Physics Potential of the ICAL detector at the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO)

The upcoming 50 kt magnetized iron calorimeter (ICAL) detector at the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) is designed to study the atmospheric neutrinos and antineutrinos separately over a wide range of energies and path lengths. The primary focus of this experiment is to explore the Earth matter effects by observing the energy and zenith angle dependence of the atmospheric neutrinos in the multi-GeV range. This study will be crucial to address some of the outstanding issues in neutrino oscillation physics, including the fundamental issue of neutrino mass hierarchy. In this document, we present the physics potential of the detector as obtained from realistic detector simulations. We describe the simulation framework, the neutrino interactions in the detector, and the expected response of the detector to particles traversing it. The ICAL detector can determine the energy and direction of the muons to a high precision, and in addition, its sensitivity to multi-GeV hadrons increases its physics reach substantially. Its charge identification capability, and hence its ability to distinguish neutrinos from antineutrinos, makes it an efficient detector for determining the neutrino mass hierarchy. In this report, we outline the analyses carried out for the determination of neutrino mass hierarchy and precision measurements of atmospheric neutrino mixing parameters at ICAL, and give the expected physics reach of the detector with 10 years of runtime. We also explore the potential of ICAL for probing new physics scenarios like CPT violation and the presence of magnetic monopoles.Comment: 139 pages, Physics White Paper of the ICAL (INO) Collaboration, Contents identical with the version published in Pramana - J. Physic

Facilitators and barriers to the uptake of COVID-19 vaccine precaution dose among adult population: qualitative analysis across six different states of India

IntroductionIndia launched the COVID-19 vaccination drive on 16th January 2021 by vaccinating the adult population above 18 years of age. This was followed by the introduction of an additional precaution dose. As on 18th October 2022, 1,02,66,96,808 (1.02 Billion) first dose and 94, 95, 39,516 (949 Million) second doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered. However, when compared to the uptake of the primary doses, the precaution dose uptake lagged behind with only 21,75, 12,721 (217 million) doses administered. Even though, the uptake of the primary doses remained optimal, irrespective of different interventions by the Government of India, the uptake of the precaution dose remained poor. In this context, the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare wanted to understand the facilitators and Barriers for precaution dose uptake among adults so that future immunization campaigns could address these issues.MethodsAn exploratory qualitative study was conducted to assess the facilitators and barriers for COVID-19 precaution dose uptake at community level across 6 different states in India. From each of the states, two districts with the highest and lowest rates of COVID-19 vaccine precaution dose uptake were selected. In each of these districts, 2 block Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs), one with high and one with low uptake were identified. Within these block PHCs, a PHC field area with high and low precaution dose uptakes was identified. From the identified sites a minimum of four IDIs, four FGDs were conducted among the community members. KIIs of the State Immunization Officers, District Immunisation Officers, PHC Medical Officers, healthcare workers like Accredited Social Health Activist/Auxiliary Nurse Midwife were also conducted. The data was audio recorded and it was transcribed, translated and analysed using framework approach.ResultsIt was observed that rise in COVID-19 cases prompted the community to take the precaution dose, this along with the cost of hospitalization and the number of productive days being lost as a result of being infected resulted in vaccine uptake. The fear of non-availability of COVID-19 vaccines latter on also prompted people for vaccine uptake. While the barriers were, poor accessibility to vaccination centers, long hours of travel, poor road connectivity and lack of transportation facilities. However, the most prominent barriers observed across all study sites was that a sense of pandemic fatigue and complacency had developed both among the providers as well as the beneficiaries. Other barriers include differences in vaccination schedules and longer duration between the primary doses of some vaccines. Media was identified to be both a barrier and facilitator for Covid-19 Precaution dose uptake. Even though media played an important role in disseminating information in the beginning of the campaign, it was soon followed by the circulation of both misinformation and disinformation.DiscussionThe study identified that dissemination of accurate information and community involvement at each stage of planning and implementation are crucial for the success of any campaign. Efforts should be constantly made to address and re-invent strategies that will be most suitable for the needs of the community. Therefore, in order to ensure successful vaccination campaigns, it is crucial that along with political will it is also important to have a decentralized approach with inter-sectoral coordination with different stakeholders such as healthcare workers, community members and the different departments such as the local self-governments, education department, law & order department etc. These lessons learnt from COVID-19 vaccination campaigns must not be forgotten and must be applied in future vaccination campaigns and while framing public health policies

Investigation of anhydrous benz (f) ninhydrin, indanetrione and 5-methoxy indanetrione by electronic absorption and emission spectroscopy and computational chemistry methods

A comparative study of the low lying electronic states and photophysical aspects of the compounds anhydrous benz (f) ninhydrin (I), indanetrione (anhydrous ninhydrin) (II) and 5-methoxy indanetrione (anhydrous 5-methoxy ninhydrin) (III) having a cis vicinal cyclic triketo system (three adjacent carbonyl groups in the same plane) has been carried out using absorption, emission and excitation spectra in various solvents at different temperatures. AM 1 and CNDO calculations were carried out to find the ground state geometry and to confirm the assignment of various electronic states of I, respectively. An intramolecular charge transfer band in I has been detected and characterised by theoretical calculations. Solvent effect on the<SUP> 1</SUP>(n &#960;<SUP>&#8727;</SUP>) transitions of these compounds has also been studied. The characterisation of charge transfer complexes of II with various polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons has been presented to show that a cis vicinal triketo system attached to an aromatic moiety can function as a potential acceptor. The position of the low lying electronic states of this class of compounds allows them to exhibit unusual<SUP> 1</SUP>(n &#960;<SUP>&#8727;</SUP>) fluorescence at room temperature. The compounds also exhibit (n &#960;<SUP>&#8727;</SUP>) phosphorescence in various solvents at 77 K

Influence of para substituents in controlling photophysical behavior and different non-covalent weak interactions in zinc complexes of a phenol based "end-off" compartmental ligand

Three dinuclear zinc(II) complexes with "end-off" compartmental ligands, namely 2,6-bis(N-ethylmorpholine-iminomethyl)-4-R-phenol (I: R = -CH3, Cl, tBu) were synthesized with the aim of exploring the role of the para substituent present in the ligand backbone in controlling the structural diversity, photophys. properties and different weak interactions of the complexes. The complexes are [Zn2L1(CH3CO2)2]1/2[Zn(NCS)4].3/2H2O (1), [Zn2L2(CH3CO2)2]1/2[Zn(NCS)4] (2), and [Zn2L3(CH3CO2)2]1/2[Zn(NCS)4] (3),. All three species, with the general formula 2[Zn2L(CH3COO)2][Zn(NCS)4], show the complex anion Zn(NCS)42- as a common structural feature decisive for crystn. All of them possess several noncovalent weak interactions where the nature of the "R'' group plays an essential role as exposed by DFT study. Besides exhibiting fluorescence behavior, the complexes also show para substitution controlled phosphorescence both at room and low temp. Anisotropy studies suggest the existence of complexes 2 and 3 as dimers in soln. The origins of the unusual room temp. phosphorescence and fluorescence behavior of the complexes were rationalized in the light of theor. calcns. [on SciFinder(R)

Developing an International Combined Applied Surgical Science and Wet Lab Simulation Course as an Undergraduate Teaching Model

Background. Essential Skills in the Management of Surgical Cases (ESMSC) is an international, animal model-based course. It combines interactive lectures with basic ex vivo stations and more advanced wet lab modules, that is, in vivo dissections and Heart Transplant Surgery on a swine model. Materials and Methods. Forty-nine medical students (male, N=27, female N=22, and mean age = 23.7 years) from King’s College London (KCL) and Greek Medical Schools attended the course. Participants were assessed with Direct Observation of Procedural Skills (DOPS), as well as Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs). Paired t-test associations were used to evaluate whether there was statistically significant improvement in their performance. Aim. To evaluate the effectiveness of a combined applied surgical science and wet lab simulation course as a teaching model for surgical skills at the undergraduate level. Results. The mean MCQ score was improved by 2.33/32 (P<0.005). Surgical skills competences, as defined by DOPS scores, were improved in a statically significant manner (P<0.005 for all paired t-test correlations). Conclusions. ESMSC seems to be an effective teaching model, which improves the understanding of the surgical approach and the basic surgical skills. In vivo models could be used potentially as a step further in the Undergraduate Surgical Education