7,777 research outputs found
Coherent Pair Production by Photons in the 20-170 GeV Energy Range Incident on Crystals and Birefringence
The cross section for coherent pair production by linearly polarised photons
in the 20-170 GeV energy range was measured for photon aligned incidence on
ultra-high quality diamond and germanium crystals. The theoretical description
of coherent bremsstrahlung and coherent pair production phenomena is an area of
active theoretical debate and development. However, under our experimental
conditions, the theory predicted the combined cross section and polarisation
experimental observables very well indeed. In macroscopic terms, our experiment
measured a birefringence effect in pair production in a crystal. This study of
this effect also constituted a measurement of the energy dependent linear
polarisation of photons produced by coherent bremsstrahlung in aligned
crystals. New technologies for manipulating high energy photon beams can be
realised based on an improved understanding of QED phenomena at these energies.
In particular, this experiment demonstrates an efficient new polarimetry
technique. The pair production measurements were done using two independent
methods simultaneously. The more complex method using a magnet spectrometer
showed that the simpler method using a multiplicity detector was also viable.Comment: 10 pages, 13 figures, 1 table, REVTeX4 two column, Version for
publicatio
Linear to Circular Polarisation Conversion using Birefringent Properties of Aligned Crystals for Multi-GeV Photons
We present the first experimental results on the use of a thick aligned Si
crystal acting as a quarter wave plate to induce a degree of circular
polarisation in a high energy linearly polarised photon beam. The linearly
polarised photon beam is produced from coherent bremsstrahlung radiation by 178
GeV unpolarised electrons incident on an aligned Si crystal, acting as a
radiator. The linear polarisation of the photon beam is characterised by
measuring the asymmetry in electron-positron pair production in a Ge crystal,
for different crystal orientations. The Ge crystal therefore acts as an
analyser. The birefringence phenomenon, which converts the linear polarisation
to circular polarisation, is observed by letting the linearly polarised photons
beam pass through a thick Si quarter wave plate crystal, and then measuring the
asymmetry in electron-positron pair production again for a selection of
relative angles between the crystallographic planes of the radiator, analyser
and quarter wave plate. The systematics of the difference between the measured
asymmetries with and without the quarter wave plate are predicted by theory to
reveal an evolution in the Stokes parameters from which the appearance of a
circularly polarised component in the photon beam can be demonstrated. The
measured magnitude of the circularly polarised component was consistent with
the theoretical predictions, and therefore is in indication of the existence of
the birefringence effect.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures, 1 table, REVTeX4 two column, Version for
publicatio
Results on the Coherent Interaction of High Energy Electrons and Photons in Oriented Single Crystals
The CERN-NA-59 experiment examined a wide range of electromagnetic processes
for multi-GeV electrons and photons interacting with oriented single crystals.
The various types of crystals and their orientations were used for producing
photon beams and for converting and measuring their polarisation.
The radiation emitted by 178 GeV unpolarised electrons incident on a 1.5 cm
thick Si crystal oriented in the Coherent Bremsstrahlung (CB) and the
String-of-Strings (SOS) modes was used to obtain multi-GeV linearly polarised
photon beams.
A new crystal polarimetry technique was established for measuring the linear
polarisation of the photon beam. The polarimeter is based on the dependence of
the Coherent Pair Production (CPP) cross section in oriented single crystals on
the direction of the photon polarisation with respect to the crystal plane.
Both a 1 mm thick single crystal of Germanium and a 4 mm thick multi-tile set
of synthetic Diamond crystals were used as analyzers of the linear
polarisation.
A birefringence phenomenon, the conversion of the linear polarisation of the
photon beam into circular polarisation, was observed. This was achieved by
letting the linearly polarised photon beam pass through a 10 cm thick Silicon
single crystal that acted as a "quarter wave plate" (QWP) as suggested by N.
Cabibbo et al.Comment: Presented at International workshop "Relativistic Channeling and
Related Coherent Phenomena", Frascati (Rome) 23-26 March 200
Coherent bremsstrahlung, boherent pair production, birefringence and polarimetry in the 20-170 GeV energy range using aligned crystals
The processes of coherent bremsstrahlung (CB) and coherent pair production
(CPP) based on aligned crystal targets have been studied in the energy range
20-170 GeV. The experimental arrangement allowed for measurements of single
photon properties of these phenomena including their polarization dependences.
This is significant as the theoretical description of CB and CPP is an area of
active theoretical debate and development. With the theoretical approach used
in this paper both the measured cross sections and polarization observables are
predicted very well. This indicates a proper understanding of CB and CPP up to
energies of 170 GeV. Birefringence in CPP on aligned crystals is applied to
determine the polarization parameters in our measurements. New technologies for
high energy photon beam optics including phase plates and polarimeters for
linear and circular polarization are demonstrated in this experiment. Coherent
bremsstrahlung for the strings-on-strings (SOS) orientation yields a larger
enhancement for hard photons than CB for the channeling orientations of the
crystal. Our measurements and our calculations indicate low photon
polarizations for the high energy SOS photons.Comment: 23 pages, 27 figures, 2 tables, REVTeX4 two column
Pulmonary Kaposi's sarcoma after heart transplantation: a case report
ABSTRACT: INTRODUCTION: Kaposi's sarcomas have been associated with different conditions of immunosuppression and are also known to be a typical complication of solid organ transplantations. CASE PRESENTATION: We report of a 65 year old man of Turkish origin with a history of heart transplantation 10 months ago who presented for clarification of his dyspnoea. The patient had a known history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and a smoking history of 40 pack years. Radiologically, three progressively growing intrapulmonary nodules were detected. The histology was diagnostic for a Kaposi's sarcoma. Visceral and especially primary intrapulmonary Kaposi's sarcomas are very rare and have been described to have a rather unfavourable prognosis. CONCLUSION: Even with a history suggestive for conventional lung cancer, Kaposi's sarcomas should be considered in patients after transplantation of solid organs. It should be noticed that in a minority of cases this tumour exists in the absence of the typical cutaneous lesions
Constraints on the steady and pulsed very high energy gamma-ray emission from observations of PSR B1951+32/CTB 80 with the MAGIC Telescope
We report on very high energy gamma-observations with the MAGIC Telescope of
the pulsar PSR B1951+32 and its associated nebula, CTB 80. Our data constrain
the cutoff energy of the pulsar to be less than 32 GeV, assuming the pulsed
gamma-ray emission to be exponentially cut off. The upper limit on the flux of
pulsed gamma-ray emission above 75 GeV is 4.3*10^-11 photons cm^-2 sec^-1, and
the upper limit on the flux of steady emission above 140 GeV is 1.5*10^-11
photons cm^-2 sec^-1. We discuss our results in the framework of recent model
predictions and other studies.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, replaced with published versio
MAGIC upper limits on the very high energy emission from GRBs
The fast repositioning system of the MAGIC Telescope has allowed during its
first data cycle, between 2005 and the beginning of year 2006, observing nine
different GRBs as possible sources of very high energy gammas. These
observations were triggered by alerts from Swift, HETE-II, and Integral; they
started as fast as possible after the alerts and lasted for several minutes,
with an energy threshold varying between 80 and 200 GeV, depending upon the
zenith angle of the burst. No evidence for gamma signals was found, and upper
limits for the flux were derived for all events, using the standard analysis
chain of MAGIC. For the bursts with measured redshift, the upper limits are
compatible with a power law extrapolation, when the intrinsic fluxes are
evaluated taking into account the attenuation due to the scattering in the
Metagalactic Radiation Field (MRF).Comment: 25 pages, 9 figures, final version accepted by ApJ. Changet title to
"MAGIC upped limits on the VERY high energy emission from GRBs", re-organized
chapter with description of observation, removed non necessaries figures,
added plot of effective area depending on zenith angle, added an appendix
explaining the upper limit calculation, added some reference
Discovery of VHE Gamma Radiation from IC443 with the MAGIC Telescope
We report the detection of a new source of very high energy (VHE, E_gamma >=
100GeV) gamma-ray emission located close to the Galactic Plane, MAGIC
J0616+225, which is spatially coincident with SNR IC443. The observations were
carried out with the MAGIC telescope in the periods December 2005 - January
2006 and December 2006 - January 2007. Here we present results from this
source, leading to a VHE gamma-ray signal with a statistical significance of
5.7 sigma in the 2006/7 data and a measured differential gamma-ray flux
consistent with a power law, described as dN_gamma/(dA dt dE) = (1.0 +/-
0.2)*10^(-11)(E/0.4 TeV)^(-3.1 +/- 0.3) cm^(-2)s^(-1)TeV^(-1). We briefly
discuss the observational technique used and the procedure implemented for the
data analysis. The results are put in the perspective of the multiwavelength
emission and the molecular environment found in the region of IC443.Comment: Accepted by ApJ Letter
Kidins220 sets the threshold for survival of neural stem cells and progenitors to sustain adult neurogenesis
In the adult mammalian brain, neural stem cells (NSCs) located in highly restricted niches sustain the generation of new neurons that integrate into existing circuits. A reduction in adult neurogenesis is linked to ageing and neurodegeneration, whereas dysregulation of proliferation and survival of NSCs have been hypothesized to be at the origin of glioma. Thus, unravelling the molecular underpinnings of the regulated activation that NSCs must undergo to proliferate and generate new progeny is of considerable relevance. Current research has identified cues promoting or restraining NSCs activation. Yet, whether NSCs depend on external signals to survive or if intrinsic factors establish a threshold for sustaining their viability remains elusive, even if this knowledge could involve potential for devising novel therapeutic strategies. Kidins220 (Kinase D-interacting substrate of 220 kDa) is an essential effector of crucial pathways for neuronal survival and differentiation. It is dramatically altered in cancer and in neurological and neurodegenerative disorders, emerging as a regulatory molecule with important functions in human disease. Herein, we discover severe neurogenic deficits and hippocampal-based spatial memory defects accompanied by increased neuroblast death and high loss of newly formed neurons in Kidins220 deficient mice. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that Kidins220-dependent activation of AKT in response to EGF restraints GSK3 activity preventing NSCs apoptosis. We also show that NSCs with Kidins220 can survive with lower concentrations of EGF than the ones lacking this molecule. Hence, Kidins220 levels set a molecular threshold for survival in response to mitogens, allowing adult NSCs growth and expansion. Our study identifies Kidins220 as a key player for sensing the availability of growth factors to sustain adult neurogenesis, uncovering a molecular link that may help paving the way towards neurorepair
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