Compact hollow waveguide mid-infrared gas sensor for simultaneous measurements of ambient CO2 and water vapor

A compact, sensitive and stable hollow waveguide (HWG) mid-infrared gas sensor, based on gas absorption lines using wavelength modulation spectroscopy with a second harmonic (WMS-2f) detection scheme, was developed for simultaneous measurements of ambient CO 2 and water vapor. Optimization of the laser modulation parameters and pressure parameter in the HWG are performed to improve the strength of the WMS-2f signal and hence the detection limit, where 14.5-time for CO 2 and 8.5-time for water vapor improvement in system detection limit is achieved compared to those working at 1 atm. The stability of the sensor has been improved significantly by optimizing environmental disturbances, incoupling alignment of the HWG and laser scanning frequency. An Allan variance analysis shows detection limit of the developed sensor of ~3 ppmv for CO 2 and 0.018% for water vapor, which correspond to an absorbance of 2.4 × 10 -5 and 2.7 × 10 -5 , with a stability time of 160 s, respectively. Ambient CO 2 and water vapor measurement have been performed in two days in winter and spring separately. The measurement precision is further improved by applying a Kalman adaptive filter. The HWG gas sensor demonstrates the ability in environmental monitoring and the potential to be used in other areas, such as industrial production and biomedical diagnosis

Failure analysis based on microvoid growth for sheet metal during uniaxial and biaxial tensile tests

The aim of the presented investigations is to perform an analysis of fracture and instability during simple and complex load testing by addressing the influence of ductile damage evolution in necking processes. In this context, an improved experimental methodology was developed and successfully used to evaluate localization of deformation during uniaxial and biaxial tensile tests. The biaxial tensile tests are carried out using cruciform specimen loaded using a biaxial testing machine. In this experimental investigation, Stereo-Image Correlation technique has is used to produce the heterogeneous deformations map within the specimen surface. Scanning electron microscope is used to evaluate the fracture mechanism and the micro-voids growth. A finite element model of uniaxial and biaxial tensile tests are developed, where a ductile damage model Gurson-Tvergaard-Needleman (GTN) is used to describe material deformation involving d`amage evolution. Comparison between the experimental and the simulation results show the accuracy of the finite element model to predict the instability phenomenon. The advanced measurement techniques contribute to understand better the ductile fracture mechanism

A sensor with coating Pt/WO3 powder with an Erbium-doped fiber amplifier to detect the hydrogen concentration

A highly sensitive hydrogen sensor coated with Pt/WO3 powder with an Erbium-doped fibre amplifier (EDFA) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The sensing head is constructed by splicing a short section of tapered small diameter coreless fiber (TSDCF diameter of 62.5 μm, and tapered to 14.5 μm) between two single-mode fibres. The Pt/WO3 powder adheres to the surface of PDMS film coated on the TSDCF structure, which is sensitive to hydrogen. An EDFA is introduced into the sensor system to improve the quality factor of the output spectrum and thus improve the sensor’s resolution. As the hydrogen concentration varies from 0 to 1.44, the measured maximum light intensity variation and the sensor’s sensitivity are -32.41 dB and -21.25 dB/, respectively. The sensor demonstrates good stability with the light intensity fluctuation of < 1.26 dB over a 30-minute duration

Glucocorticoids—All-Rounders Tackling the Versatile Players of the Immune System

Glucocorticoids regulate fundamental processes of the human body and control cellular functions such as cell metabolism, growth, differentiation, and apoptosis. Moreover, endogenous glucocorticoids link the endocrine and immune system and ensure the correct function of inflammatory events during tissue repair, regeneration, and pathogen elimination via genomic and rapid non-genomic pathways. Due to their strong immunosuppressive, anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic effects on immune cells, tissues and organs, glucocorticoids significantly improve the quality of life of many patients suffering from diseases caused by a dysregulated immune system. Despite the multitude and seriousness of glucocorticoid-related adverse events including diabetes mellitus, osteoporosis and infections, these agents remain indispensable, representing the most powerful, and cost-effective drugs in the treatment of a wide range of rheumatic diseases. These include rheumatoid arthritis, vasculitis, and connective tissue diseases, as well as many other pathological conditions of the immune system. Depending on the therapeutically affected cell type, glucocorticoid actions strongly vary among different diseases. While immune responses always represent complex reactions involving different cells and cellular processes, specific immune cell populations with key responsibilities driving the pathological mechanisms can be identified for certain autoimmune diseases. In this review, we will focus on the mechanisms of action of glucocorticoids on various leukocyte populations, exemplarily portraying different autoimmune diseases as heterogeneous targets of glucocorticoid actions: (i) Abnormalities in the innate immune response play a crucial role in the initiation and perpetuation of giant cell arteritis (GCA). (ii) Specific types of CD4+ T helper (Th) lymphocytes, namely Th1 and Th17 cells, represent important players in the establishment and course of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), whereas (iii) B cells have emerged as central players in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). (iv) Allergic reactions are mainly triggered by several different cytokines released by activated Th2 lymphocytes. Using these examples, we aim to illustrate the versatile modulating effects of glucocorticoids on the immune system. In contrast, in the treatment of lymphoproliferative disorders the pro-apoptotic action of glucocorticoids prevails, but their mechanisms differ depending on the type of cancer. Therefore, we will also give a brief insight into the current knowledge of the mode of glucocorticoid action in oncological treatment focusing on leukemia

Dynamics of Modified Chaplygin Gas in Brane World Scenario: Phase Plane Analysis

In this work we investigate the background dynamics when dark energy is coupled to dark matter with a suitable interaction in the universe described by brane cosmology. Here DGP and the RSII brane models have been considered separately. Dark energy in the form of modified Chaplygin gas is considered. A suitable interaction between dark energy and dark matter is considered in order to at least alleviate (if not solve) the cosmic coincidence problem. The dynamical system of equations is solved numerically and a stable scaling solution is obtained. A significant attempt towards the solution of the cosmic coincidence problem is taken. The statefinder parameters are also calculated to classify the dark energy models. Graphs and phase diagrams are drawn to study the variations of these parameters. It is also seen that the background dynamics of modified Chaplygin gas is completely consistent with the notion of an accelerated expansion in the late universe. Finally, it has been shown that the universe in both the models follows the power law form of expansion around the critical point, which is consistent with the known results.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figure

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of WW bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements of the $W^+ \rightarrow \mu^+\nu$ and $W^- \rightarrow \mu^-\nu$ cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the 1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13

Measurements of fiducial and differential cross sections for Higgs boson production in the diphoton decay channel at s√=8 TeV with ATLAS

Measurements of fiducial and differential cross sections are presented for Higgs boson production in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of s√=8 TeV. The analysis is performed in the H → γγ decay channel using 20.3 fb−1 of data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The signal is extracted using a fit to the diphoton invariant mass spectrum assuming that the width of the resonance is much smaller than the experimental resolution. The signal yields are corrected for the effects of detector inefficiency and resolution. The pp → H → γγ fiducial cross section is measured to be 43.2 ±9.4(stat.) − 2.9 + 3.2 (syst.) ±1.2(lumi)fb for a Higgs boson of mass 125.4GeV decaying to two isolated photons that have transverse momentum greater than 35% and 25% of the diphoton invariant mass and each with absolute pseudorapidity less than 2.37. Four additional fiducial cross sections and two cross-section limits are presented in phase space regions that test the theoretical modelling of different Higgs boson production mechanisms, or are sensitive to physics beyond the Standard Model. Differential cross sections are also presented, as a function of variables related to the diphoton kinematics and the jet activity produced in the Higgs boson events. The observed spectra are statistically limited but broadly in line with the theoretical expectations

Search for squarks and gluinos in events with isolated leptons, jets and missing transverse momentum at s√=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The results of a search for supersymmetry in final states containing at least one isolated lepton (electron or muon), jets and large missing transverse momentum with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider are reported. The search is based on proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy s√=8 TeV collected in 2012, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20 fb−1. No significant excess above the Standard Model expectation is observed. Limits are set on supersymmetric particle masses for various supersymmetric models. Depending on the model, the search excludes gluino masses up to 1.32 TeV and squark masses up to 840 GeV. Limits are also set on the parameters of a minimal universal extra dimension model, excluding a compactification radius of 1/R c = 950 GeV for a cut-off scale times radius (ΛR c) of approximately 30

Evidence for the Higgs-boson Yukawa coupling to tau leptons with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for H → τ τ decays are presented, based on the full set of proton-proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC during 2011 and 2012. The data correspond to integrated luminosities of 4.5 fb−1 and 20.3 fb−1 at centre-of-mass energies of √s = 7 TeV and √s = 8 TeV respectively. All combinations of leptonic (τ → `νν¯ with ` = e, µ) and hadronic (τ → hadrons ν) tau decays are considered. An excess of events over the expected background from other Standard Model processes is found with an observed (expected) significance of 4.5 (3.4) standard deviations. This excess provides evidence for the direct coupling of the recently discovered Higgs boson to fermions. The measured signal strength, normalised to the Standard Model expectation, of µ = 1.43 +0.43 −0.37 is consistent with the predicted Yukawa coupling strength in the Standard Model