Observation of Coherent Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering

The coherent elastic scattering of neutrinos off nuclei has eluded detection for four decades, even though its predicted cross-section is the largest by far of all low-energy neutrino couplings. This mode of interaction provides new opportunities to study neutrino properties, and leads to a miniaturization of detector size, with potential technological applications. We observe this process at a 6.7-sigma confidence level, using a low-background, 14.6-kg CsI[Na] scintillator exposed to the neutrino emissions from the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Characteristic signatures in energy and time, predicted by the Standard Model for this process, are observed in high signal-to-background conditions. Improved constraints on non-standard neutrino interactions with quarks are derived from this initial dataset

Pan-cancer analysis of whole genomes

Cancer is driven by genetic change, and the advent of massively parallel sequencing has enabled systematic documentation of this variation at the whole-genome scale(1-3). Here we report the integrative analysis of 2,658 whole-cancer genomes and their matching normal tissues across 38 tumour types from the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). We describe the generation of the PCAWG resource, facilitated by international data sharing using compute clouds. On average, cancer genomes contained 4-5 driver mutations when combining coding and non-coding genomic elements; however, in around 5% of cases no drivers were identified, suggesting that cancer driver discovery is not yet complete. Chromothripsis, in which many clustered structural variants arise in a single catastrophic event, is frequently an early event in tumour evolution; in acral melanoma, for example, these events precede most somatic point mutations and affect several cancer-associated genes simultaneously. Cancers with abnormal telomere maintenance often originate from tissues with low replicative activity and show several mechanisms of preventing telomere attrition to critical levels. Common and rare germline variants affect patterns of somatic mutation, including point mutations, structural variants and somatic retrotransposition. A collection of papers from the PCAWG Consortium describes non-coding mutations that drive cancer beyond those in the TERT promoter(4); identifies new signatures of mutational processes that cause base substitutions, small insertions and deletions and structural variation(5,6); analyses timings and patterns of tumour evolution(7); describes the diverse transcriptional consequences of somatic mutation on splicing, expression levels, fusion genes and promoter activity(8,9); and evaluates a range of more-specialized features of cancer genomes(8,10-18).Peer reviewe

First constraint on coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering in argon

Coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEvNS) is calculated to be the dominant neutrino scattering channel for neutrinos of energy E-nu < 100 MeV. We report a limit for this process from data collected in an engineering run of the 29 kg CENNS-10 liquid argon detector located 27.5 m from the pion decay-at-rest neutrino source at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) with 4.2 x 10(22) protons on target. The dataset provided constraints on beam-related backgrounds critical for future measurements and yielded < 7.4 candidate CEvNS events which implies a cross section for the process, averaged over the SNS pion decay-at-rest flux, of < 3.4 x 10(-39) cm(2), a limit within twice the Standard Model prediction. This is the first limit on CEvNS from an argon nucleus and confirms the earlier CsI[Na] nonstandard neutrino interaction constraints from the collaboration. This run demonstrated the feasibility of the ongoing experimental effort to detect CEvNS with liquid argon. c. American Physical Society11Nsciescopu

Characterization of genetic landscape and novel inflammatory biomarkers in patients with adult-onset Still's disease.

Publication status: PublishedFunder: Kennedy Trust for Rheumatology Research; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100016580OBJECTIVES: Adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD) is systemic autoinflammatory disorder of unknown aetiology. Genetic studies have been limited. Here, we conducted detailed genetic and inflammatory biomarker analysis of a large AOSD cohort to investigate the underlying pathology and identify novel targets for potential treatment. METHODS: We investigated AOSD cases (n=60) for rare germline and somatic variants using whole exome sequencing with virtual gene panels. Transcriptome profiles were investigated by bulk RNA sequencing whole blood. Cytokine profiling was performed on an extended patient cohort (n=106), alongside measurements of NLRP3 inflammasome activation using a custom assay, and Type I Interferon (IFN) score using a novel method. RESULTS: We observed higher-than-expected frequencies of rare germline variants associated with monogenic autoinflammatory disorders in AOSD cases (AOSD 38.4% vs healthy controls 20.4%), and earlier onset of putative somatic variants associated with clonal haematopoiesis of indeterminate potential. Transcriptome profiling revealed positive correlation between Still's activity score (SAS) and gene expression associated with the innate immune system. ASC/NLRP3 specks levels and Type I IFN scores were significantly elevated in AOSD cases compared to healthy controls (p=0.0001 and 0.0015 respectively), in addition to several cytokines: IL-6 (p<0.0001), IL-10 (p<0.0075), IL-12p70 (p=0.0005), IL-18 (p<0.0001), IL-23 (p<0.0001), IFN-α2 (p=0.0009), and IFNγ (p=0.0002). CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows considerable genetic complexity within AOSD and demonstrates the potential utility of the ASC/NLRP3 specks assay for disease stratification and targeted treatment. The enriched genetic variants identified may not, by themselves, be sufficient to cause disease but may contribute to a polygenic model for AOSD

Use of ionic liquid in leaching process of brass wastes for copper and zinc recovery

Brass ash from the industrial brass manufacturer in Turkey was leached using the solutions of ionic liquid (IL) 1-butyl-3-methyl-imidazolium hydrogen sulfate ([bmim]HSO4) at ambient pressure in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and potassium peroxymonosulfate (oxone) as the oxidants. Parameters affecting leaching efficiency, such as dissolution time, IL concentration, and oxidizing agent addition, were investigated. The results show that [bmim]HSO4 is an efficient IL for the brass ash leaching, providing the dissolution efficiencies of 99% for Zn and 24.82% for Cu at a concentration of 50vol% [bmim]HSO4 in the aqueous solution without any oxidant. However, more than 99% of zinc and 82% of copper are leached by the addition of 50vol% H2O2 to the [bmim]HSO4 solution. Nevertheless, the oxone does not show the promising oxidant behavior in leaching using [bmim]HSO4