1,349 research outputs found
Detectors and cryostat design for the SuMIRe Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS)
We describe the conceptual design of the camera cryostats, detectors, and
detector readout electronics for the SuMIRe Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS)
being developed for the Subaru telescope. The SuMIRe PFS will consist of four
identical spectrographs, each receiving 600 fibers from a 2400 fiber robotic
positioner at the prime focus. Each spectrograph will have three channels
covering wavelength ranges 3800 {\AA} - 6700 {\AA}, 6500 {\AA} - 10000 {\AA},
and 9700 {\AA} - 13000 {\AA}, with the dispersed light being imaged in each
channel by a f/1.10 vacuum Schmidt camera. In the blue and red channels a pair
of Hamamatsu 2K x 4K edge-buttable CCDs with 15 um pixels are used to form a 4K
x 4K array. For the IR channel, the new Teledyne 4K x 4K, 15 um pixel,
mercury-cadmium-telluride sensor with substrate removed for short-wavelength
response and a 1.7 um cutoff will be used. Identical detector geometry and a
nearly identical optical design allow for a common cryostat design with the
only notable difference being the need for a cold radiation shield in the IR
camera to mitigate thermal background. This paper describes the details of the
cryostat design and cooling scheme, relevant thermal considerations and
analysis, and discusses the detectors and detector readout electronics
The STAR Silicon Strip Detector (SSD)
The STAR Silicon Strip Detector (SSD) completes the three layers of the
Silicon Vertex Tracker (SVT) to make an inner tracking system located inside
the Time Projection Chamber (TPC). This additional fourth layer provides two
dimensional hit position and energy loss measurements for charged particles,
improving the extrapolation of TPC tracks through SVT hits. To match the high
multiplicity of central Au+Au collisions at RHIC the double sided silicon strip
technology was chosen which makes the SSD a half million channels detector.
Dedicated electronics have been designed for both readout and control. Also a
novel technique of bonding, the Tape Automated Bonding (TAB), was used to
fullfill the large number of bounds to be done. All aspects of the SSD are
shortly described here and test performances of produced detection modules as
well as simulated results on hit reconstruction are given.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, 1 tabl
Calibrating the IXPE Observatory from Ground to Space
The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) will be the next SMEX mission launched by NASA in 2021 in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency (ASI). IXPE will perform groundbreaking measurements of imaging polarization in X-rays for a number of different classes of sources with three identical telescopes, finally (re)opening a window in the high energy Universe after more than 40 years since the first pioneering results. The unprecedented sensitivity of IXPE to polarization poses peculiar requirements on the payload calibration, e.g. the use of polarized and completely unpolarized radiation, both on ground and in orbit, and can not rely on a systematic comparison with results obtained by previous observatories. In this paper, we will present the IXPE calibration plan, describing both calibrations which will be performed on the detectors at INAF-IAPS in Rome (Italy) and the calibration on the mirror and detector assemblies which will be carried out at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. On orbit calibrations, performed with calibrations sources mounted on a filter wheel and placed in front of each detector when necessary, will be presented as well
Superconducting Quantum Point Contacts
We review our experiments on the electronic transport properties of atomic
contacts between metallic electrodes, in particular superconducting ones.
Despite ignorance of the exact atomic configuration, these ultimate quantum
point contacts can be manipulated and well characterized in-situ. They allow
performing fundamental tests of the scattering theory of quantum transport. In
particular, we discuss the case of the Josephson effect
Incidence and drug treatment of emotional distress after cancer diagnosis : a matched primary care case-control study
Notes This work is published under the standard license to publish agreement. After 12 months the work will become freely available and the license terms will switch to a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Reconfigurable quantum metamaterials
By coupling controllable quantum systems into larger structures we introduce
the concept of a quantum metamaterial. Conventional meta-materials represent
one of the most important frontiers in optical design, with applications in
diverse fields ranging from medicine to aerospace. Up until now however,
metamaterials have themselves been classical structures and interact only with
the classical properties of light. Here we describe a class of dynamic
metamaterials, based on the quantum properties of coupled atom-cavity arrays,
which are intrinsically lossless, reconfigurable, and operate fundamentally at
the quantum level. We show how this new class of metamaterial could be used to
create a reconfigurable quantum superlens possessing a negative index gradient
for single photon imaging. With the inherent features of quantum superposition
and entanglement of metamaterial properties, this new class of dynamic quantum
metamaterial, opens a new vista for quantum science and technology.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figure
TCT-400 2-Year Clinical Follow-up of the TRYTON IDE Randomized Trial Comparing a Dedicated Bifurcation Stent to Provisional Stenting in the Treatment of Coronary Bifurcations
n/
Biological treatments in allergy: Prescribing patterns and management of hypersensitivity reactions
Clinical Communication
Horizontal DNA transfer mechanisms of bacteria as weapons of intragenomic conflict
Horizontal DNA transfer (HDT) is a pervasive mechanism of diversification in many microbial species, but its primary evolutionary role remains controversial. Much recent research has emphasised the adaptive benefit of acquiring novel DNA, but here we argue instead that intragenomic conflict provides a coherent framework for understanding the evolutionary origins of HDT. To test this hypothesis, we developed a mathematical model of a clonally descended bacterial population undergoing HDT through transmission of mobile genetic elements (MGEs) and genetic transformation. Including the known bias of transformation toward the acquisition of shorter alleles into the model suggested it could be an effective means of counteracting the spread of MGEs. Both constitutive and transient competence for transformation were found to provide an effective defence against parasitic MGEs; transient competence could also be effective at permitting the selective spread of MGEs conferring a benefit on their host bacterium. The coordination of transient competence with cell-cell killing, observed in multiple species, was found to result in synergistic blocking of MGE transmission through releasing genomic DNA for homologous recombination while simultaneously reducing horizontal MGE spread by lowering the local cell density. To evaluate the feasibility of the functions suggested by the modelling analysis, we analysed genomic data from longitudinal sampling of individuals carrying Streptococcus pneumoniae. This revealed the frequent within-host coexistence of clonally descended cells that differed in their MGE infection status, a necessary condition for the proposed mechanism to operate. Additionally, we found multiple examples of MGEs inhibiting transformation through integrative disruption of genes encoding the competence machinery across many species, providing evidence of an ongoing "arms race." Reduced rates of transformation have also been observed in cells infected by MGEs that reduce the concentration of extracellular DNA through secretion of DNases. Simulations predicted that either mechanism of limiting transformation would benefit individual MGEs, but also that this tactic's effectiveness was limited by competition with other MGEs coinfecting the same cell. A further observed behaviour we hypothesised to reduce elimination by transformation was MGE activation when cells become competent. Our model predicted that this response was effective at counteracting transformation independently of competing MGEs. Therefore, this framework is able to explain both common properties of MGEs, and the seemingly paradoxical bacterial behaviours of transformation and cell-cell killing within clonally related populations, as the consequences of intragenomic conflict between self-replicating chromosomes and parasitic MGEs. The antagonistic nature of the different mechanisms of HDT over short timescales means their contribution to bacterial evolution is likely to be substantially greater than previously appreciated
- …