Transfer of autocollimator calibration for use with scanning gantry profilometers for accurate determination of surface slope and curvature of state of the art x ray mirrors

X ray optics, desired for beamlines at free electron laser and diffraction limited storage ring x ray light sources, must have almost perfect surfaces, capable of delivering light to experiments without significant degradation of brightness and coherence. To accurately characterize such optics at an optical metrology lab, two basic types of surface slope profilometers are used the long trace profilers LTPs and nanometer optical measuring NOM like angular deflectometers, based on electronic autocollimator AC ELCOMAT 3000. The inherent systematic errors of the instrument s optical sensors set the principle limit to their measuring performance. Where autocollimator of a NOM like profiler may be calibrated at a unique dedicated facility, this is for a particular configuration of distance, aperture size, and angular range that does not always match the exact use in a scanning measurement with the profiler. Here we discuss the developed methodology, experimental set up, and numerical methods of transferring the calibration of one reference AC to the scanning AC of the Optical Surface Measuring System OSMS , recently brought to operation at the ALS Xray Optics Laboratory. We show that precision calibration of the OSMS performed in three steps, allows us to provide high confidence and accuracy low spatial frequency metrology and not print into measurements the inherent systematic error of tool in use. With the examples of the OSMS measurements with a state of the art x ray aspherical mirror, available from one of the most advanced vendors of X ray optics, we demonstrate the high efficacy of the developed calibration procedure. The results of our work are important for obtaining high reliability data, needed for sophisticated numerical simulations of beamline performance and optimization of beamline usage of the optics. This work was supported by the U. S. Department of Energy under contract number DE AC02 05CH1123

Vergoeding ter zake van verzorging en huishoudelijke hulp bij letsel en overlijden

Vergoeding van inspanningen ter zake van huishoudelijke arbeid of verzorgingsactivitei-ten staat de laatste tijd op de agenda van de Hoge Raad. In 1999 (Losser/De Vries) liet de Hoge Raad zich voor het eerst uit over de vergoeding ter zake van inspanningen van ouders die hun ernstig gewonde kind gedurende lange tijd zelf hadden verpleegd en verzorgd. In 2003 (Krüter-van de Pol/Wilton Fijenoord) oordeelde de Hoge Raad de in-spanningen van de echtgenote van een slachtoffer van mesothelioom aan diens sterf-bed niet vergoedbaar. In 2005 (Pruisken/Organice) besliste de Hoge Raad dat voor de vergoedbaarheid van extra huishoudelijke inspanningen die een overblijvende echtge-noot moet leveren na overlijden van zijn partner, niet beslissend is dat ter zake geen kosten zijn gemaakt. In juli 2008 (Bakkum/Achmea) oordeelde de Hoge Raad over de betekenis van de inspanningen van derden (een stiefmoeder) voor de vergoeding bij overlijden. Inmiddels heeft de Hoge Raad nog twee loten aan de stam toegevoegd, waarin hij de vergoeding ter zake van de behoefte aan hulp bij letsel en overlijden preci-seert. Die uitspraken staan hierna centraal

Assessment of soil organic matter supply: Challenges and opportunities

Soil organic matter (SOM) is recognized as an important factor for sustainable land use. Several analyzing techniques were focused on fractionation of soil organic carbon (SOC), on carbon sequestration, soil functions, or other approaches. We combined SOC fractionation with studies on carbon sequestration. Thermogravimetry (TG, recording of mass losses during heating up of soil samples) was selected as a supplemental method to standard analyzing techniques for soils. TG provides recording of thermal mass losses in dependency on temperature what facilitate fractionation together with SOM content determination via mass losses on ignition (MLI). Autocorrelation analyses of TG data enable to assess the carbon sequestration processes. After a gentle sample preparation, more than 370 soil samples in eight sample sets were analyzed from different types of soils and regions of origin. The results extend literature data by revealing quantifiable interrelations between content of SOM, SOC and clay with a coefficient of determination around 0.98. Deviations from the relationship become lower during incubation experiments, with increasing sampling depth, and with decreasing organic fertilization in plots of long term agriculture field experiments etc. We explained these results with changing quantities of extraneous (mostly fresh) organic residues not affected by soil carbon content regulation. These organic residues seems to be quantifiable via difference between measured MLI and the MLI calculated from content of SOC and clay both determined by standard methods. The practical use of found interrelation implies an acceptance of traditional definition of soil and SOM as products of long term ecosystem succession with content regulation as a unifying over regions soil feature. In contrast, the more common and simplified understanding of soil as carbon containing mineral substrates supports public recognition of soils. However, it does not facilitate the comparison of results from different regions and studies about soils. We conclude from these considerations about obligatory distinction between following types of organic carbon as an essential precondition for assessment of SOM supply: 1. SOC (or humus) as a product of long term carbon regulation processes, 2. fresh organic residues, and carbon of 3. geologic (turf, coal, graphite, diamond, …) or 4. anthropogenic origin (black carbon in ashes, cinder, soot, asphalt)

Organic carbon content determination in soils: challenges and opportunities of elemental analysis versus thermogravimetry

Sustainable soil management needs reliable and accurate monitoring of soil organic carbon (SOC) content. However, despite of the development of analytical techniques during last decades, the detection opportunities for short term and rather small changes in SOC induced by organic fertilization, organic amendments or land use changes are still limited with the available methods. This study aims to quantify the theoretical detection opportunities for changes in SOC content with elemental analysis (EA) as the standard method in comparing with thermogravimetry (TG) as an enhanced traditional approach derived from soil organic matter determination via mass losses on ignition. The carried out experiments consist of mixing soil samples from non-fertilized plots of three long-term agricultural experiments in Bad Lauchstaedt, Großbeeren and Muencheberg (silty loam, loamy sand and silty sand) with straw, farmyard manure, sheep faeces and charcoal in four quantities (3 t×ha-1, 20 t×ha-1, 60 t×ha-1 and 180 t×ha‑1fresh matter) under laboratory conditions.The quantities were based on fresh matter application in agricultural practice accepting different amounts of added organic carbon. The results confirm EA as a method of higher reliability and accuracy for carbon content determination. TG allows to distinguish the different types of added amendments with high sensitivity. This was achieved by using newly developed evaluation algorithms for the thermal decay dynamics. We conclude from these results that TG cannot substitute EA to determine organic carbon on a routine base. However, TG could be a supplementary fingerprinting technique for the detection of added organic carbon to soils from organic fertilizers and to distinguish sources of geological or anthropogenic origin enabling a future assessment of soil organic carbon quality

The Contact Allergen NiSO4 Triggers a Distinct Molecular Response in Primary Human Dendritic Cells Compared to Bacterial LPS

Dendritic cells (DC) play a central role in the pathogenesis of allergic contact dermatitis (ACD), the most prevalent form of immunotoxicity in humans. However, knowledge on allergy-induced DC maturation is still limited and proteomic studies, allowing to unravel molecular effects of allergens, remain scarce. Therefore, we conducted a global proteomic analysis of human monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MoDC) treated with NiSO4, the most prominent cause of ACD and compared proteomic alterations induced by NiSO4 to the bacterial trigger lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Both substances possess a similar toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 binding capacity, allowing to identify allergy-specific effects compared to bacterial activation. MoDCs treated for 24 h with 2.5 mu g/ml LPS displayed a robust immunological response, characterized by upregulation of DC activation markers, secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines and stimulation of T cell proliferation. Similar immunological reactions were observed after treatment with 400 mu M NiSO4 but less pronounced. Both substances triggered TLR4 and triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells (TREM) 1 signaling. However, NiSO4 also activated hypoxic and apoptotic pathways, which might have overshadowed initial signaling. Moreover, our proteomic data support the importance of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) as a key player in sensitization since many Nrf2 targets genes were strongly upregulated on protein and gene level selectively after treatment with NiSO4. Strikingly, NiSO4 stimulation induced cellular cholesterol depletion which was counteracted by the induction of genes and proteins relevant for cholesterol biosynthesis. Our proteomic study allowed for the first time to better characterize some of the fundamental differences between NiSO4 and LPS-triggered activation of MoDCs, providing an essential contribution to the molecular understanding of contact allergy

Ganglioside-Lipid and Ganglioside-Protein Interactions Revealed by Coarse-Grained and Atomistic Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Gangliosides are glycolipids in which an oligosaccharide headgroup containing one or more sialic acids is connected to a ceramide. Gangliosides reside in the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane and play a crucial role in various physiological processes such as cell signal transduction and neuronal differentiation by modulating structures and functions of membrane proteins. Since the detailed behavior of gangliosides and protein-ganglioside interactions are poorly known, we investigated the interactions between the gangliosides GM1 and GM3 and the proteins aquaporin (AQP1) and WALP23 using equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations and potential of mean force calculations at both coarse-grained (CG) and atomistic levels. In atomistic simulations, based on the GROMOS force field, ganglioside aggregation appears to be a result of the balance between hydrogen bond interactions and steric hindrance of the headgroups. GM3 clusters are slightly larger and more ordered than GM1 clusters, due to the smaller headgroup of GM3. The different structures of GM1 and GM3 clusters from atomistic simulations are not observed at the CG level, based on the Martini model, implying a difference in driving forces for ganglioside interactions in atomistic and CG simulations. For protein-ganglioside interactions, in the atomistic simulations GM1 lipids bind to specific sites on the AQP1 surface, whereas they are depleted from WALP23. In the CG simulations, the ganglioside binding sites on the AQP1 surface are similar but ganglioside aggregation and protein-ganglioside interaction are more prevalent than in the atomistic simulations. Using the polarizable Martini water model, results got closer to the atomistic simulations. Although experimental data for validation is lacking, we proposed modified Martini parameters for gangliosides to more closely mimic the sizes and structures of ganglioside clusters observed at the atomistic level.</p

Effects by Paramagnetic and Diamagnetic Materials in a 1.5-Tesla Highfield Magnetic Resonance Imaging System (MRI)

Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.Dieser Artikel zeigt die Ergebnisse einer experimentellen Untersuchung des Störeinflusses von paramagnetischen und diamagnetischen Materialien auf die Bildgebung in einem geschlossenen 1,5-Tesla-Hochfeld-Magnetresonanztomographen(MRT). Mit drei verschiedenen Sequenztypen (SE, GE, EPI) wurden unterschiedlich große metallische und nichtmetallische Werkstückprofile hinsichtlich der entstehenden Artefakte untersucht. Zur Darstellung der Artefakte wurde ein mit Gd-Mn-Lösung gefüllter Kunststoffbehälter (Phantom) verwendet, zu dem die zu untersuchenden Materialien während der Versuchsdurchführung in definierten Abständen parallel verschoben wurden. Die Auswertung der Schnittbilder erfolgte in transversaler und sagittaler Untersuchungsebene und ergab, daß Aluminium- und Kunststoffprofile auch bei sehr geringem Abstand zum Phantom die kleinsten Bildstörungen verursachten. Besonders starke Artefakte wurden bei den untersuchten Stahl- und Kupferprofilen festgestellt. Bei einem Vergleich der angewendeten Sequenztypen konnte nachgewiesen werden, daß besonders die SE-Sequenz, trotz der teilweise stark variierenden Materialprofile, eine geringere Artefaktanfälligkeit und somit eine höhere Stabilität in der Bildgebung im Gegensatz zur GE- und EPI-Sequenz aufwies. Diese Untersuchungen wurden im Anschluß an eine intensive Literaturstudie (Internet, Medline, Meditec) durchgeführt. Relevante Publikationsquellen gibt es bisher nur sehr wenige.This article shows the results of an experimental investigation of the interference by paramagnetic and diamagnetic materials on imaging in a closed 1.5 Tesla high field magnetic resonance imaging System(MRI). For different types of sequences (SE, GE, EPI) the effects of metal and non-metal profiles in producing artefacts were investigated. A phantom (plastictrunk) filled with Gd-Mn-solution was used for representation of the artefacts. The materials analysed were placed parallel to the phantom at predetermined distances. The images were obtained in transverse and sagittal planes and analysed with respect to the resulting artefacts.The results show that aluminium and polymer profiles produce the weakest artefacts, even when the material is positioned close to the phantom. A comparison of the sequence types shows that the SE-sequence has a low sensitivity to artefacts, despite the great profile variation in size and shape. The SE-sequence accordingly showed a higher imaging stability scompared with the GE- and EPI-sequences. Steel and copper produced the strongest artefacts. The examination was begun after an intensive study of the literature(Internet, Medline, Meditec). So far have been few publications on this subject

Cholesterol Flip-Flop Impacts Domain Registration in Plasma Membrane Models

The plasma membrane is a highly complex multicomponent system that is central to the functioning of cells. Cholesterol, a key lipid component of the plasma membrane, promotes the formation of nanodomains. These nanodomains are often correlated across the two membrane leaflets, but the underlying physical mechanism remains unclear. Using coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations, we investigate the influence of cholesterol flip-flop on membrane properties, in particular, the interleaflet coupling of cholesterol-enriched domains. We show that the cholesterol density correlation between the leaflets of an average mammalian plasma membrane is significantly reduced by suppressing interleaflet cholesterol population. Our results suggest an amplifying role of cholesterol in signal transduction across the leaflets

Quantum algorithms for Josephson networks

We analyze possible implementations of quantum algorithms in a system of (macroscopic) Josephson charge qubits. System layout and parameters to realize the Deutsch algorithm with up to three qubits are provided. Special attention is paid to the necessity of entangled states in the various implementations. Further, we demonstrate explicitely that the gates to implement the Bernstein-Vazirani algorithm can be realized by using a system of uncoupled qubits

Hole burning in a nanomechanical resonator coupled to a Cooper pair box

We propose a scheme to create holes in the statistical distribution of excitations of a nanomechanical resonator. It employs a controllable coupling between this system and a Cooper pair box. The success probability and the fidelity are calculated and compared with those obtained in the atom-field system via distinct schemes. As an application we show how to use the hole-burning scheme to prepare (low excited) Fock states.Comment: 7 pages, 10 figure