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Abstract This article describes the setup and performance of the near and far detectors in the Double Chooz experiment. The electron antineutrinos of the Chooz nuclear power plant were measured in two identically designed detectors with different average baselines of about 400 m and 1050 m from the two reactor cores. Over many years of data taking the neutrino signals were extracted from interactions in the detectors with the goal of measuring a fundamental parameter in the context of neutrino oscillation, the mixing angle $$\theta _{13}$$ θ 13 . The central part of the Double Chooz detectors was a main detector comprising four cylindrical volumes filled with organic liquids. From the inside towards the outside there were volumes containing gadolinium-loaded scintillator, gadolinium-free scintillator, a buffer oil and, optically separated, another liquid scintillator acting as veto system. Above this main detector an additional outer veto system using plastic scintillator strips was installed. The technologies developed in Double Chooz were inspiration for several other antineutrino detectors in the field. The detector design allowed implementation of efficient background rejection techniques including use of pulse shape information provided by the data acquisition system. The Double Chooz detectors featured remarkable stability, in particular for the detected photons, as well as high radiopurity of the detector components.

Abstract We present a search for signatures of neutrino mixing of electron anti-neutrinos with additional hypothetical sterile neutrino flavors using the Double Chooz experiment. The search is based on data from 5 years of operation of Double Chooz, including 2 years in the two-detector configuration. The analysis is based on a profile likelihood, i.e. comparing the data to the model prediction of disappearance in a data-to-data comparison of the two respective detectors. The analysis is optimized for a model of three active and one sterile neutrino. It is sensitive in the typical mass range $${5 \times 10^{-3}}\,\mathrm{eV}^2 \lesssim \varDelta m^2_{41} \lesssim {3 \times 10^{-1}}\,\mathrm{eV}^2 $$ 5 × 10 - 3 eV 2 ≲ Δ m 41 2 ≲ 3 × 10 - 1 eV 2 for mixing angles down to $$\sin ^2 2\theta _{14} \gtrsim {0.02} $$ sin 2 2 θ 14 ≳ 0.02 . No significant disappearance additionally to the conventional disappearance related to $$\theta _{13} $$ θ 13 is observed and correspondingly exclusion bounds on the sterile mixing parameter $$\theta _{14} $$ θ 14 as a function of $$ \varDelta m^2_{41} $$ Δ m 41 2 are obtained.

Abstract A θ 13 oscillation analysis based on the observed antineutrino rates at the Double Chooz far and near detectors for different reactor power conditions is presented. This approach provides a so far unique simultaneous determination of θ 13 and the total background rates without relying on any assumptions on the specific background contributions. The analysis comprises 865 days of data collected in both detectors with at least one reactor in operation. The oscillation results are enhanced by the use of 24.06 days (12.74 days) of reactor-off data in the far (near) detector. The analysis considers the ν ¯ e $$ {\overline{\nu}}_e $$ interactions up to a visible energy of 8.5 MeV, using the events at higher energies to build a cosmogenic background model considering fast-neutrons interactions and 9Li decays. The background-model-independent determination of the mixing angle yields sin2(2θ 13) = 0.094 ± 0.017, being the best-fit total background rates fully consistent with the cosmogenic background model. A second oscillation analysis is also performed constraining the total background rates to the cosmogenic background estimates. While the central value is not significantly modified due to the consistency between the reactor-off data and the background estimates, the addition of the background model reduces the uncertainty on θ 13 to 0.015. Along with the oscillation results, the normalization of the anti-neutrino rate is measured with a precision of 0.86%, reducing the 1.43% uncertainty associated to the expectation.

Abstract The yields and production rates of the radioisotopes 9Li and 8He created by cosmic muon spallation on 12C, have been measured by the two detectors of the Double Chooz experiment. The identical detectors are located at separate sites and depths, which means that they are subject to different muon spectra. The near (far) detector has an overburden of ∼120 m.w.e. (∼300 m.w.e.) corresponding to a mean muon energy of 32.1 ± 2.0 GeV (63.7 ± 5.5 GeV). Comparing the data to a detailed simulation of the 9Li and 8He decays, the contribution of the 8He radioisotope at both detectors is found to be compatible with zero. The observed 9Li yields in the near and far detectors are 5.51 ± 0.51 and 7.90 ± 0.51, respectively, in units of 10−8 μ −1g−1cm2. The shallow overburdens of the near and far detectors give a unique insight when combined with measurements by KamLAND and Borexino to give the first multi-experiment, data driven relationship between the 9Li yield and the mean muon energy according to the power law Y = Y 0 E μ / 1 GeV α ¯ $$ Y = {Y}_0{\left(\left\langle {E}_{\mu}\right\rangle /1\ GeV\right)}^{\overline{\alpha}} $$ , giving α ¯ = 0.72 ± 0.06 $$ \overline{\alpha} = 0.72 \pm 0.06 $$ and Y 0 = (0.43 ± 0.11) × 10−8 μ −1g−1cm2. This relationship gives future liquid scintillator based experiments the ability to predict their cosmogenic 9Li background rates.

Evaluation of fuzzy based classifier to identify and map a specific crop using multi-spectral and time series data spanning over one growing season. The temporal data is pre-processed with respect to geo-registration and five spectral indices SR (Simple Ratio), NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation index), TNDVI (Transformed Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), SAVI (Soil- Adjusted Vegetation Index) and TVI (Triangular Vegetation Index). The noise classifier (NC) is evaluated in sub pixel classification approach and accuracy assessment has been carried out using fuzzy error matrix (FERM). The classification results with respect to the additional indices were compared in terms of image to image maximum classification accuracy. The overall accuracy observed in dataset 2 was 96.03% for TNDVI indices, using NC. Data used for this study was AWIFS for soft classification and LISS-III data for soft testing generated from Resourcesat-1(IRS-P6) satellite. The research indicates that appropriately used indices can incorporate temporal variations while extracting specific crop of interest with soft computing techniques for images having coarser spatial and temporal resolution remote sensing data.

Intro: COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective at reducing risk of severe COVID-19 among pregnant women, a group at higher risk of severe disease. However, vaccine uptake has been slow among people in Zambia. We sought to describe vaccine uptake among pregnant women in Zambia. Methods: We conducted serial cross-sectional surveys among pregnant women attending first antenatal care visits in one rural and two urban districts of Zambia from December 2021 through June 2022. Ten health facilities per district were randomly selected and a convenience sample of 20 women per facility per month were recruited. Consenting participants were administered an electronic questionnaire asking about offers and receipt of COVID-19 vaccines. Findings: In total, 3,652 women were recruited from December 2021 to June 2022, and 82.4% had not received a COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccine coverage among participants rose from 10.5% in December 2021 to 28.7% in June 2022 (p

Crude oil continues to impact many nations as it is among the major sources of fuel. Its role in making life in modern societies comfortable cannot be overemphasized as it is readily available and easy to use. Contamination resulting from its use in industries such as mining, transportation and petroleum especially soil contamination cannot be overlooked. Soil pollution resulting from oil contamination can be seen as being among the twenty-first-century vulnerabilities because if not well taken care of the consequences can be devastating. Soil contamination is of interest in most societies because it affects both the environment and humans. This review highlights common sources of soil pollution and their effects, oil waste disposal methods, soil remediation techniques that are well established and those still in their infancy. Such techniques include bioremediation such as phytoremediation and landfarming, where percent removal of contaminated soils was reported from 68% to 89 % in 40 days to 1 year, respectively; physical methods such as excavation and incineration (75-86% removal); chemical methods such as oxidation (48 % by Fenton process); and photocatalysis (67% using titanium dioxide). The choice of remediation in mining, transportation and petroleum industries depends on the urgency and hazardous effects of the pollutant. In Zambia, Mopani Copper Mines uses landfarming as a means to mitigate large amounts of soil contaminated with oil wastes, but the process is slow. In the proposed research, photocatalysis coupled with adsorption of oil on clay will be used to assess the effectiveness of this emerging technology to quicken the degradation of oil in soils. Clay will be incorporated with metal ions and with hydrophobic groups to enhance light absorption and oil-clay interaction, respectively. Photochemical remediation techniques for remediation of soils polluted with oil have attracted considerable interest as the processes are reported to enhance the degradation of oils in soil compared to the biological and physical methods. The extent of photo-degradation of oil waste will be evaluated using the Soxhlet technique by determining the percent residual oil. The importance of remediating contaminated soil in any nation cannot be overemphasized as consequences of not remediating this precious resource might be devastating. Since economic development through industrialization will continue, there is need to constantly improve on methods of mitigating the impact of wastes on the environment, especially in developing countries, where engineering of cheap, nontoxic materials for soil remediation is paramount. ========================================================================================== COPYRIGHTS©2021 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, as long as the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers. ==========================================================================================

Background Previous studies demonstrated that when the violence-exposed child becomes a mother and interacts with her own child during early sensitive periods for social-emotional development, she may have difficulties providing sensitive responsiveness to the child’s emotional communication. Such difficulties place the child’s development of emotional comprehension (EC) and related self-regulation at risk. The aim of this study was to examine how mothers’ interpersonal violence-related posttraumatic disorder (IPV-PTSD) would affect their children’s EC and their own ability to predict their children’s EC. We also investigated how mothers’ predictive ability would correlate with child psychopathology. Methods Sixty-one mother–child dyads (36 with IPV-PTSD) participated in this study. Children’s (mean age = 7.0 years, SD = 1.1) EC was assessed with the Test of Emotion Comprehension (child TEC) and their psychopathology as reported by the mother was assessed with the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) and as evaluated by a clinician using selected modules of the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (K-SADS). Mothers were measured for IPV-PTSD with the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) and for their capacity to predict their child’s emotional comprehension (mother-responding-as-child TEC; mTEC). Results We found no significant between-group differences in children’s level of EC. Maternal PTSD was associated with lower scores on the mTEC, however. Reduced maternal scores on the mTEC were significantly associated with maternal report of increased aggressive child behaviour and with depression symptoms on the K-SADS. Further, scores on the mTEC interacted with maternal report of child aggression on child oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms on the K-SADS. Conclusion These findings support that improving maternal emotional comprehension may help reduce child risk for psychiatric morbidity in this population.

In the present study, morphological variations in 14 species of two families, Tetraodontidae and Diodontidae, were examined for individuals collected from five different centres in Tamil Nadu in the southeastern coast of India. Twenty-seven morphological measurements and four meristic characters were taken and used for multivariate analyses such as discriminant function analysis (DFA) & MANOVA. DFA revealed that the first two functions accounted for more than 75% variation between the species. Negative allometric values were observed on head length (HL), orbital length (OL), pupil diameter (PD), interorbital length (IOL), pectoral-fin length (PEL), caudal peduncle depth (CPD), dorsal to pectoral fin distance (DPFD), caudal peduncle length (CPL) and post-pectoral-fin length (POPFL) measurements. Also, MANOVA supported the DFA results. Additions, allometric relationships, and meristic variations were observed for most of these species. Moreover, this is the first attempt to describe a greater number of morphological features of the species belonging to the order Tetraodontiformes.

The increasing availability of satellite data is a real value for the enhancement of environmental knowledge and land management. Possibilities to integrate different source of geo-data are growing and methodologies to create thematic database are becoming very sophisticated. Moreover, the access to internet services and, in particular, to web mapping services is well developed and spread either between expert users than the citizens. Web map services, like Google Maps or Open Street Maps, give the access to updated optical imagery or topographic maps but information on land cover/use – are not still provided. Therefore, there are many failings in the general utilization –non-specialized users- and access to those maps. This issue is particularly felt where the digital (web) maps could form the basis for land use management as they are more economic and accessible than the paper maps. These conditions are well known in many African countries where, while the internet access is becoming open to all, the local map agencies and their products are not widespread.

This study is part of the EU H2020 research Project FLOWERED (de-FLuoridation technologies for imprOving quality of WatEr and agRo-animal products along the East African Rift Valley in the context of aDaptation to climate change). FLOWERED project aims to develop technologies and methodologies at cross-boundary catchment scales to manage the risks associated with high Fluoride water supply in Africa, focusing on three representative test areas along the African Rift Valley (i.e. Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania), characterized by high fluoride contents in waters and soils, water scarcity, overexploitation of groundwater and high vulnerability to risks arising from climate change, as drought and desertification. It also is empowering local communities to take responsibility for the integrated-sustainability of the natural resources, growing national and international environmental priorities, enhancing transboundary cooperation and promoting local ownership based on a scientific and technological approach. Within the FLOWERED project, the transition from the land cover to the land use and water use maps is provided through the development of a mobile application (FLOWERED-GeoDBapp ). It is dedicated to the collection of local geo-information on land use, water uses, irrigation systems, household features, use of drinking water and the other information needful for the specific knowledge of water supply involving local communities through participative approach. This system is structured to be populated, through an action of crowd-generating data by local communities (students and people involved mainly by NGOs). The SHAREGEODBapp is proposed as an innovative tool for water management and agriculture institutions at regional and local level.

Background. Like in most salmonids, females of Artic charr dig nests, while spawning, to deposit their eggs, while the role of males is most often limited to the territorial defence. The aim of this study was to examine the histological structure of skin in both sexes, in the body parts which are particularly exposed to mechanical damage during spawning. Materials and methods. Based on material representing three forms (anadromous, land-locked (lake), and dwarf/riverine), collected in the pre-spawning and spawning periods, histological structure of the skin was analysed for three body areas: dorsum (back), side, and venter (belly). Results. In females of all the forms the skin in analysed body areas was thicker and contained more mucous cells, compared to males. In the ventral region it was the thickest, on the dorsum-the thinnest. A comparison of the skin structure in the three forms showed that, in the land-locked form (both sexes), the skin in all the body parts was thicker and richer in mucous cells, compared to the anadromous form. Conclusion. The skin of Arctic charr females plays a protective role, preventing mechanical damage during nest digging and egg burying, because of its substantial thickness and the abundance of mucous cells especially in the ventral region.

Recent research on reinforcement learning (RL) based traffic management shows promising results, yet it is a significant issue due to increasing volume of traffic and lack of real time traffic information. Improvements of RL algorithms and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications technologies are creating new prospects to achieve better traffic efficiency. This paper proposes a new method, namely Vehicle-to-Infrastructure based Traffic Signal Control (V2I-TSC), to capture realistic traffic state using vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications under 5G-NR-V2X paradigm. It uses single agent RL framework to optimize a traffic signal control which is trained and evaluated through Simulation of Urban MObility (SUMO) simulator. The experimental results show that our proposed method enhances traffic efficiency at the intersection compared to the general traffic control method.

A Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system is often utilized in passenger vehicles to enhance the comfort of both the driver and the passengers. The reliability of an HVAC system refers to the probability that a component within the system will fulfil its intended function during a specified timeframe while operating according to the predefined operational and environmental conditions. Conducting a reliability analysis for the HVAC system of a passenger vehicle is crucial to ensure safety, comfort, cost-effectiveness, and a positive standing. A methodology for analyzing the reliability analysis of a HVAC system using field failure data were developed to identify the critical failure modes, components, and subsystems. A detailed Pareto analysis was applied at subsystem and failure mode levels in order to prioritize them accordingly to their failure frequency. The analysis showed that the A/C evaporator and blower front sides were observed to be the most critical subsystems, contributing to approximately 50% of all failures. Furthermore, the leakages at the joints and vibrations are the primary failure modes of the HVAC system. The Weibull++ software package (version 2021) was used to estimate the best-fit probability distributions for each subsystem and system reliability modelling using a Reliability Block Diagram. The results show that the exponential distribution fits well for several subsystem’s Time-To-Failure (TTF) data and show that the failures were random and due to external reasons.

Purpose: To evaluate the role of strain elastography (SE) in reclassification of indeterminate breast lesions placed under BIRADS 3 and 4 categories by conventional ultrasound (US) parameters so as to recourse biopsy only for suspicious stiffer lesions. Methods: 113 breast lesions in 100 women assigned as BIRADS category 3 and 4 on US parameters were prospectively evaluated by SE followed by histo-pathological examination. Strain ratio (SR) and Elastography Score (ES) were determined for each lesion. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) were calculated for each modality and diagnostic performance were compared. The best cut-off point was calculated for each of the elastography parameter using the receiver operator curve analysis (ROC). Results: Out of the 113 lesions, 40 were malignant (35.4’) and 73 were benign (64.6’). A statistically significant difference was observed in the AUC for ES and conventional US: 0.98 vs 0.90 (Difference = 0.08, P = 0.02). Elastography parameters were more specific as compared to US (ES-94.5 & SR-93.2’ vs 63’, P < 0.05) with high NPV. SE performed better in BIRADS 4 category lesions. On the basis of elastography parameters, 85’ of BIRADS 4 category lesions were correctly predicted as benign with overall sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy of elastography being 97’, 84.6’ and 91.9’. Among BIRADS 3 category lesions, 97’ were correctly predicted as benign and 50’ lesions were correctly predicted as malignant with a sensitivity of 50’, specificity of 97.8’ and diagnostic accuracy of 94’. Conclusion: Strain elastography is a useful adjunct to conventional ultrasonography for the assessment of indeterminate breast lesions and may help in avoiding unnecessary follow ups and biopsies. Elastography score is a better parameter as compared to strain ratio.

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common peripheral nerve entrapment neuropathy caused due to compression of the median nerve at the level of the wrist joint. Bifid median nerve associated with a persistent median artery is a rare entity and in itself asymptomatic anatomical variant. However, distension of the persistent median artery due to a thrombus can be symptomatic due to compression on the median nerve and can compromise the blood flow to the palm. We report a case of persistent median artery thrombosis in a young female patient who presented with symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome diagnosed on the ultrasonography and confirmed on the MRI with subsequent improvement post anticoagulation therapy.

Abstract Background Salix aegyptiaca is known for its medicinal properties mainly due to the presence of salicylate compounds. However, it also contains other beneficial phytochemicals such as gallic acid, quercetin, rutin and vanillin. The aim of the study was to examine the redox potential, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity of these phytochemicals along with acetylsalicylic acid. Methods The redox potential and antioxidant activity of gallic acid, quercetin, rutin, vanillin and acetylsalicylic acid were determined by oxidation-reduction potential electrode method and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay, respectively. In ex vivo studies, antioxidant activity of these phytochemicals was determined by lipid peroxidation and carbonyl content assay in the liver of mice. Anti-inflammatory activity was determined by protein denaturation method. Six-week old C57BL/6 mice treated with gallic acid (100 mg/kg body weight) and acetylsalicylic acid (25 and 50 mg/kg body weight) to investigate their in vivo modulatory effects on the specific activities of drug metabolizing phase I and phase II enzymes, antioxidant enzymes and level of lipid peroxidation in liver. Results The order of ability to donate electron and antioxidant activity was found to be: gallic acid > quercetin > rutin > vanillin > acetylsalicylic acid. In ex vivo studies, the similar pattern and magnitude of inhibitory effects of these phytochemicals against peroxidative damage in microsomes and protein carbonyl in cytosolic fraction were observed. In in vivo studies, gallic acid and acetylsalicylic acid alone or in combination, enhanced the specific activities of drug metabolizing phase I and phase II enzymes as well as antioxidant enzymes and also inhibited lipid peroxidation in liver. Conclusions These findings show a close link between the electron donation and antioxidation potential of these phytochemicals, and in turn their biological activity. Gallic acid, quercetin, rutin and vanillin were found to be better electron donors and antioxidants and therefore, might be mainly responsible for the antioxidant properties of S. aegyptiaca, while acetylsalicylic acid provided its maximum anti-inflammatory activity.

Gamma spectrometry for environmental samples of low specific activities demands low minimum detection levels of measurement. An attempt has been made to lower the gamma detection level of measurement by optimizing the sample geometry, without compromising on the sample size. Gamma energy of 50–200 keV range was chosen for the study, since low energy gamma photons suffer the most self-attenuation within matrix. The simulation study was carried out using MCNP based software “EffCalcMC” for silica matrix and cylindrical geometries. A volume of 250 ml sample geometry of 9 cm diameter is optimized as the best suitable geometry for use, against the in-practice 7 cm diameter geometry of same volume. An increase in efficiency of 10%–23% was observed for the 50–200 keV gamma energy range and a corresponding lower minimum detectable activity of 9%–20% could be achieved for the same.

Lignolytic enzymes have great biotechnological value in biopulping, biobleaching, and bioremediation. Manganese peroxidase (EC 1:11:1:13) and lignin peroxidase (EC 1:11:1:14) are extracellular and hem-containing peroxidases that catalyze H2O2-dependent oxidation of lignin. Because of their ability to catalyse oxidation of a wide range of organic compounds and even some inorganic compounds, they got tremendous industrial importance. In this study, 3D structure of lignin and manganese peroxidase has been predicted on the basis of homology modeling using Swiss PDB workspace. The physicochemical properties like molecular weight, isoelectric point, Grand average of hydropathy, instability and aliphatic index of the target enzymes were performed using Protparam. The predicted secondary structure of MnP has 18 helices and 6 strands, while LiP has 20 helices and 4 strands. Generated 3D structure was visualized in Pymol. The generated model for MnP and LiP has Z-score Qmean of 0.01 and -0.71, respectively. The predicted models were validated through Ramachandran Plot, which indicated that 96.1 and 95.5% of the residues are in most favored regions for MnP and LiP respectively. The quality of predicted models were assessed and confirmed by VERIFY 3D, PROCHECK and ERRAT. The modeled structure of MnP and LiP were submitted to the Protein Model Database.

Trigonella foenum-graecum seed powder (TSP) has been reported to have hypoglycemic and hyperinsulinemic action. The objective of the study was to examine the antidiabetic and neuroprotective role of TSP in hyperglycemiainduced alterations in blood glucose, insulin levels and activities of membrane linked enzymes (Na+K+ATPase, Ca2+ATPase), antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, glutathione S-transferase), calcium (Ca2+) levels, lipid peroxidation, membrane fluidity and neurolipofuscin accumulation in the diabetic rat brain. Female Wistar rats weighing between 180 and 220 g were made diabetic by a single injection of alloxan monohydrate (15 mg/100 g body weight), diabetic rats were given 2 IU insulin, per day with 5% TSP in the diet for three weeks. A significant increase in lipid peroxidation was observed in diabetic brain. The increased lipid peroxidation following chronic hyperglycemia was accompanied with a significant increase in the neurolipofuscin deposition and Ca2+ levels with decreased activities of membrane linked ATPases and antioxidant enzymes in diabetic brain. A decrease in synaptosomal membrane fluidity may influence the activity of membrane linked enzymes in diabetes. The present study showed that TSP treatment can reverse the hyperglycemia induced changes to normal levels in diabetic rat brain. TSP administration amended effect of hyperglycemia on alterations in lipid peroxidation, restoring membrane fluidity, activities of membrane bound and antioxidant enzymes, thereby ameliorating the diabetic complications.

Free radical production and oxidative stress are known to increase in liver during aging, and may contribute to the oxidative damage. These changes increase during menopausal condition in females when the level of estradiol is decreased. The objective of this study was to observe the changes in activities of membrane linked ATPases (Na+K+ ATPase, Ca2+ ATPase), antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, glutathione-S-transferase), lipid peroxidation levels, lipofuscin content and membrane fluidity occurring in livers of female rats of 3, 12 and 24 months age groups, and to see whether these changes are restored to 3 months control levels rats after exogenous administration of 17-β-estradiol (E2). The aged rats (12 and 24 months) were given subcutaneous injection of E2 (0.1 μg/g body weight) daily for one month. The results obtained in the present work revealed that normal aging was associated with significant decrease in the activities of membrane linked ATPases, antioxidant enzymes, membrane fluidity and an increase in lipid peroxidation and lipofuscin content in livers of aging female rats. The present study showed that E2 treatment reversed the changes to normal levels. E2 treatment may be beneficial in preventing some of the age related changes in the liver by increasing antioxidant defenses.