Sensitivity of the spherical gravitational wave detector MiniGRAIL operating at 5 K

We present the performances and the strain sensitivity of the first spherical gravitational wave detector equipped with a capacitive transducer and read out by a low noise two-stage SQUID amplifier and operated at a temperature of 5 K. We characterized the detector performance in terms of thermal and electrical noise in the system output sygnal. We measured a peak strain sensitivity of $1.5\cdot 10^{-20} Hz^{-1/2}$ at 2942.9 Hz. A strain sensitivity of better than $5\cdot 10{-20}Hz{-1/2}$ has been obtained over a bandwidth of 30 Hz. We expect an improvement of more than one order of magnitude when the detector will operate at 50 mK. Our results represent the first step towards the development of an ultracryogenic omnidirectional detector sensitive to gravitational radiation in the 3kHz range.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Physical Review

MiniGRAIL progress report 2004

The MiniGRAIL detector was improved. The sphere was replaced by a slightly larger one, having a diameter of 68 cm (instead of 65 cm), reducing the resonant frequency by about 200 Hz to around 2.9 kHz. The last four masses of the attenuation system were machined to increase their resonant frequency and improve the attenuation around the resonant frequency of the sphere. In the new sphere, six holes were machined on the TIGA positions for easy mounting of the transducers. During the last cryogenic run, two capacitive transducers and a calibrator were mounted on the sphere. The first transducer was coupled to a double-stage SQUID amplifier having a commercial quantum design SQUID as a first stage and a DROS as a second stage. The second transducer was read by a single-stage quantum design SQUID. During the cryogenic run, the sphere was cooled down to 4 K. The two-stage SQUID had a flux noise of about 1.6 μ0 Hz−1/2. The detector was calibrated and the sensitivity curve of MiniGRAIL was determined

Implementation of the new multichannel X-mode edge density profile reflectometer for the ICRF antenna on ASDEX Upgrade

A new multichannel frequency modulated continuous-wave reflectometry diagnostic has been successfully installed and commissioned on ASDEX Upgrade to measure the plasma edge electron density profile evolution in front of the Ion Cyclotron Range of Frequencies (ICRF) antenna. The design of the new three-strap ICRF antenna integrates ten pairs (sending and receiving) of microwave reflectometry antennas. The multichannel reflectometer can use three of these to measure the edge electron density profiles up to 2 x 10(19) m(-3), at different poloidal locations, allowing the direct study of the local plasma layers in front of the ICRF antenna. ICRF power coupling, operational effects, and poloidal variations of the plasma density profile can be consistently studied for the first time. In this work the diagnostic hardware architecture is described and the obtained density profile measurements were used to track outer radial plasma position and plasma shape

Resurfacing Capitate Pyrocarbon Implant for the treatment of advanced wrist arthritis in the elderly: a retrospective study

OBJECTIVE: Advanced forms of wrist osteoarthritis in the elderly are quite common and often under-treated, preferring a conservative management of the condition due to the age of the patient. However, in elderly people who are still active, sporty and physically demanding, surgical management of wrist osteoarthritis should be considered. Proximal Row Carpectomy associated with a Resurfacing Capitate Pyrocarbon Implant (RCPI), allows the management of a wide range of wrist arthrosis, involving both the radio-carpal and the mid-carpal joints. This treatment has been already reported as a solution in younger people affected by degenerative pathologies of the wrist, giving overall good results. Authors aimed at verifying how this technique could be useful in elderly patients, resolving the severe pain often related to this pathology and letting them recover strength and motion. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This is a retrospective analysis involving 7 cases of elderly men (mean age = 68 y.o.), suffering from severe wrist arthritis and treated with RCPI between 2016 and 2021. RESULTS: All patients reported a return to manual activities between 6 and 12 months after surgery, significantly improving pain. Two patients complained moderate pain under strain at follow-up, with residual difficulty in performing manual tasks. In all cases, an increase of strength and improvement in terms of stiffness was registered. No cases of infections or implant mobilization were reported. CONCLUSIONS: RCPI combined with proximal row carpectomy shows satisfying results in all published studies and it has been confirmed in our series as well. Indications for this procedure should be widened to elderly people, as useful alternatives to more aggressive salvage procedures, such as total prosthesis or arthrodesis

A comprehensive molecular cytogenetic analysis of chromosome rearrangements in gibbons.

Chromosome rearrangements in small apes are up to 20 times more frequent than in most mammals. Because of their complexity, the full extent of chromosome evolution in these hominoids is not yet fully documented. However, previous work with array painting, BAC-FISH, and selective sequencing in two of the four karyomorphs has shown that high-resolution methods can precisely define chromosome breakpoints and map the complex flow of evolutionary chromosome rearrangements. Here we use these tools to precisely define the rearrangements that have occurred in the remaining two karyomorphs, genera Symphalangus (2n = 50) and Hoolock (2n = 38). This research provides the most comprehensive insight into the evolutionary origins of chromosome rearrangements involved in transforming small apes genome. Bioinformatics analyses of the human–gibbon synteny breakpoints revealed association with transposable elements and segmental duplications, providing some insight into the mechanisms that might have promoted rearrangements in small apes. In the near future, the comparison of gibbon genome sequences will provide novel insights to test hypotheses concerning the mechanisms of chromosome evolution. The precise definition of synteny block boundaries and orientation, chromosomal fusions, and centromere repositioning events presented here will facilitate genome sequence assembly for these close relatives of humans

The effect of stimulation frequency on transcranial evoked potentials

Introduction - Transcranial magnetic stimulation-evoked electroencephalography potentials (TEPs) have been used to study motor cortical excitability in healthy subjects and several neurological conditions. However, optimal recording parameters for TEPs are still debated. Stimulation rates could affect TEP amplitude due to plasticity effects, thus confounding the assessment of cortical excitability. We tested whether short interpulse intervals (IPIs) affect TEP amplitude.Methods - We investigated possible changes in TEP amplitude and global mean field amplitude (GMFA) obtained with stimulation of the primary motor cortex at IPIs of 1.1-1.4 s in a group of healthy subjects.Results - We found no differences in TEP amplitude or GMFA between the first, second and last third of trials.Discussion - Short IPIs do not affect TEP size and can be used without the risk of confounding effects due to short-term plasticity

Role of serum-free light chain assay for defining response and progression in immunoglobulin secretory multiple myeloma

The International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG) guidelines recommend using electrophoresis and immunofixation to define response and progressive disease (PD) in immunoglobulin (Ig) secretory multiple myeloma (Ig-MM), whereas the role of serum-free light chain (sFLC) is controversial. We retrospectively analyzed the value of adding sFLC assays in the definition of response and PD according to IMWG criteria in 339 Ig-MM patients treated with a first-line novel agent-based therapy (median follow-up 54 months). sFLC PD was defined according to conventional criteria plus increased sFLC levels, or sFLC escape (sFLCe); progression/sFLCe-free survival (ePFS) was the time from the start of treatment to the date of first PD or sFLCe, or death; overall survival after PD/sFLCe (OS after Pe) was the time from first PD or sFLCe to the date of death. 148 (44%) patients achieved a complete response and 198 (60%) a normal sFLC ratio (sFLCR). sFLCR normalization was an independent prognostic factor for extended PFS (HR = 0.46, p = 0.001) and OS (HR = 0.47, p = 0.006) by multivariable analysis. 175 (52%) patients experienced PD according to the IMWG criteria, whereas 180 (53%) experienced PD or sFLCe. Overall, a sFLCe was observed in 31 (9%) patients. Median PFS and ePFS were both equal to 36 (95% CI = 32–42, and 32–40, respectively) months. sFLC PD adversely affected the OS after Pe compared to PD with increasing monoclonal Ig only (HR = 0.52, p = 0.012). Our results support the inclusion of the sFLC assay for defining response and PD in Ig-MM

an integrated low cost road traffic and air pollution monitoring platform to assess vehicles air quality impact in urban areas

Abstract An integrated monitoring platform (IMP) was developed for real-time monitoring of traffic flows and related air pollution in urban areas. The IMP includes: (i) an air quality monitoring unit, integrating the "Arduino" open-source technology with low-cost and high-resolution sensors, to measure air pollutant concentrations; (ii) a traffic monitoring device, equipped with a camera sensor and a video analysis software, to detect vehicles' counts, speed and category; (iii) a spatial data infrastructure, composed of a central GeoDatabase, a GIS engine, and a web interface, for data storage and management. The IMP was tested in Florence (Italy) by installing sensor devices at a road site where a 1-year measuring campaign was carried out. A reference meteorological station in the city centre was used to provide observations of wind speed and direction, air temperature, and relative humidity. In this work, a statistical analysis was performed to investigate the influence of local road traffic and meteorological conditions on CO, NO2 and CO2 concentrations. Two different methods were applied: a linear regression model and an artificial neural network. To investigate the role played by emissions from road traffic, the influence of all drivers by period of the year (cold vs. warm months) and day of the week (weekdays vs. weekends) was analysed. As a result, the contribution of local road traffic on pollutant concentrations proved to be lower than meteorological parameters

Results of the IGEC-2 search for gravitational wave bursts during 2005

The network of resonant bar detectors of gravitational waves resumed coordinated observations within the International Gravitational Event Collaboration (IGEC-2). Four detectors are taking part in this collaboration: ALLEGRO, AURIGA, EXPLORER and NAUTILUS. We present here the results of the search for gravitational wave bursts over 6 months during 2005, when IGEC-2 was the only gravitational wave observatory in operation. The network data analysis implemented is based on a time coincidence search among AURIGA, EXPLORER and NAUTILUS, keeping the data from ALLEGRO for follow-up studies. With respect to the previous IGEC 1997-2000 observations, the amplitude sensitivity of the detectors to bursts improved by a factor about 3 and the sensitivity bandwidths are wider, so that the data analysis was tuned considering a larger class of detectable waveforms. Thanks to the higher duty cycles of the single detectors, we decided to focus the analysis on three-fold observation, so to ensure the identification of any single candidate of gravitational waves (gw) with high statistical confidence. The achieved false detection rate is as low as 1 per century. No candidates were found.Comment: 10 pages, to be submitted to Phys. Rev.