89 research outputs found
Hinode/Extreme-Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer Observations of the Temperature Structure of the Quiet Corona
We present a Differential Emission Measure (DEM) analysis of the quiet solar
corona on disk using data obtained by the Extreme-ultraviolet Imaging
Spectrometer (EIS) on {\it Hinode}. We show that the expected quiet Sun DEM
distribution can be recovered from judiciously selected lines, and that their
average intensities can be reproduced to within 30%. We present a subset of
these selected lines spanning the temperature range T = 5.6 to 6.4 K
that can be used to derive the DEM distribution reliably. The subset can be
used without the need for extensive measurements and the observed intensities
can be reproduced to within the estimated uncertainty in the pre-launch
calibration of EIS. Furthermore, using this subset, we also demonstrate that
the quiet coronal DEM distribution can be recovered on size scales down to the
spatial resolution of the instrument (1 pixels). The subset will therefore
be useful for studies of small-scale spatial inhomogeneities in the coronal
temperature structure, for example, in addition to studies requiring multiple
DEM derivations in space or time. We apply the subset to 45 quiet Sun datasets
taken in the period 2007 January to April, and show that although the absolute
magnitude of the coronal DEM may scale with the amount of released energy, the
shape of the distribution is very similar up to at least T 6.2 K
in all cases. This result is consistent with the view that the {\it shape} of
the quiet Sun DEM is mainly a function of the radiating and conducting
properties of the plasma and is fairly insensitive to the location and rate of
energy deposition. This {\it universal} DEM may be sensitive to other factors
such as loop geometry, flows, and the heating mechanism, but if so they cannot
vary significantly from quiet Sun region to region.Comment: Version accepted by ApJ and published in ApJ 705. Abridged abstrac
Evidence for Steady Heating: Observations of an Active Region Core with Hinode and TRACE
Previous observations have not been able to exclude the possibility that high
temperature active region loops are actually composed of many small scale
threads that are in various stages of heating and cooling and only appear to be
in equilibrium. With new observations from the EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS)
and X-ray Telescope (XRT) on \textit{Hinode} we have the ability to investigate
the properties of high temperature coronal plasma in extraordinary detail. We
examine the emission in the core of an active region and find three independent
lines of evidence for steady heating. We find that the emission observed in XRT
is generally steady for hours, with a fluctuation level of approximately 15% in
an individual pixel. Short-lived impulsive heating events are observed, but
they appear to be unrelated to the steady emission that dominates the active
region. Furthermore, we find no evidence for warm emission that is spatially
correlated with the hot emission, as would be expected if the high temperature
loops are the result of impulsive heating. Finally, we also find that
intensities in the "moss", the footpoints of high temperature loops, are
consistent with steady heating models provided that we account for the local
expansion of the loop from the base of the transition region to the corona. In
combination, these results provide strong evidence that the heating in the core
of an active region is effectively steady, that is, the time between heating
events is short relative to the relevant radiative and conductive cooling
times.Comment: Minor changes based on the final report from the referee; Movies are
available from the first autho
Constraints on the Heating of High Temperature Active Region Loops: Observations from Hinode and SDO
We present observations of high temperature emission in the core of a solar
active region using instruments on Hinode and SDO. These multi-instrument
observations allow us to determine the distribution of plasma temperatures and
follow the evolution of emission at different temperatures. We find that at the
apex of the high temperature loops the emission measure distribution is
strongly peaked near 4 MK and falls off sharply at both higher and lower
temperatures. Perhaps most significantly, the emission measure at 0.5 MK is
reduced by more than two orders of magnitude from the peak at 4 MK. We also
find that the temporal evolution in broad-band soft X-ray images is relatively
constant over about 6 hours of observing. Observations in the cooler SDO/AIA
bandpasses generally do not show cooling loops in the core of the active
region, consistent with the steady emission observed at high temperatures.
These observations suggest that the high temperature loops observed in the core
of an active region are close to equilibrium. We find that it is possible to
reproduce the relative intensities of high temperature emission lines with a
simple, high-frequency heating scenario where heating events occur on time
scales much less than a cooling time. In contrast, low-frequency heating
scenarios, which are commonly invoked to describe nanoflare models of coronal
heating, do not reproduce the relative intensities of high temperature emission
lines and predict low-temperature emission that is approximately an order of
magnitude too large. We also present an initial look at images from the SDO/AIA
94 A channel, which is sensitive to Fe XVIII.Comment: Movies are available at
http://tcrb.nrl.navy.mil/~hwarren/temp/papers/active_region_core/ Paper has
been refereed and revise
Modeling Evolving Coronal Loops with Observations from STEREO, Hinode, and TRACE
The high densities, long lifetimes, and narrow emission measure distributions
observed in coronal loops with apex temperatures near 1 MK are difficult to
reconcile with physical models of the solar atmosphere. It has been proposed
that the observed loops are actually composed of sub-resolution ``threads''
that have been heated impulsively and are cooling. We apply this heating
scenario to nearly simultaneous observations of an evolving post-flare loop
arcade observed with the EUVI/\textit{STEREO}, XRT/\textit{Hinode}, and
\textit{TRACE} imagers and the EIS spectrometer on \textit{HINODE}. We find
that it is possible to reproduce the extended loop lifetime, high electron
density, and the narrow differential emission measure with a multi-thread
hydrodynamic model provided that the time scale for the energy release is
sufficiently short. The model, however, does not reproduce the evolution of the
very high temperature emission observed with XRT. In XRT the emission appears
diffuse and it may be that this discrepancy is simply due to the difficulty of
isolating individual loops at these temperatures. This discrepancy may also
reflect fundamental problems with our understanding of post-reconnection
dynamics during the conductive cooling phase of loop evolution.Comment: Revised version submitted to ApJ in response to referee's comment
Characteristics and Evolution of the Magnetic field and Chromospheric Emission in an Active Region Core Observed by Hinode
We describe the characteristics and evolution of the magnetic field and
chromospheric emission in an active region core observed by the Solar Optical
Telescope on Hinode. Consistent with previous studies, we find that the moss is
unipolar, the spatial distribution of magnetic flux evolves slowly, and the
magnetic field is only moderately inclined. We show that the field line
inclination and horizontal component are coherent, and that the magnetic field
is mostly sheared in the inter-moss regions where the highest magnetic flux
variability is seen. Using extrapolations from SP magnetograms we show that the
magnetic connectivity in the moss is different than in the quiet Sun because
most of the magnetic field extends to significant coronal heights. The magnetic
flux, field vector, and chromospheric emission in the moss also appear highly
dynamic, but actually show only small scale variations in magnitude on
time-scales longer than the cooling times for hydrodynamic loops computed from
our extrapolations, suggesting high-frequency (continuous) heating events. Some
evidence is found for flux (Ca 2 intensity) changes on the order of 100--200 G
(DN) on time-scales of 20--30 mins that could be taken as indicative of
low-frequency heating. We find, however, that only a small fraction (10%) of
our simulated loops would be expected to cool on these time-scales, and we find
no clear evidence that the flux changes consistently produce intensity changes
in the chromosphere. The magnetic flux and chromospheric intensity in most
individual SOT pixels in the moss vary by less than ~ 20% and ~ 10%,
respectively, on loop cooling time-scales. In view of the high energy
requirements of the chromosphere, we suggest that these variations could be
sufficient for the heating of `warm' EUV loops, but that the high basal levels
may be more important for powering the hot core loops rooted in the moss.Comment: Accepted by ApJ, 16 pages, 20 figures. Abridged abstract (original is
in PDF file). Figures 1 & 2 are reduced resolution to meet size limit
Identification of rare DNA variants in mitochondrial disorders with improved array-based sequencing.
A common goal in the discovery of rare functional DNA variants via medical resequencing is to incur a relatively lower proportion of false positive base-calls. We developed a novel statistical method for resequencing arrays (SRMA, sequence robust multi-array analysis) to increase the accuracy of detecting rare variants and reduce the costs in subsequent sequence verifications required in medical applications. SRMA includes single and multi-array analysis and accounts for technical variables as well as the possibility of both low- and high-frequency genomic variation. The confidence of each base-call was ranked using two quality measures. In comparison to Sanger capillary sequencing, we achieved a false discovery rate of 2% (false positive rate 1.2 × 10⁻⁵, false negative rate 5%), which is similar to automated second-generation sequencing technologies. Applied to the analysis of 39 nuclear candidate genes in disorders of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) maintenance, we confirmed mutations in the DNA polymerase gamma POLG in positive control cases, and identified novel rare variants in previously undiagnosed cases in the mitochondrial topoisomerase TOP1MT, the mismatch repair enzyme MUTYH, and the apurinic-apyrimidinic endonuclease APEX2. Some patients carried rare heterozygous variants in several functionally interacting genes, which could indicate synergistic genetic effects in these clinically similar disorders
DNA storage in thermoresponsive microcapsules for repeated random multiplexed data access
In support of the publication "DNA storage in thermoresponsive microcapsules for repeated random multiplexed data access" we share the following datasets and code:
AutoCAD drawing of the microfluidic trapping device.
Sequences of the DNA used to encode the 25 files used in the current study.
FASTQ-files of the sequencing experiments of Figures 5b and d.
Python scripts that allow for the reproduction of our sequencing data analysis.
The code has been tested on MacOS 13.0.1, Python 3.7.13, samtools 1.16.1 and BWA 0.7.17
Engineering cytokine therapeutics
Cytokines have pivotal roles in immunity, making them attractive as therapeutics for a variety of immune-related disorders. However, the widespread clinical use of cytokines has been limited by their short blood half-lives and severe side effects caused by low specificity and unfavourable biodistribution. Innovations in bioengineering have aided in advancing our knowledge of cytokine biology and yielded new technologies for cytokine engineering. In this Review, we discuss how the development of bioanalytical methods, such as sequencing and high-resolution imaging combined with genetic techniques, have facilitated a better understanding of cytokine biology. We then present an overview of therapeutics arising from cytokine re-engineering, targeting and delivery, mRNA therapeutics and cell therapy. We also highlight the application of these strategies to adjust the immunological imbalance in different immune-mediated disorders, including cancer, infection and autoimmune diseases. Finally, we look ahead to the hurdles that must be overcome before cytokine therapeutics can live up to their full potential
Fault tolerant architectures for superconducting qubits
In this short review, I draw attention to new developments in the theory of
fault tolerance in quantum computation that may give concrete direction to
future work in the development of superconducting qubit systems. The basics of
quantum error correction codes, which I will briefly review, have not
significantly changed since their introduction fifteen years ago. But an
interesting picture has emerged of an efficient use of these codes that may put
fault tolerant operation within reach. It is now understood that two
dimensional surface codes, close relatives of the original toric code of
Kitaev, can be adapted to effectively perform logical gate operations in a very
simple planar architecture, with error thresholds for fault tolerant operation
simulated to be 0.75%. This architecture uses topological ideas in its
functioning, but it is not 'topological quantum computation' -- there are no
non-abelian anyons in sight. I offer some speculations on the crucial pieces of
superconducting hardware that could be demonstrated in the next couple of years
that would be clear stepping stones towards this surface-code architecture.Comment: 28 pages, 10 figures. For the Nobel Symposium on Qubits for Quantum
Information, submitted to Physica Scripta. v. 2 Corrections and small changes
to reference
Resolving sepsis-induced immunoparalysis via trained immunity by targeting interleukin-4 to myeloid cells.
Immunoparalysis is a compensatory and persistent anti-inflammatory response to trauma, sepsis or another serious insult, which increases the risk of opportunistic infections, morbidity and mortality. Here, we show that in cultured primary human monocytes, interleukin-4 (IL4) inhibits acute inflammation, while simultaneously inducing a long-lasting innate immune memory named trained immunity. To take advantage of this paradoxical IL4 feature in vivo, we developed a fusion protein of apolipoprotein A1 (apoA1) and IL4, which integrates into a lipid nanoparticle. In mice and non-human primates, an intravenously injected apoA1-IL4-embedding nanoparticle targets myeloid-cell-rich haematopoietic organs, in particular, the spleen and bone marrow. We subsequently demonstrate that IL4 nanotherapy resolved immunoparalysis in mice with lipopolysaccharide-induced hyperinflammation, as well as in ex vivo human sepsis models and in experimental endotoxemia. Our findings support the translational development of nanoparticle formulations of apoA1-IL4 for the treatment of patients with sepsis at risk of immunoparalysis-induced complications.We thank M. Jaeger (Radboudumc) for kindly providing flourescein
isothiocyanate-labelled Candida albicans. D. Williams (East
Tennessee State University) provided the β-glucan we used in our
initial experiments. H. Lemmers (Radboudumc) kindly prepared the
purified lipopolysaccharide used for stimulation of primary human
monocytes and macrophages. Part of the figures were prepared
using (among other software) Biorender.com. B.N. is supported
by a National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia)
Investigator Grant (APP1173314). This work was supported by
National Institutes of Health grants R01 HL144072, R01 CA220234
and P01 HL131478, as well as a Vici grant from the Dutch Research
Council NWO and an ERC Advanced Grant (all to W.J.M.M.). M.G.N.
was supported by a Spinoza grant from Dutch Research Council
NWO and an ERC Advanced Grant (#833247).S
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