401 research outputs found
Radio background measurements at the Pierre Auger Observatory
Mesures du bruit de fond radio sur le site de l'observatoire Pierre Auge
Trigger and readout electronics for the STEREO experiment
The STEREO experiment will search for a sterile neutrino by measuring the
anti-neutrino energy spectrum as a function of the distance from the source,
the ILL nuclear reactor. A dedicated electronic system, hosted in a single
microTCA crate, was designed for this experiment. It performs triggering in two
stages with various selectable conditions, processing and readout via UDP/IPBUS
of 68 photomultiplier signals continuously digitized at 250 MSPS. Additionally,
for detector performance monitoring, the electronics allow on-line calibration
by driving LED synchronously with the data acquisition. This paper describes
the electronics requirements, architecture and the performances achieved.Comment: Topical Workshop on Electronics for Particle Physics (TWEPP) 2015,
Lisboa. 9 pages, 9 figure
Synthesis of a mitochondria-targeted spin trap using a novel Parham-type cyclization
A new cyclic nitrone spin trap, [4-(3′,3′-dibutyl-2′-oxy-3′H-isoindol-5′-yloxy)butyl]triphenylphosphonium bromide (MitoSpin), bearing a lipophilic cation has been prepared by a route that involves a novel Parham-type lithiation–cyclization of an isocyanate to give the isoindolinone core. MitoSpin accumulates in a membrane potential dependent way in energized mitochondria and its oxidation could potentially be used in the study of oxidative stress resulting from reactive oxygen species generated in mitochondria
Limits on the neutrino magnetic moment from the MUNU experiment
The MUNU experiment was carried out at the Bugey nuclear power reactor. The
aim was the study of electron antineutrino-electron elastic scattering at low
energy. The recoil electrons were recorded in a gas time projection chamber,
immersed in a tank filled with liquid scintillator serving as veto detector,
suppressing in particular Compton electrons. The measured electron recoil
spectrum is presented. Upper limits on the neutrino magnetic moment were
derived and are discussed.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures Added reference: p.3, 1st col., TEXONO Added
sentence: p.4, 1st col., electron attachement Modified sentence: p.5, 1st
col., readout sequence Added sentence: p.5, 1st col., fast rise time cu
Sub MeV Particles Detection and Identification in the MUNU detector ((1)ISN, IN2P3/CNRS-UJF, Grenoble, France, (2)Institut de Physique, Neuch\^atel, Switzerland, (3) INFN, Padova Italy, (4) Physik-Institut, Z\"{u}rich, Switzerland)
We report on the performance of a 1 m TPC filled with CF at 3
bar, immersed in liquid scintillator and viewed by photomultipliers. Particle
detection, event identification and localization achieved by measuring both the
current signal and the scintillation light are presented. Particular features
of particle detection are also discussed. Finally, the Mn
photopeak, reconstructed from the Compton scattering and recoil angle is shown.Comment: Latex, 19 pages, 20 figure
Probing neutron-hidden neutron transitions with the MURMUR experiment
MURMUR is a new passing-through-walls neutron experiment designed to
constrain neutron/hidden neutron transitions allowed in the context of
braneworld scenarios or mirror matter models. A nuclear reactor can act as a
hidden neutron source, such that neutrons travel through a hidden world or
sector. Hidden neutrons can propagate out of the nuclear core and far beyond
the biological shielding. However, hidden neutrons can weakly interact with
usual matter, making possible for their detection in the context of low-noise
measurements. In the present work, the novelty rests on a better background
discrimination and the use of a mass of a material - here lead - able to
enhance regeneration of hidden neutrons into visible ones to improve detection.
The input of this new setup is studied using both modelizations and
experiments, thanks to tests currently performed with the experiment at the BR2
research nuclear reactor (SCKCEN, Mol, Belgium). A new limit on the
neutron swapping probability p has been derived thanks to the measurements
taken during the BR2 Cycle 02/2019A: at 95% CL.
This constraint is better than the bound from the previous passing-through-wall
neutron experiment made at ILL in 2015, despite BR2 is less efficient to
generate hidden neutrons by a factor 7.4, thus raising the interest of such
experiment using regenerating materials.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, final version, accepted for publication in
European Physical Journal
MPGDs in Compton imaging with liquid-xenon
The interaction of radiation with liquid xenon, inducing both scintillation
and ionization signals, is of particular interest for Compton-sequences
reconstruction. We report on the development and recent results of a
liquid-xenon time-projection chamber, dedicated to a novel nuclear imaging
technique named "3 gamma imaging". In a first prototype, the scintillation is
detected by a vacuum photomultiplier tube and the charges are collected with a
MICROMEGAS structure; both are fully immersed in liquid xenon. In view of the
final large-area detector, and with the aim of minimizing dead-zones, we are
investigating a gaseous photomultiplier for recording the UV scintillation
photons. The prototype concept is presented as well as preliminary results in
liquid xenon. We also present soft x-rays test results of a gaseous
photomultiplier prototype made of a double Thick Gaseous Electron Multiplier
(THGEM) at normal temperature and pressure conditions.Comment: presented at MPGD09, CRETE, June 2009; to be published in JINST
Proceedings, PDF, 10 pages, 11 figure
Optimization of laser capture microdissection and RNA amplification for gene expression profiling of prostate cancer
BACKGROUND: To discover prostate cancer biomarkers, we profiled gene expression in benign and malignant cells laser capture microdissected (LCM) from prostate tissues and metastatic prostatic adenocarcinomas. Here we present methods developed, optimized, and validated to obtain high quality gene expression data. RESULTS: RNase inhibitor was included in solutions used to stain frozen tissue sections for LCM, which improved RNA quality significantly. Quantitative PCR assays, requiring minimal amounts of LCM RNA, were developed to determine RNA quality and concentration. SuperScript II™ reverse transcriptase was replaced with SuperScript III™, and SpeedVac concentration was eliminated to optimize linear amplification. The GeneChip(® )IVT labeling kit was used rather than the Enzo BioArray™ HighYield™ RNA transcript labeling kit since side-by-side comparisons indicated high-end signal saturation with the latter. We obtained 72 μg of labeled complementary RNA on average after linear amplification of about 2 ng of total RNA. CONCLUSION: Unsupervised clustering placed 5/5 normal and 2/2 benign prostatic hyperplasia cases in one group, 5/7 Gleason pattern 3 cases in another group, and the remaining 2/7 pattern 3 cases in a third group with 8/8 Gleason pattern 5 cases and 3/3 metastatic prostatic adenocarcinomas. Differential expression of alpha-methylacyl coenzyme A racemase (AMACR) and hepsin was confirmed using quantitative PCR
Radio emission of extensive air shower at CODALEMA: Polarization of the radio emission along the v*B vector
Cosmic rays extensive air showers (EAS) are associated with transient radio
emission, which could provide an efficient new detection method of high energy
cosmic rays, combining a calorimetric measurement with a high duty cycle. The
CODALEMA experiment, installed at the Radio Observatory in Nancay, France, is
investigating this phenomenon in the 10^17 eV region. One challenging point is
the understanding of the radio emission mechanism. A first observation
indicating a linear relation between the electric field produced and the cross
product of the shower axis with the geomagnetic field direction has been
presented (B. Revenu, this conference). We will present here other strong
evidences for this linear relationship, and some hints on its physical origin.Comment: Contribution to the 31st International Cosmic Ray Conference, Lodz,
Poland, July 2009. 4 pages, 8 figures. v2: Typo fixed, arxiv references adde
Highlighting type A RRs as potential regulators of the dkHK1 multi-step phosphorelay pathway in Populus
In previous studies, we highlighted a multistep phosphorelay (MSP) system in poplars composed of two hybrid-type Histidine aspartate Kinases, dkHK1a and dkHK1b, which interact with three Histidine Phosphotransfer proteins, dkHPt2, 7, and 9, which in turn interact with six type B Response Regulators. These interactions correspond to the dkHK1a-b/dkHPts/dkRRBs MSP. This MSP is putatively involved in an osmosensing pathway, as dkHK1a-b are orthologous to the Arabidopsis osmosensor AHK1, and able to complement a mutant yeast deleted for its osmosensors. Since type A RRs have been characterized as negative regulators in cytokinin MSP signaling due to their interaction with HPt proteins, we decided in this study to characterize poplar type A RRs and their implication in the MSP. For a global view of this MSP, we isolated 10 poplar type A RR cDNAs, and determined their subcellular localization to check the in silico prediction experimentally. For most of them, the in planta subcellular localization was as predicted, except for three RRAs, for which this experimental approach gave a more precise localization. Interaction studies using yeast two-hybrid and in planta BiFC assays, together with transcript expression analysis in poplar organs led to eight dkRRAs being singled out as partners which could interfere the dkHK1a-b/dkHPts/dkRRBs MSP identified in previous studies. Consequently, the results obtained in this study now provide an exhaustive view of dkHK1a-b partners belonging to a poplar MSP
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