Mild Tension Research Articles

Robustness of direct measurements of the mean free path of ionizing photons in the epoch of reionization

ABSTRACT Measurements of the mean free path of Lyman-continuum photons in the intergalactic medium during the epoch of reionization can help constrain the nature of the sources as well as sinks of hydrogen-ionizing radiation. A recent approach to this measurement has been to utilize composite spectra of multiple quasars at $z\sim 6$, and infer the mean free path after correcting the spectra for the presence of quasar proximity zones. This has revealed not only a steep drop in the mean free path from $z=5$ to $z=6$, but also potentially a mild tension with reionization simulations. We critically examine such direct measurements of the mean free path for biases due to quasar environment, incomplete reionization, and quasar proximity zones. Using cosmological radiative transfer simulations of reionization combined with one-dimensional radiative transfer calculations of quasar proximity zones, we find that the bias in the mean free path due to overdensities around quasars is minimal at $z\sim 6$. Patchiness of reionization at this redshift also does not affect the measurements significantly. Fitting our model to the data results in a mean free path of $\lambda _{\mathrm{mfp}}=1.49^{+0.47}_{-0.52}$ pMpc at $z=6$, which is consistent with the recent measurements in the literature, indicating robustness with respect to the modelling of quasar proximity zones. We also compare various ways in which the mean free path has been defined in simulations before the end of reionization. Overall, our finding is that recent measurements of the mean free path appear to be robust relative to several sources of potential bias.

The impact of LHC jet and ZpT\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$p_T$$\\end{document} data at up to approximate N3\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${}^3$$\\end{document}LO order in the MSHT global PDF fit

We present an analysis of two key sets of data constraining the high x gluon at up to approximate N3\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${}^3$$\\end{document}LO in QCD within the MSHT global PDF fitting framework. We begin with LHC 7 and 8 TeV inclusive jet and dijet production at both NNLO and aN3\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${}^3$$\\end{document}LO. This makes use of the formalism established in the previous global MSHT20aN3\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${}^3$$\\end{document}LO PDF fit, but now considers the role of dijet production for the first time at this order. We present a detailed comparison of the fit quality and PDF impact for both cases, and consider the role that electroweak corrections, and the scale choice for inclusive jet production has. Some mild tension between these data sets in the impact on the high x gluon is seen at NNLO, but this is largely eliminated at aN3\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${}^3$$\\end{document}LO. While a good fit quality to the dijet data is achieved at both orders, the fit quality to the inclusive jet data is relatively poor. We examine the impact of including full colour corrections in a global PDF fit for the first time, finding this to be relatively mild. We also revisit the fit to the ATLAS 8 TeV ZpT\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$p_T$$\\end{document} data, considering the role that the pT\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$p_T$$\\end{document} cuts, data selection and different aspects of the aN3\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${}^3$$\\end{document}LO treatment have on the fit quality and PDF impact. We observe that in all cases the aN3\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${}^3$$\\end{document}LO fit quality is consistently improved relative to the NNLO, indicating a clear preference for higher order theory for these data.

Relic neutrino decay solution to the excess radio background

The excess radio background detected by ARCADE 2 represents a puzzle within the standard cosmological model. There is no clear viable astrophysical solution, and therefore, it might indicate the presence of new physics. Radiative decays of a relic neutrino ν_i (either i=1, or i=2, or i=3) into a sterile neutrino ν_ s, assumed to be quasi-degenerate, provide a solution that currently evades all constraints posed by different cosmological observations and reproduces very well the ARCADE 2 data. We find a very good fit to the ARCADE 2 data with best fit values τ_i = 1.46 × 10^21 s and Δ m_i = 4.0 × 10^-5 eV, where τ_i is the lifetime and Δ m_i is the mass difference between the decaying active neutrino and the sterile neutrino. On the other hand, if relic neutrino decays do not explain ARCADE 2 data, then these place a stringent constraint Δ m_i^3/2τ_i ≳ 2 × 10^14 eV^3/2 s in the range 1.4 × 10^-5 eV<Δ m_i < 2.5 × 10^-4 eV. The solution also predicts a stronger 21 cm absorption global signal than the predicted one from the ΛCDM model, with a contrast brightness temperature T_21 = -238^+21_-20 mK (99% C.L.) at redshift z≃ 17. This is in mild tension with the even stronger signal found by the EDGES collaboration, T_21 = - 500^+200_-500 mK, suggesting that this might have been overestimated, possibly receiving a contribution from some unidentified foreground source.

Cost-utility analysis of treating mild stage normal tension glaucoma by surgery in China: a decision-analytic Markov model

BackgroundMany individuals suffer from normal tension glaucoma (NTG) in China. This study utilized Markov models to evaluate the cost-utility of applying many medications and surgery for mild-stage NTG when disease progression occurred at a mild stage.MethodsA 10-year decision-analytic Markov model was developed for the cost-utility analysis of treating mild-stage NTG with surgery and increased application of medication. We hypothesized that all 100,000 samples with a mean age of 64 were in mild stages of NTG. Transitional probabilities from the mild to moderate to severe stages and the basic parameters acquired from the CNTGS were calculated. Incremental cost-utility ratios (ICUR) were calculated for treating all patients with NTG by probabilistic sensitivity analysis (PSA) and Monte Carlo simulation. One-way sensitivity analysis were conducted by adjusting the progression rate, cost of medications or trabeculectomy, cost of follow-up, and surgical acceptance rate.ResultsThe ICUR of treating mild stage NTG with medication over 10 years was $12743.93 per quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). The ICUR for treating mild stage NTG patients with a 25% and 50% surgery rate with medication were $8798.93 and $4851.93 per QALYs, respectively. In this model, the cost-utility of treating NTG was sensitive to disease progression rate, surgical treatment rate, and medication costs.ConclusionsAccording to the results of the cost-utility analysis, it was a reasonable and advantageous strategy to administer a lot of medication and surgery for NTG in the mild stages of the disease. In the model, the greater the probability of patients undergoing surgery, the strategy becomes more valuable.

News from the Swampland — constraining string theory with astrophysics and cosmology

Our current best guess for a unified theory of gravitation and quantum field theory (string theory) generically predicts a set of requirements for a consistently quantized theory, the Swampland criteria. Refined versions of these criteria have recently been shown to be in mild tension with cosmological observations. We summarize the status of the current impact of and constraints on the Swampland conjectures from cosmology, and subject a variety of dark energy quintessence models to recently released cosmological datasets. We find that instead of tightening the tension, the new data allows for slightly more freedom in the Swampland criteria. We further demonstrate that if there is no theoretical argument made to prevent interactions of the moduli fields with the electromagnetic sector, a novel fine-tuning argument arises from the extremely tight current constraints on such interactions. Finally, we conclude with a cautionary tale on model-independent reconstructions of the Swampland criteria from expansion rate data.

The second data release from the European Pulsar Timing Array

We present the results of the search for an isotropic stochastic gravitational wave background (GWB) at nanohertz frequencies using the second data release of the European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) for 25 millisecond pulsars and a combination with the first data release of the Indian Pulsar Timing Array (InPTA). A robust GWB detection is conditioned upon resolving the Hellings-Downs angular pattern in the pairwise cross-correlation of the pulsar timing residuals. Additionally, the GWB is expected to yield the same (common) spectrum of temporal correlations across pulsars, which is used as a null hypothesis in the GWB search. Such a common-spectrum process has already been observed in pulsar timing data. We analysed (i) the full 24.7-year EPTA data set, (ii) its 10.3-year subset based on modern observing systems, (iii) the combination of the full data set with the first data release of the InPTA for ten commonly timed millisecond pulsars, and (iv) the combination of the 10.3-year subset with the InPTA data. These combinations allowed us to probe the contributions of instrumental noise and interstellar propagation effects. With the full data set, we find marginal evidence for a GWB, with a Bayes factor of four and a false alarm probability of 4%. With the 10.3-year subset, we report evidence for a GWB, with a Bayes factor of 60 and a false alarm probability of about 0.1% (≳3σ significance). The addition of the InPTA data yields results that are broadly consistent with the EPTA-only data sets, with the benefit of better noise modelling. Analyses were performed with different data processing pipelines to test the consistency of the results from independent software packages. The latest EPTA data from new generation observing systems show non-negligible evidence for the GWB. At the same time, the inferred spectrum is rather uncertain and in mild tension with the common signal measured in the full data set. However, if the spectral index is fixed at 13/3, the two data sets give a similar amplitude of (2.5 ± 0.7) × 10−15 at a reference frequency of 1 yr−1. Further investigation of these issues is required for reliable astrophysical interpretations of this signal. By continuing our detection efforts as part of the International Pulsar Timing Array (IPTA), we expect to be able to improve the measurement of spatial correlations and better characterise this signal in the coming years.

Probing the jet size of two black hole X-ray binaries in the hard state

ABSTRACT Using multifrequency very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations, we probe the jet size in the optically thick hard state jets of two black hole X-ray binary (BHXRB) systems, MAXI J1820+070 and V404 Cygni. Because of optical depth effects, the phase-referenced VLBI core positions move along the jet axis of the BHXRB in a frequency-dependent manner. We use this ‘core shift’ to constrain the physical size of the hard state jet. We place an upper limit of 0.3 au on the jet size measured between the 15 and 5 GHz emission regions of the jet in MAXI J1820+070, and an upper limit of 1.0 au between the 8.4 and 4.8 GHz emission regions of V404 Cygni. Our limit on the jet size in MAXI J1820+070 observed in the low-hard state is a factor of 5 smaller than the values previously observed in the high-luminosity hard state (using time lags between multifrequency light curves), thus showing evidence of the BHXRB jet scaling in size with jet luminosity. We also investigate whether motion of the radio-emitting region along the jet axis could affect the measured VLBI parallaxes for the two systems, leading to a mild tension with the parallax measurements of Gaia. Having mitigated the impact of any motion along the jet axis in the measured astrometry, we find the previous VLBI parallax measurements of MAXI J1820+070 and V404 Cygni to be unaffected by jet motion. With a total time baseline of 8 yr, due to having incorporated 14 new epochs in addition to the previously published ones, our updated parallax measurement of V404 Cygni is 0.450 ± 0.018 mas (2.226 ± 0.091 kpc).

Energy-dependent flavor ratios, cascade/track spectrum tension and high-energy neutrinos from magnetospheres of supermassive black holes

The IceCube neutrino observatory measures the diffuse flux of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos by means of various techniques, and there exists a mild tension between spectra obtained in different analyses. The spectrum derived from reconstruction of muon tracks is harder than that from cascades, dominated by electron and tau neutrinos. If confirmed, this tension may provide a clue to the origin of these neutrinos, which remains uncertain. Here we investigate the possibility that this tension may be caused by the change of the flavor content of astrophysical neutrinos with energy. We assume that at higher energies, the flux contains more muon neutrinos than expected in the usually assumed flavor equipartition. This may happen if the neutrinos are produced in regions of the magnetic field so strong that muons, born in pi-meson decays, cool by synchrotron radiation faster than decay. The magnetic field of ∼104 G is required for this mechanism to be relevant for the IceCube results. We note that these field values are reachable in the immediate vicinity of supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei and present a working toy model of the population of these potential neutrino sources. While this model predicts the required flavor ratios and describes the high-energy spectrum, it needs an additional component to explain the observed neutrino flux at lower energies.

Allowable complex scalars from Kaluza-Klein compactifications and metric rescalings

Recently there have been discussions about which complex metrics should be allowable in quantum gravity. These discussions assumed that the matter fields were real valued. We make the observation that for compactified solutions it makes sense to demand convergence of the theory's path integral in the higher-dimensional parent theory. Upon compactification this allows for more general matter configurations in the lower-dimensional theory, in particular it allows for complex scalar fields, with a bound on their imaginary parts. Similar considerations apply to metric rescalings in the presence of higher curvature corrections. We illustrate this effect with the example of the no--boundary proposal, in which scalar fields are typically required to take complex values. We find that complex no-boundary solutions exist, and satisfy the derived bound, if the potential is sufficiently flat. For instance, for a compactification from $D$ dimensions, the bound on the imaginary part $\textrm{Im}\,(\phi)$ of the internal volume modulus reads $V_{,\phi}/V < \sqrt{\frac{D-4}{D-2}}/3\sqrt{2}.$ This leads to a mild tension with swampland conjectures.

Identity Conflict Amidst Environmental Change: An Ethnography of a Korean Buddhist Temple

AbstractDrawing on a Buddhist context, this study examines how societal‐level environmental changes trigger internal identity conflict within a temple between its traditional identity as a silent meditative space for monks and its emerging identity as an open cultural space for people. It investigates the long‐term adaptive process through which the conflict has been recognized and managed amid the environmental changes. The findings reveal that the identity conflict gradually led to the formation of two subgroups of monks: a sacred meditator group and a cultural service provider group. While this separation created mild tension between the subgroups, it paradoxically enabled the temple to simultaneously seek two opposing goals: spiritual meditation practice and cultural service. Consequently, the temple continues to pursue the traditional way of monastic life, while responding to the changing societal demands on religion. These findings extend our understanding of how organizational identity conflict is recognized, interpreted, and managed in response to environmental changes. In particular, they elucidate the link between identity and institutional processes by showing how organizational members, not necessarily through the leaders' agentic actions, spontaneously and organically cope with identity conflict triggered by external changes.

X-Ray and Radio Observations of Central Black Holes in Nearby Low-mass Early-type Galaxies: Preliminary Evidence for Low Eddington Fractions

We present new radio and X-ray observations of two nearby (<4 Mpc) low-mass early-type galaxies with dynamically confirmed central black holes: NGC 5102 and NGC 205. NGC 5102 shows a weak nuclear X-ray source and has no core radio emission. However, for the first time we demonstrate that it shows luminous extended radio continuum emission in low-resolution, low-frequency (<3 GHz) data, consistent with jet lobes on scales ≳100 pc formed from past accretion and jet activity. By contrast, in new, extremely deep, strictly simultaneous Very Large Array and Chandra observations, no radio or X-ray emission is detected from the black hole in NGC 205. We consider these measurements and upper limits in the context of the few other low-mass early-type galaxies with dynamically confirmed black holes, and show that the mean ratio of bolometric to Eddington luminosity in this sample is only . These Eddington ratios are lower than typical in a comparison sample of more massive early-type galaxies, though this conclusion is quite tentative due to our small sample of low-mass galaxies and potential biases in the comparison sample. This preliminary result is in mild tension with previous work using less sensitive observations of more distant galaxies, which predict higher X-ray luminosities than we observe for low-mass galaxies. If it is confirmed that central black holes in low-mass galaxies typically have low Eddington ratios, this presents a challenge to measuring the occupation fraction of central black holes with standard optical emission line, X-ray, or radio surveys.

Response of thin walled transversely stiffened clamped circular plates under uniform impulsive loads

Paper presents numerical models based on detailed characterization of various uncoupled damage models in a finite element analysis (FEA) setup to assess large deformations and observed ductile fracture failure modes of fully clamped circular plates as well as transversely stiffened circular plates in cross stiffened configurations under uniform impulsive loads. The numerical schemes have been based on a detailed definition of the constitutive properties based on inverse FEA simulations of the uniaxial tension test for the calibration of material and failure parameters. Experiments have been conducted using two types of freshly prepared mild steel uniaxial tension test specimens covering the envisaged range of stress tri-axialities to establish the steel plate material and fracture characteristics necessary for the calibration of the presented phenomenological damage models. Published results based on extensive experimental works by various authors on response of thin walled clamped circular plates under transversely applied uniform air blast loads, manifesting in large plastic deformations, thinning and tearing under various ductile fracture modes, have been used in the performance assessment of presented numerical models and procedure, which incorporate different damage models including temperature effects due to plastic dissipation. Based on evaluated performance of the discussed failure models within the FEA setup, a hybrid damage model with a tri-axiality based two part ductile fracture locus has been proposed, which shows very good correlation with the published experimental results, presented in terms of non-dimensional parameters over a wide range of impulsive loading. The validated numerical setup using the proposed hybrid damage model has also been used to predict the effect of transverse cross stiffened configurations of flat bar stiffeners on large deformations and ductile fracture of clamped circular plates under transverse uniform impulsive blast loads, along with some key insights in the evolution of plastic zones and damage progression.

BAO+BBN revisited — growing the Hubble tension with a 0.7 km/s/Mpc constraint

The combination of Baryonic Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) data together with light element abundance measurements from Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) has been shown to constrain the cosmological expansion history to an unprecedented degree. Using the newest LUNA data and DR16 data from SDSS, the BAO+BBN probe puts tight constraints on the Hubble constant (H 0 = 67.6 ± 1.0 km/s/Mpc), resulting in a 3.7σ tension with the local distance ladder determination from SH0ES in a ΛCDM model. In the updated BAO data the high- and low-redshift subsets are mutually in excellent agreement, and there is no longer a mild internal tension to artificially enhance the constraints. Adding the recently-developed ShapeFit analysis yields H 0 = 68.3 ± 0.7 km/s/Mpc (3.8σ tension). For combinations with additional data sets, there is a strong synergy with the sound horizon information of the cosmic microwave background, which leads to one of the tightest constraints to date, H 0 = 68.30 ± 0.45 km/s/Mpc, in 4.2σ tension with SH0ES. The region preferred by this combination is perfectly in agreement with that preferred by ShapeFit. The addition of supernova data also yields a 4.2σ tension with SH0ES for Pantheon, and a 3.5σ tension for PantheonPLUS. Finally, we show that there is a degree of model-dependence of the BAO+BBN constraints with respect to early-time solutions of the Hubble tension, and the loss of constraining power in extended models depends on whether the model can be additionally constrained from BBN observations.

Early dark sector, the Hubble tension, and the swampland

This work investigates the interplay of the Hubble tension, Early Dark Energy (EDE), and the swampland distance conjecture. The latter predicts a tower of light states for large field excursions, while EDE is a scalar field model to alleviate the Hubble tension which indeed requires Planckian field excursions, but also leads to tensions with large-scale structure (LSS) probes. The authors consider exponentially EDE-dependent masses of dark matter with the distance conjecture constant, which supposedly is a positive constant of O(1), as a free parameter. Using a large set of different catalogs of experiments, fitting also LSS data, a mild tension with the swampland distance conjecture is observed that constrains the constant to be significantly less than one. Modifications of the heuristic EDE potential may resolve this conflict.

Specifics of using thoracic bandage after cardiac surgery via sternotomy and its impact on reducing pain during therapeutic exercises

Purpose: to investigate specifics of using thoracic bandage after cardiac surgery via sternotomy and its impact on reducing pain during therapeutic exercises. In order to study specifics of using a postoperative thoracic bandage on the seventh postoperative day patients (n=252) were asked two questions about the force of thorax compression exerted by the bandage. As soon as the questions were answered, the degree of thoracic bandage tension was also assessed by a physical therapist. Thereafter, some patients (n=44; who did not take painkillers within 12 hours before the examination) assessed pain on a numeric rating scale (10 points – maximum pain, 0 points – no pain) as follows: at rest, when coughing and moving their upper extremities (arms forward, sideward, upward), when wearing a bandage with and without a load (dumbbells 1 and 2 kg for each arm); then all points of the scale were assessed without wearing a thoracic bandage. Most of the patients noted that the bandage exerted light compression (184 patients) and did not restrict deep breathing (220 patients). The evaluation performed by a physical therapist found that a thoracic bandage had only a slight degree of tension in most of the patients (194 patients or 76.98%), since it was easy to slip the hand between the patient’s back and the bandage, stretching the latter with minimal effort. The use of a thoracic bandage had no impact on the pain when patients moved their upper extremities. The obtained pain rates were very low. The highest pain rates were obtained during coughing. When moving arms the level of pain did not change statistically as compared with the state of rest. Arm position and load increase within specific limits had no impact on pain level. The use of a postoperative thoracic bandage is characterized by its mild tension, which does not limit deep breathing and, consequently, cannot limit the increase of chest circumference during dehiscence. The assessment of tension performed by physical therapists was consistent with the patients’ responses. The use of a bandage did not reduce the level of pain when patients moved their upper extremities and coughed.

Hydrogen reionization ends by z = 5.3: Lyman-α optical depth measured by the XQR-30 sample

ABSTRACT The presence of excess scatter in the Ly-α forest at z ∼ 5.5, together with the existence of sporadic extended opaque Gunn-Peterson troughs, has started to provide robust evidence for a late end of hydrogen reionization. However, low data quality and systematic uncertainties complicate the use of Ly-α transmission as a precision probe of reionization’s end stages. In this paper, we assemble a sample of 67 quasar sightlines at z &amp;gt; 5.5 with high signal-to-noise ratios of &amp;gt;10 per ≤15 km s−1 spectral pixel, relying largely on the new XQR-30 quasar sample. XQR-30 is a large program on VLT/X-Shooter which obtained deep (SNR &amp;gt; 20 per pixel) spectra of 30 quasars at z &amp;gt; 5.7. We carefully account for systematics in continuum reconstruction, instrumentation, and contamination by damped Ly-α systems. We present improved measurements of the mean Ly-α transmission over 4.9 &amp;lt; z &amp;lt; 6.1. Using all known systematics in a forward modelling analysis, we find excellent agreement between the observed Ly-α transmission distributions and the homogeneous-UVB simulations Sherwood and Nyx up to z ≤ 5.2 (&amp;lt;1σ), and mild tension (∼2.5σ) at z = 5.3. Homogeneous UVB models are ruled out by excess Ly-α transmission scatter at z ≥ 5.4 with high confidence (&amp;gt;3.5σ). Our results indicate that reionization-related fluctuations, whether in the UVB, residual neutral hydrogen fraction, and/or IGM temperature, persist in the intergalactic medium until at least z = 5.3 (t = 1.1 Gyr after the big bang). This is further evidence for a late end to reionization.

Pseudoscalar sterile neutrino self-interactions in light of Planck, SPT and ACT data

We reassess the viability of a cosmological model including a fourth additional sterile neutrino species that self-interacts through a new pseudoscalar degree of freedom.We perform a series of extensive analyses fitting various combinations of cosmic microwave background (CMB) data from Planck, the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) and the South Pole Telescope (SPT), both alone and in combination with Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) and Supernova Ia (SnIa) observations.We show that the scenario under study, although capable to resolve the Hubble tension without worsening the so-called S_8 tension about the growth of cosmic structures, is severely constrained by high-multipole polarization data from both Planck and SPT.Intriguingly, when trading Planck TE-EE data for those from ACT, we find a ≳ 3σ preference for a non-zero sterile neutrino mass, ms = 3.6+1.1 0.6 eV (68% C.L.), compatible with the range suggested by longstanding short-baseline (SBL) anomalies in neutrino oscillation experiments. The pseudoscalar model provides indeed a better fit to ACT data compared to ΛCDM (Δχ2 ≃ -5, ΔAIC = -1.3), although in a combined analysis with Planck the ΛCDM model is still favoured, as the preference for a non-zero sterile neutrino mass is mostly driven by ACT favouring a higher value for the primordial spectral index ns with respect to Planck. We show that the mild tension between Planck and ACT is due to the different pattern in the TE and EE power spectra on multipoles between 350 ≲ ℓ ≲ 1000.We also check the impact of marginalizing over the gravitational lensing information in Planck data, showing that the model does not solve the CMB lensing anomaly.Future work including higher precision data from current and upcoming CMB ground-based experiments will be crucial to test these results.

Premenstrual Tension Syndrome among Adolescent Girls: A Cross Sectional Study at Bagalkot

Background: Adolescent stage is very important in the life of a girl, because in this stage physical, sexual and psychological maturity takes place. The major landmark of puberty for females is menarche, the onset of menstruation, which occurs on an average between ages 12 and 13. The start of menstruation is usually a mixture of excitement and anxiety. Aims: The aim of the study was to assess the premenstrual tension syndrome among adolescent girls studying in selected degree colleges of Bagalkot. Methodology: The premenstrual tension syndrome was measured using Premenstrual tension syndrome scale from a convenient sample of 200adolescent girls studying in selected degree colleges of Bagalkot in a cross sectional design. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: Findings indicates that majority 64.5% of respondents had mild level premenstrual tension syndrome, 35% of respondents had moderate premenstrual tension syndrome and 0.5 % respondents had severe premenstrual tension syndrome. Results depicts that total mean percentage of Premenstrual tension syndrome of adolescent girls was 24.38% with mean and SD 10.73±7.0907.Chi-square test was calculated to assess the association between Premenstrual tension syndrome &amp; selected socio-demographic variable of adolescent girls. Findings depict that, there was a significant association found between Age and Levels of Premenstrual tension syndrome [χ2=5.35, P&lt; 0.05] , there was a significant association found between Mother’s educational status and Levels of Premenstrual tension syndrome [χ2=4.84, P&lt; 0.05], there was a significant association found between Father’s occupation and Levels of Premenstrual tension syndrome [χ2=6.99, P&lt; 0.05] and No significant association found between Premenstrual tension syndrome and other variables. Conclusion: The finding of the study concluded that most of the adolescent girls having mild and moderate and severe level of premenstrual tension syndrome. This study is effective to identify the premenstrual tension syndrome among adolescent girls. Keywords: Premenstrual tension syndrome, Adolescent girls, Degree colleges.

Incorporating the weak mixing angle dependence to reconcile the neutron skin measurement on Pb208 by PREX-II

The only available electroweak measurement of the $^{208}\mathrm{Pb}$ neutron skin $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}{R}_{\mathrm{np}}$, performed by the PREX-II Collaboration through polarized electron-lead scattering, shows a mild tension with respect to both the theoretical nuclear-model predictions and a host of measurements. However, the dependence on the weak mixing angle should be incorporated in the calculation, since its low-energy value is experimentally poorly known. We first repeat the PREX-II analysis confirming their measurement by fixing the weak mixing angle to its standard model value. Then, we show the explicit dependence of the PREX-II measurement on the weak mixing angle, obtaining that it is fully degenerate with the neutron skin. To break this degeneracy, we exploit the weak mixing angle measurement from atomic parity violation on lead, obtaining a slightly thinner neutron skin but with about doubled uncertainties, possibly easing the PREX tension. Relying on the theoretical prediction, $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}{R}_{\mathrm{np}}^{\mathrm{th}}\ensuremath{\approx}0.13\text{--}0.19\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}\mathrm{fm}$, and using it as a prior in the fit, we find a weak mixing angle value about $1.2\ensuremath{\sigma}$ smaller than the standard model prediction. Thus, we suggest a possible solution of the PREX-II tension by showing that, considering its underlying dependence on the weak mixing angle, the PREX-II neutron skin determination could be in agreement with the other available measurements and predictions if the weak mixing angle at the proper energy scale is smaller than the standard model prediction.

Epidemiological studies of sleep disorder in educational community of Pakistani population, its major risk factors and associated diseases.

Sleep is one of the most important functions of the life. The disturbance in sleep or quality of sleep leads to several dysfunctions of the human body. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of sleep disorders, their possible risk factors and their association with other health problems. The data was collected from the educational community of the Pakistani population. The Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) was used to evaluate the insomnia and the sleep apnea was evaluated through a simple questionnaire method. The blood samples were collected to perform significant blood tests for clinical investigations. Current research revealed that the individuals in the educational community had poor sleep quality. A total of 1998 individuals from the educational community were surveyed, 1584 (79.28%) of whom had a sleep disorders, including insomnia (45.20%) and sleep apnea (34.08%). The measured onset of age for males and females was 30.35 years and 31.07 years respectively. The Clinical investigations showed that the sleep had significant impact on the hematology of the patients. Higher levels of serum uric acid and blood sugar were recorded with a sleep disorder. The individuals of the educational community were using the sleeping pills. The other associated diseases were mild tension, headaches, migraines, depression, diabetes, obesity, and myopia. The use of beverage, bad mood, medical condition, mental stress, disturbed circadian rhythms, workload and extra use of smartphone were major risk factors of sleep disorders. It was concluded that the insomnia was more prevalent than the sleep apnea. Furthermore, life changes events were directly linked with disturbance of sleep. Tension, depression, headaches, and migraine were more associated with sleep disorders than all other health issues.