Simultaneous observations of lower tropospheric continental aerosols with a ground-based, an airborne, and the spaceborne CALIOP lidar system

International audienceWe present an original experiment with multiple lidar systems operated simultaneously to study the capability of the Cloud-Aerosol LIdar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP), on board the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO), to infer aerosol optical properties in the lower troposphere over a midlatitude continental site where the aerosol load is low to moderate. The experiment took place from 20 June to 10 July 2007 in southern France. The results are based on three case studies with measurements coincident to CALIOP observations: the first case study illustrates a large-scale pollution event with an aerosol optical thickness at 532 nm (τa532) of ∼0.25, and the two other case studies are devoted to background conditions due to aerosol scavenging by storms with τa532 <0.1. Our experimental approach involved ground-based and airborne lidar systems as well as Sun photometer measurements when the conditions of observation were favorable. Passive spaceborne instruments, namely the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVERI) and the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), are used to characterize the large-scale aerosol conditions. We show that complex topographical structures increase the complexity of the aerosol analysis in the planetary boundary layer by CALIOP when τa532 is lower than 0.1 because the number of available representative profiles is low to build a mean CALIOP profile with a good signal-to-noise ratio. In a comparison, the aerosol optical properties inferred from CALIOP and those deduced from the other active and passive remote sensing observations in the pollution plume are found to be in reasonable agreement. Level-2 aerosol products of CALIOP are consistent with our retrievals

Airborne measurements of trace gases and aerosols over the London metropolitan region

The Emissions around the M25 motorway (EM25) campaign took place over the megacity of London in the United Kingdom in June 2009 with the aim of characterising trace gas and aerosol composition and properties entering and emitted from the urban region. It featured two mobile platforms, the UK BAe-146 Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM) research aircraft and a ground-based mobile lidar van, both travelling in circuits around London, roughly following the path of the M25 motorway circling the city. We present an overview of findings from the project, which took place during typical UK summertime pollution conditions. Emission ratios of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to acetylene and carbon monoxide emitted from the London region were consistent with measurements in and downwind of other large urban areas and indicated traffic and associated fuel evaporation were major sources. Sub-micron aerosol composition was dominated by secondary species including sulphate (24% of sub-micron mass in the London plume and 29% in the non-plume regional aerosol), nitrate (24% plume; 20% regional) and organic aerosol (29% plume; 31% regional). The primary sub-micron aerosol emissions from London were minor compared to the larger regional background, with only limited increases in aerosol mass in the urban plume compared to the background (~12% mass increase on average). Black carbon mass was the major exception and more than doubled in the urban plume, leading to a decrease in the single scattering albedo from 0.91 in the regional aerosol to 0.86 in the London plume, on average. Our observations indicated that regional aerosol plays a major role on aerosol concentrations around London, at least during typical summertime conditions, meaning future efforts to reduce PM levels in London must account for regional as well as local aerosol sources

Two-body Photodisintegration of 3He Between 7 and 16 MeV

A comprehensive data set is reported for the two-body photodisintegration cross section of 3He using mono-energetic photon beams at eleven energies between 7.0 and 16.0 MeV. A 3He + Xe high-pressure gas scintillator served as target and detector. Although our data are in much better agreement with our state-of-the-art theoretical calculations than the majority of the previous data, these calculations underpredict the new data by about 10%. This disagreement suggests an incomplete understanding of the dynamics of the three-nucleon system and its response to electromagnetic probes

Synthesis, molecular docking and biological evaluation of new quinoline analogues as potent anti-breast cancer and antibacterial agents

1215-1222A new class of quinoline analogues have been synthesized from isatin through two steps in good yields. They have been further evaluated for their anticancer activity against a breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB-231) and antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus 6538p and Bacillus subtilis) and Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa). All synthesized compounds have been confirmed by spectral characterization viz. FT-IR, MS, HPLC, 1H and 13C NMR. Among them, compound 4h exhibits promising anti-breast cancer activity whereas compounds 4d, 4f, 4h and 4j exhibit moderate antibacterial activity against all the tested organisms. Molecular docking analysis demonstrates the interaction of compound 4h with the active site amino acid of Human Carbonic Anhydrase I, Protein Kinase A and Kinesin Spindle Protein (KSP)

Synthesis, molecular docking and biological evaluation of new quinoline analogues as potent anti-breast cancer and antibacterial agents

A new class of quinoline analogues have been synthesized from isatin through two steps in good yields. They have been further evaluated for their anticancer activity against a breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB-231) and antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus 6538p and Bacillus subtilis) and Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa). All synthesized compounds have been confirmed by spectral characterization viz. FT-IR, MS, HPLC, 1H and 13C NMR. Among them, compound 4h exhibits promising anti-breast cancer activity whereas compounds 4d, 4f, 4h and 4j exhibit moderate antibacterial activity against all the tested organisms. Molecular docking analysis demonstrates the interaction of compound 4h with the active site amino acid of Human Carbonic Anhydrase I, Protein Kinase A and Kinesin Spindle Protein (KSP).

Rotation of pear-shaped 100^{100}Ru nucleus

Atomic nuclei in general can have deformed shapes and nearly all these shapes are symmetric with respect to reflection. Only a few Actinide nuclei have stable reflection asymmetric pear shapes in their ground state and exhibit characteristic rotational bands. In this article, we report on the observation of two alternate parity rotational bands in 100Ru, which are connected by seven interleaved electric dipole transitions and their rates are found to be enhanced. In addition, the moments of inertia associated with these two opposite parity rotational bands have been found to be similar. These experimental observations indicate the rotation of a stable pear-shaped 100Ru nucleus, which is the first such observation outside the Actinide mass region. This shape is built on an excited configuration and originates from the rotational alignment of the angular momenta of a pair of neutrons. This unique observation establishes an alternate mechanism by which an atomic nucleus can assume a pear shape.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, 2 table

Essential role of pre-existing humoral immunity in TLR9-mediated type I IFN response to recombinant AAV vectors in human whole blood

Recombinant adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors have emerged as the preferred platform for gene therapy of rare human diseases. Despite the clinical promise, host immune responses to AAV vectors and transgene remain a major barrier to the development of successful AAV-based human gene therapies. Here, we assessed the human innate immune response to AAV9, the preferred serotype for AAV-mediated gene therapy of the CNS. We showed that AAV9 induced type I interferon (IFN) and IL-6 responses in human blood from healthy donors. This innate response was replicated with AAV6, required full viral particles, but was not observed in every donor. Depleting CpG motifs from the AAV transgene or inhibiting TLR9 signaling reduced type I IFN response to AAV9 in responding donors, highlighting the importance of TLR9-mediated DNA sensing for the innate response to AAV9. Remarkably, we further demonstrated that only seropositive donors with preexisting antibodies to AAV9 capsid mounted an innate immune response to AAV9 in human whole blood and that anti-AAV9 antibodies were necessary and sufficient to promote type I IFN release and plasmacytoid dendritic (pDC) cell activation in response to AAV9. Thus, our study reveals a previously unidentified requirement for AAV preexisting antibodies for TLR9-mediated type I IFN response to AAV9 in human blood