Update on the Combined Analysis of Muon Measurements from Nine Air Shower Experiments

Over the last two decades, various experiments have measured muon densities in extensive air showers over several orders of magnitude in primary energy. While some experiments observed differences in the muon densities between simulated and experimentally measured air showers, others reported no discrepancies. We will present an update of the meta-analysis of muon measurements from nine air shower experiments, covering shower energies between a few PeV and tens of EeV and muon threshold energies from a few 100 MeV to about 10GeV. In order to compare measurements from different experiments, their energy scale was cross-calibrated and the experimental data has been compared using a universal reference scale based on air shower simulations. Above 10 PeV, we find a muon excess with respect to simulations for all hadronic interaction models, which is increasing with shower energy. For EPOS-LHC and QGSJet-II.04 the significance of the slope of the increase is analyzed in detail under different assumptions of the individual experimental uncertainties

Multimessenger NuEM Alerts with AMON

The Astrophysical Multimessenger Observatory Network (AMON), has developed a real-time multi-messenger alert system. The system performs coincidence analyses of datasets from gamma-ray and neutrino detectors, making the Neutrino-Electromagnetic (NuEM) alert channel. For these analyses, AMON takes advantage of sub-threshold events, i.e., events that by themselves are not significant in the individual detectors. The main purpose of this channel is to search for gamma-ray counterparts of neutrino events. We will describe the different analyses that make-up this channel and present a selection of recent results

Search for Spatial Correlations of Neutrinos with Ultra-high-energy Cosmic Rays

For several decades, the origin of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) has been an unsolved question of high-energy astrophysics. One approach for solving this puzzle is to correlate UHECRs with high-energy neutrinos, since neutrinos are a direct probe of hadronic interactions of cosmic rays and are not deflected by magnetic fields. In this paper, we present three different approaches for correlating the arrival directions of neutrinos with the arrival directions of UHECRs. The neutrino data are provided by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and ANTARES, while the UHECR data with energies above ∼50 EeV are provided by the Pierre Auger Observatory and the Telescope Array. All experiments provide increased statistics and improved reconstructions with respect to our previous results reported in 2015. The first analysis uses a high-statistics neutrino sample optimized for point-source searches to search for excesses of neutrino clustering in the vicinity of UHECR directions. The second analysis searches for an excess of UHECRs in the direction of the highest-energy neutrinos. The third analysis searches for an excess of pairs of UHECRs and highest-energy neutrinos on different angular scales. None of the analyses have found a significant excess, and previously reported overfluctuations are reduced in significance. Based on these results, we further constrain the neutrino flux spatially correlated with UHECRs

Non-standard neutrino interactions in IceCube

Non-standard neutrino interactions (NSI) may arise in various types of new physics. Their existence would change the potential that atmospheric neutrinos encounter when traversing Earth matter and hence alter their oscillation behavior. This imprint on coherent neutrino forward scattering can be probed using high-statistics neutrino experiments such as IceCube and its low-energy extension, DeepCore. Both provide extensive data samples that include all neutrino flavors, with oscillation baselines between tens of kilometers and the diameter of the Earth. DeepCore event energies reach from a few GeV up to the order of 100 GeV - which marks the lower threshold for higher energy IceCube atmospheric samples, ranging up to 10 TeV. In DeepCore data, the large sample size and energy range allow us to consider not only flavor-violating and flavor-nonuniversal NSI in the μ−τ sector, but also those involving electron flavor. The effective parameterization used in our analyses is independent of the underlying model and the new physics mass scale. In this way, competitive limits on several NSI parameters have been set in the past. The 8 years of data available now result in significantly improved sensitivities. This improvement stems not only from the increase in statistics but also from substantial improvement in the treatment of systematic uncertainties, background rejection and event reconstruction

A polyarticular onset predicts erosive and deforming disease in psoriatic arthritis

Methods: A prospective cohort study was undertaken with 71 patients diagnosed as having PsA (44 men and 27 women, mean age 47 (SD 12) years). At the recruitment period patients had disease without evidence of radiological damage. Patients were studied and followed up according to a standard protocol from January 1991 to June 2001. Erosive and deforming disease was defined by the presence of erosions, joint space narrowing, subluxation, and/or ankylosis of peripheral joints. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to evaluate factors predicting erosive and deforming disease. Results: At the end of the study 32 of 71 (45%) patients had developed erosive and deforming disease. Among them, 18 of 32 (56%) had a polyarticular onset, two of 32 (6%) showed a distal interphalangeal joint disease onset, six of 32 (19%) presented with oligoarthritis, and six of 32 (19%) presented with axial disease as the form of disease onset (p=0.001). Mean time to detect erosions or joint space narrowing was 20 (SD 4) months. Men showed fewer erosions than women (p=0.05). Patients who carried the HLA-B27 antigen showed less erosive disease than patients who lacked it (p=0.05). Patients with erosive and deforming disease had poorer functional performance than those without it as measured with the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) and the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria (p<0.05 with both measurements). In multivariate analysis, only a polyarticular onset remained as an indicator of erosive and deforming disease (odds ratio (OR) 37, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 3.6 to 88, p=0.025). Conclusions: A polyarticular onset (five or more swollen joints) of PsA was the unique independent risk factor which predicted the appearance of erosive and deforming disease over time. These data may be useful for clinicians treating patients with PsA, as it may guide treatment towards a more aggressive and earlier intervention

ATRA decreased α-SMA expression in LT and HT cultures.

<p>(<b>A</b>) Immunofluorescence of omentum-derived mesothelial cells (control) and effluent-derived mesothelial cells from LT and HT grown until confluence in the presence of ATRA (0, 50 and 100 nM). Cells were labeled with anti-α-SMA (red). Nuclei were labeled with ToPro-3 (blue). LT and HT cultures were positive for α-SMA staining (d and g). (<b>B</b> and <b>C</b>) Western blot analyses for α-SMA in total cell lysates of mesothelial cells treated as in A. α-SMA expression was importantly augmented in LT cultures. ATRA decreased α-SMA content in LT and in HT cultures. Mean ± SEM of three individual experiments from three different patients are shown. (<b>C</b>) ***<i>P<0.001</i> versus control; ***<i>P<0.001</i> versus HT; <i>*P<0.05</i> and <i>***P<0.001</i> versus LT with ATRA 0 nM; <i>*P<0.05</i> versus HT with ATRA 0 nM. ATRA, all trans retinoic acid; α-SMA, α-smooth muscle actin; LT, low transporter; HT, high transporter.</p

ATRA increased the number of ciliated cells in HT and LT.

<p>(<b>A</b>) Immunofluorescence of omentum-derived mesothelial cells (control) and effluent-derived mesothelial cells from LT and HT grown until confluence in the presence of ATRA (0, 50, 100 and 200 nM). Cells were labeled with anti-acetylated α-tubulin (green). Nuclei were labeled with ToPro-3 (blue). HT and LT cultures exhibited a reduction in the number of ciliated cells (e and i, respectively). ATRA increased the number of ciliated cells in LT (f, g and h) and HT (j, k and l), being more notable in HT. In control, ATRA decreased the number of ciliated cells. Panel k shows the zoom of a cell with two cilia. (B to E) Quantification of number of ciliated cells. Mean ± SEM of three individual experiments from three different patients are shown. (<b>B</b>) *<i>P<0</i>.<i>05</i> versus control; <i>***P<0.001</i> versus control. (<b>C</b>) <i>**P<0.01</i> and <i>**P<0.01</i> versus control with ATRA 0 nM. (<b>D</b>) <i>**P<0.01</i> and <i>*P<0.05</i> versus LT with ATRA 0 nM. (<b>E</b>) <i>*P<0.05</i> and <i>**P<0.01</i> versus HT with ATRA 0 nM. ATRA, all trans retinoic acid; LT, low transporter; HT, high transporter.</p

ATRA improved vimentin organization and decreased its expression.

<p>(<b>A</b>) Immunofluorescence of omentum-derived mesothelial cells (control) and effluent-derived mesothelial cells from LT and HT grown until confluence in the presence of ATRA (0, 50 and 100 nM). Cells were labeled with anti-vimentin (red). In LT cultures (d), vimentin immunofluorescence was more intense and exhibited elongated fibers (arrows). These fibers were also observed in HT cultures (g, arrows). ATRA improved vimentin organization in LT and HT, being more notable in LT (f). (<b>B</b> and <b>C</b>) Western blot analyses for vimentin in total cell lysates of mesothelial cells treated as in A. Vimentin expression was augmented in LT and HT cultures. ATRA reduced the vimentin content in LT and HT. Mean ± SEM of three individual experiments from three different patients are shown. **<i>P<0.01</i> versus control; <i>*P<0.05</i> versus LT with ATRA 100 nM and <i>**P<0.01</i> versus HT with ATRA 100 nM. ATRA, all trans retinoic acid; LT, low transporter; HT, high transporter.</p

Retinoic acid improved cell morphology and decreased the number of hypertrophic cells in LT cultures.

<p>(<b>A</b>) Omentum-derived mesothelial cells (control) and effluent-derived mesothelial cells from LT and HT grown until confluence in the presence of ATRA (0, 50, 100 and 200 nM). LT cells exhibited an increase in their average size (e, arrowheads) and hypertrophy (e, double asterisk). In HT cultures epithelial (i, arrowheads) and hypertrophic (i, double asterisk) cells were both observed. ATRA reduced the presence of hypertrophic cells in LT, in a concentration-dependent manner (f, g and h). (B to E) Quantification of total (empty bars), hypertrophic (hatched bars) and flattened (filled bars) in mesothelial cells treated as in A. LT and HT exhibited less cells by field and more hypertrophic cells than control cultures (<b>B</b>). In LT cultures, ATRA decreased the number of hypertrophic cells (<b>D</b>). Scanning electron microscopy, x300, bar= 50µm. Representative photomicrographs were obtained by duplicate from three different patients. Mean ± SEM are shown. (<b>B</b>) <i>***P< 0.001</i> and <i>*P<0.05</i> versus control total cells;<i>**P<0.01</i> versus control hypertrophic cells. (<b>C</b>)<i>**P<0.01</i> versus control flattened cells with ATRA 0 nM (<b>D</b>) <i>**P<0.01</i> and <i>*P<0.05</i> versus LT with ATRA 0nM; <i>**P<0.01</i> and <i>***P<0.001</i> versus LT with ATRA 0 nM. ATRA, all trans retinoic acid; LT, low transporter; HT, high transporter.</p