MINERvA neutrino detector response measured with test beam data Aliaga, L.; Altinok, O.; Araujo Del Castillo, C. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
07/2015, Volume:
789, Issue:
C
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The MINERvA collaboration operated a scaled-down replica of thesolid scintillator tracking and sampling calorimeter regions of the MINERvA detector in a hadron test beam at the Fermilab Test Beam ...Facility. This paper reports measurements with samples of protons, pions, and electrons from 0.35 to 2.0GeV/c momentum. The calorimetric response to protons, pions, and electrons is obtained from these data. A measurement of the parameter in Birks׳ law and an estimate of the tracking efficiency are extracted from the proton sample. Overall the data are well described by a Geant4-based Monte Carlo simulation of the detector and particle interactions with agreements better than 4% for the calorimetric response, though some features of the data are not precisely modeled. These measurements are used to tune the MINERvA detector simulation and evaluate systematic uncertainties in support of the MINERvA neutrino cross-section measurement program.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Rapid deformation of brain matter caused by skull acceleration is most likely the cause of concussion, as well as more severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). The inability to measure deformation ...directly has led to disagreement and confusion about the biomechanics of concussion and TBI. In the present study, brain deformation in human volunteers was measured directly during mild, but rapid, deceleration of the head (20-30 m/sec2 peak, approximately 40 msec duration), using an imaging technique originally developed to measure cardiac deformation. Magnetic resonance image sequences with imposed "tag" lines were obtained at high frame rates by repeating the deceleration and acquiring a subset of image data each repetition. Displacements of points on tag lines were used to estimate the Lagrangian strain tensor field. Qualitative (visual) and quantitative (strain) results illustrate clearly the deformation of brain matter due to occipital deceleration. Strains of 0.02-0.05 were typical during these events (0.05 strain corresponds roughly to a 5% change in the dimension of a local tissue element). Notably, compression in frontal regions and stretching in posterior regions were observed. The motion of the brain appears constrained by structures at the frontal base of the skull; it must pull away from such constraints before it can compress against the occipital bone. This mechanism is consistent with observations of contrecoup injury in occipital impact.
Research on children's use of mobile media devices lags behind its adoption. The objective of this study was to examine young children's exposure to and use of mobile media devices.
Cross-sectional ...study of 350 children aged 6 months to 4 years seen October to November 2014 at a pediatric clinic in an urban, low-income, minority community. The survey was adapted from Common Sense Media's 2013 nationwide survey.
Most households had television (97%), tablets (83%), and smartphones (77%). At age 4, half the children had their own television and three-fourths their own mobile device. Almost all children (96.6%) used mobile devices, and most started using before age 1. Parents gave children devices when doing house chores (70%), to keep them calm (65%), and at bedtime (29%). At age 2, most children used a device daily and spent comparable screen time on television and mobile devices. Most 3- and 4-year-olds used devices without help, and one-third engaged in media multitasking. Content delivery applications such as YouTube and Netflix were popular. Child ownership of device, age at first use, and daily use were not associated with ethnicity or parent education.
Young children in an urban, low-income, minority community had almost universal exposure to mobile devices, and most had their own device by age 4. The patterns of use suggest early adoption, frequent and independent use, and media multitasking. Studies are urgently needed to update recommendations for families and providers on the use of mobile media by young children.
In eukaryotes, DNA is exchanged between endosymbiosis-derived compartments (mitochondria and chloroplasts) and the nucleus. Organelle-to-nucleus DNA transfer involves repair of double-stranded breaks ...by nonhomologous end-joining, and resulted during early organelle evolution in massive relocation of organelle genes to the nucleus. A large fraction of the products of the nuclear genes so acquired are retargeted to their ancestral compartment; many others now function in new subcellular locations. Almost all present-day nuclear transfers of mitochondrial or plastid DNA give rise to noncoding sequences, dubbed nuclear mitochondrial DNAs (NUMTs) and nuclear plastid DNAs (NUPTs). Some of these sequences were recruited as exons, thus introducing new coding sequences into preexisting nuclear genes by a novel mechanism. In organisms derived from secondary or tertiary endosymbiosis, serial gene transfers involving nucleus-to-nucleus migration of DNA have also occurred. Intercompartmental DNA transfer therefore represents a significant driving force for gene and genome evolution, relocating and refashioning genes and contributing to genetic diversity.
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This letter describes the development of two series of potent and selective allosteric Akt kinase inhibitors that display an unprecedented level of selectivity for either Akt1, Akt2 ...or both Akt1/Akt2. An iterative analog library synthesis approach quickly provided a highly selective Akt1/Akt2 inhibitor that induces apoptosis in tumor cells and inhibits Akt phosphorylation in vivo.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
•Method for predicting end-process yield during a complete bioprocess.•Uses Raman spectroscopy and robust chemometrics.•Prediction of glycoprotein yield to better than 3% accuracy at all scales from ...100 to 5000L.
Being able to predict the final product yield at all stages in long-running, industrial, mammalian cell culture processes is vital for both operational efficiency, process consistency, and the implementation of quality by design (QbD) practices. Here we used Raman spectroscopy to monitor (in terms of glycoprotein yield prediction) a fed-batch fermentation from start to finish. Raman data were collected from 12 different time points in a Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) based manufacturing process and across 37 separate production runs. The samples comprised of clarified bioprocess broths extracted from the CHO cell based process with varying amounts of fresh and spent cell culture media. Competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CoAdReS) and ant colony optimization (ACO) variable selection methods were used to enhance the predictive ability of the chemometric models by removing unnecessary spectral information. Using CoAdReS accurate prediction models (relative error of predictions between 2.1% and 3.3%) were built for the final glycoprotein yield at every stage of the bioprocess from small scale up to the final 5000L bioreactor. This result reinforces our previous studies which indicate that media quality is one of the most significant factors determining the efficiency of industrial CHO-cell processes. This Raman based approach could thus be used to manage production in terms of selecting which small scale batches are progressed to large-scale manufacture, thus improving process efficiency significantly.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Under natural conditions, photosynthesis has to be adjusted to fluctuating light intensities. Leaves exposed to high light dissipate excess light energy in form of heat at photosystem II (PSII) by a ...process called non‐photochemical quenching (NPQ). Upon fast transition from light to shade, plants lose light energy by a relatively slow relaxation from photoprotection. Combined overexpression of violaxanthin de‐epoxidase (VDE), PSII subunit S (PsbS) and zeaxanthin epoxidase (ZEP) in tobacco accelerates relaxation from photoprotection, and increases photosynthetic productivity. In Arabidopsis, expression of the same three genes (VPZ) resulted in a more rapid photoprotection but growth of the transgenic plants was impaired. Here we report on VPZ expressing potato plants grown under various light regimes. Similar to tobacco and Arabidopsis, induction and relaxation of NPQ was accelerated under all growth conditions tested, but did not cause an overall increased photosynthetic rate or growth of transgenic plants. Tuber yield of VPZ expressing plants was unaltered as compared to control plants under constant light conditions and even decreased under fluctuating light conditions. Under control conditions, levels of the phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) were found to be elevated, indicating an increased violaxanthin availability in VPZ plants. However, the increased basal ABA levels did not improve drought tolerance of VPZ transgenic potato plants under greenhouse conditions. The failure to benefit from improved photoprotection is most likely caused by a reduced radiation use efficiency under high light conditions resulting from a too strong NPQ induction. Mitigating this negative effect in the future might help to improve photosynthetic performance in VPZ expressing potato plants.
Accelerating induction and relaxation from photoprotection might improve photosynthesis and thus yield, as shown in tobacco. studying this concept in potato improved dynamics but reduced CO2 assimilation under high light, perhaps because of too high photoprotection, thus reducing yield.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Objective
Infantile spasms are seizures associated with a severe epileptic encephalopathy presenting in the first 2 years of life, and optimal treatment continues to be debated. This study evaluates ...early and sustained response to initial treatments and addresses both clinical remission and electrographic resolution of hypsarrhythmia. Secondarily, it assesses whether response to treatment differs by etiology or developmental status.
Methods
The National Infantile Spasms Consortium established a multicenter, prospective database enrolling infants with new diagnosis of infantile spasms. Children were considered responders if there was clinical remission and resolution of hypsarrhythmia that was sustained at 3 months after first treatment initiation. Standard treatments of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), oral corticosteroids, and vigabatrin were considered individually, and all other nonstandard therapies were analyzed collectively. Developmental status and etiology were assessed. We compared response rates by treatment group using chi‐square tests and multivariate logistic regression models.
Results
Two hundred thirty infants were enrolled from 22 centers. Overall, 46% of children receiving standard therapy responded, compared to only 9% who responded to nonstandard therapy (p < 0.001). Fifty‐five percent of infants receiving ACTH as initial treatment responded, compared to 39% for oral corticosteroids, 36% for vigabatrin, and 9% for other (p < 0.001). Neither etiology nor development significantly modified the response pattern by treatment group.
Interpretation
Response rate varies by treatment choice. Standard therapies should be considered as initial treatment for infantile spasms, including those with impaired development or known structural or genetic/metabolic etiology. ACTH appeared to be more effective than other standard therapies. ANN NEUROL 2016;79:475–484
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Significance Human mucosal surfaces contain a wide range of microorganisms. The biological effects of these organisms are largely unknown. Large-scale metagenomic sequencing is emerging as a method ...to identify novel microbes. Unexpectedly, we identified DNA sequences homologous to virus ATCV-1, an algal virus not previously known to infect humans, in oropharyngeal samples obtained from healthy adults. The presence of ATCV-1 was associated with a modest but measurable decrease in cognitive functioning. A relationship between ATCV-1 and cognitive functioning was confirmed in a mouse model, which also indicated that exposure to ATCV-1 resulted in changes in gene expression within the brain. Our study indicates that viruses in the environment not thought to infect humans can have biological effects.
Chloroviruses (family Phycodnaviridae ) are large DNA viruses known to infect certain eukaryotic green algae and have not been previously shown to infect humans or to be part of the human virome. We unexpectedly found sequences homologous to the chlorovirus Acanthocystis turfacea chlorella virus 1 (ATCV-1) in a metagenomic analysis of DNA extracted from human oropharyngeal samples. These samples were obtained by throat swabs of adults without a psychiatric disorder or serious physical illness who were participating in a study that included measures of cognitive functioning. The presence of ATCV-1 DNA was confirmed by quantitative PCR with ATCV-1 DNA being documented in oropharyngeal samples obtained from 40 (43.5%) of 92 individuals. The presence of ATCV-1 DNA was not associated with demographic variables but was associated with a modest but statistically significant decrease in the performance on cognitive assessments of visual processing and visual motor speed. We further explored the effects of ATCV-1 in a mouse model. The inoculation of ATCV-1 into the intestinal tract of 9–11-wk-old mice resulted in a subsequent decrease in performance in several cognitive domains, including ones involving recognition memory and sensory-motor gating. ATCV-1 exposure in mice also resulted in the altered expression of genes within the hippocampus. These genes comprised pathways related to synaptic plasticity, learning, memory formation, and the immune response to viral exposure.
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BFBNIB, NMLJ, NUK, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Design, calibration, and performance of the MINERvA detector Aliaga, L.; Bagby, L.; Baldin, B. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
04/2014, Volume:
743
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The MINERvA66Main INjector ExpeRiment ν-A. experiment is designed to perform precision studies of neutrino-nucleus scattering using νμ and ν¯μ neutrinos incident at 1–20GeV in the NuMI beam at ...Fermilab. This article presents a detailed description of the MINERvA detector and describes the ex situ and in situ techniques employed to characterize the detector and monitor its performance. The detector is composed of a finely segmented scintillator-based inner tracking region surrounded by electromagnetic and hadronic sampling calorimetry. The upstream portion of the detector includes planes of graphite, iron and lead interleaved between tracking planes to facilitate the study of nuclear effects in neutrino interactions. Observations concerning the detector response over sustained periods of running are reported. The detector design and methods of operation have relevance to future neutrino experiments in which segmented scintillator tracking is utilized.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK