Principle and implementations of a refracto-nephelo-turbidimeter for seawater measurements

International audienceSalinity and turbidity are two important seawater properties in physical oceanography. The study of physical oceanography requires a compact high-resolution in-situ salino-turbidimeter to measure these two parameters in different ocean zones. Refractometry has proved to be an effective method to measure seawater salinity with a high resolution. Previous studies have shown that the transmission and scattering of light in a turbid medium impact the light beam deviation measurements, which makes the combination of salinity and turbidity measurements with the same sample mandatory. In this paper, we analyze the requirements and challenges of a refracto-turbidimeter design from their measurement principles and correlations. According to these requirements, we propose a miniature refracto-nephelo-turbidimeter with a CCD, providing a salinity measurement resolution of 2 mg.kg-1 and a turbidity measurement resolution of 1 % of the measurement range. Based on this refracto-nephelo-turbidimeter, different embodiments are discussed to meet the different requirements for different ocean zones

Reconstruction and measurement of (100) MeV energy electromagnetic activity from π0 arrow γγ decays in the MicroBooNE LArTPC

We present results on the reconstruction of electromagnetic (EM) activity from photons produced in charged current νμ interactions with final state π0s. We employ a fully-automated reconstruction chain capable of identifying EM showers of (100) MeV energy, relying on a combination of traditional reconstruction techniques together with novel machine-learning approaches. These studies demonstrate good energy resolution, and good agreement between data and simulation, relying on the reconstructed invariant π0 mass and other photon distributions for validation. The reconstruction techniques developed are applied to a selection of νμ + Ar → μ + π0 + X candidate events to demonstrate the potential for calorimetric separation of photons from electrons and reconstruction of π0 kinematics

Time-Series Photometry of Stars in and around the Lagoon Nebula. I. Rotation Periods of 290 Low-Mass Pre-Main-Sequence Stars in NGC 6530

We have conducted a long-term, wide-field, high-cadence photometric monitoring survey of ~50,000 stars in the Lagoon Nebula \ion{H}{2} region. This first paper presents rotation periods for 290 low-mass stars in NGC 6530, the young cluster illuminating the nebula, and for which we assemble a catalog of infrared and spectroscopic disk indicators, estimated masses and ages, and X-ray luminosities. The distribution of rotation periods we measure is broadly uniform for 0.5 < P < 10 d; the short-period cutoff corresponds to breakup. We observe no obvious bimodality in the period distribution, but we do find that stars with disk signatures rotate more slowly on average. The stars' X-ray luminosities are roughly flat with rotation period, at the saturation level ($\log L_X / L_{\rm bol} \approx -3.3$). However, we find a significant positive correlation between $L_X / L_{\rm bol}$ and co-rotation radius, suggesting that the observed X-ray luminosities are regulated by centrifugal stripping of the stellar coronae. The period-mass relationship in NGC 6530 is broadly similar to that of the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC), but the slope of the relationship among the slowest rotators differs from that in the ONC and other young clusters. We show that the slope of the period-mass relationship for the slowest rotators can be used as a proxy for the age of a young cluster, and we argue that NGC 6530 may be slightly younger than the ONC, making it a particularly important touchstone for models of angular momentum evolution in young, low-mass stars.Comment: 28 pages, 18 figures, Accepted for publication in ApJ. For a brief video explaining the key results of this paper, see http://www.youtube.com/user/OSUAstronomy#p/u/1/WarGh6GiWu

Calibration of the charge and energy loss per unit length of the MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber using muons and protons

We describe a method used to calibrate the position- and time-dependent response of the MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber anode wires to ionization particle energy loss. The method makes use of crossing cosmic-ray muons to partially correct anode wire signals for multiple effects as a function of time and position, including cross-connected TPC wires, space charge effects, electron attachment to impurities, diffusion, and recombination. The overall energy scale is then determined using fully-contained beam-induced muons originating and stopping in the active region of the detector. Using this method, we obtain an absolute energy scale uncertainty of 2% in data. We use stopping protons to further refine the relation between the measured charge and the energy loss for highly-ionizing particles. This data-driven detector calibration improves both the measurement of total deposited energy and particle identification based on energy loss per unit length as a function of residual range. As an example, the proton selection efficiency is increased by 2% after detector calibration

HIF-driven SF3B1 induces KHK-C to enforce fructolysis and heart disease.

Fructose is a major component of dietary sugar and its overconsumption exacerbates key pathological features of metabolic syndrome. The central fructose-metabolising enzyme is ketohexokinase (KHK), which exists in two isoforms: KHK-A and KHK-C, generated through mutually exclusive alternative splicing of KHK pre-mRNAs. KHK-C displays superior affinity for fructose compared with KHK-A and is produced primarily in the liver, thus restricting fructose metabolism almost exclusively to this organ. Here we show that myocardial hypoxia actuates fructose metabolism in human and mouse models of pathological cardiac hypertrophy through hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF1α) activation of SF3B1 and SF3B1-mediated splice switching of KHK-A to KHK-C. Heart-specific depletion of SF3B1 or genetic ablation of Khk, but not Khk-A alone, in mice, suppresses pathological stress-induced fructose metabolism, growth and contractile dysfunction, thus defining signalling components and molecular underpinnings of a fructose metabolism regulatory system crucial for pathological growth

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Abstract:&nbsp; The hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase deficiency (HPRT-d) is an inborn error in purine metabolism with X-linked inheritance responsible for Lesch-Nyhan disease (LND) and its attenuated variants (LNV). LND shows a totally enzymatic deficiency and it`s characterized by hyperuricemia, self-mutilation, neurodevelopmental delay, intellectual disability, etc. LNV show partial enzymatic deficiency resulting in hyperuricemia, gout, nephrolithiasis, renal failure and variable neurological compromise; these variants are considered to be underdiagnosed because they are misclassified as gout or hyperuricemic syndrome. Early diagnosis in hemizygous males is crucial to promptly start treatment with allopurinol in order to prevent severe kidney damage. Carrier identification is required to provide genetic counselling. Both presentations of the disease were diagnosed in our centre. This study was aimed to realize a cascade genetic screening to members of a family with a confirmed diagnosis of HPRT-d (LNV) and HPRT1 c.584A&gt; C mutation. The study was performed in subjects with different degrees of kinship with a common 5 generations ancestor. This family originating from La Calera and Saldan has the antecedents of LNV cases with the HPRT1 c.584A&gt; C mutation. Eight women and eight men were included; informed consent was obtained prior to blood extraction and genetic study. Identification of the HPRT1 c.584A&gt; C mutation was carried out by PCR and restriction enzyme digestion to establish the genotype. Seven females were carriers and six males were hemizygous. Respect to positive cases, it was corroborated that 4 males had some symptoms related to hyperuricemia and 2 minors (aged 1 week and 1 year) without symptoms but with hyperuricemia subsequently confirmed. Although LND and its variants are rare diseases, they should be considered in the differential diagnosis of hyperuricemia. Cascade genetic screening in this family allowed us to make an early diagnosis of affected males and to establish treatment with allopurinol in order to prevent gouty manifestations and kidney failure. In women, the importance of identifying carriers for X-linked diseases is essential to provide genetic counselling in family planning.Resumen:&nbsp; La deficiencia de hipoxantina fosforribosiltransferasa (d-HPRT) es un defecto en el metabolismo de las purinas con herencia ligada al cromosoma X responsable de la Enfermedad de Lesch-Nyhan (ELN) y sus variantes (VLN). La ELN, con deficiencia total de la enzima, se caracteriza por hiperuricemia, automutilación, retraso del desarrollo, afectación neurológica, etc. La VLN con deficiencia parcial de la enzima, presenta hiperuricemia, gota, nefrolitiasis, fallo renal y variable grado de compromiso neurológico; esta variante se considera subdiagnosticada al clasificarla como gota o síndrome hiperuricémico. El diagnóstico precoz en varones hemicigotos es imprescindible para instaurar el tratamiento con alopurinol y evitar el daño renal; la identificación de portadoras permite realizar el correspondiente asesoramiento genético. Ambas formas de la enfermedad fueron diagnosticadas en nuestro medio. El objetivo del trabajo fue realizar un cribado genético en cascada a miembros de una familia con casos confirmados de d-HPRT (VLN) por mutación HPRT1 c.584A&gt;C. El estudio estuvo dirigido sujetos con diferente grado de parentesco y un ancestro común de 5 generaciones; esta familia oriunda de La Calera y Saldán, tiene como antecedente casos de LNV con la mutación HPRT1 c.584A&gt;C. Se incluyeron 8 mujeres y 8 varones, previo consentimiento informado para extracción de sangre y estudio genético. La identificación de la mutación HPRT1 c.584A&gt;C se realizó por PCR y digestión con enzima de restricción para establecer el genotipo. De las mujeres analizadas 7 resultaron portadoras de la mutación y 6 varones hemicigotos; de estos casos positivos se corroboró que 4 presentaban alguna sintomatología relacionada a hiperuricemia y 2 menores (de 1 semana de vida y de 1 año) sin síntomas pero con hiperuricemia confirmada posteriormente. Aunque la ELN y sus variantes son enfermedades poco frecuentes, es importante considerarlas en el diagnóstico diferencial de hiperuricemia. El cribado genético en cascada familiar permitió realizar el diagnóstico precoz de los varones afectados e instaurar el tratamiento con alopurinol, evitando el desarrollo de manifestaciones gotosas e insuficiencia renal; en el caso de las mujeres, se resalta la importancia de identificar portadoras para enfermedades ligadas al X.

Charge separation relative to the reaction plane in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN=2.76\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}= 2.76 TeV

Measurements of charge dependent azimuthal correlations with the ALICE detector at the LHC are reported for Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV. Two- and three-particle charge-dependent azimuthal correlations in the pseudo-rapidity range $|\eta| < 0.8$ are presented as a function of the collision centrality, particle separation in pseudo-rapidity, and transverse momentum. A clear signal compatible with a charge-dependent separation relative to the reaction plane is observed, which shows little or no collision energy dependence when compared to measurements at RHIC energies. This provides a new insight for understanding the nature of the charge dependent azimuthal correlations observed at RHIC and LHC energies.Comment: 12 pages, 3 captioned figures, authors from page 2 to 6, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/286

A note on comonotonicity and positivity of the control components of decoupled quadratic FBSDE

In this small note we are concerned with the solution of Forward-Backward Stochastic Differential Equations (FBSDE) with drivers that grow quadratically in the control component (quadratic growth FBSDE or qgFBSDE). The main theorem is a comparison result that allows comparing componentwise the signs of the control processes of two different qgFBSDE. As a byproduct one obtains conditions that allow establishing the positivity of the control process.Comment: accepted for publicatio

Measurement of the Bottom-Strange Meson Mixing Phase in the Full CDF Data Set

We report a measurement of the bottom-strange meson mixing phase \beta_s using the time evolution of B0_s -> J/\psi (->\mu+\mu-) \phi (-> K+ K-) decays in which the quark-flavor content of the bottom-strange meson is identified at production. This measurement uses the full data set of proton-antiproton collisions at sqrt(s)= 1.96 TeV collected by the Collider Detector experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron, corresponding to 9.6 fb-1 of integrated luminosity. We report confidence regions in the two-dimensional space of \beta_s and the B0_s decay-width difference \Delta\Gamma_s, and measure \beta_s in [-\pi/2, -1.51] U [-0.06, 0.30] U [1.26, \pi/2] at the 68% confidence level, in agreement with the standard model expectation. Assuming the standard model value of \beta_s, we also determine \Delta\Gamma_s = 0.068 +- 0.026 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps-1 and the mean B0_s lifetime, \tau_s = 1.528 +- 0.019 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps, which are consistent and competitive with determinations by other experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, Phys. Rev. Lett 109, 171802 (2012