The ICARUS Experiment, A Second-Generation Proton Decay Experiment and Neutrino Observatory at the Gran Sasso Laboratory

The final phase of the ICARUS physics program requires a sensitive mass of liquid Argon of 5000 tons or more. The T600 detector stands today as the first living proof that such large detector can be built and that liquid Argon imaging technology can be implemented on such large scales. After the successful completion of a series of technical tests to be performed at the assembly hall in Pavia, the T600 detector will be ready to be transported into the LNGS tunnel. The operation of the T600 at the LNGS will allow us (1) to develop the local infrastructure needed to operate our large detector (2) to start the handling of the underground liquid argon technology (3) to study the local background (4) to start the data taking with an initial liquid argon mass that will reach in a 5-6 year program the multi-kton goal. The T600 is to be considered as the first milestone on the road towards a total sensitive mass of 5000 tons: it is the first piece of the detector to be complemented by further modules of appropriate size and dimensions, in order to reach in a most efficient and rapid way the final design mass. In this document, we describe the physics program that will be accomplished within the first phase of the program

Observation of long ionizing tracks with the ICARUS T600 first half-module

F. Arneodo, B. Bade"ek, A. Badertscher, B. Baiboussinov, M. Baldo Ceolin, G. Battistoni, B. Bekman, P. Benetti, E. Bernardini, M. Bischofberger, A. Borio di Tigliole, R. Brunetti, A. Bueno, E. Calligarich, M. Campanelli, C. Carpanese, D. Cavalli, F. Cavanna, P. Cennini, S. Centro, A. Cesana, C. Chen, D. Chen, D.B. Chen, Y. Chen, D. Cline, Z. Dai, C. De Vecchi, A. Dabrowska, R. Dolfini*, M. Felcini, A. Ferrari, F. Ferri, Y. Ge, A. Gigli Berzolari, I. Gil-Botella, K. Graczyk, L. Grandi, K. He, J. Holeczek, X. Huang, C. Juszczak, D. Kie"czewska, J. Kisiel, T. Koz"owski, H. Kuna-Ciska", M. Laffranchi, J. Łagoda, Z. Li, F. Lu, J. Ma, M. Markiewicz, A. Martinez de la Ossa, C. Matthey, F. Mauri, D. Mazza, G. Meng, M. Messina, C. Montanari, S. Muraro, S. Navas-Concha, M. Nicoletto, G. Nurzia, S. Otwinowski, Q. Ouyang, O. Palamara, D. Pascoli, L. Periale, G. Piano Mortari, A. Piazzoli, P. Picchi, F. Pietropaolo, W. P ! o"ch"opek, T. Rancati, A. Rappoldi, G.L. Raselli, J. Rico, E. Rondio, M. Rossella, A. Rubbia, C. Rubbia, P. Sala, D. Scannicchio, E. Segreto, F. Sergiampietri, J. Sobczyk, J. Stepaniak, M. Szeptycka, M. Szleper, M. Szarska, M. Terrani, S. Ventura, C. Vignoli, H. Wang, M. W ! ojcik, J. Woo, G. Xu, Z. Xu, A. Zalewska, J. Zalipska, C. Zhang, Q. Zhang, S. Zhen, W. Zipper a INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, s.s. 17bis Km 18+910, Assergi (L'Aquila), Italy b Institute of Experimental Physics, Warsaw University, Warszawa, Poland c Institute for Particle Physics, ETH H . onggerberg, Z . urich, Switzerland Dipartimento di Fisica e INFN, Universit " a di Padova, via Marzolo 8, Padova, Italy Dipartimento di Fisica e INFN, Universit " a di Milano, via Celoria 16, Milano, Italy f Institute of Physics, University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland Dipartimento di Fisica e INFN, Universit " a di Pavia, via Bassi 6, Pavia, Italy Dpto de F!isica Te ! orica y del Cosmos & C.A.F.P.E., Universidad de Granada, Avda. Severo Ochoa s/n, Granada, Spain Dipartimento di Fisica e INFN, Universit " a dell'Aquila, via Vetoio, L'Aquila, Italy CERN, CH-1211 Geneva 23, Switzerland Politecnico di Milano (CESNEF), Universit " a di Milano, via Ponzio 34/3, Milano, Ital

Typologies and occurrences of skeletal anomalies observed all along the productive chain of gilthead seabream Sparus aurata aquaculture.

The presence of skeletal anomalies in fishes is a by-product of aquaculture and it entails economic, biological and ethical issues. Gilthead seabream and European seabass, Dicentrarchus labrax, have been the first valuable euryhaline species to be reproduced in controlled condition and intensively reared in Mediterranean aquaculture since the 1980s. Nonetheless, detailed information on skeletal anomalies occurrences and typologies all along the productive chain is still lacking in literature. This knowledge could furnish data on trend of skeletal anomalies occurrences and typologies in the different rearing phases, in spite of selections carried out during the productive chain, and information on anomalies in ontogenetic, modeling and remodeling processes of skeletal elements. The final goal is the optimization of rearing conditions for improving Mediterranean aquaculture profits and welfare of reared gilthead seabream. Seabream were sampled from hatchery, ongrowing and commercial size lots from intensive commercial farms. Commercial size seabream were sampled from both off-shore and land-based farms. As many as 874 reared seabream were analyzed for skeletal anomalies and variation in meristic counts and obtained data compared with same-size wild seabream lots. The reared and wild seabream specimens resulted well differentiate onto the basis of the anomalies pattern, with reared lots resulting always more and highly deformed than the wild ones. Some variability in meristic counts was observed also in wild lots, except for pectoral fin radials. The most variable character was the number of caudal rays, both in reared and in wild lots. Some anomalies were present only in some farm. The pre-ongrowing lots showed the highest percentages of anomalous individuals. The number of anomaly typologies augmented with the size of the individuals, conversely to the frequency of severe anomalous individuals which lowered with size. The average number of anomalies for affected seabream was found higher in commercial size lots, and similar in pre-ongrowing and hatchery lots. Severe anomalies mainly affected ongrowing lots with a charge quite similar in all the lots. This study was funded by the Italian Ministry for Agriculture, Food and Forestry Policy (Law 41/82

Il monitoraggio delle anomalie scheletriche in pesci Teleostei quale strumento per la valutazione complementare dello stato di salute di ambienti lagunari.

La natura multifunzionale delle lagune costiere le caratterizza quali sistemi ambientali di grande interesse ecologico, sociale ed economico. La particolare ubicazione di questi ecosistemi acquatici di transizione li espone intensamente alle pressioni antropiche continentali, degradandone lo stato di salute. Il controllo della presenza di anomalie scheletriche nei Teleostei è un buono strumento di biomonitoraggio dello stato di salute delle lagune. Le anomalie scheletriche sono, infatti, il risultato degli effetti di alterazioni ambientali sullo sviluppo e la crescita degli individui e forniscono una documentazione istantanea (se rilevate nei giovanili) o a lungo termine (se negli adulti) dello stress ambientale. La presenza di anomalie scheletriche nei pesci può, nei casi più gravi, ridurne le performances natatorie e alimentari, e quindi la crescita, la riproduzione, e aumentare la possibilità di malattie, parassiti o predazione. In questo studio, sono stati analizzati 338 individui dalla laguna di Kune e 128 dalla laguna di Butrinti, localizzate rispettivamente al nord e sud dell’Albania, appartenenti alle specie Atherina boyeri, Pomatoschistus marmoratus, Gobius niger, Knipowitschia panizzae, Liza aurata, Liza ramada e sottoposti ad analisi delle anomalie nel numero (conte meristiche) e nella forma (deformazioni) degli elementi scheletrici. I risultati ottenuti hanno evidenziato che la laguna di Butrinti presenta un maggior numero di individui malformati rispetto a quella di Kune, ma a Kune è stato rilevato una frequenza più elevata di pesci con anomalie scheletriche gravi, in tutte le specie esaminate

Environmental conditioning of skeletal anomalies typology and frequency in gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata L., 1758) juveniles.

In this paper, 981 reared juveniles of gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) were analysed, 721 of which were from a commercial hatchery located in Northern Italy (Venice, Italy) and 260 from the Hellenic Center for Marine Research (Crete, Greece). These individuals were from 4 different egg batches, for a total of 10 different lots. Each egg batch was split into two lots after hatching, and reared with two different methodologies: intensive and semi-intensive. All fish were subjected to processing for skeletal anomaly and meristic count analysis. The aims involved: (1) quantitatively and qualitatively analyzing whether differences in skeletal elements arise between siblings and, if so, what they are; (2) investigating if any skeletal bone tissue/ossification is specifically affected by changing environmental rearing conditions; and (3) contributing to the identification of the best practices for gilthead seabream larval rearing in order to lower the deformity rates, without selections. The results obtained in this study highlighted that: i) in all the semi-intensive lots, the bones having intramembranous ossification showed a consistently lower incidence of anomalies; ii) the same clear pattern was not observed in the skeletal elements whose ossification process requires a cartilaginous precursor. It is thus possible to ameliorate the morphological quality (by reducing the incidence of severe skeletal anomalies and the variability in meristic counts of dermal bones) of reared seabream juveniles by lowering the stocking densities (maximum 16 larvae/L) and increasing the volume of the hatchery rearing tanks (minimum 40 m(3)). Feeding larvae with a wide variety of live (wild) preys seems further to improve juvenile skeletal quality. Additionally, analysis of the morphological quality of juveniles reared under two different semi-intensive conditions, Mesocosm and Large Volumes, highlighted a somewhat greater capacity of Large Volumes to significantly augment the gap with siblings reared in intensive (conventional) modality

Effects of rearing conditions on skeletal anomalies typology and frequency in gilthead seabream Sparus auratus juveniles.

This study analyzed different lots of gilthead seabream juveniles outcoming from the same egg batch, but reared under different (intensive vs semi-intensive) conditions aimed at: (1) quantitatively and qualitatively analyzing whether differences in skeletal elements (shape and number) arise; (2) to investigate if a relationship between skeletal bone tissue/ossification and some environmentally-induced malformation exists; and (3) identifying the best practices for seabream larval rearing in order to obtain lower deformity rates. A total of 981 reared juveniles of gilthead seabream were analysed, among which 721 were from a commercial hatchery located in Northern Italy (Valle Figheri, Venice, Italy), and other 260 were obtained from the Hellenic Center for Marine Research (Iraklion, Crete, Greece). These individuals were from 4 different eggs batches (Groups 1-4), for a total of 10 different lots. Each egg batch/group was split after hatching in two lots, and reared with two different methodologies, intensive and semi-intensive rearing. Some lots (Group 3: INIT19, INIT18, LVIT04, LVIT05) were sampled at two different ages. Semi-intensive lots were reared under two different methodologies: Large Volumes (sensu Cataudella et al., 2002)and Mesocosm (sensu Divanach and Kentouri, 2000). All the samples were analyzed (whole mount staining) for skeletal anomalies and variation in meristic counts. Lower severe skeletal anomalies incidences and meristic counts variability were found in all the semi-intensively reared lots, with significant higher capacity of Large Volumes of ameliorating anatomical quality of juveniles than Mesocosms. In all the semi-intensive lots, the bones undergone intramembranous ossification showed constant lower incidences of malformations whilst endochondrally and perichondrally ossifying skeletal elements did not always exhibit the same clear pattern. This study was funded by the Italian Ministry for Agriculture, Food and Forestry Policy (Law 41/82)

Median and ranges of meristic counts.

<p>Tot: total number of vertebrae; Ceph: cephalic vertebrae; Pre-hem: pre-hemal vertebrae; Hem: hemal vertebrae; Caud: caudal vertebrae; Ep: epurals; Hyp: hypurals; UPCR: upper principal caudal rays; LPCR: lower principal caudal rays; An Pter: anal pterygophores; Do Pter: dorsal pterygophores; Supr: supraneurals.</p

General data on deformed individuals, incidences and typologies of skeletal anomalies in the observed lots.

<p>Organic lots are highlighted with grey background.</p>a<p>Frequency of individuals with at least one anomaly.</p>b<p>Total number of anomalies/number of anomalous individuals.</p>c<p>Number of severe anomalies/total number of anomalies x 100.</p>d<p>Number of individuals with at least one severe anomaly/total number of lot individuals.</p>e<p>Number of severe anomalies/number of individuals with severe anomalies.</p