The design of an experiment to detect low energy antiprotons

The techniques to be used in a balloon borne experiment APEX to detect 220 MeV antiprotons are described, paying particular attention to potential sources of background. Event time history is shown to be very effective in eliminating this background. Results of laboratory tests on the timing resolution which may be achieved are presented

High resolution Cherenkov detectors for cosmic ray isotope experiment

Cerenkov detectors are used to measure the velocity of particles in configurations designed to study the isotopic composition of galactic cosmic rays. The geometrical properties of the detector are outlined. Monte-Carlo simulations of photon propagation in a diffusive detector were undertaken. The scattering properties of diffusively reflecting white paint and of surface treatments for the radiator material were measured. It is found that the absorption of light in the radiator is an important light loss mechanism. The simulations are used to find optimal mapping techniques and data reduction strategies. The application of these techniques are discussed with respect to the large area isotopic composition experiment (ALICE) Cerenkov detector

Asymmetric quantum error correction via code conversion

In many physical systems it is expected that environmental decoherence will exhibit an asymmetry between dephasing and relaxation that may result in qubits experiencing discrete phase errors more frequently than discrete bit errors. In the presence of such an error asymmetry, an appropriately asymmetric quantum code - that is, a code that can correct more phase errors than bit errors - will be more efficient than a traditional, symmetric quantum code. Here we construct fault tolerant circuits to convert between an asymmetric subsystem code and a symmetric subsystem code. We show that, for a moderate error asymmetry, the failure rate of a logical circuit can be reduced by using a combined symmetric asymmetric system and that doing so does not preclude universality.Comment: 5 pages, 8 figures, presentation revised, figures and references adde

A Sr-Rich Star on the Main Sequence of Omega Centauri

Abundance ratios relative to iron for carbon, nitrogen, strontium and barium are presented for a metal-rich main sequence star ([Fe/H]=--0.74) in the globular cluster omega Centauri. This star, designated 2015448, shows depleted carbon and solar nitrogen, but more interestingly, shows an enhanced abundance ratio of strontium [Sr/Fe] ~ 1.6 dex, while the barium abundance ratio is [Ba/Fe]<0.6 dex. At this metallicity one usually sees strontium and barium abundance ratios that are roughly equal. Possible formation scenarios of this peculiar object are considered.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures. Accepted to ApJ

A Pilot Programme to Facilitate the Use of Mental Health Treatment Requirements: Professional Stakeholders' Experiences

Mental Health Treatment Requirements (MHTRs) have been available in England and Wales since 2005 but are rarely used, despite high rates of mental health problems amongst offenders. In 2018, a new protocol to facilitate the use of MHTRs was piloted in five sites in England. Aims: Understanding the experiences of professional stakeholders and identify barriers to use MHTRs. Methods: Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with thirty-eight professional stakeholders and thematic analysis applied. Results: Interviewees were positive about the content and implementation of the new protocol. Interviewees described key benefits as increasing options in community sentencing, addressing a gap in service provision and facilitating offenders’ access to other services. Challenges described, included multi-agency working, sustainability of funding and the range and complexity of needs of offenders receiving MHTRs and the variation in their motivation to engage. Success factors described were having a strong steering group, staff dedicated to the project and being able to provide a broad range of support to meet offender needs. Conclusion: The MHTR pilot protocol was generally well-received and appeared to address previous barriers to the use of MHTRs. Future work is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of MHTRs and the experience of offenders who receive them

The Distance and Morphology of V723 Cassiopeiae (NOVA CASSIOPEIA 1995)

We present spatially resolved infrared spectra of V723 Cas (Nova Cassiopeia 1995) obtained over four years with the integral field spectrograph OSIRIS on Keck II. Also presented are one epoch of spatially unresolved spectra from the long slit spectrograph NIRSPEC on Keck II. The OSIRIS observations made use of the laser guide star adaptive optics facility that produced diffraction-limited spatial resolution of the strong coronal emission features in the nova ejecta. We remove the point-like continuum from V723 Cas data cubes to reveal details of the extended nebula and find that emission due to [Si VI] and [Ca VIII] has an equatorial ring structure with polar nodules-a strikingly different morphology than emission due to [Al IX], which appears as a prolate spheroid. The contrast in structure may indicate separate ejection events. Using the angular expansion and Doppler velocities observed over four epochs spaced at one year intervals, we determine the distance to V723 Cas to be 3.85+0.23-0.21 kpc. We present the OSIRIS three-dimensional data here in many ways: as narrowband images, one- and two-dimensional spectra, and a volume rendering that reveals the true shape of the ejecta.Comment: 37 pages, 8 figure

The expanding dusty bipolar nebula around the nova V1280 Sco

V1280 Sco is one of the slowest dust-forming nova ever historically observed. We performed multi-epoch high-spatial resolution observations of the circumstellar dusty environment of V1280 Sco to investigate the level of asymmetry of the ejecta We observed V1280 Sco in 2009, 2010 and 2011 using unprecedented high angular resolution techniques. We used the NACO/VLT adaptive optics system in the J, H and K bands, together with contemporaneous VISIR/VLT mid-IR imaging that resolved the dust envelope of V1280 Sco, and SINFONI/VLT observations secured in 2011. We report the discovery of a dusty hourglass-shaped bipolar nebula. The apparent size of the nebula increased from 0.30" x 0.17" in July 2009 to 0.64" x 0.42" in July 2011. The aspect ratio suggests that the source is seen at high inclination. The central source shines efficiently in the K band and represents more than 56+/-5% of the total flux in 2009, and 87+/-6% in 2011. A mean expansion rate of 0.39+/-0.03 mas per day is inferred from the VISIR observations in the direction of the major axis, which represents a projected upper limit. Assuming that the dust shell expands in that direction as fast as the low-excitation slow ejecta detected in spectroscopy, this yields a lower limit distance to V1280 Sco of 1kpc; however, the systematic errors remain large due to the complex shape and velocity field of the dusty ejecta. The dust seems to reside essentially in the polar caps and no infrared flux is detected in the equatorial regions in the latest dataset. This may imply that the mass-loss was dominantly polar

Mammalian sphingoid bases: Biophysical, physiological and pathological properties

Sphingoid bases encompass a group of long chain amino alcohols which form the essential structure of sphingolipids. Over the last years, these amphiphilic molecules were moving more and more into the focus of biomedical research due to their role as bioactive molecules. In fact, free sphingoid bases interact with specific receptors and target molecules, and have been associated with numerous biological and physiological processes. In addition, they can modulate the biophysical properties of biological membranes. Several human diseases are related to pathological changes in the structure and metabolism of sphingoid bases. Yet, the mechanisms underlying their biological and pathophysiological actions remain elusive. Within this review, we aimed to summarize the current knowledge on the biochemical and biophysical properties of the most common sphingoid bases and to discuss their importance in health and disease

Low-extinction windows in the inner Galactic Bulge

We built K band extinction maps in the area of two candidate low-extinction windows in the inner Bulge: W0.2-2.1 at (l,b) = (0.25o,-2.15o), and W359.4-3.1 at (l,b) = (359.40o,-3.10o). We employed JHKs photometry from the 2MASS Point Source Catalog. Extinction values were determined by fitting the upper giant branch found in the present 2MASS Ks x J-Ks diagrams to a de-reddened bulge stellar population reference giant branch. We tested the method on the well known Baade's and Sgr I windows: the 2MASS mean extinction values in these fields agreed well with those of previous studies. We confirm the existence of low-extinction windows in the regions studied, as local minima in the A_K maps reaching A_K values about 2 standard deviations below the mean values found in the neighbouring areas. Schlegel et al.'s (1998) FIR extinction maps, which integrate dust contributions throughout the Galaxy, are structurally similar to those derived with 2MASS photometry in the two studied windows. We thus conclude that the dust clouds affecting the 2MASS and FIR maps in these directions are basically the same and are located on foreground of the bulk of bulge stars. However, the A_K absolute values differ significantly. In particular, the FIR extinction values for W359.4-3.1 are a factor ~1.45 larger than those derived from the 2MASS photometry. Possible explanations of this effect are discussed. The lower Galactic latitudes of the low-extinction windows W359.4-3.1 and W0.2-2.1, as compared to Baade's Window, make them promising targets for detailed studies of more central bulge regions.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figures, LaTeX, aa.cls. To appear in Astron. & Astroph., in pres