1,104 research outputs found
Hybrid in vitro diffusion cell for simultaneous evaluation of hair and skin decontamination: temporal distribution of chemical contaminants
Most casualty or personnel decontamination studies have focused on removing contaminants from the skin. However, scalp hair and underlying skin are the most likely areas of contamination following airborne exposure to chemicals. The aim of this study was to investigate the interactions of contaminants with scalp hair and underlying skin using a hybrid in vitro diffusion cell model. The in vitro hybrid test system comprised âcurtainsâ of human hair mounted onto sections of excised porcine skin within a modified diffusion cell. The results demonstrated that hair substantially reduced underlying scalp skin contamination and that hair may provide a limited decontamination effect by removing contaminants from the skin surface. This hybrid test system may have application in the development of improved chemical incident response processes through the evaluation of various hair and skin decontamination strategies.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio
Experiments and 3D simulations of flow structures in junctions and their influence on location of flowmeters
International audienceOpen-channel junctions are common occurrences in sewer networks and flow rate measurement often occurs near these singularities. Local flow structures are 3-dimensional, impact on the representativeness of the local flow measurements and thus lead to deviations in the flow rate estimation. The present study aims i) to measure and simulate the flow pattern in a junction flow, ii) to analyze the impact of the junction on the velocity distribution according to the distance from the junction and thus iii) to evaluate the typical error derived from the computation of the flow rate close to the junction
DZ Cha: a bona fide photoevaporating disc
DZ Cha is a weak-lined T Tauri star (WTTS) surrounded by a bright
protoplanetary disc with evidence of inner disc clearing. Its narrow \Ha line
and infrared spectral energy distribution suggest that DZ Cha may be a
photoevaporating disc. We aim to analyse the DZ Cha star + disc system to
identify the mechanism driving the evolution of this object. We have analysed
three epochs of high resolution optical spectroscopy, photometry from the UV up
to the sub-mm regime, infrared spectroscopy, and J-band imaging polarimetry
observations of DZ Cha. Combining our analysis with previous studies we find no
signatures of accretion in the \Ha line profile in nine epochs covering a
time baseline of years. The optical spectra are dominated by
chromospheric emission lines, but they also show emission from the forbidden
lines [SII] 4068 and [OI] 6300 that indicate a disc outflow. The
polarized images reveal a dust depleted cavity of au in radius and two
spiral-like features, and we derive a disc dust mass limit of
M_\mathrm{dust}
80 \MJup) companions are detected down to 0\farcs07 ( au,
projected). The negligible accretion rate, small cavity, and forbidden line
emission strongly suggests that DZ Cha is currently at the initial stages of
disc clearing by photoevaporation. At this point the inner disc has drained and
the inner wall of the truncated outer disc is directly exposed to the stellar
radiation. We argue that other mechanisms like planet formation or binarity
cannot explain the observed properties of DZ Cha. The scarcity of objects like
this one is in line with the dispersal timescale ( yr) predicted
by this theory. DZ Cha is therefore an ideal target to study the initial stages
of photoevaporation.Comment: A&A in press, language corrections include
Radio emission of extensive air shower at CODALEMA: Polarization of the radio emission along the v*B vector
Cosmic rays extensive air showers (EAS) are associated with transient radio
emission, which could provide an efficient new detection method of high energy
cosmic rays, combining a calorimetric measurement with a high duty cycle. The
CODALEMA experiment, installed at the Radio Observatory in Nancay, France, is
investigating this phenomenon in the 10^17 eV region. One challenging point is
the understanding of the radio emission mechanism. A first observation
indicating a linear relation between the electric field produced and the cross
product of the shower axis with the geomagnetic field direction has been
presented (B. Revenu, this conference). We will present here other strong
evidences for this linear relationship, and some hints on its physical origin.Comment: Contribution to the 31st International Cosmic Ray Conference, Lodz,
Poland, July 2009. 4 pages, 8 figures. v2: Typo fixed, arxiv references adde
Attosecond VUV Coherent Control of Molecular Dynamics
High harmonic light sources make it possible to access attosecond
time-scales, thus opening up the prospect of manipulating electronic wave
packets for steering molecular dynamics. However, two decades after the birth
of attosecond physics, the concept of attosecond chemistry has not yet been
realized. This is because excitation and manipulation of molecular orbitals
requires precisely controlled attosecond waveforms in the deep ultraviolet,
which have not yet been synthesized. Here, we present a novel approach using
attosecond vacuum ultraviolet pulse-trains to coherently excite and control the
outcome of a simple chemical reaction in a deuterium molecule in a non-Born
Oppenheimer regime. By controlling the interfering pathways of electron wave
packets in the excited neutral and singly-ionized molecule, we unambiguously
show that we can switch the excited electronic state on attosecond timescales,
coherently guide the nuclear wave packets to dictate the way a neutral molecule
vibrates, and steer and manipulate the ionization and dissociation channels.
Furthermore, through advanced theory, we succeed in rigorously modeling
multi-scale electron and nuclear quantum control in a molecule for the first
time. The observed richness and complexity of the dynamics, even in this very
simplest of molecules, is both remarkable and daunting, and presents intriguing
new possibilities for bridging the gap between attosecond physics and
attochemistry
The Sensitivity of HAWC to High-Mass Dark Matter Annihilations
The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory is a wide field-of-view
detector sensitive to gamma rays of 100 GeV to a few hundred TeV. Located in
central Mexico at 19 degrees North latitude and 4100 m above sea level, HAWC
will observe gamma rays and cosmic rays with an array of water Cherenkov
detectors. The full HAWC array is scheduled to be operational in Spring 2015.
In this paper, we study the HAWC sensitivity to the gamma-ray signatures of
high-mass (multi- TeV) dark matter annihilation. The HAWC observatory will be
sensitive to diverse searches for dark matter annihilation, including
annihilation from extended dark matter sources, the diffuse gamma-ray emission
from dark matter annihilation, and gamma-ray emission from non-luminous dark
matter subhalos. Here we consider the HAWC sensitivity to a subset of these
sources, including dwarf galaxies, the M31 galaxy, the Virgo cluster, and the
Galactic center. We simulate the HAWC response to gamma rays from these sources
in several well-motivated dark matter annihilation channels. If no gamma-ray
excess is observed, we show the limits HAWC can place on the dark matter
cross-section from these sources. In particular, in the case of dark matter
annihilation into gauge bosons, HAWC will be able to detect a narrow range of
dark matter masses to cross-sections below thermal. HAWC should also be
sensitive to non-thermal cross-sections for masses up to nearly 1000 TeV. The
constraints placed by HAWC on the dark matter cross-section from known sources
should be competitive with current limits in the mass range where HAWC has
similar sensitivity. HAWC can additionally explore higher dark matter masses
than are currently constrained.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, version to be published in PR
The 2HWC HAWC Observatory Gamma Ray Catalog
We present the first catalog of TeV gamma-ray sources realized with the
recently completed High Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory (HAWC). It is the
most sensitive wide field-of-view TeV telescope currently in operation, with a
1-year survey sensitivity of ~5-10% of the flux of the Crab Nebula. With an
instantaneous field of view >1.5 sr and >90% duty cycle, it continuously
surveys and monitors the sky for gamma ray energies between hundreds GeV and
tens of TeV.
HAWC is located in Mexico at a latitude of 19 degree North and was completed
in March 2015. Here, we present the 2HWC catalog, which is the result of the
first source search realized with the complete HAWC detector. Realized with 507
days of data and represents the most sensitive TeV survey to date for such a
large fraction of the sky. A total of 39 sources were detected, with an
expected contamination of 0.5 due to background fluctuation. Out of these
sources, 16 are more than one degree away from any previously reported TeV
source. The source list, including the position measurement, spectrum
measurement, and uncertainties, is reported. Seven of the detected sources may
be associated with pulsar wind nebulae, two with supernova remnants, two with
blazars, and the remaining 23 have no firm identification yet.Comment: Submitted 2017/02/09 to the Astrophysical Journa
Techniques for accurate protein identification in shotgun proteomic studies of human, mouse, bovine, and chicken lenses
Analysis of shotgun proteomics datasets requires techniques to distinguish correct peptide identifications from incorrect identifications, such as linear discriminant functions and target/decoy protein databases. We report an efficient, flexible proteomic analysis workflow pipeline that implements these techniques to control both peptide and protein false discovery rates. We demonstrate its performance by analyzing two-dimensional liquid chromatography separations of lens proteins from human, mouse, bovine, and chicken lenses. We compared the use of International Protein Index databases to UniProt databases and no-enzyme SEQUEST searches to tryptic searches. Sequences present in the International Protein Index databases allowed detection of several novel crystallins. An alternate start codon isoform of ÎČA4 was found in human lens. The minor crystallin ÎłN was detected for the first time in bovine and chicken lenses. Chicken ÎłS was identified and is the first member of the Îł-crystallin family observed in avian lenses
Anisotropy and chemical composition of ultra-high energy cosmic rays using arrival directions measured by the Pierre Auger Observatory
The Pierre Auger Collaboration has reported evidence for anisotropy in the
distribution of arrival directions of the cosmic rays with energies
eV. These show a correlation with the distribution
of nearby extragalactic objects, including an apparent excess around the
direction of Centaurus A. If the particles responsible for these excesses at
are heavy nuclei with charge , the proton component of the
sources should lead to excesses in the same regions at energies . We here
report the lack of anisotropies in these directions at energies above
(for illustrative values of ). If the anisotropies
above are due to nuclei with charge , and under reasonable
assumptions about the acceleration process, these observations imply stringent
constraints on the allowed proton fraction at the lower energies
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