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SBND is the near detector of the Short-Baseline Neutrino program at Fermilab. Its location near to the Booster Neutrino Beam source and relatively large mass will allow the study of neutrino interactions on argon with unprecedented statistics. This paper describes the expected performance of the SBND photon detection system, using a simulated sample of beam neutrinos and cosmogenic particles. Its design is a dual readout concept combining a system of 120 photomultiplier tubes, used for triggering, with a system of 192 X-ARAPUCA devices, located behind the anode wire planes. Furthermore, covering the cathode plane with highly-reflective panels coated with a wavelength-shifting compound recovers part of the light emitted towards the cathode, where no optical detectors exist. We show how this new design provides a high light yield and a more uniform detection efficiency, an excellent timing resolution and an independent 3D-position reconstruction using only the scintillation light. Finally, the whole reconstruction chain is applied to recover the temporal structure of the beam spill, which is resolved with a resolution on the order of nanoseconds.

In two experiments, children and adults rated pairs of faces from election races. Na ve adults judged a pair on competence; after playing a game, children chose who they would prefer to be captain of their boat. Children's (as well as adults') preferences accurately predicted actual election outcomes.

We know better, so why can't we stop making judgments based on appearance? magine you are part of an experiment. You and your co-participants are shown photographs of two individuals and are asked to choose who is more leader-like. Unbeknownst to you, the individuals in the photographs are real-life candidates vying for a seat in the U.S. Congress. It might surprise you to learn that the average ratings of the participants in the experiment could reliably predict which candidate would go on to win the electoral contest. Are voters biased by facial appearance and their associated stereotypes? Or might it be possible that uninformed observers can detect the competence of politicians from their faces? In Face Value , Todorov has produced an impressive, well-written, and well-illustrated book that provides answers to these questions and more

Given what we know about the predictors of leaders’ability, facial appearance should play a small or a very limited role in observers’ selection of leaders; however, research convincingly shows otherwise. The more distant observers are from leaders or the less information they have about them, the more likely they are to use whatever information is available—including the target’s looks—to make inferences about a leader’s character and competence. In this article, we review which consequential leadership outcomes are predicted by facial appearance. We explain why observers are inclined to make heuristic decisions using facial cues, discuss whether facial appearance carries credible information, and identify the conditions that may attenuate face effects.

Purpose Over the past 20 years, partial least squares (PLS) has become a popular method in marketing research. At the same time, several methodological studies have demonstrated problems with the technique but have had little impact on its use in marketing research practice. This study aims to present some of these criticisms in a reader-friendly way for non-methodologists. Design/methodology/approach Key critiques of PLS are summarized and demonstrated using existing data sets in easily replicated ways. Recommendations are made for assessing whether PLS is a useful method for a given research problem. Findings PLS is fundamentally just a way of constructing scale scores for regression. PLS provides no clear benefits for marketing researchers and has disadvantages that are features of the original design and cannot be solved within the PLS framework itself. Unweighted sums of item scores provide a more robust way of creating scale scores. Research limitations/implications The findings strongly suggest that researchers abandon the use of PLS in typical marketing studies. Practical implications This paper provides concrete examples and techniques to practicing marketing and social science researchers regarding how to incorporate composites into their work, and how to make decisions regarding such. Originality/value This work presents a novel perspective on PLS critiques by showing how researchers can use their own data to assess whether PLS (or another composite method) can provide any advantage over simple sum scores. A composite equivalence index is introduced for this purpose.

A novel endoscopic palpation tool (EPT), designed for tactile and stiffness sensing using fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) was evaluated in a surgical environment for intraoperative safety and effectiveness. The EPT consisted of four FBGs arranged in a cross pattern and embedded within an elastic, hollow, silicone hemispherical dome designed to deform upon contact with soft tissue. The EPT was employed to scan both in vivo and ex vivo tissue samples. Monitoring of porcine vital signs during minimally invasive and open surgical procedures showed no significant changes during use of the EPT. Perioperative blood tests including inflammatory markers and liver and renal function studies were unremarkable. Histopathological analyses of tissues involved (liver, spleen, bowel, and abdominal wall) showed no evidence of inflammation, necrosis, or tissue damage, confirming the device’s biocompatibility. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study reporting in vivo stiffness measurements using an FBG-based EPT. The probe successfully distinguished between soft and hard tissue regions’ relative stiffness. Furthermore, successive measurements on liver samples demonstrated the device’s ability to generate stiffness maps, enabling clear visualization of spatial variation in tissue stiffness.

To screen for careless responding, researchers have a choice between several direct measures (i.e., bogus items, requiring the respondent to choose a specific answer) and indirect measures (i.e., unobtrusive post hoc indices). Given the dearth of research in the area, we examined how well direct and indirect indices perform relative to each other. In five experimental studies, we investigated whether the detection rates of the measures are affected by contextual factors: severity of the careless response pattern, type of item keying, and type of item presentation. We fully controlled the information environment by experimentally inducing careless response sets under a variety of contextual conditions. In Studies 1 and 2, participants rated the personality of an actor that presented himself in a 5-min-long videotaped speech. In Studies 3, 4, and 5, participants had to rate their own personality across two measurements. With the exception of maximum longstring, intra-individual response variability, and individual contribution to model misfit, all examined indirect indices performed better than chance in most of the examined conditions. Moreover, indirect indices had detection rates as good as and, in many cases, better than the detection rates of direct measures. We therefore encourage researchers to use indirect indices, especially within-person consistency indices, instead of direct measures.

Hemostatic balance refers to the dynamic balance between blood clot formation (coagulation), blood clot dissolution (fibrinolysis), anticoagulation, and innate immunity. Although regular habitual exercise may lower the incidence of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) by improving an individual’s hemostatic profile at rest and during exertion, vigorous exercise may increase the risk of sudden cardiac death and venous thromboembolism (VTE). This literature review aims to investigate the hemostatic system’s acute and chronic adaptive responses to different types of exercise in healthy and patient populations. Compared to athletes, sedentary healthy individuals demonstrate similar post-exercise responses in platelet function and coagulatory and fibrinolytic potential. However, hemostatic adaptations of patients with chronic diseases in regular training is a promising field. Despite the increased risk of thrombotic events during an acute bout of vigorous exercise, regular exposure to high-intensity exercise might desensitize exercise-induced platelet aggregation, moderate coagulatory parameters, and up-regulate fibrinolytic potential via increasing tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) and decreasing plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1) response. Future research might focus on combining different types of exercise, manipulating each training characteristic (frequency, intensity, time, and volume), or investigating the minimal exercise dosage required to maintain hemostatic balance, especially in patients with various health conditions.

Cervical pregnancy is an uncommon form of ectopic pregnancy, and when combined with a coexisting intrauterine gestation, it represents a particularly rare and challenging clinical scenario. We report the case of a 46-year-old woman with a history of multiple IVF attempts who conceived after the transfer of two blastocysts. At eight weeks, ultrasound revealed a heterotopic triplet pregnancy: a monochorionic twin cervical ectopic pregnancy alongside a singleton intrauterine gestation. Cardiac activity was present in all fetuses. After counseling, selective evacuation of the cervical pregnancy was performed via dilatation and curettage, followed by prophylactic cervical cerclage to prevent iatrogenic insufficiency. The intrauterine pregnancy progressed uneventfully until 32 weeks, when placental insufficiency developed. Delivery by cesarean section at 34 weeks resulted in a healthy male neonate weighing 2100 g, discharged after a brief NICU stay. This report highlights an exceptionally rare case of heterotopic cervical twin pregnancy coexisting with a viable intrauterine pregnancy. It emphasizes the importance of early diagnosis, individualized management, and multidisciplinary care to optimize both maternal safety and fetal outcome.

This study was conducted to compare the outcome of total thyroidectomy using the electrothermal bipolar vessel sealing system, the harmonic scalpel, and the classic suture ligation technique. This was a retrospective study of prospectively collected data from 382 consecutive total thyroidectomies from September 2004 to August 2006. Patients were divided into 3 groups: group SL patients (n = 90) underwent total thyroidectomy with the classic suture ligation technique, group L (n = 148) with the electrothermal bipolar vessel sealer, and group U (n = 144) with the harmonic scalpel. The main outcomes measured were surgical and hospitalization time, intraoperative and postoperative bleeding, postoperative hypocalcemia, and superior and inferior laryngeal nerves injuries. The 3 groups were similar in terms of demographics, thyroid gland weight and pathology, perioperative complications, and hospital stay. Compared with the classic technique, surgical time was reduced significantly by about 20% when the bipolar vessel sealer or harmonic scalpel was used (93.3 ± 12.5 vs 74.3 ± 14.2 and 73.8 ± 13.8 min, P = .001, and P = .001, respectively). Both the bipolar vessel sealer and harmonic scalpel are safe, useful, and time-saving alternatives to the traditional suture ligation technique for thyroid surgery. Because no differences were observed regarding these 2 devices, the choice should be made based on the surgeon’s preferences and experience.