Mission Design of LiteBIRD Matsumura, T.; Akiba, Y.; Borrill, J. ...
Journal of low temperature physics,
09/2014, Letnik:
176, Številka:
5-6
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
LiteBIRD is a next-generation satellite mission to measure the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation. On large angular scales the B-mode polarization of the CMB carries the ...imprint of primordial gravitational waves, and its precise measurement would provide a powerful probe of the epoch of inflation. The goal of LiteBIRD is to achieve a measurement of the characterizing tensor to scalar ratio
r
to an uncertainty of
δ
r
=
0.001
. In order to achieve this goal we will employ a kilo-pixel superconducting detector array on a cryogenically cooled sub-Kelvin focal plane with an optical system at a temperature of 4 K. We are currently considering two detector array options; transition edge sensor (TES) bolometers and microwave kinetic inductance detectors. In this paper we give an overview of LiteBIRD and describe a TES-based polarimeter designed to achieve the target sensitivity of 2
μ
K arcmin over the frequency range 50–320 GHz.
The chance that a prostate cancer detected by screening is overdiagnosed (ie, it would not have been detected in the absence of screening) can vary widely depending on the patient's age and tumor ...characteristics. The purpose of this study is to use age, Gleason score, and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level to help inform patients with screen-detected prostate cancers about the chances their cancers were overdiagnosed.
A computer microsimulation model of prostate cancer natural history was used to generate virtual life histories in the presence and absence of PSA screening, including an indicator of whether screen-detected cancers are overdiagnosed. A logistic regression model was fit to nonmetastatic patients diagnosed by screening with PSA less than 10 ng/mL, and a nomogram was created to predict the individualized risk of overdiagnosis given age, Gleason score, and PSA at diagnosis.
The calibrated microsimulation model closely reproduces observed incidence trends in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registries by age, stage, and Gleason score. The fitted logistic regression predicts risks of overdiagnosis among PSA-detected patients with an area under the curve of 0.75. Chances of overdiagnosis range from 2.9% to 88.1%.
The chances of overdiagnosis vary considerably by age, Gleason score, and PSA at diagnosis. The overdiagnosis nomogram presents tailored estimates of these risks based on patient and tumor information known at diagnosis and can be used to inform decisions about treating PSA-detected prostate cancers.
Summary
Background
Therapeutic techniques for oviductal obstruction in the mare are limited. Nonsurgical and retrograde flushing may be an attractive alternative to current treatment methods for ...oviductal blockage.
Objectives
To evaluate hysteroscopic selective hydrotubation as a treatment option for presumptive equine oviductal blockage.
Study design
Retrospective case series.
Methods
A quantity of 10 mL of saline was flushed through the oviducts in 28 standing sedated mares, which had reproductive histories of unexplained subfertility, by inserting a catheter into the uterotubal junction under endoscopic guidance. All mares in the study had been mated through several cycles (2–20 oestrous cycles) by known fertile stallions prior to treatment, with no evidence of conception. The average number of cycles for each mare prior to treatment was 6.5 ± 4.5.
Results
Saline was successfully infused into a total of 50 oviducts. Of 28 mares, 26 conceived after the treatment. The average number of cycles for each mare to become pregnant after treatment was 1.8 ± 0.8.
Main limitations
Diagnosis of blocked oviducts was presumptive, and pretreatment infertility was used as the control.
Conclusions
This study revealed that hysteroscopic hydrotubation using saline improved pregnancy rates in mares in which oviductal blockage was suspected as a cause of unexplained subfertility.
We report a highly sensitive and rapid electrochemical method for the detection of endotoxin, based on a
Limulus
amebocyte lysate (LAL) assay using redox cycling at a pair of electrodes in a ...nanocavity for electrochemical signal amplification. We have previously developed Boc-Leu-Gly-Arg-
p
-aminophenol (LGR-pAP) as a substrate for the amperometric LAL assay, and in this work, Z-Leu-Gly-Arg-aminomethylferrocene (LGR-AMF) was newly prepared. They were examined as substrates for a LAL-based endotoxin assay using a nanocavity device. During the last step of the endotoxin-induced LAL cascade reaction, pAP or AMF is generated from the substrate, which can be detected electrochemically with efficient signal amplification by redox cycling between the two electrodes in the nanocavity. A device with a 190 nm-high nanocavity was fabricated by photolithography. With the fabricated device in model assay solutions prepared by mixing LGR-pAP and pAP, we demonstrated that pAP could be quantitatively detected from the difference in oxidation potentials between LGR-pAP and pAP. For LGR-AMF and AMF, a difference in the formal potential of 0.1 V was obtained which was considered to be insufficient to distinguish AMF from LGR-AMF. However, we showed for the first time that analytes such as AMF can be detected by differences in diffusion coefficients between the analyte and coexisting molecules (such as LGR-AMF) using a device with high redox-cycling efficiency. Next, the endotoxin assay was performed using the fabricated nanocavity device. Using this method, endotoxin was detected at concentrations as low as 0.2 and 0.5 EU L
−1
after LAL reaction times of 1 h and 30 min, respectively, using the LGR-pAP substrate. However, the endotoxin assay using LGR-AMF was not successful because the clotting enzyme did not react with LGR-AMF. This problem might be solved by further design of the substrate. Our nanocavity device represents an effective platform for the simple and rapid detection of endotoxin with high sensitivity.
A highly sensitive endotoxin sensor and novel analytical principle using diffusion coefficient difference was developed using a nanocavity device.
We search for hidden-photon cold dark matter (HP-CDM) using a spectroscopic system in a K-band frequency range. Our system comprises a planar metal plate and cryogenic receiver. This is the first ...time a cryogenic receiver has been used in the search for HP-CDM . Such use helps reduce thermal noise. We recorded data for 9.3 hours using an effective aperture area of 14.8 cm2. No signal was found in the data. We set upper limits for the parameter of mixing between the photon and HP-CDM in the mass range from 115.79 to 115.85 μeV, χ<1.8–#4.3e−10, at a 95% confidence level. This is the most stringent upper limit obtained to date in the considered mass range.
We present Suzaku X-ray observations along two edge regions of the Fermi Bubbles, with eight Asymptotically = to 20 ks pointings across the northern part of the North Polar Spur (NPS) surrounding the ...north bubble and six across the southernmost edge of the south bubble. After removing compact X-ray features, diffuse X-ray emission is clearly detected and is well reproduced by a three-component spectral model consisting of unabsorbed thermal emission (temperature kT Asymptotically = to 0.1 keV) from the Local Bubble, absorbed kT Asymptotically = to 0.3 keV thermal emission related to the NPS and/or Galactic halo (GH), and a power-law component at a level consistent with the cosmic X-ray background. We also derived an upper limit for any non-thermal X-ray emission component associated with the bubbles and demonstrate that, in agreement with the aforementioned findings, the non-thermal pressure and energy estimated from a one-zone leptonic model of its broadband spectrum, are in rough equilibrium with that of the surrounding thermal plasma.
We developed a segmented reactor-antineutrino detector made of plastic scintillators for application as a tool in nuclear safeguards inspection and performed mostly unmanned field operations at a ...commercial power plant reactor. At a position outside the reactor building, we measured the difference in reactor antineutrino flux above the ground when the reactor was active and inactive.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been garnered increasing for its rapid worldwide spread. Each country had implemented city-wide lockdowns and immigration regulations ...to prevent the spread of the infection, resulting in severe economic consequences. Materials and technologies that monitor environmental conditions and wirelessly communicate such information to people are thus gaining considerable attention as a countermeasure. This study investigated the dynamic characteristics of batteryless magnetostrictive alloys for energy harvesting to detect human coronavirus 229E (HCoV-229E). Light and thin magnetostrictive Fe–Co/Ni clad plate with rectification, direct current (DC) voltage storage capacitor, and wireless information transmission circuits were developed for this purpose. The power consumption was reduced by improving the energy storage circuit, and the magnetostrictive clad plate under bending vibration stored a DC voltage of 1.9 V and wirelessly transmitted a signal to a personal computer once every 5 min and 10 s under bias magnetic fields of 0 and 10 mT, respectively. Then, on the clad plate surface, a novel CD13 biorecognition layer was immobilized using a self-assembled monolayer of –COOH groups, thus forming an amide bond with –NH2 groups for the detection of HCoV-229E. A bending vibration test demonstrated the resonance frequency changes because of HCoV-229E binding. The fluorescence signal demonstrated that HCoV-229E could be successfully detected. Thus, because HCoV-229E changed the dynamic characteristics of this plate, the CD13-modified magnetostrictive clad plate could detect HCoV-229E from the interval of wireless communication time. Therefore, a monitoring system that transmits/detects the presence of human coronavirus without batteries will be realized soon.
Display omitted
•Information was transmitted by a Fe–Co/Ni clad plate under bending vibration.•We immobilized the protein CD13 onto the surface of the clad plate.•The capture of human coronavirus 229E was confirmed using the clad plate under vibration.•Our energy harvesting device, which does not require batteries, could detect the coronavirus.
Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) has curative potential against hematological malignancies. However, there are concerns about the associated risk of non-relapse ...mortality (NRM). We performed a retrospective single-center study to assess changes in outcomes after allo-HSCT and causes of NRM over three 5-year periods. The rates of 2-year NRM and overall survival (OS) were 16% and 59%, respectively. We found a significant decrease in NRM (P<0.001), with 2-year NRM of 26, 14 and 9%, and a significant increase in OS (P=0.005), with 2-year OS of 52%, 58% and 65%, over the three periods (1998-2002, 2003-2007 and 2008-2012), respectively. Of note, a steady improvement was observed in NRM, period by period, among patients aged 50 years or older, patients who underwent HSCT from an unrelated bone marrow donor and patients who underwent HSCT with a reduced-intensity conditioning regimen. Our data showed that the improved NRM can mainly be attributed to a decreased mortality related to infection after starting systemic steroid as GVHD treatment, and a decreased mortality related to organ failure.
Purpose
Changes in mean skin temperature (
T
sk
) have been shown to modify the maximum rate of sweat ion reabsorption. This study aims to extend this knowledge by investigating if modifications ...could also be caused by local
T
sk
.
Methods
The influence of local
T
sk
on the sweat gland maximum ion reabsorption rates was investigated in ten healthy volunteers (three female and seven male; 20.8 ± 1.2 years, 60.4 ± 7.7 kg, 169.4 ± 10.4 cm) during passive heating (water-perfused suit and lower leg water immersion). In two separate trials, in a randomized order, one forearm was always manipulated to 33 °C (Neutral), whilst the other was manipulated to either 30 °C (Cool) or 36 °C (Warm) using water-perfused patches. Oesophageal temperature (
T
es
), forearm
T
sk
, sweat rate (SR), galvanic skin conductance (GSC) and salivary aldosterone concentrations were measured. The sweat gland maximum ion reabsorption rates were identified using the ∆SR threshold for an increasing ∆GSC.
Results
Thermal
T
es
and body temperature (
T
b
) and non-thermal responses (aldosterone) were similar across all conditions (
p
> 0.05). A temperature-dependent response for the sweat gland maximum ion reabsorption rates was evident between 30 °C (0.18 ± 0.10 mg/cm
2
/min) and 36 °C (0.28 ± 0.14 mg/cm
2
/min,
d
= 0.88,
p
< 0.05), but not for 33 °C (0.22 ± 0.12 mg/cm
2
/min),
d
= 0.44 and
d
= 0.36,
p
> 0.05.
Conclusion
The data indicate that small variations in local
T
sk
may not affect the sweat gland maximum ion reabsorption rates but when the local
T
sk
increases by > 6 °C, ion reabsorption rates also increase.
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