Context. Supplementing the publications based on the first-light observations with the German REceiver for Astronomy at Terahertz frequencies (GREAT) on SOFIA, we present background information on ...the underlying heterodyne detector technology. This Letter complements the GREAT instrument Letter and focuses on the mixers itself. Aims. We describe the superconducting hot electron bolometer (HEB) detectors that are used as frequency mixers in the L1 (1400 GHz), L2 (1900 GHz), and M (2500 GHz) channels of GREAT. Measured performance of the detectors is presented and background information on their operation in GREAT is given. Methods. Our mixer units are waveguide-based and couple to free-space radiation via a feedhorn antenna. The HEB mixers are designed, fabricated, characterized, and flight-qualified in-house. We are able to use the full intermediate frequency bandwidth of the mixers using silicon-germanium multi-octave cryogenic low-noise amplifiers with very low input return loss. Results. Superconducting HEB mixers have proven to be practical and sensitive detectors for high-resolution THz frequency spectroscopy on SOFIA. We show that our niobium-titanium-nitride (NbTiN) material HEBs on silicon nitride (SiN) membrane substrates have an intermediate frequency (IF) noise roll-off frequency above 2.8 GHz, which does not limit the current receiver IF bandwidth. Our mixer technology development efforts culminate in the first successful operation of a waveguide-based HEB mixer at 2.5 THz and deployment for radioastronomy. A significant contribution to the success of GREAT is made by technological development, thorough characterization and performance optimization of the mixer and its IF interface for receiver operation on SOFIA. In particular, the development of an optimized mixer IF interface contributes to the low passband ripple and excellent stability, which GREAT demonstrated during its initial successful astronomical observation runs.
We present the performance of the upGREAT heterodyne array receivers on the SOFIA telescope after several years of operations. This instrument is a multi-pixel high resolution (
R
≳
1
0
7
) ...spectrometer for the Stratospheric Observatory for Far-Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). The receivers use 7-pixel subarrays configured in a hexagonal layout around a central pixel. The low frequency array receiver (LFA) has
2
×
7
pixels (dual polarization), and presently covers the 1.83–2.07
THz frequency range, which allows to observe the CII and OI lines at 158
μ
m and 145
μ
m wavelengths. The high frequency array (HFA) covers the OI line at 63
μ
m and is equipped with one polarization at the moment (7 pixels, which can be upgraded in the near future with a second polarization array). The 4.7
THz array has successfully flown using two separate quantum-cascade laser local oscillators from two different groups. NASA completed the development, integration and testing of a dual-channel closed-cycle cryocooler system, with two independently operable He compressors, aboard SOFIA in early 2017 and since then, both arrays can be operated in parallel using a frequency separating dichroic mirror. This configuration is now the prime GREAT configuration and has been added to SOFIA’s instrument suite since observing cycle 6.
Objectives
Different studies suggest that inflammation as well as hypoxia leads to an increase of p53 protein levels. However, the implication of p53 during oral inflammatory processes is still ...unknown. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate the effect of hypoxia and inflammation on p53 regulation in human periodontium in vitro and in vivo.
Materials and methods
Under hypoxic and normoxic conditions, human primary periodontal ligament (PDL) fibroblasts (
n
= 9) were stimulated with lipopolysaccharides (LPS) from
Porphyromonas gingivalis
(
P.g.
), a periodontal pathogenic bacterium. After different time points, cell viability was tested; p53 gene expression, protein synthesis, and activation were measured using quantitative RT-PCR, immunoblotting, and immunofluorescence. Moreover, healthy and inflamed periodontal tissues were obtained from 12 donors to analyze p53 protein in oral inflammatory diseases by immunohistochemistry.
Results
LPS-
P.g.
and hypoxia initially induced a significant upregulation of p53 mRNA expression and p53 protein levels. Nuclear translocation of p53 after inflammatory stimulation supported these findings. Hypoxia first enhanced p53 levels, but after 24 h of incubation, protein levels decreased, which was accompanied by an improvement of PDL cell viability. Immunohistochemistry revealed an elevation of p53 immunoreactivity in accordance to the progression of periodontal inflammation.
Conclusions
Our data indicate that p53 plays a pivotal role in PDL cell homeostasis and seems to be upregulated in oral inflammatory diseases.
Clinical relevance
Upregulation of p53 may promote the destruction of periodontal integrity. A possible relationship with carcinogenesis may be discussed.
By reducing energy density, low-energy sweeteners (LES) might be expected to reduce energy intake (EI) and body weight (BW). To assess the totality of the evidence testing the null hypothesis that ...LES exposure (versus sugars or unsweetened alternatives) has no effect on EI or BW, we conducted a systematic review of relevant studies in animals and humans consuming LES with ad libitum access to food energy. In 62 of 90 animal studies exposure to LES did not affect or decreased BW. Of 28 reporting increased BW, 19 compared LES with glucose exposure using a specific 'learning' paradigm. Twelve prospective cohort studies in humans reported inconsistent associations between LES use and body mass index (-0.002 kg m(-)(2) per year, 95% confidence interval (CI) -0.009 to 0.005). Meta-analysis of short-term randomized controlled trials (129 comparisons) showed reduced total EI for LES versus sugar-sweetened food or beverage consumption before an ad libitum meal (-94 kcal, 95% CI -122 to -66), with no difference versus water (-2 kcal, 95% CI -30 to 26). This was consistent with EI results from sustained intervention randomized controlled trials (10 comparisons). Meta-analysis of sustained intervention randomized controlled trials (4 weeks to 40 months) showed that consumption of LES versus sugar led to relatively reduced BW (nine comparisons; -1.35 kg, 95% CI -2.28 to -0.42), and a similar relative reduction in BW versus water (three comparisons; -1.24 kg, 95% CI -2.22 to -0.26). Most animal studies did not mimic LES consumption by humans, and reverse causation may influence the results of prospective cohort studies. The preponderance of evidence from all human randomized controlled trials indicates that LES do not increase EI or BW, whether compared with caloric or non-caloric (for example, water) control conditions. Overall, the balance of evidence indicates that use of LES in place of sugar, in children and adults, leads to reduced EI and BW, and possibly also when compared with water.
We present a new multi-pixel high resolution (R ≳ 107) spectrometer for the Stratospheric Observatory for Far-Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). The receiver uses 2 × 7-pixel subarrays in orthogonal ...polarization, each in an hexagonal array around a central pixel. We present the first results for this new instrument after commissioning campaigns in May and December 2015 and after science observations performed in May 2016. The receiver is designed to ultimately cover the full 1.8−2.5 THz frequency range but in its first implementation, the observing range was limited to observations of the CII line at 1.9 THz in 2015 and extended to 1.83−2.07 THz in 2016. The instrument sensitivities are state-of-the-art and the first scientific observations performed shortly after the commissioning confirm that the time efficiency for large scale imaging is improved by more than an order of magnitude as compared to single pixel receivers. An example of large scale mapping around the Horsehead Nebula is presented here illustrating this improvement. The array has been added to SOFIA’s instrument suite already for ongoing observing cycle 4.
Ganzfeld, i.e., exposure to an unstructured, uniform stimulation field, elicits in most observers pseudo-hallucinatory percepts, and may even induce global functional state changes (‘altered states ...of consciousness’). The present paper gives a comprehensive overview of the phenomenology of subjective experience in the ganzfeld and its electrophysiological correlates. Laboratory techniques for visual or multi-modal ganzfeld induction are explained. The spectrum of ganzfeld-induced phenomena, ranging from elementary percepts to complex, vivid, dream-like imagery is described, and the latter illustrated by transcripts of subjects' reports. Similarities and differences to related sensory/perceptual phenomena are also discussed. Earlier findings on electrophysiological correlates of the ganzfeld are reviewed. Our own studies of electroencephalographic (EEG) activity in the ganzfeld are presented in some detail, and a re-analysis of data on EEG correlates of hallucinatory percepts
in statu nascendi is reported. The results do not support the hypothesis of the hypnagogic origin of the percepts; the ganzfeld-induced steady-state is an activated state, and the spectral EEG dynamics in the alpha frequency range reveals processes of attention shifts and percept formation. The final section is devoted to the controversial topic of allegedly anomalous communication between human subjects (‘ganzfeld telepathy’). It is shown that the use of ganzfeld in this research field relies partly on unsupported hypotheses concerning ganzfeld-induced states, partly on a weak conceptual background of the experimental procedure. The rôle of a particular belief system shared by the participants and experimenters is critically discussed.
Fine-structure line deficit in S 140 Ossenkopf, V.; Koumpia, E.; Okada, Y. ...
Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin),
08/2015, Letnik:
580
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Aims. We try to understand the gas heating and cooling in the S 140 star-forming region by spatially and spectrally resolving the distribution of the main cooling lines with GREAT/SOFIA and combining ...our data with existing ground-based and Herschel observations that trace the energy input and the density and temperature structure of the source. Methods. We mapped the fine-structure lines of O i (63 μm) and C ii (158 μm) and the rotational transitions of CO 13−12 and 16−15 with GREAT/SOFIA and analyzed the spatial and velocity structure to assign the emission to individual heating sources. We measure the optical depth of the C ii line and perform radiative transfer computations for all observed transitions. By comparing the line intensities with the far-infrared continuum we can assess the total cooling budget and measure the gas heating efficiency. Results. The main emission of fine-structure lines in S 140 stems from a 8.3′′ region close to the infrared source IRS 2 that is not prominent at any other wavelength. It can be explained by a photon-dominated region (PDR) structure around the embedded cluster if we assume that the O i line intensity is reduced by a factor of seven owing to self-absorption. The external cloud interface forms a second PDR at an inclination of 80−85 degrees illuminated by a UV field of 60 times the standard interstellar radiation field. The main radiation source in the cloud, IRS 1, is not prominent at all in the fine-structure lines. We measure line-to-continuum cooling ratios below 10-4, i.e. values lower than in any other Galactic source, actually matching the far-IR line deficit seen in ULIRGs. In particular, the low intensity of the C ii line can only be modeled by an extreme excitation gradient in the gas around IRS 1. We found no explanation for why IRS 1 shows no associated fine-structure line peak, while IRS 2 does. Conclusions. The inner part of S 140 mimics the far-IR line deficit in ULIRGs thereby providing a template that may lead to a future model.
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