compared the results with those obtained with the ZOBOV void finder. We find that the void divergence profiles are less scattered than the density ones and, therefore, their stacking constitutes a more accurate cosmological probe. The significance of the divergence signal in the central part of voids obtained from both our finders is 60 per cent higher than for overdensity profiles in the ZOBOV case. The ellipticity of the stacked void measured in the divergence field is closer to unity, as expected, than what is found when using halo positions. Therefore, our void finders are complementary to the existing methods, which should contribute to improve the accuracy of void-based cosmological tests.

The Use of Discordant MZ Twins to Generate Hypotheses regarding Non-Shared Environmental Influence on Anxiety in Middle Childhood

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Asbury, Kathryn; Dunn, Judy; Plomin, Robert

2006-01-01

Non-shared environmental influence (NSE) has been found to account for around 50 percent of anxiety variance, but specific NSE factors have not been identified. Discordant monozygotic (MZ) twins can be used to generate relevant hypotheses because MZ discordance can be caused by NSE, but not by genes or shared environment. Of 1590 MZ pairs teacher…

Psychiatric outcomes of bullying victimization: A study of discordant monozygotic twins

PubMed Central

Silberg, Judy L.; Copeland, William; Linker, Julie; Moore, Ashlee A.; Roberson-Nay, Roxann; York, Timothy P.

2016-01-01

Background Bullying victimization in childhood is associated with a broad array of serious mental health disturbances, including anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation and behavior. The key goal of this study was to evaluate whether bullying victimization is a true environmental risk factor for psychiatric disturbance using data from 145 bully-discordant monozygotic (MZ) juvenile twin pairs from the Virginia Twin Study of Adolescent Behavioral Development (VTSABD) and their follow-up into young adulthood. Method Since MZ twins share an identical genotype and familial environment, a higher rate of psychiatric disturbance in a bullied MZ twin compared to their non-bullied MZ co-twin would be evidence of an environmental impact of bullying victimization. Environmental correlations between being bullied and the different psychiatric traits were estimated by fitting structural equation models to the full sample of MZ and DZ twins (N = 2824). Environmental associations were further explored using the longitudinal data on the bullying-discordant MZ twins. Results Being bullied was associated with a wide range of psychiatric disorders in both children and young adults. The analysis of data on the MZ-discordant twins supports a genuine environmental impact of bullying victimization on childhood social anxiety [odds ratio (OR) 1.7], separation anxiety (OR 1.9), and young adult suicidal ideation (OR 1.3). There was a shared genetic influence on social anxiety and bullying victimization, consistent with social anxiety being both an antecedent and consequence of being bullied. Conclusion Bullying victimization in childhood is a significant environmental trauma and should be included in any mental health assessment of children and young adults. PMID:26979565

Can one measure the Cosmic Neutrino Background?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Faessler, Amand; Hodák, Rastislav; Kovalenko, Sergey; Šimkovic, Fedor

The Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) yields information about our Universe at around 380,000 years after the Big Bang (BB). Due to the weak interaction of the neutrinos with matter, the Cosmic Neutrino Background (CNB) should give information about a much earlier time of our Universe, around one second after the BB. Probably, the most promising method to “see” the CNB is the capture of the electron neutrinos from the Background by Tritium, which then decays into 3He and an electron with the energy of the the Q-value = 18.562keV plus the electron neutrino rest mass. The “KArlsruhe TRItium Neutrino” (KATRIN) experiment, which is in preparation, seems presently the most sensitive proposed method for measuring the electron antineutrino mass. At the same time, KATRIN can also look by the reaction νe(˜ 1.95K) +3H →3He + e-(Q = 18.6keV + m νec2). The capture of the Cosmic Background Neutrinos (CNB) should show in the electron spectrum as a peak by the electron neutrino rest mass above Q. Here, the possibility to see the CNB with KATRIN is studied. A detection of the CNB by KATRIN seems not to be possible at the moment. But KATRIN should be able to determine an upper limit for the local electron neutrino density of the CNB.

Can one measure the Cosmic Neutrino Background?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Faessler, Amand; Hodák, Rastislav; Kovalenko, Sergey; Šimkovic, Fedor

The Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) yields information about our Universe at around 380,000 years after the Big Bang (BB). Due to the weak interaction of the neutrinos with matter, the Cosmic Neutrino Background (CNB) should give information about a much earlier time of our Universe, around one second after the BB. Probably, the most promising method to "see" the CNB is the capture of the electron neutrinos from the Background by Tritium, which then decays into 3He and an electron with the energy of the the Q-value = 18.562 keV plus the electron neutrino rest mass. The "KArlsruhe TRItium Neutrino" (KATRIN) experiment, which is in preparation, seems presently the most sensitive proposed method for measuring the electron antineutrino mass. At the same time, KATRIN can also look by the reaction νe(˜1.95K) + 3H → 3He + e-(Q = 18.6keV + mνec2). The capture of the Cosmic Background Neutrinos (CNB) should show in the electron spectrum as a peak by the electron neutrino rest mass above Q. Here, the possibility to see the CNB with KATRIN is studied. A detection of the CNB by KATRIN seems not to be possible at the moment. But KATRIN should be able to determine an upper limit for the local electron neutrino density of the CNB.

Discordant assessment of lupus activity between patients and their physicians: the Singapore experience.

PubMed

Leong, K P; Chong, E Y Y; Kong, K O; Chan, S P; Thong, B Y H; Lian, T Y; Chng, H H; Koh, E T; Teh, C L; Lau, T C; Law, W G; Cheng, Y K; Badsha, H; Chew, L C; Yong, W H; Howe, H S

2010-01-01

Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus often assess their disease activity differently from their physicians. We studied the factors associated with this discordance. The data provided by 534 systemic lupus erythematosus patients were analyzed. We compared the physician and patient assessments of lupus activity on a visual-assessment scale from the same visit. We collected clinical data and scores from MOS 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Quality-of-Life Questionnaire, Rheumatology Attitudes Index, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index, and revised Systemic Lupus Activity Measure. Patients tended to score their disease activity higher than do their physicians, when these factors were present: poorer general health assessment, presence of thrombocytopenia, hypertension and urinary sediments, and difficulty in carrying groceries. Physicians tended to score the disease activity higher than do the patients in these circumstances proteinuria, hemolysis, use of azathioprine or cyclophosphamide, tiredness, photosensitivity, higher revised Systemic Lupus Activity Measure score, casturia, and patient report of being more easily ill than are other patients. There was only moderate correlation between the discordance in the baseline and the subsequent visits. The physician assessment of disease activity at baseline correlated better with an objective measure of disease activity (revised Systemic Lupus Activity Measure) in the subsequent visit than the patient assessment. In conclusion, discordance in the perception of disease activity between patients and physicians may be amenable to intervention.

Experimental detection of upward-going cosmic particles and consequences for correction of density radiography of volcanoes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jourde, Kevin; Gibert, Dominique; Marteau, Jacques; de Bremond d'Ars, Jean; Gardien, Serge; Girerd, Claude; Ianigro, Jean-Christophe; Carbone, Daniele

2014-05-01

Muon tomography measures the flux of cosmic muons crossing geological bodies to determine their density. Three acquisitions with different sights of view were made at la soufrière de Guadeloupe. All of them show important density fluctuations and reveal the volcano phreatic system. The telescopes used to perform these measurements are exposed to noise fluxes with high intensities relative to the tiny flux of interest. We give experimental evidences ofa so far never described source of noise caused by a flux of upward-going particles. Data acquired on La soufrière of Guadeloupe and Mount Etna reveal that upward-going particles are detected only when the rear side of the telescope is exposed to a wide volume of atmosphere located below the altitude of the telescope and with a rock obstruction less than several tens of meters. Biases produced on density muon radiographies by upward-going fluxes are quantified and correction procedures are applied to radiographies of la soufrière.

Tracing the First Stars with Fluctuations of the Cosmic Infrared Background

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kashlinsky, A.; Arendt, R. G.; Mather, J.; Moseley, S. H.

2005-01-01

The deepest space- and ground-based observations find metal-enriched galaxies at cosmic times when the Universe was less than 1 Gyr old. These stellar populations had to be preceded by the metal-free first stars, known as 'population III'. Recent cosmic microwave background polarization measurements indicate that stars started forming early-when the Universe was 5200 Myr old. It is now thought that population III stars were significantly more massive than the present metal-rich stellar populations. Although such sources will not be individually detectable by existing or planned telescopes, they would have produced significant cosmic infrared background radiation in the near-infrared, whose fluctuations reflect the conditions in the primordial density field. Here we report a measurement of diffuse flux fluctuations after removing foreground stars and galaxies. The anisotropies exceed the instrument noise and the more local foregrounds; they can be attributed to emission from population III stars, at an era dominated by these objects.

HIV Testing and Counseling Leads to Immediate Consistent Condom Use among South African Stable HIV-discordant Couples

PubMed Central

Rosenberg, Nora E; Pettifor, Audrey E; Bruyn, Guy DE; Westreich, Daniel; Delany-Moretlwe, Sinead; Behets, Frieda; Maman, Suzanne; Coetzee, David; Kamupira, Mercy; Miller, William C

2012-01-01

Introduction Effective behavioral HIV prevention is needed for stable HIV-discordant couples at risk for HIV, especially those without access to biomedical prevention. This analysis addressed whether HIV testing and counseling (HTC) with ongoing counseling and condom distribution lead to reduced unprotected sex in HIV-discordant couples. Methods Partners in Prevention HSV/HIV Transmission Study was a randomized trial conducted from 2004–2008 assessing whether acyclovir reduced HIV transmission from HSV-2/HIV-1 co-infected persons to HIV-uninfected sex partners. This analysis relied on self-reported behavioral data from 508 HIV-infected South African participants. The exposure was timing of first HTC: 0–7, 8–14, 15–30, or >30 days before baseline. In each exposure group, predicted probabilities of unprotected sex in the last month were calculated at baseline, month one, and month twelve using generalized estimating equations with a logit link and exchangeable correlation matrix. Results At baseline, participants who knew their HIV status for less time experienced higher predicted probabilities of unprotected sex in the last month: 0–7 days, 0.71; 8–14 days, 0.52; 15–30 days, 0.49; >30 days, 0.26. At month one, once all participants had been aware of being in HIV-discordant relationships for ≥ 1 month, predicted probabilities declined: 0–7 days, 0.08; 8–14 days, 0.08; 15–30 days, 0.15; >30 days, 0.14. Lower predicted probabilities were sustained through month twelve: 0–7 days, 0.08; 8–14 days, 0.11; 15–30 days, 0.05; >30 days, 0.19. Conclusions Unprotected sex declined after HIV-positive diagnosis, and declined further after awareness of HIV-discordance. Identifying HIV-discordant couples for behavioral prevention is important for reducing HIV transmission risk. PMID:23117500

Impact of Cosmic-Ray Transport on Galactic Winds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farber, R.; Ruszkowski, M.; Yang, H.-Y. K.; Zweibel, E. G.

2018-04-01

The role of cosmic rays generated by supernovae and young stars has very recently begun to receive significant attention in studies of galaxy formation and evolution due to the realization that cosmic rays can efficiently accelerate galactic winds. Microscopic cosmic-ray transport processes are fundamental for determining the efficiency of cosmic-ray wind driving. Previous studies modeled cosmic-ray transport either via a constant diffusion coefficient or via streaming proportional to the Alfvén speed. However, in predominantly cold, neutral gas, cosmic rays can propagate faster than in the ionized medium, and the effective transport can be substantially larger; i.e., cosmic rays can decouple from the gas. We perform three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamical simulations of patches of galactic disks including the effects of cosmic rays. Our simulations include the decoupling of cosmic rays in the cold, neutral interstellar medium. We find that, compared to the ordinary diffusive cosmic-ray transport case, accounting for the decoupling leads to significantly different wind properties, such as the gas density and temperature, significantly broader spatial distribution of cosmic rays, and higher wind speed. These results have implications for X-ray, γ-ray, and radio emission, and for the magnetization and pollution of the circumgalactic medium by cosmic rays.

PeV neutrinos from intergalactic interactions of cosmic rays emitted by active galactic nuclei.

PubMed

Kalashev, Oleg E; Kusenko, Alexander; Essey, Warren

2013-07-26

The observed very high energy spectra of distant blazars are well described by secondary gamma rays produced in line-of-sight interactions of cosmic rays with background photons. In the absence of the cosmic-ray contribution, one would not expect to observe very hard spectra from distant sources, but the cosmic ray interactions generate very high energy gamma rays relatively close to the observer, and they are not attenuated significantly. The same interactions of cosmic rays are expected to produce a flux of neutrinos with energies peaked around 1 PeV. We show that the diffuse isotropic neutrino background from many distant sources can be consistent with the neutrino events recently detected by the IceCube experiment. We also find that the flux from any individual nearby source is insufficient to account for these events. The narrow spectrum around 1 PeV implies that some active galactic nuclei can accelerate protons to EeV energies.

Cosmic Topology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luminet, Jean-Pierre

2015-08-01

Cosmic Topology is the name given to the study of the overall shape of the universe, which involves both global topological features and more local geometrical properties such as curvature. Whether space is finite or infinite, simply-connected or multi-connected like a torus, smaller or greater than the portion of the universe that we can directly observe, are questions that refer to topology rather than curvature. A striking feature of some relativistic, multi-connected "small" universe models is to create multiples images of faraway cosmic sources. While the most recent cosmological data fit the simplest model of a zero-curvature, infinite space model, they are also consistent with compact topologies of the three homogeneous and isotropic geometries of constant curvature, such as, for instance, the spherical Poincaré Dodecahedral Space, the flat hypertorus or the hyperbolic Picard horn. After a "dark age" period, the field of Cosmic Topology has recently become one of the major concerns in cosmology, not only for theorists but also for observational astronomers, leaving open a number of unsolved issues.

Research in cosmic and gamma ray astrophysics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stone, Edward C.; Mewaldt, Richard A.; Prince, Thomas A.

1992-01-01

Discussed here is research in cosmic ray and gamma ray astrophysics at the Space Radiation Laboratory (SRL) of the California Institute of Technology. The primary activities discussed involve the development of new instrumentation and techniques for future space flight. In many cases these instrumentation developments were tested in balloon flight instruments designed to conduct new investigations in cosmic ray and gamma ray astrophysics. The results of these investigations are briefly summarized. Specific topics include a quantitative investigation of the solar modulation of cosmic ray protons and helium nuclei, a study of cosmic ray positron and electron spectra in interplanetary and interstellar space, the solar modulation of cosmic rays, an investigation of techniques for the measurement and interpretation of cosmic ray isotopic abundances, and a balloon measurement of the isotopic composition of galactic cosmic ray boron, carbon, and nitrogen.

A Degree-Scale Measurement of the Anisotropy in the Cosmic Microwave Background

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wollack, Ed; Jarosik, Norm; Netterfield, Barth; Page, Lyman; Wilkinson, David

1995-01-01

We report the detection of anisotropy in the microwave sky at 3O GHz and at l deg angular scales. The most economical interpretation of the data is that the fluctuations are intrinsic to the cosmic microwave background. However, galactic free-free emission is ruled out with only 90% confidence. The most likely root-mean-squared amplitude of the fluctuations, assuming they are described by a Gaussian auto-correlation function with a coherence angle of 1.2 deg, is 41(+16/-13) (mu)K. We also present limits on the anisotropy of the polarization of the cosmic microwave background.

Maria Montessori's Cosmic Vision, Cosmic Plan, and Cosmic Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grazzini, Camillo

2013-01-01

This classic position of the breadth of Cosmic Education begins with a way of seeing the human's interaction with the world, continues on to the grandeur in scale of time and space of that vision, then brings the interdependency of life where each growing human becomes a participating adult. Mr. Grazzini confronts the laws of human nature in…

Dynamics of tripartite quantum entanglement and discord under a classical dephasing random telegraph noise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kenfack, Lionel Tenemeza; Tchoffo, Martin; Fai, Lukong Cornelius

2017-02-01

We address the dynamics of quantum correlations, including entanglement and quantum discord of a three-qubit system interacting with a classical pure dephasing random telegraph noise (RTN) in three different physical environmental situations (independent, mixed and common environments). Two initial entangled states of the system are examined, namely the Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ)- and Werner (W)-type states. The classical noise is introduced as a stochastic process affecting the energy splitting of the qubits. With the help of suitable measures of tripartite entanglement (entanglement witnesses and lower bound of concurrence) and quantum discord (global quantum discord and quantum dissension), we show that the evolution of quantum correlations is not only affected by the type of the system-environment interaction but also by the input configuration of the qubits and the memory properties of the environmental noise. Indeed, depending on the memory properties of the environmental noise and the initial state considered, we find that independent, common and mixed environments can play opposite roles in preserving quantum correlations, and that the sudden death and revival phenomena or the survival of quantum correlations may occur. On the other hand, we also show that the W-type state has strong dynamics under this noise than the GHZ-type ones.

Smoking, Dietary Betaine, Methionine, and Vitamin D in Monozygotic Twins with Discordant Macular Degeneration: Epigenetic Implications

PubMed Central

Seddon, Johanna M.; Reynolds, Robyn; Shah, Heeral R.; Rosner, Bernard

2012-01-01

Objective We evaluated monozygotic twin pairs with discordant age-related macular degeneration (AMD) phenotypes to assess differences in behavioral and nutritional factors. Design Case series. Participants Caucasian male twin pairs from the United States Twin Study of Macular Degeneration. Methods Twin pairs were genotyped to confirm monozygosity. Ocular characteristics were evaluated based on fundus photographs using the Wisconsin Grading System and a 5-grade Clinical Age-Related Maculopathy Staging System. We selected twin pairs discordant in each of the following phenotypic categories: Stage of AMD (n = 28), drusen area (n = 60), drusen size (n = 40), and increased pigment area (n = 56). The Wilcoxon signed-rank test and linear regression were used to assess associations between behavioral and nutritional characteristics and each phenotype within discordant twin pairs. Main Outcome Measures Differences in smoking and dietary factors within twin pairs discordant for stage of AMD, drusen area, drusen size, and pigment area. Results Representative fundus photographs depict the discordant phenotypes. Pack-years of smoking were higher for the twin with the more advanced stage of AMD (P = 0.05). Higher dietary intake of vitamin D was present in the twins with less severe AMD (P = 0.01) and smaller drusen size (P = 0.05) compared with co-twins, adjusted for smoking and age. Dietary intakes of betaine and methionine were significantly higher in the twin with lower stage of AMD (P = 0.009) and smaller drusen area (P = 0.03), respectively. Conclusions The twin with the more advanced stage of AMD, larger drusen area, drusen size, and pigment area tended to be the heavier smoker. The twin with the earlier stage of AMD, smaller drusen size and area, and less pigment tended to have higher dietary vitamin D, betaine, or methionine intake. Results suggest that behavioral and nutritional factors associated with epigenetic mechanisms are involved in the etiology of AMD, in

The Parker Instability with Cosmic-Ray Streaming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heintz, Evan; Zweibel, Ellen G.

2018-06-01

Recent studies have found that cosmic-ray transport plays an important role in feedback processes such as star formation and the launching of galactic winds. Although cosmic-ray buoyancy is widely held to be a destabilizing force in galactic disks, the effect of cosmic-ray transport on the stability of stratified systems has yet to be analyzed. We perform a stability analysis of a stratified layer for three different cosmic-ray transport models: decoupled (Classic Parker), coupled with γ c = 4/3 but not streaming (Modified Parker), and finally coupled with streaming at the Alfvén speed. When the compressibility of the cosmic rays is decreased the system becomes much more stable, but the addition of cosmic-ray streaming to the Parker instability severely destabilizes it. Through comparison of these three cases and analysis of the work contributions for the perturbed quantities of each system, we demonstrate that cosmic-ray heating of the gas is responsible for the destabilization of the system. We find that a 3D system is unstable over a larger range of wavelengths than the 2D system. Therefore, the Parker instability with cosmic-ray streaming may play an important role in cosmic-ray feedback.

Airborne Detection of Cosmic-Ray Albedo Neutrons for Regional-Scale Surveys of Root-Zone Soil Water on Earth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schrön, M.; Bannehr, L.; Köhli, M.; Zreda, M. G.; Weimar, J.; Zacharias, S.; Oswald, S. E.; Bumberger, J.; Samaniego, L. E.; Schmidt, U.; Zieger, P.; Dietrich, P.

2017-12-01

While the detection of albedo neutrons from cosmic rays became a standard method in planetary space science, airborne neutron sensing has never been conceived for hydrological research on Earth. We assessed the applicability of atmospheric neutrons to sense root-zone soil moisture averaged over tens of hectares using neutron detectors on an airborne vehicle. Large-scale quantification of near-surface water content is an urgent challenge in hydrology. Information about soil and plant water is crucial to accurately assess the risks for floods and droughts, to adjust regional weather forecasts, and to calibrate and validate the corresponding models. However, there is a lack of data at scales relevant for these applications. Most conventional ground-based geophysical instruments provide root-zone soil moisture only within a few tens of m2, while electromagnetic signals from conventional remote-sensing instruments can only penetrate the first few centimeters below surface, though at larger spatial areas.In the last couple of years, stationary and roving neutron detectors have been used to sense the albedo component of cosmic-ray neutrons, which represents the average water content within 10—15 hectares and 10—50 cm depth. However, the application of these instruments is limited by inaccessible terrain and interfering local effects from roads. To overcome these limitations, we have pioneered first simulations and experiments of such sensors in the field of airborne geophysics. Theoretical investigations have shown that the footprint increases substantially with height above ground, while local effects smooth out throughout the whole area. Campaigns with neutron detectors mounted on a lightweight gyrocopter have been conducted over areas of various landuse types including agricultural fields, urban areas, forests, flood plains, and lakes. The neutron signal showed influence of soil moisture patterns in heights of up to 180 m above ground. We found correlation with

The cosmic Era and the Earth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Closca-Grigore, Carmen

THe book describes the main directions of development of cosmic research in the USA, USSR, Europe, Japan and China. The main inventors and creators of cosmic technics are designed : Tsiolkovskii, Tsander, Korolev, Oberth, Verner von Braun, Goddard and the most important cosmic flies by Sputnik, Gagarin, Tereshkova, Leonov, Armstrong. The main program of cosmic research are outlined in such areas as maps, geological research, meteorolgy, television, radio and military. The Romanian contributions are described: Ioan Vitez, Konrad Haas, Traian Vuia, Aurel Vlaicu, Hermann Oberth and Dumnitru Prunariu.

Sexual violence and associated factors among women in HIV discordant and concordant relationships in Uganda.

PubMed

Shuaib, Faisal M B; Ehiri, John E; Jolly, Pauline; Zhang, Qionghui; Emusu, Donath; Ngu, Julius; Foushee, Herman; Katongole, Drake; Kirby, Russell; Wabwire-Mangen, Fred

2012-01-01

HIV serodiscordance is a sexual partnership in which one partner is infected with HIV while the other is not. Managing emotional and sexual intimacy in HIV serodiscordant unions can be difficult due to concerns about HIV transmission and the challenge of initiating and maintaining safe sex. In situations where couples are jointly aware of their HIV status, women in serodiscordant unions may face increased risk of partner violence. We conducted an investigation to assess risk factors for HIV serodiscordance and determine if HIV serodiscordance is associated with incident sexual violence among a cohort of women attending HIV post-test club services at three AIDS Information Centers (AICs) in Uganda. Using a prospective study of 250 women, we elicited information about sexual violence using structured face-to-face interviews. Sexual violence and risk factors were assessed and compared among HIV positive women in HIV discordant unions, HIV negative women in discordant unions, and HIV negative women in negative concordant unions. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess the association between participants' serostatus and sexual violence. HIV negative women in serodiscordant relationships (36.1±11.1 years, range: 19-65 years) were significantly older than either HIV positive women in serodiscordant relationships (32.2±9.0 years, range: 18-56 years), or HIV negative women in concordant relationships (32.3±11.0 years, range: 18-62), (p=0.033). Early age at sexual debut was associated with a 2.4-fold increased risk of experiencing sexual violence (OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.27-4.65). Based on unadjusted analysis, HIV positive women in discordant relationship were at highest risk for sexual violence compared to HIV negative women in discordant unions, and HIV negative women in negative concordant unions. HIV negative women in discordant relationships and those in concordant negative relationships showed no increased risk for sexual violence. However, couples' HIV

Mito-nuclear discord in six congeneric lineages of Holarctic ducks (genus Anas).

PubMed

Peters, Jeffrey L; Winker, Kevin; Millam, Kendra C; Lavretsky, Philip; Kulikova, Irina; Wilson, Robert E; Zhuravlev, Yuri N; McCracken, Kevin G

2014-06-01

Many species have Holarctic distributions that extend across Europe, Asia and North America. Most genetics research on these species has examined only mitochondrial (mt) DNA, which has revealed wide variance in divergence between Old World (OW) and New World (NW) populations, ranging from shallow, unstructured genealogies to deeply divergent lineages. In this study, we sequenced 20 nuclear introns to test for concordant patterns of OW-NW differentiation between mtDNA and nuclear (nu) DNA for six lineages of Holarctic ducks (genus Anas). Genetic differentiation for both marker types varied widely among these lineages (idiosyncratic population histories), but mtDNA and nuDNA divergence within lineages was not significantly correlated. Moreover, compared with the association between mtDNA and nuDNA divergence observed among different species, OW-NW nuDNA differentiation was generally lower than mtDNA divergence, at least for lineages with deeply divergent mtDNA. Furthermore, coalescent estimates indicated significantly higher rates of gene flow for nuDNA than mtDNA for four of the six lineages. Thus, Holarctic ducks show prominent mito-nuclear discord between OW and NW populations, and we reject differences in sorting rates as the sole cause of the within-species discord. Male-mediated intercontinental gene flow is likely a leading contributor to this discord, although selection could also cause increased mtDNA divergence relative to weak nuDNA differentiation. The population genetics of these ducks contribute to growing evidence that mtDNA can be an unreliable indicator of stage of speciation and that more holistic approaches are needed for species delimitation. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Monozygotic twin discordant for Down syndrome: mos 47,XX,+21/46,XX and 46,XX.

PubMed

Choi, Sun Ah; Ko, Jung Min; Shin, Choong Ho; Yang, Sei Won; Choi, Jin Sun; Oh, Sun Kyung

2013-08-01

Monozygotic twins, developed from a single zygote, are almost identical in clinical phenotype and concordant karyotypes. Monozygotic twins with discordant karyotypes are thought to be quite rare. Here, we report monochorionic-diamniotic twins discordant for Down syndrome. On findings of prenatal ultrasonography, nuchal translucency thickness was different between twins, and suggested that one of the twins was at high risk for having chromosomal abnormalities including Down syndrome. The twins were monochorionic-diamniotic; therefore, chorionic villi sampling of the common placenta was performed. The karyotype of the chorionic villi cells was 46,XX, and pregnancy was maintained. After delivery, dysmorphic clinical features suggesting Down syndrome were found in one of the twins, while the other twin showed a morphologically normal appearance. Karyotypes of peripheral blood leukocytes were repeatedly normal in the dysmorphic twin; however, the karyotype of skin fibroblasts from the dysmorphic twin indicated Down syndrome mosaicism; 47,XX,+21[99]/46,XX[2]. The karyotype of skin fibroblasts from the morphologically normal twin was 46,XX. Monozygosity of the twins was confirmed by a short tandem repeat analysis using 16 polymorphic markers. A mitotic nondisjunction followed by the twinning would explain the discordant karyotypes between monozygotic twins.

Characterizing the Cosmic Infrared Background Fluctuations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yanxia

2015-08-01

A salient feature of the Cosmic Infrared Background (CIB) fluctuations is that their spatial power spectrum rises a factor of ~10 above the expected contribution from all known sources at angular scales >20‧‧. A tantalizing large-scale correlation signal between the residual Cosmic X-ray Background (CXB) and CIB found in the Extended Groth Strip (EGS) further suggests that at least 20% of the CIB fluctuations are associated with accreting X-ray sources, with efficient energy production similar to black holes. However, there is still a controversy about the sources that produce the excess flux. They could be faint, local populations with different spatial distribution from other known galaxies, e.g., intra-halo light (emitted from stars in the outskirts of local galaxies), or really high-z populations at the epoch of reionization that we know little of. Constraining the origin of the CIB fluctuations will help to establish our understanding of the overall cosmic energy budget.In this talk, we will present our plan to break down this controversy, current state of data collection and analysis.(1) We will combine the archival Spitzer/IRAC and Herschel/PACS data, with the Chandra data of the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS), to accurately measure the source-subtracted CIB and CXB fluctuations to the largest angular scale (~1-2 deg) to date. The newly discovered link between CIB and CXB fluctuations found in the EGS will be revisited in the COSMOS, which provides better photon statistics. (2) We have been working on cross-correlating the unresolved background with the discrete sources detected at shorter wavelengths (1- 2μm), using ground-based multi-wavelength observations. In addition to exploring the Pan-STARRS 3PI and Medium Deep Survey database, we have also been awarded the telescope time of CFHT/WIRCam and Subaru/Hyper-Suprime-Cam for this purpose. The preliminary data analysis will be presented.

Stochastic background from cosmic (super)strings: Popcorn-like and (Gaussian) continuous regimes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Regimbau, Tania; Giampanis, Stefanos; Siemens, Xavier; Mandic, Vuk

2012-03-01

In the era of the next generation of gravitational wave experiments a stochastic background from cusps of cosmic (super)strings is expected to be probed and, if not detected, to be significantly constrained. A popcornlike background can be, for part of the parameter space, as pronounced as the (Gaussian) continuous contribution from unresolved sources that overlap in frequency and time. We study both contributions from unresolved cosmic string cusps over a range of frequencies relevant to ground based interferometers, such as the LIGO/Virgo second generation and Einstein Telescope third generation detectors, the space antenna LISA, and pulsar timing arrays. We compute the sensitivity (at the 2σ level) in the parameter space for the LIGO/Virgo second generation detector, the Einstein Telescope detector, LISA, and pulsar timing arrays. We conclude that the popcorn regime is complementary to the continuous background. Its detection could therefore enhance confidence in a stochastic background detection and possibly help determine fundamental string parameters such as the string tension and the reconnection probability.

Cosmic ray topography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bressler, Matthew; Goodwin, Lydia; Kryemadhi, Abaz

2017-11-01

Cosmic ray muons are produced when high energy particles interact with nuclei in Earth's atmosphere. Muons make up the majority of charged particles that reach sea level and are the only particles (apart from neutrinos) that can penetrate to significant depths underground. The muon flux underground decreases approximately exponentially as a function of depth. We use a cosmic ray detector developed by the QuarkNet Program at Fermi National Laboratory to map the topography of the mountain above an abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike tunnel by analyzing muon flux at different rock overburdens. Cosmic ray muons have been used in this capacity before to search for hidden chambers in pyramids and for mapping volcanoes. This study provides a unique field experience to learn about particle physics and particle detectors, which could be of interest to students and teachers in physics.

Double Donut Schmidt Camera, a wide-field, large-aperture, and lightweight space telescope for the detection of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays.

PubMed

Sandri, Paolo; Mazzinghi, Piero; Da Deppo, Vania

2018-04-20

A wide-field, large-aperture, and lightweight Schmidt configuration has been studied for a space mission proposal named Extreme Universe Space Observatory free flyer (EUSO-FF). EUSO-FF will be devoted to the study of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays, i.e., with energy >5×10 19   eV, through the detection of UV fluorescence light emitted by air showers in the Earth's atmosphere. The proposed telescope has a field of view of about 50° and an entrance pupil diameter of 4.2 m. The mirror is deployable and segmented to fit the diameter of the launcher fairing; the corrector is a lightweight annular corona.

Movement Discordance between Healthy and Non-Healthy US Adults

PubMed Central

Swartz, Ann M.; Cho, Young; Welch, Whitney A.; Strath, Scott J.

2016-01-01

Introduction Physical activity is known to significantly impact cardiometabolic health. Accelerometer data, as a measure of physical activity, can be used to objectively identify a disparity in movement (movement discordance) between healthy and unhealthy adults. The purpose of this study was to examine the Movement Discordance between healthy and unhealthy adults in a large US population sample. Methods Demographic, health and accelerometer data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Study (NHANES) 2003–2004 and 2005–2006 cohorts were used for this study. Participants were classified as either having a “normal” or “abnormal” value for each cardiometabolic health parameter examined, based on published criteria. Linear regression analyses were performed to determine significance of each abnormal health parameter (risk factor) in its unique effect on the accelerometer counts, controlling for age and gender. Average accelerometer counts per minute (cpm) by gender and age categories were estimated separately for the groups of normal and abnormal cardiometabolic risk. Results Average cpm for those with healthy levels of each individual cardiometabolic health parameter range from 296 cpm (for C reactive protein) to 337 cpm (for waist circumference), while average cpm for those with abnormal levels of each individual cardiometabolic health parameter range from 216 cpm (for insulin) to 291 cpm (for LDL-cholesterol). After controlling for age and gender, waist circumference, HbA1c, Insulin, Homocysteine, and HDL-Cholesterol were the cardiometabolic health parameters that showed significant, unique and independent effects on cpm. Overall, individuals who have abnormal values for all significant cardiometabolic health parameters (“unhealthy”) averaged 267 cpm (SE = 15 cpm), while the healthy sample of this study averaged 428 cpm (SE = 10 cpm). The difference in cpm between the unhealthy and healthy groups is similar between males and females

Unusual Cosmic Ray Variations During the Forbush Decreases of June 2015

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samara, E.; Smponias, A.; Lytrosyngounis, I.; Lingri, D.; Mavromichalaki, H.; Sgouropoulos, C.

2018-04-01

Although the current Solar Cycle 24 is characterized by low solar activity, an intense geomagnetic storm (G4) was recorded in June 2015. It was a complex phenomenon that began on 22 June 2015 as the result of intense solar activity, accompanied by several flares and coronal mass ejections that interacted with the Earth's magnetic field. A Forbush decrease was also recorded at the neutron monitors of the worldwide network, with an amplitude of 8.4%, and in its recovery phase, a second Forbush decrease followed, with an amplitude of 4.0% for cosmic rays of 10 GV obtained with the global survey method. The Dst index reached a minimum value of -204 nT that was detected on 23 June 2015 at 05:00 - 06:00 UT, while the Kp index reached the value eight. For our analysis, we used hourly cosmic-ray intensity data recorded by polar, mid-, and high-latitude neutron monitor stations obtained from the High Resolution Neutron Monitor Database. The cosmic-ray anisotropy variation at the ecliptic plane was also estimated and was found to be highly complex. We study and discuss the unusual and complex cosmic-ray and geomagnetic response to these solar events.

In Search of Cosmic Rays: A Student Physics Project Aimed at Finding the Origin of Cosmic Rays.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Antonelli, Jamie; Mahoney, Sean; Streich, Derek; Liebl, Michael

2001-01-01

Describes an ongoing project, the Cosmic Ray Observatory Project (CROP), being conducted by the University of Nebraska in partnership with several high schools. Each school group has installed cosmic ray detectors, and initial activities have included calibrating equipment, gathering preliminary data, and learning about cosmic ray showers. Aims to…

Longitudinal Associations among Discordant Sexual Orientation Dimensions and Hazardous Drinking in a Cohort of Sexual Minority Women

PubMed Central

Talley, Amelia E.; Aranda, Frances; Hughes, Tonda L.; Everett, Bethany; Johnson, Timothy P.

2015-01-01

We examined differences between sexual minority women’s (SMW’s) sexual identity and sexual behavior or sexual attraction as potential contributors to hazardous drinking across a 10-year period. Data are from a longitudinal study examining drinking and drinking-related problems in a diverse, community-based sample of self-identified SMW (Wave 1: n = 447; Wave 2: n = 384; Wave 3: n = 354). Longitudinal cross-lagged models showed that SMW who report higher levels of identity-behavior or identity-attraction discordance may be at greater risk of concurrent and subsequent hazardous drinking. Results of multigroup models suggest that sexual orientation discordance is a more potent risk factor for risky drinking outcomes among SMW in older adulthood than in younger adulthood. Findings support that discordance between sexual orientation dimensions may contribute to hazardous drinking among SMW and provide evidence that cognitive-behavioral consistency is important for individuals expressing diverse and fluid sexual identities, attraction, and behavior. PMID:25911224

Galactic cosmic ray composition and energy spectra

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mewaldt, R. A.

1994-01-01

Galactic cosmic ray nuclei represent a significant risk to long-duration spaceflight outside the magnetosphere. We review briefly existing measurements of the composition and energy spectra of heavy cosmic ray nuclei, pointing out which species and energy ranges are most critical to assessing cosmic ray risks for spaceflight. Key data sets are identified and a table of cosmic ray abundances is presented for elements from H to Ni (Z = 1 to 28). Because of the 22-year nature of the solar modulation cycle, data from the approaching 1998 solar minimum is especially important to reducing uncertainties in the cosmic ray radiation hazard. It is recommended that efforts to model this hazard take advantage of approaches that have been developed to model the astrophysical aspects of cosmic rays.

Cosmic strings and galaxy formation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bertschinger, Edmund

1989-01-01

The cosmogonical model proposed by Zel'dovich and Vilenkin (1981), in which superconducting cosmic strings act as seeds for the origin of structure in the universe, is discussed, summarizing the results of recent theoretical investigations. Consideration is given to the formation of cosmic strings, the microscopic structure of strings, gravitational effects, cosmic string evolution, and the formation of galaxies and large-scale structure. Simulation results are presented in graphs, and several outstanding issues are listed and briefly characterized.

The cosmic spiderweb: equivalence of cosmic, architectural and origami tessellations

PubMed Central

Hidding, Johan; Konstantatou, Marina; van de Weygaert, Rien

2018-01-01

For over 20 years, the term ‘cosmic web’ has guided our understanding of the large-scale arrangement of matter in the cosmos, accurately evoking the concept of a network of galaxies linked by filaments. But the physical correspondence between the cosmic web and structural engineering or textile ‘spiderwebs’ is even deeper than previously known, and also extends to origami tessellations. Here, we explain that in a good structure-formation approximation known as the adhesion model, threads of the cosmic web form a spiderweb, i.e. can be strung up to be entirely in tension. The correspondence is exact if nodes sampling voids are included, and if structure is excluded within collapsed regions (walls, filaments and haloes), where dark-matter multistreaming and baryonic physics affect the structure. We also suggest how concepts arising from this link might be used to test cosmological models: for example, to test for large-scale anisotropy and rotational flows in the cosmos. PMID:29765637

The cosmic spiderweb: equivalence of cosmic, architectural and origami tessellations.

PubMed

Neyrinck, Mark C; Hidding, Johan; Konstantatou, Marina; van de Weygaert, Rien

2018-04-01

For over 20 years, the term 'cosmic web' has guided our understanding of the large-scale arrangement of matter in the cosmos, accurately evoking the concept of a network of galaxies linked by filaments. But the physical correspondence between the cosmic web and structural engineering or textile 'spiderwebs' is even deeper than previously known, and also extends to origami tessellations. Here, we explain that in a good structure-formation approximation known as the adhesion model, threads of the cosmic web form a spiderweb, i.e. can be strung up to be entirely in tension. The correspondence is exact if nodes sampling voids are included, and if structure is excluded within collapsed regions (walls, filaments and haloes), where dark-matter multistreaming and baryonic physics affect the structure. We also suggest how concepts arising from this link might be used to test cosmological models: for example, to test for large-scale anisotropy and rotational flows in the cosmos.

The cosmic spiderweb: equivalence of cosmic, architectural and origami tessellations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neyrinck, Mark C.; Hidding, Johan; Konstantatou, Marina; van de Weygaert, Rien

2018-04-01

For over 20 years, the term `cosmic web' has guided our understanding of the large-scale arrangement of matter in the cosmos, accurately evoking the concept of a network of galaxies linked by filaments. But the physical correspondence between the cosmic web and structural engineering or textile `spiderwebs' is even deeper than previously known, and also extends to origami tessellations. Here, we explain that in a good structure-formation approximation known as the adhesion model, threads of the cosmic web form a spiderweb, i.e. can be strung up to be entirely in tension. The correspondence is exact if nodes sampling voids are included, and if structure is excluded within collapsed regions (walls, filaments and haloes), where dark-matter multistreaming and baryonic physics affect the structure. We also suggest how concepts arising from this link might be used to test cosmological models: for example, to test for large-scale anisotropy and rotational flows in the cosmos.

Evaluation of Copan FLOQSwab for the molecular detection of Chlamydia trachomatis by Abbott RealTime CT PCR.

PubMed

Coorevits, L; Vanscheeuwijck, C; Traen, A; Bingé, L; Ryckaert, I; Padalko, E

2015-12-01

We evaluated Copan FLOQSwabs next to Abbott swabs for the detection of Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) by Abbott RealTime PCR. We collected 1062 paired swabs from female sex workers. The study was divided in two arms, according to the order of swab collection. If the Abbott swab was collected first, 501 couples were concordant and two discordant (Abbott negative and Copan positive). If the Copan swab was collected first, 537 couples were concordant and 10 discordant (eight Abbott negative and Copan positive and two Abbott positive and Copan negative). All discordant samples contained low levels of C. trachomatis. Technical issues lead to retesting of 64 Copan and 21 Abbott swabs. Our results show that Copan FLOQSwabs can be used interchangeably with Abbott swabs. While appearing to have an advantage in detecting more positive samples, the use of Copan swabs led to a higher retesting rate due to technical errors.

Analysis of migrating diurnal tides detected in FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC temperature data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pirscher, B.; Foelsche, U.; Borsche, M.; Kirchengast, G.; Kuo, Y.-H.

2010-07-01

The characteristics of atmospheric tides in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere region are investigated using radio occultation (RO) measurements performed by the Formosa Satellite Mission-3/Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC) satellite constellation and compared to tides observed in short-term forecast model fields of European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). Spectral analysis of 2 years of monthly data (2007 to 2008) yields the migrating diurnal tide to be the largest spectral component. This diurnal tide shows similar temporal, latitudinal, and altitudinal characteristics in all data sets equatorward of 50°. Beyond 50°, COSMIC local time sampling is insufficient within 1 month, which prevents space-time spectral analysis from isolating atmospheric waves. Diurnal tides of temperature are characterized by largest amplitudes in the tropics (0.8 K to 1.0 K at an altitude of 30 km). Amplitudes of diurnal tides analyzed in model data are more pronounced by ˜20%. An annual cycle of the amplitudes, characteristically linked to the movement of the intertropical convergence zone, is clearly revealed. Tropical diurnal phase features downward progression of waves fronts with a vertical wavelength of 20 km. Extratropical diurnal tides are most pronounced in the model data sets with amplitudes of up to 0.5 K at 30 km. In this analysis we also see the influence of high-altitude initialization of RO data by background information in using data processed by two different centers (University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) and Wegener Center (WEGC)). UCAR data, initialized by a climatology without tidal information, exhibit no appreciable extratropical diurnal tides, while WEGC data, initialized by ECMWF forecasts, show more pronounced ones. Overall the results underpin the utility of the local-time resolving COSMIC RO

A Multi-Variate Fit to the Chemical Composition of the Cosmic-Ray Spectrum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eisch, Jonathan

Since the discovery of cosmic rays over a century ago, evidence of their origins has remained elusive. Deflected by galactic magnetic fields, the only direct evidence of their origin and propagation remain encoded in their energy distribution and chemical composition. Current models of galactic cosmic rays predict variations of the energy distribution of individual elements in an energy region around 3x1015 eV known as the knee. This work presents a method to measure the energy distribution of individual elemental groups in the knee region and its application to a year of data from the IceCube detector. The method uses cosmic rays detected by both IceTop, the surface-array component, and the deep-ice component of IceCube during the 2009-2010 operation of the IC-59 detector. IceTop is used to measure the energy and the relative likelihood of the mass composition using the signal from the cosmic-ray induced extensive air shower reaching the surface. IceCube, 1.5 km below the surface, measures the energy of the high-energy bundle of muons created in the very first interactions after the cosmic ray enters the atmosphere. These event distributions are fit by a constrained model derived from detailed simulations of cosmic rays representing five chemical elements. The results of this analysis are evaluated in terms of the theoretical uncertainties in cosmic-ray interactions and seasonal variations in the atmosphere. The improvements in high-energy cosmic ray hadronic-interaction models informed by this analysis, combined with increased data from subsequent operation of the IceCube detector, could provide crucial limits on the origin of cosmic rays and their propagation through the galaxy. In the course of developing this method, a number of analysis and statistical techniques were developed to deal with the difficulties inherent in this type of measurement. These include a composition-sensitive air shower reconstruction technique, a method to model simulated event

Multi-resolution anisotropy studies of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays detected at the Pierre Auger Observatory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aab, A.; Abreu, P.; Andringa, S.

2017-06-01

We report a multi-resolution search for anisotropies in the arrival directions of cosmic rays detected at the Pierre Auger Observatory with local zenith angles up to 80{sup o} and energies in excess of 4 EeV (4 × 10{sup 18} eV). This search is conducted by measuring the angular power spectrum and performing a needlet wavelet analysis in two independent energy ranges. Both analyses are complementary since the angular power spectrum achieves a better performance in identifying large-scale patterns while the needlet wavelet analysis, considering the parameters used in this work, presents a higher efficiency in detecting smaller-scale anisotropies, potentially providingmore » directional information on any observed anisotropies. No deviation from isotropy is observed on any angular scale in the energy range between 4 and 8 EeV. Above 8 EeV, an indication for a dipole moment is captured; while no other deviation from isotropy is observed for moments beyond the dipole one. The corresponding p -values obtained after accounting for searches blindly performed at several angular scales, are 1.3 × 10{sup −5} in the case of the angular power spectrum, and 2.5 × 10{sup −3} in the case of the needlet analysis. While these results are consistent with previous reports making use of the same data set, they provide extensions of the previous works through the thorough scans of the angular scales.« less

Multi-resolution anisotropy studies of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays detected at the Pierre Auger Observatory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aab, A.; Abreu, P.; Aglietta, M.

We report a multi-resolution search for anisotropies in the arrival directions of cosmic rays detected at the Pierre Auger Observatory with local zenith angles up to 80(o) and energies in excess of 4 EeV (4 × 10 18 eV). This search is conducted by measuring the angular power spectrum and performing a needlet wavelet analysis in two independent energy ranges. Both analyses are complementary since the angular power spectrum achieves a better performance in identifying large-scale patterns while the needlet wavelet analysis, considering the parameters used in this work, presents a higher efficiency in detecting smaller-scale anisotropies, potentially providing directional information onmore » any observed anisotropies. No deviation from isotropy is observed on any angular scale in the energy range between 4 and 8 EeV. Above 8 EeV, an indication for a dipole moment is captured, while no other deviation from isotropy is observed for moments beyond the dipole one. The corresponding p-values obtained after accounting for searches blindly performed at several angular scales, are 1.3 × 10 -5 in the case of the angular power spectrum, and 2.5 × 10 -3 in the case of the needlet analysis. While these results are consistent with previous reports making use of the same data set, they provide extensions of the previous works through the thorough scans of the angular scales.« less

Mitochondrial DNA Copy Number in Sleep Duration Discordant Monozygotic Twins

PubMed Central

Wrede, Joanna E.; Mengel-From, Jonas; Buchwald, Dedra; Vitiello, Michael V.; Bamshad, Michael; Noonan, Carolyn; Christiansen, Lene; Christensen, Kaare; Watson, Nathaniel F.

2015-01-01

Study Objectives: Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number is an important component of mitochondrial function and varies with age, disease, and environmental factors. We aimed to determine whether mtDNA copy number varies with habitual differences in sleep duration within pairs of monozygotic twins. Setting: Academic clinical research center. Participants: 15 sleep duration discordant monozygotic twin pairs (30 twins, 80% female; mean age 42.1 years [SD 15.0]). Design: Sleep duration was phenotyped with wrist actigraphy. Each twin pair included a “normal” (7–9 h/24) and “short” (< 7 h/24) sleeping twin. Fasting peripheral blood leukocyte DNA was assessed for mtDNA copy number via the n-fold difference between qPCR measured mtDNA and nuclear DNA creating an mtDNA measure without absolute units. We used generalized estimating equation linear regression models accounting for the correlated data structure to assess within-pair effects of sleep duration on mtDNA copy number. Measurements and Results: Mean within-pair sleep duration difference per 24 hours was 94.3 minutes (SD 62.6 min). We found reduced sleep duration (β = 0.06; 95% CI 0.004, 0.12; P < 0.05) and sleep efficiency (β = 0.51; 95% CI 0.06, 0.95; P < 0.05) were significantly associated with reduced mtDNA copy number within twin pairs. Thus every 1-minute decrease in actigraphy-defined sleep duration was associated with a decrease in mtDNA copy number of 0.06. Likewise, a 1% decrease in actigraphy-defined sleep efficiency was associated with a decrease in mtDNA copy number of 0.51. Conclusions: Reduced sleep duration and sleep efficiency were associated with reduced mitochondrial DNA copy number in sleep duration discordant monozygotic twins offering a potential mechanism whereby short sleep impairs health and longevity through mitochondrial stress. Citation: Wrede JE, Mengel-From J, Buchwald D, Vitiello MV, Bamshad M, Noonan C, Christiansen L, Christensen K, Watson NF. Mitochondrial DNA copy number

Satellite Constellations for Space Weather and Ionospheric Studies: Overview of the COSMIC and COSMIC-2 Missions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schreiner, W. S.; Pedatella, N. M.; Weiss, J.

2016-12-01

Measurements from constellations of low Earth orbiting (LEO) satellites are proving highly useful for ionospheric science and space weather studies. The Constellation Observing System for Meteorology Ionosphere and Climate (COSMIC), a joint US/Taiwan mission launched in April 2006, is a six micro-satellite constellation carrying Global Positioning System (GPS) radio occultation (RO) receivers. COSMIC has collected a large amount of useful data from these scientific payloads and is still currently collecting up to 1,000 RO measurement events per day on average. The GPS RO dual-frequency L-band phase and amplitude measurements can be used to observe absolute Total Electron Content (TEC) and scintillation on lines of sight between the LEO and GPS satellites, and electron density profiles via the RO method. The large number and complete global and local time coverage of COSMIC data are allowing scientists to observe ionospheric and plasmaspheric phenomena that are difficult to see with other instruments. The success of COSMIC has prompted U.S. agencies and Taiwan to execute a COSMIC follow-on mission (called COSMIC-2) that will put twelve satellites with GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) RO payloads into orbit on two launches in the 2017-20 time frame. The first launch in 2017 will place six satellites in a 520-km altitude 24 deg inclination orbit, which is ideal for low latitude ionospheric research and space weather forecasting. The planned second launch (not currently funded) places six additional satellites in a 750 km 72 deg inclination orbit to provide global coverage and increased sampling density. COSMIC-2 will make use of an advanced radio occultation receiver with an innovative beam-forming antenna design, and is expected to produce at least 10,000 high-quality atmospheric and ionospheric profiles per day from GPS and GLONASS signals to support operational weather prediction, climate monitoring, and space weather forecasting. Each COSMIC-2 spacecraft

Polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background: Are These Guys Serious?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kogut, Alan

2007-01-01

The polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) could contain the oldest information in the universe, dating from an inflationary epoch just after the Big Bang. Detecting this signal presents an experimental challenge, as it is both faint and hidden behind complicated foregrounds. The rewards, however, are great, as a positive detection would not only establish inflation as a physical reality but also provide a model-independent measurement of the relevant energy scale. I will present the scientific motivation behind measurements of the CMB polarization and discuss how recent experimental progress could lead to a detection in the not-very-distant future.

Models of Cosmic-Ray Origin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shapiro, M. M.

2001-08-01

Two models of cosmic-ray genesis are compared: (a) the author s red-dwarf hypothesis requiring the injection of seed particles from coronal mass ejections (CME) prior to shock acceleration, and (b) the direct acceleration of thermal ions and of grains in the ISM, proposed by Meyer, Drury and Ellison. Both models agree that shocks in the expanding envelopes of supernova remnants are principally responsible for acceleration to cosmic-ray energies. Both are designed to overcome the mismatch between the source composition of the Galactic cosmic rays (GCR) and the composition of the thermal ISM gas. Model (a) utilizes the prolific emissions of energetic particles from active dMe and dKe stars via their CME as the agents of seed-particle injection into the ISM. The composition of these seed particles is governed by the FIP (first-ionization potential) selection mechanism that operates for both Galactic cosmic rays and solar energetic particles. Hence it is consistent with the cosmic-ray source composition. Model (b) relies on the sputtering and acceleration of grains in the ISM (along with acceleration of thermal ions) to provide the known source composition. This model considers the FIP ordering of GCR abundances as purely coincidental, and it attributes the relative source abundances to selection according to volatility. Recent cosmic-ray observations in favor of each model are cited.

Spaced-based Cosmic Ray Astrophysics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seo, Eun-Suk

2016-03-01

The bulk of cosmic ray data has been obtained with great success by balloon-borne instruments, particularly with NASA's long duration flights over Antarctica. More recently, PAMELA on a Russian Satellite and AMS-02 on the International Space Station (ISS) started providing exciting measurements of particles and anti-particles with unprecedented precision upto TeV energies. In order to address open questions in cosmic ray astrophysics, future missions require spaceflight exposures for rare species, such as isotopes, ultra-heavy elements, and high (the ``knee'' and above) energies. Isotopic composition measurements up to about 10 GeV/nucleon that are critical for understanding interstellar propagation and origin of the elements are still to be accomplished. The cosmic ray composition in the knee (PeV) region holds a key to understanding the origin of cosmic rays. Just last year, the JAXA-led CALET ISS mission, and the DAMPE Chinese Satellite were launched. NASA's ISS-CREAM completed its final verification at GSFC, and was delivered to KSC to await launch on SpaceX. In addition, a EUSO-like mission for ultrahigh energy cosmic rays and an HNX-like mission for ultraheavy nuclei could accomplish a vision for a cosmic ray observatory in space. Strong support of NASA's Explorer Program category of payloads would be needed for completion of these missions over the next decade.

Resilient Brain Aging: Characterization of Discordance between Alzheimer’s Disease Pathology and Cognition

PubMed Central

Negash, Selam; Wilson, Robert S.; Leurgans, Sue E.; Wolk, David A.; Schneider, Julie A.; Buchman, Aron S.; Bennett, David A.; Arnold, Steven. E.

2014-01-01

Background Although it is now evident that normal cognition can occur despite significant AD pathology, few studies have attempted to characterize this discordance, or examine factors that may contribute to resilient brain aging in the setting of AD pathology. Methods More than 2,000 older persons underwent annual evaluation as part of participation in the Religious Orders Study or Rush Memory Aging Project. A total of 966 subjects who had brain autopsy and comprehensive cognitive testing proximate to death were analyzed. Resilience was quantified as a continuous measure using linear regression modeling, where global cognition was entered as a dependent variable and global pathology was an independent variable. Studentized residuals generated from the model represented the discordance between cognition and pathology, and served as measure of resilience. The relation of resilience index to known risk factors for AD and related variables was examined. Results Multivariate regression models that adjusted for demographic variables revealed significant associations for early life socioeconomic status, reading ability, APOE-ε4 status, and past cognitive activity. A stepwise regression model retained reading level (estimate = 0.10, SE = 0.02; p < 0.0001) and past cognitive activity (estimate = 0.27, SE = 0.09; p = 0.002), suggesting the potential mediating role of these variables for resilience. Conclusions The construct of resilient brain aging can provide a framework for quantifying the discordance between cognition and pathology, and help identify factors that may mediate this relationship. PMID:23919768

Residual depth anomalies and the origin of the Australian-Antarctic discordance zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marks, Karen M.; Vogt, Peter R.; Hall, Stuart A.

1990-10-01

A new, high resolution depth anomaly map covering the anomalously deep and rough Australian-Antarctic Discordance (AAD) has been constructed using crustal ages derived from a detailed aeromagnetic survey. The map shows a large, arcuate-shaped, negative depth anomaly that is centered on the Southeast Indian Ridge and trends NNE across the Australian plate (SSE across the Antarctic plate). Within this broad scale feature, two prominent depth anomaly lows are observed at 45°S, 128°E (the northern flank) and 54°S, 125°E (the southern flank). Both lows are associated with 15 Ma oceanic crust. The observed depth anomaly patterns are compared with the distinctive patterns predicted by coldspot, downwelling limbs of convection cells, and thin crust models of the discordance source. The observed depth anomaly does not result from absolute plate motions over a fixed coldspot source because the predicted ENE trend on the Antarctic plate is not in agreement with the SSE trend observed. The symmetric arrangement of the large-scale depth anomaly and prominent lows about the ridge axis suggests instead a source that has varied in strength but remained located at the ridge axis as the ridge migrated northeastward in the absolute reference frame. The organized pattern of elongated depth anomaly highs and lows predicted for upper mantle convection (cells) is not evident in the observed depth anomaly map. Thus a convergence of downwelling limbs of convection cells beneath the discordance is not indicated. If the source of cooler upwelling that produces less magma and hence thin crust has not varied over time, nor migrated along the ridge, then the predicted depth anomaly would persist unchanged with distance from the ridge axis, and trend in the direction of relative plate motion (parallel to fracture zones). The observed depth anomaly trends obliquely across fracture zones and changes in both amplitude and location relative to the ridge axis, and is therefore not consistent with

Crest - A Balloon-borne Instrument To Measure Cosmic-ray Electrons Above TeV Energies.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schubnell, Michael; Anderson, T.; Bower, C.; Coutu, S.; Geske, M.; Müller, D.; Musser, J.; Nutter, S.; Park, N.; Tarlé, G.; Wakely, S.; Yagi, A.

2009-01-01

The observation of high energy (E > 1 TeV) electrons in the cosmic radiation provides important information on the distribution and energetics of local cosmic-ray sources. Galactic cosmic-ray electrons are thought to be shock accelerated in supernova remnants as evident from observations of non-thermal X-rays and TeV gamma rays. Their locally observed energy spectrum above 1 TeV is expected to reflect the distribution and abundance of nearby acceleration sites. However, the rates at these energies are low and the direct detection would require unfeasibly large balloons or satellite born detectors. CREST, a balloon-borne detector array of 1024 BaF2 crystals, overcomes this hurdle: it will measure the intensity and spectrum of multi-TeV electrons by detecting synchrotron photons emitted from electrons passing through the earth's magnetic field. Thus CREST's acceptance is several times its geometric area providing sensitivity up to about 50 TeV. Following an engineering flight in spring of 2009, CREST will be flown in a circumpolar orbit on an upcoming Antarctic long-duration balloon flight. This work is supported by NASA and CSBF.

New constraints on cosmic polarization rotation from B-mode polarization in the cosmic microwave background

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Alighieri, Sperello di Serego; Ni, Wei-Tou; Pan, Wei-Ping, E-mail: sperello@arcetri.astro.it, E-mail: weitou@gmail.com, E-mail: d9722518@oz.nthu.edu.tw

2014-09-01

SPTpol, POLARBEAR, and BICEP2 have recently measured the cosmic microwave background (CMB) B-mode polarization in various sky regions of several tens of square degrees and obtained BB power spectra in the multipole range 20-3000, detecting the components due to gravitational lensing and to inflationary gravitational waves. We analyze jointly the results of these three experiments and propose modifications to their analyses of the spectra to include in the model, in addition to the gravitational lensing and the inflationary gravitational wave components, and also the effects induced by the cosmic polarization rotation (CPR), if it exists within current upper limits. Althoughmore » in principle our analysis would also lead to new constraints on CPR, in practice these can only be given on its fluctuations (δα{sup 2}), since constraints on its mean angle are inhibited by the derotation which is applied by current CMB polarization experiments, in order to cope with the insufficient calibration of the polarization angle. The combined data fits from all three experiments (with 29% CPR-SPTpol correlation, depending on the theoretical model) gives the constraint (δα{sup 2}){sup 1/2} < 27.3 mrad (1.°56), with r = 0.194 ± 0.033. These results show that the present data are consistent with no CPR detection and the constraint on CPR fluctuation is about 1.°5. This method of constraining the CPR is new, is complementary to previous tests, which use the radio and optical/UV polarization of radio galaxies and the CMB E-mode polarization, and adds a new constraint for the sky areas observed by SPTpol, POLARBEAR, and BICEP2.« less

Investigation of Avalanche Photodiodes and Multipixel Photon Counters as Light Detectors for Cosmic Rays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vasquez, Jaime; Saavedra, Arthur; Ramos, Roxana; Tavares, Pablo; Wade, Marcus; Fan, Sewan; Haag, Brooke

2013-04-01

Through the Research Scholars Institute, students of Hartnell Community College experimented with the application of avalanche photodiodes (APDs) as cosmic ray detectors during the summer of 2012. An APD detector was coupled with a 10 meter long wavelength shifting fiber (WSF) wrapped around a cylindrical plastic scintillator to maximize signal detection. A photomultiplier tube (PMT) was used in conjunction to detect the same scintillation light caused by incoming cosmic rays. Two APD detectors were evaluated to confirm the viability of the setup. In addition, a similar setup was recently utilized to implement multi-pixel photon counters (MPPCs) as readout detectors. Under this configuration, a high gain preamplifier was used to amplify the signals for both the MPPC and APD detectors. We report on our results characterizing the MPPC and discuss its overall performance. Compared to the APD, our findings suggest that the MPPC detector has greater sensitivity in detecting weak light signals, and can be used in place of the PMT for certain counting applications.

A connection between star formation activity and cosmic rays in the starburst galaxy M82.

PubMed

2009-12-10

Although Galactic cosmic rays (protons and nuclei) are widely believed to be mainly accelerated by the winds and supernovae of massive stars, definitive evidence of this origin remains elusive nearly a century after their discovery. The active regions of starburst galaxies have exceptionally high rates of star formation, and their large size-more than 50 times the diameter of similar Galactic regions-uniquely enables reliable calorimetric measurements of their potentially high cosmic-ray density. The cosmic rays produced in the formation, life and death of massive stars in these regions are expected to produce diffuse gamma-ray emission through interactions with interstellar gas and radiation. M82, the prototype small starburst galaxy, is predicted to be the brightest starburst galaxy in terms of gamma-ray emission. Here we report the detection of >700-GeV gamma-rays from M82. From these data we determine a cosmic-ray density of 250 eV cm(-3) in the starburst core, which is about 500 times the average Galactic density. This links cosmic-ray acceleration to star formation activity, and suggests that supernovae and massive-star winds are the dominant accelerators.

Asymmetry and discordance for congenital anomalies in conjoined twins: a report of six cases.

PubMed

Ornoy, A; Navot, D; Menashi, M; Laufer, N; Chemke, J

1980-10-01

Six pairs of conjoined twins have been studied. The first case was a pair of 13-week-old omphalopagus fetuses. One was a holoacradius amorphus and the other had rachischisis and anencephaly. The second case was a pair of omphalopagus twins. One of the twins was macerated and corresponded to a developmental age of 13-14 weeks, while the other was developed to 28-30 weeks of gestation and exhibited urogenital and gastrointestinal defects not found in the smaller twin. In the third case, that of a thoracoomphalopagus, one had cleft lip and palate, pulmonic stenosis, and atresia of the ileocecal valve, while the other did not show these anomalies. In the fourth cae, also omphalopagus twins, one had a lumbosacral meningomyelocele and severe gastrointestinal and urogenital anomalies not found in the second twin. The fifth case was a pair of thoracoomphalopagus twins, sharing a common heart with asymmetrical anomalies. The sixth case was a diprosopus anencephalic conjoined twin. The first pairs of conjoined twins were discordant for several abnormalities in nonshared organs, in addition to having abnormalities of the conjoined organs. It seems that discordance in conjoined twins is not a rare finding. The factors that play a role in discordance of anomalies in conjoined twins are probably similar to the factors in monozygotic twins--i.e., environmental, genetic, and abnormal placental and/or fetal circulation.

Cosmic Education: The Child's Discovery of a Global Vision and a Cosmic Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stephenson, Susan Mayclin

2015-01-01

Susan Mayclin Stephenson tackles a large subject, Cosmic Education, which Montessori defined as a "unifying global and universal view[s] of the past, present and future." Stephenson takes the reader from birth to the end of the elementary age with examples of how the child grows into an understanding of Cosmic Education through their…

Discordant prostate specific antigen test results despite WHO assay standardization.

PubMed

Boegemann, Martin; Arsov, Christian; Hadaschik, Boris; Herkommer, Kathleen; Imkamp, Florian; Nofer, Jerzy-Roch; Gerß, Joachim; Albers, Peter; Semjonow, Axel

2018-05-01

Total PSA (tPSA) and free PSA (fPSA) are the most commonly used biomarkers for early detection of prostate cancer. Despite standardization efforts, many available PSA assays may still produce discordant results. In the present study, we compared four PSA assays calibrated to the WHO standards 96/670 and 96/668 for tPSA and fPSA, respectively. Within the scope of the Prostate Cancer Early Detection Study Based on a ''Baseline'' PSA Value in Young Men (PROBASE), we tested tPSA and fPSA in serum samples from 50 patients in the four different PROBASE sites using four WHO-calibrated assays from Roche (Elecsys, Cobas), Beckman-Coulter (Access-II) and Siemens (ADVIA Centaur). The comparison was performed using the Passing-Bablok regression method. Compared to Access, the median tPSA levels for Centaur, Elecsys, and Cobas were +3%, +11%-20%, and +17%-23%, respectively, while for median fPSA levels the differences for Centaur, Elecsys, and Cobas were +49%, +29%-31%, and +22%, respectively. Despite all investigated assays being WHO-calibrated, the Elecsys and Cobas tPSA assays produced considerably higher results than the Access and Centaur assays. Differences in fPSA-recovery between all investigated assays were even more pronounced. When applying the tPSA cutoff of 3.1 μg/L recommended for WHO-calibrated assays, the use of higher calibrated assays may lead to unnecessary prostate biopsies. Conversely, if the historical threshold of 4 μg/L is applied when using WHO-calibrated assays, it could lead to falsely omitted prostate biopsies.

Special Relativity in the School Laboratory: A Simple Apparatus for Cosmic-Ray Muon Detection

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Singh, P.; Hedgeland, H.

2015-01-01

We use apparatus based on two Geiger-Müller tubes, a simple electronic circuit and a Raspberry Pi computer to illustrate relativistic time dilation affecting cosmic-ray muons travelling through the atmosphere to the Earth's surface. The experiment we describe lends itself to both classroom demonstration to accompany the topic of special relativity…

Exploring cosmic origins with CORE: Effects of observer peculiar motion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burigana, C.; Carvalho, C. S.; Trombetti, T.; Notari, A.; Quartin, M.; Gasperis, G. D.; Buzzelli, A.; Vittorio, N.; De Zotti, G.; de Bernardis, P.; Chluba, J.; Bilicki, M.; Danese, L.; Delabrouille, J.; Toffolatti, L.; Lapi, A.; Negrello, M.; Mazzotta, P.; Scott, D.; Contreras, D.; Achúcarro, A.; Ade, P.; Allison, R.; Ashdown, M.; Ballardini, M.; Banday, A. J.; Banerji, R.; Bartlett, J.; Bartolo, N.; Basak, S.; Bersanelli, M.; Bonaldi, A.; Bonato, M.; Borrill, J.; Bouchet, F.; Boulanger, F.; Brinckmann, T.; Bucher, M.; Cabella, P.; Cai, Z.-Y.; Calvo, M.; Castellano, M. G.; Challinor, A.; Clesse, S.; Colantoni, I.; Coppolecchia, A.; Crook, M.; D'Alessandro, G.; Diego, J.-M.; Di Marco, A.; Di Valentino, E.; Errard, J.; Feeney, S.; Fernández-Cobos, R.; Ferraro, S.; Finelli, F.; Forastieri, F.; Galli, S.; Génova-Santos, R.; Gerbino, M.; González-Nuevo, J.; Grandis, S.; Greenslade, J.; Hagstotz, S.; Hanany, S.; Handley, W.; Hernández-Monteagudo, C.; Hervias-Caimapo, C.; Hills, M.; Hivon, E.; Kiiveri, K.; Kisner, T.; Kitching, T.; Kunz, M.; Kurki-Suonio, H.; Lamagna, L.; Lasenby, A.; Lattanzi, M.; Lesgourgues, J.; Liguori, M.; Lindholm, V.; Lopez-Caniego, M.; Luzzi, G.; Maffei, B.; Mandolesi, N.; Martinez-Gonzalez, E.; Martins, C. J. A. P.; Masi, S.; Matarrese, S.; McCarthy, D.; Melchiorri, A.; Melin, J.-B.; Molinari, D.; Monfardini, A.; Natoli, P.; Paiella, A.; Paoletti, D.; Patanchon, G.; Piat, M.; Pisano, G.; Polastri, L.; Polenta, G.; Pollo, A.; Poulin, V.; Remazeilles, M.; Roman, M.; Rubiño-Martín, J.-A.; Salvati, L.; Tartari, A.; Tomasi, M.; Tramonte, D.; Trappe, N.; Tucker, C.; Väliviita, J.; Van de Weijgaert, R.; van Tent, B.; Vennin, V.; Vielva, P.; Young, K.; Zannoni, M.

2018-04-01

We discuss the effects on the cosmic microwave background (CMB), cosmic infrared background (CIB), and thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect due to the peculiar motion of an observer with respect to the CMB rest frame, which induces boosting effects. After a brief review of the current observational and theoretical status, we investigate the scientific perspectives opened by future CMB space missions, focussing on the Cosmic Origins Explorer (CORE) proposal. The improvements in sensitivity offered by a mission like CORE, together with its high resolution over a wide frequency range, will provide a more accurate estimate of the CMB dipole. The extension of boosting effects to polarization and cross-correlations will enable a more robust determination of purely velocity-driven effects that are not degenerate with the intrinsic CMB dipole, allowing us to achieve an overall signal-to-noise ratio of 13; this improves on the Planck detection and essentially equals that of an ideal cosmic-variance-limited experiment up to a multipole lsimeq2000. Precise inter-frequency calibration will offer the opportunity to constrain or even detect CMB spectral distortions, particularly from the cosmological reionization epoch, because of the frequency dependence of the dipole spectrum, without resorting to precise absolute calibration. The expected improvement with respect to COBE-FIRAS in the recovery of distortion parameters (which could in principle be a factor of several hundred for an ideal experiment with the CORE configuration) ranges from a factor of several up to about 50, depending on the quality of foreground removal and relative calibration. Even in the case of simeq1 % accuracy in both foreground removal and relative calibration at an angular scale of 1o, we find that dipole analyses for a mission like CORE will be able to improve the recovery of the CIB spectrum amplitude by a factor simeq 17 in comparison with current results based on COBE-FIRAS. In addition to the

Discordance between MTB/RIF and Real-Time Tuberculosis-Specific Polymerase Chain Reaction Assay in Bronchial Washing Specimen and Its Clinical Implications.

PubMed

Jo, Yong Suk; Park, Ju-Hee; Lee, Jung Kyu; Heo, Eun Young; Chung, Hee Soon; Kim, Deog Kyeom

2016-01-01

The prevalence and clinical implications of discordance between Xpert MTB/RIF assays and the AdvanSure TB/NTM real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for bronchial washing specimens have not been studied in pulmonary TB (PTB) patients. The discordant proportion and its clinical impact were evaluated in 320 patients from the bronchoscopy registry whose bronchial washing specimens were tested simultaneously with Xpert MTB/RIF and the TB/NTM PCR assay for three years, and the accuracy of the assays, including the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV), were studied. The clinical risk factors for discordance and false positivity of assays were also studied. Among 130 patients who were clinically diagnosed with PTB, 64 patients showed positive acid-fast bacilli culture results, 56 patients showed positive results in molecular methods and clinician diagnosed PTB without results of microbiology in 10 patients. The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV were 80.0%, 98.95%, 98.1%, and 87.9%, respectively, for Xpert MTB/RIF and 81.5%, 92.6%, 88.3%, and 88.0%, respectively, for TB/NTM PCR. The discordant proportion was 16.9% and was higher in culture-negative PTB compared to culture-confirmed PTB (24.3% vs. 9.4%, p = 0.024). However, there were no significant differences in the clinical characteristics, regardless of the discordance. The diagnostic yield increased with an additional assay (7.7% for Xpert MTB/RIF and 9.2% for TB/NTM PCR). False positivity was less common in patients tested with Xpert MTB/RIF (1.05% vs. 7.37%, p = 0.0035). No host-related risk factor for false positivity was identified. The Xpert MTB/RIF and TB/NTM PCR assay in bronchial washing specimens can improve the diagnostic yields for PTB, although there were considerable discordant results without any patient-related risk factors.

Multi-spectra Cosmic Ray Flux Measurement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Xiaochun; Dayananda, Mathes

2010-02-01

The Earth's upper atmosphere is constantly bombarded by rain of charged particles known as primary cosmic rays. These primary cosmic rays will collide with the atmospheric molecules and create extensive secondary particles which shower downward to the surface of the Earth. In recent years, a few studies have been done regarding to the applications of the cosmic ray measurements and the correlations between the Earth's climate conditions and the cosmic ray fluxes [1,2,3]. Most of the particles, which reach to the surface of the Earth, are muons together with a small percentage of electrons, gammas, neutrons, etc. At Georgia State University, multiple cosmic ray particle detectors have been constructed to measure the fluxes and energy distributions of the secondary cosmic ray particles. In this presentation, we will briefly describe these prototype detectors and show the preliminary test results. Reference: [1] K.Borozdin, G.Hogan, C.Morris, W.Priedhorsky, A.Saunders, L.Shultz, M.Teasdale, Nature, Vol.422, 277 (2003). [2] L.V. Egorova, V. Ya Vovk, O.A. Troshichev, Journal of Atmospheric and Terrestrial Physics 62, 955-966 (2000). [3] Henrik Svensmark, Phy. Rev. Lett. 81, 5027 (1998). )

KCDC — The KASCADE Cosmic-ray Data Centre

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haungs, A.; Blumer, J.; Fuchs, B.; Kang, D.; Schoo, S.; Wochele, D.; Wochele, J.; Apel, W. D.; Arteaga-Velázquez, J. C.; Bekk, K.; Bertaina, M.; Bozdog, H.; Brancus, I. M.; Cantoni, E.; Chiavassa, A.; Cossavella, F.; Daumiller, K.; de Souza, V.; Di Pierro, F.; Doll, P.; Engel, R.; Fuhrmann, D.; Gherghel-Lascu, A.; Gils, H. J.; Glasstetter, R.; Grupen, C.; Heck, D.; Hörandel, J. R.; Huber, D.; Huege, T.; Kampert, K. H.; Klages, H. O.; Link, K.; Łuczak, P.; Mathes, H. J.; Mayer, H. J.; Milke, J.; Mitrica, B.; Morello, C.; Oehlschläger, J.; Ostapchenko, S.; Palmieri, N.; Petcu, M.; Pierog, T.; Rebel, H.; Roth, M.; Schieler, H.; Schröder, F. G.; Sima, O.; Toma, G.; Trinchero, G. C.; Ulrich, H.; Weindl, A.; Zabierowski, J.

2015-08-01

KCDC, the ‘KASCADE Cosmic-ray Data Centre’, is a web portal, where data of astroparticle physics experiments will be made available for the interested public. The KASCADE experiment, financed by public money, was a large-area detector for the measurement of high-energy cosmic rays via the detection of air showers. KASCADE and its extension KASCADE-Grande stopped finally the active data acquisition of all its components including the radio EAS experiment LOPES end of 2012 after more than 20 years of data taking. In a first release, with KCDC we provide to the public the measured and reconstructed parameters of more than 160 million air showers. In addition, KCDC provides the conceptional design, how the data can be treated and processed so that they are also usable outside the community of experts in the research field. Detailed educational examples make a use also possible for high-school students and early stage researchers.

Clusters of Galaxies and the Cosmic Web with Square Kilometre Array