653 research outputs found
Gas Analysis and Monitoring Systems for the RPC Detector of CMS at LHC
Get PDFThe Resistive Plate Chambers (RPC) detector of the CMS experiment at the LHC
proton collider (CERN, Switzerland) will employ an online gas analysis and
monitoring system of the freon-based gas mixture used. We give an overview of
the CMS RPC gas system, describe the project parameters and first results on
gas-chromatograph analysis. Finally, we report on preliminary results for a set
of monitor RPC.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures. Presented by Stefano Bianco (Laboratori Nazionali
di Frascati dell'INFN) at the IEEE NSS, San Diego (USA), October 200
Assessing chronological age of unaccompanied minors in Southern Italy
Get PDFThe increasing volume of, and subsequent complexities resulting from, migratory flows in the broader context of globalization has led to a range of problems, not only the protection of human rights and disease control but also the identification of those with the right to apply for refugee status and the age assessment of unaccompanied minors. Italy is a magnet for immigration from other countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea because the Italian coasts are within easy reach. In Italy, as in other western countries, unaccompanied asylum seekers deemed to be younger than 18 years face a very different path through the immigration system from that experienced by adults. Generally, adults are subject to immediate deportation or detention in jail. Minors are processed through the juvenile system, where detection is not mandatory; they will often have access to educational programs and may be granted a residency permit. The Section of Legal Medicine of the University of Bari was approached by immigration police authorities and judges to explore the possibility of examining unaccompanied asylum seekers, who claim do be younger than 18 years, to assess their age. A group of forensic pathologists and odontologists performed this evaluation relying on the skeletal maturation as seen on radiographs of the wrist and the pelvis for iliac crests and on an orthopantomograph, together with background information and clinical examination of each individual. Case studies are presented. This article does not attempt to give a definitive account of the different scientific methods for the assessment of age. It is important to understand some of the methods that may be used in an attempt to assess developmental maturity and from which it may be possible to ''read off'' an approximate chronological age. © 2011 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Gas analysis and monitoring systems for the RPC detector of CMS at LHC
Get PDF1-9, arXiv:physics/0701014. Publisher: Los AlamosNational Laboratoty, CODEN: LNPHF9
available at
http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/physics/pdf/0701/0701014v1.pd
67P/C-G inner coma dust properties from 2.2 au inbound to 2.0 auoutbound to the Sun
Get PDFGIADA (Grain Impact Analyzer and Dust Accumulator) on-board the Rosetta space probe is designed to measure the momentum, mass and speed of individual dust particles escaping the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (hereafter 67P). From 2014 August to 2016 June, Rosetta escorted comet 67P during its journey around the Sun. Here, we focus on GIADA data taken between 2015 January and 2016 February which included 67P's perihelion passage. To better understand cometary activity and more specifically the presence of dust structures in cometary comae, we mapped the spatial distribution of dust density in 67P's coma. In this manner, we could track the evolution of high-density regions of coma dust and their connections with nucleus illumination conditions, namely tracking 67P's seasons. We also studied the link between dust particle speeds and their masses with respect to heliocentric distance, i.e. the level of cometary activity. This allowed us to derive a global and a local correlation of the dust particles' speed distribution with respect to the H2O production rate. © 2016 The Authors.Peer Reviewe
Antiretroviral strategies for the treatment of pregnant HIV+ women and prevention of perinatal HIV transmission in Dodoma, Tanzania: AMANI Study
Get PDFAn RPC-based Technical Trigger for the CMS Experiment
Get PDFIn the CMS experiment, sub-detectors may send special trigger signals, called "Technical Triggers", for special purposes like test and calibration. The Resistive Plate Chambers are part of the Muon Trigger System of the experiment, but might also produce a cosmic muon trigger as Technical Trigger to be used during the commissioning to the detectors, the CMS magnet Test Cosmic Challenge and the later running of CMS. The proposed implementation is based on the development of a new board, the RBC Balcony Collector (RBC); the test results on prototypes and their performance during the recent CMS Cosmic Challenge are presented
Predictors of Postabsorptive Ghrelin Secretion after Intake of Different Macronutrients
Get PDFAbstract
Context: Release of ghrelin, a gastrointestinal hormone regulating feeding and energy balance, is blunted in obesity, a condition associated with insulin resistance.
Objective: The objective was to identify anthropometric and metabolic predictors of postabsorptive ghrelin secretion.
Design: We evaluated ghrelin, insulin, glucose, and leptin secretion overnight and after intake of different macronutrients.
Subjects: Ten obese subjects (age, 31.8 ± 2.5 yr; body mass index, 43.4 ± 0.8 kg/m2) and six lean subjects (age, 33.5 ± 2.4 yr; body mass index, 21.8 ± 1.4 kg/m2) participated in the study.
Main Outcome Measures: The main outcome measures were resting energy expenditure (REE); fat mass; nighttime approximate entropy (ApEn) and synchronicity (cross-ApEn) of ghrelin, insulin, and leptin; insulin sensitivity by homeostatic model approach insulin-sensitivity (HOMA-S%); postabsorptive area under the curve (AUC); and Δ of ghrelin, insulin, glucose, and leptin after carbohydrate-, lipid-, and protein-rich test meals.
Results: Nighttime ApEn scores were higher in obese than lean subjects (P < 0.01). Cross-ApEn revealed a synchronicity between ghrelin-insulin, ghrelin-leptin, and insulin-leptin in both groups. Compared with baseline, ghrelin decreased significantly (P < 0.01) in lean and obese subjects after carbohydrates (42.2 vs. 28.5%; P < 0.05), lipids (40.2 vs. 26.2%; P < 0.01), and proteins (42.2 vs. 26.3%; P < 0.01) devoid of between-meal ghrelin differences. Significant associations occurred between nocturnal ghrelin ApEn and insulin (r = 0.53; P < 0.05), postmeal ghrelin AUCs and REE (r = −0.57; P < 0.05), and HOMA-S% (r = 0.52; P < 0.05), postmeal ghrelin Δ and HOMA-S% (r = 0.60; P < 0.05). REE (β = −0.57; P = 0.02) and ghrelin ApEn (β = −0.62; P = 0.01) were predictors of postmeal ghrelin AUC and Δ, respectively.
Conclusions: Obesity determined a decreased orderliness of ghrelin secretion and a relative loss of ghrelin-insulin synchrony. Postabsorptive ghrelin secretion decreased significantly both in obese and lean subjects, was related to insulin sensitivity, and was predicted by energy expenditure and hormone pulsatility
Composition and size of Martian aerosols as seen in the IR from solar occultation measurements by NOMAD onboard TGO
Get PDF&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Introduction&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The nature, size and content of aerosols in the atmosphere affect the energy budget on all planets, hence the atmospheric dynamic of the planet. Mars exhibits three types of atmospheric aerosol. Mineral dust, water ice and carbon dioxide ice. Martian aerosols nature and size distribution were observed using many different methods and experiments, from rovers to satellites. Exhaustive review scan be found in [1] and in [2]. Usually, dust effective radius, r&lt;sub&gt;eff&lt;/sub&gt;, ranges from 1 to 2 &amp;#956;m and its effective variance, &amp;#957;&lt;sub&gt;eff&lt;/sub&gt;, from 0.2 to 0.4. H&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;O ice r&lt;sub&gt;eff&lt;/sub&gt; ranges from 1 to 5 &amp;#956;m and its &amp;#957;&lt;sub&gt;eff&lt;/sub&gt; from 0.1 to 0.4. However, these two parameters and their variability are poorly constraint in the vertical to date. ExoMars TGO mission (ESA/Roscosmos) was primarily designed to study trace gases, thermal structure and aerosol content in Mars atmosphere with unprecedented vertical resolution [3]. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;NOMAD-SO Data processing&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;NOMAD (Nadir and Occultation for MArs Discovery) is suite of two infrared spectrometers onboard the ExoMars 2016 Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) orbiter, covering the spectral range of 0.2 to 4.3 &amp;#956;m [4]. An Acousto-Optical Tunable Filter (AOTF) is used to select different spectral windows. The sampling of this channel is approximately of 1 second, allowing a vertical sampling about 1km. the SO channel is able to observe the atmosphere at a given altitude with 6 different diffraction orders. For this study, we selected a configuration of 5 diffraction orders (121,134,149,168,190) effectively spanning the overall spectral range of NOMAD.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In order to evaluate the local extinction due to aerosols, we use an inversion program called Retrieval Control Program (RCP). It is a multi-parameter non-linear least squares fitting of measured and modelled spectra [5]. Its forward model, KOPRA, was recently adapted to limb emissions on Mars [6] and for solar occultation data on Mars for the first time. RCP solves iteratively the inverse problem [7] and is described in details in [8]. The regularization matrix is build from Tikhonov-type terms of different orders which can be combined to obtain a custom-tailored regularization for any particular retrieval problem.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;An example of the retrieved extinction profile is shown in Fig 1. The retrieved extinctions differs from previous work on aerosols using ACS data [9,10]&amp;#160; using the Onion-peeling or Abel's transform method since this global fit is less affected by the large error propagation to low altitudes typical of those methods, and the lower Martian atmosphere is precisely where aerosols are particular relevant.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://contentmanager.copernicus.org/fileStorageProxy.php?f=gnp.9dee3cb4b48268814682561/sdaolpUECMynit/2202CSPE&amp;app=m&amp;a=0&amp;c=c3ce34094b99922ae3b0d1b323aad8d3&amp;ct=x&amp;pn=gnp.elif&amp;d=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; width=&quot;486&quot; height=&quot;468&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Fig 1.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mean extinction cross-section ratio modelling&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In order to model the optical behavior of the Martian aerosol we chose the log-normal distribution which is widely used in atmospheric sciences. It is a function of two parameters (r&lt;sub&gt;g&lt;/sub&gt;, &amp;#963;&lt;sub&gt;g&lt;/sub&gt;). In optics, we change those parameters to more suitable ones, the effective radius, r&lt;sub&gt;eff &lt;/sub&gt;and its corresponding effective variance &amp;#957;&lt;sub&gt;eff&lt;/sub&gt;. For any aerosol size distribution, the extinction k is km&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt;&amp;#160;is k(&amp;#955;) = N . &amp;#963;&lt;sub&gt;ext&lt;/sub&gt;&amp;#160;(&amp;#955;r&lt;sub&gt;eff&lt;/sub&gt;,&amp;#957;&lt;sub&gt;eff&lt;/sub&gt;). N is the aerosol number density and &amp;#963;&lt;sub&gt;ext&lt;/sub&gt; (&amp;#955;,r&lt;sub&gt;eff&lt;/sub&gt;,&amp;#957;&lt;sub&gt;eff&lt;/sub&gt;) is the mean average extinction cross-section at a wavelength &amp;#955;, a specific aerosol distribution defined by (r&lt;sub&gt;eff&lt;/sub&gt;,&amp;#957;&lt;sub&gt;eff&lt;/sub&gt;). We build a look-up table of dust and water ice &amp;#963;&lt;sub&gt;ext&lt;/sub&gt; at the selected NOMAD order's wavelengths for different sets of (r&lt;sub&gt;eff&lt;/sub&gt;,&amp;#957;&lt;sub&gt;eff&lt;/sub&gt;). The extinction are evaluated with a Lorenz-Mie code for polydisperse spherical particle from [11].&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Aerosol composition and size distribution evaluation&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We will detail the process of evaluating the aerosol composition and size distribution that consists of a mix of non-linear least square and brute force in order to evaluate the best set of parameters (r&lt;sub&gt;eff&lt;/sub&gt;,&amp;#957;&lt;sub&gt;eff&lt;/sub&gt; ,&amp;#947;) where &amp;#947; represent a mixture of dust and H&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;O ice&lt;sub&gt;.&lt;/sub&gt; The NLSQ algorithm is provided by the SciPy Python package [12]. To assess the robustness and limitations of our evaluation procedure, we will present results against synthetic extinction signal. We will discuss our main results, especially for the period covering the Global Dust Storm of MY34 (Fig 2.).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://contentmanager.copernicus.org/fileStorageProxy.php?f=gnp.a8e3e9d4b48267124682561/sdaolpUECMynit/2202CSPE&amp;app=m&amp;a=0&amp;c=2a5bd4f384692b29ec745b0c68ef1ecb&amp;ct=x&amp;pn=gnp.elif&amp;d=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; width=&quot;801&quot; height=&quot;570&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Fig 2.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Acknowledgments&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The IAA/CSIC team acknowledges financial support from the State Agency for Research of the Spanish MCIU through the \emph{&quot;Center of Excellence Severo Ochoa&quot;} award for the Instituto de Astrof&amp;#237;sica de Andaluc&amp;#237;a (SEV-2017-0709) and funding by grant PGC2018-101836-B-100 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, EU). ExoMars is a space mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) and Roscosmos. The NOMAD experiment is led by the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (IASB-BIRA), assisted by Co-PI teams from Spain (IAA-CSIC), Italy (INAF-IAPS), and the United Kingdom (Open University).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;References&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;[1] Robert M. Haberle et al., eds. The Atmosphere and Climate of Mars. Cambridge University Press, 2017.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;[2] R. Todd Clancy et al. &amp;#8220;The distribution, composition, and particle properties of Mars meso-spheric aerosols: An analysis of CRISM visible/near-IR limb spectra with context from near-coincident MCS and MARCI observations&amp;#8221;. Icarus 328 (2019).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;[3] J. Vago et al. &amp;#8220;ESA ExoMars program: The next step in exploring Mars&amp;#8221;. SSR 49.7 (2015).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;[4] A. C. Vandaele et al. &amp;#8220;NOMAD, an Integrated Suite of Three Spectrometers for the ExoMarsTrace Gas Mission: Technical Description, Science Objectives and Expected Performance&amp;#8221;. SSR 214.5 (2018).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;[5] T. von Clarmann et al. &amp;#8220;Retrieval of temperature and tangent altitude pointing from limb emission spectra recorded from space by the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS)&amp;#8221;. JGR: Atmospheres 108.D23 (2003).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;[6] Sergio Jim&amp;#233;nez-Monferrer et al. &amp;#8220;CO2 retrievals in the Mars daylight thermosphere from its 4.3&amp;#956;m limb emission measured by OMEGA/MEx&amp;#8221;. Icarus 353 (2021).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;[7] Clive D Rodgers. Inverse Methods for Atmospheric Sounding. WORLD SCIENTIFIC, 2000.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;[8] Jurado Navarro et al. Retrieval of CO2 and collisional parameters from the MIPAS spectra in the Earth atmosphere. Universidad de Granada, 2016.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;[9] M. Luginin et al. &amp;#8220;Properties of Water Ice and Dust Particles in the Atmosphere of Mars During the 2018 Global Dust Storm as Inferred From the Atmospheric Chemistry Suite&amp;#8221;. JGR: Planets 125.11 (2020).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;[10] A. Stcherbinine et al. &amp;#8220;Martian Water Ice Clouds During the 2018 Global Dust Storm as Observed by the ACS-MIR Channel Onboard the Trace Gas Orbiter&amp;#8221;. JGR: Planets 125.3 (2020).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;[11] Michael I Mishchenko et al. Scattering, absorption, and emission of light by small particles. Cambridge university press, 2002.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;[12] Pauli Virtanen et al. &amp;#8220;SciPy 1.0: Fundamental Algorithms for Scientific Computing in Python&amp;#8221;. Nature Methods 17 (2020).&lt;/p&gt;</jats:p
Longitudinal assessment of multiple immunological and inflammatory parameters during successful DAA therapy in HCV monoinfected and HIV/HCV coinfected subjects
Get PDFIn the direct-acting antiviral (DAA) era, it is important to understand the immunological changes after HCV eradication in HCV monoinfected (mHCV) and in HIV/HCV coinfected (HIV/HCV) patients. In this study, we analyzed sub-populations of monocytes, dendritic cells (DCs), T-lymphocytes and inflammatory biomarkers following initiation of DAA in 15 mHCV and 16 HIV/HCV patients on effective antiretroviral therapy at baseline and after sustained virological response at 12 weeks (SVR12). Fifteen age- and sex-matched healthy donors (HD) were enrolled as a control group. Activated CD4+ and CD8+ T-lymphocytes, mDCs, pDCs, MDC8 and classical, non-classical and intermediate monocytes were detected using flow cytometry. IP-10, sCD163 and sCD14 were assessed by ELISA while matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) was measured by zymography. At baseline, increased levels of IP-10, sCD163 and MMP-2 were found in both HIV/HCV and mHCV patients compared to HD, whereas sCD14 increased only in HIV/HCV patients. After therapy, IP-10, sCD163 and sCD14 decreased, whereas MMP-2 persistently elevated. At baseline, activated CD8+ T-cells were high in HIV/HCV and mHCV patients compared to HD, with a decrease at SVR12 only in HIV/HCV patients. Activated CD4+ T-cells were higher in HIV/HCV patients without modification after DAAs therapy. These results suggest complex interactions between both viruses and the immune system, which are only partially reversed by DAA treatment
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