Electromagnetic Radiation Hardness of Diamond Detectors

The behavior of artificially grown CVD diamond films under intense electromagnetic radiation has been studied. The properties of irradiated diamond samples have been investigated using the method of thermally stimulated current and by studying their charge collection properties. Diamonds have been found to remain unaffected after doses of 6.8 MGy of 10 keV photons and 10 MGy of MeV-range photons. This observation makes diamond an attractive detector material for a calorimeter in the very forward region of the proposed TESLA detector.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figure

Cashmere Marketing is a New Income Source for Central Asian Livestock Farmers

Some indigenous goats in the Central Asian republics of Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan produce good quality cashmere (Millar 1986). International processors have recently been buying this cashmere. (Kerven et al., 2005), but Central Asian producers are not equipped to take full advantage of these new marketing opportunities. The U.S. AID Global Livestock-Collaborative Research Support Program project, Developing Institutions and capacity for sheep and fiber marketing in Central Asia is working to increase the income of small-scale livestock farmers through improved cashmere marketing

Kinetics of ventilation-induced changes in diaphragmatic metabolism by bilateral phrenic pacing in a piglet model

Citation: Breuer, T., Hatam, N., Grabiger, B., Marx, G., Behnke, B. J., Weis, J., . . . Bruells, C. S. (2016). Kinetics of ventilation-induced changes in diaphragmatic metabolism by bilateral phrenic pacing in a piglet model. Scientific Reports, 6, 10. doi:10.1038/srep35725Perioperative necessity of deep sedation is inevitably associated with diaphragmatic inactivation. This study investigated 1) the feasibility of a new phrenic nerve stimulation method allowing early diaphragmatic activation even in deep sedation and, 2) metabolic changes within the diaphragm during mechanical ventilation compared to artificial activity. 12 piglets were separated into 2 groups. One group was mechanically ventilated for 12 hrs (CMV) and in the second group both phrenic nerves were stimulated via pacer wires inserted near the phrenic nerves to mimic spontaneous breathing (STIM). Lactate, pyruvate and glucose levels were measured continuously using microdialysis. Oxygen delivery and blood gases were measured during both conditions. Diaphragmatic stimulation generated sufficient tidal volumes in all STIM animals. Diaphragm lactate release increased in CMV transiently whereas in STIM lactate dropped during this same time point (2.6 vs. 0.9 mmol L-1 after 5:20 hrs; p < 0.001). CMV increased diaphragmatic pyruvate (40 vs. 146 mu mol L-1 after 5:20 hrs between CMV and STIM; p < 0.0001), but not the lactate/pyruvate ratio. Diaphragmatic stimulation via regular electrodes is feasible to generate sufficient ventilation, even in deep sedation. Mechanical ventilation alters the metabolic state of the diaphragm, which might be one pathophysiologic origin of ventilator-induced diaphragmatic dysfunction. Occurrence of hypoxia was unlikely

Dark Matter Spin-Dependent Limits for WIMP Interactions on 19-F by PICASSO

The PICASSO experiment at SNOLAB reports new results for spin-dependent WIMP interactions on $^{19}$F using the superheated droplet technique. A new generation of detectors and new features which enable background discrimination via the rejection of non-particle induced events are described. First results are presented for a subset of two detectors with target masses of $^{19}$F of 65 g and 69 g respectively and a total exposure of 13.75 $\pm$ 0.48 kgd. No dark matter signal was found and for WIMP masses around 24 GeV/c$^2$ new limits have been obtained on the spin-dependent cross section on $^{19}$F of $\sigma_F$ = 13.9 pb (90% C.L.) which can be converted into cross section limits on protons and neutrons of $\sigma_p$ = 0.16 pb and $\sigma_n$ = 2.60 pb respectively (90% C.L). The obtained limits on protons restrict recent interpretations of the DAMA/LIBRA annual modulations in terms of spin-dependent interactions.Comment: Revised version, accepted for publication in Phys. Lett. B, 20 pages, 7 figure

A classification of tasks for the systematic study of immune response using functional genomics data

A full understanding of the immune system and its responses to infection by different pathogens is important for the development of anti-parasitic vaccines. A growing number of large-scale experimental techniques, such as microarrays, are being used to gain a better understanding of the immune system. To analyse the data generated by these experiments, methods such as clustering are widely used. However, individual applications of these methods tend to analyse the experimental data without taking publicly available biological and immunological knowledge into account systematically and in an unbiased manner. To make best use of the experimental investment, to benefit from existing evidence, and to support the findings in the experimental data, available biological information should be included in the analysis in a systematic manner. In this review we present a classification of tasks that shows how experimental data produced by studies of the immune system can be placed in a broader biological context. Taking into account available evidence, the classification can be used to identify different ways of analysing the experimental data systematically. We have used the classification to identify alternative ways of analysing microarray data, and illustrate its application using studies of immune responses in mice to infection with the intestinal nematode parasites Trichuris muris and Heligmosomoides polygyrus

Constraints on Low-Mass WIMP Interactions on 19F from PICASSO

Recent results from the PICASSO dark matter search experiment at SNOLAB are reported. These results were obtained using a subset of 10 detectors with a total target mass of 0.72 kg of 19F and an exposure of 114 kgd. The low backgrounds in PICASSO allow recoil energy thresholds as low as 1.7 keV to be obtained which results in an increased sensitivity to interactions from Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) with masses below 10 GeV/c^2. No dark matter signal was found. Best exclusion limits in the spin dependent sector were obtained for WIMP masses of 20 GeV/c^2 with a cross section on protons of sigma_p^SD = 0.032 pb (90% C.L.). In the spin independent sector close to the low mass region of 7 GeV/c2 favoured by CoGeNT and DAMA/LIBRA, cross sections larger than sigma_p^SI = 1.41x10^-4 pb (90% C.L.) are excluded.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures, to be published in Phys. Lett.

The migration of Ascaris suum larvae, and the associated pulmonary inflammatory response in susceptible C57BL/6j and resistant CBA/Ca mice

Ascariasis is an important infection in humans (Ascaris lumbricoides) and pigs (Ascaris suum) and individuals appear to be predisposed to either heavy or light worm burdens. These extremes of susceptibility and resistance are represented in a mouse model by 2 strains of mice, CBA mice showing high resistance to infection and C57BL/6 which are highly susceptible, as reflected in worm burdens in the lungs 6–7 days after infection. In an attempt to identify the point at which the difference between these 2 strains is first manifested, we quantified worm burdens at key stages during infection leading up to the pulmonary stage of development. Thus mice were inoculated with fully embryonated A. suum eggs and larval burdens were enumerated in the large intestine and rectum, liver and lungs of the 2 strains at 6 h post-inoculation (p.i.) and on each of days 1–8 p.i. inclusively. A higher percentage of the total inoculum was recovered from the intestine/rectum of C57BL/6j mice in contrast to CBA/Ca mice at 6 h p.i. Larvae were recovered from the intestinal contents and also whilst actively migrating through the large intestinal wall. The number of larvae recovered was significantly reduced in CBA/Ca mice in contrast to C57BL/6j mice between the phase of migration from the liver and arrival in the lungs. The combined results of the inoculation of mice with corticosteroids and the examination of the change in profile and number of leukocytes present in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid suggested that the pulmonary inflammatory immune response was not prominently involved in primary protection of mice to A. suum infection in the latter days of infection in the lungs. The susceptible C57BL/6j mice produced a BAL response almost twice as intense as that of resistant CBA/Ca mice with stronger neutrophil, lymphocyte and eosinophil but not macrophage components, suggesting that the difference in worm burdens between the strains was generated earlier in the course of infection. These results were further corroborated by a histological examination of the lung tissues which showed that the passage of the larval stages of A. suum through the mouse lungs was associated with a marked inflammatory response in both strains. Again, C57BL/6j mice exhibited increased inflammation relative to CBA/Ca mice. Hence some hepatic/post-hepatic factor that varies between the 2 strains, but exerts its effect before the lung phase plays a critical role in determining the success of larvae through the host tissues. The possible sites of this host defence are reviewed

Testing the Higgs Mechanism in the Lepton Sector with multi-TeV e+e- Collisions

Multi-TeV e+e- collisions provide with a large enough sample of Higgs bosons to enable measurements of its suppressed decays. Results of a detailed study of the determination of the muon Yukawa coupling at 3 TeV, based on full detector simulation and event reconstruction, are presented. The muon Yukawa coupling can be determined with a relative accuracy of 0.04 to 0.08 for Higgs bosons masses from 120 GeV to 150 GeV, with an integrated luminosity of 5 inverse-ab. The result is not affected by overlapping two-photon background.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, submitted to J Phys G.: Nucl. Phy