262 research outputs found
A vertex detector for the International Linear Collider based on CMOS sensors
The physics programme at the International Linear Collider (ILC) calls for a vertex detector (VD) providing unprecedented flavour tagging performances, especially for c-quarks and τ leptons. This requirement makes a very granular, thin and multi-layer VD installed very close to the interaction region mandatory. Additional constraints, mainly on read-out speed and radiation tolerance, originate from the beam background, which governs the occupancy and the radiation level the detector should be able to cope with. CMOS sensors are being developed to fulfil these requirements. This report addresses the ILC requirements (highly related to beamstrahlung), the main advantages and features of CMOS sensors, the demonstrated performances and the specific aspects of a VD based on this technology. The status of the main R&D directions (radiation tolerance, thinning procedure and read-out speed) are also presented
Lead exposure in adult males in urban Transvaal Province, South Africa during the apartheid era
Human exposure to lead is a substantial public health hazard worldwide and is particularly problematic in the Republic of South Africa given the country’s late cessation of leaded petrol. Lead exposure is associated with a number of serious health issues and diseases including developmental and cognitive deficiency, hypertension and heart disease. Understanding the distribution of lifetime lead burden within a given population is critical for reducing exposure rates. Femoral bone from 101 deceased adult males living in urban Transvaal Province (now Gauteng Province), South Africa between 1960 and 1998 were analyzed for lead concentration by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). Of the 72 black and 29 white individuals sampled, chronic lead exposure was apparent in nearly all individuals. White males showed significantly higher median bone lead concentration (ME = 10.04 µg·g−1), than black males (ME = 3.80 µg·g−1) despite higher socioeconomic status. Bone lead concentration covaries significantly, though weakly, with individual age. There was no significant temporal trend in bone lead concentration. These results indicate that long-term low to moderate lead exposure is the historical norm among South African males. Unexpectedly, this research indicates that white males in the sample population were more highly exposed to lead
The interaction studied via femtoscopy in p + Nb reactions at
We report on the first measurement of and correlations via
the femtoscopy method in p+Nb reactions at , studied with the High Acceptance Di-Electron Spectrometer
(HADES). By comparing the experimental correlation function to model
calculations, a source size for pairs of and a slightly
smaller value for of is extracted.
Using the geometrical extent of the particle emitting region, determined
experimentally with correlations as reference together with a source
function from a transport model, it is possible to study different sets of
scattering parameters. The correlation is proven sensitive to
predicted scattering length values from chiral effective field theory. We
demonstrate that the femtoscopy technique can be used as valid alternative to
the analysis of scattering data to study the hyperon-nucleon interaction.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figure
Measurements of , K, p and spectra in proton-proton interactions at 20, 31, 40, 80 and 158 GeV/c with the NA61/SHINE spectrometer at the CERN SPS
Measurements of inclusive spectra and mean multiplicities of ,
K, p and produced in inelastic p+p interactions at
incident projectile momenta of 20, 31, 40, 80 and 158 GeV/c ( 6.3,
7.7, 8.8, 12.3 and 17.3 GeV, respectively) were performed at the CERN Super
Proton Synchrotron using the large acceptance NA61/SHINE hadron spectrometer.
Spectra are presented as function of rapidity and transverse momentum and are
compared to predictions of current models. The measurements serve as the
baseline in the NA61/SHINE study of the properties of the onset of
deconfinement and search for the critical point of strongly interacting matter
Measurements of , , , and proton production in proton-carbon interactions at 31 GeV/ with the NA61/SHINE spectrometer at the CERN SPS
Measurements of hadron production in p+C interactions at 31 GeV/c are
performed using the NA61/ SHINE spectrometer at the CERN SPS. The analysis is
based on the full set of data collected in 2009 using a graphite target with a
thickness of 4% of a nuclear interaction length. Inelastic and production cross
sections as well as spectra of , , p, and are
measured with high precision. These measurements are essential for improved
calculations of the initial neutrino fluxes in the T2K long-baseline neutrino
oscillation experiment in Japan. A comparison of the NA61/SHINE measurements
with predictions of several hadroproduction models is presented.Comment: v1 corresponds to the preprint CERN-PH-EP-2015-278; v2 matches the
final published versio
Elevated Expression of Osteopontin May Be Related to Adipose Tissue Macrophage Accumulation and Liver Steatosis in Morbid Obesity
OBJECTIVE—Osteopontin (OPN) plays an important role in the development of insulin resistance and liver complications in dietary murine models. We aimed to determine the expression pattern of OPN and its receptor CD44 in obese patients and mice according to insulin resistance and liver steatosis
Challenges in QCD matter physics - The Compressed Baryonic Matter experiment at FAIR
Substantial experimental and theoretical efforts worldwide are devoted to
explore the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter. At LHC and top RHIC
energies, QCD matter is studied at very high temperatures and nearly vanishing
net-baryon densities. There is evidence that a Quark-Gluon-Plasma (QGP) was
created at experiments at RHIC and LHC. The transition from the QGP back to the
hadron gas is found to be a smooth cross over. For larger net-baryon densities
and lower temperatures, it is expected that the QCD phase diagram exhibits a
rich structure, such as a first-order phase transition between hadronic and
partonic matter which terminates in a critical point, or exotic phases like
quarkyonic matter. The discovery of these landmarks would be a breakthrough in
our understanding of the strong interaction and is therefore in the focus of
various high-energy heavy-ion research programs. The Compressed Baryonic Matter
(CBM) experiment at FAIR will play a unique role in the exploration of the QCD
phase diagram in the region of high net-baryon densities, because it is
designed to run at unprecedented interaction rates. High-rate operation is the
key prerequisite for high-precision measurements of multi-differential
observables and of rare diagnostic probes which are sensitive to the dense
phase of the nuclear fireball. The goal of the CBM experiment at SIS100
(sqrt(s_NN) = 2.7 - 4.9 GeV) is to discover fundamental properties of QCD
matter: the phase structure at large baryon-chemical potentials (mu_B > 500
MeV), effects of chiral symmetry, and the equation-of-state at high density as
it is expected to occur in the core of neutron stars. In this article, we
review the motivation for and the physics programme of CBM, including
activities before the start of data taking in 2022, in the context of the
worldwide efforts to explore high-density QCD matter.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures. Published in European Physical Journal
High-affinity RNA binding by a hyperthermophilic single-stranded DNA-binding protein
Single-stranded DNA-binding proteins (SSBs), including replication protein A (RPA) in eukaryotes, play a central role in DNA replication, recombination, and repair. SSBs utilise an oligonucleotide/oligosaccharide-binding (OB) fold domain to bind DNA, and typically oligomerise in solution to bring multiple OB fold domains together in the functional SSB. SSBs from hyperthermophilic crenarchaea, such as Sulfolobus solfataricus, have an unusual structure with a single OB fold coupled to a flexible C-terminal tail. The OB fold resembles those in RPA, whilst the tail is reminiscent of bacterial SSBs and mediates interaction with other proteins. One paradigm in the field is that SSBs bind specifically to ssDNA and much less strongly to RNA, ensuring that their functions are restricted to DNA metabolism. Here, we use a combination of biochemical and biophysical approaches to demonstrate that the binding properties of S. solfataricus SSB are essentially identical for ssDNA and ssRNA. These features may represent an adaptation to a hyperthermophilic lifestyle, where DNA and RNA damage is a more frequent event.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe
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