859 research outputs found
Detector Time Offset and Off-line Calibration in EAS Experiments
In Extensive Air Shower (EAS) experiments, the primary direction is
reconstructed by the space-time pattern of secondary particles. Thus the
equalization of the transit time of signals coming from different parts of the
detector is crucial in order to get the best angular resolution and pointing
accuracy allowed by the detector. In this paper an off-line calibration method
is proposed and studied by means of proper simulations. It allows to calibrate
the array repeatedly just using the collected data without disturbing the
standard acquisition. The calibration method is based on the definition of a
Characteristic Plane introduced to analyze the effects of the time systematic
offsets, such as the quasi-sinusoidal modulation on azimuth angle distribution.
This calibration procedure works also when a pre-modulation on the primary
azimuthal distribution is present.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Astroparticle Physic
Craterostigma plantagineum cell wall composition is remodelled during desiccation and the glycineârich protein CpGRP1 interacts with pectins through clustered arginines
Craterostigma plantagineum belongs to the desiccationâtolerant angiosperm plants. Upon dehydration, leaves fold and the cells shrink which is reversed during rehydration. To understand this process changes in cell wall pectin composition, and the role of the apoplastic glycineârich protein 1 (CpGRP1) were analysed. Cellular microstructural changes in hydrated, desiccated and rehydrated leaf sections were analysed using scanning electron microscopy. Pectin composition in different cell wall fractions was analysed with monoclonal antibodies against homogalacturonan, rhamnogalacturonan I, rhamnogalacturonan II and hemicellulose epitopes. Our data demonstrate changes in pectin composition during dehydration/rehydration which is suggested to affect cell wall properties. Homogalacturonan was less methylesterified upon desiccation and changes were also demonstrated in the detection of rhamnogalacturonan I, rhamnogalacturonan II and hemicelluloses. CpGRP1 seems to have a central role in cell adaptations to water deficit, as it interacts with pectin through a cluster of arginine residues and deâmethylesterified pectin presents more binding sites for the proteinâpectin interaction than to pectin from hydrated leaves. CpGRP1 can also bind phosphatidic acid (PA) and cardiolipin. The binding of CpGRP1 to pectin appears to be dependent on the pectin methylesterification status and it has a higher affinity to pectin than its binding partner CpWAK1. It is hypothesised that changes in pectin composition are sensed by the CpGRP1âCpWAK1 complex therefore leading to the activation of dehydrationârelated responses and leaf folding. PA might participate in the modulation of CpGRP1 activity
Properties and Performance of Two Wide Field of View Cherenkov/Fluorescence Telescope Array Prototypes
A wide field of view Cherenkov/fluorescence telescope array is one of the
main components of the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory project. To
serve as Cherenkov and fluorescence detectors, a flexible and mobile design is
adopted for easy reconfiguring of the telescope array. Two prototype telescopes
have been constructed and successfully run at the site of the ARGO-YBJ
experiment in Tibet. The features and performance of the telescopes are
presented
B_s --> mu+ mu- decay in the R-parity violating minimal supergravity
We study B_s --> mu+ mu- in the context of the R-parity violating minimal
supergravity in the high tan beta regime. We find that the lowest value of the
branching ratio can go well below the present LHCb sensitivity and hence B_s
--> mu+ mu- can even be invisible to the LHC. We also find that the present
upper bound on Br(B_s --> mu+ mu-) puts strong constraint on the minimal
supergravity parameter space. The constraints become more severe if the upper
bound is close to its standard model prediction.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures; version to be published in European Physical
Journal
On Traversable Lorentzian Wormholes in the Vacuum Low Energy Effective String Theory in Einstein and Jordan Frames
Three new classes (II-IV) of solutions of the vacuum low energy effective
string theory in four dimensions are derived. Wormhole solutions are
investigated in those solutions including the class I case both in the Einstein
and in the Jordan (string) frame. It turns out that, of the eight classes of
solutions investigated (four in the Einstein frame and four in the
corresponding string frame), massive Lorentzian traversable wormholes exist in
five classes. Nontrivial massless limit exists only in class I Einstein frame
solution while none at all exists in the string frame. An investigation of test
scalar charge motion in the class I solution in the two frames is carried out
by using the Plebanski-Sawicki theorem. A curious consequence is that the
motion around the extremal zero (Keplerian) mass configuration leads, as a
result of scalar-scalar interaction, to a new hypothetical "mass" that confines
test scalar charges in bound orbits, but does not interact with neutral test
particles.Comment: 18 page
DAMA/LIBRA-phase1 results and perspectives of the phase2
The results obtained with the total exposure of 1.04 ton Ă yr collected by DAMA/LIBRAâphase1 deep underground at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS) of the I.N.F.N. during 7 annual cycles are summarized. The DAMA/LIBRAâphase1 and the former DAMA/NaI data (cumulative exposure 1.33 ton Ă yr, corresponding to 14 annual cycles) give evidence at 9.3 Ï C.L. for the presence of Dark Matter (DM) particles in the galactic halo, on the basis of the exploited model independent DM annual modulation signature by using highly radio-pure NaI(Tl) target. No systematic or side reaction able to mimic the exploited DM signature has been found or suggested by anyone over more than a decade. The same data of DAMA/LIBRAâphase1 have also been analyzed searching for possible DM second-order diurnal effect; at present, the DM diurnal modulation amplitude â expected because of the Earth diurnal motion â evaluated on the basis of the DAMA Dark Matter annual modulation results is below the reached experimental sensitivity. Some of the perspectives of the presently running DAMA/LIBRAâphase2 are outlined
Possible implications of the channeling effect in NaI(Tl) crystals
The channeling effect of low energy ions along the crystallographic axes and
planes of NaI(Tl) crystals is discussed in the framework of corollary
investigations on WIMP Dark Matter candidates. In fact, the modeling of this
existing effect implies a more complex evaluation of the luminosity yield for
low energy recoiling Na and I ions. In the present paper related
phenomenological arguments are developed and possible implications are
discussed at some extent.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures, preprint ROM2F/2007/15, submitted for
publicatio
The energy spectrum of all-particle cosmic rays around the knee region observed with the Tibet-III air-shower array
We have already reported the first result on the all-particle spectrum around
the knee region based on data from 2000 November to 2001 October observed by
the Tibet-III air-shower array. In this paper, we present an updated result
using data set collected in the period from 2000 November through 2004 October
in a wide range over 3 decades between eV and eV, in which
the position of the knee is clearly seen at around 4 PeV. The spectral index is
-2.68 0.02(stat.) below 1PeV, while it is -3.12 0.01(stat.) above 4
PeV in the case of QGSJET+HD model, and various systematic errors are under
study now.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, accepted by Advances in space researc
Moon Shadow by Cosmic Rays under the Influence of Geomagnetic Field and Search for Antiprotons at Multi-TeV Energies
We have observed the shadowing of galactic cosmic ray flux in the direction
of the moon, the so-called moon shadow, using the Tibet-III air shower array
operating at Yangbajing (4300 m a.s.l.) in Tibet since 1999. Almost all cosmic
rays are positively charged; for that reason, they are bent by the geomagnetic
field, thereby shifting the moon shadow westward. The cosmic rays will also
produce an additional shadow in the eastward direction of the moon if cosmic
rays contain negatively charged particles, such as antiprotons, with some
fraction. We selected 1.5 x10^{10} air shower events with energy beyond about 3
TeV from the dataset observed by the Tibet-III air shower array and detected
the moon shadow at level. The center of the moon was detected
in the direction away from the apparent center of the moon by 0.23 to
the west. Based on these data and a full Monte Carlo simulation, we searched
for the existence of the shadow produced by antiprotons at the multi-TeV energy
region. No evidence of the existence of antiprotons was found in this energy
region. We obtained the 90% confidence level upper limit of the flux ratio of
antiprotons to protons as 7% at multi-TeV energies.Comment: 13pages,4figures; Accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physic
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