The proposed Mitchell Institute Neutrino Experiment at Reactor (MINER) experiment at the Nuclear Science Center at Texas A&M University will search for coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering ...within close proximity (about 2m) of a 1MW TRIGA nuclear reactor core using low threshold, cryogenic germanium and silicon detectors. Given the Standard Model cross section of the scattering process and the proposed experimental proximity to the reactor, as many as 5–20events/kg/day are expected. We discuss the status of preliminary measurements to characterize the main backgrounds for the proposed experiment. Both in situ measurements at the experimental site and simulations using the MCNP and GEANT4 codes are described. A strategy for monitoring backgrounds during data taking is briefly discussed.
DARk matter WImp search with liquid xenoN (DARWIN) will be an experiment for the direct detection of dark matter using a multi-ton liquid xenon time projection chamber at its core. Its primary goal ...will be to explore the experimentally accessible parameter space for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) in a wide mass-range, until neutrino interactions with the target become an irreducible background. The prompt scintillation light and the charge signals induced by particle interactions in the xenon will be observed by VUV sensitive, ultra-low background photosensors. Besides its excellent sensitivity to WIMPs above a mass of 5 GeV/c2, such a detector with its large mass, low-energy threshold and ultra-low background level will also be sensitive to other rare interactions. It will search for solar axions, galactic axion-like particles and the neutrinoless double-beta decay of 136-Xe, as well as measure the low-energy solar neutrino flux with <1% precision, observe coherent neutrino-nucleus interactions, and detect galactic supernovae. We present the concept of the DARWIN detector and discuss its physics reach, the main sources of backgrounds and the ongoing detector design and R&D efforts.
•Older drivers’ on-road driving behavior was observed on two occasions approximately 12 months apart (Times 1 and 2) to determine whether the self-selected driving routes changed over time or whether ...their driving behavior changed over time.•The on-road driving routes selected by older drivers at Time 2 were significantly shorter, contained significantly fewer driving maneuvers and had higher error rates than at Time 1.•Older drivers’ driving error rates were not related to functional performance and/or self-reported driving experiences among this presently healthy cohort of older drivers.
This paper describes a survey of self-regulatory driving practices of 656 drivers aged 55 years and older. Types and prevalence of self-regulatory behaviours were examined and key characteristics of ...self-regulators were identified. Overall, the majority of drivers reported being very confident in potentially difficult driving situations and relatively few avoided these situations. The most commonly avoided situations were driving at night (25%), on wet nights (26%) and in busy traffic (22%). There was a strong association between drivers’ avoidance of and confidence in specific driving situations (e.g. night driving) and ratings of relevant functional abilities (e.g. vision for night driving). Logistic regression modelling revealed that those most likely to adopt avoidance behaviour were female, 75 years and older, not the principal driver in the household, had been involved in a crash in the last 2 years, reported vision problems and had lower confidence ratings. Implications for promotion of safe driving practices are discussed.
► We examined factors influencing engagement in secondary task at intersections. ► Older drivers’ willingness to engage in secondary tasks was context specific. ► Drivers engaged in secondary tasks ...less when the driving task was more challenging. ► Self-regulation depends on intersection type, vehicle motion and traffic density.
This study examined older driver engagement in distracting behaviours (secondary activities) at intersections using naturalistic driving data from a larger study based in Melbourne, Australia. Of interest was whether engagement in secondary activities at intersections was influenced by factors such as driver gender and situational variables, in particular, those relating to the complexity of the driving environment. Specifically we expected that when making left/right turns, older drivers would reduce the proportion of time engaged in secondary behaviours at intersections which required gap judgements (partly controlled or uncontrolled) compared with intersections that were fully controlled by traffic signals. Consideration was given to engagement in secondary activity with hands off the wheel and when the vehicle was moving versus stationary. Older drivers aged between 65 and 83 years drove an instrumented vehicle (IV) on their regular trips for approximately two weeks. The IV was equipped with a video camera system, enabling recording of the road environment and driver and a data acquisition unit, enabling recording of trip distance, vehicle speed, braking, accelerating, steering and indicator use. Driving experience and demographics were collected and functional abilities were assessed using the Useful Field of View (UFOV), Trail Making Test B, Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE), visual acuity and contrast sensitivity. The study yielded a total of 371 trips with 4493km (99.8h) of naturalistic driving data including 1396 left and right turns. Trips were randomly selected from the dataset and in-depth analysis was conducted on 200 intersection manoeuvres (approximately 50% left turns, 50% right turns). The most frequently observed secondary activities were scratching/grooming (42.5%), talking/singing (30.2%) and manipulating the vehicle control panel (12.2%). Glances “off road” 2s or longer were associated with reading, reaching and manipulation of the vehicle control panel. Hands off the wheel was associated with reading. Key parameters associated with the percent of intersection time that drivers engaged in secondary activities were intersection complexity, vehicle status (moving vs. stationary) and traffic density. In conclusion, older drivers appeared to engage selectively in secondary activities according to roadway/driving situations, supporting the notion that drivers self-regulate by engaging in secondary tasks less frequently when the driving task is more challenging compared with less challenging manoeuvres.
The aim of the study was to investigate the usefulness of the contrast agent Levovist in ultrasound assessment of anal fistula.
Fifteen patients (11 females, mean age 46) with a diagnosis of anal ...fistula were assessed by physical examination, conventional ultrasound, Levovist-enhanced ultrasound, and surgery. Levovist was injected a cannula into the fistula. The results of physical examination, conventional ultrasound and Levovist-enhanced ultrasound were compared with surgical findings as criterion standard.
At physical examination, three intersphincteric fistulas and two sinuses were diagnosed. Using conventional ultrasound, five intersphincteric and five transsphincteric fistulas were found; four fistulas and one sinus were not detected. Levovist-enhanced ultrasound revealed one sinus, five intersphincteric, seven transsphincteric, and one extrasphincteric fistulas; only one fistula was not detected. At surgery, three intersphincteric, seven transsphincteric, and two sinuses were found; however, the extrasphincteric fistula detected by Levovist was missed. Compared with physical examination, Levovist-enhanced ultrasound and surgery were significantly favorable in the diagnosis of anal fistula (P < 0.05 in chi-squared test and Fisher's exact probability test). The concordance rate of surgery with conventional ultrasound was 69 percent (9/13) and with Levovist-enhanced ultrasound was 77 percent (10/13). However, because the extrasphincteric fistula was missed at surgery, the accuracy of Levovist-enhanced ultrasound was in fact 85 percent (11/13) if surgical finding was not used as the standard. The internal opening was detected at physical examination in 2 patients (13 percent), with conventional ultrasound in 4 patients (27 percent), with Levovist-enhanced ultrasound in 9 patients (60 percent) and during surgery in 11 patients (85 percent). Consistently, Levovist-enhanced ultrasound and surgery were significantly better than physical examination in the diagnosis of internal opening (P < 0.05). One secondary extension and two sphincter defects were detected by both types of ultrasound. The extension was not confirmed during surgery. No patients developed recurrence or nonhealing of wound. One patient developed incontinence to flatus and one developed a perianal hematoma.
Levovist-enhanced ultrasound is better at assessing anal fistula than physical examination and conventional ultrasound. However, a future trial comparing Levovist, hydrogen peroxide, and magnetic resonance imaging is needed to establish which is the most cost-effective preoperative imaging technique to use.
► Parents asked about their attitudes, knowledge and behaviours relating to child occupant travel. ► Many parents did not know when to move their child from a booster seat to a seatbelt. ► Many ...parents did not know when their child could safely travel in the front passenger seat. ► Need to enhance parents’ attitudes, knowledge and behaviours relating to safe child occupant travel.
This study investigated parents’ attitudes, knowledge and behaviours relating to safe child occupant travel following new Australian legislation regarding child restraint system (CRS) and motor vehicle restraint use for children aged 7 years and under. A questionnaire exploring attitudes, knowledge and behaviours regarding general road safety, as well as safe child occupant travel, was completed by 272 participants with at least one child aged between 3 and 10 years residing in the Australian state of Victoria. Responses to the questionnaire revealed that participants’ attitudes, knowledge and behaviours towards road safety in general were fairly positive, with most participants reporting that they restrict their alcohol consumption or do not drink at all while driving (87%), drive at or below the speed limit (85%) and ‘always’ wear their seatbelts (98%). However, more than half of the participants reported engaging in distracting behaviours ‘sometimes’ or ‘often’ (54%) and a small proportion of participants indicated that they ‘sometimes’ engaged in aggressive driving (14%). Regarding their attitudes, knowledge and behaviours relating to safe child occupant travel, most participants reported that they ‘always’ restrain their children (99%). However, there was a surprisingly high proportion of participants who did not know the appropriate age thresholds’ to transition their child from a booster seat to an adult seatbelt (53%) or the age for which it is appropriate for their child to sit in the front passenger seat of the vehicle (20%). Logistic regression analyses revealed that parents’ knowledge regarding safe child occupant travel was significantly related to their attitudes, knowledge and behaviours towards road safety in general, such as drinking habits while driving and CRS safety knowledge. Based on the findings of this study, a number of recommendations are made for strategies to enhance parents’ attitudes, knowledge and behaviours relating to safe child occupant travel, as well as for future research.
Dark matter direct detection experiments have limited sensitivity to light dark matter (below a few GeV), due to the challenges of lowering energy thresholds for the detection of nuclear recoil to ...below O ( keV ) . While impressive progress has been made on this front, light dark matter remains the least constrained region of dark-matter parameter space. It has been shown that both ionization and excitation due to the Migdal effect and coherently emitted photon bremsstrahlung from the recoiling atom can provide observable channels for light dark matter that would otherwise have been missed owing to the resulting nuclear recoil falling below the detector threshold. In this paper we extend previous work by calculating the Migdal effect and photon bremsstrahlung rates for a general set of interaction types, including those that are momentum independent or dependent, spin independent or dependent, as well as examining the rates for a variety of target materials, allowing us to place new experimental limits on some of these interaction types. Additionally, we include a calculation of these effects induced by the coherent scattering on nuclei of solar or atmospheric neutrinos. We demonstrate that the Migdal effect dominates over the bremsstrahlung effect for all targets considered for interactions induced by either dark matter or neutrinos. This reduces photon bremsstrahlung to irrelevancy for future direct detection experiments.
Objective: This study aimed to investigate the importance of vehicle safety to older consumers in the vehicle purchase process.
Methods: Older (n = 102), middle-aged (n = 791), and younger (n = 109) ...participants throughout the eastern Australian states of Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland who had recently purchased a new or used vehicle completed an online questionnaire about their vehicle purchase process.
Results: When asked to list the 3 most important considerations in the vehicle purchase process (in an open-ended format), older consumers were mostly likely to list price as their most important consideration (43%). Similarly, when presented with a list of vehicle factors (such as price, design, Australasian New Car Assessment Program ANCAP rating), older consumers were most likely to identify price as the most important vehicle factor (36%). When presented with a list of vehicle features (such as automatic transmission, braking, air bags), older consumers in the current study were most likely to identify an antilock braking system (41%) as the most important vehicle feature, and 50 percent of older consumers identified a safety-related vehicle feature as the highest priority vehicle feature (50%). When asked to list up to 3 factors that make a vehicle safe, older consumers in the current study were most likely to list braking systems (35%), air bags (22%), and the driver's behavior or skill (11%). When asked about the influence of safety in the new vehicle purchase process, one third of older consumers reported that all new vehicles are safe (33%) and almost half of the older consumers rated their vehicle as safer than average (49%). A logistic regression model was developed to predict the profile of older consumers more likely to assign a higher priority to safety features in the vehicle purchasing process. The model predicted that the importance of safety-related features was influenced by several variables, including older consumers' beliefs that they could protect themselves and their family from a crash, their traffic infringement history, and whether they had children.
Conclusions: These findings are consistent with previous research that suggests that, though older consumers highlight the importance of safety features (i.e., seat belts, air bags, braking), they often downplay the role of safety in their vehicle purchasing process and are more likely to equate vehicle safety with the presence of specific vehicle safety features or technologies rather than the vehicle's crash safety/test results or crashworthiness. The findings from this study provide a foundation to support further research in this area that can be used by policy makers, manufacturers, and other stakeholders to better target the promotion and publicity of vehicle safety features to particular consumer groups (such as older consumers). Better targeted campaigns may help to emphasize the value of safety features and their role in reducing the risk of injury/death. If older consumers are better informed of the benefits of safety features when purchasing a vehicle, a further reduction in injuries and deaths related to motor vehicle crashes may be realized.
Survivors of sepsis often experience long-term cognitive and functional decline. Previous studies utilizing lipopolysaccharide injection and cecal ligation and puncture in rodent models of sepsis ...have demonstrated changes in depressive-like behavior and learning and memory after sepsis, as well as evidence of myeloid inflammation and cytokine expression in the brain, but the long-term course of neuroinflammation after sepsis remains unclear. Here, we utilize cecal ligation and puncture with greater than 80% survival as a model of sepsis. We found that sepsis survivor mice demonstrate deficits in extinction of conditioned fear, but no acquisition of fear conditioning, nearly two months after sepsis. These cognitive changes occur in the absence of neuronal loss or changes in synaptic density in the hippocampus. Sepsis also resulted in infiltration of monocytes and neutrophils into the CNS at least two weeks after sepsis in a CCR2 independent manner. Cellular inflammation is accompanied by long-term expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine and chemokine genes, including TNFα and CCR2 ligands, in whole brain homogenates. Gene expression analysis of microglia revealed that while microglia do express anti-microbial genes and damage-associated molecular pattern molecules of the S100A family of genes at least 2 weeks after sepsis, they do not express the cytokines observed in whole brain homogenates. Our results indicate that in a naturalistic model of infection, sepsis results in long-term neuroinflammation, and that this sustained inflammation is likely due to interactions among multiple cell types, including resident microglia and peripherally derived myeloid cells.
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Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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