CATIROC: an integrated chip for neutrino experiments using photomultiplier tubes

An ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Chip) named CATIROC (Charge And Time Integrated Read Out Chip) has been developed for the next-generation neutrino experiments using a large number of photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). Each CATIROC provides the time and the charge measurements for 16 configurable input channels operating in auto-trigger mode. Originally designed for the light emission in water Cherenkov detectors, we show in this paper that its use can be extended to liquid-scintillator based experiments. The ∼ 26000 3-inch PMTs of the JUNO experiment, under construction in China, is a case in point. This paper describes the features of CATIROC with a special attention to the most critical points for its application to the time profile of the light emission in liquid scintillators. The achieved performances in both charge and time measurements can be inputs for future high-precision experiments making use of PMTs or other photo-sensitive detectors

Migrations, mémoires, musées

Migrations et immigration au musée. Le mouvement est international. Car ce nouveau sujet d’exposition recouvre de nouveaux questionnements autour de l’identité collec­tive des sociétés contemporaines. Aux Etats-Unis, au Canada, en Australie ou en France, comment des institutions spécifiques abordent-elles l’histoire de l’immigration ? Comment la rattachent-elles au fait national ? Quel dis­cours d’inclusion tissent-elles ? Quel imaginaire social les traverse ? Rencontrant les mémoires de migrants, la muséographie devient moyen de reconnaissance, vecteur de visibilité. Musée réceptacle d’une communauté ethni­que. Musée virtuel documentant en ligne le passé d’une ville d’immigrants. Politique d’exposition sur la diversité des mémoires à l’échelle d’un espace régional... Autant d’expé­riences mises ici en perspective par des universitaires et des conservateurs français et étrangers. Mais ces thèmes n’émergent pas sans débat ni dissensus. Et ce qui se joue à cette occasion gagne à être évoqué au regard d’autres héritages conflictuels. D’où les analyses sur les limites de la prise en charge patrimoniale de l’esclavage aux Antilles, le point de vue indigène dans les « sociétés de colons », ou les affrontements mémoriels à propos du passé colonial français. Enfin, c’est hors des murs du musée qu’il faut regarder. Car c’est aussi par l’action cultu­relle au sens large que passent de tels enjeux. Du travail d’associa­tions de terrain pour promouvoir les mémoires de « l’autre » ou des « Suds » auprès du grand public, jusqu’aux projets en gestation à l’échelle européenne autour du patrimoine des migrations

PMm2: R&D on triggerless acquisition for next generation neutrino experiments

The next generation of proton decay and neutrino experiments, the post-SuperKamiokande detectors, such as those that will take place in megaton size water tanks, will require very large surfaces of photo-detection and will produce a large volume of data. Even with large hemispherical photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), the expected number of channels should reach hundreds of thousands. An ANR funded R&D program to implement a solution is presented here. The very large surface of photo-detection is segmented in macro pixels consisting of an array (2 × 2 m2) of 16 hemispherical 12-inch PMTs connected to autonomous underwater front-end electronics working in a triggerless data acquisition mode. The array is powered by a common high voltage and only one data cable allows the connection by network to the surface controller. This architecture allows a considerable reduction of the cost and facilitates the industrialization. This paper presents the complete architecture of the prototype system and tests results with 16 8-inch PMTs, validating the whole electronics, the built-in gain adjustment and the calibration principle. © 2011 IOP Publishing Ltd and SISSA.SCOPUS: cp.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Transient viral exposure drives functionally-coordinated humoral immune responses in HIV-1 post-treatment controllers

International audienceHIV-1 post-treatment controllers are rare individuals controlling HIV-1 infection for years after antiretroviral therapy interruption. Identification of immune correlates of control in post-treatment controllers could aid in designing effective HIV-1 vaccine and remission strategies. Here, we perform comprehensive immunoprofiling of the humoral response to HIV-1 in long-term post-treatment controllers. Global multivariate analyses combining clinico-virological and humoral immune data reveal distinct profiles in post-treatment controllers experiencing transient viremic episodes off therapy compared to those stably aviremic. Virally-exposed post-treatment controllers display stronger HIV-1 humoral responses, and develop more frequently Env-specific memory B cells and cross-neutralizing antibodies. Both are linked to short viremic exposures, which are also accompanied by an increase in blood atypical memory B cells and activated subsets of circulating follicular helper T cells. Still, most humoral immune variables only correlate with Th2-like circulating follicular helper T cells. Thus, post-treatment controllers form a heterogeneous group with two distinct viral behaviours and associated immune signatures. Post-treatment controllers stably aviremic present “silent” humoral profiles, while those virally-exposed develop functionally robust HIV-specific B-cell and antibody responses, which may participate in controlling infection

International Large Detector: Interim Design Report

The ILD detector is proposed for an electron-positron collider with collision centre-of-mass energies from 90~\GeV~to about 1~\TeV. It has been developed over the last 10 years by an international team of scientists with the goal to design and eventually propose a fully integrated detector, primarily for the International Linear Collider, ILC. In this report the fundamental ideas and concepts behind the ILD detector are discussed and the technologies needed for the realisation of the detector are reviewed. The document starts with a short review of the science goals of the ILC, and how the goals can be achieved today with the detector technologies at hand. After a discussion of the ILC and the environment in which the experiment will take place, the detector is described in more detail, including the status of the development of the technologies foreseen for each subdetector. The integration of the different sub-systems into an integrated detector is discussed, as is the interface between the detector and the collider. This is followed by a concise summary of the benchmarking which has been performed in order to find an optimal balance between performance and cost. To the end the costing methodology used by ILD is presented, and an updated cost estimate for the detector is presented. The report closes with a summary of the current status and of planned future actions

The ILD detector at the ILC

The International Large Detector, ILD, is a detector concept which has been developed for the electron-positron collider ILC. The detector has been optimized for precision physics in a range of energies between 90 GeV and 1 TeV. ILD features a high precision, large volume combined silicon and gaseous tracking system, together with a high granularity calorimeter, all inside a 3.5 T solenoidal magnetic field. The paradigm of particle flow has been the guiding principle of the design of ILD. In this document the required performance of the detector, the proposed implementation and the readiness of the different technologies needed for the implementation are discussed. This is done in the framework of the ILC collider proposal, now under consideration in Japan, and includes site specific aspects needed to build and operate the detector at the proposed ILC site in Japan

A highly virulent variant of HIV-1 circulating in the Netherlands

We discovered a highly virulent variant of subtype-B HIV-1 in the Netherlands. One hundred nine individuals with this variant had a 0.54 to 0.74 log10 increase (i.e., a ~3.5-fold to 5.5-fold increase) in viral load compared with, and exhibited CD4 cell decline twice as fast as, 6604 individuals with other subtype-B strains. Without treatment, advanced HIV-CD4 cell counts below 350 cells per cubic millimeter, with long-term clinical consequences-is expected to be reached, on average, 9 months after diagnosis for individuals in their thirties with this variant. Age, sex, suspected mode of transmission, and place of birth for the aforementioned 109 individuals were typical for HIV-positive people in the Netherlands, which suggests that the increased virulence is attributable to the viral strain. Genetic sequence analysis suggests that this variant arose in the 1990s from de novo mutation, not recombination, with increased transmissibility and an unfamiliar molecular mechanism of virulence

ILC Reference Design Report Volume 1 - Executive Summary

The International Linear Collider (ILC) is a 200-500 GeV center-of-mass high-luminosity linear electron-positron collider, based on 1.3 GHz superconducting radio-frequency (SCRF) accelerating cavities. The ILC has a total footprint of about 31 km and is designed for a peak luminosity of 2x10^34 cm^-2s^-1. This report is the Executive Summary (Volume I) of the four volume Reference Design Report. It gives an overview of the physics at the ILC, the accelerator design and value estimate, the detector concepts, and the next steps towards project realization.The International Linear Collider (ILC) is a 200-500 GeV center-of-mass high-luminosity linear electron-positron collider, based on 1.3 GHz superconducting radio-frequency (SCRF) accelerating cavities. The ILC has a total footprint of about 31 km and is designed for a peak luminosity of 2x10^34 cm^-2s^-1. This report is the Executive Summary (Volume I) of the four volume Reference Design Report. It gives an overview of the physics at the ILC, the accelerator design and value estimate, the detector concepts, and the next steps towards project realization

ILC Reference Design Report Volume 4 - Detectors

This report, Volume IV of the International Linear Collider Reference Design Report, describes the detectors which will record and measure the charged and neutral particles produced in the ILC's high energy e+e- collisions. The physics of the ILC, and the environment of the machine-detector interface, pose new challenges for detector design. Several conceptual designs for the detector promise the needed performance, and ongoing detector R&D is addressing the outstanding technological issues. Two such detectors, operating in push-pull mode, perfectly instrument the ILC interaction region, and access the full potential of ILC physics.This report, Volume IV of the International Linear Collider Reference Design Report, describes the detectors which will record and measure the charged and neutral particles produced in the ILC's high energy e+e- collisions. The physics of the ILC, and the environment of the machine-detector interface, pose new challenges for detector design. Several conceptual designs for the detector promise the needed performance, and ongoing detector R&D is addressing the outstanding technological issues. Two such detectors, operating in push-pull mode, perfectly instrument the ILC interaction region, and access the full potential of ILC physics