DARk matter WImp search with liquid xenoN (DARWIN1) will be an experiment for the direct detection of dark matter using a multi-ton liquid xenon time projection chamber at its core. Its primary goal will be to explore the experimentally accessible parameter space for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) in a wide mass-range, until neutrino interactions with the target become an irreducible background. The prompt scintillation light and the charge signals induced by particle interactions in the xenon will be observed by VUV sensitive, ultra-low background photosensors. Besides its excellent sensitivity to WIMPs above a mass of 5GeV/c2, such a detector with its large mass, low-energy threshold and ultra-low background level will also be sensitive to other rare interactions. It will search for solar axions, galactic axion-like particles and the neutrinoless double-beta decay of 136Xe, as well as measure the low-energy solar neutrino flux with <1% precision, observe coherent neutrino-nucleus interactions, and detect galactic supernovae. We present the concept of the DARWIN detector and discuss its physics reach, the main sources of backgrounds and the ongoing detector design and R&D efforts.

Background: Patients do not often discuss anal symptoms, resulting in late diagnosis of proctological disorders and impacting health. Poor epidemiological knowledge is a contributing factor to this, which can be a significant problem in general medicine. Authors evaluated the role of family doctors in proctological disorders by assessing how many of these are spontaneously diagnosed and how many are diagnosed after questioning the patient.Methods: Thirty-nine general practitioners completed a targeted questionnaire to assess all patients seen prospectively over 2.5 days of consultations.Results: A total of 1079 questionnaires were completed, 621 (58%) for females and 458 (42%) for males with a median age of 54. Twenty-two patients (2%) were seen primarily for anal symptoms. Following questioning, an anal symptom was found in 153 patients (14%). Symptoms reported were: bleeding (32%), pain (31%), pruritus ani (22%), swelling (22%), oozing (14%), and anal discharge (14%). Physicians' diagnoses were: haemorrhoids, anal fissure, anal discharge, dermatology disease, and functional disorder. In 35% of patients, questioning alone was used to make these diagnoses. Anal incontinence was the only factor associated with referral to a specialist (OR = 5; 95% CI: 1.4-17.8).Conclusion : The role of proctology in the general population appears to be significant. In five out of six cases, patients conceal anal symptoms. The high proportion of unexamined patients with anal symptoms is probably multifactorial. Further studies are needed to identify these and put in place the improvement of diagnosis and treatment of anal disorder.