Bounds on effective Majorana neutrino masses at HERA

The lepton-number violating process e p \to nu_e l l' X mediated by Majorana neutrinos is studied for the HERA collider for (l l') = (e tau), (mu tau), (mu mu) and (tau tau). Only the muonic decay of the tau is considered. The direct limit on the effective muon Majorana mass, is improved significantly to 4.0 times 10^3 GeV and for the first time direct limits on the analogous effective masses connected with the tau sector are given, namely 4.2 times 10^3 GeV for , 4.4 times 10^3 GeV for and 2.0 times 10^4 GeV for . We find that a more general analysis for an upgraded HERA could improve this values by a factor of up to 40, yet still being orders of magnitude worse than indirect limits.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, revised versio

Experimental neutrino physics

The current experimental status of neutrino physics is reviewed. It contains the evidences for a non-vanishing neutrino rest mass from neutrino oscillation searches. In addition an outlook is given on determining the various mixing matrix elements and mass differences more precisely with new experiments. Of special interest is the value of the mixing angle \theta_{13} determining the possibility of detecting leptonic CP violation in the future. The prospect for absolute mass measurements using beta and double beta decay as well as cosmological observations is presented.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures, Inv. talk presented at the DPF 2004 meeting of the APS, Riverside, Aug. 200

A Mars orbital laser altimeter for rover trafficability: Instrument concept and science potential

Limited information on the types of geologic hazards (boulders, troughs, craters etc.) that will affect rover trafficability on Mars are available for the two Viking Lander sites, and there are no prospects for increasing this knowledge base in the near future. None of the instrument payloads on the upcoming Mars Observer or Soviet PHOBOS missions can directly measure surface obstacles on the scales of concern for rover safety (a few meters). Candidate instruments for the Soviet Mars 92 orbiter/balloon/rover mission such as balloon-borne stereo imaging, rover panoramic imaging, and orbital synthetic aperature imaging (SAR) are under discussion, but data from this mission may not be available for target areas of interest for the U.S. Mars Rover Sample Return (MRSR) mission. In an effort to determine how to directly measure the topography of surface obstacles that could affect rover trafficability on Mars, we are studying how to design a laser altimeter with extremely high spatial and vertical resolution that would be suitable for a future Mars Orbiter spacecraft (MRSR precursor or MRSR orbiter). This report discusses some of the design issues associated with such an instrument, gives examples of laser altimeter data collected for Mars analog terrains on Earth, and outlines the scientific potential of data that could be obtained with the system

The effects of Venus' thermal structure on buoyant magma ascent

The recent Magellan images have revealed a broad spatial distribution of surface volcanism on Venus. Previous work in modeling the ascent of magma on both Venus and Earth has indicated that the planetary thermal structure significantly influences the magmatic cooling rates and thus the amount of magma that can be transported to the surface before solidification. In order to understand which aspects of the thermal structure have the greatest influence on the cooling of ascending magma, we have constructed magma cooling curves for both plutonic and crack buoyant ascent mechanisms, and evaluated the curves for variations in the planetary mantle temperature, thermal gradient curvature with depth, surface temperature gradient, and surface temperature. The planetary thermal structure is modeled as T/T(sub 0) = 1-tau(1-Z/Z(sub 0)(exp n), where T is the temperature, T(sub 0) is the source depth temperature, tau = 1-(T(sub s)/T(sub 0)) where T(sub s) is the planetary surface temperature, Z is the depth, Z(sub 0) is the source depth, and n is a constant that controls thermal gradient curvature with depth. The equation is used both for mathematical convenience and flexibility, as well as its fit to the thermal gradients predicted by the cooling half-space models. We assume a constant velocity buoyant ascent, body-averaged magma temperatures and properties, an initially crystal-free magma, and the same liquidus and solidus for both Venus and Earth

Partia Prawo i Sprawiedliwość jako reprezentacja polityczna światopoglądu tradycjonalistycznego we współczesnej Polsce (Партія «Закон і Справедливість» як репрезентація традиціоналістичного політичного світогляду в сучасній Польщі)

Стаття присвячена аналізу світоглядного підґрунтя польської політичної партії «Закон і Справедливість». Політичною метою партії «Закон і Справедливість» є встановлення сильної національної держави з елементами державного соціалізму й економічного націоналізму, етатизму, з сильним конфесійним елементом у католицькому варіанті. Таку державу з консервативним ідеалом буде єднати лише патерналізм. (The article is devoted to the analysis of the worldview background of Polish political Party “Law and Justice”. The political objective of the Law and Justice is to establish a strong nation-state with an authoritarian system. This state implements the principles of social solidarity with the elements of state socialism and economic nationalism, statism, and strong religious identity in the Catholic variant. Such a state with conservative ideals will combine only paternalism.

Direct observation of molecular arrays in the organized smooth endoplasmic reticulum

RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are.Abstract Background Tubules and sheets of endoplasmic reticulum perform different functions and undergo inter-conversion during different stages of the cell cycle. Tubules are stabilized by curvature inducing resident proteins, but little is known about the mechanisms of endoplasmic reticulum sheet stabilization. Tethering of endoplasmic reticulum membranes to the cytoskeleton or to each other has been proposed as a plausible way of sheet stabilization. Results Here, using fluorescence microscopy we show that the previously proposed mechanisms, such as membrane tethering via GFP-dimerization or coiled coil protein aggregation - do not explain the formation of the calnexin-induced organized smooth endoplasmic reticulum membrane stacks. We also show that the LINC complex proteins known to serve a tethering function in the nuclear envelope are excluded from endoplasmic reticulum stacks. Finally, using cryo-electron microscopy of vitreous sections methodology that preserves cellular architecture in a hydrated, native-like state, we show that the sheet stacks are highly regular and may contain ordered arrays of macromolecular complexes. Some of these complexes decorate the cytosolic surface of the membranes, whereas others appear to span the width of the cytosolic or luminal space between the stacked sheets. Conclusion Our results provide evidence in favour of the hypothesis of endoplasmic reticulum sheet stabilization by intermembrane tethering.Published versio

Prospective Memory in Older Adults : Where We Are Now and What Is Next

M. Kliegel acknowledges financial support from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).Peer reviewedPostprin

Pulse shape discrimination performance of Inverted Coaxial Ge detectors

We report on the characterization of two inverted coaxial Ge detectors in the context of being employed in future $^{76}$Ge neutrinoless double beta ($0\nu\beta\beta$) decay experiments. It is an advantage that such detectors can be produced with bigger Ge mass as compared to the planar Broad Energy Ge detectors (BEGe) that are currently used in the GERDA $0\nu\beta\beta$ decay experiment. This will result in lower background for the search of $0\nu\beta\beta$ decay due to a reduction of cables, electronics and holders. The measured resolution near the $^{76}$Ge Q-value at 2039 keV is 2.5 keV and their pulse-shape characteristics are similar to BEGe-detectors. It is concluded that this type of Ge-detector is suitable for usage in $^{76}$Ge $0\nu\beta\beta$ decay experiments