MOEMS deformable mirror testing in cryo for future optical instrumentation

MOEMS Deformable Mirrors (DM) are key components for next generation instruments with innovative adaptive optics systems, in existing telescopes and in the future ELTs. These DMs must perform at room temperature as well as in cryogenic and vacuum environment. Ideally, the MOEMS-DMs must be designed to operate in such environment. We present some major rules for designing / operating DMs in cryo and vacuum. We chose to use interferometry for the full characterization of these devices, including surface quality measurement in static and dynamical modes, at ambient and in vacuum/cryo. Thanks to our previous set-up developments, we placed a compact cryo-vacuum chamber designed for reaching 10-6 mbar and 160K, in front of our custom Michelson interferometer, able to measure performances of the DM at actuator/segment level as well as whole mirror level, with a lateral resolution of 2{\mu}m and a sub-nanometric z-resolution. Using this interferometric bench, we tested the Iris AO PTT111 DM: this unique and robust design uses an array of single crystalline silicon hexagonal mirrors with a pitch of 606{\mu}m, able to move in tip, tilt and piston with strokes from 5 to 7{\mu}m, and tilt angle in the range of +/-5mrad. They exhibit typically an open-loop flat surface figure as good as <20nm rms. A specific mount including electronic and opto-mechanical interfaces has been designed for fitting in the test chamber. Segment deformation, mirror shaping, open-loop operation are tested at room and cryo temperature and results are compared. The device could be operated successfully at 160K. An additional, mainly focus-like, 500 nm deformation is measured at 160K; we were able to recover the best flat in cryo by correcting the focus and local tip-tilts on some segments. Tests on DM with different mirror thicknesses (25{\mu}m and 50{\mu}m) and different coatings (silver and gold) are currently under way.Comment: 11 pages, 12 Figure

ACCEPTABILITY AND TEST THE LEVELS OF PROTEIN AND CALCIUM IN A CHEESE STICK WITH THE SUBSTITUTION OF MACKEREL

Mackerel is a deepwater fish contains many minerals than freshwater fish. One is the mineral content of calcium is good for bones and teeth. Utilization mackerel widely used by the general public as pufferfish contains omega-3 and omega-6 is good for disease prevention and intelligence. The purpose of this study to determine the acceptability and analysis of proteins and calcium in cheese sticks with flour substitution mackerel. This study was conducted in laboratory studies of food technology laboratories Nutrition Department of Health Polytechnic of Ministry of Health in Makassar and Makassar Center for Health Laboratory. Protein analysis used micro kjeldahl and calcium analysis by atomic absorption spectrophotometry method. The results of the study using Friedman test showed that the best concentration of 5% (an aspect of color, texture, aroma, and flavor). The protein content of cheese sticks with flour substitution mackerel 5% which was an average of 11.15 grams / 100 grams of material weight and calcium content of cheese sticks with flour substitution mackerel 5% with an average of 47.545 mg / 100 grams of material. It is advisable to conduct an analysis of other nutrients in cheese stick with flour substitution mackerel and use garlic during the process of making cheese stick mackerel because of the benefits of garlic as food seasonings that make dishes into flavorful and contain appetite and improve durable foodstuffs. Keywords: cheese stick, acceptability, mackerel, levels of calcium, protein conten

Symplectic model reduction of Hamiltonian systems using data-driven quadratic manifolds

This work presents two novel approaches for the symplectic model reduction of high-dimensional Hamiltonian systems using data-driven quadratic manifolds. Classical symplectic model reduction approaches employ linear symplectic subspaces for representing the high-dimensional system states in a reduced-dimensional coordinate system. While these approximations respect the symplectic nature of Hamiltonian systems, linear basis approximations can suffer from slowly decaying Kolmogorov $N$-width, especially in wave-type problems, which then requires a large basis size. We propose two different model reduction methods based on recently developed quadratic manifolds, each presenting its own advantages and limitations. The addition of quadratic terms to the state approximation, which sits at the heart of the proposed methodologies, enables us to better represent intrinsic low-dimensionality in the problem at hand. Both approaches are effective for issuing predictions in settings well outside the range of their training data while providing more accurate solutions than the linear symplectic reduced-order models

City Sketching

Procedural methods offer an automated means of generating complex cityscapes, incorporating the placement of park areas and the layout of roads, plots and buildings. Unfortunately, existing interfaces to procedural city systems tend to either focus on a single aspect of city layout (such as the road network) ignoring interaction with other elements (such as building dimensions) or expect numeric input with little visual feedback, short of the completed city, which may take up to several minutes to generate. In this paper we present an interface to procedural city generation, which, through a combination of sketching and gestural input, enables users to specify different land usage (parkland, commercial, residential and industrial), and control the geometric attributes of roads, plots and buildings. Importantly, the inter-relationship of these elements is pre-visualized so that their impact on the final city layout can be predicted. Once generated, further editing, for instance shaping the city skyline or redrawing individual roads, is supported. In general, City Sketching provides a powerful and intuitive interface for designing complex urban layouts

The Neurological Ecology of Fear: Insights Neuroscientists and Ecologists Have to Offer one Another

That the fear and stress of life-threatening experiences can leave an indelible trace on the brain is most clearly exemplified by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Many researchers studying the animal model of PTSD have adopted utilizing exposure to a predator as a life-threatening psychological stressor, to emulate the experience in humans, and the resulting body of literature has demonstrated numerous long-lasting neurological effects paralleling those in PTSD patients. Even though much more extreme, predator-induced fear and stress in animals in the wild was, until the 1990s, not thought to have any lasting effects, whereas recent experiments have demonstrated that the effects on free-living animals are sufficiently long-lasting to even affect reproduction, though the lasting neurological effects remain unexplored. We suggest neuroscientists and ecologists both have much to gain from collaborating in studying the neurological effects of predator-induced fear and stress in animals in the wild. We outline the approaches taken in the lab that appear most readily translatable to the field, and detail the advantages that studying animals in the wild can offer researchers investigating the “predator model of PTSD.

Failure of hydrogenation in protecting polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from fragmentation

A recent study of soft X-ray absorption in native and hydrogenated coronene cations, C$_{24}$H$_{12+m}^+$ $m=0-7$, led to the conclusion that additional hydrogen atoms protect (interstellar) Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules from fragmentation [Reitsma et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 053002 (2014)]. The present experiment with collisions between fast (30-200 eV) He atoms and pyrene (C$_{16}$H$_{10+m}^+$, $m=0$, 6, and 16) and simulations without reference to the excitation method suggests the opposite. We find that the absolute carbon-backbone fragmentation cross section does not decrease but increases with the degree of hydrogenation for pyrene molecules.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

Willingness of Community-Recruited Men Who Have Sex with Men in Washington, DC to Use Long-Acting Injectable HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis.

Objectives Clinical trials are currently investigating the safety and efficacy of long-acting injectable (LAI) agents as HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Using National HIV Behavioral Surveillance data, we assessed the self-reported willingness of men who have sex with men (MSM) to use LAI PrEP and their preference for LAI versus daily oral PrEP. Methods In 2014, venue-based sampling was used to recruit MSM aged ≥18 years in Washington, DC. Participants completed an interviewer-administered survey followed by voluntary HIV testing. This analysis included MSM who self-reported negative/unknown HIV status at study entry. Correlates of being “very likely” to use LAI PrEP and preferring it to daily oral PrEP were identified using multivariable logistic regression. Results Of 314 participants who self-reported negative/unknown HIV status, 50% were \u3c30 years old, 41% were non-Hispanic Black, 37% were non-Hispanic White, and 14% were Hispanic. If LAI PrEP were offered for free or covered by health insurance, 62% were very likely, 25% were somewhat likely, and 12% were unlikely to use it. Regarding preferred PrEP modality, 67% chose LAI PrEP, 24% chose oral PrEP, and 9% chose neither. Correlates of being very likely versus somewhat likely/unlikely to use LAI PrEP included age \u3c30 years (aOR 1.64; 95% CI 1.00–2.68), reporting ≥6 (vs. 1) sex partners in the last year (aOR 2.60; 95% CI 1.22–5.53), previous oral PrEP use (aOR 3.67; 95% CI 1.20–11.24), and being newly identified as HIV-infected during study testing (aOR 4.83; 95% CI 1.03–22.67). Black (vs. White) men (aOR 0.48; 95% CI 0.24–0.96) and men with an income of \u3c$20,000 (vs. ≥$75,000; aOR 0.37; 95% CI 0.15–0.93) were less likely to prefer LAI to oral PrEP. Conclusions If LAI PrEP were found to be efficacious, its addition to the HIV prevention toolkit could facilitate more complete PrEP coverage among MSM at risk for HIV

Meta-analysis of published cerebrospinal fluid proteomics data identifies and validates metabolic enzyme panel as Alzheimer's disease biomarkers

To develop therapies for Alzheimer's disease, we need accurate in vivo diagnostics. Multiple proteomic studies mapping biomarker candidates in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) resulted in little overlap. To overcome this shortcoming, we apply the rarely used concept of proteomics meta-analysis to identify an effective biomarker panel. We combine ten independent datasets for biomarker identification: seven datasets from 150 patients/controls for discovery, one dataset with 20 patients/controls for down-selection, and two datasets with 494 patients/controls for validation. The discovery results in 21 biomarker candidates and down-selection in three, to be validated in the two additional large-scale proteomics datasets with 228 diseased and 266 control samples. This resulting 3-protein biomarker panel differentiates Alzheimer's disease (AD) from controls in the two validation cohorts with areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROCs) of 0.83 and 0.87, respectively. This study highlights the value of systematically re-analyzing previously published proteomics data and the need for more stringent data deposition