506 research outputs found
Studies on processing, particle formation, and immunogenicity of the HIV-1 gag gene product: a possible component of a HIV vaccine
Antigens in a particulate conformation were shown to be highly immunogenic in mammals. For this reason, the particle forming capacity of derivatives of the HIV-1 group specific core antigen p55 gag was assayed and compared dependent on various expression systems: recombinant bacteria, vaccinia- and baculoviruses were established encoding the entire core protein p55 either in its authentic sequence or lacking the myristylation consensus signal. Moreover, p55 gag was expressed in combination with the protease (p55-PR) or with the entire polymerase (p55-pol), respectively. Budding of 100-160 nm p55 core particles, resembling immature HIV-virions, was observed in the eucaryotic expression systems only. In comparison to the vaccinia virus driven expression of p55 in mammalian cells, considerably higher yields of particulate core antigen were obtained by infection of Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf9) insect cells with the recombinant Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis (AcMNPV) baculovirus. Mutation of the NH2-terminal myristylation signal sequence prevented budding of the immature core particles. Expression of the HIV p55-PR gene construct by recombinant baculovirus resulted in complete processing of the p55 gag precursor molecule in this system. The introduction of an artificial frameshift near the natural frameshift site resulted in constitutive expression of the viral protease and complete processing of p55, both in Escherichia coli and in vaccinia virus infected cells. Interestingly, significant processing of p55 resembling that of HIV infected H9 cells could also be achieved in the vaccinia system by fusing the entire pol gene to the gag gene. Moreover, processing was not found to be dependent on amino-terminal myristylation of the gag procursor molecule, which is in contrast to observations with type C and type D retrovirus. However, complete processing of p55 into p24, p17, p9 and p6 abolished particle formation. Purified immature HIV-virus like particles were highly immunogenic in rabbits, leading to a strong humoral immune response after immunization. Empty immature p55 gag particles represent a noninfectious and attractive candidate for a basic vaccine component
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Nuclear-data needs for inertial-confinement fusion (ICF)
Our survey was limited to ICF programs in the United States. It included researchers in laser and heavy ion fusion, target design, target diagnostics, and conceptual reactor design. We asked each of these people to read the current data needs for magnetic fusion energy and to comment on additional data that they require
A surprising method for polarising antiprotons
We propose a method for polarising antiprotons in a storage ring by means of
a polarised positron beam moving parallel to the antiprotons. If the relative
velocity is adjusted to the cross section for spin-flip is
as large as about barn as shown by new QED-calculations of
the triple spin-cross sections. Two possibilities for providing a positron
source with sufficient flux density are presented. A polarised positron beam
with a polarisation of 0.70 and a flux density of approximately /(mm s) appears to be feasible by means of a radioactive C
dc-source. A more involved proposal is the production of polarised positrons by
pair production with circularly polarised photons. It yields a polarisation of
0.76 and requires the injection into a small storage ring. Such polariser
sources can be used at low (100 MeV) as well as at high (1 GeV) energy storage
rings providing a time of about one hour for polarisation build-up of about
antiprotons to a polarisation of about 0.18. A comparison with other
proposals show a gain in the figure-of-merit by a factor of about ten.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures; v2: minor language and signification corrections
v3: (14 pages, 12 figures) major error, nonapplicable polarisation transfer
cross sections replaced by the mandatory spin-flip cross section
Channeling of Positrons through Periodically Bent Crystals: on Feasibility of Crystalline Undulator and Gamma-Laser
The electromagnetic radiation generated by ultra-relativistic positrons
channelling in a crystalline undulator is discussed. The crystalline undulator
is a crystal whose planes are bent periodically with the amplitude much larger
than the interplanar spacing. Various conditions and criteria to be fulfilled
for the crystalline undulator operation are established. Different methods of
the crystal bending are described. We present the results of numeric
calculations of spectral distributions of the spontaneous radiation emitted in
the crystalline undulator and discuss the possibility to create the stimulated
emission in such a system in analogy with the free electron laser. A careful
literature survey covering the formulation of all essential ideas in this field
is given. Our investigation shows that the proposed mechanism provides an
efficient source for high energy photons, which is worth to study
experimentally.Comment: 52 pages, MikTeX, 14 figure
Search for GeV Gamma-ray Counterparts of Gravitational Wave Events by CALET
We present results on searches for gamma-ray counterparts of the LIGO/Virgo
gravitational-wave events using CALorimetric Electron Telescope ({\sl CALET})
observations. The main instrument of {\sl CALET}, CALorimeter (CAL), observes
gamma-rays from GeV up to 10 TeV with a field of view of nearly 2 sr.
In addition, the {\sl CALET} gamma-ray burst monitor (CGBM) views 3 sr
and sr of the sky in the 7 keV -- 1 MeV and the 40 keV -- 20 MeV
bands, respectively, by using two different crystal scintillators. The {\sl
CALET} observations on the International Space Station started in October 2015,
and here we report analyses of events associated with the following
gravitational wave events: GW151226, GW170104, GW170608, GW170814 and GW170817.
Although only upper limits on gamma-ray emission are obtained, they correspond
to a luminosity of erg s in the GeV energy band
depending on the distance and the assumed time duration of each event, which is
approximately the order of luminosity of typical short gamma-ray bursts. This
implies there will be a favorable opportunity to detect high-energy gamma-ray
emission in further observations if additional gravitational wave events with
favorable geometry will occur within our field-of-view. We also show the
sensitivity of {\sl CALET} for gamma-ray transient events which is the order of
~erg\,cm\,s for an observation of 100~s duration.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in
Astrophysical Journa
On-orbit Operations and Offline Data Processing of CALET onboard the ISS
The CALorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET), launched for installation on the
International Space Station (ISS) in August, 2015, has been accumulating
scientific data since October, 2015. CALET is intended to perform long-duration
observations of high-energy cosmic rays onboard the ISS. CALET directly
measures the cosmic-ray electron spectrum in the energy range of 1 GeV to 20
TeV with a 2% energy resolution above 30 GeV. In addition, the instrument can
measure the spectrum of gamma rays well into the TeV range, and the spectra of
protons and nuclei up to a PeV.
In order to operate the CALET onboard ISS, JAXA Ground Support Equipment
(JAXA-GSE) and the Waseda CALET Operations Center (WCOC) have been established.
Scientific operations using CALET are planned at WCOC, taking into account
orbital variations of geomagnetic rigidity cutoff. Scheduled command sequences
are used to control the CALET observation modes on orbit. Calibration data
acquisition by, for example, recording pedestal and penetrating particle
events, a low-energy electron trigger mode operating at high geomagnetic
latitude, a low-energy gamma-ray trigger mode operating at low geomagnetic
latitude, and an ultra heavy trigger mode, are scheduled around the ISS orbit
while maintaining maximum exposure to high-energy electrons and other
high-energy shower events by always having the high-energy trigger mode active.
The WCOC also prepares and distributes CALET flight data to collaborators in
Italy and the United States.
As of August 31, 2017, the total observation time is 689 days with a live
time fraction of the total time of approximately 84%. Nearly 450 million events
are collected with a high-energy (E>10 GeV) trigger. By combining all operation
modes with the excellent-quality on-orbit data collected thus far, it is
expected that a five-year observation period will provide a wealth of new and
interesting results.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, published online 27 February 201
Performance of the First ANTARES Detector Line
In this paper we report on the data recorded with the first Antares detector
line. The line was deployed on the 14th of February 2006 and was connected to
the readout two weeks later. Environmental data for one and a half years of
running are shown. Measurements of atmospheric muons from data taken from
selected runs during the first six months of operation are presented.
Performance figures in terms of time residuals and angular resolution are
given. Finally the angular distribution of atmospheric muons is presented and
from this the depth profile of the muon intensity is derived.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figure
Acoustic and optical variations during rapid downward motion episodes in the deep north-western Mediterranean Sea
An Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) was moored at the deep-sea site
of the ANTARES neutrino telescope near Toulon, France, thus providing a unique
opportunity to compare high-resolution acoustic and optical observations
between 70 and 170 m above the sea bed at 2475 m. The ADCP measured downward
vertical currents of magnitudes up to 0.03 m s-1 in late winter and early
spring 2006. In the same period, observations were made of enhanced levels of
acoustic reflection, interpreted as suspended particles including zooplankton,
by a factor of about 10 and of horizontal currents reaching 0.35 m s-1. These
observations coincided with high light levels detected by the telescope,
interpreted as increased bioluminescence. During winter 2006 deep dense-water
formation occurred in the Ligurian subbasin, thus providing a possible
explanation for these observations. However, the 10-20 days quasi-periodic
episodes of high levels of acoustic reflection, light and large vertical
currents continuing into the summer are not direct evidence of this process. It
is hypothesized that the main process allowing for suspended material to be
moved vertically later in the year is local advection, linked with topographic
boundary current instabilities along the rim of the 'Northern Current'.Comment: 30 pages, 7 figure
A First Search for coincident Gravitational Waves and High Energy Neutrinos using LIGO, Virgo and ANTARES data from 2007
We present the results of the first search for gravitational wave bursts
associated with high energy neutrinos. Together, these messengers could reveal
new, hidden sources that are not observed by conventional photon astronomy,
particularly at high energy. Our search uses neutrinos detected by the
underwater neutrino telescope ANTARES in its 5 line configuration during the
period January - September 2007, which coincided with the fifth and first
science runs of LIGO and Virgo, respectively. The LIGO-Virgo data were analysed
for candidate gravitational-wave signals coincident in time and direction with
the neutrino events. No significant coincident events were observed. We place
limits on the density of joint high energy neutrino - gravitational wave
emission events in the local universe, and compare them with densities of
merger and core-collapse events.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures, science summary page at
http://www.ligo.org/science/Publication-S5LV_ANTARES/index.php. Public access
area to figures, tables at
https://dcc.ligo.org/cgi-bin/DocDB/ShowDocument?docid=p120000
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