4,830 research outputs found
A Radiation Imaging Detector Made by Postprocessing a Standard CMOS Chip
An unpackaged microchip is used as the sensing element in a miniaturized gaseous proportional chamber. Thisletter reports on the fabrication and performance of a complete radiation imaging detector based on this principle. Our fabrication schemes are based on wafer-scale and chip-scale postprocessing.\ud
Compared to hybrid-assembled gaseous detectors, our microsystem shows superior alignment precision and energy resolution, and offers the capability to unambiguously reconstruct 3-D radiation tracks on the spot.\u
Recommended from our members
The fast and forceful kicking strike of the secretary bird
The study of animal locomotion has uncovered principles that can be applied to bio-inspired robotics, prosthetics and rehabilitation medicine, while also providing insight into musculoskeletal form and function [1, 2, 3, 4]. In particular, study of extreme behaviors can reveal mechanical constraints and trade-offs that have influenced evolution of limb form and function [1, 2]. Secretary birds (Sagittarius serpentarius; Figure 1A) are large terrestrial birds of prey endemic to sub-Saharan Africa, which feed on snakes, lizards and small mammals [5]. They frequently kick and stamp on the prey’s head until it is killed or incapacitated, particularly when dispatching larger lizards and venomous snakes [5]. The consequences of a missed strike when hunting venomous snakes can be deadly [5], so the kicking strikes of secretary birds require fast yet accurate neural control. Delivery of fast, forceful and accurate foot strikes that are sufficient to stun and kill prey requires precision targeting, demanding a high level of coordination between the visual and neuromuscular systems
Quantum tunneling of superconducting string currents
We investigate the decay of current on a superconducting cosmic string
through quantum tunneling. We construct the instanton describing tunneling in a
simple bosonic string model, and estimate the decay rate. The tunneling rate
vanishes in the limit of a chiral current. This conclusion, which is supported
by a symmetry argument, is expected to apply in general. It has important
implications for the stability of chiral vortons.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figure
A009 Importance of tweak-CD163 system in peripheral artery disease
IntroductionCD163 is a macrophage receptor of haptoglogin/ haemoglobin complexes responsible for clearance of hemogloin. It has been recently suggested to be a potential scavenger receptor for TWEAK (Tumor necrosis factor-like weak inducer of apoptosis). TWEAK levels were reported to be decreased in carotid atherosclerosis. Our hypothesis is that decreased circulating TWEAK could be paralleled by an increased presence of CD163-expressing macrophage in atherosclerotic plaques. Since peripheral artery disease (PAD) is an important manifestation of systemic atherosclerosis, we have assessed the levels of circulating TWEAK-CD163 in PAD.Methods and ResultsPatients with PAD (n=184) had lower TWEAK (169.2±8.3vs 211.9±15.4pg/mL; p<0.05) and higher sCD163 (408.1±14.5vs 317.4±8.4ng/mL; p<0.05) plasma concentration than age-matched controls (n=330). After stratification according to the severity of disease, we observed that TWEAK/sCD163 ratio was significantly decreased in those patients with higher degree of disease (0.39±0.06vs 0.66±0.08, p<0.05) relative to the other groups. Analysis of conditioned medium obtained from cultured human atherosclerotic femoral plaque samples (n=38) and healthy aortas (n=14) revealed that higher amount of sCD163 was released by the atherosclerotic tissue, whereas TWEAK presented the opposite trend.ConclusionsOur results suggest that CD163/TWEAK plasma ratio could be a potential biomarker of clinical peripheral artery disease. We can hypothesized that decreased levels of circulating TWEAK observed in atherosclerosis may be the result of a trapping by plaque macrophages through their CD163
When do colliding bubbles produce an expanding universe?
It is intriguing to consider the possibility that the Big Bang of the
standard (3+1) dimensional cosmology originated from the collision of two
branes within a higher dimensional spacetime, leading to the production of a
large amount of entropy. In this paper we study, subject to certain
well-defined assumptions, under what conditions such a collision leads to an
expanding universe. We assume the absence of novel physics, so that ordinary
(4+1) -dimensional Einstein gravity remains a valid approximation. It is
necessary that the fifth dimension not become degenerate at the moment of
collision. First the case of a symmetric collision of infinitely thin branes
having a hyperbolic or flat spatial geometry is considered. We find that a
symmetric collision results in a collapsing universe on the final brane unless
the pre-existing expansion rate in the bulk just prior to the collision is
sufficiently large in comparison to the momentum transfer in the fifth
dimension. Such prior expansion may either result from negative spatial
curvature or from a positive five-dimensional cosmological constant. The
relevance of these findings to the Colliding Bubble Braneworld Universe
scenario is discussed. Finally, results from a numerical study of colliding
thick-wall branes is presented, which confirm the results of the thin-wall
approximation.Comment: 24 pages, 13 figures. Minor changes and references include
Relaxation Dynamics of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Re^I(C)O_3(α-diimine)(HisX)^+ (X=83, 107, 109, 124, 126)Cu-^(II) Azurins
Photoinduced relaxation processes of five structurally characterized Pseudomonas aeruginosa Re^I(CO)_3(α-diimine)(HisX) (X = 83, 107, 109, 124, 126)Cu^(II) azurins have been investigated by time-resolved (ps−ns) IR spectroscopy and emission spectroscopy. Crystal structures reveal the presence of Re-azurin dimers and trimers that in two cases (X = 107, 124) involve van der Waals interactions between interdigitated diimine aromatic rings. Time-dependent emission anisotropy measurements confirm that the proteins aggregate in mM solutions (D2O, KPi buffer, pD = 7.1). Excited-state DFT calculations show that extensive charge redistribution in the ReI(CO)_3 → diimine ^3MLCT state occurs: excitation of this ^3MLCT state triggers several relaxation processes in Re-azurins whose kinetics strongly depend on the location of the metallolabel on the protein surface. Relaxation is manifested by dynamic blue shifts of excited-state ν(CO) IR bands that occur with triexponential kinetics: intramolecular vibrational redistribution together with vibrational and solvent relaxation give rise to subps, 2, and 8−20 ps components, while the ~10^2 ps kinetics are attributed to displacement (reorientation) of the Re^I(CO)_3(phen)(im) unit relative to the peptide chain, which optimizes Coulombic interactions of the Re^I excited-state electron density with solvated peptide groups. Evidence also suggests that additional segmental movements of Re-bearing β-strands occur without perturbing the reaction field or interactions with the peptide. Our work demonstrates that time-resolved IR spectroscopy and emission anisotropy of Re^I carbonyl−diimine complexes are powerful probes of molecular dynamics at or around the surfaces of proteins and protein−protein interfacial regions
Oscillatory Modes of a Prominence-PCTR-Corona Slab Model
Oscillations of magnetic structures in the solar corona have often been
interpreted in terms of magnetohydrodynamic waves. We study the adiabatic
magnetoacoustic modes of a prominence plasma slab with a uniform longitudinal
magnetic field, surrounded by a prominence-corona transition region (PCTR) and
a coronal medium. Considering linear small-amplitude oscillations, the
dispersion relation for the magnetoacoustic slow and fast modes is deduced
assuming evanescent-like perturbations in the coronal medium. In the system
without PCTR, a classification of the oscillatory modes according to the
polarisation of their eigenfunctions is made in order to distinguish modes with
fast-like or slow-like properties. Internal and external slow modes are
governed by the prominence and coronal properties respectively, and fast modes
are mostly dominated by prominence conditions for the observed wavelengths. In
addition, the inclusion of an isothermal PCTR does not substantially influence
the mode frequencies, but new solutions (PCTR slow modes) are present.Comment: Accepted for publication in Solar Physic
Anisotropic Power-law Inflation
We study an inflationary scenario in supergravity model with a gauge kinetic
function. We find exact anisotropic power-law inflationary solutions when both
the potential function for an inflaton and the gauge kinetic function are
exponential type. The dynamical system analysis tells us that the anisotropic
power-law inflation is an attractor for a large parameter region.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figure. References added, minor corrections include
Shift Symmetry and Inflation in Supergravity
We consider models of inflation in supergravity with a shift symmetry. We
focus on models with one moduli and one inflaton field. The presence of this
symmetry guarantees the existence of a flat direction for the inflaton field.
Mildly breaking the shift symmetry using a superpotential which depends not
only on the moduli but also on the inflaton field allows one to lift the
inflaton flat direction. Along the inflaton direction, the eta-problem is
alleviated. Combining the KKLT mechanism for moduli stabilization and a shift
symmetry breaking superpotential of the chaotic inflation type, we find models
reminiscent of ``mutated hybrid inflation'' where the inflationary trajectory
is curved in the moduli--inflaton plane. We analyze the phenomenology of these
models and stress their differences with both chaotic and hybrid inflation.Comment: 29 pages, 13 figure
- …