Attosecond dispersive soft X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy in graphite

Phase transitions of solids and structural transformations of molecules are canonical examples of important photo-induced processes, whose underlying mechanisms largely elude our comprehension due to our inability to correlate electronic excitation with atomic position in real time. Here, we present a decisive step towards such new methodology based on water-window-covering (284 eV to 543 eV) attosecond soft X-ray pulses that can simultaneously access electronic and lattice parameters via dispersive X-ray absorption fine-structure (XAFS) spectroscopy. We validate attoXAFS with an identification of the {\sigma}* and {\pi}* orbital contributions to the density of states in graphite simultaneously with its lattice's four characteristic bonding distances. This work demonstrates the concept of attoXAFS as a powerful real-time investigative tool which is equally applicable to gas-, liquid- and condensed phase

Hadoop distributed file system for the Grid

Data distribution, storage and access are essential to CPU-intensive and data-intensive high performance Grid computing. A newly emerged file system, Hadoop distributed file system (HDFS), is deployed and tested within the Open Science Grid (OSG) middleware stack. Efforts have been taken to integrate HDFS with other Grid tools to build a complete service framework for the Storage Element (SE). Scalability tests show that sustained high inter-DataNode data transfer can be achieved for the cluster fully loaded with data-processing jobs. The WAN transfer to HDFS supported by BeStMan and tuned GridFTP servers shows large scalability and robustness of the system. The hadoop client can be deployed at interactive machines to support remote data access. The ability to automatically replicate precious data is especially important for computing sites, which is demonstrated at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) computing centers. The simplicity of operations of HDFS-based SE significantly reduces the cost of ownership of Petabyte scale data storage over alternative solutions

The HLA class II allele DRB1*1501 is over-represented in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive and medically refractory lung disease with a grim prognosis. Although the etiology of IPF remains perplexing, abnormal adaptive immune responses are evident in many afflicted patients. We hypothesized that perturbations of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) allele frequencies, which are often seen among patients with immunologic diseases, may also be present in IPF patients. Methods/Principal Findings: HLA alleles were determined in subpopulations of IPF and normal subjects using molecular typing methods. HLA-DRB1*15 was over-represented in a discovery cohort of 79 Caucasian IPF subjects who had lung transplantations at the University of Pittsburgh (36.7%) compared to normal reference populations. These findings were prospectively replicated in a validation cohort of 196 additional IPF subjects from four other U.S. medical centers that included both ambulatory patients and lung transplantation recipients. High-resolution typing was used to further define specific HLA-DRB1*15 alleles. DRB1*1501 prevalence in IPF subjects was similar among the 143 ambulatory patients and 132 transplant recipients (31.5% and 34.8%, respectively, p = 0.55). The aggregate prevalence of DRB1*1501 in IPF patients was significantly greater than among 285 healthy controls (33.1% vs. 20.0%, respectively, OR 2.0; 95%CI 1.3-2.9, p = 0.0004). IPF patients with DRB1*1501 (n = 91) tended to have decreased diffusing capacities for carbon monoxide (DLCO) compared to the 184 disease subjects who lacked this allele (37.8±1.7% vs. 42.8±1.4%, p = 0.036). Conclusions/Significance: DRB1*1501 is more prevalent among IPF patients than normal subjects, and may be associated with greater impairment of gas exchange. These data are novel evidence that immunogenetic processes can play a role in the susceptibility to and/or manifestations of IPF. Findings here of a disease association at the HLA-DR locus have broad pathogenic implications, illustrate a specific chromosomal area for incremental, targeted genomic study, and may identify a distinct clinical phenotype among patients with this enigmatic, morbid lung disease

Performance of the CMS Cathode Strip Chambers with Cosmic Rays

The Cathode Strip Chambers (CSCs) constitute the primary muon tracking device in the CMS endcaps. Their performance has been evaluated using data taken during a cosmic ray run in fall 2008. Measured noise levels are low, with the number of noisy channels well below 1%. Coordinate resolution was measured for all types of chambers, and fall in the range 47 microns to 243 microns. The efficiencies for local charged track triggers, for hit and for segments reconstruction were measured, and are above 99%. The timing resolution per layer is approximately 5 ns

Performance and Operation of the CMS Electromagnetic Calorimeter

The operation and general performance of the CMS electromagnetic calorimeter using cosmic-ray muons are described. These muons were recorded after the closure of the CMS detector in late 2008. The calorimeter is made of lead tungstate crystals and the overall status of the 75848 channels corresponding to the barrel and endcap detectors is reported. The stability of crucial operational parameters, such as high voltage, temperature and electronic noise, is summarised and the performance of the light monitoring system is presented

Photocatalytic Decomposition of Formic Acid on Mo2C-Containing Catalyst

Soluble components in the peripheral blood from experimental exposure of 14 healthy subjects to filtered air and wood smoke. Samples were collected before (pre), at 24 h and 44 h after exposure, to air and wood smoke. Data are given as medians with interquartile range. (DOCX 62 kb

The Role of the st313-td Gene in Virulence of Salmonella Typhimurium ST313

Multidrug-resistant Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium ST313 has emerged in sub-Saharan Africa causing severe infections in humans. Therefore, it has been speculated that this specific sequence type, ST313, carries factors associated with increased pathogenicity. We assessed the role in virulence of a gene with a yet unknown function, st313-td, detected in ST313 through comparative genomics. Additionally, the structure of the genomic island ST313-GI, harbouring the gene was determined. The gene st313-td was cloned into wild type S. Typhimurium 4/74 (4/74-C) as well as knocked out in S. Typhimurium ST313 02-03/002 (Δst313-td) followed by complementation (02-03/002-C). Δst313-td was less virulent in mice following i.p. challenge than the wild type and this phenotype could be partly complemented in trans, indicating that st313-td plays a role during systemic infection. The gene st313-td was shown not to affect invasion of cultured epithelial cells, while the absence of the gene significantly affects uptake and intracellular survival within macrophages. The gene st313-td was proven to be strongly associated to invasiveness, harboured by 92.5% of S. Typhimurium blood isolates (n = 82) and 100% of S. Dublin strains (n = 50) analysed. On the contrary, S. Typhimurium isolates of animal and food origin (n = 82) did not carry st313-td. Six human, non-blood isolates of S. Typhimurium from Belarus, China and Nepal harboured the gene and belonged to sequence types ST398 and ST19. Our data showed a global presence of the st313-td gene and in other sequence types than ST313. The gene st313-td was shown to be expressed during logarithmic phase of growth in 14 selected Salmonella strains carrying the gene. This study reveals that st313-td plays a role in S. Typhimurium ST313 pathogenesis and adds another chapter to understanding of the virulence of S. Typhimurium and in particular of the emerging sequence type ST313

Alkali atoms attached to vortex-hosting helium nanodroplets

Light absorption or fluorescence excitation spectroscopy of alkali atoms attached to 4He droplets is investigated as a possible way for detecting the presence of vortices. To this end, we have calculated the equilibrium configuration and energetics of alkali atoms attached to a 4He1000 droplet hosting a vortex line using 4He density functional theory. We use them to study how the dipole absorption spectrum of the alkali atom is modified when the impurity is attached to a vortex line. Spectra are found to be blue-shifted (higher frequencies) and broadened compared to vortex-free droplets because the dimple in which the alkali atom sits at the intersection of the vortex line and the droplet surface is deeper. This effect is smaller for lighter alkali atoms and all the more so when using a quantum description since, in this case, they sit further away from the droplet surface on average due to their zero-point motion. Spectral modifications due to the presence of a vortex line are minor for np ← ns excitation and therefore insufficient for vortex detection. In the case of higher n′p ← ns or n′s ← ns (n′ > n) excitations, the shifts are larger as the excited state orbital is more extended and therefore more sensitive to changes in the surrounding helium density

Helicopter Parents and Landing Pad Kids: Intense Parental Support of Grown Children

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/92448/1/j.1741-3737.2012.00987.x.pd

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