Ask Us - Survey

The goal of this survey was to offer users the opportunity to select a graphic to represent the Ask Us reference service from a variety of options (as determined by a review of how other libraries represent this service). Specifically, we wanted to learn if users prefer Ask Us or Ask a Librarian and if they prefer text to describe the methods for contacting a librarian, icons to describe the methods for contacting a librarian, or neither text nor icons.Usability Grouphttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/107006/1/Gateway_AskUs_Survey.pd

Smn, the spinal muscular atrophy–determining gene product, modulates axon growth and localization of β-actin mRNA in growth cones of motoneurons

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a common autosomal recessive form of motoneuron disease in infants and young adults, is caused by mutations in the survival motoneuron 1 (SMN1) gene. The corresponding gene product is part of a multiprotein complex involved in the assembly of spliceosomal small nuclear ribonucleoprotein complexes. It is still not understood why reduced levels of the ubiquitously expressed SMN protein specifically cause motoneuron degeneration. Here, we show that motoneurons isolated from an SMA mouse model exhibit normal survival, but reduced axon growth. Overexpression of Smn or its binding partner, heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) R, promotes neurite growth in differentiating PC12 cells. Reduced axon growth in Smn-deficient motoneurons correlates with reduced β-actin protein and mRNA staining in distal axons and growth cones. We also show that hnRNP R associates with the 3′ UTR of β-actin mRNA. Together, these data suggest that a complex of Smn with its binding partner hnRNP R interacts with β-actin mRNA and translocates to axons and growth cones of motoneurons

Measurements of the Cosmic Ray Composition with Air Shower Experiments

In this paper we review air shower data related to the mass composition of cosmic rays above 10$^{15}$ eV. After explaining the basic relations between air shower observables and the primary mass and energy of cosmic rays, we present different approaches and results of composition studies with surface detectors. Furthermore, we discuss measurements of the longitudinal development of air showers from non-imaging Cherenkov detectors and fluorescence telescopes. The interpretation of these experimental results in terms of primary mass is highly susceptible to the theoretical uncertainties of hadronic interactions in air showers. We nevertheless attempt to calculate the logarithmic mass from the data using different hadronic interaction models and to study its energy dependence from 10$^{15}$ to 10$^{20}$ eV.Comment: 21 pages, invited review accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physics, Topical Issue on Cosmic Ray

Differential limit on the extremely-high-energy cosmic neutrino flux in the presence of astrophysical background from nine years of IceCube data

We report a quasi-differential upper limit on the extremely-high-energy (EHE) neutrino flux above $5\times 10^{6}$ GeV based on an analysis of nine years of IceCube data. The astrophysical neutrino flux measured by IceCube extends to PeV energies, and it is a background flux when searching for an independent signal flux at higher energies, such as the cosmogenic neutrino signal. We have developed a new method to place robust limits on the EHE neutrino flux in the presence of an astrophysical background, whose spectrum has yet to be understood with high precision at PeV energies. A distinct event with a deposited energy above $10^{6}$ GeV was found in the new two-year sample, in addition to the one event previously found in the seven-year EHE neutrino search. These two events represent a neutrino flux that is incompatible with predictions for a cosmogenic neutrino flux and are considered to be an astrophysical background in the current study. The obtained limit is the most stringent to date in the energy range between $5 \times 10^{6}$ and $5 \times 10^{10}$ GeV. This result constrains neutrino models predicting a three-flavor neutrino flux of $E_\nu^2\phi_{\nu_e+\nu_\mu+\nu_\tau}\simeq2\times 10^{-8}\ {\rm GeV}/{\rm cm}^2\ \sec\ {\rm sr}$at$10^9\ {\rm GeV}$. A significant part of the parameter-space for EHE neutrino production scenarios assuming a proton-dominated composition of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays is excluded.Comment: The version accepted for publication in Physical Review

Insights on geochemical cycling of U, Re and Mo from seasonal sampling in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts, USA

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2006. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 71 (2007): 895-917, doi:10.1016/j.gca.2006.10.016.This study examined the removal of U, Mo, and Re from seawater by sedimentary processes at a shallow-water site with near-saturation bottom water O2 levels (240-380 μmol O2/L), very high organic matter oxidation rates (annually averaged rate is 870 μmol C/cm2/y), and shallow oxygen penetration depths (4 mm or less throughout the year). Under these conditions, U, Mo, and Re were removed rapidly to asymptotic pore water concentrations of 2.2–3.3 nmol/kg (U), 7–13 nmol/kg (Mo), and 11–14 pmol/kg (Re). The order in which the three metals were removed, determined by fitting a diffusion-reaction model to measured profiles, was Re < U < Mo. Model fits also suggest that the Mo profiles clearly showed the presence of a near-interface layer in which Mo was added to pore waters by remineralization of a solid phase. The importance of this solid phase source of pore water Mo increased from January to October as the organic matter oxidation rate increased, bottom water O2 decreased, and the O2 penetration depth decreased. Experiments with in situ benthic flux chambers generally showed fluxes of U and Mo into the sediments. However, when the overlying water O2 concentration in the chambers was allowed to drop to very low levels, Mn and Fe were released to the overlying water along with the simultaneous release of Mo and U. These experiments suggest that remineralization of Mn and/or Fe oxides may be a source of Mo and perhaps U to pore waters, and may complicate the accumulation of U and Mo in bioturbated sediments with high organic matter oxidation rates and shallow O2 penetration depths. Benthic chamber experiments including the nonreactive solute tracer, Br-, indicated that sediment irrigation was very important to solute exchange at the study site. The enhancement of sediment-seawater exchange due to irrigation was determined for the nonreactive tracer (Br-), TCO2, NH4 +, U and Mo. The comparisons between these solutes showed that reactions within and around the burrows were very important for modulating the Mo flux, but less important for U. The effect of these reactions on Mo exchange was highly variable, enhancing Mo (and, to a lesser extent, U) uptake at times of relatively modest irrigation, but inhibiting exchange when irrigation rates were faster. These results reinforce the observation that Mo can be released to and removed from pore waters via sedimentary reactions. The removal rate of U and Mo from seawater by sedimentary reactions was found to agree with the rate of accumulation of authigenic U and Mo in the solid phase. The fluxes of U and Mo determined by in situ benthic flux chamber measurements were the largest that have been measured to date. These results confirm that removal of redoxsensitive metals from continental margin sediments underlying oxic bottom water is important, and suggest that continental margin sediments play a key role in the marine budgets of these metals.We appreciate the financial support from the National Science Foundation (OCE-0220892). Funding for this work was also provided to JLM by the Postdoctoral Scholar Program at WHOI courtesy of the Cabot Marine Environmental Science Fund and the J. Seward Johnson Fund. Financial support to IMK was given by The Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education

X-ray Crystallographic Structure of an Artificial β-Sheet Dimer

This paper describes the X-ray crystallographic structure of a designed cyclic beta-sheet peptide that forms a well-defined hydrogen-bonded dimer that mimics beta-sheet dimers formed by proteins. The 54-membered ring macrocyclic peptide (1a) contains molecular template and turn units that induce beta-sheet structure in a heptapeptide strand that forms the dimerization interface. The X-ray crystallographic structure reveals the structures of the two "Hao" amino acids that help template the beta-sheet structure and the two delta-linked ornithine turn units that link the Hao-containing template to the heptapeptide beta-strand. The Hao amino acids adopt a conformation that resembles a tripeptide in a beta-strand conformation, with one edge of the Hao unit presenting an alternating array of hydrogen-bond donor and acceptor groups in the same pattern as that of a tripeptide beta-strand. The delta-linked ornithines adopt a conformation that resembles a hydrogen-bonded beta-turn, in which the ornithine takes the place of the i+1 and i+2 residues. The dimers formed by macrocyclic beta-sheet 1a resemble the dimers of many proteins, such as defensin HNP-3, the lambda-Cro repressor, interleukin 8, and the ribonuclease H domain of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase. The dimers of 1a self-assemble in the solid state into a barrel-shaped trimer of dimers in which the three dimers are arranged in a triangular fashion. Molecular modeling in which one of the three dimers is removed and the remaining two dimers are aligned face-to-face provides a model of the dimers of dimers of closely related macrocyclic beta-sheet peptides that were observed in solution

Mechanical design of the optical modules intended for IceCube-Gen2

IceCube-Gen2 is an expansion of the IceCube neutrino observatory at the South Pole that aims to increase the sensitivity to high-energy neutrinos by an order of magnitude. To this end, about 10,000 new optical modules will be installed, instrumenting a fiducial volume of about 8 km3. Two newly developed optical module types increase IceCube’s current sensitivity per module by a factor of three by integrating 16 and 18 newly developed four-inch PMTs in specially designed 12.5-inch diameter pressure vessels. Both designs use conical silicone gel pads to optically couple the PMTs to the pressure vessel to increase photon collection efficiency. The outside portion of gel pads are pre-cast onto each PMT prior to integration, while the interiors are filled and cast after the PMT assemblies are installed in the pressure vessel via a pushing mechanism. This paper presents both the mechanical design, as well as the performance of prototype modules at high pressure (70 MPa) and low temperature (−40∘C), characteristic of the environment inside the South Pole ice

Direction reconstruction performance for IceCube-Gen2 Radio

The IceCube-Gen2 facility will extend the energy range of IceCube to ultra-high energies. The key component to detect neutrinos with energies above 10 PeV is a large array of in-ice radio detectors. In previous work, direction reconstruction algorithms using the forward-folding technique have been developed for both shallow (≲20 m) and deep in-ice detectors, and have also been successfully used to reconstruct cosmic rays with ARIANNA. Here, we focus on the reconstruction algorithm for the deep in-ice detector, which was recently introduced in the context of the Radio Neutrino Observatory in Greenland (RNO-G)

The next generation neutrino telescope: IceCube-Gen2

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory, a cubic-kilometer-scale neutrino detector at the geographic South Pole, has reached a number of milestones in the field of neutrino astrophysics: the discovery of a high-energy astrophysical neutrino flux, the temporal and directional correlation of neutrinos with a flaring blazar, and a steady emission of neutrinos from the direction of an active galaxy of a Seyfert II type and the Milky Way. The next generation neutrino telescope, IceCube-Gen2, currently under development, will consist of three essential components: an array of about 10,000 optical sensors, embedded within approximately 8 cubic kilometers of ice, for detecting neutrinos with energies of TeV and above, with a sensitivity five times greater than that of IceCube; a surface array with scintillation panels and radio antennas targeting air showers; and buried radio antennas distributed over an area of more than 400 square kilometers to significantly enhance the sensitivity of detecting neutrino sources beyond EeV. This contribution describes the design and status of IceCube-Gen2 and discusses the expected sensitivity from the simulations of the optical, surface, and radio components