360 research outputs found
A diffusion-induced transition in the phase separation of binary fluid mixtures subjected to a temperature ramp
Demixing of binary fluids subjected to slow temperature ramps shows repeated
waves of nucleation which arise as a consequence of the competition between
generation of supersaturation by the temperature ramp and relaxation of
supersaturation by diffusive transport and flow. Here, we use an
advection-reaction-diffusion model to study the oscillations in the weak- and
strong-diffusion regime. There is a sharp transition between the two regimes,
which can only be understood based on the probability distribution function of
the composition rather than in terms of the average composition. We argue that
this transition might be responsible for some yet unclear features of
experiments, like the appearance of secondary oscillations and bimodal droplet
size distributions.Comment: 6 pages, 3 color figure
Characterizing Exoplanets in the Visible and Infrared: A Spectrometer Concept for the EChO Space Mission
Transit-spectroscopy of exoplanets is one of the key observational techniques
to characterize the extrasolar planet and its atmosphere. The observational
challenges of these measurements require dedicated instrumentation and only the
space environment allows an undisturbed access to earth-like atmospheric
features such as water or carbon-dioxide. Therefore, several exoplanet-specific
space missions are currently being studied. One of them is EChO, the Exoplanet
Characterization Observatory, which is part of ESA's Cosmic Vision 2015-2025
program, and which is one of four candidates for the M3 launch slot in 2024. In
this paper we present the results of our assessment study of the EChO
spectrometer, the only science instrument onboard this spacecraft. The
instrument is a multi-channel all-reflective dispersive spectrometer, covering
the wavelength range from 400 nm to 16 microns simultaneously with a moderately
low spectral resolution. We illustrate how the key technical challenge of the
EChO mission - the high photometric stability - influences the choice of
spectrometer concept and drives fundamentally the instrument design. First
performance evaluations underline the fitness of the elaborated design solution
for the needs of the EChO mission.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in the Journal of
Astronomical Instrumentatio
Modification of a conventional photolytic converter for improving aircraft measurements of NO via chemiluminescence
Nitrogen oxides (NO≡NO+NO) are centrally involved in the photochemical processes taking place in the Earth\u27s atmosphere. Measurements of NO, particularly in remote areas where concentrations are of the order of parts per trillion by volume (pptv), are still a challenge and subject to extensive research. In this study, we present NO measurements via photolysis–chemiluminescence during the research aircraft campaign CAFE Africa (Chemistry of the Atmosphere – Field Experiment in Africa) 2018 around Cabo Verde and the results of laboratory experiments to characterize the photolytic converter used. We find the NO reservoir species MPN (methyl peroxy nitrate) to produce the only relevant thermal interference in the converter under the operating conditions during CAFE Africa. We identify a memory effect within the conventional photolytic converter (type 1) associated with high NO concentrations and rapidly changing water vapor concentrations, accompanying changes in altitude during aircraft measurements, which is due to the porous structure of the converter material. As a result, NO artifacts, which are amplified by low conversion efficiencies, and a varying instrumental background adversely affect the NO measurements. We test and characterize an alternative photolytic converter (type 2) made from quartz glass, which improves the reliability of NO measurements in laboratory and field studies
GRAVITY: getting to the event horizon of Sgr A*
We present the second-generation VLTI instrument GRAVITY, which currently is
in the preliminary design phase. GRAVITY is specifically designed to observe
highly relativistic motions of matter close to the event horizon of Sgr A*, the
massive black hole at center of the Milky Way. We have identified the key
design features needed to achieve this goal and present the resulting
instrument concept. It includes an integrated optics, 4-telescope, dual feed
beam combiner operated in a cryogenic vessel; near infrared wavefront sensing
adaptive optics; fringe tracking on secondary sources within the field of view
of the VLTI and a novel metrology concept. Simulations show that the planned
design matches the scientific needs; in particular that 10 microarcsecond
astrometry is feasible for a source with a magnitude of K=15 like Sgr A*, given
the availability of suitable phase reference sources.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, to appear in the conference proceedings of SPIE
Astronomical Instrumentation, 23-28 June 2008, Marseille, Franc
Aptamer-based multiplexed proteomic technology for biomarker discovery
Interrogation of the human proteome in a highly multiplexed and efficient manner remains a coveted and challenging goal in biology. We present a new aptamer-based proteomic technology for biomarker discovery capable of simultaneously measuring thousands of proteins from small sample volumes (15 [mu]L of serum or plasma). Our current assay allows us to measure ~800 proteins with very low limits of detection (1 pM average), 7 logs of overall dynamic range, and 5% average coefficient of variation. This technology is enabled by a new generation of aptamers that contain chemically modified nucleotides, which greatly expand the physicochemical diversity of the large randomized nucleic acid libraries from which the aptamers are selected. Proteins in complex matrices such as plasma are measured with a process that transforms a signature of protein concentrations into a corresponding DNA aptamer concentration signature, which is then quantified with a DNA microarray. In essence, our assay takes advantage of the dual nature of aptamers as both folded binding entities with defined shapes and unique sequences recognizable by specific hybridization probes. To demonstrate the utility of our proteomics biomarker discovery technology, we applied it to a clinical study of chronic kidney disease (CKD). We identified two well known CKD biomarkers as well as an additional 58 potential CKD biomarkers. These results demonstrate the potential utility of our technology to discover unique protein signatures characteristic of various disease states. More generally, we describe a versatile and powerful tool that allows large-scale comparison of proteome profiles among discrete populations. This unbiased and highly multiplexed search engine will enable the discovery of novel biomarkers in a manner that is unencumbered by our incomplete knowledge of biology, thereby helping to advance the next generation of evidence-based medicine
Measurement report: Hydrogen peroxide in the upper tropical troposphere over the Atlantic Ocean and western Africa during the CAFE-Africa aircraft campaign
This study focuses on the distribution of hydrogen peroxide
(H2O2) in the upper tropical troposphere at altitudes between 8
and 15 km based on in situ observations during the Chemistry of the Atmosphere: Field Experiment in Africa (CAFE-Africa) campaign conducted in August–September 2018 over the tropical Atlantic Ocean and western Africa. The measured hydrogen peroxide mixing ratios in the upper troposphere show no clear trend in the latitudinal distribution with locally increased levels (up to 1 ppbv​​​​​​​) within the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), over
the African coastal area, as well as during measurements performed in
proximity to the tropical storm Florence (later developing into a
hurricane). The observed H2O2 distribution suggests that mixing
ratios in the upper troposphere seem to be far less dependent on latitude
than assumed previously and the corresponding factors influencing the
photochemical production and loss of H2O2. The observed levels of
H2O2 in the upper troposphere indicate the influence of convective
transport processes on the distribution of the species not only in the
tropical but also in the subtropical regions. The measurements are compared
to observation-based photostationary steady-state (PSS) calculations and
numerical simulations by the global ECHAM/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) model. North of the ITCZ, PSS
calculations produce mostly lower H2O2 mixing ratios relative to
the observations. The observed mixing ratios tend to exceed the PSS
calculations by up to a factor of 2. With the exception of local events, the comparison between the calculated PSS values and the observations indicates enhanced H2O2 mixing ratios relative to the expectations based on PSS calculations in the north of the ITCZ. On the other hand, PSS calculations tend to overestimate the H2O2 mixing ratios in most of the sampled area in the south of the ITCZ by a factor of up to 3. The significant influence of convection in the ITCZ and the enhanced presence of clouds towards the Southern Hemisphere indicate contributions of atmospheric transport and cloud scavenging in the sampled region.
Simulations performed by the EMAC model also overestimate hydrogen peroxide
levels particularly in the Southern Hemisphere, most likely due to
underestimated cloud scavenging. EMAC simulations and PSS calculations both
indicate a latitudinal gradient from the Equator towards the subtropics. In
contrast, the measurements show no clear gradient with latitude in the
mixing ratios of H2O2 in the upper troposphere with a slight
decrease from the ITCZ towards the subtropics, indicating a relatively low
dependency on the solar radiation intensity and the corresponding photolytic
activity. The largest model deviations relative to the observations
correspond with the underestimated hydrogen peroxide loss due to enhanced
cloud presence, scavenging, and rainout in the ITCZ and towards the south.</p
PSPACE-completeness of Modular Supervisory Control Problems*
In this paper we investigate computational issues associated with the supervision of concurrent processes modeled as modular discrete-event systems. Here, modular discrete-event systems are sets of deterministic finite-state automata whose interaction is modeled by the parallel composition operation. Even with such a simple model process model, we show that in general many problems related to the supervision of these systems are PSPACE-complete. This shows that although there may be space-efficient methods for avoiding the state-explosion problem inherent to concurrent processes, there are most likely no time-efficient solutions that would aid in the study of such “large-scale” systems. We show our results using a reduction from a special class of automata intersection problem introduced here where behavior is assumed to be prefix-closed. We find that deciding if there exists a supervisor for a modular system to achieve a global specification is PSPACE-complete. We also show many verification problems for system supervision are PSPACE-complete, even for prefix-closed cases. Supervisor admissibility and online supervision operations are also discussed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45090/1/10626_2004_Article_6210.pd
Identification of Contractile Vacuole Proteins in Trypanosoma cruzi
Contractile vacuole complexes are critical components of cell volume regulation
and have been shown to have other functional roles in several free-living
protists. However, very little is known about the functions of the contractile
vacuole complex of the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, the
etiologic agent of Chagas disease, other than a role in osmoregulation.
Identification of the protein composition of these organelles is important for
understanding their physiological roles. We applied a combined proteomic and
bioinfomatic approach to identify proteins localized to the contractile vacuole.
Proteomic analysis of a T. cruzi fraction enriched for
contractile vacuoles and analyzed by one-dimensional gel electrophoresis and
LC-MS/MS resulted in the addition of 109 newly detected proteins to the group of
expressed proteins of epimastigotes. We also identified different peptides that
map to at least 39 members of the dispersed gene family 1 (DGF-1) providing
evidence that many members of this family are simultaneously expressed in
epimastigotes. Of the proteins present in the fraction we selected several
homologues with known localizations in contractile vacuoles of other organisms
and others that we expected to be present in these vacuoles on the basis of
their potential roles. We determined the localization of each by expression as
GFP-fusion proteins or with specific antibodies. Six of these putative proteins
(Rab11, Rab32, AP180, ATPase subunit B, VAMP1, and phosphate transporter)
predominantly localized to the vacuole bladder. TcSNARE2.1, TcSNARE2.2, and
calmodulin localized to the spongiome. Calmodulin was also cytosolic. Our
results demonstrate the utility of combining subcellular fractionation,
proteomic analysis, and bioinformatic approaches for localization of organellar
proteins that are difficult to detect with whole cell methodologies. The CV
localization of the proteins investigated revealed potential novel roles of
these organelles in phosphate metabolism and provided information on the
potential participation of adaptor protein complexes in their biogenesis
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