Final results of nu-e-bar electron scattering cross-section measurements and constraints on new physics

The nu-e-bar electron elastic scattering cross-section was measured with a CsI(Tl) scintillating crystal detector array with a total mass of 187 kg at the Kuo-Sheng Nuclear Power Station. The detectors were exposed to a reactor nu-e-bar flux of 6.4 X 10^{12} cm^{-2}s^{-1} originated from a core with 2.9 GW thermal power. Using 29882/7369 kg-days of Reactor ON/OFF data, the Standard Model (SM) of electroweak interaction was probed at the 4-momentum transfer range of Q^2 ~ 3 X 10^{-6} GeV^2. A cross-section ratio of R_{expt} = [1.08 +- 0.21(stat) +- 0.16(sys)] X R_{SM} was measured. Constraints on the electroweak parameters (g_V,g_A) were placed, corresponding to a weak mixing angle measurement of \s2tw = [0.251 +- 0.031(stat) +- 0.024(sys)]. Destructive interference in the SM nu-e-bar+e processes was verified. Bounds on neutrino anomalous electromagnetic properties (neutrino magnetic moment and neutrino charge radius), non-standard neutrino interactions, upparticle physics and non-commutative physics were placed. We summarize the experimental details and results, and discuss projected sensitivities with realistic and feasible hardware upgrades.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables ; To appear in Proceedings of TAUP-2011 Conferenc

Inhalation of mercury vapor can cause the toxic effects on rat kidney

Dental amalgam has been used in dentistry as a filling material. The filler comprises mercury (Hg). It is considered one of the most important and widespread environmental pollutants, which poses a serious potential threat for the humans and animals. However, mercury deposition affects the nervous, cardiovascular, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, and especially renal systems. In most animals' species and humans, the kidney is one of the main sites of deposition of mercury and target organ for its toxicity. In this study, the effects of mercury intake on kidney in rats were searched. For the this purpose; we used 24 adult female Wistar albino rats (200g in weight) obtained from Experimental Research and Application Center of Ataturk University with ethical approval. Besides, they were placed into a specially designed glass cage. Along this experiment for 45 days, subjects were exposed to (1mg/m(3)/day) mercury vapor. However, no application was used for the control subjects. At the end of the experiment, kidney samples were obtained from all subjects and processed for routine light microscopic level and stereological aspect were assessed. Finally, according to our results, mercury affects the histological features of the kidney. That means, the severe effects of mercury has been shown using stereological approach, which is one of the ideal quantitative methods in the current literature. In this study, it was detected that chronic exposure to mercury vapor may lead to renal damage and diseases in an experimental rat model

A study on sex estimation by using machine learning algorithms with parameters obtained from computerized tomography images of the cranium

The aim of this study is to test whether sex prediction can be made by using machine learning algorithms (ML) with parameters taken from computerized tomography (CT) images of cranium and mandible skeleton which are known to be dimorphic. CT images of the cranium skeletons of 150 men and 150 women were included in the study. 25 parameters determined were tested with different ML algorithms. Accuracy (Acc), Specificity (Spe), Sensitivity (Sen), F1 score (F1), Matthews correlation coefficient (Mcc) values were included as performance criteria and Minitab 17 package program was used in descriptive statistical analyses. p <= 0.05 value was considered as statistically significant. In ML algorithms, the highest prediction was found with 0.90 Acc, 0.80 Mcc, 0.90 Spe, 0.90 Sen, 0.90 F1 values as a result of LR algorithms. As a result of confusion matrix, it was found that 27 of 30 males and 27 of 30 females were predicted correctly. Acc ratios of other MLs were found to be between 0.81 and 0.88. It has been concluded that the LR algorithm to be applied to the parameters obtained from CT images of the cranium skeleton will predict sex with high accuracy

Retrospective Evaluation Of Percutaneous Treated Liver Cyst Hydatic Cases

INTRODUCTION: Our aim was to evaluate percutaneous treatment of hydatid cyst cases of liver and to evaluate the efficacy, complication rate of percutaneous treatment and the reasons for failure in patients who did not respond to treatment. METHODS: Our study is a retrospective study and percutaneous treatment of hydatid cyst cases of liver was performed in our interventional radiology unit between January 2012 and November 2018 and the patients who were followed up by our clinic were included in the study. Patients were evaluated in terms of age, sex, localization of the cyst in the liver, number of cysts treated, cyst types and cyst size. Our unsuccessful treatment criteria are; increased cyst size without septation-calcification, no change in cyst stage, extravasation and recurrence. RESULTS: In our study, a total of 119 percutaneous treatment was applied to 104 patients [38 (36.5%) males and 66 (63.5%) females]. The percutaneous cysts were 4-16 cm in diameter and the average diameter was 7.8 cm. Ninety two (77%) cysts were compatible with type 1, 25 (21%) type 2 and 2 (1.6%) type 3 cyst hydatid. One hundred one treatment (85%) were successful; 18 treatment (15%) were not successful. Five (28%) of the unsuccessful treatment had cystobiliary fistulization, 2 (11%) had extravasation, 3 (17%) had inadequate medical treatment and 8 (44%) had recurrence. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Percutaneous treatment in hydatid cyst is a highly effective method because of can be applied in more than one cyst in the same session and low complication rate

MITF-MIR211 axis is a novel autophagy amplifier system during cellular stress

Macroautophagy (autophagy) is an evolutionarily conserved recycling and stress response mechanism. Active at basal levels in eukaryotes, autophagy is upregulated under stress providing cells with building blocks such as amino acids. A lysosome-integrated sensor system composed of RRAG GTPases and MTOR complex 1 (MTORC1) regulates lysosome biogenesis and autophagy in response to amino acid availability. Stress-mediated inhibition of MTORC1 results in the dephosphorylation and nuclear translocation of the TFE/MITF family of transcriptional factors, and triggers an autophagy- and lysosomal-related gene transcription program. The role of family members TFEB and TFE3 have been studied in detail, but the importance of MITF proteins in autophagy regulation is not clear so far. Here we introduce for the first time a specific role for MITF in autophagy control that involves upregulation of MIR211. We show that, under stress conditions including starvation and MTOR inhibition, a MITF-MIR211 axis constitutes a novel feed-forward loop that controls autophagic activity in cells. Direct targeting of the MTORC2 component RICTOR by MIR211 led to the inhibition of the MTORC1 pathway, further stimulating MITF translocation to the nucleus and completing an autophagy amplification loop. In line with a ubiquitous function, MITF and MIR211 were co-expressed in all tested cell lines and human tissues, and the effects on autophagy were observed in a cell-type independent manner. Thus, our study provides direct evidence that MITF has rate-limiting and specific functions in autophagy regulation. Collectively, the MITF-MIR211 axis constitutes a novel and universal autophagy amplification system that sustains autophagic activity under stress conditions.No sponso

Masonry buildings subjected to settlements: half-scale testing, detailed measurements, and insights into behaviour

Industry procedures to assess the risk of settlement-induced damage to masonry buildings ignore key aspects of the problem, such as the influences of building weight, façade openings, and floor structures. Experimental data are needed to characterise the influence of these aspects on damage. This paper describes tests on three brick masonry half-scale building models subjected to settlements. The use of scaling rules in choosing the model materials and kentledge, the settlement apparatus, and the cross-validation of displacement and strain measurements are presented. Comparative evaluation of building responses show that: (i) the distribution of building weight and the resulting in-situ stresses play a key role in determining compliance to settlements, (ii) openings make the structure vulnerable to cracking and (iii) floor slabs stiffen and strengthen the building and prevent the formation of damage in the upper floors, leading to a concentration of damage at the ground storey

Constraints on scalar-pseudoscalar and tensorial nonstandard interactions and tensorial unparticle couplings from neutrino-electron scattering

Neutrino-electron scattering is a purely leptonic fundamental interaction and therefore provides an important channel to test the Standard Model, especially at the low energy-momentum transfer regime. We derived constraints on neutrino nonstardard interaction couplings depending on model-independent approaches which are described by a four-Fermi pointlike interaction and the unparticle physics model with tensorial components. Data on (nu) over bar (e) - e and nu(e) - e scattering from the TEXONO and LSND experiments, respectively, are used. The upper limits and the allowed regions of scalar, pseudoscalar, and tensorial nonstandard interaction couplings of neutrinos are derived at 90% confidence level in both one-parameter and two-parameter analysis. New upper limits for tensorial unparticle physics coupling constants and mass parameters are also placed

Terahertz Pulse Shaping Using Diffractive Surfaces

Recent advances in deep learning have been providing non-intuitive solutions to various inverse problems in optics. At the intersection of machine learning and optics, diffractive networks merge wave-optics with deep learning to design task-specific elements to all-optically perform various tasks such as object classification and machine vision. Here, we present a diffractive network, which is used to shape an arbitrary broadband pulse into a desired optical waveform, forming a compact pulse engineering system. We experimentally demonstrate the synthesis of square pulses with different temporal-widths by manufacturing passive diffractive layers that collectively control both the spectral amplitude and the phase of an input terahertz pulse. Our results constitute the first demonstration of direct pulse shaping in terahertz spectrum, where a complex-valued spectral modulation function directly acts on terahertz frequencies. Furthermore, a Lego-like physical transfer learning approach is presented to illustrate pulse-width tunability by replacing part of an existing network with newly trained diffractive layers, demonstrating its modularity. This learning-based diffractive pulse engineering framework can find broad applications in e.g., communications, ultra-fast imaging and spectroscopy.Comment: 27 pages, 6 figure

Kapsaisin Katkılı Tris Sulandırıcı Kullanılarak Koç Spermasının Dondurularak Saklanması

In this study, it was designed to reveal the effects of capsaicin on oxidative stress and freezability of ram semen. Ejaculates were taken from Sönmez rams and divided into five specimens and diluted with extender at different rates (4 mM, 2 mM, 1 mM, 500 μM) with and without capsaicin (control; C). Semen samples were thawed with a 37°C water bath for 30 seconds for post-thawed analysis. At the end of the study, sperm motility and kinetic parameters, plasma membrane acrosome integrity (PMAI), mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), DNA damage, oxidant and antioxidant parameters were analyzed. A decrease was observed in the groups containing capsaicin compared to the C in terms of progressive, total motility and kinetic parameters (p<0.05). Besides, positive results were not obtained DNA integrity, PMAI and MMP (p<0.05). In conclusion; it was determined that capsaicin added to Tris extender did not have a positive effect on oxidative stress and freezing of ram semen.Bu çalışmada, kapsaisinin oksidatif stres ve koç spermasının dondurulabilirliği üzerine etkilerinin ortaya konması tasarlandı. Ejakülatlar Sönmez ırkı koçlardan alınarak beş eşit kısma ayrıldı ve farklı oranlarda (4 mM, 2 mM, 1 mM, 500 μM) kapsaisin içeren ve içermeyen (kontrol) sulandırıcı ile sulandırıldı. Sperma örnekleri çözüm sonu spermatolojik analizler için 37°C sıcaklıklta 30 saniye süre ile çözdürüldü. Çalışma sonunda spermatozoa hareketliliği ve kinetik parametreleri, plazma membran akrozom bütünlüğü (PMAI), mitokondrial membran potansiyeli (MMP), DNA hasarı, oksidan ve antioksidan parametreler analiz edildi. Progresif, total motilite ve kinetik parametreler bakımından kontrol grubuna göre kapsaisin içeren guruplarda azalma görüldü (p<0.05). Ayrıca DNA bütünlüğü, PMAI ve MMP'de olumlu sonuçlar elde edilmedi (p<0.05). Sonuç olarak; Tris sulandırıcısına ilave edilen kapsaisinin, oksidatif stres ve koç spermasının dondurulması üzerine olumlu bir etki göstermediği belirlendi