Physics Potential of the ICAL detector at the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO)

The upcoming 50 kt magnetized iron calorimeter (ICAL) detector at the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) is designed to study the atmospheric neutrinos and antineutrinos separately over a wide range of energies and path lengths. The primary focus of this experiment is to explore the Earth matter effects by observing the energy and zenith angle dependence of the atmospheric neutrinos in the multi-GeV range. This study will be crucial to address some of the outstanding issues in neutrino oscillation physics, including the fundamental issue of neutrino mass hierarchy. In this document, we present the physics potential of the detector as obtained from realistic detector simulations. We describe the simulation framework, the neutrino interactions in the detector, and the expected response of the detector to particles traversing it. The ICAL detector can determine the energy and direction of the muons to a high precision, and in addition, its sensitivity to multi-GeV hadrons increases its physics reach substantially. Its charge identification capability, and hence its ability to distinguish neutrinos from antineutrinos, makes it an efficient detector for determining the neutrino mass hierarchy. In this report, we outline the analyses carried out for the determination of neutrino mass hierarchy and precision measurements of atmospheric neutrino mixing parameters at ICAL, and give the expected physics reach of the detector with 10 years of runtime. We also explore the potential of ICAL for probing new physics scenarios like CPT violation and the presence of magnetic monopoles.Comment: 139 pages, Physics White Paper of the ICAL (INO) Collaboration, Contents identical with the version published in Pramana - J. Physic

SARS-CoV-2 B.1.617.2 Delta variant replication and immune evasion

Abstract: The B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was first identified in the state of Maharashtra in late 2020 and spread throughout India, outcompeting pre-existing lineages including B.1.617.1 (Kappa) and B.1.1.7 (Alpha)1. In vitro, B.1.617.2 is sixfold less sensitive to serum neutralizing antibodies from recovered individuals, and eightfold less sensitive to vaccine-elicited antibodies, compared with wild-type Wuhan-1 bearing D614G. Serum neutralizing titres against B.1.617.2 were lower in ChAdOx1 vaccinees than in BNT162b2 vaccinees. B.1.617.2 spike pseudotyped viruses exhibited compromised sensitivity to monoclonal antibodies to the receptor-binding domain and the amino-terminal domain. B.1.617.2 demonstrated higher replication efficiency than B.1.1.7 in both airway organoid and human airway epithelial systems, associated with B.1.617.2 spike being in a predominantly cleaved state compared with B.1.1.7 spike. The B.1.617.2 spike protein was able to mediate highly efficient syncytium formation that was less sensitive to inhibition by neutralizing antibody, compared with that of wild-type spike. We also observed that B.1.617.2 had higher replication and spike-mediated entry than B.1.617.1, potentially explaining the B.1.617.2 dominance. In an analysis of more than 130 SARS-CoV-2-infected health care workers across three centres in India during a period of mixed lineage circulation, we observed reduced ChAdOx1 vaccine effectiveness against B.1.617.2 relative to non-B.1.617.2, with the caveat of possible residual confounding. Compromised vaccine efficacy against the highly fit and immune-evasive B.1.617.2 Delta variant warrants continued infection control measures in the post-vaccination era

ON THE INTENSITY OF INFECTION OF HELMINTH PARASITES IN CONGRESOX TALABONOIDES (BLEEKER) DURING THE RAINY SEASON OF 1987

The marine edible fishes, C. talabonoides (Bleeker) were examined for helminth parasites during the rainy season from July 1987 to October 1987. The results revealed that intensity of infection of helminth parasites was high in the case of nematode parasites (7.50). The intensity of infection of trematode parasites was moderate (4.19) and that of the cestodes was low (1.950 The infection of Acanthocephala was, however, found to be nil during the period of investigation

Minor p190 Fusion Transcript in CML - A Case Report

Objective: Detection of minor (p190) BCR-ABL fusion protein in a CML patients. Case Report: A 26-year-old female presented with complaints of pain abdomen and episodes of vomiting. On examination her vitals were stable and there was moderate splenomegaly. The peripheral blood and bone marrow cytological features were consistent with myeloproliferative neoplasm. Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) for BCR ABL was positive, with 87% of cells showing fusion transcript. However, Real Time Polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for p210 BCR-ABL was found to be negative. In view of high morphologic index of suspicion for CML, further molecular analysis was carried out for BCR/ABL fusion transcript variants along with JAK2 V617F mutations. Conclusion: The patient was found to be positive for BCR/ABL p190 e1a2 fusion transcript, while BCR/ABL p210 fusion transcript was negative