Demonstration of the Zero-Crossing Phasemeter with a LISA Test-bed Interferometer

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is being designed to detect and study in detail gravitational waves from sources throughout the Universe such as massive black hole binaries. The conceptual formulation of the LISA space-borne gravitational wave detector is now well developed. The interferometric measurements between the sciencecraft remain one of the most important technological and scientific design areas for the mission. Our work has concentrated on developing the interferometric technologies to create a LISA-like optical signal and to measure the phase of that signal using commercially available instruments. One of the most important goals of this research is to demonstrate the LISA phase timing and phase reconstruction for a LISA-like fringe signal, in the case of a high fringe rate and a low signal level. We present current results of a test-bed interferometer designed to produce an optical LISA-like fringe signal previously discussed in the literature.Comment: find minor corrections in the CQG versio

Canine intrahepatic portosystemic shunt insertion into the systemic circulation is commonly through primary hepatic veins as assessed with CT angiography

Congenital intrahepatic portosystemic shunts (IHPSS) in dogs are traditionally classified as right, left, or central divisional. There are few descriptive studies regarding the variation of IHPSS within these categories. This multicenter, analytical, cross‐sectional study aimed to describe a large series of dogs with CT angiography (CTA) of IHPSS, hypothesizing that there would be variation to the existing classification. Ninety CTA studies were assessed for IHPSS type, insertion, and the relationship of the insertion to the primary hepatic veins. Ninety‐two percent of IHPSS inserted into a primary hepatic vein (HV) or phrenic vein, 8% inserted directly into the ventral aspect of the intrahepatic caudal vena cava. The most common IHPSS type was a single right divisional (44%), including those inserting via the right lateral HV or the caudate HV. Left divisional IHPSS (33%) inserted into the left HV or left phrenic vein. Central divisional IHPSS (13%) inserted into the quadrate HV, central HV, dorsal right medial HV, or directly into the ventral aspect of the intrahepatic caudal vena cava. Multiple sites of insertion were seen in 9% of dogs. Within left, central, and right divisional types, further subclassifications can therefore commonly be defined based on the hepatic veins with which the shunting vessel communicates. Relating IHPSS morphology to the receiving primary HV could make IHPSS categorization more consistent and may influence the type and method of IHPSS attenuation recommended

Role of bacille Calmette-Guérin in preventing tuberculous infection.

SETTING: Rural community in South India. OBJECTIVE: To determine the role of bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) in preventing tuberculous infection in children. DESIGN: A prevalence survey was undertaken in 1999-2001 in a representative rural population in Tiruvallur District in South India using cluster sampling. Tuberculin testing was performed among all children aged <15 years, and all adults aged 15 years were questioned about chest symptoms and underwent radiography, followed by sputum examinations, if indicated. RESULTS: In children living in households with a tuberculosis case, the proportion with evidence of tuberculous infection was 35.5% of 200 in the absence of a BCG scar and 27.0% of 100 in its presence, a reduction of 24% (P = 0.14). In very young children (age <5 years), the corresponding proportions were 29.1% of 55 and 11.9% of 42, a reduction of 59%; the difference was statistically significant (P = 0.048). CONCLUSION: There is a possible role for BCG in preventing tuberculous infection in very young children

Blood and tissue biomarker analysis in dogs with osteosarcoma treated with palliative radiation and intra-tumoral autologous natural killer cell transfer.

We have previously reported radiation-induced sensitization of canine osteosarcoma (OSA) to natural killer (NK) therapy, including results from a first-in-dog clinical trial. Here, we report correlative analyses of blood and tissue specimens for signals of immune activation in trial subjects. Among 10 dogs treated with palliative radiotherapy (RT) and intra-tumoral adoptive NK transfer, we performed ELISA on serum cytokines, flow cytometry for immune phenotype of PBMCs, and PCR on tumor tissue for immune-related gene expression. We then queried The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) to evaluate the association of cytotoxic/immune-related gene expression with human sarcoma survival. Updated survival analysis revealed five 6-month survivors, including one dog who lived 17.9 months. Using feeder line co-culture for NK expansion, we observed maximal activation of dog NK cells on day 17-19 post isolation with near 100% expression of granzyme B and NKp46 and high cytotoxic function in the injected NK product. Among dogs on trial, we observed a trend for higher baseline serum IL-6 to predict worse lung metastasis-free and overall survival (P = 0.08). PCR analysis revealed low absolute gene expression of CD3, CD8, and NKG2D in untreated OSA. Among treated dogs, there was marked heterogeneity in the expression of immune-related genes pre- and post-treatment, but increases in CD3 and CD8 gene expression were higher among dogs that lived &gt; 6 months compared to those who did not. Analysis of the TCGA confirmed significant differences in survival among human sarcoma patients with high and low expression of genes associated with greater immune activation and cytotoxicity (CD3e, CD8a, IFN-γ, perforin, and CD122/IL-2 receptor beta). Updated results from a first-in-dog clinical trial of palliative RT and autologous NK cell immunotherapy for OSA illustrate the translational relevance of companion dogs for novel cancer therapies. Similar to human studies, analyses of immune markers from canine serum, PBMCs, and tumor tissue are feasible and provide insight into potential biomarkers of response and resistance

High-Precision Scanning Water Vapor Radiometers for Cosmic Microwave Background Site Characterization and Comparison

The compelling science case for the observation of B-mode polarization in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) is driving the CMB community to expand the observed sky fraction, either by extending survey sizes or by deploying receivers to potential new northern sites. For ground-based CMB instruments, poorly-mixed atmospheric water vapor constitutes the primary source of short-term sky noise. This results in short-timescale brightness fluctuations, which must be rejected by some form of modulation. To maximize the sensitivity of ground-based CMB observations, it is useful to understand the effects of atmospheric water vapor over timescales and angular scales relevant for CMB polarization measurements. To this end, we have undertaken a campaign to perform a coordinated characterization of current and potential future observing sites using scanning 183 GHz water vapor radiometers (WVRs). So far, we have deployed two identical WVR units; one at the South Pole, Antarctica, and the other at Summit Station, Greenland. The former site has a long heritage of ground-based CMB observations and is the current location of the Bicep/Keck Array telescopes as well as the South Pole Telescope. The latter site, though less well characterized, is under consideration as a northern-hemisphere location for future CMB receivers. Data collection from this campaign began in January 2016 at South Pole and July 2016 at Summit Station. Data analysis is ongoing to reduce the data to a single spatial and temporal statistic that can be used for one-to-one site comparison.Comment: Published in Proc. SPIE. Presented at SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation Conference 10708: Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy XI, June 2018. 10 pages, 11 figure

Flight with lift modulation inside a planetary atmosphere

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/76287/1/AIAA-7461-486.pd

Cross-neutralization of cutaneous and mucosal Papillomavirus types with anti-sera to the amino terminus of L2

AbstractVaccination with papillomavirus L2 has been shown to induce neutralizing antibodies that protect against homologous type infection and cross-neutralize a limited number of genital HPVs. Surprisingly, we found that antibodies to bovine papillomavirus (BPV1) L2 amino acids 1–88 induced similar titers of neutralizing antibodies against Human papillomavirus (HPV)16 and 18 and BPV1 pseudoviruses and also neutralized HPV11 native virions. These antibodies also neutralized each of the other pseudovirus types tested, HPV31, HPV6 and Cottontail rabbit papillomavirus (CRPV) pseudoviruses, albeit with lower titers. HPV16, HPV18, HPV31, HPV6 and CRPV L2 anti-sera also displayed some cross-neutralization, but the titers were lower and did not encompass all pseudoviruses tested. This study demonstrates the presence of broadly cross-neutralizing epitopes at the N-terminus of L2 that are shared by cutaneous and mucosal types and by types that infect divergent species. BPV1 L2 was exceptionally effective at inducing cross-neutralizing antibodies to these shared epitopes