Charged particle detection performances of CMOS pixel sensors produced in a 0.18 um process with a high resistivity epitaxial layer

The apparatus of the ALICE experiment at CERN will be upgraded in 2017/18 during the second long shutdown of the LHC (LS2). A major motivation for this upgrade is to extend the physics reach for charmed and beauty particles down to low transverse momenta. This requires a substantial improvement of the spatial resolution and the data rate capability of the ALICE Inner Tracking System (ITS). To achieve this goal, the new ITS will be equipped with 50 um thin CMOS Pixel Sensors (CPS) covering either the 3 innermost layers or all the 7 layers of the detector. The CPS being developed for the ITS upgrade at IPHC (Strasbourg) is derived from the MIMOSA 28 sensor realised for the STAR-PXL at RHIC in a 0.35 um CMOS process. In order to satisfy the ITS upgrade requirements in terms of readout speed and radiation tolerance, a CMOS process with a reduced feature size and a high resistivity epitaxial layer should be exploited. In this respect, the charged particle detection performance and radiation hardness of the TowerJazz 0.18 um CMOS process were studied with the help of the first prototype chip MIMOSA 32. The beam tests performed with negative pions of 120 GeV/c at the CERN-SPS allowed to measure a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for the non-irradiated chip in the range between 22 and 32 depending on the pixel design. The chip irradiated with the combined dose of 1 MRad and 10^13 n_eq/cm^2 was observed to yield a SNR ranging between 11 and 23 for coolant temperatures varying from 15 C to 30 C. These SNR values were measured to result in particle detection efficiencies above 99.5% and 98% before and after irradiation respectively. These satisfactory results allow to validate the TowerJazz 0.18 um CMOS process for the ALICE ITS upgrade.Comment: (v2) Added hyper-links; (v3) A typo correcte

Development of CMOS Pixel Sensors fully adapted to the ILD Vertex Detector Requirements

CMOS Pixel Sensors are making steady progress towards the specifications of the ILD vertex detector. Recent developments are summarised, which show that these devices are close to comply with all major requirements, in particular the read-out speed needed to cope with the beam related background. This achievement is grounded on the double- sided ladder concept, which allows combining signals generated by a single particle in two different sensors, one devoted to spatial resolution and the other to time stamp, both assembled on the same mechanical support. The status of the development is overviewed as well as the plans to finalise it using an advanced CMOS process.Comment: 2011 International Workshop on Future Linear Colliders (LCWS11), Granada, Spain, 26-30 September 201

Development of Single- and Double-sided Ladders for the ILD Vertex Detectors

We discuss two projects exploring the integration of thin CMOS pixel sensors in order to prototype ladders matching the geometry needed for the ILD vertex detector. The PLUME project has designed and fabricated full-size and fully functional double- sided layers which currently reach 0.6 % X0 and aim for 0.3 % X0 in mid-2012. Another approach, SERNWIETE, consists in wrapping the sensors in a polyimide-based micro-cable to obtain a supportless single-sided ladder with a material budget around 0.15 % X0. First promising samples have been produced and the full-size prototype is expected in spring 2012.Comment: International Workshop on Future Linear Colliders, LCWS 2011, Granada, Spain, 2011, 26-30 Septembe

Network-selective vulnerability of the human cerebellum to Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia

Neurodegenerative diseases are associated with distinct and distributed patterns of atrophy in the cerebral cortex. Emerging evidence suggests that these atrophy patterns resemble intrinsic connectivity networks in the healthy brain, supporting the network-based degeneration framework where neuropathology spreads across connectivity networks. An intriguing yet untested possibility is that the cerebellar circuits, which share extensive connections with the cerebral cortex, could be selectively targeted by major neurodegenerative diseases. Here we examined the structural atrophy in the cerebellum across common types of neurodegenerative diseases, and characterized the functional connectivity patterns of these cerebellar atrophy regions. Our results showed that Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia are associated with distinct and circumscribed atrophy in the cerebellum. These cerebellar atrophied regions share robust and selective intrinsic connectivity with the atrophied regions in the cerebral cortex. These findings for the first time demonstrated the selective vulnerability of the cerebellum to common neurodegenerative disease, extending the network-based degeneration framework to the cerebellum. Our work also has direct implications on the cerebellar contribution to the cognitive and affective processes that are compromised in neurodegeneration as well as the practice of using the cerebellum as reference region for ligand neuroimaging studies

Optimisation of CMOS pixel sensors for high performance vertexing and tracking

CMOS Pixel Sensors tend to become relevant for a growing spectrum of charged particle detection instruments. This comes mainly from their high granularity and low material budget. However, several potential applications require a higher read-out speed and radiation tolerance than those achieved with available devices based on a 0.35 micrometers feature size technology. This paper shows preliminary test results of new prototype sensors manufactured in a 0.18 micrometers process based on a high resistivity epitaxial layer of sizeable thickness. Grounded on these observed performances, we discuss a development strategy over the coming years to reach a full scale sensor matching the specifications of the upgraded version of the Inner Tracking System (ITS) of the ALICE experiment at CERN, for which a sensitive area of up to about 10 square meters may be equipped with pixel sensors.Comment: Presented at the Vienna Conference on Instrumentation 2013 4 pages, 5 figure

Hierarchical and stage-specific regulation of murine cardiomyocyte maturation by serum response factor

After birth, cardiomyocytes (CM) acquire numerous adaptations in order to efficiently pump blood throughout an animal’s lifespan. How this maturation process is regulated and coordinated is poorly understood. Here, we perform a CRISPR/Cas9 screen in mice and identify serum response factor (SRF) as a key regulator of CM maturation. Mosaic SRF depletion in neonatal CMs disrupts many aspects of their maturation, including sarcomere expansion, mitochondrial biogenesis, transverse-tubule formation, and cellular hypertrophy. Maintenance of maturity in adult CMs is less dependent on SRF. This stage-specific activity is associated with developmentally regulated SRF chromatin occupancy and transcriptional regulation. SRF directly activates genes that regulate sarcomere assembly and mitochondrial dynamics. Perturbation of sarcomere assembly but not mitochondrial dynamics recapitulates SRF knockout phenotypes. SRF overexpression also perturbs CM maturation. Together, these data indicate that carefully balanced SRF activity is essential to promote CM maturation through a hierarchy of cellular processes orchestrated by sarcomere assembly

Polymer-decorated anisotropic silica nanotubes with combined shape and surface properties for guest delivery

We report on amphiphilic diblock copolymer-decorated anisotropic silica nanotubes with well-defined dual functions of shape and surface properties in one nanocontainer. Amphiphilic poly(lactic acid)block-poly(ethylene glycol) (PLA-b-PEG) diblock copolymers are covalently grafted to the surface of mesoporous silica nanotubes via silane chemistry and esterification. The released percentage of probe molecules from the resultant silica-g-(PLA-b-PEG) hybrid nanocontainer is around 40% over a release time of 48 h, in contrast to 90% from bare silica nanotubes prior to surface modification. The diblock copolymer-decorated anisotropic nanocontainers with large aspect ratio lead to enhanced viability of NIH 3T3 fibroblast cells. A theoretical model based on the free energy cost for cell membranes to encapsulate nanocontainers is utilized to understand the cytotoxicity. This work demonstrates that the release dynamics of the active molecules and the interaction of hybrid nanocontainers with cell membranes can be regulated by the synergistic effect of nanocontainer shape and surface properties. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.</p