4,973 research outputs found
An LED-based Flasher System for VERITAS
We describe a flasher system designed for use in monitoring the gains of the
photomultiplier tubes used in the VERITAS gamma-ray telescopes. This system
uses blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) so it can be operated at much higher
rates than a traditional laser-based system. Calibration information can be
obtained with better statistical precision with reduced loss of observing time.
The LEDs are also much less expensive than a laser. The design features of the
new system are presented, along with measurements made with a prototype mounted
on one of the VERITAS telescopes.Comment: Accepted for publication in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in
Physics Research
Toxoplasma gondii profilin does not stimulate an innate immune response through bovine or human TLR5
Toxoplasma gondii is responsible for one of the most prevalent infections in people. T. gondii profilin (TgPr) is a protein integral to parasite movement and cellular invasion. Murine TLR has been described to bind TgPr. Furthermore, more recently, human TLR5 has been described to recognise recombinant TgPr, as well as bacterial flagellin. In addition to infections in humans, T. gondii infects farm animals, but little information is available about its innate recognition. We aimed to investigate whether, similarly to their human orthologue, bovine and porcine TLR5 could also be stimulated by TgPr by using a combination of reporter cell lines expressing full length TLR5 from each species as well as primary cells. Although human and bovine TLR5-transfected cells responded to flagellin, no response was detected upon stimulation
with profilin. Furthermore, TgPr failed to elicit IL-6 secretion in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells and CD14þ monocytes. In contrast, exposure of RAW cells, known to express TLR11 to TgPr, slightly increased the IL-6 response. Our data cast doubts on the possibility that profilin is a specific ligand for human TLR5 and bovine TLR5. This leaves the immunogenic properties of this potential target antigen uncharacterised outside of the murine system
Theory of Dynamic Stripe Induced Superconductivity
Since the recently reported giant isotope effect on T* [1] could be
consistently explained within an anharmonic spin-charge-phonon interaction
model, we consider here the role played by stripe formation on the
superconducting properties within the same model. This is a two-component
scenario and we recast its basic elements into a BCS effective Hamiltonian. We
find that the stripe formation is vital to high-Tc superconductivity since it
provides the glue between the two components to enhance Tc to the unexpectedly
large values observed experimentally.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure
The Impact of Halo Properties, Energy Feedback and Projection Effects on the Mass-SZ Flux Relation
We present a detailed analysis of the intrinsic scatter in the integrated SZ
effect - cluster mass (Y-M) relation, using semi-analytic and simulated cluster
samples. Specifically, we investigate the impact on the Y-M relation of energy
feedback, variations in the host halo concentration and substructure
populations, and projection effects due to unresolved clusters along the line
of sight (the SZ background). Furthermore, we investigate at what radius (or
overdensity) one should measure the integrated SZE and define cluster mass so
as to achieve the tightest possible scaling. We find that the measure of Y with
the least scatter is always obtained within a smaller radius than that at which
the mass is defined; e.g. for M_{200} (M_{500}) the scatter is least for
Y_{500} (Y_{1100}). The inclusion of energy feedback in the gas model
significantly increases the intrinsic scatter in the Y-M relation due to larger
variations in the gas mass fraction compared to models without feedback. We
also find that variations in halo concentration for clusters of a given mass
may partly explain why the integrated SZE provides a better mass proxy than the
central decrement. Substructure is found to account for approximately 20% of
the observed scatter in the Y-M relation. Above M_{200} = 2x10^{14} h^{-1}
msun, the SZ background does not significantly effect cluster mass
measurements; below this mass, variations in the background signal reduce the
optimal angular radius within which one should measure Y to achieve the
tightest scaling with M_{200}.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, to be submitted to Ap
A comparison of techniques to optimize measurement of voltage changes in electrical impedance tomography by minimizing phase shift errors
In electrical impedance tomography, errors due to stray capacitance may be reduced by optimization of the reference phase of the demodulator. Two possible methods, maximization of the demodulator output and minimization of reciprocity error have been assessed, applied to each electrode combination individually, or to all combinations as a whole. Using an EIT system with a single impedance measuring circuit and multiplexer to address the 16 electrodes, the methods were tested on resistor-capacitor networks, saline-filled tanks and humans during variation of the saline concentration of a constant fluid volume in the stomach. Optimization of each channel individually gave less error, particularly on humans, and maximization of the output of the demodulator was more robust. This method is, therefore, recommended to optimize systems and reduce systematic errors with similar EIT systems
CMB Lensing Power Spectrum Biases from Galaxies and Clusters using High-angular Resolution Temperature Maps
The lensing power spectrum from cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature
maps will be measured with unprecedented precision with upcoming experiments,
including upgrades to ACT and SPT. Achieving significant improvements in
cosmological parameter constraints, such as percent level errors on sigma_8 and
an uncertainty on the total neutrino mass of approximately 50 meV, requires
percent level measurements of the CMB lensing power. This necessitates tight
control of systematic biases. We study several types of biases to the
temperature-based lensing reconstruction signal from foreground sources such as
radio and infrared galaxies and the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect from
galaxy clusters. These foregrounds bias the CMB lensing signal due to their
non-Gaussian nature. Using simulations as well as some analytical models we
find that these sources can substantially impact the measured signal if left
untreated. However, these biases can be brought to the percent level if one
masks galaxies with fluxes at 150 GHz above 1 mJy and galaxy clusters with
masses above M_vir = 10^14 M_sun. To achieve such percent level bias, we find
that only modes up to a maximum multipole of l_max ~ 2500 should be included in
the lensing reconstruction. We also discuss ways to minimize additional bias
induced by such aggressive foreground masking by, for example, exploring a
two-step masking and in-painting algorithm.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures, to be submitted to Ap
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