Measurement of the Tau Lepton Polarisation at LEP2

A first measurement of the average polarisation P_tau of tau leptons produced in e+e- annihilation at energies significantly above the Z resonance is presented. The polarisation is determined from the kinematic spectra of tau hadronic decays. The measured value P_tau = -0.164 +/- 0.125 is consistent with the Standard Model prediction for the mean LEP energy of 197 GeV.A first measurement of the average polarisation Pτ of tau leptons produced in e + e − annihilation at energies significantly above the Z resonance is presented. The polarisation is determined from the kinematic spectra of tau hadronic decays. The measured value Pτ=−0.164±0.125 is consistent with the Standard Model prediction for the mean LEP energy of 197 GeV.A first measurement of the average polarisation P_tau of tau leptons produced in e+e- annihilation at energies significantly above the Z resonance is presented. The polarisation is determined from the kinematic spectra of tau hadronic decays. The measured value P_tau = -0.164 +/- 0.125 is consistent with the Standard Model prediction for the mean LEP energy of 197 GeV

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

High-Brightness Narrow-Line Laser Diode Source With Volume Bragg-Grating Feedback

Results of a long-term research in spectral narrowing and transverse mode selection in semiconductor lasers by means of volume Bragg gratings recorded in a photo-thermo-refractive (PTR) glass are described. PTR glass is a multicomponent silicate optical glass which changes its refractive index after UV exposure followed by thermal development. This feature enables recording of volume holograms with efficiency exceeding 97% in visible and near IR spectral regions which tolerate high temperatures up to 400°C, high power laser radiation. Transmitting and reflecting volume Bragg gratings recorded in such manner have spectral and angular selectivity down to 0.01 nm and 0.1 mrad, respectively. These spectral and angular selectors were used as transmitting and reflecting elements of external resonators for high-power semiconductor laser diodes (LDs). Transmitting Bragg gratings provide tunability of LDs in the range up to 60 nm, spectral narrowing down to 200 pm, stabilization of wavelength within 500 pm. Reflecting Bragg gratings allow spectral narrowing down to 20 pm, stabilization of wavelength below 100 pm at temperature variations up to 75 K. A single transverse mode emission for wide stripe LDs is observed at pumping currents exceeding 10 thresholds. Narrowing and stabilization of emission spectra of LD bars is demonstrated. It is important that all these features are achieved by passive elements with efficiency exceeding 97% and unlimited lifetime while actual brightness increase exceeded two orders of magnitude

Stable Coherent Coupling Of Laser Diodes By A Volume Bragg Grating In Photothermorefractive Glass

Two separate laser diodes emitting near 980 nm were coupled by a thick volume Bragg grating recorded in a photothermorefractive glass. The coupled diodes emitted at the same wavelength with a spectral width narrowed to below the resolution of the spectrum analyzer (\u3c30 pm). Coherent emission at a pumping level greater than five times above the threshold was observed for several months with near-unity visibility of the interference pattern. © 2006 Optical Society of America

Thermal Tuning Of Volume Bragg Gratings For Spectral Beam Combining Of High-Power Fiber Lasers

High-radiance lasers are desired for many applications in defense and manufacturing. Spectral beam combining (SBC) by volume Bragg gratings (VBGs) is a very promising method for high-radiance lasers that need to achieve 100 kW level power. Laser-induced heating of VBGs under high-power radiation presents a challenge for maintaining Bragg resonance at various power levels without mechanical realignment. A novel thermal tuning technique and apparatus is presented that enables maintaining peak efficiency operation of the SBC system at various power levels without any mechanical adjustment. The method is demonstrated by combining two high-power ytterbium fiber lasers with high efficiency from low power to full combined power of 300 W (1.5 kW effective power), while maintaining peak combining efficiency within 0.5%

New Generation Of Vbgs For Efficient Spectral Beam Combination Of Semiconductor Lasers

Novel types of volume Bragg gratings with enhanced parameters were recorded in PTR glass. They were used for efficient spectral beam combination of high power multimode semiconductor lasers with high spectral density of 1 nm/channel. © 2015 OSA

New Generation Of Vbgs For Efficient Spectral Beam Combination Of Semiconductor Lasers

Novel types of volume Bragg gratings with enhanced parameters were recorded in PTR glass. They were used for efficient spectral beam combination of high power multimode semiconductor lasers with high spectral density of 1 nm/channel

Kinetics Of An Optically Pumped Metastable Ar Laser

In recent studies, an optically pumped Ar*/He laser has been demonstrated using the Ar 4p[1/2]1→4s[3/2]2 transition at 912.55 nm. Time-resolved data for this system, recorded using CW laser excitation and pulsed discharge production of Ar* 4p[3/2] 2, yielded laser output pulses that were of unexpectedly short duration. It was speculated that radiative relaxation from the upper laser level to the 4s[3/2]1 state (607 cm-1 above 4s[3/2] 2) caused termination of the laser pulse. In the present study this hypothesis has been tested by observing the energy transfer kinetics of the 4s[3/2]2 and 4s[3/2]1 states in Ar/He gas mixtures. Following pulsed laser excitation out of 4s[3/2]2, population recovery was observed on a μs time scale. Energy transfer from 4s[3/2] 1 to 4s[3/2]2, induced by collisions with He, was characterized. The rate constant was found to be (1.0±0.5)x10 -13 cm3 s-1. These observations confirmed that radiative transfer to 4s[3/2]1 was responsible for the short duration laser pulses. Modeling of a fully CW optically pumped Ar* laser shows that radiative transfer to 4s[3/2]1 reduces the number density of the Ar* atoms involved in lasing, but is otherwise benign. © 2014 SPIE