A sound card based multi-channel frequency measurement system

For physical processes which express themselves as a frequency, for example magnetic field measurements using optically-pumped alkali-vapor magnetometers, the precise extraction of the frequency from the noisy signal is a classical problem. We describe herein a frequency measurement system based on an inexpensive commercially available computer sound card coupled with a software single-tone estimator which reaches Cram\'er--Rao limited performance, a feature which commercial frequency counters often lack. Characterization of the system and examples of its successful application to magnetometry are presented.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl

The use of different blood sample preparations in the development of biomarkers for the environmental monitoring of domestic farm animals

The application of biological effect monitoring for the detection of environmental chemical exposure in domestic animals is still in its infancy. This study investigated blood sample preparations in vitro for their use in biological effect monitoring. When peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), isolated following the collection of multiple blood samples from sheep in the field, were cryopreserved and subsequently cultured for 24 hours a reduction in cell viability (<80%) was attributed to delays in the processing following collection. Alternative blood sample preparations using rat and sheep blood demonstrated that 3 to 5 hour incubations can be undertaken without significant alterations in the viability of the lymphocytes; however, a substantial reduction in viability was observed after 24 hours in frozen blood. Detectable levels of early and late apoptosis as well as increased levels of ROS were detectable in frozen sheep blood samples. The addition of ascorbic acid partly reversed this effect and reduced the loss in cell viability. The response of the rat and sheep blood sample preparations to genotoxic compounds ex vivo showed that EMS caused comparable dose-dependent genotoxic effects in all sample preparations (fresh and frozen) as detected by the Comet assay. In contrast, the effects of CdCl2 were dependent on the duration of exposure as well as the sample preparation. The analysis of leukocyte subsets in frozen sheep blood showed no alterations in the percentages of T and B lymphocytes but led to a major decrease in the percentage of granulocytes compared to those in the fresh samples. The percentages of IFN-γ and IL-4 but not IL-6 positive cells were comparable between fresh and frozen sheep blood after 4 hour stimulation with phorbol 12-myrisate 13-acetate and ionomycin (PMA+I). These results show that frozen blood gives comparable responses to fresh blood samples in the toxicological and immune assays used

A high-sensitivity laser-pumped Mx magnetometer

Abstract.: We discuss the design and performance of a laser-pumped cesium vapor magnetometer in the Mx configuration. The device will be employed in the control and stabilization of fluctuating magnetic fields and gradients in a new experiment searching for a permanent electric dipole moment of the neutron. We have determined the intrinsic sensitivity of the device to be 15 fT in a 1 Hz bandwidth, limited by technical laser noise. In the shot noise limit the magnetometer can reach a sensitivity of 10 fT in a 1 Hz bandwidth. We have used the device to study the fluctuations of a stable magnetic field in a multi-layer magnetic shield for integration times in the range of 2-100 seconds. The residual fluctuations for times up to a few minutes are traced back to the instability of the power supply used to generate the fiel

Listeriolysin S, a Novel Peptide Haemolysin Associated with a Subset of Lineage I Listeria monocytogenes

peer-reviewedStreptolysin S (SLS) is a bacteriocin-like haemolytic and cytotoxic virulence factor that plays a key role in the virulence of Group A Streptococcus (GAS), the causative agent of pharyngitis, impetigo, necrotizing fasciitis and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. Although it has long been thought that SLS and related peptides are produced by GAS and related streptococci only, there is evidence to suggest that a number of the most notorious Gram-positive pathogenic bacteria, including Listeria monocytogenes, Clostridium botulinum and Staphylococcus aureus, produce related peptides. The distribution of the L. monocytogenes cluster is particularly noteworthy in that it is found exclusively among a subset of lineage I strains; i.e., those responsible for the majority of outbreaks of listeriosis. Expression of these genes results in the production of a haemolytic and cytotoxic factor, designated Listeriolysin S, which contributes to virulence of the pathogen as assessed by murine- and human polymorphonuclear neutrophil–based studies. Thus, in the process of establishing the existence of an extended family of SLS-like modified virulence peptides (MVPs), the genetic basis for the enhanced virulence of a proportion of lineage I L. monocytogenes may have been revealed.Work is funded by the Irish Government under the National Development Plan, through a Science Foundation Ireland Investigator award to CH, PR and PC (06/IN.1/B98)

Sensitivity of double resonance alignment magnetometers

We present an experimental study of the intrinsic magnetometric sensitivity of an optical/rf-frequency double resonance magnetometer in which linearly polarized laser light is used in the optical pumping and detection processes. We show that a semi-empirical model of the magnetometer can be used to describe the magnetic resonance spectra. Then, we present an efficient method to predict the optimum operating point of the magnetometer, i.e., the light power and rf Rabi frequency providing maximum magnetometric sensitivity. Finally, we apply the method to investigate the evolution of the optimum operating point with temperature. The method is very efficient to determine relaxation rates and thus allowed us to determine the three collisional disalignment cross sections for the components of the alignment tensor. Both first and second harmonic signals from the magnetometer are considered and compared

Experimental study of laser detected magnetic resonance based on atomic alignment

We present an experimental study of the spectra produced by optical/radio-frequency double resonance in which resonant linearly polarized laser light is used in the optical pumping and detection processes. We show that the experimental spectra obtained for cesium are in excellent agreement with a very general theoretical model developed in our group and we investigate the limitations of this model. Finally, the results are discussed in view of their use in the study of relaxation processes in aligned alkali vapors.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. A. Related to physics/060523

The critically ill patient after hepatobiliary surgery

BACKGROUND: We analyzed the causes and results of utilization of critical care services in the special care unit in patients after surgical procedures performed by the hepatobiliary surgical service during a 23-month period. RESULTS: Thirty-two of 537 patients (6.0%) required postoperative admission to the special care unit. Twenty-one patients were admitted directly from operating room or from recovery room because of inability to wean from ventilator (n = 10), hypovolemic shock (n = 4), myocardial ischemia or infarction (n = 2), sepsis (n = 2), upper gastrointestinal bleeding (n = 2), and acute renal failure (n =1). Eleven postoperative patients were admitted from floor care for respiratory failure (n = 4), cardiac dysrhythmia or infarction (n = 4), sepsis (n = 2), and upper gastrointestinal bleeding (n = 1). Thirty-eight per cent of patients (n = 12) admitted to the special care unit after surgery died. By multivariate analysis, total postoperative stay in the special care unit that was greater than median total duration of stay of 4.5 days was the only independent predictor of mortality (P = 0.041). CONCLUSIONS: Respiratory failure was the predominant component of all complications after hepatobiliary surgery. No clinically useful predictors of eventual outcome could be identified