Amélia Maio

The SNO+ Collaboration reports the first evidence of reactor antineutrinos in a Cherenkov detector. The nearest nuclear reactors are located 240 km away in Ontario, Canada. This analysis uses events with energies lower than in any previous analysis with a large water Cherenkov detector. Two analytical methods are used to distinguish reactor antineutrinos from background events in 190 days of data and yield consistent evidence for antineutrinos with a combined significance of 3.5σ.

The dimuon production in 200 GeV/nucleon oxygen-uranium interactions is studied by the NA 38 Collaboration. The production ofJ/ψ, correlated with the transverse energyET, is investigated and compared to the continuum, as a function of the dimuon massM and transverse momentumPT. A value of 0.64±0.06 is found for the ratio (ψ/Continuum at highET)/(ψ/Continuum at lowET), from which theJ/ψ relative suppression can be extracted. This suppression is enhanced at lowPT.

A measurement of the $^8$B solar neutrino flux has been made using a 69.2 kt-day dataset acquired with the SNO+ detector during its water commissioning phase. At energies above 6 MeV the dataset is an extremely pure sample of solar neutrino elastic scattering events, owing primarily to the detector's deep location, allowing an accurate measurement with relatively little exposure. In that energy region the best fit background rate is $0.25^{+0.09}_{-0.07}$ events/kt-day, significantly lower than the measured solar neutrino event rate in that energy range, which is $1.03^{+0.13}_{-0.12}$ events/kt-day. Also using data below this threshold, down to 5 MeV, fits of the solar neutrino event direction yielded an observed flux of $2.53^{+0.31}_{-0.28}$(stat.)$^{+0.13}_{-0.10}$(syst.)$\times10^6$ cm$^{-2}$s$^{-1}$, assuming no neutrino oscillations. This rate is consistent with matter enhanced neutrino oscillations and measurements from other experiments.

The development of new and effective antimicrobial compounds is an urgent need with the emergence of resistant bacteria. Natural plant flavonoids are known to be effective molecules but their activity and selectivity have to be increased. Based on previous aurone potency, we designed new aurone derivatives bearing acetamido and amino groups at the position 5 of the A ring and managing various monosubstitutions at the B ring. A series of 31 new aurone derivatives were first evaluated for their antimicrobial activity with five derivatives being the most active (compounds 10, 12, 15, 16, and 20). The evaluation of their cytotoxicity on human cells and of their therapeutic index (TI) showed that compounds 10 and 20 have the highest TI. Finally, screening against a large panel of pathogens confirmed that compounds 10 and 20 possess a large spectrum antimicrobial activity, including on bioweapon BSL3 strains, with MIC values as low as 0.78 µM. These results demonstrate that 5-acetamidoaurones are far more active and safest compared with 5-aminoaurones, and that benzyloxy and isopropyl substitutions at the B ring are the most promising strategy in the exploration of new antimicrobial aurones.

The development of new and effective antimicrobial compounds is urgent due to the emergence of resistant bacteria. Natural plant flavonoids are known to be effective molecules, but their activity and selectivity have to be increased. Based on previous aurone potency, we designed new aurone derivatives bearing acetamido and amino groups at the position 5 of the A ring and managing various monosubstitutions at the B ring. A series of 31 new aurone derivatives were first evaluated for their antimicrobial activity with five derivatives being the most active (compounds 10, 12, 15, 16, and 20). The evaluation of their cytotoxicity on human cells and of their therapeutic index (TI) showed that compounds 10 and 20 had the highest TI. Finally, screening against a large panel of pathogens confirmed that compounds 10 and 20 possess large spectrum antimicrobial activity, including on bioweapon BSL3 strains, with MIC values as low as 0.78 µM. These results demonstrate that 5-acetamidoaurones are far more active and safer compared with 5-aminoaurones, and that benzyloxy and isopropyl substitutions at the B ring are the most promising strategy in the exploration of new antimicrobial aurones.

This paper reports results from a search for single and multi-nucleon disappearance from the $^{16}$O nucleus in water within the \snoplus{} detector using all of the available data. These so-called "invisible" decays do not directly deposit energy within the detector but are instead detected through their subsequent nuclear de-excitation and gamma-ray emission. New limits are given for the partial lifetimes: $\tau(n\rightarrow inv) > 9.0\times10^{29}$ years, $\tau(p\rightarrow inv) > 9.6\times10^{29}$ years, $\tau(nn\rightarrow inv) > 1.5\times10^{28}$ years, $\tau(np\rightarrow inv) > 6.0\times10^{28}$ years, and $\tau(pp\rightarrow inv) > 1.1\times10^{29}$ years at 90\% Bayesian credibility level (with a prior uniform in rate). All but the ($nn\rightarrow inv$) results improve on existing limits by a factor of about 3.

A scintillating fibre tracker is proposed to measure elastic proton scattering at very small angles in the ATLAS experiment at CERN. The tracker will be located in so-called Roman Pot units at a distance of 240 m on each side of the ATLAS interaction point. An initial validation of the design choices was achieved in a beam test at DESY in a relatively low energy electron beam and using slow off-the-shelf electronics. Here we report on the results from a second beam test experiment carried out at CERN, where new detector prototypes were tested in a high energy hadron beam, using the first version of the custom designed front-end electronics. With a spatial resolution of 25 μm an adequate tracking performance was obtained, under conditions which are similar to the situation at the LHC. In addition, the alignment method using so-called overlap detectors was studied and shown to have the expected precision.

The SNO+ experiment collected data as a low-threshold water Cherenkov detector from September 2017 to July 2019. Measurements of the 2.2-MeV $\gamma$ produced by neutron capture on hydrogen have been made using an Am-Be calibration source, for which a large fraction of emitted neutrons are produced simultaneously with a 4.4-MeV $\gamma$. Analysis of the delayed coincidence between the 4.4-MeV $\gamma$ and the 2.2-MeV capture $\gamma$ revealed a neutron detection efficiency that is centered around 50% and varies at the level of 1% across the inner region of the detector, which to our knowledge is the highest efficiency achieved among pure water Cherenkov detectors. In addition, the neutron capture time constant was measured and converted to a thermal neutron-proton capture cross section of $336.3^{+1.2}_{-1.5}$ mb.

SNO+ is a large-scale liquid scintillator experiment with the primary goal of searching for neutrinoless double beta decay, and is located approximately 2 km underground in SNOLAB, Sudbury, Canada. The detector acquired data for two years as a pure water Cherenkov detector, starting in May 2017. During this period, the optical properties of the detector were measured in situ using a deployed light diffusing sphere, with the goal of improving the detector model and the energy response systematic uncertainties. The measured parameters included the water attenuation coefficients, effective attenuation coefficients for the acrylic vessel, and the angular response of the photomultiplier tubes and their surrounding light concentrators, all across different wavelengths. The calibrated detector model was validated using a deployed tagged gamma source, which showed a 0.6% variation in energy scale across the primary target volume.

The ATLAS collaboration plans to determine the absolute luminosity of the CERN LHC at Interaction Point 1 by measuring the trajectory of protons elastically scattered at very small angles (μrad). A scintillating fibre tracker system called ALFA (Absolute Luminosity For ATLAS) is proposed for this measurement. Detector modules will be placed above and below the LHC beam axis in roman pot units at a distance of 240 m on cach side of the ATLAS interaction point. They allow the detectors to approach the beam axis to millimeter distance. Overlap detectors also based on the scintillating fibre technology, will measure the precise relative position of the two detector modules, Results obtained during beam tests at DESY and at CERN validate the detectors design and demonstrate the achievable resolution. We also report about radiation hardness studies of the scintillating fibres to estimate the lifetime of the ALFA system at different operating conditions of the LHC. (Less)

The radiation hardness of different types of WLS fibers produced by BICRON, KURARAY and POL.HI.TECH has been systematically studied. Low dose rate irradiations (from 0.55 krad/h up to 4 krad/h and total dose of about 140 krad) were performed with a 60Co γ source. The results are compared with high dose rate irradiations (1.5 Mrad/h and total dose of 1 Mrad) in a mixed field of 20% of neutrons and 80% of γ's in a nuclear reactor. The degradation of the optical properties of fibers with different composition, namely different Ultraviolet absorber (UVA) concentration and different type of cladding are studied. Dose rate effects are investigated as well as the effect of irradiation with different type of particles. The UVA can help on the radiation hardness, but no permanent dose rate effects, or special effects due to the neutron component of the irradiation field were observed.

Several types of WLS fibers, candidates to be used in the TILECAL/ATLAS detector, were irradiated in a 60Co γ source. Bicron, Kuraray and Pol.Hi.Tech fibers were exposed to a total dose of ∼150 Krad. The degradation of light output was measured just after irradiation and followed during several days. The results are presented.

To comply with the increase in luminosity of the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) in the next decades, the electronics of the ATLAS (A Toroidal LHC Apparatus) experiment is being upgraded. Included in the upgrade is the interfacing and control electronics system of the HVOpto/HVRemote cards in the TileCal (Tile Calorimeter) detector, which provides high voltages to about 104 photomultipliers (PMTs). This paper presents the new interfacing architecture for the system and details the design of a prototype control board (HVRemote-Ctrl) used for test and validation of the new architecture. The tests evaluate the system multiplexing capabilities needed to monitor all the TileCal PMTs in real time. The communication channels involved, supported in Ethernet and SPI interfaces/protocols, have been fully tested. Some results from the tests already completed are presented.

Comparative studies of the optical properties of polystyrene WLS fibers for High Energy Physics Experiments are presented. The response of fibers to the blue light of a plastic scintillator is compared for fibers with different dopant concentration, with single and multiple cladding, and with several Ultra Violet Absorbers (UVA) with different concentrations. Preliminary results on the mechanical stress of the fibers are shown and a brief summary of the radiation hardness is given.

Heat shock proteins (hsp) are important components of the cellular chaperone pool, playing an important role in protein folding, intracellular traffic, and degradation among others. The Hsp70 family of hsp present a 40–60% sequence identity among its prokaryotic and eukaryotic members. The human mitochondrial Hsp70 (mtHsp70), also named mortalin, is mainly involved in the transport of proteins from the cytosol into the mitochondrion matrix. It is also present in the cytoplasm where it is involved in the p53 sequestration. Prior studies have shown that the human Hsp70 and Hsc70 have an unusual capacity for interacting with lipid membranes opening ion conductance pathways. Since mtHsp70/mortalin is a key player in the translocation of polypeptides across the mitochondrial membrane, we investigate whether this protein could also get inserted into lipid membranes. To test this hypothesis, we performed interactions studies with recombinant mtHsp70/mortalin and liposomes, resembling the composition of the mitochondrial membrane. Recombinant human mtHsp70/mortalin was incubated with liposomes (100nm) made of lipids contained in the mitochondrial membrane: palmitoyl‐oleoyl phosphocholine (POPC), palmitoyl‐oleoyl phosphoserine (POPS), and palmitoyl‐oleoyl phosphoethanolamine (POPE), and cardiolipin (CL). In addition, the effect of the co‐chaperone hHep1 on liposome insertion was analyzed. MtHsp70/mortalin displayed a great predilection for POPS and CL and a low affinity for POPC and POPE, suggesting that the proteins that it has high specificity for are negatively charged lipids. The interaction of mtHsp70/mortalin with CL may be very relevant for the interaction with the mitochondrial membrane that is enriched in CL (up to 15% of total lipids). In contrast, the co‐chaperone hHep1 interacted with liposomes made of all the lipids with high prominence for POPC. In all, our data have shown that mtHsp70/mortalin, as well as other human Hsp70s, are prone to interact with membranes and that perhaps is also the case of the inner mitochondrial membrane and the CL lipid plays a central role in this interaction. Support or Funding Information This work was supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH) Grants R01 GM098455‐04 and R01 GM114473‐01 and FAPESP process: 2016/22477‐1 This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal .

The small angle tile calorimeter (STIC) provides calorimetric coverage in the very forward region of the DELPHI experiment at the CERN LEP collider. The structure of the calorimeters, built with so-called "shashlik" technique, allows the insertion of tracking detectors within the sampling structure, in order to make it possible to determine the direction of the showering particle. Presented here are some results demonstrating the performance of the calorimeter and of these tracking detectors at LEP.

The Small Angle TIle Calorimeter (STIC) is a sampling lead-scintillator calorimeter, built with “shashlik’ technique. Results are presented from extensive studies of the detector performance at LEP.

The STIC calorimeter was installed in the DELPHI detector in 1994. The main goal is to measure the luminosity with an accuracy better than 0.1%. The calorimeter was built using the “Shashlik” technique. The light is collected by wavelength shifting fibers and readout by phototetrodes that can operate inside the magnetic field. The detector performance during the 1994–1995 data taking is presented. The different contributions to the systematic error on the luminosity measurement are discussed.