With excellent energy resolution and ultralow-level radiogenic backgrounds, the high-purity germanium detectors in the Majorana Demonstrator enable searches for several classes of exotic dark matter (DM) models. In this work, we report new experimental limits on keV-scale sterile neutrino DM via the transition magnetic moment from conversion to active neutrinos ν_{s}→ν_{a}. We report new limits on fermionic dark matter absorption (χ+A→ν+A) and sub-GeV DM-nucleus 3→2 scattering (χ+χ+A→ϕ+A), and new exclusion limits for bosonic dark matter (axionlike particles and dark photons).
View Article and Find Full Text PDF^{180m}Ta is a rare nuclear isomer whose decay has never been observed. Its remarkably long lifetime surpasses the half-lives of all other known β and electron capture decays due to the large K-spin differences and small energy differences between the isomeric and lower-energy states. Detecting its decay presents a significant experimental challenge but could shed light on neutrino-induced nucleosynthesis mechanisms, the nature of dark matter, and K-spin violation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe present study investigates the prognostic value of the Syntax Score II 2020 corrected for flow-limiting lesions and its ability to better address treatment by benefit prediction among patients with left main or multivessel disease. We analyzed 1274 patients from the HALE-BOPP cohort and integrated the Syntax Score II 2020 with the result of the fractional flow reserve (FFR) evaluation. Absolute risk difference (ARD) between surgical and percutaneous revascularization was calculated for anatomic and functional Syntax Score II 2020 predicted mortality.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, we evaluated the efficacy of an individualized technique of subcutaneous injection of botulinum toxin type A (BoNT-A) targeted (SjBoT) to the occipital or trigeminal skin area in non-responder patients with chronic migraine (CM). Patients who had not previously responded to at least two treatments of intramuscular injections of BoNT-A were randomly assigned (2:1) to receive two subcutaneous administrations of BoNT-A (up to 200 units) with the SjBoT injection paradigm or placebo. Following the skin area where the maximum pain began, treatment was given in the trigeminal or occipital region bilaterally.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Majorana Demonstrator searched for neutrinoless double-β decay (0νββ) of ^{76}Ge using modular arrays of high-purity Ge detectors operated in vacuum cryostats in a low-background shield. The arrays operated with up to 40.4 kg of detectors (27.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Recently, questions around the efficacy and effectiveness of Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR) have arisen in various clinical settings.
Methods: The Clinical Outcome of FFR-guided Revascularization Strategy of Coronary Lesions (HALE-BOPP) study is an investigator-initiated, multicentre, international prospective study enrolling patients who underwent FFR measurement on at least one vessel. In accordance with the decision-making workflow and treatment, the vessels were classified in three subgroups: (i) angio-revascularized, (ii) FFR-revascularized, (iii) FFR-deferred.
Axions were originally proposed to explain the strong-CP problem in QCD. Through axion-photon coupling, the Sun could be a major source of axions, which could be measured in solid state detection experiments with enhancements due to coherent Primakoff-Bragg scattering. The Majorana Demonstrator experiment has searched for solar axions with a set of ^{76}Ge-enriched high purity germanium detectors using a 33 kg-yr exposure collected between January, 2017 and November, 2019.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Majorana Demonstrator neutrinoless double-beta decay experiment comprises a 44 kg (30 kg enriched in ^{76}Ge) array of p-type, point-contact germanium detectors. With its unprecedented energy resolution and ultralow backgrounds, Majorana also searches for rare event signatures from beyond standard model physics in the low energy region below 100 keV. In this Letter, we test the continuous spontaneous localization (CSL) model, one of the mathematically well-motivated wave function collapse models aimed at solving the long-standing unresolved quantum mechanical measurement problem.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEur Phys J C Part Fields
March 2022
P-type point contact (PPC) HPGe detectors are a leading technology for rare event searches due to their excellent energy resolution, low thresholds, and multi-site event rejection capabilities. We have characterized a PPC detector's response to particles incident on the sensitive passivated and p surfaces, a previously poorly-understood source of background. The detector studied is identical to those in the Majorana Demonstrator experiment, a search for neutrinoless double-beta decay ( ) in Ge.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe approach to the vision of TV series has deeply changed in the last years, and watching multiple episodes of TV content in a single session becomes a popular viewing pattern referred as binge-watching. Early studies defined binge-watching as a potentially addictive behavior showing characteristics similar to other behavioral addictions, such as loss of control and pleasure anticipation. This study aims to validate a short self-report questionnaire focused on assessing binge-watching behavior and determining whether it shows characteristics similar to addictive behavior, the Binge-Watching Addiction Questionnaire (BWAQ).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the main cause of dementia and it is a progressive neurogenerative disease characterized by the accumulation of neurofibrillary tangles and senile plaques. There is currently no cure; however, some treatments are available to slow down the progression of the disease, including gene therapy, which has been investigated to have great potential for the treatment of AD.
Objective: The aim of this review was to identify the efficacy of gene therapy to restore cognition in AD.
The formation of wurtzite (WZ) phase in III-V nanowires (NWs) such as GaAs and InP is a complication hindering the growth of pure-phase NWs, but it can also be exploited to form NW homostructures consisting of alternate zincblende (ZB) and WZ segments. This leads to different forms of nanostructures, such as crystal-phase superlattices and quantum dots. Here, we investigate the electronic properties of the simplest, yet challenging, of such homostructures: InP NWs with a single homojunction between pure ZB and WZ segments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCatheter Cardiovasc Interv
February 2021
This is a case report of a 60-year-old male, without any cardiovascular risk factor and no cardiac history admitted to hospital with a diagnosis of interstitial pneumonia caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). After 7 days, the blood tests showed a significant rise of inflammatory and procoagulant markers, along with a relevant elevation of high-sensitivity Troponin I. Electrocardiogram and transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) were consistent with a diagnosis of infero-posterolateral acute myocardial infarction and the patient was transferred to the isolated Cath Lab for primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: There are limited data regarding the impact of bioresorbable polymer drug eluting stent (BP-DES) compared to durable polymer drug eluting stent (DP-DES) in patients treated with percutaneous coronary intervention using ultrathin stents in left main or bifurcations.
Methods: In the RAIN registry (ClinicalTrials NCT03544294, june 2018 retrospectively registered) patients with a ULM or bifurcation stenosis treated with PCI using ultrathin stents (struts thinner than 81 μm) were enrolled. The primary endpoint was the rate of target lesion revascularization (TLR); major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE, a composite of all-cause death, myocardial infarction, TLR and stent thrombosis) and its components, along with target vessel revascularization (TVR) were the secondary ones.
In the emergency setting of a coronary vessel perforation, the knowledge of materials needed to fix it and the intrinsic quality of the device used is mandatory for the interventional cardiologist. The PK Papyrus covered stent (Biotronik AG) is an ultrathin strut (60 μm) balloon-expandable stent covered on the abluminal surface with an electrospun polyurethane matrix. It is intended to facilitate device delivery and effectively treat coronary artery perforations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhotonic entanglement swapping, the procedure of entangling photons without any direct interaction, is a fundamental test of quantum mechanics and an essential resource to the realization of quantum networks. Probabilistic sources of nonclassical light were used for seminal demonstration of entanglement swapping, but applications in quantum technologies demand push-button operation requiring single quantum emitters. This, however, turned out to be an extraordinary challenge due to the stringent prerequisites on the efficiency and purity of the generation of entangled states.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAt the few-atom-thick limit, transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) exhibit strongly interconnected structural and optoelectronic properties. The possibility to tailor the latter by controlling the former is expected to have a great impact on applied and fundamental research. As shown here, proton irradiation deeply affects the surface morphology of bulk TMD crystals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe appearance of single photon sources in atomically thin semiconductors holds great promises for the development of a flexible and ultracompact quantum technology in which elastic strain engineering can be used to tailor their emission properties. Here, we show a compact and hybrid two-dimensional semiconductor-piezoelectric device that allows for controlling the energy of single photons emitted by quantum emitters localized in wrinkled WSe monolayers. We demonstrate that strain fields exerted by the piezoelectric device can be used to tune the energy of localized excitons in WSe up to 18 meV in a reversible manner while leaving the single photon purity unaffected over a wide range.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Majorana Demonstrator is an ultralow-background experiment searching for neutrinoless double-beta decay in ^{76}Ge. The heavily shielded array of germanium detectors, placed nearly a mile underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, South Dakota, also allows searches for new exotic physics. Free, relativistic, lightly ionizing particles with an electrical charge less than e are forbidden by the standard model but predicted by some of its extensions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Majorana Collaboration is operating an array of high purity Ge detectors to search for neutrinoless double-β decay in ^{76}Ge. The Majorana Demonstrator comprises 44.1 kg of Ge detectors (29.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The aims of the study were to assess prevalence and gender differences of addictive behaviors (substance- and non-substance-related) in an adolescent population, and their association with psychopathological features and academic performance.
Material And Methods: A sample of high school Italian students ( = 996; M = 240, F = 756) was examined using a self-report survey concerning sociodemographic characteristics, cigarette smoking, alcohol and substance use, perceived academic performance, activities, and behaviors (Internet use, gambling, and physical exercising). The Internet Addiction Test, the South Oaks Gambling Screen-revised Adolescent, and the Exercise Addiction Inventory-Short Form were administered to identify problematic behaviors.