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

Child Melioidosis Deaths Caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei–Contaminated Borehole Water, Vietnam, 2019

Within 8 months, 3 children from 1 family in northern Vietnam died from melioidosis. Burkholderia pseudomallei of the same sequence type, 541, was isolated from clinical samples, borehole water, and garden and rice field soil. Boreholes should be properly constructed and maintained to avoid B. pseudomallei contamination

Middle powers in the Indo-Pacific: Potential pacifiers guarantying stability in the Indo-Pacific?

The article examines the potential of middle powers’ cooperation to establish communities of practice to reinforce their ability to influence world affairs. Illustrating the argument with three case studies—Australia, Indonesia, and South Korea—we assert that middle powers play key roles in structuring the world order. We test the following hypotheses: (i) middle powers do not look, nor do they need to look to great powers for leadership, and can influence events by forging new regional relationships; (ii) when leadership topples or tensions emerge between great powers, with a potential or nascent leadership vacuum, the initiative to guarantee the status quo (i.e., a liberal order) can be provided by middle powers. While rooted in IR theories, the research mostly builds upon the framework of communities of practice and management theories, linking them to highlight the importance of existing interactions, the opportunity for and advantage of greater cooperation and its potential systemic impact

Effect of double dose oseltamivir on clinical and virological outcomes in children and adults admitted to hospital with severe influenza: Double blind randomised controlled trial

10.1136/bmj.f3039BMJ (Online)3467911-BMJO