Measurements of neutrino oscillation parameters from the T2K experiment using 3.6×1021 protons on target.

The T2K experiment presents new measurements of neutrino oscillation parameters using 19.7(16.3)×1020 protons on target (POT) in (anti-)neutrino mode at the far detector (FD). Compared to the previous analysis, an additional 4.7×1020 POT neutrino data was collected at the FD. Significant improvements were made to the analysis methodology, with the near-detector analysis introducing new selections and using more than double the data. Additionally, this is the first T2K oscillation analysis to use NA61/SHINE data on a replica of the T2K target to tune the neutrino flux model, and the neutrino interaction model was improved to include new nuclear effects and calculations. Frequentist and Bayesian analyses are presented, including results on sin2θ13 and the impact of priors on the δCP measurement. Both analyses prefer the normal mass ordering and upper octant of sin2θ23 with a nearly maximally CP-violating phase. Assuming the normal ordering and using the constraint on sin2θ13 from reactors, sin2θ23=0.561-0.032+0.021 using Feldman-Cousins corrected intervals, and Δm322=2.494-0.058+0.041×10-3eV2 using constant Δχ2 intervals. The CP-violating phase is constrained to δCP=-1.97-0.70+0.97 using Feldman-Cousins corrected intervals, and δCP=0,π is excluded at more than 90% confidence level. A Jarlskog invariant of zero is excluded at more than 2σ credible level using a flat prior in δCP, and just below 2σ using a flat prior in sinδCP. When the external constraint on sin2θ13 is removed, sin2θ13=28.0-6.5+2.8×10-3, in agreement with measurements from reactor experiments. These results are consistent with previous T2K analyses.

Observation of high-energy neutrinos from the Galactic plane.

The origin of high-energy cosmic rays, atomic nuclei that continuously impact Earth's atmosphere, is unknown. Because of deflection by interstellar magnetic fields, cosmic rays produced within the Milky Way arrive at Earth from random directions. However, cosmic rays interact with matter near their sources and during propagation, which produces high-energy neutrinos. We searched for neutrino emission using machine learning techniques applied to 10 years of data from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. By comparing diffuse emission models to a background-only hypothesis, we identified neutrino emission from the Galactic plane at the 4.5σ level of significance. The signal is consistent with diffuse emission of neutrinos from the Milky Way but could also arise from a population of unresolved point sources.

Evidence for neutrino emission from the nearby active galaxy NGC 1068.

A supermassive black hole, obscured by cosmic dust, powers the nearby active galaxy NGC 1068. Neutrinos, which rarely interact with matter, could provide information on the galaxy's active core. We searched for neutrino emission from astrophysical objects using data recorded with the IceCube neutrino detector between 2011 and 2020. The positions of 110 known gamma-ray sources were individually searched for neutrino detections above atmospheric and cosmic backgrounds. We found that NGC 1068 has an excess of [Formula: see text] neutrinos at tera-electron volt energies, with a global significance of 4.2σ, which we interpret as associated with the active galaxy. The flux of high-energy neutrinos that we measured from NGC 1068 is more than an order of magnitude higher than the upper limit on emissions of tera-electron volt gamma rays from this source.

Search for Unstable Sterile Neutrinos with the IceCube Neutrino Observatory.

We present a search for an unstable sterile neutrino by looking for a resonant signal in eight years of atmospheric ν_{µ} data collected from 2011 to 2019 at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. Both the (stable) three-neutrino and the 3+1 sterile neutrino models are disfavored relative to the unstable sterile neutrino model, though with p values of 2.8% and 0.81%, respectively, we do not observe evidence for 3+1 neutrinos with neutrino decay. The best-fit parameters for the sterile neutrino with decay model from this study are Δm_{41}^{2}=6.7_{-2.5}^{+3.9} eV^{2}, sin^{2}2θ_{24}=0.33_{-0.17}^{+0.20}, and g^{2}=2.5π±1.5π, where g is the decay-mediating coupling. The preferred regions of the 3+1+decay model from short-baseline oscillation searches are excluded at 90% C.L.

Strong Constraints on Neutrino Nonstandard Interactions from TeV-Scale ν_{µ} Disappearance at IceCube.

We report a search for nonstandard neutrino interactions (NSI) using eight years of TeV-scale atmospheric muon neutrino data from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. By reconstructing incident energies and zenith angles for atmospheric neutrino events, this analysis presents unified confidence intervals for the NSI parameter ε_{µτ}. The best-fit value is consistent with no NSI at a p value of 25.2%. With a 90% confidence interval of -0.0041≤ε_{µτ}≤0.0031 along the real axis and similar strength in the complex plane, this result is the strongest constraint on any NSI parameter from any oscillation channel to date.

Search for Relativistic Magnetic Monopoles with Eight Years of IceCube Data.

We present an all-sky 90% confidence level upper limit on the cosmic flux of relativistic magnetic monopoles using 2886 days of IceCube data. The analysis was optimized for monopole speeds between 0.750c and 0.995c, without any explicit restriction on the monopole mass. We constrain the flux of relativistic cosmic magnetic monopoles to a level below 2.0×10^{-19} cm^{-2} s^{-1} sr^{-1} over the majority of the targeted speed range. This result constitutes the most strict upper limit to date for magnetic monopoles with ß≳0.8 and up to ß∼0.995 and fills the gap between existing limits on the cosmic flux of nonrelativistic and ultrarelativistic magnetic monopoles.

eV-Scale Sterile Neutrino Search Using Eight Years of Atmospheric Muon Neutrino Data from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory.

The results of a 3+1 sterile neutrino search using eight years of data from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory are presented. A total of 305 735 muon neutrino events are analyzed in reconstructed energy-zenith space to test for signatures of a matter-enhanced oscillation that would occur given a sterile neutrino state with a mass-squared differences between 0.01 and 100 eV^{2}. The best-fit point is found to be at sin^{2}(2θ_{24})=0.10 and Δm_{41}^{2}=4.5 eV^{2}, which is consistent with the no sterile neutrino hypothesis with a p value of 8.0%.

Characteristics of the Diffuse Astrophysical Electron and Tau Neutrino Flux with Six Years of IceCube High Energy Cascade Data.

We report on the first measurement of the astrophysical neutrino flux using particle showers (cascades) in IceCube data from 2010-2015. Assuming standard oscillations, the astrophysical neutrinos in this dedicated cascade sample are dominated (∼90%) by electron and tau flavors. The flux, observed in the sensitive energy range from 16 TeV to 2.6 PeV, is consistent with a single power-law model as expected from Fermi-type acceleration of high energy particles at astrophysical sources. We find the flux spectral index to be γ=2.53±0.07 and a flux normalization for each neutrino flavor of ϕ_{astro}=1.66_{-0.27}^{+0.25} at E_{0}=100 TeV, in agreement with IceCube's complementary muon neutrino results and with all-neutrino flavor fit results. In the measured energy range we reject spectral indices γ≤2.28 at ≥3σ significance level. Because of high neutrino energy resolution and low atmospheric neutrino backgrounds, this analysis provides the most detailed characterization of the neutrino flux at energies below ∼100 TeV compared to previous IceCube results. Results from fits assuming more complex neutrino flux models suggest a flux softening at high energies and a flux hardening at low energies (p value ≥0.06). The sizable and smooth flux measured below ∼100 TeV remains a puzzle. In order to not violate the isotropic diffuse gamma-ray background as measured by the Fermi Large Area Telescope, it suggests the existence of astrophysical neutrino sources characterized by dense environments which are opaque to gamma rays.

Time-Integrated Neutrino Source Searches with 10 Years of IceCube Data.

This Letter presents the results from pointlike neutrino source searches using ten years of IceCube data collected between April 6, 2008 and July 10, 2018. We evaluate the significance of an astrophysical signal from a pointlike source looking for an excess of clustered neutrino events with energies typically above ∼1 TeV among the background of atmospheric muons and neutrinos. We perform a full-sky scan, a search within a selected source catalog, a catalog population study, and three stacked Galactic catalog searches. The most significant point in the northern hemisphere from scanning the sky is coincident with the Seyfert II galaxy NGC 1068, which was included in the source catalog search. The excess at the coordinates of NGC 1068 is inconsistent with background expectations at the level of 2.9σ after accounting for statistical trials from the entire catalog. The combination of this result along with excesses observed at the coordinates of three other sources, including TXS 0506+056, suggests that, collectively, correlations with sources in the northern catalog are inconsistent with background at 3.3σ significance. The southern catalog is consistent with background. These results, all based on searches for a cumulative neutrino signal integrated over the 10 years of available data, motivate further study of these and similar sources, including time-dependent analyses, multimessenger correlations, and the possibility of stronger evidence with coming upgrades to the detector.

Constraints on Minute-Scale Transient Astrophysical Neutrino Sources.

High-energy neutrino emission has been predicted for several short-lived astrophysical transients including gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), core-collapse supernovae with choked jets, and neutron star mergers. IceCube's optical and x-ray follow-up program searches for such transient sources by looking for two or more muon neutrino candidates in directional coincidence and arriving within 100 s. The measured rate of neutrino alerts is consistent with the expected rate of chance coincidences of atmospheric background events and no likely electromagnetic counterparts have been identified in Swift follow-up observations. Here, we calculate generic bounds on the neutrino flux of short-lived transient sources. Assuming an E^{-2.5} neutrino spectrum, we find that the neutrino flux of rare sources, like long gamma-ray bursts, is constrained to <5% of the detected astrophysical flux and the energy released in neutrinos (100 GeV to 10 PeV) by a median bright GRB-like source is <10^{52.5} erg. For a harder E^{-2.13} neutrino spectrum up to 30% of the flux could be produced by GRBs and the allowed median source energy is <10^{52} erg. A hypothetical population of transient sources has to be more common than 10^{-5} Mpc^{-3} yr^{-1} (5×10^{-8} Mpc^{-3} yr^{-1} for the E^{-2.13} spectrum) to account for the complete astrophysical neutrino flux.

Measurement of Atmospheric Neutrino Oscillations at 6-56 GeV with IceCube DeepCore.

We present a measurement of the atmospheric neutrino oscillation parameters using three years of data from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. The DeepCore infill array in the center of IceCube enables the detection and reconstruction of neutrinos produced by the interaction of cosmic rays in Earth's atmosphere at energies as low as ∼5 GeV. That energy threshold permits measurements of muon neutrino disappearance, over a range of baselines up to the diameter of the Earth, probing the same range of L/E_{ν} as long-baseline experiments but with substantially higher-energy neutrinos. This analysis uses neutrinos from the full sky with reconstructed energies from 5.6 to 56 GeV. We measure Δm_{32}^{2}=2.31_{-0.13}^{+0.11}×10^{-3} eV^{2} and sin^{2}θ_{23}=0.51_{-0.09}^{+0.07}, assuming normal neutrino mass ordering. These results are consistent with, and of similar precision to, those from accelerator- and reactor-based experiments.

Search for neutrinos from decaying dark matter with IceCube: IceCube Collaboration.

With the observation of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, interest has risen in models of PeV-mass decaying dark matter particles to explain the observed flux. We present two dedicated experimental analyses to test this hypothesis. One analysis uses 6 years of IceCube data focusing on muon neutrino 'track' events from the Northern Hemisphere, while the second analysis uses 2 years of 'cascade' events from the full sky. Known background components and the hypothetical flux from unstable dark matter are fitted to the experimental data. Since no significant excess is observed in either analysis, lower limits on the lifetime of dark matter particles are derived: we obtain the strongest constraint to date, excluding lifetimes shorter than 10 28 s at 90% CL for dark matter masses above 10 TeV .

Measurement of the ν µ energy spectrum with IceCube-79: IceCube Collaboration.

IceCube is a neutrino observatory deployed in the glacial ice at the geographic South Pole. The ν µ energy unfolding described in this paper is based on data taken with IceCube in its 79-string configuration. A sample of muon neutrino charged-current interactions with a purity of 99.5% was selected by means of a multivariate classification process based on machine learning. The subsequent unfolding was performed using the software Truee. The resulting spectrum covers an E ν -range of more than four orders of magnitude from 125 GeV to 3.2 PeV. Compared to the Honda atmospheric neutrino flux model, the energy spectrum shows an excess of more than 1.9 σ in four adjacent bins for neutrino energies E ν ≥ 177.8 TeV . The obtained spectrum is fully compatible with previous measurements of the atmospheric neutrino flux and recent IceCube measurements of a flux of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos.

The Bacillus secretion stress response is an indicator for alpha-amylase production levels.

AIMS: Overproduced alpha-amylases in Bacillus subtilis provoke a specific stress response involving the CssRS two-component system, which controls expression of the HtrA and HtrB proteases. Previously, the B. subtilis TepA protein was implicated in high-level alpha-amylase secretion. Our present studies were aimed at investigating a possible role of TepA in secretion stress management, and characterizing the intensity of the secretion stress response in relation to alpha-amylase production. METHODS AND RESULTS: The expression of a transcriptional htrB-lacZ gene fusion, and the levels of alpha-amylase production were monitored simultaneously using tepA mutant B. subtilis strains. TepA was shown to be dispensable for secretion stress management. Importantly, however, the levels of htrB-lacZ expression can be correlated with the levels of alpha-amylase production. CONCLUSION: Our observations show that the secretion stress response can serve as an indicator for alpha-amylase production levels. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF STUDY: Conceivably, this stress response can be employed to monitor the biotechnological production of various secretory proteins by the Bacillus cell factory.

Engineering of quorum-sensing systems for improved production of alkaline protease by Bacillus subtilis.

AIM: Engineering of Rap-Phr quorum-sensing systems of Bacillus subtilis and subsequent evaluation of the transcription of the aprE gene, encoding a major extracellular alkaline protease. METHODS AND RESULTS: Addition of synthetic Phr pentapeptides to the growth medium, or overproduction of pre-Phr peptides, slightly improved the transcription of the aprE gene in B. subtilis. Disruption of certain rap genes similarly improved the transcription of the aprE gene. The production of extracellular proteolytic enzymes was increased when the rapA mutation was combined with a degU32 (Hy) mutation for hyper-secretion. CONCLUSIONS: Certain Rap-Phr systems of B. subtilis seem to suppress extracellular AprE production. Although this may be an important feature under natural conditions, repression of AprE production by these systems is not desirable under fermentation conditions. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Although the levels of aprE transcriptional increase in this study are moderate, engineering of Rap-Phr systems may be used to improve the yield of Bacillus strains that are used for the production of the extracellular protease AprE, or Bacillus strains that use of the aprE promoter for the production of a heterologous protein.

[The structure of the transposable genetic element ISBsu2 in the cryptic plasmid p1516 from a soil Bacillus subtilis strain and the presence of homologues of this element in the chromosomes of various Bacillus subtilis strains]. / Struktura mobil'nogo geneticheskogo élementa ISBsu2 iz kripticheskoi plazmidy P1516 pochvennogo shtamma Bacillus subtilis i nalichie gomologov étogo élementa v khromosomakh razlichnykh shtammov Bacillus subtilis.

A cryptic plasmid from a soil strain of Bacillus subtilis was found to contain a sequence having features of IS element. Homologous sequences were also found in the chromosome of this strain and in the chromosomes of some other B. subtilis strains.

Essential Bacillus subtilis genes.

To estimate the minimal gene set required to sustain bacterial life in nutritious conditions, we carried out a systematic inactivation of Bacillus subtilis genes. Among approximately 4,100 genes of the organism, only 192 were shown to be indispensable by this or previous work. Another 79 genes were predicted to be essential. The vast majority of essential genes were categorized in relatively few domains of cell metabolism, with about half involved in information processing, one-fifth involved in the synthesis of cell envelope and the determination of cell shape and division, and one-tenth related to cell energetics. Only 4% of essential genes encode unknown functions. Most essential genes are present throughout a wide range of Bacteria, and almost 70% can also be found in Archaea and Eucarya. However, essential genes related to cell envelope, shape, division, and respiration tend to be lost from bacteria with small genomes. Unexpectedly, most genes involved in the Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas pathway are essential. Identification of unknown and unexpected essential genes opens research avenues to better understanding of processes that sustain bacterial life.

[The ISBsu2 mobile element is present in a plasmid of a soil strain and in the chromosomes of several other strains of Bacillus subtilis]. / Prisutstvie mobil'nogo geneticheskogo élementa ISBsu2 v plazmide pochvennogo shtamma Bacillus subtilis i v khromosomakh riada shtammov étoi bakterii.

Chromosomes of several Bacillus subtilis strains were shown to contain homologs of the ISBsu2 mobile genetic element, which was earlier revealed in a cryptic plasmid of a soil strain of B. subtilis.

A proteomic view on genome-based signal peptide predictions.

The availability of complete genome sequences has allowed the prediction of all exported proteins of the corresponding organisms with dedicated algorithms. Even though numerous studies report on genome-based predictions of signal peptides and cell retention signals, they lack a proteomic verification. For example, 180 secretory and 114 lipoprotein signal peptides were predicted recently for the Gram-positive eubacterium Bacillus subtilis. In the present studies, proteomic approaches were used to define the extracellular complement of the B. subtilis secretome. Using different growth conditions and a hyper-secreting mutant, approximately 200 extracellular proteins were visualized by two-dimensional (2D) gel electrophoresis, of which 82 were identified by mass spectrometry. These include 41 proteins that have a potential signal peptide with a type I signal peptidase (SPase) cleavage site, and lack a retention signal. Strikingly, the remaining 41 proteins were predicted previously to be cell associated because of the apparent absence of a signal peptide (22), or the presence of specific cell retention signals in addition to an export signal (19). To test the importance of the five type I SPases and the unique lipoprotein-specific SPase of B. subtilis, the extracellular proteome of (multiple) SPase mutants was analyzed. Surprisingly, only the processing of the polytopic membrane protein YfnI was strongly inhibited in Spase I mutants, showing for the first time that a native eubacterial membrane protein is a genuine Spase I substrate. Furthermore, a mutation affecting lipoprotein modification and processing resulted in the shedding of at least 23 (lipo-)proteins into the medium. In conclusion, our observations show that genome-based predictions reflect the actual composition of the extracellular proteome for approximately 50%. Major problems are currently encountered with the prediction of extracellular proteins lacking signal peptides (including cytoplasmic proteins) and lipoproteins.