KM3NeT broadcast optical data transport system

The optical data transport system of the KM3NeT neutrino telescope at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea will provide more than 6000 optical modules in the detector arrays with a point-to-point optical connection to the control stations onshore. The ARCA and ORCA detectors of KM3NeT are being installed at a depth of about 3500 m and 2500 m, respectively and their distance to the control stations is about 100 kilometers and 40 kilometers. In particular, the two detectors are optimised for the detection of cosmic neutrinos with energies above about 1 TeV (ARCA) and for the detection of atmospheric neutrinos with energies in the range 1 GeV-1 TeV (ORCA). The expected maximum data rate is 200 Mbps per optical module. The implemented optical data transport system matches the layouts of the networks of electro-optical cables and junction boxes in the deep sea. For efficient use of the fibres in the system the technology of Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing is applied. The performance of the optical system in terms of measured bit error rates, optical budget are presented. The next steps in the implementation of the system are also discussed

Rigorous excitonic theory of field dependent superlattice absorption

We have performed calculations of the field dependent excitonic absorption spectra of semiconductor superlattices in a model which is capable of fully taking into account the Coulomb interaction and both bound and continuum excitonic states. Results are obtained for the complete range of fields from the Franz-Keldysh to the Wannier-Stark regime. The lineshapes of the excitonic spectra are shown to resemble the derivative of the corresponding single particle spectra with respect to the wavelength. In addition characteristic excitonic features have been found, which also have been observed in photocurrent spectra

Fcγ receptor IIa, IIIa, and IIIb polymorphisms in German patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: association with clinical symptoms

Background: Receptors for IgG play an important part in immune complex clearance. Several studies have identified polymorphisms of receptors for the Fc fragment of IgG (FcγR) as genetic factors influencing susceptibility to disease or disease course of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Objective: To examine these possibilities by evaluating a panel of clinical parameters in a cohort of 140 German patients with SLE for correlations with the FcγRIIa, IIIa, and IIIb polymorphisms in an explorative study. Methods: 140 German patients with SLE according to American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria and 187 German controls were genotyped for the FcγRIIa, IIIa, and IIIb polymorphisms. Associations between FcγR genotypes, combined genotypes and clinical as well as laboratory features were analysed. Results: No significant skewing of any of the three FcγR polymorphisms was seen in the German SLE cohort studied. Various clinical and serological parameters were found more frequently and at younger age in homozygous patients with the genotypes IIA-R/R131 or IIIA-F/F158 than in patients with IIA-H/H131 or IIIA-V/V158. These effects were even more pronounced in patients with the low binding combined phenotypes of the FcγRIIa, IIIa (double negative phenotypes) and FcγRIIa, IIIa, and IIIb (triple negative phenotypes). In patients with the double negative IIA and IIIA genotypes significantly higher frequencies of nephritis (63% v 33%) and proteinuria according to ACR criteria (58% v 11%), anaemia (84% v 55%), and anticardiolipin antibodies (63% v 22%) were found than in patients with the double positive genotypes. Patients with the IIA-R/R131 genotype and the double negative homozygous genotype had an earlier incidence of clinical symptoms, haematological and immunological abnormalities. Accordingly, SLE is diagnosed earlier in these patients, the difference reaching statistical significance only in the double negative v the double positive genotype (26.3 v 39.5 years) and the IIIA-F/F158 genotype v the rest (26.7 v 32.0 years). Most relevant is the fact that a higher median disease activity (ECLAM score) was demonstrated, both in the IIA-R/R131 homozygous (3.3 v 2.7) and the double negative (3.4 v 2.3) patients, reaching statistical significance in the first group. Conclusion: The results of this explorative study support the view that the FcγRIIa/IIIa and IIIb polymorphisms constitute factors influencing clinical manifestations and the disease course of SLE but do not represent genetic risk factors for the occurrence of SLE. Higher frequencies of clinical symptoms, haematological and immunological abnormalities as well as an earlier onset of clinical symptoms, haematological and immunological markers of active disease were found in patients with the IIA-R/R131 genotype and the double negative and triple negative genotypes

Structurally Sophisticated Octahedral Metal Complexes as Highly Selective Protein Kinase Inhibitors

The generation of synthetic compounds with exclusive target specificity is an extraordinary challenge of molecular recognition and demands novel design strategies, in particular for large and homologous protein families such as protein kinases with more than 500 members. Simple organic molecules often do not reach the necessary sophistication to fulfill this task. Here, we present six carefully tailored, stable metal-containing compounds in which unique and defined molecular geometries with natural-product-like structural complexity are constructed around octahedral ruthenium(II) or iridium(III) metal centers. Each of the six reported metal compounds displays high selectivity for an individual protein kinase, namely GSK3α, PAK1, PIM1, DAPK1, MLCK, and FLT4. Although being conventional ATP-competitive inhibitors, the combination of the unusual globular shape and rigidity characteristics, of these compounds facilitates the design of highly selective protein kinase inhibitors. Unique structural features of the octahedral coordination geometry allow novel interactions with the glycine-rich loop, which contribute significantly to binding potencies and selectivities. The sensitive correlation between metal coordination sphere and inhibition properties suggests that in this design, the metal is located at a "hot spot" within the ATP binding pocket, not too close to the hinge region where globular space is unavailable, and at the same time not too far out toward the solvent where the octahedral coordination sphere would not have a significant impact on potency and selectivity. This study thus demonstrates that inert (stable) octahedral metal complexes are sophisticated structural scaffolds for the design of highly selective chemical probes.

Review of the online analyses of multi-messenger alerts and electromagnetic transient events with the ANTARES neutrino telescope

By constantly monitoring a very large portion of the sky, neutrino telescopes are well-designed to detect neutrinos emitted by transient astrophysical events. Real-time searches with the ANTARES telescope have been performed to look for neutrino candidates coincident with gamma-ray bursts detected by the Swift and Fermi satellites, high-energy neutrino events registered by IceCube, transient events from blazars monitored by HAWC, photon-neutrino coincidences by AMON notices and gravitational wave candidates observed by LIGO/Virgo. By requiring temporal coincidence, this approach increases the sensitivity and the significance of a potential discovery. This paper summarises the results of the followup performed of the ANTARES telescope between January 2014 and February 2022, which corresponds to the end of the data-taking period

Event reconstruction for KM3NeT/ORCA using convolutional neural networks

The KM3NeT research infrastructure is currently under construction at two locations in the Mediterranean Sea. The KM3NeT/ORCA water-Cherenkov neutrino detector off the French coast will instrument several megatons of seawater with photosensors. Its main objective is the determination of the neutrino mass ordering. This work aims at demonstrating the general applicability of deep convolutional neural networks to neutrino telescopes, using simulated datasets for the KM3NeT/ORCA detector as an example. To this end, the networks are employed to achieve reconstruction and classification tasks that constitute an alternative to the analysis pipeline presented for KM3NeT/ORCA in the KM3NeT Letter of Intent. They are used to infer event reconstruction estimates for the energy, the direction, and the interaction point of incident neutrinos. The spatial distribution of Cherenkov light generated by charged particles induced in neutrino interactions is classified as shower- or track-like, and the main background processes associated with the detection of atmospheric neutrinos are recognized. Performance comparisons to machine-learning classification and maximum-likelihood reconstruction algorithms previously developed for KM3NeT/ORCA are provided. It is shown that this application of deep convolutional neural networks to simulated datasets for a large-volume neutrino telescope yields competitive reconstruction results and performance improvements with respect to classical approaches