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Radioactivity was recently discovered as a source of decoherence and correlated errors for the real-world implementation of superconducting quantum processors. In this work, we measure levels of radioactivity present in a typical laboratory environment (from muons, neutrons, and γ -rays emitted by naturally occurring radioactive isotopes) and in the most commonly used materials for the assembly and operation of state-of-the-art superconducting qubits. We present a GEANT-4 based simulation to predict the rate of impacts and the amount of energy released in a qubit chip from each of the mentioned sources. We finally propose mitigation strategies for the operation of next-generation qubits in a radio-pure environment.

The COSINUS (Cryogenic Observatory for SIgnatures seen in Next-generation Underground Searches) experiment aims at the detection of dark matter-induced recoils in sodium iodide (NaI) crystals operated as scintillating cryogenic calorimeters. The detection of both scintillation light and phonons allows performing an event-by-event signal to background discrimination, thus enhancing the sensitivity of the experiment. The choice of using NaI crystals is motivated by the goal of probing the long-standing DAMA/LIBRA results using the same target material. The construction of the experimental facility is foreseen to start by 2021 at the INFN Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS) in Italy. It consists of a cryostat housing the target crystals shielded from the external radioactivity by a water tank acting, at the same time, as an active veto against cosmic ray-induced events. Taking into account both environmental radioactivity and intrinsic contamination of materials used for cryostat, shielding and infrastructure, we performed a careful background budget estimation. The goal is to evaluate the number of events that could mimic or interfere with signal detection while optimising the geometry of the experimental setup. In this paper we present the results of the detailed Monte Carlo simulations we performed, together with the final design of the setup that minimises the residual amount of background particles reaching the detector volume.

CUPID-0 is the first large mass array of enriched Zn\\[^{82}\\]Se scintillating low temperature calorimeters, operated at LNGS since 2017. During its first scientific runs, CUPID-0 collected an exposure of 9.95 kg year. Thanks to the excellent rejection of \\[\\alpha \\] particles, we attained the lowest background ever measured with thermal detectors in the energy region where we search for the signature of \\[^{82}\\hbox {Se}\\] neutrinoless double beta decay. In this work we develop a model to reconstruct the CUPID-0 background over the whole energy range of experimental data. We identify the background sources exploiting their distinctive signatures and we assess their extremely low contribution [down to \\[\\sim 10^{-4}\\] counts/(keV kg year)] in the region of interest for \\[^{82}\\hbox {Se}\\] neutrinoless double beta decay search. This result represents a crucial step towards the comprehension of the background in experiments based on scintillating calorimeters and in next generation projects such as CUPID.

IntroductionIn schizophrenia, there is evidence for anomalies in the extension and plasticity of the peripersonal space (PPS), the portion of space surrounding our body, plastically shaped through motor experiences. An impaired multisensory integration at the PPS level would underpin the disembodiment, a core feature of the disorder linked to subjective perturbations of the sense of self (“Self-disorders”) and of the intersubjective dimension (“schizophrenic autism”).ObjectivesThe present study was aimed at: 1) exploring possible associations between PPS data, psychopathological dimensions, and subjective experiences in schizophrenia; 2) identifying a specific PPS profile in patients with early-onset schizophrenia.MethodsA motor training with a tool was used to assess the PPS size and boundaries demarcation in twenty-seven schizophrenia outpatients. Moreover, they underwent a thorough psychopathological evaluation with the Positive And Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Examination of Anomalous Self Experience scale (EASE) and the Autism Rating Scale (ARS). Subsequently, the sample was divided into early (EOS) and adult-onset (AOS) subgroups, that were compared with respect to their PPS and psychopathological profiles.ResultsPPS features (size and boundaries demarcation) were associated with PANSS negative score, subjective experiences of existential reorientation (EASE Domain 5 scores) and traits of schizophrenic autism (ARS scores; Fig. 1). PPS parameters (Fig. 2) and ARS scores, but not PANSS and EASE differentiated between early and adult-onset subgroups.Image:Image 2:ConclusionsOur results suggest a link between PPS patterns, negative symptoms, and disturbances of the subjective experience, particularly in the intersubjective domain, in schizophrenia. Moreover, they candidate specific PPS profiles and schizophrenic autism traits as EOS markers.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

IntroductionA primary disruption of the bodily self is considered a core feature of schizophrenia patients (SCZ). The “disembodied” self would be underpinned by an inefficient body-related multisensory integration mechanism occurring in the Peripersonal Space (PPS). PPS is a plastic sector of space surrounding our body, whose extent is altered in SCZ. Although PPS represents a malleable interface marking the perceptual border between self and others, no study has investigated the potential alteration of its plasticity in SCZ.ObjectivesWe investigated the PPS extension and its plasticity in SCZ and their potential correlations with the clinical scales.MethodsThirty SCZ and thirty healthy controls (HC) underwent a multisensory task to estimate PPS boundary before and after a motor training. Patients were also administered the Positive And Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the Examination of Anomalous Self-Experience (EASE).ResultsData confirm a narrower PPS extent in SCZ than in HC, whereas no differences in PPS expansion was found in the two groups after the motor training (Figure 1). Positive symptoms were associated directly with PPS extent and inversely with PPS plasticity. No associations were found between PPS and EASE domains. Figure1: Graphical representation of PPS expansion in SCZ and HC. Both panels show individual normalized sigmoid fitsConclusionsThe present study suggests a narrower PPS extent and a preserved PPS plasticity in SCZ with respect to HC. Both PPS extent and plasticity are related to the severity of positive symptoms. These results highlight the potential role of rehabilitation interventions in order to improve patients’ weakened body boundary.DisclosureNo significant relationships.

We present the performances of a 330 g zinc molybdate (ZnMoO 4 ) crystal working as scintillating bolometer as a possible candidate for a next generation experiment to search for neutrinoless double beta decay of 100 Mo. The energy resolution, evaluated at the 2615 keV γ -line of 208 Tl, is 6.3 keV FWHM. The internal radioactive contaminations of the ZnMoO 4 were evaluated as <6 μBq/kg ( 228 Th) and 27±6 μBq/kg ( 226 Ra). We also present the results of the α vs β / γ discrimination, obtained through the scintillation light as well as through the study of the shape of the thermal signal alone.

The suppression of spurious events in the region of interest for neutrinoless double beta decay will play a major role in next generation experiments. The background of detectors based on the technology of cryogenic calorimeters is expected to be dominated by \\[\\alpha \\] particles, that could be disentangled from double beta decay signals by exploiting the difference in the emission of the scintillation light. CUPID-0, an array of enriched Zn\\[^{82}\\]Se scintillating calorimeters, is the first large mass demonstrator of this technology. The detector started data-taking in 2017 at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso with the aim of proving that dual read-out of light and heat allows for an efficient suppression of the \\[\\alpha \\] background. In this paper we describe the software tools we developed for the analysis of scintillating calorimeters and we demonstrate that this technology allows to reach an unprecedented background for cryogenic calorimeters.

COSINUS is a dark matter (DM) direct search experiment that uses sodium iodide (NaI) crystals as cryogenic calorimeters. Thanks to the low nuclear recoil energy threshold and event-by-event discrimination capability, COSINUS will address the long-standing DM claim made by the DAMA/LIBRA collaboration. The experiment is currently under construction at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Italy, and employs a large cylindrical water tank as a passive shield to meet the required background rate. However, muon-induced neutrons can mimic a DM signal therefore requiring an active veto system, which is achieved by instrumenting the water tank with an array of photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). This study optimizes the number, arrangement, and trigger conditions of the PMTs as well as the size of an optically invisible region. The objective was to maximize the muon veto efficiency while minimizing the accidental trigger rate due to the ambient and instrumental background. The final configuration predicts a veto efficiency of 99.63 ± 0.16% and 44.4 ± 5.6% in the tagging of muon events and showers of secondary particles, respectively. The active veto will reduce the cosmogenic neutron background rate to 0.11 ± 0.02 cts · kg - 1 · year - 1 , corresponding to less than one background event in the region of interest for the whole COSINUS-1 π exposure of 1000 kg · days.

The CUPID-0 experiment searches for double beta decay using cryogenic calorimeters with double (heat and light) read-out. The detector, consisting of 24 ZnSe crystals 95\\[\\%\\] enriched in \\[^{82}\\]Se and two natural ZnSe crystals, started data-taking in 2017 at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso. We present the search for the neutrino-less double beta decay of \\[^{82}\\]Se into the 0\\[_1^+\\], 2\\[_1^+\\] and 2\\[_2^+\\] excited states of \\[^{82}\\]Kr with an exposure of 5.74 kg\\[\\cdot \\]yr (2.24\\[\\times \\]10\\[^{25}\\] emitters\\[\\cdot \\]yr). We found no evidence of the decays and set the most stringent limits on the widths of these processes: \\[\\varGamma \\](\\[^{82}\\]Se \\[\\rightarrow ^{82}\\]Kr\\[_{0_1^+}\\])8.55\\[\\times \\]10\\[^{-24}\\] yr\\[^{-1}\\], \\[\\varGamma \\] (\\[^{82}\\] Se \\[\\rightarrow ^{82}\\] Kr \\[_{2_1^+}\\])\\[\\,{<}\\,6.25 \\,{\\times }\\,10^{-24}\\] yr\\[^{-1}\\], \\[\\varGamma \\](\\[^{82}\\]Se \\[\\rightarrow ^{82}\\]Kr\\[_{2_2^+}\\])8.25\\[\\times \\]10\\[^{-24}\\] yr\\[^{-1}\\] (90\\[\\%\\] credible interval).

The present study addresses a novel issue by investigating whether beholders’ sensorimotor engagement with the emotional content of works of art contributes to the formation of their objective aesthetic judgment of beauty. To this purpose, participants’ sensorimotor engagement was modulated by asking them to overtly contract the Corrugator Supercilii facial muscles or to refrain from any voluntary facial movement while judging the aesthetic value of painful and neutral facial expressions in select examples of Renaissance and Baroque paintings. Results demonstrated a specific increase in the aesthetic rating of paintings showing painful facial expressions during the congruent activation of the Corrugator Supercilii muscles. Furthermore, participants’ empathetic traits and expertise in art were found to correlate directly with the amplitude of the motor enactment effect on aesthetic judgments. For the first time, we show the role of bottom–up bodily driven sensorimotor processes in the objective aesthetic evaluation of works of art.