A randomized controlled trial of vaginal misoprostol tablet and intracervical dinoprostone gel in labor induction of women with prolonged pregnancies

Background: Objective of the study was to compare the efficacy of vaginal misoprostol and intracervical dinoprostone gel for induction of labor in women with unfavorable cervix beyond 41 weeks (287 days) of gestation.Methods: This randomized controlled trial was performed at a teaching hospital between January 2011 and December 2012. 192 women with singleton uncomplicated pregnancy with no previous uterine scar not going into spontaneous labor at 288th days of gestation .Misoprostol(25 mcg tablet)in the posterior vaginal fornix, four hourly, maximum six doses or Dinoprostone (0.5 mg gel) intracervical instillation ,six hourly, maximum three doses were given.Oxytocin was administered if needed. Primary outcome: Induction delivery interval (IDI) with incidence of delivery within 12 hours and 24 hours; mode of delivery: vaginal or caesarean section. Secondary outcome: maternal side effects, neonatal outcome. For statistical analysis chi-square test, student t- test and P-value determination were done.Results: The mean IDI was shorter in the misoprostol group compared to the dinoprostone group (p0.05). Adverse neonatal outcome (5-minutes Apgar score0.05).Conclusions: Vaginal misoprostol tablet is a safe and more effective method of induction of labour when compared with intracervical dinoprostone gel in prolonged pregnancies.

TXS 0506+056 with Updated IceCube Data

Past results from the IceCube Collaboration have suggested that the blazar TXS 0506+056 is a potential source of astrophysical neutrinos. However, in the years since there have been numerous updates to event processing and reconstruction, as well as improvements to the statistical methods used to search for astrophysical neutrino sources. These improvements in combination with additional years of data have resulted in the identification of NGC 1068 as a second neutrino source candidate. This talk will re-examine time-dependent neutrino emission from TXS 0506+056 using the most recent northern-sky data sample that was used in the analysis of NGC 1068. The results of using this updated data sample to obtain a significance and flux fit for the 2014 TXS 0506+056 "untriggered" neutrino flare are reported

Galactic Core-Collapse Supernovae at IceCube: “Fire Drill” Data Challenges and follow-up

The next Galactic core-collapse supernova (CCSN) presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make astrophysical measurements using neutrinos, gravitational waves, and electromagnetic radiation. CCSNe local to the Milky Way are extremely rare, so it is paramount that detectors are prepared to observe the signal when it arrives. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory, a gigaton water Cherenkov detector below the South Pole, is sensitive to the burst of neutrinos released by a Galactic CCSN at a level >10σ. This burst of neutrinos precedes optical emission by hours to days, enabling neutrinos to serve as an early warning for follow-up observation. IceCube\u27s detection capabilities make it a cornerstone of the global network of neutrino detectors monitoring for Galactic CCSNe, the SuperNova Early Warning System (SNEWS 2.0). In this contribution, we describe IceCube\u27s sensitivity to Galactic CCSNe and strategies for operational readiness, including "fire drill" data challenges. We also discuss coordination with SNEWS 2.0

All-Energy Search for Solar Atmospheric Neutrinos with IceCube

The interaction of cosmic rays with the solar atmosphere generates a secondary flux of mesons that decay into photons and neutrinos – the so-called solar atmospheric flux. Although the gamma-ray component of this flux has been observed in Fermi-LAT and HAWC Observatory data, the neutrino component remains undetected. The energy distribution of those neutrinos follows a soft spectrum that extends from the GeV to the multi-TeV range, making large Cherenkov neutrino telescopes a suitable for probing this flux. In this contribution, we will discuss current progress of a search for the solar neutrino flux by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory using all available data since 2011. Compared to the previous analysis which considered only high-energy muon neutrino tracks, we will additionally consider events produced by all flavors of neutrinos down to GeV-scale energies. These new events should improve our analysis sensitivity since the flux falls quickly with energy. Determining the magnitude of the neutrino flux is essential, since it is an irreducible background to indirect solar dark matter searches

Multiplicity of TeV muons in extensive air showers detected with IceTop and IceCube

We report on an analysis of the high-energy muon component in near-vertical extensive air showers detected by the surface array IceTop in coincidence with the in-ice array of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. In the coincidence measurement, the predominantly electromagnetic signal measured by IceTop is used to estimate the cosmic-ray primary energy, and the energy loss of the muon bundle in the deep in-ice array is used to estimate the number of muons in the shower with energies above 500 GeV (“TeV muons”). The average multiplicity of these TeV muons is determined for cosmic-ray energies between 2.5 PeV and 100 PeV assuming three different hadronic interaction models: Sibyll 2.1, QGSJet-II.04, and EPOS-LHC. For all models considered, the results are found to be in good agreement with the expectations from simulations. A tension exists, however, between the high-energy muon multiplicity and other observables; most importantly the density of GeV muons measured by IceTop using QGSJet-II.04 and EPOS-LHC

Search for neutrino sources from the direction of IceCube alert events

We search for additional neutrino emission from the direction of IceCube\u27s highest energy public alert events. We take the arrival direction of 122 events with a high probability of being of astrophysical origin and look for steady and transient emission. We investigate 11 years of reprocessed and recalibrated archival IceCube data. For the steady scenario, we investigate if the potential emission is dominated by a single strong source or by many weaker sources. In contrast, for the transient emission we only search for single sources. In both cases, we find no significant additional neutrino component. Not having observed any significant excess, we constrain the maximal neutrino flux coming from all 122 origin directions (including the high-energy events) to Φ90%, 100 TeV=1.2×10−15~(TeV cm2 s)−1 at 100~TeV, assuming an E−2 emission, with 90\% confidence. The most significant transient emission of all 122 investigated regions of interest is the neutrino flare associated with the blazar TXS~0506+056. With the recalibrated data, the flare properties of this work agree with previous results. We fit a Gaussian time profile centered at μT=57001+38−26~MJD and with a width of σT=64+35−10~days. The best fit spectral index is γ=2.3±0.4 and we fit a single flavor fluence of J100 TeV=1.2+1.1−0.8×10−8~(TeV~cm2)−1. The global p-value for transient emission is pglobal=0.156 and, therefore, compatible with background

A model independent parametrization of the optical properties of the refrozen IceCube drill holes

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory deployed 5160 digital optical modules (DOMs) in a cubic kilometer of deep, glacial ice below the geographic South Pole, recording the Cherenkov light of passing charged particles. While the optical properties of the undisturbed ice are nowadays well understood, the properties of the refrozen drill holes still pose a challenge. From camera observations, we expect a central, strongly scattering column shadowing a part of the DOMs\u27 sensitive area. In MC simulation, this effect is commonly modeled as a modification to the DOMs\u27 angular acceptance curve, reducing the forward sensitivity of the DOMs. The associated uncertainty is a dominant detector systematic for neutrino oscillation studies as well as high-energy cascade reconstructions. Over the years, several measurements and fits of the drill holes\u27 optical properties and of the angular acceptance curve have been proposed, some of which are in tension. Here, we present a principle component analysis, which allows us to interpolate between all suggested scenarios, and thus provide a complete systematic variation within a unified framework at analysis level

Multi-flavour neutrino searches from the Milky Way Galaxy

High-energy neutrinos are expected to be produced in the Milky Way by cosmic ray interactions at sites of acceleration or during their propagation. Neutrinos provide distinctive information on hadronic interactions and can be pointed back to production origins, unraveling unique properties of the Galaxy. We present an analysis on the search for the diffuse neutrino flux along the Galactic Plane by using data collected at the largest operating neutrino telescope in the world - the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. More than 10 years of data since the completion of the detector are used in this analysis. We utilize three event selections including through-going tracks, showers and starting-tracks to reach full-sky coverage and to be sensitive to all three neutrino flavours