1,007 research outputs found
Mechanical properties and microstructure characterisation of Au-Pt dental alloy
Development of a dental alloy with high Au content is based on the ternary system of Au-Pt-Zn with a nominal composition of 86,9Au-9,9Pt-1,5Zn, and about 1,5 wt.% micro-alloying elements (in, Ir, Rh). The results analyses of different heat-treated states showed that the optimal mechanical properties and hardness of an Au-Pt-Zn alloy can be reached with combinations of heat treatment for 20 minutes at 723 K and then slowly cooling, if the alloy was annealed at 1223 K for 30 minutes and the water quenched. Research results confirmed that the microstructure of the Au-Pt-Zn alloy consists of two phases: alpha(1)-phase rich in Au (main phase) and alpha(2)-phase rich in Pt (minor phase). During XRD analysis and use of the Rietveld method, it was found that the alpha(1)-phase content is about 98,5 wt.% while the content of alpha(2)-phase is 1,5 wt.%. STA analyses show that the Au-Pt-Zn alloy has a solidus temperature of about 1292 K and a liquidus temperature of about 1412 K
Rank-(n – 1) convexity and quasiconvexity for divergence free fields
The CAST experiment at CERN (European Organization of Nuclear Research)
searches for axions from the sun. The axion is a pseudoscalar particle that was
motivated by theory thirty years ago, with the intention to solve the strong CP
problem. Together with the neutralino, the axion is one of the most promising
dark matter candidates. The CAST experiment has been taking data during the
last two years, setting an upper limit on the coupling of axions to photons
more restrictive than from any other solar axion search in the mass range below
0.1 eV. In 2005 CAST will enter a new experimental phase extending the
sensitivity of the experiment to higher axion masses. The CAST experiment
strongly profits from technology developed for high energy physics and for
X-ray astronomy: A superconducting prototype LHC magnet is used to convert
potential axions to detectable X-rays in the 1-10 keV range via the inverse
Primakoff effect. The most sensitive detector system of CAST is a spin-off from
space technology, a Wolter I type X-ray optics in combination with a prototype
pn-CCD developed for ESA's XMM-Newton mission. As in other rare event searches,
background suppression and a thorough shielding concept is essential to improve
the sensitivity of the experiment to the best possible. In this context CAST
offers the opportunity to study the background of pn-CCDs and its long term
behavior in a terrestrial environment with possible implications for future
space applications. We will present a systematic study of the detector
background of the pn-CCD of CAST based on the data acquired since 2002
including preliminary results of our background simulations.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, to appear in Proc. SPIE 5898, UV, X-Ray, and
Gamma-Ray Space Instrumentation for Astronomy XI
The imaging properties of the Gas Pixel Detector as a focal plane polarimeter
X-rays are particularly suited to probe the physics of extreme objects.
However, despite the enormous improvements of X-ray Astronomy in imaging,
spectroscopy and timing, polarimetry remains largely unexplored. We propose the
photoelectric polarimeter Gas Pixel Detector (GPD) as an instrument candidate
to fill the gap of more than thirty years of lack of measurements. The GPD, in
the focus of a telescope, will increase the sensitivity of orders of magnitude.
Moreover, since it can measure the energy, the position, the arrival time and
the polarization angle of every single photon, allows to perform polarimetry of
subsets of data singled out from the spectrum, the light curve or the image of
source. The GPD has an intrinsic very fine imaging capability and in this work
we report on the calibration campaign carried out in 2012 at the PANTER X-ray
test facility of the Max-Planck-Institut f\"ur extraterrestrische Physik of
Garching (Germany) in which, for the first time, we coupled it to a JET-X
optics module with a focal length of 3.5 m and an angular resolution of 18
arcsec at 4.5 keV. This configuration was proposed in 2012 aboard the X-ray
Imaging Polarimetry Explorer (XIPE) in response to the ESA call for a small
mission. We derived the imaging and polarimetric performance for extended
sources like Pulsar Wind Nebulae and Supernova Remnants as case studies for the
XIPE configuration, discussing also possible improvements by coupling the
detector with advanced optics, having finer angular resolution and larger
effective area, to study with more details extended objects.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Supplemen
Simbol-X Hard X-ray Focusing Mirrors: Results Obtained During the Phase A Study
Simbol-X will push grazing incidence imaging up to 80 keV, providing a strong
improvement both in sensitivity and angular resolution compared to all
instruments that have operated so far above 10 keV. The superb hard X-ray
imaging capability will be guaranteed by a mirror module of 100 electroformed
Nickel shells with a multilayer reflecting coating. Here we will describe the
technogical development and solutions adopted for the fabrication of the mirror
module, that must guarantee an Half Energy Width (HEW) better than 20 arcsec
from 0.5 up to 30 keV and a goal of 40 arcsec at 60 keV. During the phase A,
terminated at the end of 2008, we have developed three engineering models with
two, two and three shells, respectively. The most critical aspects in the
development of the Simbol-X mirrors are i) the production of the 100 mandrels
with very good surface quality within the timeline of the mission; ii) the
replication of shells that must be very thin (a factor of 2 thinner than those
of XMM-Newton) and still have very good image quality up to 80 keV; iii) the
development of an integration process that allows us to integrate these very
thin mirrors maintaining their intrinsic good image quality. The Phase A study
has shown that we can fabricate the mandrels with the needed quality and that
we have developed a valid integration process. The shells that we have produced
so far have a quite good image quality, e.g. HEW <~30 arcsec at 30 keV, and
effective area. However, we still need to make some improvements to reach the
requirements. We will briefly present these results and discuss the possible
improvements that we will investigate during phase B.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, invited talk at the conference "2nd International
Simbol-X Symposium", Paris, 2-5 december, 200
The liver transplant waiting list—a single-center analysis
At this transplant center 1340 patients were entered on the liver transplant waiting list during the first 25 months (October 1987 to November 1989) after the initiation of the UNOS allocation system for liver grafts. Of these 972 (72.5%) of the patients received a graft, 120 (9.0%) died waiting for a graft, 109 (8.1%) remained on the active list as of the study endpoint of December 15, 1989, 123 (9.2%) were withdrawn from candidacy, and 16 (1.2%) received a transplant at another center. A total of 1201 patients were candidates for a first graft. Of the 812 primary candidates who received a graft, 64.8% received their graft within one month of entry on the waiting list. Of the 109 primary candidates who died before a graft could be found, 79.0% died within a month of entry onto the waiting list. At time of transplantation, 135 (16.6%) primary recipients of a graft were UNOS class 1, 326 (40.1%) were UNOS class 2, 190 (23.4%) were UNOS class 3, and 161 (19.8%) were UNOS class 4. Actuarial survival rates (percentage) at 6 months for recipients in UNOS class 1, class 2, class 3, and class 4 were 88.7±2.9, 82.6+2.1, 78.4±3.2, and 68.4±3.9, respectively (P<0.001). At the time of death of recipients who failed to get a graft, 6 (5.5%) were UNOS class 1, 14 (12.8%) were UNOS class 2, 23 (21.1%) were UNOS class 3, and 66 (60.6%) were UNOS class 4. These results indicate that a high proportion of liver transplant candidates are in urgent need of a graft and that the UNOS system succeeds in giving these patients high priority. However patient mortality on the waiting list and after transplantation would lessen significantly if more patients with end-stage liver disease were referred to the transplant center in a timely manner before their condition reaches the point where the probability of survival is diminished. © 1991 by Williams & Wilkins
First Light Measurements of Capella with the Low Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer aboard the Chandra X-ray Observatory
We present the first X-ray spectrum obtained by the Low Energy Transmission
Grating Spectrometer (LETGS) aboard the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The spectrum
is of Capella and covers a wavelength range of 5-175 A (2.5-0.07 keV). The
measured wavelength resolution, which is in good agreement with ground
calibration, is 0.06 A (FWHM). Although in-flight
calibration of the LETGS is in progress, the high spectral resolution and
unique wavelength coverage of the LETGS are well demonstrated by the results
from Capella, a coronal source rich in spectral emission lines. While the
primary purpose of this letter is to demonstrate the spectroscopic potential of
the LETGS, we also briefly present some preliminary astrophysical results. We
discuss plasma parameters derived from line ratios in narrow spectral bands,
such as the electron density diagnostics of the He-like triplets of carbon,
nitrogen, and oxygen, as well as resonance scattering of the strong Fe XVII
line at 15.014 A.Comment: 4 pages (ApJ letter LaTeX), 2 PostScript figures, accepted for
publication in ApJ Letters, 200
Mehanička svojstva i mikrostrukturna karakterizacija Au-Pt dentalne slitine
Development of a dental alloy with high Au content is based on the ternary system of Au-Pt-Zn with a nominal composition of 86,9Au-9,9Pt-1,5Zn, and about 1,5 wt.% micro-alloying elements (In, Ir, Rh). The results analyses of different heat-treated states showed that the optimal mechanical properties and hardness of an Au-Pt-Zn alloy can be reached with combinations of heat treatment for 20 minutes at 723 K and then slowly cooling, if the alloy was annealed at 1223 K for 30 minutes and the water quenched. Research results confirmed that the microstructure of the Au-Pt-Zn alloy consists of two phases: _1-phase rich in Au (main phase) and _2-phase rich in Pt (minor phase). During XRD analysis and use of the Rietveld method, it was found that the _1-phase content is about 98,5 wt.% while the content of _2-phase is 1,5 wt.%. STA analyses show that the Au-Pt-Zn alloy has a solidus temperature of about 1292 K and a liquidus temperature of about 1412 K.Razvoj dentalne slitine s visokim sadržajem zlata zasnovan je na ternarnom sustavu Au-Pt-Zn s nominalnim sastavom 86,9Au-9,9Pt-1,5Zn i oko 1,5 mas. % mikrolegirajučih elemenata (In, Ir, Rh). Rezultati analize su pokazali da se u slučaju slitine odžarene kod 1223 K u trajanju od 30 minuta i zakaljena u vodi optimalna mehanička svojstva i tvrdoća Au-Pt-Zn slitine mogu postići kombinacijom toplinske obrade na 720 oC u trajanju 20 minuta s naknadnim sporim hlađenjem. Rezultati istraživanja su potvrdili da se mikrostruktura Au-Pt-Zn slitine sastoji od dvije faze: _1-faze bogate sa zlatom (primarna faza) i _2 - faze bogate s platinom (sekundarna faza). Tijekom XRD analize i primjenom Rietveldove metode utvrđeno je da je sadržaj _1-faze oko 98,5 mas. %, dok je sadržaj _2-faze iznosio oko 1,5 mas. %. STA analiza je pokazala da je Au-Pt-Zn slitina imala solidus temperaturu oko 1292 K, a likvidus temperaturu oko 1412 K
Hypermethylation and loss of retinoic acid receptor responder 1 expression in human choriocarcinoma
RNA editing signature during myeloid leukemia cell differentiation
Adenosine deaminases acting on RNA (ADARs) are key proteins for hematopoietic stem cell self-renewal and for survival of differentiating progenitor cells. However, their specific role in myeloid cell maturation has been poorly investigated. Here we show that ADAR1 is present at basal level in the primary myeloid leukemia cells obtained from patients at diagnosis as well as in myeloid U-937 and THP1 cell lines and its expression correlates with the editing levels. Upon phorbol-myristate acetate or Vitamin D3/granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF)-driven differentiation, both ADAR1 and ADAR2 enzymes are upregulated, with a concomitant global increase of A-to-I RNA editing. ADAR1 silencing caused an editing decrease at specific ADAR1 target genes, without, however, interfering with cell differentiation or with ADAR2 activity. Remarkably, ADAR2 is absent in the undifferentiated cell stage, due to its elimination through the ubiquitin–proteasome pathway, being strongly upregulated at the end of the differentiation process. Of note, peripheral blood monocytes display editing events at the selected targets similar to those found in differentiated cell lines. Taken together, the data indicate that ADAR enzymes play important and distinct roles in myeloid cells
Toward volume manufacturing of high-performance soft x-ray critical-angle transmission gratings
High-resolution () x-ray absorption and
emission line spectroscopy in the soft x-ray band is a crucial diagnostic for
the exploration of the properties of ubiquitous warm and hot plasmas and their
dynamics in the cosmic web, galaxy clusters, galaxy halos, intragalactic space,
and star atmospheres. Soft x-ray grating spectroscopy with has
been demonstrated with critical-angle transmission (CAT) gratings. CAT gratings
combine the relaxed alignment and temperature tolerances and low mass of
transmission gratings with high diffraction efficiency blazed in high orders.
They are an enabling technology for the proposed Arcus grating explorer and
were selected for the Lynx design reference mission grating spectrometer
instrument. Both Arcus and Lynx require the manufacture of hundreds to perhaps
large-area CAT gratings. We are developing new patterning and
fabrication process sequences that are conducive to large-format volume
processing on state-of-the-art 200 mm wafer tools. Recent x-ray tests on 200
nm-period gratings patterned using e-beam-written masks and 4x projection
lithography in conjunction with silicon pore focusing optics demonstrated at 1.49 keV. Extending the grating depth from 4 m to 6
m is predicted to lead to significant improvements in diffraction
efficiency and is part of our current efforts using a combination of deep
reactive-ion etching and wet etching in KOH solution. We describe our recent
progress in grating fabrication and report our latest diffraction efficiency
and modeling results.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Proc. SPIE 1144
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