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Neutrino elastic scattering observation with NaI (NEON) is an experiment designed to detect neutrino-nucleus coherent scattering using reactor electron antineutrinos. NEON is based on an array of six NaI(Tl) crystals with a total mass of 13.3 kg, located at the tendon gallery that is 23.7 m away from a reactor core with a thermal power of 2.8 GW in the Hanbit nuclear power complex. The installation of the NEON detector was completed in December 2020, and since May 2021, the detector has acquired data at full reactor power. Based on the observed light yields of the NaI crystals of approximately 22, number of photoelectrons per unit keV electron-equivalent energy (keVee), and 6 counts/kg/keV/day background level at 2–6 keVee energy, coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CE ν NS) observation sensitivity is evaluated as more than 3 σ assuming 1-year reactor-on and 100 days reactor-off data, 0.2 keVee energy threshold, and 7 counts/keV/kg/day background in the signal region of 0.2 - 0.5 keVee. This paper describes the design of the NEON detector, including the shielding arrangement, configuration of NaI(Tl) crystals, and associated operating systems. The initial performance and associated sensitivity of the experiment are also presented.

This cutting-edge study delves into regional magmatism in northern Taiwan through advanced 3-D P - and S -wave frequency-dependent attenuation tomography. Positioned at the dynamic convergence boundary between the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasian Plate, Taiwan experiences moderate earthquakes and intriguing volcanic activity, with a focus on the Tatun volcano group. Employing the Formosa seismic array for high-resolution results, our research identifies high-attenuation anomalies (low Q ) beneath the northern Taiwan volcanic zone (NTVZ) and offshore submarine volcanoes, indicative of potential hydrothermal activities and magma reservoirs at varying depths. Additionally, we explore low-attenuation anomalies (high Q ) in the forearc region of the Ryukyu subduction zone, suggestive of partial saturation linked to serpentinization processes resulting from seawater infiltration or forearc mantle hydration. These findings shed light on the complex geological features and provide essential insights into the crustal properties of northern Taiwan, contributing to a deeper understanding of its magmatic evolution and tectonic processes.

The Tatun Volcanic Group (TVG) is proximal to the metropolis of Taipei City (population of ca. 7 million) and has long been a major concern due to the potential risks from volcanic activity to the population and critical infrastructure. While the TVG has been previously considered a dormant or extinct volcano, recent evidence suggests a much younger age of the last eruption event (~ 6000 years) and possible existence of a magma reservoir beneath the TVG. However, the location, dimension, and detailed geometry of the magma reservoir and plumbing system remains largely unknown. To examine the TVG volcanic plumbing structure in detail, the local P-wave travel time data and the teleseismic waveform data from a new island-wide Formosa Array Project are combined for a 3D tomographic joint inversion. The new model reveals a magma reservoir with a notable P-wave velocity reduction of 19% (ca. ~ 19% melt fraction) at 8–20 km beneath eastern TVG and with possible northward extension to a shallower depth near where active submarine volcanoes that have been detected. Enhanced tomographic images also reveal sporadic magmatic intrusion/underplating in the lower crust of Husehshan Range and northern Taiwan. These findings suggest an active volcanic plumbing system induced by post-collisional extension associated with the collapse of the orogen.

The annual modulation signal observed by the DAMA experiment is a long-standing question in the community of dark matter direct detection. This necessitates an independent verification of its existence using the same detection technique. The COSINE-100 experiment has been operating with 106 kg of low-background NaI(Tl) detectors providing interesting checks on the DAMA signal. However, due to higher backgrounds in the NaI(Tl) crystals used in COSINE-100 relative to those used for DAMA, it was difficult to reach final conclusions. Since the start of COSINE-100 data taking in 2016, we also have initiated a program to develop ultra-pure NaI(Tl) crystals for COSINE-200, the next phase of the experiment. The program includes efforts of raw powder purification, ultra-pure NaI(Tl) crystal growth, and detector assembly techniques. After extensive research and development of NaI(Tl) crystal growth, we have successfully grown a few small-size (0.61–0.78 kg) thallium-doped crystals with high radio-purity. A high light yield has been achieved by improvements of our detector assembly technique. Here we report the ultra-pure NaI(Tl) detector developments at the Institute for Basic Science, Korea. The technique developed here will be applied to the production of NaI(Tl) detectors for the COSINE-200 experiment.

Long carrier lifetime is what makes hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites high-performance photovoltaic materials. Several microscopic mechanisms behind the unusually long carrier lifetime have been proposed, such as formation of large polarons, Rashba effect, ferroelectric domains, and photon recycling. Here, we show that the screening of band-edge charge carriers by rotation of organic cation molecules can be a major contribution to the prolonged carrier lifetime. Our results reveal that the band-edge carrier lifetime increases when the system enters from a phase with lower rotational entropy to another phase with higher entropy. These results imply that the recombination of the photoexcited electrons and holes is suppressed by the screening, leading to the formation of polarons and thereby extending the lifetime. Thus, searching for organic–inorganic perovskites with high rotational entropy over a wide range of temperature may be a key to achieve superior solar cell performance.

Summary Increased neuropeptide Y (NPY) expression occurred in the glucocorticoid-induced osteoporotic skeleton. NPY knockout mice exhibited a minor response to the glucocorticoid-mediated exacerbation of bone accretion and fatty marrow pathogenesis. NPY deletion restored SITR1 signaling and enhanced PPARγ ubiquitination of bone tissue, an alternative strategy for ameliorating glucocorticoid-induced skeletal deterioration. Introduction Glucocorticoid excess is observed to worsen the pathogenesis of osteoporosis and fatty marrow. This study was undertaken to investigate the contribution of neuropeptide Y (NPY) to glucocorticoid-induced bone loss and marrow adiposity. Methods NPY knockout and wild-type mice were administered methylprednisolone for four consecutive weeks. Bone mineral density, microarchitecture, and calcein-labeled mineral acquisition were quantified by μCT, dual energy X-ray absorptiometry, and histomorphometry. Expression of osteogenic and adipogenic markers and acetylation states of PPARγ were detected by RT-quantitative PCR, immunoprecipitation, and immunoblotting. Results High NPY levels were associated with glucocorticoid-induced trabecular bone deterioration and marrow fat accumulation. Mice lacking NPY had high bone mass concomitant with spacious trabecular and cortical bone microstructure. NPY deletion shielded skeletal tissues from the glucocorticoid-induced impediment of bone mass, trabecular morphometric characteristics, mineral accretion activity, and fatty marrow development. Ex vivo, NPY deficiency sustained osteogenic differentiation capacity and curtailed the glucocorticoid-mediated escalation of adipocyte formation reactions of primary bone-marrow mesenchymal cells. NPY deletion appeared to modulate Y1 and Y2 receptors, sirtuin 1, ERK, and p38 signaling pathways, an effect that facilitated hypoacetylation and ubiquitination of adipogenic transcription factor PPARγ in the skeletal tissues exposed to glucocorticoid stress. Conclusions NPY mediates the glucocorticoid-induced disturbance of mineral accretion and marrow adipogenesis through post-translational modification of PPARγ. This study brings a new molecular insight into the disintegration of adipogenic and osteogenic activities within glucocorticoid-mediated osteoporotic skeletons. Control of NPY is an alternative strategy to ameliorate glucocorticoid-induced bone destruction and fatty marrow.

A bstract Limits on the cross section for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) elastic scattering on nuclei in NaI(Tl) detectors at the Yangyang Underground Laboratory are obtained from a 2967.4 kg·day data exposure. The nuclei recoiling from the scattering process are identified by the pulse shape of the scintillation light signals that they produce. The data are consistent with a no nuclear-recoil hypothesis, and WIMP-mass-dependent 90% confidence-level upper-limits are set on WIMP-nuclei elastic scattering cross sections. These limits partially exclude the DAMA/LIBRA allowed region for WIMP-sodium interactions with the same NaI(Tl) target material. The 90% confidence level upper limit on the WIMP-nucleon spin-independent cross section is 3.26×10 −4 pb for a WIMP mass of 10 GeV/c 2 .

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a cancer that occurs in high frequency in Southern China. A previous functional complementation approach and the subsequent cDNA microarray analysis have identified that serum amyloid A1 ( SAA1 ) is an NPC candidate tumor suppressor gene. SAA1 belongs to a family of acute-phase proteins that are encoded by five polymorphic coding alleles. The SAA1 genotyping results showed that only three SAA1 isoforms ( SAA1.1 , 1.3 and 1.5 ) were observed in both Hong Kong NPC patients and healthy individuals. This study aims to determine the functional role of SAA1 polymorphisms in tumor progression and to investigate the relationship between SAA1 polymorphisms and NPC risk. Indeed, we have shown that restoration of SAA1.1 and 1.3 in the SAA1 -deficient NPC cell lines could suppress tumor formation and angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo . The secreted SAA1.1 and SAA1.3 proteins can block cell adhesion and induce apoptosis in the vascular endothelial cells. In contrast, the SAA1.5 cannot induce apoptosis or inhibit angiogenesis because of its weaker binding affinity to αVβ3 integrin. This can explain why SAA1.5 has no tumor-suppressive effects. Furthermore, the NPC tumors with this particular SAA1.5/1.5 genotype showed higher levels of SAA1 gene expression, and SAA1.1 and 1.3 alleles were preferentially inactivated in tumor tissues that were examined. These findings further strengthen the conclusion for the defective function of SAA1.5 in suppression of tumor formation and angiogenesis. Interestingly, the frequency of the SAA1.5/1.5 genotype in NPC patients was ~2-fold higher than in the healthy individuals ( P =0.00128, odds ratio=2.28), which indicates that this SAA1 genotype is significantly associated with a higher NPC risk. Collectively, this homozygous SAA1.5/1.5 genotype appears to be a recessive susceptibility gene, which has lost the antiangiogenic function, whereas SAA1.1 and SAA1.3 are the dominant alleles of the tumor suppressor phenotype.

The advanced molybdenum-based rare process experiment (AMoRE) aims to search for neutrinoless double beta decay (\\[0\\nu \\beta \\beta \\]) of \\[^{100}\\]Mo with \\[\\sim 100\\,\\hbox {kg}\\] of \\[^{100}\\]Mo-enriched molybdenum embedded in cryogenic detectors with a dual heat and light readout. At the current, pilot stage of the AMoRE project we employ six calcium molybdate crystals with a total mass of 1.9 kg, produced from \\[^{48}\\]Ca-depleted calcium and \\[^{100}\\]Mo-enriched molybdenum (\\[^{48{{\\text {depl}}}\\hbox {Ca}^{100}\\hbox {MoO}_{4}\\]). The simultaneous detection of heat (phonon) and scintillation (photon) signals is realized with high resolution metallic magnetic calorimeter sensors that operate at milli-Kelvin temperatures. This stage of the project is carried out in the Yangyang underground laboratory at a depth of 700 m. We report first results from the AMoRE-Pilot \\[0\\nu \\beta \\beta \\] search with a 111 kg day live exposure of \\[^{48{{\\text {depl}}}\\hbox {Ca}^{100}\\hbox {MoO}_{4}\\] crystals. No evidence for \\[0\\nu \\beta \\beta \\] decay of \\[^{100}\\]Mo is found, and a upper limit is set for the half-life of \\[0\\nu \\beta \\beta \\] of \\[^{100}\\]Mo of \\[T^{0\\nu }_{1/2} > 9.5\\times 10^{22}~\\hbox {years}\\] at 90% C.L. This limit corresponds to an effective Majorana neutrino mass limit in the range \\[\\langle m_{\\beta \\beta }\\rangle \\le (1.2-2.1)\\,\\hbox {eV}\\].