First Astronomical Use of Multiplexed Transition Edge Bolometers

We present performance results based on the first astronomical use of multiplexed superconducting bolometers. The Fabry-Perot Interferometer Bolometer Research Experiment (FIBRE) is a broadband submillimeter spectrometer that achieved first light in June 2001 at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO). FIBRE'S detectors are superconducting transition edge sensor (TES) bolometers read out by a SQUID multiplexer. The Fabry-Perot uses a low resolution grating to order sort the incoming light. A linear bolometer array consisting of 16 elements detects this dispersed light, capturing 5 orders simultaneously from one position on the sky. With tuning of the Fabry-Perot over one free spectral range, a spectrum covering Δλ/λ= 1/7 at a resolution of δλ/λ ≈ 1/1200 can be acquired. This spectral resolution is sufficient to resolve Doppler-broadened line emission from external galaxies. FIBRE operates in the 350 µm and 450 µm bands. These bands cover line emission from the important star formation tracers neutral carbon [Cl] and carbon monoxide (CO). We have verified that the multiplexed bolometers are photon noise limited even with the low power present in moderate resolution spectrometry

Wide-Field InfraRed Survey Telescope (WFIRST) Final Report

In December 2010, NASA created a Science Definition Team (SDT) for WFIRST, the Wide Field Infra-Red Survey Telescope, recommended by the Astro 2010 Decadal Survey as the highest priority for a large space mission. The SDT was chartered to work with the WFIRST Project Office at GSFC and the Program Office at JPL to produce a Design Reference Mission (DRM) for WFIRST. Part of the original charge was to produce an interim design reference mission by mid-2011. That document was delivered to NASA and widely circulated within the astronomical community. In late 2011 the Astrophysics Division augmented its original charge, asking for two design reference missions. The first of these, DRM1, was to be a finalized version of the interim DRM, reducing overall mission costs where possible. The second of these, DRM2, was to identify and eliminate capabilities that overlapped with those of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (henceforth JWST), ESA's Euclid mission, and the NSF's ground-based Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (henceforth LSST), and again to reduce overall mission cost, while staying faithful to NWNH. This report presents both DRM1 and DRM2.Comment: 102 pages, 57 figures, 17 table

Epidemiologic Relationship between Toscana Virus Infection and Leishmania infantum Due to Common Exposure to Phlebotomus perniciosus Sandfly Vector

Sand flies are recognised vectors of parasites in the genus Leishmania and a number of arthropod-borne viruses, in particular viruses within the genus Phlebovirus, family Bunyaviridae. In southern France, Toscana phlebovirus (TOSV) is recognized as a prominent cause of summer meningitis. Since Leishmania and TOSV have a common vector (Phlebotomus perniciosus), an epidemiologic link has been assumed for a long time. However, there is no scientific evidence of such a link between human leishmaniosis and phleboviral infections. To identify a possible link, we investigated the presence and distribution of antibodies against these two microorganisms (i) in individuals and (ii) at a spatial level in the city of Marseille (south-eastern France). Five hundred sera were selected randomly in the biobank of the Department of Parasitology of the Public Hospitals of Marseille. All sera were previously tested for IgG against Leishmania by Western Blotting, and TOSV IgG were detected by indirect immunofluorescence. The seropositivity rates were 21.4% for TOSV and 28% for Leishmania. Statistical analysis demonstrated that seropositivity for one pathogen was significantly associated with seropositivity to the other pathogen. This result provided the first robust evidence for the existence of an epidemiological relationship between Leishmania infantum and TOSV. Addresses of tested patients were geolocalized and integrated into Geographical Information System software, in order to test spatial relationship between the two pathogens. Spatial analysis did not allow to identify (i) specific patterns for the spatial distribution of positive serological results for TOSV or Leishmania, and (ii) a spatial relationship between Leishmania and TOSV positive serological results. This may reflect the fact that the sample studied was not powerful enough to demonstrate either a spatial clustering or co-location, i.e. that the actual risk exposure area is smaller than the mean of distance between patients in our study (245 m)

2016 Decadal Update of the NASA ESTO Lidar Technologies Investment Strategy

We describe the 2016 update of the NASA Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO) investment strategy in the area of lidar technologies as pertaining to NASAs Earth Science measurement goals in the next decade

Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) Interim Report

The New Worlds, New Horizons (NWNH) in Astronomy and Astrophysics 2010 Decadal Survey prioritized the community consensus for ground-based and space-based observatories. Recognizing that many of the community s key questions could be answered with a wide-field infrared survey telescope in space, and that the decade would be one of budget austerity, WFIRST was top ranked in the large space mission category. In addition to the powerful new science that could be accomplished with a wide-field infrared telescope, the WFIRST mission was determined to be both technologically ready and only a small fraction of the cost of previous flagship missions, such as HST or JWST. In response to the top ranking by the community, NASA formed the WFIRST Science Definition Team (SDT) and Project Office. The SDT was charged with fleshing out the NWNH scientific requirements to a greater level of detail. NWNH evaluated the risk and cost of the JDEM-Omega mission design, as submitted by NASA, and stated that it should serve as the basis for the WFIRST mission. The SDT and Project Office were charged with developing a mission optimized for achieving the science goals laid out by the NWNH re-port. The SDT and Project Office opted to use the JDEM-Omega hardware configuration as an initial start-ing point for the hardware implementation. JDEM-Omega and WFIRST both have an infrared imager with a filter wheel, as well as counter-dispersed moderate resolution spectrometers. The primary advantage of space observations is being above the Earth's atmosphere, which absorbs, scatters, warps and emits light. Observing from above the atmosphere enables WFIRST to obtain precision infrared measurements of the shapes of galaxies for weak lensing, infrared light-curves of supernovae and exoplanet microlensing events with low systematic errors, and infrared measurements of the H hydrogen line to be cleanly detected in the 1<z<2 redshift range important for baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) dark energy measurements. The Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS), the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE), Herschel, Spitzer, and Wide-field Infrared Sur-vey Explorer (WISE) are all space missions that have produced stunning new scientific advances by going to space to observe in the infrared. This interim report describes progress as of June 2011 on developing a requirements flowdown and an evaluation of scientific performance. An Interim Design Reference Mission (IDRM) configuration is presented that is based on the specifications of NWNH with some refinements to optimize the design in accordance with the new scientific requirements. Analysis of this WFIRST IDRM concept is in progress to ensure the capability of the observatory is compatible with the science requirements. The SDT and Project will continue to refine the mission concept over the coming year as design, analysis and simulation work are completed, resulting in the SDT s WFIRST Design Reference Mission (DRM) by the end of 2012

Summertime stratospheric processes at northern mid-latitudes: comparisons between MANTRA balloon measurements and the Canadian Middle Atmosphere Model

In this paper we report on a study conducted using the Middle Atmospheric Nitrogen TRend Assessment (MANTRA) balloon measurements of stratospheric constituents and temperature and the Canadian Middle Atmosphere Model (CMAM). Three different kinds of data are used to assess the inter-consistency of the combined dataset: single profiles of long-lived species from MANTRA 1998, sparse climatologies from the ozonesonde measurements during the four MANTRA campaigns and from HALOE satellite measurements, and the CMAM climatology. In doing so, we evaluate the ability of the model to reproduce the measured fields and to thereby test our ability to describe mid-latitude summertime stratospheric processes. The MANTRA campaigns were conducted at Vanscoy, Saskatchewan, Canada (52◦ N, 107◦ W)in late August and early September of 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2004. During late summer at mid-latitudes, the stratosphere is close to photochemical control, providing an ideal scenario for the study reported here. From this analysis we find that: (1) reducing the value for the vertical diffusion coefficient in CMAM to a more physically reasonable value results in the model better reproducing the measured profiles of long-lived species; (2) the existence of compact correlations among the constituents, as expected from independent measurements in the literature and from models, confirms the self-consistency of the MANTRA measurements; and (3) the 1998 measurements show structures in the chemical species profiles that can be associated with transport, adding to the growing evidence that the summertime stratosphere can be much more disturbed than anticipated. The mechanisms responsible for such disturbances need to be understood in order to assess the representativeness of the measurements and to isolate longterm trends

On the Limited Role of Electronic Support Effects in Selective Alkyne Hydrogenation: A Kinetic Study of Au/MO\u3csub\u3ex\u3c/sub\u3e Catalysts Prepared from Oleylamine-Capped Colloidal Nanoparticles

We report a quantitative kinetic evaluation and study of support effects for partial alkyne hydrogenation using oleylaminecapped Au colloids as catalyst precursors. The amine capping agents can be removed under reducing conditions, generating supported Au nanoparticles of ~2.5 nm in diameter. The catalysts showed high alkene selectivity (\u3e90%) at all conversions during alkyne partial hydrogenation. Catalytic activity, observed rate constants, and apparent activation energies (25– 40 kJ/mol) were similar for all Au catalysts, indicating support effects are relatively small. Alkyne adsorption, probed with FTIR and DFT, showed adsorption on the support was associated with hydrogen-bonding interactions. DFT calculations indicate strong alkyne adsorption on Au sites, with the strongest adsorption sites at the metal-support interface (MSI). The catalysts had similar hydrogen reaction orders (0.7–0.9), and 1- octyne reaction orders (~ 0.2), suggesting a common mechanism. The reaction kinetics are most consistent with a mechanism involving the non-competitive activated adsorption of H2 on an alkyne-covered Au surface

Identification of Two Independent Risk Factors for Lupus within the MHC in United Kingdom Families

The association of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) with SLE is well established yet the causal variants arising from this region remain to be identified, largely due to inadequate study design and the strong linkage disequilibrium demonstrated by genes across this locus. The majority of studies thus far have identified strong association with classical class II alleles, in particular HLA-DRB1*0301 and HLA-DRB1*1501. Additional associations have been reported with class III alleles; specifically, complement C4 null alleles and a tumor necrosis factor promoter SNP (TNF-308G/A). However, the relative effects of these class II and class III variants have not been determined. We have thus used a family-based approach to map association signals across the MHC class II and class III regions in a cohort of 314 complete United Kingdom Caucasian SLE trios by typing tagging SNPs together with classical typing of the HLA-DRB1 locus. Using TDT and conditional regression analyses, we have demonstrated the presence of two distinct and independent association signals in SLE: HLA-DRB1*0301 (nominal p = 4.9 × 10−8, permuted p < 0.0001, OR = 2.3) and the T allele of SNP rs419788 (nominal p = 4.3 × 10−8, permuted p < 0.0001, OR = 2.0) in intron 6 of the class III region gene SKIV2L. Assessment of genotypic risk demonstrates a likely dominant model of inheritance for HLA-DRB1*0301, while rs419788-T confers susceptibility in an additive manner. Furthermore, by comparing transmitted and untransmitted parental chromosomes, we have delimited our class II signal to a 180 kb region encompassing the alleles HLA-DRB1*0301-HLA-DQA1*0501-HLA-DQB1*0201 alone. Our class III signal importantly excludes independent association at the TNF promoter polymorphism, TNF-308G/A, in our SLE cohort and provides a potentially novel locus for future genetic and functional studies