Scintillator ageing of the T2K near detectors from 2010 to 2021

The T2K experiment widely uses plastic scintillator as a target for neutrino interactions and an active medium for the measurement of charged particles produced in neutrino interactions at its near detector complex. Over 10 years of operation the measured light yield recorded by the scintillator based subsystems has been observed to degrade by 0.9–2.2% per year. Extrapolation of the degradation rate through to 2040 indicates the recorded light yield should remain above the lower threshold used by the current reconstruction algorithms for all subsystems. This will allow the near detectors to continue contributing to important physics measurements during the T2K-II and Hyper-Kamiokande eras. Additionally, work to disentangle the degradation of the plastic scintillator and wavelength shifting fibres shows that the reduction in light yield can be attributed to the ageing of the plastic scintillator. The long component of the attenuation length of the wavelength shifting fibres was observed to degrade by 1.3–5.4% per year, while the short component of the attenuation length did not show any conclusive degradation

Electron and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry in the characterization of some 1-allyl-3-phenylaziridines

A series of cis- and trans-isomeric aziridines has been studied under electron impact (EI) and electrospray ionization (ESI) conditions. The fragmentation patterns of the examined compounds have been elucidated by means of sequential product ion fragmentation experiments (MS(n)) performed using an ion trap mass spectrometer. Particular attention has been paid to isomer characterization in these precursors of azetidinones, that in turn are precursors of new beta-lactam antibiotics

Stereospecific palladium(0)-catalyzed reduction of 2-cyclobutylidenepropyl esters. A versatile preparation of diastereoisomeric monoterpenoids: (±)- Fragranol and (±)- Grandisol

Mixtures of (E and Z)-2-cyclobutylidenepropyl sulfonates, readily available from α,α-disubstituted cyclobutanones arising from suitable cyclopropane derivatives ring expansion, underwent regioselective and stereospecific reduction by formate anion to offer, through π-1,1- trimethyleneallylpalladium complexes formed upon treatment with palladium(0), a new and convenient entry to the diastereomeric four-membered ring monoterpenoids (±)-fragranol and (±)-grandisol

High throughput mechanochemistry: application to parallel synthesis of benzoxazines

We describe herein an unprecedented mechanochemical ‘‘parallelsynthesis’’ of 3,4-dihydro-2H-benzo[e][1,3]oxazine derivatives via a one-pot three component reaction. The new milling system uses a multiposition jar (variable sizes are possible), allowing for the processing of up to 12 samples simultaneously, leading to the formation of a fungicide and a building block for polymer preparation with higher throughput compared to standard milling devices

Design, synthesis, antiviral evaluation, and SAR studies of new 1-(phenylsulfonyl)-1H-pyrazol -4-yl-methylaniline derivatives.

A series of N-((3-phenyl-1-(phenylsulfonyl)-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)methyl)anilines 7a-p and 8a-l, structurally related to previously synthesized and tested (N-(1,3-diphenyl-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)methyl)anilines (1a-v), were designed and synthesized. The new derivatives were evaluated in cell-based assays for their cytotoxicity and antiviral activity against a large panel of RNA and DNA viruses of public health significance. Generally, the tested compounds did not display cytotoxicity toward the cell lines used. The majority of derivatives 7a-p were able to interfered with YFV and RSV replication in the micromolar range showing a marked improvement in potency and selectivity with respect to the reference inhibitors 6-azauridine and ribavirin, respectively. The introduction of a p-methoxy substituent on the phenylsulfonyl group (compounds 8a-l) completely abolished the anti-RSV activity and reduced or eliminated the potency against YFV. On the contrary, several p-methoxy analogs were able to interfere with BVDV replication with a comparable (8b, 8c, 8g, and 8k) or better (8a and 8f) potency than the reference inhibitor, ribavirin. Compound 7e, selected for time of addition experiments on BHK-21 cell cultures infected with YFV, achieved the highest reduction of virus titer when added 2 h post infection and maintained up to 4 h post infection

System-Level Optimization of ITER Magnetic Diagnostics: Preliminary Results

The present accuracy requirements on ITER parameters to be obtained primarily from magnetic measurements are demanding and, in many situations, they might be approached but not necessarily achieved with the parameter estimation process currently foreseen. In such cases, it is desirable to improve the estimation process, where possible, to achieve adequate performance. Where the accuracy requirements are still not achieved, the requirements will need to be qualified. This could mean acceptance of increased errors for conditions not impairing machine performance unacceptably, a reduction in operational space of applicability of accuracy requirements (e.g. for the diamagnetic poloidal beta measurement), separation of acceptable dynamic from static errors (e.g. for plasma-wall gap measurements) and separation of acceptable systematic from random errors (e.g. random errors due to plasma generated noise). Modification of the parameter estimation process could include use of magnetic sensors with increased performance (implying increased development time and cost), optimization of the number and position of the magnetic sensors, partial compensation of pick-up from ferromagnetic materials, estimation and partial compensation of pick-up from eddy currents. The first step of improving the ITER magnetic diagnostic specification is an assessment of the plasma parameter estimation accuracies obtainable with the present design of the system. This paper aims at presenting the analysis results with respect to plasma current, plasma-wall gaps and plasma current centroid vertical velocity. Moreover, preliminary results on the reconstruction of TAE perturbations are presented. Although previous work in this area has been reported, this is the first study combining the complete baseline ITER magnetics diagnostic with a realistic and detailed description of the ITER machine, in 3D