Search

The KArlsruhe TRItium Neutrino experiment (KATRIN) aims to determine the effective electron (anti)-neutrino mass with a sensitivity of 0.2eV/c2 by precisely measuring the endpoint region of the tritium β-decay spectrum. It uses a tandem of electrostatic spectrometers working as magnetic adiabatic collimation combined with an electrostatic (MAC-E) filters. In the space between the pre-spectrometer and the main spectrometer, creating a Penning trap is unavoidable when the superconducting magnet between the two spectrometers, biased at their respective nominal potentials, is energized. The electrons accumulated in this trap can lead to discharges, which create additional background electrons and endanger the spectrometer and detector section downstream. To counteract this problem, “electron catchers” were installed in the beamline inside the magnet bore between the two spectrometers. These catchers can be moved across the magnetic-flux tube and intercept on a sub-ms time scale the stored electrons along their magnetron motion paths. In this paper, we report on the design and the successful commissioning of the electron catchers and present results on their efficiency in reducing the experimental background.

The determination of the neutrino mass is one of the major challenges in astroparticle physics today. Direct neutrino mass experiments, based solely on the kinematics of β -decay, provide a largely model-independent probe to the neutrino mass scale. The Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino (KATRIN) experiment is designed to directly measure the effective electron antineutrino mass with a sensitivity of 0.2eV (90 % CL). In this work we report on the first operation of KATRIN with tritium which took place in 2018. During this commissioning phase of the tritium circulation system, excellent agreement of the theoretical prediction with the recorded spectra was found and stable conditions over a time period of 13 days could be established. These results are an essential prerequisite for the subsequent neutrino mass measurements with KATRIN in 2019.

Sterile neutrinos in the keV mass range present a viable candidate for dark matter. They can be detected through single β -decay, where they cause small spectral distortions. The Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino (KATRIN) experiment aims to search for keV-scale sterile neutrinos with high sensitivity. To achieve this, the KATRIN beamline will be equipped with a novel multi-pixel silicon drift detector focal plane array named TRISTAN. In this study, we present the performance of a TRISTAN detector module, a component of the eventual 9-module system. Our investigation encompasses spectroscopic aspects such as noise performance, energy resolution, linearity, and stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Apparently, the department of agriculture is the last bastion for ideological pluralism in the modern American academy. Almost everywhere else, according to research by Stanley Rothman et al., a monolithic liberal orthodoxy holds sway, rewarding its own and conferring career disadvantage upon scholars deemed politically inconvenient. As his acceptance address for the NAS's highest award, Professor Rothman proffers statistical corroboration, from his team's survey analyses, of the anecdotal impression that many who aspire to the centers of intellectual curiosity are excluded simply for thinking different thoughts. (Contains 17 notes and 4 tables.)

Uses content analysis of television characters in all occupations across 30 seasons to test the argument that television entertainment depicts business negatively. Reaffirms that television stigmatizes the occupation of business, independently of economic factors. Notes that these results pose a challenge to mass communications theory that interprets popular culture as a source of social control. (SR)

Content analysis of front page New York Times stories during the first and second years of the Barack Obama presidency revealed news coverage that was far more positive in tone than the norm for recent U.S. presidents, particularly with respect to foreign policy coverage. While coverage of Obama was somewhat less positive during 2010 when compared to 2009, the Obama findings overall reveal a much longer honeymoon than seen in the past. Coverage of specific problematic policy areas, like offshore drilling issues in the wake of the BP oil spill, was particularly negative. Coverage of arms control matters was very positive in tone in 2010 for Obama, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009. Keywords: Political Communications, Political News Coverage, New York Times, Barack Obama, Presidential Honeymoon, Press-Presidential Relations. Durante los primeros dos anos de su presidencia Barack Obama gozo de una cobertura muy positiva comparada con la de sus antecesores en sus respectivos primeros bienios. Esto es lo que destaca un analisis de contenido de primeras planas del New York Times que comprende el periodo mencionado. A pesar de que el ano 2010 (segundo ano) fue menos positivo que 2009, el analisis de contenido revela que la presidencia de Obama se distingue de la de sus antecesores por haber logrado la luna de miel mas prolongada con la opinion publica. La cobertura de areas problematicas de politicas como la perforacion de pozos marinos en la etapa inicial del derrame de BP en el Golfo de Mexico fue particularmente negativa. En contraste, la cobertura de la politica de control de armas fue muy positiva, como tambien lo fue el que Obama recibiera el Premio Nobel 2009., Barack Obama was the first president in years to enjoy a 'honeymoon' in the mass media during his first months in office (Farnsworth and Lichter 2006, 2011b, 2012). Newspaper and [...]

Recently, Politics & Policy published an article presenting our findings that reveal President Barack Obama received something of a media honeymoon in The New York Times, a sharp contrast from that influential newspaper's first-year coverage of Reagan, Clinton, and George W. Bush. Our findings triggered a thoughtful column concerning political coverage by the Times' public editor, Arthur S. Brisbane, which in turn led to extensive online discussions of media bias. In the interest of continuing this discussion and encouraging more substantive, even-handed, and informative news in the ongoing presidential campaign, this short response offers suggestions about what we regard as the two key problems of contemporary journalism: that the media are too focused on the sports of politics ('the horse-race') at the expense of issue-based coverage, and that media outlets sometimes play favorites in the tone of coverage. Keywords: Presidential News Coverage, Political Communications, Media, Parties, Elections, Voting, Political Institutions, 2012 Presidential Campaign, Barack Obama. Recientemente, Politics & Policy publico un articulo presentando resultados nuestros que revelan que el presidente Barak Obama recibio una especie de luna de miel en el periodico The New York Times, mostrando un gran contraste en la cobertura del primer ano de Reagan, Clinton y George W. Bush. Nuestros resultados provocaron una nota editorial reflexiva por parte del editor publico del Times Arthur S. Brisbane, quien a su vez desencadeno extensas discusiones en linea sobre la imparcialidad de los medios de comunicacion. Con el interes de continuar esta discusion y fomentar noticias mas sustanciales, imparciales e informativas en la actual campana presidencial, este breve ensayo ofrece sugerencias respecto a lo que consideramos los dos problemas clave del periodismo contemporaneo: que los medios estan muy enfocados en el deporte de la politica (o 'the horse-race') a expensas de reportajes basados en problemas y que los medios de comunicacion algunas veces muestran un tono de favoritismo en sus coberturas., As reporters and editors cover the 2012 general election, we would all be better off if they try to improve news content over that provided four years ago. Even though [...]

Content analysis of front-page The New York Times stories during the first year of the Barack Obama presidency revealed news coverage that was far more positive in tone than that received during the first year of the Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush presidencies. Overall, the Obama findings reveal a media honeymoon in that influential newspaper, a sharp contrast from first-year coverage of other presidents during the modern era of a more combative press. The positive policy coverage Obama received in the Times was also significantly more positive than on evening newscasts of network television and on Fox News' Special Report. Keywords: Political Communications, Media Honeymoon, Presidential News Coverage, the Presidency, Obama, George W. Bush, Reagan, New York Times, Fox News. Un analisis de los reportajes en primera plana del New York Times durante el primer ano de presidencia de Barack Obama revelo reportajes con un tono mucho mas positivo que aquel recibido durante el primer ano de las presidencias de Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton y George W. Bush. En conjunto, estos hallazgos muestran una luna de miel del influyente periodico con Barack Obama, un marcado contraste con la cobertura que recibieron otros presidentes durante la era moderna de una prensa mas competitiva. La positiva cobertura que Obama recibio del Times tambien fue significativamente mas positiva que la recibida por noticieros vespertinos en cadenas televisivas y en el programa Fox News' Special Report., New presidents once enjoyed a 'honeymoon' in the mass media. Newspaper and television reporters, perhaps anxious to endear themselves to new White House staffers who could become regular sources, provided [...]

Personal coverage of President Bush during 2001 on network television and in six U.S. newspapers became far more positive after September 11, 2001, with the largest gains found in network television coverage. Coverage of the rest of the Bush administration, in contrast, became distinctly more negative after the terrorist attacks. The vast majority of the executive branch coverage both before and after the terrorist attacks in all media outlets focused on job performance, not the questions of character, ethics and political conduct that often dominate presidential campaign coverage.

Content-coded network newscasts were used to examine the relationship between news coverage and the daily New Hampshire poll standings of Al Gore and Bill Bradley, the two major Democratic presidential candidates, in the weeks before the primary. The study found powerful network news effects, particularly with respect to 'horse race' reports on which candidate gained and fell back but also with respect to televised evaluations of more substantive matters such as character and issue positions. The results cast doubt on claims by those who support New Hampshire's status as the nation's first primary because the state is thought to differ from the media-dominated electoral contests found elsewhere in American politics.

Criticism of a scholarly work can only be acceptable if it concentrates on arguments and evidence, not on personal beliefs or motivations. Critics of the study on Hollywood liberalism should realize that the proponents did not extol the contributions of Jewish Americans in Hollywood but merely noted the religious backgrounds of respondents as part of their demographic profiles. Moreover, empirical methods are acceptable methods in scientific inquiry and the validity of findings based on such methods cannot be questioned.

We thank Profs. Ames, Barker, Bonneau, and Carman (henceforth ABBC) for taking the time and trouble to critique our paper. Like them, we believe that knowledge grows through the application [...]

Abstract This article first examines the ideological composition of American university faculty and then tests whether ideological homogeneity has become self-reinforcing. A randomly based national survey of 1643 faculty members [...]

In this paper we explore the creation of jokes told on late night talk shows targeted at major party nominees for president from 1992–2008. We hypothesize that the number of jokes told about candidates are related to variations in polling numbers, mainstream media coverage, and party identification of the candidates. Our results show a positive relationship between the number of jokes told at a candidate's expense and the amount of negative news coverage about the candidate. In addition, we find that Republicans are targeted with more frequency than Democrats. Results suggest that favorability ratings and whether or not a presidential candidate is an incumbent has no effect on the number of jokes targeting a candidate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An analysis of statements by President Obama and by Democratic and Republican members of Congress selected for analysis by PolitiFact.com and Washington Post Fact Checker reveals that PolitiFact was more likely to find greater deceit in Republican rhetoric and that the Fact Checker was more negative overall in its assessments. Legislators who had more than one statement analyzed during the study period were disproportionally likely to be influential members of the House or Senate leadership or likely 2016 presidential candidates. The lawmakers selected for greater scrutiny were also more likely to be more ideologically extreme than the median members of their party caucuses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Re: 'Across the Great Divide: Class,' by Brent Cunningham (CJR, May/June). What a wonderfully sober article. Its points should not be lost on anyone in this business. I've sent it [...]

Edited by Paul J. Lavrakas, Michael W. Traugott, and Peter V. Miller. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1995. 275p. $65.00. This is a book that fails in the task it sets [...]