Overview of muographers Tanaka, Hiroyuki K M; Oláh, László
Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A: Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences,
12/2018, Volume:
377, Issue:
2137
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
By observing the growth of a research community, particularly the factors of size and strength of involvement, it is possible to evaluate the vitality of a new field. The emerging technology of ...muography, a new visualization technique to look through gigantic objects with an elementary particle called the muon, is the focus of this study. Recently, the initial applications of muography to the study of structures such as pyramids and volcanoes have been expanding to include more commercial interests such as inspecting social infrastructures and energy and mineral resources. Evolutions of the research networks of muography will be discussed with particular attention to the chronological and lateral structures that could be an indicator of the development of this new technology.This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Cosmic-ray muography'.
Abstract
Large-scale solid bodies on Earth such as volcanoes and man-made pyramids have been visualized with solid earth muography, and the recently invented technique, acqueous muography, has ...already demonstrated its capability to visualize ocean tides and tsunami. In this work, atmospheric muography, a technique to visualize and monitor the vertical profile of tropic cyclones (TCs) is presented for the first time. The density distribution and time-dependent behavior of several TCs which had approached Kagoshima, Japan, has been investigated with muography. The resultant time-sequential images captured their warm cores, and their movements were consistent with the TC trails and barometric pressure variations observed at meteorological stations. By combining multidirectional muographic images with barometric data, we anticipate that muography will become a useful tool to monitor the three-dimensional density distribution of a targeted mesoscale convective system.
While the benefits of determining the bulk density distribution of a landmass are evident, established experimental techniques reliant on gravity measurements cannot uniquely determine the ...underground density distribution. We address this problem by taking advantage of traffic tunnels densely distributed throughout the country. Cosmic ray muon flux is measured in the tunnels to determine the average density of each rock overburden. After analyzing the data collected from 146 observation points in Miura, South-Boso and South-Izu Peninsula, Japan as an example, we mapped out the shallow density distribution of an area of 1340 km(2). We find a good agreement between muographically determined density distribution and geologic features as described in existing geological studies. The average shallow density distribution below each peninsula was determined with a great accuracy (less than ±0.8%). We also observed a significant reduction in density along fault lines and interpreted that as due to the presence of multiple cracks caused by mechanical stress during recurrent seismic events. We show that this new type of muography technique can be applied to estimate the terrain density and porosity distribution, thus determining more precise Bouguer reduction densities.
An emerging elementary particle imaging technique called muography has increasingly been used to resolve the internal structures of volcanoes with a spatial resolution of less than 100 m. However, ...land-based muography requires several days at least to acquire satisfactory image contrast and thus, it has not been a practical tool to diagnose the erupting volcano in a real time manner. To address this issue, airborne muography was implemented for the first time, targeting Heisei-Shinzan lava dome of Unzen volcano, Japan. Obtained in 2.5 hours, the resultant image clearly showed the density contrast inside the dome, which is essential information to predict the magnitude of the dome collapse. Since airborne muography is not restricted by topographic conditions for apparatus placements, we anticipate that the technique is applicable to creating images of this type of lava dome evolution from various angles in real time.
Sakurajima Muography Observatory captured the formation of a volcanic plug beneath the Showa crater with a spatial resolution of ∼60 m in accordance with the end of the eruption episode of Showa ...crater and the reactivation of Minamidake crater. The increase of average density was observed with above 3 σ standard deviation for both above the floor of Minamidake crater and beneath the floor of Showa crater, respectively, being interpreted as volcanic ejecta deposition and the formation of a volcanic plug laterally extended within a few hundreds of meters.
Plain Language Summary
Muography is an imaging technique that provides information about the amount of material across kilometer‐thick geological structures by the measurement of the yield of cosmic rays, similarly to X‐raying of human body. We applied muography to capture two muon images of Minamidake and Showa craters of Sakurajima volcano before and after the shift of eruption activities occurred between the two craters at the end of 2017. The comparison of the images revealed the presence of increased material across the activated Minamidake and beneath the deactivated Showa crater. Muography detected the formation of a magma plug in the conduit of Showa crater that was not detected earlier by any other geophysical technique. These results demonstrate the applicability of cosmic muon imaging for monitoring of magma movements inside active volcanoes.
Key Points
Two muographic images were taken across the erupting Sakurajima volcano with a spatial resolution of 60 m
Increased average densities were observed beneath the deactivated crater after the shift of eruption sequence
Muography data suggest that uprising magma formed a plug in the conduit of Showa crater
By using true random number (TRN) generators, encoding with the highest security can be realized. However, a completely secure strategy to transfer these TRNs has not yet been devised. Quantum key ...distribution (QKD) has attempted to establish secure key distribution methodology of this kind; however, several quantum cracking strategies have been predicted and experimentally demonstrated. In this work, COSMOCAT was invented as a solution for next-generation ultrahigh security near-field communications. With COSMOCAT, TRNs are generated from naturally occurring and ubiquitous cosmic-ray muons and the generated cosmic keys are distributed by these muons with an unprecedented level of security. The successful results of this experiment indicate that our prototype and the new key-generation-and-distribution standard can be utilized for practical encoding and near-field data transfer at rates of 10–100 Mbps. It is anticipated that COSMOCAT will be one of key techniques for future high security, near-field communication management.
Display omitted
•COSMOCAT generates and distributes encryption keys to make the NFC more secure•COSMOCAT generates true random number-based encryption keys•COSMOCAT does not require information traffic for key distribution•COSMOCAT encryption keys are not broken by large quantum computers
Interdisciplinary physics; Physics methods; Properties of specific particles
Thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters are promising dopants for organic light-emitting diodes, including those containing highly twisted donor–acceptor-type structures. However, ...highly twisted structures limit the variety of chemical structures applicable as TADF emitters. We present a strategy for designing electron donors that can eliminate this requirement and increase the structural diversity of TADF emitters. Using this strategy, we developed an electron donor containing carbazolyl and diphenylamino groups by carefully controlling its electron-donating ability. By combining this donor with a quinoxaline-based acceptor, we obtained the efficient green TADF emitter, N 3,N 3,N 6,N 6-tetraphenyl-9-(4-(quinoxalin-6-yl)phenyl)-9H-carbazole-3,6-diamine (DACQ), without a highly twisted structure. DACQ exhibits high photoluminescence and electroluminescence efficiencies, comparable to those of a highly twisted TADF emitter containing the same electron-accepting unit. Quantum chemical calculations showed that the diphenylamino groups within the carbazolyl moiety effectively withdraw the HOMO distribution. This reduces the singlet–triplet energy gap, thus inducing TADF. The photophysical properties of TADF compounds depend on the twisting angle between the electron-donating and accepting units. Eliminating the highly twisted structure increases the diversity of potential TADF emitters and allows their photophysical properties to be controlled by changing the twisting angle.
Meteorological-tsunami-like (or meteotsunami-like) periodic oscillation was muographically detected with the Tokyo-Bay Seafloor Hyper-Kilometric Submarine Deep Detector (TS-HKMSDD) deployed in the ...underwater highway called the Trans-Tokyo Bay Expressway or Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line (TBAL). It was detected right after the arrival of the 2021 Typhoon-16 that passed through the region 400 km south of the bay. The measured oscillation period and decay time were respectively 3 h and 10 h. These measurements were found to be consistent with previous tide gauge measurements. Meteotsunamis are known to take place in bays and lakes, and the temporal and spatial characteristics of meteotsunamis are similar to seismic tsunamis. However, their generation and propagation mechanisms are not well understood. The current result indicates that a combination of muography and trans-bay or trans-lake underwater tunnels will offer an additional tool to measure meteotsunamis at locations where tide gauges are unavailable.
Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) promotes pleiotropic signaling through its specific receptor tyrosine kinase, MET. As such, it has important roles in the regeneration of injured tissues. Since HGF is ...produced mainly by mesenchymal cells and MET is expressed in most epithelial, endothelial and somatic stem cells, HGF functions as a typical paracrine growth factor. HGF is secreted as an inactive precursor (proHGF) and requires proteolytic activation to initiate HGF-induced MET signaling. HGF activator (HGFAC) is a serum activator of proHGF and produces robust HGF activities in injured tissues. HGFAC is a coagulation factor XII-like serine endopeptidase that circulates in the plasma as a zymogen (proHGFAC). Thrombin, kallikrein-related peptidase (KLK)-4 or KLK-5 efficiently activates proHGFAC. The activated HGFAC cleaves proHGF at Arg494-Val495, resulting in the formation of the active disulfide-linked heterodimer HGF. Macrophage stimulating protein, a ligand of RON, is also activated by HGFAC in vivo. Although HGFAC functions primarily at the site of damaged tissue, a recent report has suggested that activated HGFAC relays a signal to stem cells in non-injured tissues via proHGF activation in the stem cell niche. This review focuses on current knowledge regarding HGFAC-mediated proHGF activation and its roles in tissue regeneration and repair.
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