TORCH: A Cherenkov Based Time-of-Flight Detector

TORCH is a novel high-precision time-of-flight detector suitable for large area applications and covering the momentum range up to 10 GeV/c. The concept uses Cherenkov photons produced in a fused silica radiator which are propagated to focussing optics coupled to fast photodetectors. For this purpose, custom MCP-PMTs are being produced in collaboration with industrial partners. The development is divided into three phases. Phase 1 addresses the lifetime requirements for TORCH, Phase 2 will customize the MCP-PMT granularity and Phase 3 will deliver prototypes that meet the TORCH requirements. Phase 1 devices have been successfully delivered and initial tests show stable gain performance for integrated anode current >5 C/cm2 and a single photon time resolution of ≤ 30 ps. Initial simulations indicate the single photon timing resolution of the TORCH detector will be ∼70 ps

Energy-norm-based and goal-oriented automatic hp adaptivity for electromagnetics: Application to waveguide Discontinuities

The finite-element method (FEM) enables the use of adapted meshes. The simultaneous combination of h (local variations in element size) and p (local variations in the polynomial order of approximation) refinements, i.e., hp-adaptivity, is the most powerful and flexible type of adaptivity. In this paper, two versions of a fully automatic hp-adaptive FEM for electromagnetics are presented. The first version is based on minimizing the energy-norm of the error. The second, namely the goal oriented strategy, is based on minimizing the error of a given (user-prescribed) quantity of interest. The adaptive strategy delivers exponential convergence rates for the error, even in the presence of singularities. The hp adaptivity is presented in the context of 2-D analysis of H -plane rectangular waveguide discontinuities. Stabilized variational formulations and H(curl) FEM discretizations in terms of quadrilaterals of variable order of approximation supporting anisotropy and hanging nodes are used. Comparison of energy-norm and goal-oriented hp-adaptive strategies in the context of waveguiding problems is provided. Specifically, the scattering parameters of the discontinuity are used as goal

Identification of circulating miRNA profiles that distinguish malignant pleural mesothelioma from lung adenocarcinoma

Accurate diagnosis of malignant pleura mesothelioma (MPM) is challenging. Differential diagnosis of MPM versus lung adenocarcinoma (AD) is particularly difficult, yet clinically important since the two neoplasias call for different treatment approaches. Circulating miRNA-profiling to identify miRNAs that can be used to distinguish MPM from AD has not been reported. We conducted a wide screening study of miRNA profiles in serum pools of MPM patients (N = 11), AD patients (N = 36), and healthy subjects (N = 45) to identify non-invasive biomarkers for differential diagnosis of MPM and AD, using deep sequencing. Sequencing detected up to 300 known miRNAs and up to 25 novel miRNAs species in the serum samples. Among known miRNAs, 7 were upregulated in MPM and 12 were upregulated in AD compared to healthy controls. Of these, eight were distinctive for AD and three were unique for MPM. Direct comparison of the miRNA profiles for MPM and AD revealed differences in miRNA levels that could be useful for differential diagnosis. No differentially expressed novel miRNAs were found. Further bioinformatics analysis indicated that three upregulated miRNAs in MPM are associated with the p38 pathway. There are unique alterations in serum miRNAs in MPM and AD compared to healthy controls, as well as differences between MPM and AD profiles. Differing miRNA levels between MPM and AD may be useful for differential diagnosis. A potential association to p38 pathway of three upregulated miRNAs in MPM was revealed

Synthesis of Enantioenriched Amines by Iron-Catalysed Amination of Alcohols Employing at Least One Achiral Substrate

The synthesis of a broad range of enantioenriched amines by the direct Fe-catalysed coupling of amines with alcohols through the borrowing hydrogen strategy, while at least one of these substrates is achiral is reported. When starting from α-chiral amines and achiral alcohols, a wide range of enantioenriched amine products, including N-heterocyclic moieties can be obtained with complete retention of stereochemistry and the power of this method is demonstrated in the one-step synthesis of known pharmaceuticals from commercially available, simple enantiopure primary amines and achiral alcohols. It was also found that the use of β-branched enantioenriched primary alcohols and achiral amines as reaction partners leads to a partial loss of stereochemical integrity in the final product, however, a systematic optimization enabled partial retention of enantiopurity and possible parameters effecting for racemization were identified.</p

Observation of dipole-mode vector solitons

We report on the first experimental observation of a novel type of optical vector soliton, a {\em dipole-mode soliton}, recently predicted theoretically. We show that these vector solitons can be generated in a photorefractive medium employing two different processes: a phase imprinting, and a symmetry-breaking instability of a vortex-mode vector soliton. The experimental results display remarkable agreement with the theory, and confirm the robust nature of these radially asymmetric two-component solitary waves.Comment: 4 pages, 8 figures; pictures in the PRL version are better qualit

Understanding herbivore-plant-soil feedbacks to improve grazing management on Mediterranean mountain grasslands

The surface of many European mountain grasslands is decreasing due to global change and extensive grazing stands out as a key tool for their conservation. Sound knowledge of grassland ecosystem functioning and its feedback processes is required to implement sustainable grazing management. This study aimed to understand the effect of different grazing intensities on herbivore-plant-soil feedbacks in Mediterranean mountain grasslands. We estimated spatial distribution of sheep grazing intensity using GPS technology in order to assess the effect of grazing pressure on vegetation and soil properties measured throughout the study area. Our results showed that grazing intensity ranged from 0.06 to 2.85 livestock units / ha, corresponding to a gradient of pasture utilisation rates varying from 2.38% to 45.60% of annual productivity from pasture. Increasing grazing pressure was associated with smaller relative cover and species richness of non-leguminous forbs, while the opposite trends were observed for graminoids. Forage had a greater concentration of N and smaller C:N ratio in more heavily grazed areas. Increasing grazing intensity was also associated with higher values of total soil N, NO3-, NH4+, soil organic carbon, microbial biomass C and activity of ß-glucosidase. Higher litter quality was the main factor explaining greater content of soil organic matter, which favoured both soil microbes and plant productivity. Grazing induced changes in the plant community triggered positive hervibore-plant-soil feedbacks, as they ultimately improved forage quality and productivity, which significantly influenced the pasture preference of free-ranging domestic grazers. Our work showed that grazing management aiming pasture utilisation rates of around 45% is critical in sustaining positive herbivore-plant-soil feedbacks and preserving or enhancing the whole ecosystem functioning in the Mediterranean mountain grasslands studied. © 2021 The Author

CALIFA : a diameter-selected sample for an integral field spectroscopy galaxy survey

JMA acknowledges support from the European Research Council Starting Grant (SEDmorph; P.I. V. Wild).We describe and discuss the selection procedure and statistical properties of the galaxy sample used by the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area (CALIFA) survey, a public legacy survey of 600 galaxies using integral field spectroscopy. The CALIFA "mother sample" was selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) DR7 photometric catalogue to include all galaxies with an r-band isophotal major axis between 45 '' and 79 : 2 '' and with a redshift 0 : 005 M-r > -23 : 1 and over a stellar mass range between 10(9.7) and 10(11.4) M-circle dot. In particular, within these ranges, the diameter selection does not lead to any significant bias against - or in favour of - intrinsically large or small galaxies. Only below luminosities of M-r = -19 (or stellar masses <10(9.7) M-circle dot) is there a prevalence of galaxies with larger isophotal sizes, especially of nearly edge-on late-type galaxies, but such galaxies form <10% of the full sample. We estimate volume-corrected distribution functions in luminosities and sizes and show that these are statistically fully compatible with estimates from the full SDSS when accounting for large-scale structure. For full characterization of the sample, we also present a number of value-added quantities determined for the galaxies in the CALIFA sample. These include consistent multi-band photometry based on growth curve analyses; stellar masses; distances and quantities derived from these; morphological classifications; and an overview of available multi-wavelength photometric measurements. We also explore different ways of characterizing the environments of CALIFA galaxies, finding that the sample covers environmental conditions from the field to genuine clusters. We finally consider the expected incidence of active galactic nuclei among CALIFA galaxies given the existing pre-CALIFA data, finding that the final observed CALIFA sample will contain approximately 30 Sey2 galaxies.Peer reviewe