Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS) for the Subaru Telescope: Overview, recent progress, and future perspectives

PFS (Prime Focus Spectrograph), a next generation facility instrument on the 8.2-meter Subaru Telescope, is a very wide-field, massively multiplexed, optical and near-infrared spectrograph. Exploiting the Subaru prime focus, 2394 reconfigurable fibers will be distributed over the 1.3 deg field of view. The spectrograph has been designed with 3 arms of blue, red, and near-infrared cameras to simultaneously observe spectra from 380nm to 1260nm in one exposure at a resolution of ~1.6-2.7A. An international collaboration is developing this instrument under the initiative of Kavli IPMU. The project is now going into the construction phase aiming at undertaking system integration in 2017-2018 and subsequently carrying out engineering operations in 2018-2019. This article gives an overview of the instrument, current project status and future paths forward.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures. Proceeding of SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation 201

Joseph Orndorff, DO 2020

Philadelphia DO Class of 2020 portrait.https://digitalcommons.pcom.edu/portraits_2020/1182/thumbnail.jp

Generation of fully functional fluorescent fusion proteins to gain insights into ABCC6 biology

ABCC6 mediates release of ATP from hepatocytes into the blood. Extracellularly, ATP is converted into the mineralization inhibitor pyrophosphate. Consequently, inactivating mutations in ABCC6 give low plasma pyrophosphate and underlie the ectopic mineralization disorder pseudoxanthoma elasticum. How ABCC6 mediates cellular ATP release is still unknown. Fluorescent ABCC6 fusion proteins would allow mechanistic studies, but fluorophores attached to the ABCC6 N- or C-terminus result in intracellular retention and degradation. Here we describe that intramolecular introduction of fluorophores yields fully functional ABCC6 fusion proteins. A corresponding ABCC6 variant in which the catalytic glutamate of the second nucleotide binding domain was mutated, correctly routed to the plasma membrane but was inactive. Finally, N-terminal His10 or FLAG tags did not affect activity of the fusion proteins, allowing their purification for biochemical characterization

Linking Geology and Geotechnical Engineering in Karst: The Qatar Geologic Mapping Project

During a time of expanding population and aging urban infrastructure, it is critical to have accurate geotechnical and geological information to enable adequate design and make appropriate provisions for construction. This is especially important in karst terrains that are prone to sinkhole hazards and groundwater quantity and quality issues. The State of Qatar in the Middle East, a country underlain by carbonate and evaporite rocks and having abundant karst features, has recognized the significance of reliable and accurate geological and geotechnical information and has undertaken a project to develop a robust geotechnical relational database and prepare geologic and thematic digital maps. These products will support planning, design, and decision-making processes related to urban infrastructure development in the rapidly growing State and be particularly useful in the early stages of geotechnical investigations. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Gannett Fleming, Inc., and the Qatar Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) have partnered to design a geologic mapping project that will merge geological and geotechnical information to develop a framework to model the geology, karst, and resources important to support growth in the State. The Qatar Geologic Mapping Project (QGMP) has a mission to integrate sound geoscience data for the State of Qatar to address societal, environmental and educational needs that include water and mineral resources management and natural hazards reduction

Linking Geology and Geotechnical Engineering in Karst: The Qatar Geologic Mapping Project

During a time of expanding population and aging urban infrastructure, it is critical to have accurate geotechnical and geological information to enable adequate design and make appropriate provisions for construction. This is especially important in karst terrains that are prone to sinkhole hazards and groundwater quantity and quality issues. The State of Qatar in the Middle East, a country underlain by carbonate and evaporite rocks and having abundant karst features, has recognized the significance of reliable and accurate geological and geotechnical information and has undertaken a project to develop a robust geotechnical relational database and prepare geologic and thematic digital maps. These products will support planning, design, and decision-making processes related to urban infrastructure development in the rapidly growing State and be particularly useful in the early stages of geotechnical investigations. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Gannett Fleming, Inc., and the Qatar Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) have partnered to design a geologic mapping project that will merge geological and geotechnical information to develop a framework to model the geology, karst, and resources important to support growth in the State. The Qatar Geologic Mapping Project (QGMP) has a mission to integrate sound geoscience data for the State of Qatar to address societal, environmental and educational needs that include water and mineral resources management and natural hazards reduction

Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS) for the Subaru telescope: ongoing integration and future plans

International audienc

Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS): a next-generation facility instrument of the Subaru telescope has started coming

PFS (Prime Focus Spectrograph) is a next generation facility instruments on the Subaru telescope. 2394 reconfigurable fibers will be distributed in the 1.3 degree field of view, and the spectrograph has 3 arms (blue, red, and near-infrared) to simultaneously observe spectra from 380nm to 1260nm in one exposure. In 2018, Metrology Camera System was delivered to the observatory and successfully tested on the telescope. Now in Nov 2019 the first spectrograph module with visible cameras is being shipped to Hawaii. The other subsystems are actively being developed to start on-sky engineering observation in 2020, and science operation in 2022. In this contribution, an overview of the current status and future perspectives will be presented