Letter of Intent: Jinping Neutrino Experiment

Jinping Neutrino Experiment (Jinping) is proposed to significantly improve measurements on solar neutrinos and geoneutrinos in China Jinping Laboratory - a lab with a number of unparalleled features, thickest overburden, lowest reactor neutrino background, etc., which identify it as the world-best low-energy neutrino laboratory. The proposed experiment will have target mass of 4 kilotons of liquid scintillator or water-based liquid scintillator, with a fiducial mass of 2 kilotons for neutrino-electron scattering events and 3 kilotons for inverse-beta interaction events. A number of initial sensitivities studies have been carried out, including on the transition phase for the solar neutrinos oscillation from the vacuum to the matter effect, the discovery of solar neutrinos from the carbon-nitrogen-oxygen (CNO) cycle, the resolution of the high and low metallicity hypotheses, and the unambiguous separation on U and Th cascade decays from the dominant crustal anti-electron neutrinos in China.Comment: Proposal for the Jinping Neutrino Experimen

Muon Flux Measurement at China Jinping Underground Laboratory

China Jinping Underground Laboratory (CJPL) is ideal for studying solar-, geo-, and supernova neutrinos. A precise measurement of the cosmic-ray background would play an essential role in proceeding with the R\&D research for these MeV-scale neutrino experiments. Using a 1-ton prototype detector for the Jinping Neutrino Experiment (JNE), we detected 264 high-energy muon events from a 645.2-day dataset at the first phase of CJPL (CJPL-I), reconstructed their directions, and measured the cosmic-ray muon flux to be $(3.53\pm0.22_{\text{stat.}}\pm0.07_{\text{sys.}})\times10^{-10}$ cm$^{-2}$s$^{-1}$. The observed angular distributions indicate the leakage of cosmic-ray muon background and agree with the simulation accounting for Jinping mountain's terrain. A survey of muon fluxes at different laboratory locations situated under mountains and below mine shaft indicated that the former is generally a factor of $(4\pm2)$ larger than the latter with the same vertical overburden. This study provides a convenient back-of-the-envelope estimation for muon flux of an underground experiment

Performance of the 1-ton Prototype Neutrino Detector at CJPL-I

China Jinping Underground Laboratory (CJPL) provides an ideal site for solar, geo-, and supernova neutrino studies. With a prototype neutrino detector running since 2017, containing 1-ton liquid scintillator (LS), we tested its experimental hardware, performed the physics calibration, and measured its radioactive backgrounds, as an early stage of the Jinping Neutrino Experiment (JNE). We investigated the radon background and implemented the nitrogen sealing technology to control it. This paper presents the details of these studies and will serve as a key reference for the construction and optimization of the future large detector at JNE

First Measurement of Atmospheric Neutrino Neutral-Current Quasi-Elastic Interactions for Supernova Relic Neutrino Search at Super-Kamiokande

Neutrinos emitted from past core-collapse supernovae are called supernova relic neutrinos (SRN), or diffused supernova neutrino backgrounds (DSNB). The electronics and triggering in Super-Kamiokande-IV (SK-IV) enables tagging inverse beta decay interactions from SRN by neutrons captured on hydrogen. Neutral current quasi-elastic (NCQE) scattering of atmospheric neutrinos on 16 ^{16} O in SK forms an important remaining background with neutron in SRN detection. Recently, the use of vertex reconstruction of the 2.2 MeV photons from the neutron captures and a neural network improved the discrimination against backgrounds and significantly increased tagging efficiency, allowing for a measurement of NCQE events from atmospheric neutrinos. For the first time, the NCQE cross section of atmospheric neutrinos has been measured with neutron tagging technique, using the data set of 2,778 days live-time in SK-IV. This result will be presented and compared against theoretical predictions.</p

Gut Barrier, Microbial Metabolites, and Immune Homeostasis in Autoimmune Hepatitis: From Molecular Mechanisms to Strategies

Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a chronic immune-mediated inflammatory liver disease characterized by recurring immune-triggered hepatic injury. While scientists have yet to fully elucidate the precise triggers of AIH, contemporary research indicates that both gut microbiota and their metabolic products significantly influence AIH progression. These factors contribute to multiple mechanisms, including compromised intestinal barrier function, altered microbial and metabolite trafficking, and disrupted immune balance, leading to inflammatory responses. This review begins by exploring the intestinal microbial populations and their byproducts linked to AIH. It highlights how disrupted gut flora compromises intestinal immune defenses, enables bacterial migration from the gut to hepatic tissue, and induces liver inflammatory responses. Research validates that metabolic products from microbes, such as short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), bile acids (BAs), and specific amino acids (glutamine, cysteine, tryptophan, and branched-chain variants, among others), interact with immune cell populations. These interactions, coupled with immune cell modifications, contribute to AIH progression. Our review identifies promising treatment strategies, including the use of probiotic supplementation, engineered prebiotic compounds, microbiota transfer procedures, and specific medications targeting gut microorganisms and their byproducts. These approaches could potentially reduce immune-triggered hepatic damage, offering potential new avenues for AIH management