946 research outputs found
Advanced modulation technology development for earth station demodulator applications
The purpose of this contract was to develop a high rate (200 Mbps), bandwidth efficient, modulation format using low cost hardware, in 1990's technology. The modulation format chosen is 16-ary continuous phase frequency shift keying (CPFSK). The implementation of the modulation format uses a unique combination of a limiter/discriminator followed by an accumulator to determine transmitted phase. An important feature of the modulation scheme is the way coding is applied to efficiently gain back the performance lost by the close spacing of the phase points
Approaching ‘kit-type’ labelling with 68Ga: the DATA chelators
The DATA chelators are a novel class of tri-anionic ligands based on 6-amino-1,4-diazepine-triacetic acid, which have been introduced recently for the chelation of 68Ga. Compared with macrocyclic chelators based on the cyclen scaffold (i.e., DOTA, DO3A, and DO2A derivatives), DATA chelators undergo quantitative radiolabelling more rapidly and under milder conditions. In this study, a systematic evaluation of the labelling of four DATA chelators—DATAM, DATAP, DATAPh, and DATAPPh—with 68Ga is presented. The results highlight the extraordinary potential of this new class of chelators for application in molecular imaging using 68Ga positron emission tomography (PET)
VLBI Probes of Jet Physics in Neutrino-Candidate Blazars
In recent years, evidence has accumulated that some high-energy cosmic
neutrinos can be associated with blazars. The strongest evidence for an
individual association was found in the case of the blazar TXS 0506+056 in
2017. In July 2019, another track-like neutrino event (IC190730A) was found
spatially coincident with the well-known bright flat-spectrum radio quasar PKS
1502+106. PKS 1502+106 was not found to be in a particularly elevated gamma-ray
state, but exhibited a remarkably bright radio outburst at the time of the
neutrino detection, similar to TXS 0506+056. We have performed a
multi-frequency VLBI study from 15 GHz up to 86 GHz on TXS 0506+056, PKS
1502+106 and one additional neutrino-candidate blazar (PKS 0215+015) to study
the radio structure of neutrino candidate blazars in response to their neutrino
association. We have obtained target of opportunity observations with the VLBA
for all three sources within 1 month from their associated neutrino
events and are performing multi-epoch studies of the jet kinematics at 15 GHz
as part of the MOJAVE program. Here, we present first results on TXS 0506+056
at 86 GHz and one additional 43 GHz image obtained 27 days after IC170922A,
closer in time to the neutrino event than previously published images. We also
give an overview about our recent work on PKS 1502+106 and PKS 0215+015.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure, 1 table, Proceedings of 38th International Cosmic
Ray Conference (ICRC2023
NIKA: A millimeter-wave kinetic inductance camera
Current generation millimeter wavelength detectors suffer from scaling limits
imposed by complex cryogenic readout electronics. To circumvent this it is
imperative to investigate technologies that intrinsically incorporate strong
multiplexing. One possible solution is the kinetic inductance detector (KID).
In order to assess the potential of this nascent technology, a prototype
instrument optimized for the 2 mm atmospheric window was constructed. Known as
the N\'eel IRAM KIDs Array (NIKA), it was recently tested at the Institute for
Millimetric Radio Astronomy (IRAM) 30-meter telescope at Pico Veleta, Spain.
The measurement resulted in the imaging of a number of sources, including
planets, quasars, and galaxies. The images for Mars, radio star MWC349, quasar
3C345, and galaxy M87 are presented. From these results, the optical NEP was
calculated to be around WHz. A factor of 10
improvement is expected to be readily feasible by improvements in the detector
materials and reduction of performance-degrading spurious radiation.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic
Gender differences in lung cancer risk by smoking: a multicentre case-control study in Germany and Italy
Several studies in the past have shown appreciably higher lung cancer risk estimates associated with smoking exposure among men than among women, while more recent studies in the USA report just the opposite. To evaluate this topic in a European population we conducted a case-control study of lung cancer in three German and three Italian centres. Personal interviews and standardized questionnaires were used to obtain detailed life-long smoking and occupational histories from 3723 male and 900 female cases and 4075 male and 1094 female controls. Lung cancer risk comparing ever-smokers with never-smokers was higher among men (odds ratios (OR) adjusted for age and centre = 16.1, 95% confidence interval (CI) 12.8-20.3) than among women (OR = 4.2, CI 3.5-5.1). Because the smoking habits of women were different from men, we conducted more detailed analyses using comparable levels of smoking exposure. After restriction to smokers and adjustment for other smoking variables, risk estimates did not differ appreciably between genders. The analysis of duration of smoking (0-19, 20-39, 40+ years) adjusted for cigarette consumption and time since quitting smoking revealed similar risk estimates in men (OR = 1.0, 3.3 [CI 2.6-4.2], 4.1 [CI 3.1-5.6]) and women (OR = 1.0, 2.7 [CI 1.7-4.1], 3.3 [CI 1.9-5.8]). The same was true of the analysis of average or cumulative smoking consumption, and also of analyses stratified by different histological types. We conclude that for comparable exposure to tobacco smoke, the risk of lung cancer is comparable in women and men
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