51 research outputs found
A Spread-Spectrum SQUID Multiplexer
The Transition-Edge Sensors (TES) is a mature, high-resolution x-ray
spectrometer technology that provides a much higher efficiency than dispersive
spectrometers such as gratings and crystal spectrometers. As larger arrays are
developed, time-division multiplexing schemes operating at MHz frequencies are
being replaced by microwave SQUID multiplexers using frequency-division
multiplexing at GHz frequencies. However, the multiplexing factor achievable
with microwave SQUIDs is limited by the high slew rate on the leading edge of
x-ray pulses. In this paper, we propose a new multiplexing scheme for
high-slew-rate TES x-ray calorimeters: the spread-spectrum SQUID multiplexer,
which has the potential to enable higher multiplexing factors, especially in
applications with lower photon arrival rates.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, Submitted to the Journal of Low Temperature
Physics (Proceedings of the 17th International Workshop on Low Temperature
Detectors
Cytokine expression in subjects with Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis positive blood cultures and a meta-analysis of cytokine expression in Crohn’s disease
Objectives: 1) Culture Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (MAP)from blood, 2) assess infection persistence, 3) determine Crohn’s disease (CD) cytokine expression, 4) compare CD cytokine expression to tuberculosis, and 5) perform a meta-analysis of cytokine expression in CD.Methods: The Temple University/Abilene Christian University (TU/ACU) study had a prospective case control design with 201 subjects including 61 CD patients and 140 non-CD controls. The culture methods included MGIT, TiKa and Pozzato broths, and were deemed MAP positive, if IS900 PCR positive. A phage amplification assay was also performed to detect MAP. Cytokine analysis of the TU/ACU samples was performed using Simple Plex cytokine reagents on the Ella ELISA system. Statistical analyses were done after log transformation using the R software package. The meta-analysis combined three studies.Results: Most subjects had MAP positive blood cultures by one or more methods in 3 laboratories. In our cytokine study comparing CD to non-CD controls, IL-17, IFNγ and TNFα were significantly increased in CD, but IL-2, IL-5, IL-10 and GM-CSF were not increased. In the meta-analysis, IL-6, IL-8 and IL-12 were significantly increased in the CD patients.Conclusion: Most subjects in our sample had MAP infection and 8 of 9 subjects remained MAP positive one year later indicating persistent infection. While not identical, cytokine expression patterns in MAP culture positive CD patients in the TU/ACU study showed similarities (increased IL-17, IFNγ and TNFα) to patterns of patients with Tuberculosis in other studies, indicating the possibilities of similar mechanisms of pathogen infection and potential strategies for treatment
The Consensus from the Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (MAP) Conference 2017.
On March 24 and 25, 2017 researchers and clinicians from around the world met at Temple University in Philadelphia to discuss the current knowledge of Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (MAP) and its relationship to human disease. The conference was held because of shared concern that MAP is a zoonotic bacterium that poses a threat not only to animal health but also human health. In order to further study this problem, the conferees discussed ways to improve MAP diagnostic tests and discussed potential future anti-MAP clinical trials. The conference proceedings may be viewed on the www.Humanpara.org website. A summary of the salient work in this field is followed by recommendations from a majority of the conferees
DMRadio-m: A Search for the QCD Axion Below eV
The QCD axion is one of the most compelling candidates to explain the dark
matter abundance of the universe. With its extremely small mass (), axion dark matter interacts as a classical field rather
than a particle. Its coupling to photons leads to a modification of Maxwell's
equations that can be measured with extremely sensitive readout circuits.
DMRadio-m is a next-generation search for axion dark matter below
eV using a T static magnetic field, a coaxial inductive pickup, a
tunable LC resonator, and a DC-SQUID readout. It is designed to search for QCD
axion dark matter over the range (). The primary
science goal aims to achieve DFSZ sensitivity above neV (30
MHz), with a secondary science goal of probing KSVZ axions down to
(10 MHz).Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures. Updated to fix small errors and correct
acknowledgement
Resolution of Crohn\u27s disease and complex regional pain syndrome following treatment of paratuberculosis
A cohort of family members with various chronic diseases including Crohn\u27s disease, asthma, complex regional pain syndrome, hypothyroidism, type 1 diabetes mellitus, and lymphangiomatosis and/or evidence of infection by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) are described in this series of case reports. MAP was cultured from the blood of three members affected by the first five diseases and there was accompanying elevated anti-MAP IgG in two members. The patient affected by the sixth disease has a markedly elevated anti-MAP titer. The two patients affected by the first four diseases have been treated with a combination of anti-MAP antibiotics and ultraviolet blood irradiation therapy with resolution of the disease symptomatology and inability to culture MAP in post treatment blood samples. These case reports of patients with MAP infections provide supportive evidence of a pathogenic role of MAP in humans
Microwave multiplexing on the Keck Array
We describe an on-sky demonstration of a microwave-multiplexing readout
system in one of the receivers of the Keck Array, a polarimetry experiment
observing the cosmic microwave background at the South Pole. During the austral
summer of 2018-2019, we replaced the time-division multiplexing readout system
with microwave-multiplexing components including superconducting microwave
resonators coupled to radio-frequency superconducting quantum interference
devices at the sub-Kelvin focal plane, coaxial-cable plumbing and amplification
between room temperature and the cold stages, and a SLAC Microresonator Radio
Frequency system for the warm electronics. In the range 5-6 GHz, a single
coaxial cable reads out 528 channels. The readout system is coupled to
transition-edge sensors, which are in turn coupled to 150-GHz slot-dipole
phased-array antennas. Observations began in April 2019, and we report here on
an initial characterization of the system performance.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figures, Accepted by the Journal of Low Temperature
Physics (Proceedings of the 18th International Workshop on Low Temperature
Detectors
Avaliação da qualidade de vida em pacientes com câncer de pulmão através da aplicação do questionário Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short-Form Health Survey
Resolution of Crohn's disease and complex regional pain syndrome following treatment of paratuberculosis
Presence of Infection by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in the Blood of Patients with Crohn’s Disease and Control Subjects Shown by Multiple Laboratory Culture and Antibody Methods
Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) has long been suspected to be involved in the etiology of Crohn’s disease (CD). An obligate intracellular pathogen, MAP persists and influences host macrophages. The primary goals of this study were to test new rapid culture methods for MAP in human subjects and to assess the degree of viable culturable MAP bacteremia in CD patients compared to controls. A secondary goal was to compare the efficacy of three culture methods plus a phage assay and four antibody assays performed in separate laboratories, to detect MAP from the parallel samples. Culture and serological MAP testing was performed blind on whole blood samples obtained from 201 subjects including 61 CD patients (two of the patients with CD had concurrent ulcerative colitis (UC)) and 140 non-CD controls (14 patients in this group had UC only). Viable MAP bacteremia was detected in a significant number of study subjects across all groups. This included Pozzato culture (124/201 or 62% of all subjects, 35/61 or 57% of CD patients), Phage assay (113/201 or 56% of all subjects, 28/61 or 46% of CD patients), TiKa culture (64/201 or 32% of all subjects, 22/61 or 36% of CD patients) and MGIT culture (36/201 or 18% of all subjects, 15/61 or 25% of CD patients). A link between MAP detection and CD was observed with MGIT culture and one of the antibody methods (Hsp65) confirming previous studies. Other detection methods showed no association between any of the groups tested. Nine subjects with a positive Phage assay (4/9) or MAP culture (5/9) were again positive with the Phage assay one year later. This study highlights viable MAP bacteremia is widespread in the study population including CD patients, those with other autoimmune conditions and asymptomatic healthy subjects
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