Machine learning is an important applied research area in particle physics, beginning with applications to high-level physics analysis in the 1990s and 2000s, followed by an explosion of applications ...in particle and event identification and reconstruction in the 2010s. In this document we discuss promising future research and development areas in machine learning in particle physics with a roadmap for their implementation, software and hardware resource requirements, collaborative initiatives with the data science community, academia and industry, and training the particle physics community in data science. The main objective of the document is to connect and motivate these areas of research and development with the physics drivers of the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider and future neutrino experiments and identify the resource needs for their implementation. Additionally we identify areas where collaboration with external communities will be of great benefit.
The rapid increase in mental health disorders has prompted a call for greater focus on mental health promotion and primary prevention. Web- and mobile app-based interventions present a scalable ...opportunity. Little is known about the influence of human support on the outcomes of these interventions.
This study aimed to compare the influence of 3 modes of human support on the outcomes (ie, mental health, vitality, depression, anxiety, stress, life satisfaction, and flourishing) of a 10-week, Web- and mobile app-based, lifestyle-focused mental health promotion intervention among a healthy adult cohort.
Participants were recruited voluntarily using a combination of online and offline advertising. They were randomized, unblinded into 3 groups differentiated by human support mode: Group 1 (n=201): standard-fully automated emails (S); Group 2 (n=202): standard plus personalized SMS (S+pSMS); and Group 3 (n=202): standard plus weekly videoconferencing support (S+VCS), hosted by 1 trained facilitator. Participants accessed the intervention, including the questionnaire, on a Web-based learning management system or through a mobile app. The questionnaire, administered at pre- and postintervention, contained self-reported measures of mental well-being, including the "mental health" and "vitality" subscales from the Short Form Health Survey-36, Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale-21, Diener Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), and Diener Flourishing Scale.
Of 605 potential participants, 458 (S: n=157, S+pSMS: n=163, and S+VCS: n=138) entered the study by completing registration and the preintervention questionnaire. At post intervention, 320 out of 458 participants (69.9%; S: n=103, S+pSMS: n=114, and S+VCS: n=103) completed the questionnaire. Significant within-group improvements were recorded from pre- to postintervention in all groups and in every outcome measure (P≤.001). No significant between-group differences were observed for outcomes in any measure: mental health (P=.77), vitality (P=.65), depression (P=.93), anxiety (P=.25), stress (P.57), SWLS (P=.65), and Flourishing Scale (P=.99). Adherence was not significantly different between groups for mean videos watched (P=.42) and practical activity engagement (P=.71). Participation in videoconference support sessions (VCSSs) was low; 37 out of 103 (35.9%) participants did not attend any VCSSs, and only 19 out of 103 (18.4%) attended 7 or more out of 10 sessions. Stratification within the S+VCS group revealed that those who attended 7 or more VCSSs experienced significantly greater improvements in the domains of mental health (P=.006; d=0.71), vitality (P=.005; d=0.73), depression (P=.04; d=0.54), and life satisfaction (P=.046; d=0.50) compared with participants who attended less than 7.
A Web- and mobile app-based mental health promotion intervention enhanced domains of mental well-being among a healthy cohort, irrespective of human support. Low attendance at VCSSs hindered the ability to make meaningful between-group comparisons. Supplementing the intervention with VCSSs might improve outcomes when attendance is optimized.
Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR): 12619001009101; http://www.anzctr.org.au/ACTRN12619001009101.aspx.
The factors shaping the health of the current generation of adolescents are multi-dimensional and complex. The purpose of this study was to explore the determinants of self-rated health (SRH) of ...adolescents attending a faith-based school system in Australia.
A total of 788 students attending 21 Seventh-day Adventist schools in Australia responded to a health and lifestyle survey that assessed SRH as well as potential determinants of SRH including the health outcomes mental health, vitality, body mass index (BMI), select health behaviors, social factors and personal demographics. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data and examine the direct and indirect effects of these factors on SRH.
The structural model developed was a good fit with the data. The health outcome mental health had the strongest association with SRH (β = 0.17). Several upstream variables were also associated with higher SRH ratings. The health behavior sleep hours had the strongest association with SRH (β
= 0.178) followed by fruit/vegetable consumption (β
= 0.144), physical activity (β
= 0.135) and a vegetarian diet (β
= 0.103). Of the demographic and social variables measured, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) had the strongest association with SRH (β
= - 0.125), negatively influencing SRH, and gender also associated with an increase in SRH (β
= 0.092), with the influence of these factors being mediated through other variables in the model.
This study presents a conceptual model that illustrates the complex network of factors concomitantly associated with SRH in adolescents. The outcomes of the study provide insights into the determinants of adolescent SRH which may inform priority areas for improving this construct.
Detecting low dose rates of X-rays is critical for making safer radiology instruments, but is limited by the absorber materials available. Here, we develop bismuth oxyiodide (BiOI) single crystals ...into effective X-ray detectors. BiOI features complex lattice dynamics, owing to the ionic character of the lattice and weak van der Waals interactions between layers. Through use of ultrafast spectroscopy, first-principles computations and detailed optical and structural characterisation, we show that photoexcited charge-carriers in BiOI couple to intralayer breathing phonon modes, forming large polarons, thus enabling longer drift lengths for the photoexcited carriers than would be expected if self-trapping occurred. This, combined with the low and stable dark currents and high linear X-ray attenuation coefficients, leads to strong detector performance. High sensitivities reaching 1.1 × 10
μC Gy
cm
are achieved, and the lowest dose rate directly measured by the detectors was 22 nGy
s
. The photophysical principles discussed herein offer new design avenues for novel materials with heavy elements and low-dimensional electronic structures for (opto)electronic applications.
Data analysis lies at the heart of every experimental science. Providing a modern introduction to statistics, this book is ideal for undergraduates in physics. It introduces the necessary tools ...required to analyse data from experiments across a range of areas, making it a valuable resource for students. In addition to covering the basic topics, the book also takes in advanced and modern subjects, such as neural networks, decision trees, fitting techniques and issues concerning limit or interval setting. Worked examples and case studies illustrate the techniques presented, and end-of-chapter exercises help test the reader's understanding of the material.
Background: Adolescents attending Seventh-day Adventist schools (Adventist) in Australia tend to experience good health and exhibit better health behaviors than national norms, however few studies ...have investigated factors predicting their mental health.
Aims: The aim of this study was to explore the complex network of factors that predict the mental health status (MHS) of adolescents attending Adventist schools in Australia.
Methods: A survey instrument was used to collect data from 1527 secondary school students attending Adventist schools across Australia. Structural equation modeling was employed to examine concomitantly the direct and indirect effects of childhood experiences, present attitudes and selected health behaviors on MHS.
Results: Childhood family dynamics had the strongest association with MHS (β
total
= 0.33) followed by a sense of meaning and purpose (β
total
= 0.27), perceived social misfit status (β
total
= -0.19), and school academic performance (β
total
= 0.18). Multi-group analysis found significant pathway differences in the model for gender with regards to the association of meaning and purpose, physical activity and sleep quantity with MHS.
Conclusions: The outcomes of the study highlight the importance of early positive childhood family dynamics and the discovery of meaning and purpose during adolescence to promote positive mental health among adolescents.
The complementarity between results anticipated from SuperB with those from the LHC experiments is discussed here. SuperB can contribute to searches for new physics using indirect constraints via ...precision tests of the standard model. In addition to the indirect constraints, there are a number of direct searches that can be performed at low energy. There is a well motivated programme of measurements to make at SuperB, the results of which will add to our understanding of possible scenarios of physics beyond the standard model.
Tests of discrete symmetry violation have played an important role in understanding the structure of weak interactions in the Standard Model of particle physics. Historically, these measurements have ...been extensively performed in experiments with large samples of K and B mesons. A high luminosity τ-charm facility presents physicists with the opportunity to comprehensively explore discrete symmetry violation and test the Standard Model using τ leptons, charm mesons, and charmed baryons. This paper discusses several possible measurements for a future T-charm factory.
HIPSTER Bevan, Adrian; Charman, Thomas; Hays, Jonathan
EPJ Web of Conferences,
01/2019, Volume:
214
Conference Proceeding, Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
HIPSTER (Heavily Ionising Particle Standard Toolkit for Event Recognition) is an open source Python package designed to facilitate the use of TensorFlow in a high energy physics analysis context. The ...core functionality of the software is presented, with images from the MoEDAL experiment Nuclear Track Detectors (NTDs) serving as an example dataset. Convolutional neural networks are selected as the classification algorithm for this dataset and the process of training a variety of models with different hyper-parameters is detailed. Next the results are shown for the MoEDAL problem demonstrating the rich information output by HIPSTER that enables the user to probe the performance of their model in detail.
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