Reach of future colliders in probing the structure of the photon

A comparison of the potentials of ep and e^+e^-$machines to probe the structure of the photon is performed. In particular, the kinematic reach of a proposed future ep facility, THERA, is compared with those of current colliders, LEP and HERA, and with the proposed linear collider, TESLA. THERA like HERA will use a proton beam of 920 GeV but with an increased electron beam energy of 250 GeV allowing higher scales, Q^2, and lower values of parton momentum fraction in the photon, x_\gamma, to be probed.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. To appear in "The THERA Book", DESY-LC-REV-2001-062. IFT 2001/1

Heat induced HSP20 phosphorylation without increased cyclic nucleotide levels in swine carotid media

BACKGROUND: Heat pretreatment of swine carotid artery has been shown to increase ser(16)-heat shock protein 20 (HSP20) phosphorylation and suppress force, i.e., reduce force with only minimal reduction in ser(19)-myosin regulatory light chain (MRLC) phosphorylation. RESULTS: We further investigated this response in intact histamine stimulated swine carotid artery rings. There was a heat threshold such that increased ser(16)-HSP20 phosphorylation and force suppression were observed between 43°C and 46°C. The increased ser(16)-HSP20 phosphorylation persisted up to 16 hours after 44.5°C heat treatment. Pretreatment of swine carotid media at 44.5°C increased ser(16)-HSP20 phosphorylation without increases in [cAMP] or [cGMP], suggesting an alternate mechanism, perhaps phosphatase inhibition, for the increase in ser(16)-HSP20 phosphorylation. Heat pretreatment at 47.5°C reduced force by decreasing MRLC phosphorylation rather than by large increases in ser(16)-HSP20 phosphorylation. HSP20 phosphorylation at the putative PKC site did not change with any treatment. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that multiple mechanisms can induce force suppression that is correlated with ser(16)-HSP20 phosphorylation: 1) nitrovasodilators via cGMP, 2) forskolin via cAMP, and 2) thermal stress in a cyclic nucleotide independent manner

Field galaxies at intermediate redshift (0.2 < z < 0.8) in the direction of the galaxy cluster LCDCS-S001

We present spectroscopic and photometric analysis for eight field galaxies in the direction of the galaxy cluster LCDCS-S001. The spectra were obtained with the GMOS instrument in the Gemini South Observatory. The objects were selected in an i' band image and the multi-object spectroscopic observations were centered at 7500 A. For the galaxies ID 440 and ID 461 we have determined redshifts of z=0.7464 and z=0.7465, respectively. For the other six galaxies we have confirmed the redshift calculated by Rembold & Pastoriza (2006). The redshifts of the field galaxies are in the range of 0.2201 < z < 0.7784. We determined the blue and visual luminosities and they are brighter than M_B=-18.64. The galaxies ID 180, ID 266, ID 461 follow the Faber-Jackson relation of the Coma and Virgo early-type galaxies, and therefore do not present a brightening of the B luminosity as observed in galaxies at higher redshifts. The stellar velocity dispersion was measured for five galaxies and estimated to be in the range of 200 < sigma < 346 km/s. Lick indices were measured and used to determine the stellar population properties of galaxies ID 120 and ID 146, by means of spectral synthesis. The first galaxy, ID 120, presents in its spectrum absorption and emission lines, and we have found that the main contribution in the flux at lambda 5870 A is of a 0.1 Gyr stellar population of solar metallicity. For ID 146, the dominant flux contribution at lambda 4200 A, is provided by a stellar population of 10 Gyr of subsolar metallicity. From stellar population synthesis we estimated reddening values of E(B-V)=0.90 and E(B-V)=0.82 for ID 120 and ID 146, respectively. According to classical diagnostic diagrams the emission lines present in the spectrum of ID 120 indicate that it is a starburst galaxy.Comment: Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical. 6 Figures and 4 table

African Postharvest Losses Information System – a network for the estimation of cereal weight losses

Soaring food prices during 2007/2008, and the realisation that sporadic food shortages are likely to continue long into the future, has reawakened interest in the benefits of reducing food losses. As a means of making more accurate estimates of how much food is lost, the Joint Research Centre (European Commission) proposed the development of the African Postharvest Losses Information System (APhLIS) (http://www.phlosses.net). APhLIS estimates postharvest losses (PHLs) by cereal crop, by country and by province in East and Southern Africa. The system went live in March 2009 and combines a loss calculator, a free access database of key information, and a network of local experts who contribute the latest data and verify loss estimates. The loss calculator works of loss figures contributed from the literature and by local experts but also takes account of the prevailing climate, scale of farming (small/large), damp weather at harvest, larger grain borer (in the case of maize), proportion of grain held in farm sorage or marketed, and multiple harvests. Before the introduction of APhLIS, the origin and justification of PHL estimates were not well founded. Now PHL estimates are available that are • Transparent in the way they are calculated• Based on a complete screening of available research and literature• Contributed (in part) and verified by local experts• Based on the primary national unit (i.e. province not just country level, so estimates are more relevant)• Upgradeable as more (reliable) data become available, so that there is the opportunity for increasing accuracy in loss estimation over time.• Supported by a downloadable loss calculator that can be used to make loss calculations at ageographical scale below primary national unit.In the future, APhLIS may be expanded in technical scope (crops) and geographical range (countries) and used to help prioritize and justify loss reduction strategies including those for grain storage.Keywords: Weight loss, Loss calculator, Postharvest operations, Cereal suppl

Absence of force suppression in rabbit bladder correlates with low expression of heat shock protein 20

BACKGROUND: Nitroglycerin can induce relaxation of swine carotid artery without sustained reductions in [Ca(2+)](i )or myosin regulatory light chain (MRLC) phosphorylation. This has been termed force suppression and been found to correlate with ser(16)-phosphorylation of heat shock protein 20 (HSP20). We tested for the existence of this mechanism in a smooth muscle that is not responsive to nitric oxide. METHODS: Isometrically mounted mucosa free rabbit bladder strips were contracted with carbachol and relaxed with 8-Br-cGMP, forskolin, or isoprenaline. RESULTS: Contraction was associated with a highly cooperative relation between MRLC phosphorylation and force such that very small increases in MRLC phosphorylation induced large increases in force. Relaxation induced by 8-Br-cGMP, forskolin, or isoprenaline did not shift the MRLC phosphorylation-force relation from that observed with carbachol alone, i.e. there was no force suppression. HSP20 content was negligible (approximately two hundred-fold less than swine carotid). CONCLUSION: The lack of force suppression in the absence of HSP20 is consistent with the hypothesized role for HSP20 in the force suppression observed in tonic smooth muscles

Investigating the relationship between the inter-annual variability of satellite-derived vegetation phenology and a proxy of biomass production in the Sahel

In the Sahel region, moderate to coarse spatial resolution remote sensing time series are used in early warning monitoring systems with the aim of detecting unfavorable crop and pasture conditions and informing stakeholders about impending food security risks. Despite growing evidence that vegetation productivity is directly related to phenology, most approaches to estimate such risks do not explicitly take into account the actual timing of vegetation growth and development. The date of the start of the season (SOS) or of the peak canopy density can be assessed by remote sensing techniques in a timely manner during the growing season. However, there is limited knowledge about the relationship between vegetation biomass production and these variables at regional scale. This study describes a first attempt to increase our understanding of such a relationship through the analysis of phenological variables retrieved from SPOT-VEGETATION time series of the Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FAPAR). Two key phenological variables (growing season length, GSL; timing of SOS) and the maximum value of FAPAR attained during the growing season (Peak) are analyzed as potentially related to a proxy of biomass production (CFAPAR, the cumulative value of FAPAR during the growing season). GSL, SOS and Peak all show different spatial patterns of correlation with CFAPAR. In particular, GSL shows a high and positive correlation with CFAPAR over the whole Sahel (mean r = 0.78). The negative correlation between delays in SOS and CFAPAR is stronger (mean r = -0.71) in the southern agricultural band of the Sahel, while the positive correlation between Peak FAPAR and CFAPAR is higher in the northern and more arid grassland region (mean r = 0.75). The consistency of the results and the actual link between remote-sensing derived phenological parameters and biomass production were evaluated using field measurements of aboveground herbaceous biomass of rangelands in Senegal. This study demonstrates the potential of phenological variables as indicators of biomass production. Nevertheless, the strength of the relation between phenological variables and biomass production is not universal and indeed quite variable geographically, with large scattered areas not showing a statistically significant relationship.JRC.H.4-Monitoring Agricultural Resource

Introduction to Quantum Optimal Control for Quantum Sensing with Nitrogen-Vacancy Centers in Diamond

Diamond based quantum technology is a fast emerging field with both scientific and technological importance. With the growing knowledge and experience concerning diamond based quantum systems, comes an increased demand for performance. Quantum optimal control (QOC) provides a direct solution to a number of existing challenges as well as a basis for proposed future applications. Together with a swift review of QOC strategies, quantum sensing and other relevant quantum technology applications of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond, we give the necessary background to summarize recent advancements in the field of QOC assisted quantum applications with NV centers in diamond.Comment: 29 pages, 24 figures, Review articl