A compact widely-tunable fiber-coupled sensor for trace gas detection of hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) in the mid infrared is reported. The sensor is based on an external-cavity quantum cascade laser ...(EC-QCL) tunable between 7.6 and 8.3 μm wavelengths coupled into a single-mode hollow-core waveguide. Quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy has been selected as detecting technique. The fiber coupling system converts the astigmatic beam exiting the laser into a TEM(00) mode. During a full laser scan, we observed no misalignment between the optical beam and the tuning fork, thus making our system applicable for multi-gas or broad absorber detections. The sensor has been tested on N₂:H₂S gas mixtures. The minimum detectable H₂S concentration is 450 ppb in ~3 s integration time, which is the best value till now reported in literature for H₂S optical sensors.
In this study we examine the simulated downward transport and mixing of stratospheric air into the upper tropical troposphere as observed on a research flight during the SCOUT-O3 campaign in ...connection with a deep convective system. We use the Advanced Research Weather and Research Forecasting (WRF-ARW) model with a horizontal resolution of 333 m to examine this downward transport. The simulation reproduces the deep convective system, its timing and overshooting altitudes reasonably well compared to radar and aircraft observations. Passive tracers initialised at pre-storm times indicate the downward transport of air from the stratosphere to the upper troposphere as well as upward transport from the boundary layer into the cloud anvils and overshooting tops. For example, a passive ozone tracer (i.e. a tracer not undergoing chemical processing) shows an enhancement in the upper troposphere of up to about 30 ppbv locally in the cloud, while the in situ measurements show an increase of 50 ppbv. However, the passive carbon monoxide tracer exhibits an increase, while the observations show a decrease of about 10 ppbv, indicative of an erroneous model representation of the transport processes in the tropical tropopause layer. Furthermore, it could point to insufficient entrainment and detrainment in the model. The simulation shows a general moistening of air in the lower stratosphere, but it also exhibits local dehydration features. Here we use the model to explain the processes causing the transport and also expose areas of inconsistencies between the model and observations.
The fourth edition of FLAIR, Field Laser Applications in Industry and Research, was held on May 5 until May 9, 2014, in Pratolino, Firenze, Italy, the same venue where the FLAIR series was started in ...2007. The enthusiasm for this edition has been dampened by the sudden passing of Dr. Peter Werle, one of the two co-chairmen, on September 6, 2013, during the organization of the meeting. For an obituary of Dr. Werle see 1. This event obviously affected the organization of the Conference, including its schedule. We wanted to pay Peter Werle a special tribute, but in such a way to transform this remembrance into a positive event. To this end, the conference began with a special session that not only highlighted Peter Werle as a great colleague and friend but also as a visionary who has made numerous significant contributions to quantitative analysis, including noise analysis, employing tunable IR spectroscopy. Dr. Werle was the first to introduce the Allan variance concept 2 to spectrosco ...
► The Fmr1- and mu-KO mouse lines present clear autistic-like phenotypes. ► Both models must be further investigated especially for sex and age differences. ► Evidence from the two KO lines supports ...the validity of monogenic models of autism.
Autism is a pervasive disorder characterized by a complex symptomatology, based principally on social dysfunction. The disorder has a highly complex, largely genetic etiology, involving an impressive variety of genes, the precise contributions of which still remain to be determined. For this reason, a reductionist approach to the study of autism has been proposed, employing monogenic animal models of social dysfunction, either by targeting a candidate gene, or by mimicking a single-gene disorder characterized by autistic symptoms. In the present review, we discuss this monogenic approach by comparing examples of each strategy: the mu opioid receptor knock-out (KO) mouse line, which targets the opioid system (known to be involved in the control of social behaviors); and the Fmr1-KO mouse, a model for Fragile X syndrome (a neurodevelopmental syndrome that includes autistic symptoms). The autistic-relevant behavioral phenotypes of the mu-opioid and Fmr1-KO mouse lines are described here, summarizing previous work by our research group and others, but also providing novel experimental evidence. Relevant factors influencing the validity of the two models, such as sex differences and age at testing, are also addressed, permitting an extensive evaluation of the advantages and limits of monogenic mouse models for autism.
The vgf gene has been identified as an energy homeostasis regulator. Vgf encodes a 617-aa precursor protein that is processed to yield an incompletely characterized panel of neuropeptides. Until now, ...it was an unproved assumption that VGF-derived peptides could regulate metabolism. Here, a VGF peptide designated TLQP-21 was identified in rat brain extracts by means of immunoprecipitation, microcapillary liquid chromatography-tandem MS, and database searching algorithms. Chronic intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of TLQP-21 (15 micrograms/day for 14 days) increased resting energy expenditure (EE) and rectal temperature in mice. These effects were paralleled by increased epinephrine and up-regulation of brown adipose tissue β2-AR (β2 adrenergic receptor) and white adipose tissue (WAT) PPAR-delta (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta), β3-AR, and UCP1 (uncoupling protein 1) mRNAs and were independent of locomotor activity and thyroid hormones. Hypothalamic gene expression of orexigenic and anorexigenic neuropeptides was unchanged. Furthermore, in mice that were fed a high-fat diet for 14 days, TLQP-21 prevented the increase in body and WAT weight as well as hormonal changes that are associated with a high-fat regimen. Biochemical and molecular analyses suggest that TLQP-21 exerts its effects by stimulating autonomic activation of adrenal medulla and adipose tissues. In conclusion, we present here the identification in the CNS of a previously uncharacterized VGF-derived peptide and prove that its chronic i.c.v. infusion effected an increase in EE and limited the early phase of diet-induced obesity.
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•Ammonia was measured as a target gas in an artificial stack.•Optical detection techniques exhibit different resilience to absorption lineshapes.•Target gas absorption widths are ...sensitive to the concentrations of water and CO2.•Direct absorption and derivative detection were compared with respect to calibration.•An optical multipass cell was used, completely inside an artificial stack at 140 °C.
The quantitative detection of pollutants in industrial emissions, in particular the emissions of biomass burners, requires different types of analyzers. Optical devices are usually sensitive to the transparency and dirtiness of the exhaust gases, so optical measurements are normally carried out by extracting the samples from the stacks. This paper has a twofold aim. First, we will prove that the molecular composition of the exhaust mixture (in particular the concentration of water and carbon dioxide) can deeply affect the outcome of optical analyzers, depending on the adopted detection technique. This is a critical issue, in particular with a view to the necessity of providing suitable reference methods for monitoring biomass burners emissions. Second, we will show how it is possible to measure inside an artificial stack by using an optical multipass cell located across the gas flow, even at 140 °C, or in presence of soot.
We report on the realization of a quartz-enhanced photoacoustic (QEPAS) sensor for measurement of H
2
S gas traces. A distributed feedback diode laser working at 2.64 µm wavelength has been coupled ...to an acoustic detection module composed of a quartz tuning fork and a micro-resonator system, and the QEPAS signal has been optimized in terms of gas sample pressure and laser frequency modulation depth. The sensor shows a very good linearity with respect to the H
2
S concentration. We performed an Allan–Werle variance analysis to investigate the sensor long-term stability, and we reached a detection limit of four parts per million for 1-s integration time and 500 parts per billion in 60-s integration time. The realized QEPAS sensor represents a good compromise between performance and handiness, in view of a fully portable device.
Stress has been associated to changes in eating behaviour and food preferences. Moreover, psychosocial and socio-economical challenges have been related with neuroendocrine-autonomic dysregulation ...followed by visceral obesity and associated risk factors for disease. In the current study, we provide a model of body weight development, food intake, energy expenditure of subordinate and dominant mice under psychosocial stress either in the presence of a standard diet or of a high palatable diet. When only standard chow was available stressed animals consumed more food in comparison to the control counterpart. Moreover, subordinate mice, at the end of the stress period were heavier in comparison to dominant animals. This last result was due to a decrease in the caloric efficiency of dominant animals in comparison to subordinates. Confirming this, the results of the experiment 2 showed that dominant mice significantly increase their energy expenditure at the end of the chronic psychosocial stress procedure in comparison to subordinate mice, as measured by indirect calorimetry. When a palatable high fat diet was available subordinate animals became heavier in comparison with both dominant and control animals. No differences in the caloric intake were found between groups. Subordinate mice ingested more calories from fat than controls, while dominant animals ingested more calories from carbohydrates. These results suggest that psychosocial stress can be a risk factor for overeating and weight gain in mice. However, social status influences the extent to which an individual keeps up with adverse environment, influencing the vulnerability toward stress related disorders.
The link between fetal morbidity and Q fever and the necessity of long-term antibiotics for
Coxiella burnetii
infection during pregnancy have been recently questioned in the Netherlands, where the ...clone responsible for the Q fever outbreak harbors the QpH1 plasmid. In this context, we assessed pregnancy outcomes according to antibiotic administration in a new series and compared the plasmid type between isolates associated with abortion and other clinical isolates to determine if there is a link between genotype and abortion in humans. All French patients who received a diagnosis of Q fever during pregnancy at the French National Referral Centre for Q Fever from 2006 through July 2011 were included. On the other hand, the plasmid types of 160 clinical isolates, including seven isolates from patients who experienced an abortion, were compared. The differences between the QpDV and QpH1 plasmid sequences were analyzed. Acute Q fever was a cause of fetal morbidity, and the absence of long-term cotrimoxazole therapy was associated with fetal death (
p
< 0.0001). Genotypic analysis showed that the QpDV plasmid was more frequent in isolates associated with abortion (
p
= 0.03). A comparison of the plasmid sequences revealed that four QpDV proteins had no direct counterparts in QpH1, with two whose functions were not present in QpH1. The different obstetrical morbidity of
C. burnetii
relative to different geographical areas could be related to strain specificity, possibly based on differences in plasmid sequences, or to a failure of public health authorities to detect early miscarriages.
Variations in the mixing ratio of trace gases of tropospheric origin entering the stratosphere in the tropics are of interest for assessing both troposphere to stratosphere transport fluxes in the ...tropics and the impact of these transport fluxes on the composition of the tropical lower stratosphere. Anomaly patterns of carbon monoxide (CO) and long-lived tracers in the lower tropical stratosphere allow conclusions about the rate and the variability of tropical upwelling to be drawn. Here, we present a simplified chemistry scheme for the Chemical Lagrangian Model of the Stratosphere (CLaMS) for the simulation, at comparatively low numerical cost, of CO, ozone, and long-lived trace substances (CH4, N2O, CCl3F (CFC-11), CCl2F2 (CFC-12), and CO2) in the lower tropical stratosphere. For the long-lived trace substances, the boundary conditions at the surface are prescribed based on ground-based measurements in the lowest model level. The boundary condition for CO in the lower troposphere (below about 4 km) is deduced from MOPITT measurements. Due to the lack of a specific representation of mixing and convective uplift in the troposphere in this model version, enhanced CO values, in particular those resulting from convective outflow are underestimated. However, in the tropical tropopause layer and the lower tropical stratosphere, there is relatively good agreement of simulated CO with in situ measurements (with the exception of the TROCCINOX campaign, where CO in the simulation is biased low 10–15 ppbv). Further, the model results (and therefore also the ERA-Interim winds, on which the transport in the model is based) are of sufficient quality to describe large scale anomaly patterns of CO in the lower stratosphere. In particular, the zonally averaged tropical CO anomaly patterns (the so called "tape recorder" patterns) simulated by this model version of CLaMS are in good agreement with observations, although the simulations show a too rapid upwelling compared to observations as a consequence of the overestimated vertical velocities in the ERA-Interim reanalysis data set. Moreover, the simulated tropical anomaly patterns of N2O are in good agreement with observations. In the simulations, anomaly patterns of CH4 and CFC-11 were found to be very similar to those of N2O; for all long-lived tracers, positive anomalies are simulated because of the enhanced tropical upwelling in the easterly shear phase of the quasi-biennial oscillation.
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