Potential of Core-Collapse Supernova Neutrino Detection at JUNO

JUNO is an underground neutrino observatory under construction in Jiangmen, China. It uses 20kton liquid scintillator as target, which enables it to detect supernova burst neutrinos of a large statistics for the next galactic core-collapse supernova (CCSN) and also pre-supernova neutrinos from the nearby CCSN progenitors. All flavors of supernova burst neutrinos can be detected by JUNO via several interaction channels, including inverse beta decay, elastic scattering on electron and proton, interactions on C12 nuclei, etc. This retains the possibility for JUNO to reconstruct the energy spectra of supernova burst neutrinos of all flavors. The real time monitoring systems based on FPGA and DAQ are under development in JUNO, which allow prompt alert and trigger-less data acquisition of CCSN events. The alert performances of both monitoring systems have been thoroughly studied using simulations. Moreover, once a CCSN is tagged, the system can give fast characterizations, such as directionality and light curve

Detection of the Diffuse Supernova Neutrino Background with JUNO

As an underground multi-purpose neutrino detector with 20 kton liquid scintillator, Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) is competitive with and complementary to the water-Cherenkov detectors on the search for the diffuse supernova neutrino background (DSNB). Typical supernova models predict 2-4 events per year within the optimal observation window in the JUNO detector. The dominant background is from the neutral-current (NC) interaction of atmospheric neutrinos with 12C nuclei, which surpasses the DSNB by more than one order of magnitude. We evaluated the systematic uncertainty of NC background from the spread of a variety of data-driven models and further developed a method to determine NC background within 15\% with {\it{in}} {\it{situ}} measurements after ten years of running. Besides, the NC-like backgrounds can be effectively suppressed by the intrinsic pulse-shape discrimination (PSD) capabilities of liquid scintillators. In this talk, I will present in detail the improvements on NC background uncertainty evaluation, PSD discriminator development, and finally, the potential of DSNB sensitivity in JUNO

Influence of acetone on nanostructure and electrochemical properties of interfacial synthesized polyaniline nanofibers

The growth of polyaniline (PANI) nanofibers through interfacial polymerization can be well controlled by adding a small amount of acetone in the water/chloroform system. It was found that the polymerization rate became slower in the presence of acetone, yielding PANI nanofibers with larger aspect ratios. The influences of the acetone addition on the morphology, microstructure and properties of as-prepared PANI nanofibers were studied by scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), ultraviolet–visible spectra (UV–vis), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravity analysis (TGA), and electrical and electrochemical measurements. The experimental results showed that PANI nanofibers prepared by using ammonium persulfate (APS) as an oxidant with acetone exhibited slower growth, the larger ratio of length to diameter, and higher crystallinity (2θ=6°, 19°, 26°) than that without acetone, meanwhile remained larger yield of 11.23% and higher conductivity 1.8×10−2 S/cm compared with that obtained by replacing APS with FeCl3. More importantly, these PANI nanofibers exhibited better electrochemical behaviors, which benefitted from their high crystallinity and good conductivity

Polyaniline nanostructures tuning with oxidants in interfacial polymerization system

Three kinds of nanostructured polyanilines (PANIs) were prepared through interfacial polymerization by using ammonium persulfate (APS) as a single oxidant, and APS/FeCl3, APS/K2Cr2O7 as composite oxidants, respectively. It is observed that faster formation process and higher yield of nanostructured PANIs could be achieved in the presence of FeCl3 and K2Cr2O7. The as-prepared PANIs were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy, ultraviolet–visible absorption spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared and Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis and electrochemical measurements including cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge/discharge measurement. The influence of composite oxidants on the morphology, microstructure, and electrical and electrochemical properties of PANIs was discussed. Interestingly, when APS/K2Cr2O7 was used as the composite oxidants, PANI exhibited petal-like structure with high yield of 57.35% instead of general nanofibrous morphology formed in interfacial polymerization. Compared with those nanofibrous PANIs obtained by using APS as a single oxidant or APS/FeCl3 as composite oxidants, petal-like PANIs exhibited the largest specific capacitance (692.4 F/g at scan rate of 5 mV/s) and highest cycle stability among them. It provides a new insight into the control of PANI nanostructures with high yield and energy storage ability by simply selecting suitable composite oxidants in interfacial polymerization

Sandwich-structured ordered mesoporous polydopamine/MXene hybrids as high-performance anodes for lithium-ion batteries

Organic polymers have attracted significant interest as electrodes for energy storage devices because of their advantages, including molecular flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and environmentally friendly nature. Nevertheless, the real implementation of polymer-based electrodes is restricted by their poor stability, low capacity, and slow electron-transfer/ion diffusion kinetics. In this work, a sandwich-structured composite of ordered mesoporous polydopamine (OMPDA)/TiCT has been fabricated by in situ polymerization of dopamine on the surface of TiCT via employing the PS--PEO block polymer as a soft template. The OMPDA layers with vertically oriented, accessible nanopores (∼20 nm) provide a continuous pore channel for ion diffusion, while the TiCT layers guarantee a fast electron-transfer path. The OMPDA/TiCT composite anode exhibits high reversible capacity, good rate performance, and excellent cyclability for lithium-ion batteries. The in situ transmission electron microscopy analysis reveals that the OMPDA in the composite only shows a small volume expansion and almost preserves the initial morphology during lithiation. Moreover, these in situ experiments also demonstrate the generation of a stable and ultrathin solid electrolyte interphase layer surrounding the active material, which acts as an electrode protective film during cycling. This study demonstrates the method to develop polymer-based electrodes for high-performance rechargeable batteries

CYT997(Lexibulin) induces apoptosis and autophagy through the activation of mutually reinforced ER stress and ROS in osteosarcoma

Abstract Background Osteosarcoma (OS) is a common malignant cancer in children and adolescents and has a cure rate that has not improved in the last two decades. CYT997 (lexibulin) is a novel potent microtubule-targeting agent with various anticancer activities, such as proliferation inhibition, vascular disruption, and cell cycle arrest and apoptosis induction, in multiple cancers. However, the direct cytotoxic mechanisms of CYT997 have not yet been fully characterized. Methods We evaluated apoptosis and autophagy in human osteosarcomas after treatment with CYT997 and investigated the underlying mechanisms. To explore relationships, we used the reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenger N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), PERK inhibitor GSK2606414, ERO1 inhibitor EN460 and mitochondrial targeted protection peptide elamipretide. BALB/c-nu mice were inoculated with 143B tumor cells to investigate the in vivo effect of CYT997. Results We explored the efficacy and mechanism of CYT997 in osteosarcoma (OS) in vitro and in vivo and demonstrated that CYT997 potently suppresses cell viability and induces apoptosis and autophagy. CYT997 triggered production of ROS and exerted lethal effects via endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in OS cells. NAC attenuated these effects. The PERK inhibitor GSK2606414, which can block the ER stress pathway, reduced ROS production and enhanced cell viability. Moreover, activation of ERO1 in the ER stress pathway was responsible for inducing ROS production. ROS produced by the mitochondrial pathway also aggravate ER stress. Protection of mitochondria can reduce apoptosis and autophagy. Finally, CYT997 prominently reduced tumor growth in vivo. Conclusions This study suggests that CYT997 induces apoptosis and autophagy in OS cells by triggering mutually enhanced ER stress and ROS and may thus be a promising agent against OS

Administration of cinnamaldehyde promotes osteogenesis in ovariectomized rats and differentiation of osteoblast in vitro

To explore the effect of cinnamaldehyde on the distal femur in ovariectomized rats and its influence on osteoblast in vitro. Female Sprague–Dawley rats which underwent either bilateral ovariectomy or sham operation were divided into five groups randomly: group OVX (OVX, N = 10) and group sham (SHAM, N = 10) received normal saline (NS) by gavage at a dose of 50 ml/kg·d; group low dose, group middle dose and group high dose received cinnamaldehyde by gavage at a dose of 25 mg/kg·d (OLD, N = 10), 50 mg/kg·d (OMD, N = 10), and 75 mg/kg·d (OHD, N = 10) respectively. Distal femurs were harvested for hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining, micro-ct scanning and immunohistochemical analysis. Murine mesenchymal stem cells were cultured and dealt with the presence of either cinnamaldehyde at a dose of 15ug/ml (OLD), 30ug/ml (OMD), 60ug/ml (OHD) or vehicle. ALP staining and western blot were performed to observe the influence of cinnamaldehyde on the differentiation of osteoblast. HE and micro-ct results indicated that osteogenesis were promoted with the treatment of cinnamaldehyde. Immunohistochemical results showed that cinnamaldehyde increased the number of osteoblast and decreased the number of osteoclast. In vitro studies indicated that cinnamaldehyde promoted expression of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2), osteocalcin (OCN) and collagen type Iɑ1 (COL1ɑ1). The treatment effect behaved as dose-dependently. Thus, cinnamaldehyde inhibits osteoclastogenesis and promotes osteoblastogenesis, and may plays an important role in the treatment of osteoporosis clinically. Keywords: Cinnamaldehyde, Anti-Osteoporosis, Bone morphology, Osteoblast, Osteoclas