On the Unruh effect in de Sitter space

We give an interpretation of the temperature in de Sitter universe in terms of a dynamical Unruh effect associated with the Hubble sphere. As with the quantum noise perceived by a uniformly accelerated observer in static space-times, observers endowed with a proper motion can in principle detect the effect. In particular, we study a "Kodama observer" as a two-field Unruh detector for which we show the effect is approximately thermal. We also estimate the back-reaction of the emitted radiation and find trajectories associated with the Kodama vector fields are stable.Comment: 8 pages; corrected typos; sections structure revise

African trypanosomiasis in travelers returning to the United Kingdom.

Two returning safari tourists with African trypanosomiasis were admitted to the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, London, in a 3-day period, compared with six cases in the previous 14 years. We describe the clinical features, diagnosis, and problems encountered in accessing appropriate therapy, and discuss the potential for emergence of this disease in increasingly adventurous international travelers

Human cystic echinococcosis: evaluation of post-treatment serologic follow-up by IgG subclass antibody detection.

Assessment of post-treatment disease activity among patients with cystic echinococcosis (CE) is insensitive using detection of CE-specific total IgG antibody. This study investigated whether serum concentrations of CE-specific IgG subclasses 1-4 correlate better with disease activity than total IgG. We studied a cohort of patients (n = 28) with symptomatic CE treated with anthelminthic drugs and surgery and who were followed up clinically and radiologically for a mean of 5.6 years (range = 3-12 years). Serial archived sera collected during follow-up were retrospectively analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays using crude horse hydatid cyst fluid as antigen. Changes in concentrations of antibodies were correlated with clinical and radiologic outcome. At diagnosis, concentrations of CE-specific total IgG, IgG1, and IgG2 antibodies were significantly elevated in a greater proportion of patients compared with IgG3 and IgG4 antibodies. During post-treatment follow up, the IgG2 antibody response provided the best correlate of disease activity

Parallelizable Microfluidic Resistive On-Line Detector of Micrometric Aggregates of Biopharmaceutical Antibodies

A microfluidic device based on the differential measurement of the ionic resistance of a micropore for detection of aggregates of antibodies in biopharmaceutical downstream process is presented. The main novelty of this contribution regards the experimental demonstration that, despite the poor solidness of proteins, their aggregates, in their standard production buffer, can be electrically detected down to 2.4 μm diameter with sub-ms transit time (flow rate of 5 μl/min). Thanks to the simple PDMS fluidic fabrication, compact DC readout circuit and convenient use of the same metallic silver tubing for both electrical and fluidic interconnection, the device can be straightforwardly parallelized in tens of units, thus combining single micrometric sensitivity with larger flow rates (>100 μl/min), suitable for in-line installation in pharmaceutical plants

ATLAS RPC Quality Assurance results at INFN Lecce

The main results of the quality assurance tests performed on the Resistive Plate Chamber used by the ATLAS experiment at LHC as muon trigger chambers are reported and discussed. Since July 2004, about 270 RPC units has been certified at INFN Lecce site and delivered to CERN, for being integrated in the final muon station of the ATLAS barrel region. We show the key RPC characteristics which qualify the performance of this detector technology as muon trigger chamber in the harsh LHC enviroments. These are dark current, chamber efficiency, noise rate, gas volume tomography, and gas leakage.Comment: Comments: 6 pages, 1 table, 9 figures Proceedings of XXV Physics in Collision-Prague, Czech Republic, 6-9 July 200

Performance of the diamond active target prototype for the PADME experiment at the DAΦ\PhiNE BTF

The PADME experiment at the DA$\Phi$NE Beam-Test Facility (BTF) is designed to search for the gauge boson of a new $\rm U(1)$ interaction in the process e$^+$e$^-\rightarrow\gamma$+$\rm A'$, using the intense positron beam hitting a light target. The $\rm A'$, usually referred as dark photon, is assumed to decay into invisible particles of a secluded sector and it can be observed by searching for an anomalous peak in the spectrum of the missing mass measured in events with a single photon in the final state. The measurement requires the determination of the 4-momentum of the recoil photon, performed by a homogeneous, highly segmented BGO crystals calorimeter. A significant improvement of the missing mass resolution is possible using an active target capable to determine the average position of the positron bunch with a resolution of less than 1 mm. This report presents the performance of a real size $\rm (2x2 cm^2)$ PADME active target made of a thin (50 $\mu$m) diamond sensor, with graphitic strips produced via laser irradiation on both sides. The measurements are based on data collected in a beam test at the BTF in November 2015.Comment: 7 pages, 10 figure