Xinmiao Cao

© 2016 IOP Publishing Ltd and Sissa Medialab srl.The CUORE experiment will search for neutrinoless double-beta decay of 130Te with an array of 988 TeO2 bolometers arranged in 19 towers. CUORE-0, the first tower assembled according to the CUORE procedures, was built and commissioned at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, and took data from March 2013 to March 2015. In this paper we describe the design, construction and operation of the CUORE-0 experiment, with an emphasis on the improvements made over a predecessor experiment, Cuoricino. In particular, we demonstrate with CUORE-0 data that the design goals of CUORE are within reach.

The CUORE-0 experiment searched for neutrinoless double beta decay in130Te using an array of 52 tellurium dioxide crystals, operated as bolometers at a temperature of 10 mK. It took data in the Gran Sasso National Laboratory since March 2013 to March 2015. We present the results of a search for neutrinoless double beta decay in 9.8 kg-years130Te exposure that allowed us to set the most stringent limit to date on this half-life. The performance of the detector in terms of background and energy resolution is also reported.

Objective: To assess the overall mortality of methadone maintenance treatment clients in China and its associated factors. Methods: A total of 1,511 MMT clients, all of whom enrolled in China's first eight MMT clinics between March and December 2004, were included in this cohort study and followed for approximately six years, until June 2010. Mortality and its predictors were examined using Cox proportional hazards regression models. Results: A total of 154 deaths were observed within 5,391 person-years of follow-up for an all-cause mortality rate of 28.6 per 1,000 PY. The leading causes of death were drug overdose, HIV/AIDS-unrelated disease, and HIV/AIDS. The all-cause mortality rate of clients engaged in MMT for one year or less was roughly three times that of clients who stayed in MMT for four years or more, HIV-positive subjects was nearly four times mortality rate than that of HIV-negative individuals. ART-naive HIV-positive subjects had approximately two times higher mortality rate than those receiving ART. After adjusting for confounding variables, we found that being male and being HIV-positive were both associated with higher risk of death whereas increased durations of methadone treatment were associated with a lower risk of death. Conclusion: Overall mortality was high among MMT clients in China. Specific interventions aimed at decreasing mortality among MMT clients are needed. Our study supports the need for keeping client at MMT longer and for expanding ART coverage and suggests the potential benefits of integrated MMT and ART services for drug users in China. © 2013 Cao et al.