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We present the first observation by the Telescope Array Surface Detector (TASD) of the effect of thunderstorms on the development of cosmic ray single count rate intensity over a 700 km$^{2}$ area. Observations of variations in the secondary low-energy cosmic ray counting rate, using the TASD, allow us to study the electric field inside thunderstorms, on a large scale, as it progresses on top of the 700 km$^{2}$ detector, without dealing with the limitation of narrow exposure in time and space using balloons and aircraft detectors. In this work, variations in the cosmic ray intensity (single count rate) using the TASD, were studied and found to be on average at the $\sim(0.5-1)\%$ and up to 2\% level. These observations were found to be both in excess and in deficit. They were also found to be correlated with lightning in addition to thunderstorms. These variations lasted for tens of minutes; their footprint on the ground ranged from 6 to 24 km in diameter and moved in the same direction as the thunderstorm. With the use of simple electric field models inside the cloud and between cloud to ground, the observed variations in the cosmic ray single count rate were recreated using CORSIKA simulations. Depending on the electric field model used and the direction of the electric field in that model, the electric field magnitude that reproduces the observed low-energy cosmic ray single count rate variations was found to be approximately between 0.2-0.4 GV. This in turn allows us to get a reasonable insight on the electric field and its effect on cosmic ray air showers inside thunderstorms.

BackgroundInformation technology has expanded the gap in patient health literacy (HL), and HL has various implications on the trust in patient-doctor relationship. Previously, only functional HL, the ability to interpret health information through reading and writing skills, has been studied in patients with SLE (1).ObjectivesWe examined how trust in physicians is affected by the broader concept of HL, including communicative HL, the ability to extract health information from communication to use, and critical HL, the ability to discern and use such information (2).MethodsThis cross-sectional study enrolled 362 SLE patients at 5 sites between June 2020 and August 2021. Three domains of HL (i.e., functional HL, communicative HL, and critical HL) were assessed using the 14-item FCCHL scale (range: 1-4 points for each domain). The outcomes were patients’ trust in their physicians and physicians in general and were measured using the Japanese version of the 5-item Wake Forest Physician Trust scales (range: 0-100 points for each scale). General linear models adjusted for age, gender, education, income, SLEDAI, disease duration, depression, and hours of Internet use were conducted. Subsequently, a series of general linear models were then fit to each of the three domains of HL to examine whether or not it was associated with the aforementioned covariates.ResultsThe median age of the patients was 45 (interquartile range [IQR],34-55), 88% were female. The median value of SLEDAI was 4 ([IQR], 2-8), Trust in one’s physician was 80 ([IQR], 70-95) and trust in physicians generally was 65 ([IQR], 50-80). Trust in one’s physician increased with higher functional and communicative HL (per 1-pt increase, 3.2 [95%CI 0.7 to 5.9]; 5.4 [95%CI 1.6 to 9.3]). Trust in doctors generally increased with higher communicative HL and decreased with higher critical HL (per 1-pt increase, 6.8 [95% CI 2.0 to 12]; -6.7 [95% CI -12 to -1.9]). Lower functional HL was associated with older age and depression, while higher HL was associated with higher educational level. Higher communicative HL and critical HL were each associated with longer Internet use.ConclusionIn patients with SLE, higher trust in one’s physician was associated with both functional and communicative HL, while higher trust in physicians generally was associated with higher communicative HL and lower critical HL. Our findings suggest that trusting relationships may be fostered by the encouragement of rheumatologists to cultivate patients’ ability to share their health problems with their physicians and family members and to obtain useful health information (i.e., communicative HL), rather than to improve their ability to discern health information (i.e., critical HL).References[1]Maheswaranathan M, Cantrell S, Eudy AM, Rogers JL, Clowse MEB, Hastings SN, et al. Investigating Health Literacy in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: a Descriptive Review. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep. 2020;20(12):79.[2]Ishikawa H, Takeuchi T, Yano E. Measuring functional, communicative, and critical health literacy among diabetic patients. Diabetes Care. 2008;31(5):874-9.Disclosure of InterestsNao Oguro: None declared, Nobuyuki Yajima: None declared, Yoshia Miyawaki: None declared, Ryusuke Yoshimi: None declared, Yasuhiro Shimojima: None declared, KEN-EI SADA Speakers bureau: He received speaker’s fees from Glaxo SmithKline K.K., Grant/research support from: He received a research grant from Pfizer Inc.,, Keigo Hayashi: None declared, Kenta Shidahara: None declared, Natsuki Sakurai: None declared, Chiharu Hidekawa: None declared, Dai Kishida: None declared, Takanori Ichikawa: None declared, Yuichi Ishikawa: None declared, Noriaki Kurita: None declared

BackgroundIn clinical practice for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), the concept of “treat to target” has been introduced with an established goal of reducing glucocorticoid dose as much as possible while controlling disease activity. Although it has been shown that various personality characteristics of patients with SLE affect their disease activity and damage, it is not clear whether the personality characteristics of attending physicians affect the outcomes of patients with SLE. Grit is a personality trait characterized by perseverance and passion for achieving long-term goals.ObjectivesThis study aims to evaluate the relationship between attending physicians’ grit personality characteristics and treatment goal achievements in patients with SLE.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted on 386 patients with SLE in five referral hospitals in Japan. The main exposure was the “perseverance” and “consistency” (scores 1-5) of the attending physicians, as measured by the Short Grit Scale, and the primary outcome was the achievement of the Lupus Low Disease Activity Score (LLDAS). Considering the clustering of achievement of LLDAS by each attending physician, the association between attending physician’s personality and LLDAS was analyzed by logistic regression with cluster robust variance estimation. Odds ratios to assess the relationship between perseverance and consistency and LLDAS were estimated with adjustment for confounders (age, sex, disease duration, hydroxychloroquine use, immunosuppressant use, and Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics-Damage Index). We used multiple imputation to handle the uncertainty caused by missing values of potential confounders on the assumption of missing at random.ResultsThe median age of the patients was 45 years (interquartile range[IQR],36-56), 88% were female, and the median disease duration was 152 months(IQR, 80-240). Thirty-seven doctors were in charge of the patients (1-79 patients/each doctor). The median age of the attending physicians was 40 years (IQR, 35-43), and 19% were female. The median perseverance and consistency scores of attending physicians were 3.1 (IQR, 3.0-3.5) and 3.3 (IQR, 2.8-3.8), respectively. Of the enrolled patients, 154 (40%) had achieved LLDAS. The attending physicians with a lower consistency score of ConclusionThe grit personality characteristics of the attending physician may affect the achievement of treatment goals in patients with SLE.Disclosure of InterestsKEN-EI SADA Speakers bureau: I received speaker’s fees from Glaxo Smith Kline K.K., Grant/research support from: I received a research grant from Pfizer Inc., Yoshia Miyawaki: None declared, Kenta Shidahara: None declared, Shoichi Nawachi: None declared, Yu Katayama: None declared, Yosuke ASANO: None declared, Keigo Hayashi: None declared, Keiji Ohashi: None declared, Eri Katsuyama: None declared, Takayuki Katsuyama: None declared, Mariko Narazaki: None declared, Yoshinori Matsumoto: None declared, Nao Oguro: None declared, Yuichi Ishikawa: None declared, Natsuki Sakurai: None declared, Chiharu Hidekawa: None declared, Ryusuke Yoshimi: None declared, Takanori Ichikawa: None declared, Dai Kishida: None declared, Yasuhiro Shimojima: None declared, Noriaki Kurita: None declared, Nobuyuki Yajima: None declared

BackgroundIt is well known that providing appropriate health information to patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has an advantage in the treatment decision making process. In modern information society the growing popularity of smartphones and social networking services, patients have more access to online health information. However, there are concerns that Internet use may inversely affect the shared decision making (SDM) process with their attending physicians if they receive inaccurate information.ObjectivesThis study aimed to investigate how online information gathering behavior affects SDM with their attending physicians.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, information of 386 patients with SLE, which were enrolled from five Japanese institutions between June 2020 and August 2021, were analyzed. The main exposure was time spent on the Internet per day (excluding time used for working). It was divided into four categories (none, 2 hours). Patients were asked to select the source of health care information they would like to access first and were categorized into physicians, the Internet, and other media sources (family and friends, healthcare professionals other than physicians, or TV and radio, etc.). Outcome was shared decision making measured via the 9-item Shared Decision Making Questionnaire (SDM-Q-9 [scores 0-100]). To assess the relationship between the time of Internet use and SDM, we fitted general linear models adjusted for age, gender, education level, household income, marital status, history of cancer, disease duration, and disease activity. Chained equations were used to impute missing values of covariates.ResultsThis study ultimately employed 334 patients whose mean age and female ratio were 45.3 years (standard deviation 13.8) and 87.7%, respectively. 68.9% of the patients indicated that they would like to access their physicians first, and 19.5% indicated that they would like to access the Internet first. Compared to patients who chose their physician as their first access to health information, there was no difference in SDM-Q-9 among patients who chose the Internet, but patients who chose other media had significantly lower SDM-Q-9 (-7.7 point, 95% confident interval [CI] -14.4 to -0.92, P=0.026). Besides, SDM-Q-9 scores were significantly lower in patients who did not use the Internet compared to those who used it for more than two hours except for their work activities (-9.6, 95%CI -18.9 to -0.26, P=0.044).ConclusionThe present study suggests that SDM between physicians and patients is positively rather than adversely associated with online information-gathering behavior. Rheumatologists also need to be aware that how patients prefer to access health information to establish a good physician-patient relationship for SDM. In addition, rheumatologists may need to introduce their patients to websites offering appropriate health information.Disclosure of InterestsNone declared

In this paper, we report the measurement of the energy flow, the cross section and the average inelasticity of forward neutrons (+ antineutrons) produced in $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV proton-proton collisions. These quantities are obtained from the inclusive differential production cross section, measured using the LHCf Arm2 detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The measurements are performed in six pseudorapidity regions: three of them ($��> 10.75$, $8.99 < ��< 9.21$ and $8.80 < ��< 8.99$), albeit with smaller acceptance and larger uncertainties, were already published in a previous work, whereas the remaining three ($10.06 < ��< 10.75$, $9.65 < ��< 10.06$ and $8.65 < ��< 8.80$) are presented here for the first time. The analysis was carried out using a data set acquired in June 2015 with a corresponding integrated luminosity of $\mathrm{0.194~nb^{-1}}$. Comparing the experimental measurements with the expectations of several hadronic interaction models used to simulate cosmic ray air showers, none of these generators resulted to have a satisfactory agreement in all the phase space selected for the analysis. The inclusive differential production cross section for $��> 10.75$ is not reproduced by any model, whereas the results still indicate a significant but less serious deviation at lower pseudorapidities. Depending on the pseudorapidity region, the generators showing the best overall agreement with data are either SIBYLL 2.3 or EPOS-LHC. Furthermore, apart from the most forward region, the derived energy flow and cross section distributions are best reproduced by EPOS-LHC. Finally, even if none of the models describe the elasticity distribution in a satisfactory way, the extracted average inelasticity is consistent with the QGSJET II-04 value, while most of the other generators give values that lie just outside the experimental uncertainties., 22 pages, 11 figures

Transverse single-spin asymmetries of very forward neutral pions generated in polarized p+p collisions allow us to understand the production mechanism in terms of perturbative and nonperturbative strong interactions. During 2017, the RHICf Collaboration installed an electromagnetic calorimeter in the zero-degree region of the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and measured neutral pions produced at pseudorapidity larger than 6 in polarized p+p collisions at sqrt[s]=510 GeV. The large nonzero asymmetries increasing both in longitudinal momentum fraction x_{F} and transverse momentum p_{T} have been observed at low transverse momentum p_{T}

In this paper, we report the production cross-section of forward photons in the pseudorapidity regions of η>10.94 and 8.99>η>8.81 , measured by the LHCf experiment with proton–proton collisions at s=13TeV . The results from the analysis of 0.191nb−1 of data obtained in June 2015 are compared to the predictions of several hadronic interaction models that are used in air-shower simulations for ultra-high-energy cosmic rays. Although none of the models agree perfectly with the data, EPOS-LHC shows the best agreement with the experimental data among the models.

Observation of anti-neutrinos emitted from radioactive isotopes inside Earth(geo-neutrinos) brings direct information on the Earth’s chemical composition and its heat balance, which strongly relate to the Earth’s dynamics. To date, two experiments (KamLAND and Borexino) have measured geo-neutrinos and constrained the range of acceptable models for the Earth’s chemical composition, but distinguishing the mantle flux by land-based detectors is challenging as the crust signal is about 70% of the total anti-neutrino flux. Given the oceanic crust is thinner and has lower concentration of radioactive elements than continental crust, geo-neutrino detector in the ocean, Ocean Bottom Detector (OBD), makes it sensitive to geo-neutrinos originating from the Earth’s mantle. Our working group was jointly constructed from interdisciplinary communities in Japan which include particle physics, geoscience, and ocean engineering. We have started to work on technological developments of OBD. We are now developing a 20 kg prototype liquid scintillator detector. This detector will undergo operation deployment tests at 1 km depth seafloor in 2022.

The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider forward (RHICf) experiment aims at understanding the high-energy hadronic interaction by measuring the cross sections of very forward neutral particles in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 510 GeV. For the analysis of the photon measurement, the trigger efficiency and the particle identification performance are studied by using the Monte Carlo simulation data and the experimental data. In the RHICf operation, two kinds of trigger modes (Shower, HighEM) were implemented. The trigger efficiency of the Shower trigger is 100$\%$ for photons with the energies more than 20 GeV. The HighEM trigger is designed to detect high energy photons effectively, and the trigger efficiency of the HighEM trigger is 90$\%$ for photons with the energies more than 130 GeV. The correction factor for the photon identification is calculated by using the efficiency and purity. It is found that this correction does not make a sizeable effect on the shape of the energy spectrum because the energy dependency of the factor is small.

Evidence for a large-scale supergalactic cosmic-ray multiplet (arrival directions correlated with energy) structure is reported for ultra-high-energy cosmic-ray (UHECR) energies above 1019 eV using 7 years of data from the Telescope Array (TA) surface detector and updated to 10 years. Previous energy–position correlation studies have made assumptions regarding magnetic field shapes and strength, and UHECR composition. Here the assumption tested is that, because the supergalactic plane is a fit to the average matter density of the local large-scale structure, UHECR sources and intervening extragalactic magnetic fields are correlated with this plane. This supergalactic deflection hypothesis is tested by the entire field-of-view (FOV) behavior of the strength of intermediate-scale energy–angle correlations. These multiplets are measured in spherical cap section bins (wedges) of the FOV to account for coherent and random magnetic fields. The structure found is consistent with supergalactic deflection, the previously published energy spectrum anisotropy results of the TA (the Hotspot and Coldspot), and toy-model simulations of a supergalactic magnetic sheet. The seven year data posttrial significance of this supergalactic structure of multiplets appearing by chance, on an isotropic sky, is found by Monte Carlo simulation to be 4.2σ. The 10 years of data posttrial significance is 4.1σ. Furthermore, the starburst galaxy M82 is shown to be a possible source of the TA Hotspot, and an estimate of the supergalactic magnetic field using UHECR measurements is presented.

In this paper, we report the measurement relative to the production of forward neutrons in proton-proton collisions at $ \sqrt{s}=13 $ TeV obtained using the LHCf Arm2 detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The results for the inclusive differential production cross section are presented as a function of energy in three different pseudorapidity regions: η > 10.76, 8.99 < η < 9.22 and 8.81 < η < 8.99. The analysis was performed using a data set acquired in June 2015 that corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 0.194 nb$^{−1}$. The measurements were compared with the predictions of several hadronic interaction models used to simulate air showers generated by Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays. None of these generators showed good agreement with the data for all pseudorapidity intervals. For η > 10.76, no model is able to reproduce the observed peak structure at around 5 TeV and all models underestimate the total production cross section: among them, QGSJET II-04 shows the smallest deficit with respect to data for the whole energy range. For 8.99 < η < 9.22 and 8.81 < η < 8.99, the models having the best overall agreement with data are SIBYLL 2.3 and EPOS-LHC, respectively: in particular, in both regions SIBYLL 2.3 is able to reproduce the observed peak structure at around 1.5–2.5 TeV. In this paper, we report the measurement relative to the production of forward neutrons in proton-proton collisions at $\mathrm{\sqrt{s} = 13~TeV}$ obtained using the LHCf Arm2 detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The results for the inclusive differential production cross section are presented as a function of energy in three different pseudorapidity regions: $\eta > 10.76$, $8.99 < \eta < 9.22$ and $8.81 < \eta < 8.99$. The analysis was performed using a data set acquired in June 2015 that corresponds to an integrated luminosity of $\mathrm{0.194~nb^{-1}}$. The measurements were compared with the predictions of several hadronic interaction models used to simulate air showers generated by Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays. None of these generators showed good agreement with the data for all pseudorapidity intervals. For $\eta > 10.76$, no model is able to reproduce the observed peak structure at around $\mathrm{5~TeV}$ and all models underestimate the total production cross section: among them, QGSJET II-04 shows the smallest deficit with respect to data for the whole energy range. For $8.99 < \eta < 9.22$ and $8.81 < \eta < 8.99$, the models having the best overall agreement with data are SIBYLL 2.3 and EPOS-LHC, respectively: in particular, in both regions SIBYLL 2.3 is able to reproduce the observed peak structure at around $\mathrm{1.5-2.5~TeV}$.

International audience; The LHCf experiment is an LHC experiment dedicated to measure the production spectra of forward neutral particles, photons, \(\pi ^{0}\)s and neutrons. The obtained results are very useful to test hadronic interaction models which are used in MC simulations for cosmic-ray air shower developments. The LHCf had an operation in 2015 with p–p collisions at \(\sqrt{s} \) = 13 TeV, which corresponds to the collision energy of 0.9 × 10^17 eV in the laboratory frame. We discuss the results of the inclusive energy spectra for forward photons obtained at p–p, \(\sqrt{s} \) = 13 TeV data as well as \(\pi ^{0}\) results taken at p–p, \(\sqrt{s} \) = 7 TeV. In addition we introduce future prospects of LHCf analyses and activities.

A fatigue test series on a drill collar rotary shouldered connection, thread type 5-1/2 FH MOD, was performed with a dedicated alternating bending resonant test rig. Compared to a quasi-static testing approach, the dynamic loading allowed high testing frequency and a relatively light supporting structure. Crack initiation was identified as the onset of a discrepancy between two strain gauge signals which were monitored throughout the test. A through-wall crack condition was assumed as the effective fatigue failure. The stress distribution in the connection was then analysed with a finite element plane harmonic axisymmetric model, taking into account both the initial make-up torque and the alternating bending load during the test. In these simulations, the most critical stress between the pin or box, in terms of fatigue, mainly depended on the preload. The modelled contact behaviour of the incomplete threads of the box played a significant role in predicting the position of the crack initiation thread root, which was then compared with the test results.

The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider forward (RHICf) experiment has measured neutral particles produced in the very forward direction in the √s=510 GeV proton-proton collisions at RHIC in June 2017. The production cross sections of these particles are crucial to understand the hadronic interaction relevant to the air shower development at the cosmic-ray equivalent energy of 1.4×10$^{14}$ eV, just below the energy of the knee. Together with the data at LHC, accelerator data can cover the interaction in the cosmic-ray energy of 10$^{14}$ eV to 10$^{17}$ eV. In addition, RHICf is able to improve the former measurements of single-spin asymmetry in the polarized proton- proton collisions that is sensitive to the fundamental process of the meson exchange. Common data taking with the STAR experiment will shed light on the unexplored low mass diffraction process.

The Telescope Array experiment studies ultra high energy cosmic rays using a hybrid detector. Fluorescence telescopes measure the longitudinal development of the extensive air shower generated when a primary cosmic ray particle interacts with the atmosphere. Meanwhile, scintillator detectors measure the lateral distribution of secondary shower particles that hit the ground. The Middle Drum (MD) fluorescence telescope station consists of 14 telescopes from the High Resolution Fly’s Eye (HiRes) experiment, providing a direct link back to the HiRes measurements. Using the scintillator detector data in conjunction with the telescope data improves the geometrical reconstruction of the showers significantly, and hence, provides a more accurate reconstruction of the energy of the primary particle. The Middle Drum hybrid spectrum is presented and compared to that measured by the Middle Drum station in monocular mode. Further, the hybrid data establishes a link between the Middle Drum data and the surface array. A comparison between the Middle Drum hybrid energy spectrum and scintillator Surface Detector (SD) spectrum is also shown.

The Large Hadron Collider forward (LHCf) experiment was motivated to understand the hadronic interaction processes relevant to cosmic-ray air shower development. We have developed radiation-hard detectors with the use of Gd2SiO5 (GSO) scintillators for proton-proton ?s = 13 TeV collisions. Calibration of such detectors for photon measurement has been completed at the CERN SPS T2-H4 line in 2015 using electron beams of 100-250 GeV and muon beams of 150-250 GeV . After the channel-by-channel absolute energy calibration, the energy resolution of the calorimeters is confirmed to be better than 3% for electrons with energy above 100 GeV . The position dependence of the energy scale of the calorimeters was reduced to the level of 1% after the corrections for scintillator nonuniformity and the shower leakage effect. The position resolution of the new shower imaging detector, a GSO-bar hodoscope interleaved in the calorimeter, was 100 ?m for 200 GeV electrons. The experimental results are well explained by Monte Carlo simulations. We have confirmed that the new detectors meet the requirement of the LHCf experiment at ?s = 13 TeV. © 2017 IOP Publishing Ltd and Sissa Medialab srl.

Transverse single spin asymmetry, AN, of very forward π0 production from polarized p + p collisions provides new information toward an understanding of its production mechanism. AN of forward π0 in the pseudorapidity region of 3 < η < 4 has been described by the partonic structure of the proton in the perturbative QCD framework. However, recent data indicates a potential contribution from not only partonic but also diffractive interactions. In order to provide a new insight on the origin of the AN, we measured the very forward π0 production in the pseudorapidity region of 6 < η from √s = 510 GeV polarized p + p collisions at RHIC in 2017. We report our measurement of the very forward π0 over the transverse momentum range of 0 < pT < 1 GeV/c and the preliminary result.

The Large Hadron Collider forward and the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider forward experiments measured forward particles produced in high-energy hadron collisions at the LHC and RHIC. Using compact calorimeters neutral particles produced in pseudorapidities η >8.4 and η >6.0 are observed by the respective experiments. Because the collision energies ranging from 0.51 TeV to 13 TeV correspond to the cosmic-ray equivalent energies of 1014 to 1017 eV, the measurements are important to understand the hadronic interaction relevant to extensive air shower measurements. This paper reviews recent results of LHCf and initial performance of RHICf that took data in the 2017 RHIC operation.

The differential cross sections for inclusive neutral pions as a function of transverse and longitudinal momentum in the very forward rapidity region have been measured at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) with the Large Hadron Collider forward detector (LHCf) in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$ 2.76 and 7 TeV and in proton-lead collisions at nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energies of $\sqrt{s_\text{NN}}=$ 5.02 TeV. Such differential cross sections in proton-proton collisions are compatible with the hypotheses of limiting fragmentation and Feynman scaling. Comparing proton-proton with proton-lead collisions, we find a sizable suppression of the production of neutral pions in the differential cross sections after subtraction of ultra-peripheral proton-lead collisions. This suppression corresponds to the nuclear modification factor value of about 0.1-0.3. The experimental measurements presented in this paper provide a benchmark for the hadronic interaction Monte Carlo simulation codes that are used for the simulation of cosmic ray air showers., Comment: 47 pages, 23 figures, 59 tables, accepted in PRD

The LHCf experiment, optimized for the study of forward physics at LHC, completes its main physics program in this year 2015, with the proton-proton collisions at the energy of 13 TeV. LHCf gives important results on the study of neutral particles at extreme pseudo-rapidity, both for proton-proton and for proton-ion interactions. These results are an important reference for tuning the models of the hadronic interaction currently used for the simulation of the atmospheric showers induced by very high energy cosmic rays. The results of this analysis and the future perspective are presented in this paper.

We study the anisotropy of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Ray (UHECR) events collected by the Telescope Array (TA) detector in the first 40 months of operation. Following earlier studies, we examine event sets with energy thresholds of 10 EeV, 40 EeV, and 57 EeV. We find that the distributions of the events in right ascension and declination are compatible with an isotropic distribution in all three sets. We then compare with previously reported clustering of the UHECR events at small angular scales. No significant clustering is found in the TA data. We then check the events with E>57 EeV for correlations with nearby active galactic nuclei. No significant correlation is found. Finally, we examine all three sets for correlations with the large-scale structure of the Universe. We find that the two higher-energy sets are compatible with both an isotropic distribution and the hypothesis that UHECR sources follow the matter distribution of the Universe (the LSS hypothesis), while the event set with E>10 EeV is compatible with isotropy and is not compatible with the LSS hypothesis at 95% CL unless large deflection angles are also assumed. We show that accounting for UHECR deflections in a realistic model of the Galactic magnetic field can make this set compatible with the LSS hypothesis., 10 pages, 9 figures

Various placcntal and leucocyte enzyme activities were determined in a male newborn whose mother had decreased urinary E3 and serum total E3 levels during the course of pregnancy, suggesting placental sulfatase deficiency (PSD). Tests revealed that both placental steroid sulfatase (SS) and arylsulfatase C (ASC) were deficient but arylsulfatases A and 15 were normal. SS activity, as well as the levels of arylsulfatases A, B and C, were also determined in the newborn and his family members using leucocytes. SS and ASC activities were deficient in the newborn and one of his male cousins. Both cases had cutaneous ichthyosis several weeks after birth. Leucocyte SS and ASC activities in the mother and grandmother of these two cases with steroid sulfatase deficiency (SSD) were 38% to 69% of the mean levels in the control. This, coupled with the results of the family investigation, strongly suggests that the deficiency is a sex-linked recessive hereditary condition. Control values for SS and ASC were higher in females than in males. These results indicate that the diagnosis of SSD and the screening of carriers can be made using both leucocytic SS and ASC activities. Estrogen E1, E2 and E3 levels were low in maternal and umbilical cord blood.

This paper presents a theoretical and experimental study of performance degradation caused by the interchannel crosstalk of a previously proposed scheme for a super-dense wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) transmitter based on wavelength-swept light. In the theoretical study, we calculate the relationship between the optical filter bandwidth, the wavelength sweep range, and the power penalty based on an approximate modeling process. And we employ the results to clarify the number of channels that can be achieved without a serious power penalty for use as a practical criterion when the wavelength sweep range is given. Furthermore, we describe experiments on multichannel 100 Mb/s and 1.0 Gb/s WDM signal generation and selective detection using a fiber Bragg grating filter with a 3-dB bandwidth of 10.5 GHz. The results confirm that the theoretical and the experimental results agree well when the spectral broadening induced by data modulation is not very large.

The Telescope Array (TA) is a large scale ground experiment in Utah, USA for the measurement of extensive air showers from the ultra-high energy cosmic rays. Its construction is completed in March, 2008 and the data taking started.

Full-duplex transmission over a 60 GHz radio-on-fiber access system based on the optical heterodyne technique is verified in this paper. With this technique, an optical carrier generator on the transmitting side consolidates the functions of wavelength and polarization control for optical heterodyne detection in uplinks and optical millimeter-wave generation in downlinks, on behalf of each optical transmitter/receiver. Therefore, the whole system configuration can be significantly simplified. A full-duplex 1.0 Gbit/s transmission experiment over 10 km of single-mode fiber, which represents an access network transmission, is demonstrated using the simultaneous modulation/photodetection operation of an electroabsorption modulator (EAM). Bit error rates of less than 10-9 were obtained in both the uplink and downlink without noticeable mutual interference, even though the laser source and the EAM is shared by both links, and no significant dispersion-induced degradation was observed. Moreover, the experimental results showed that an optical link budget of 9.2 dB can be achieved with the experimental configuration.

An optical-heterodyne-detection method for a 60-GHz radio-on-fiber uplink is proposed and verified in this paper. The main point of this proposal is that all the functions needed for the optical heterodyne detection, i.e., the local/carrier light sources, the automatic frequency control of these light sources, and a polarization-diversity-detection circuit, are consolidated in one transmitting-side module to realize a simple system configuration. This proposal realizes an adequate optical uplink budget with low-cost optical receivers that consist of just one IF-band photodetector and one envelope detector. A 1.0-Gb/s transmission experiment over 10 km of single-mode fiber, which represents access-network transmission, is demonstrated using a 61.0-GHz amplitude-shift-keying signal as a 60 GHz-band uplink signal. A BER of less than 10-9 was obtained at an uplink SSB signal power of -40 dBm regardless of the polarization state of the optical uplink signal, and no significant dispersion-induced degradation was noted.

The LHCf experiment is a CERN experiment dedicated to forward physics which is optimized to measure the neutral particle flow at extreme pseudo-rapidity val- ues, ranging from 8.4 up to infinity. LHCf results are extremely important for the cal- ibration of the hadronic interaction models used for the study of the development of atmospheric showers in the Earth atmosphere. Starting from the recent run of proton- Lead nucleus interactions at LHC, the LHCf and ATLAS collaborations have performed a common data taking which allows a combined study of the central and forward re- gions of the interaction. The latest results of LHCf, the upgrade of the detectors for the next 6.5 TeV + 6.5 TeV proton-proton run and the status of the LHCf-ATLAS common activities are summarized in this paper.

The Large Hadron Collider forward (LHCf) experiment is designed to use the LHC to verify the hadronic-interaction models used in cosmic-ray physics. Forward baryon production is one of the crucial points to understand the development of cosmic-ray showers. We report the neutron-energy spectra for LHC $\sqrt{s}$ = 7 TeV proton--proton collisions with the pseudo-rapidity $\eta$ ranging from 8.81 to 8.99, from 8.99 to 9.22, and from 10.76 to infinity. The measured energy spectra obtained from the two independent calorimeters of Arm1 and Arm2 show the same characteristic feature before unfolding the difference in the detector responses. We unfolded the measured spectra by using the multidimensional unfolding method based on Bayesian theory, and the unfolded spectra were compared with current hadronic-interaction models. The QGSJET II-03 model predicts a high neutron production rate at the highest pseudo-rapidity range similar to our results and the DPMJET 3.04 model describes our results well at the lower pseudo-rapidity ranges. However no model perfectly explains the experimental results in the whole pseudo-rapidity range. The experimental data indicate the most abundant neutron production rate relative to the photon production, which does not agree with predictions of the models., Comment: 10pages, 6 figures

Bi,Si oxides-doped NiZnCu ferrite composite material has been fabricated with different sintering times. The microstructure of the samples was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The complex permeability has been measured up to 1 GHz by the impedance analyzers. The complex permeability has been simulated based on the magnetic circuit model, and the result was compared with the experimental results. In the low-frequency region, the real part of the permeability of the composite material is lower than the one of non-doped NiZnCu ferrite, on the other hand it is higher than non-doped sample in the high-field region. The peak position of the imaginary part is shifted to higher frequency in the composite material. It was found that the complex permeability spectrum of the composite material was described by the magnetic circuit model, and the Bi,Si oxides-doped NiZnCu ferrite composite material has a great potential for the high-frequency operation.

Super-Kamiokande is the world's largest water Cherenkov detector, with net mass 50,000 tons. During the period April, 1996 to July, 2001, Super-Kamiokande I collected 1678 live-days of data, observing neutrinos from the Sun, Earth's atmosphere, and the K2K long-baseline neutrino beam with high efficiency. These data provided crucial information for our current understanding of neutrino oscillations, as well as setting stringent limits on nucleon decay. In this paper, we describe the detector in detail, including its site, configuration, data acquisition equipment, online and offline software, and calibration systems which were used during Super-Kamiokande I.