Although these conditions are rare, a proportion of patients with interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) may develop a progressive-fibrosing phenotype. Progressive fibrosis is associated with worsening ...respiratory symptoms, lung function decline, limited response to immunomodulatory therapies, decreased quality of life and, potentially, early death. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis may be regarded as a model for other progressive-fibrosing ILDs. Here we focus on other ILDs that may present a progressive-fibrosing phenotype, namely idiopathic nonspecific interstitial pneumonia, unclassifiable idiopathic interstitial pneumonia, connective tissue disease-associated ILDs (
rheumatoid arthritis-related ILD), fibrotic chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis, fibrotic chronic sarcoidosis and ILDs related to other occupational exposures. Differential diagnosis of these ILDs can be challenging, and requires detailed consideration of clinical, radiological and histopathological features. Accurate and early diagnosis is crucial to ensure that patients are treated optimally.
Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), a common chronic respiratory disease that occurs after premature birth, is believed to be secondary to oxidative damage from hyperoxia and inflammation, which leads ...to impaired alveolar formation and chronic lung dysfunction. We hypothesized that extracellular superoxide dismutase (SOD)3, an antioxidant uniquely targeted to the extracellular matrix (ECM) and alveolar fluid, might have a different response (down-regulation) to hyperoxic injury and recovery in room air (RA), thereby contributing to the persistent airspace injury and inflammation. We used a murine BPD model using postnatal hyperoxia (O2) (4 or 5 d) followed by short-term recovery (14 d) in RA, which mimics the durable effects after injury during alveolar development. This was associated with significantly increased mRNA expression for antioxidant genes mediated by nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor (Nrf2) in the O2 (n = 4) versus RA group (n = 5). SOD3, an Nrf2-independent antioxidant, was significantly reduced in the O2-exposed mice compared with RA. Immunohistochemistry revealed decreased and disrupted SOD3 deposition in the alveolar ECM of O2-exposed mice. Furthermore, this distinct hyperoxic antioxidant and injury profile was reproducible in murine lung epithelial 12 cells exposed to O2. Overexpression of SOD3 rescued the injury measures in the O2-exposed cells. We establish that reduced SOD3 expression correlates with alveolar injury measures in the recovered neonatal hyperoxic lung, and SOD3 overexpression attenuates hyperoxic injury in an alveolar epithelial cell line. Such findings suggest a candidate mechanism for the pathogenesis of BPD that may lead to targeted interventions.
The Belle II experiment is a new generation B factory experiment at the SuperKEKB electron–positron collider. The main purpose of the experiment is to search for new physics with a large sample of B ...meson decays. The proximity-focusing Aerogel Ring-Imaging Cherenkov detector (ARICH) has been designed to identify kaons and pions in the forward end-cap of the Belle II spectrometer. Using aerogel as radiator with specialized photon sensors called HAPD, the K/π separation is expected to reach more than 4 σ in the momentum range from 0.5 GeV/c to 4.0 GeV/c. ARICH detector was constructed in summer 2017 and was installed in the Belle II spectrometer in the beam line of the SuperKEKB collider. The test of the ARICH detector is performed using both cosmic rays and the beam collisions during the accelerator commissioning. We observe Cherenkov rings in the ARICH detector associated with charged tracks detected by the tracking system. The reconstructed Cherenkov angle distribution has a clear and reasonable peak. The ARICH K∕π separation performance is evaluated using Bhabha events in beam runs; the separation power achieve the design value.
Front-end electronics of the Belle II aerogel ring imaging detector Pestotnik, R.; Adachi, I.; Burmistrov, L. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
02/2020, Volume:
952
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
A proximity focusing RICH detector with an aerogel radiator is used for charged particle identification in the forward end-cap of the Belle II spectrometer. The detector, consisting of a 4 cm aerogel ...radiator, a 16 cm expansion volume and a photon detector with 420 Hybrid Avalanche Photo Detectors, is mounted in a very confined space between Central Drift Chamber and Electromagnetic Calorimeter, allowing only 5 cm of space for the readout electronics. In our solution, low power front-end read-out boards are mounted at the back side of each of the HAPD photosensors. These boards have each been tested individually before their installation onto the photosensors and into the spectrometer. Most important design issues and first experiences with the aforementioned front-end read-out boards are presented in this contribution.
We have developed a RICH counter as a new forward particle identification device for the Belle II experiment. As a Cherenkov radiator in this counter, a dual aerogel layer combination consisting of ...two refractive indicies, n=1.045 and 1.055, is employed. Mass production of these aerogel tiles has been done during 2013–2014 with new method improved by Chiba group. Optical qualities for them have been examined. The refractive indices of the obtained tiles were found to be in good agreement with our expectations, and the transparencies were high enough to be used for the RICH radiator.
Development of slow control system for the Belle II ARICH counter Yonenaga, M.; Adachi, I.; Dolenec, R. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
12/2017, Volume:
876
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
A slow control system (SCS) for the Aerogel Ring Imaging Cherenkov (ARICH) counter in the Belle II experiment was newly developed and coded in the development frameworks of the Belle II DAQ software. ...The ARICH is based on 420 Hybrid Avalanche Photo-Detectors (HAPDs). Each HAPD has 144 pixels to be readout and requires 6 power supply (PS) channels, therefore a total number of 2520 PS channels and 60,480 pixels have to be configured and controlled. Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) with detector oriented view and device oriented view, were also implemented to ease the detector operation. The ARICH SCS is in operation for detector construction and cosmic rays tests. The paper describes the detailed features of the SCS and preliminary results of operation of a reduced set of hardware which confirm the scalability to the full detector.
Development of the ARICH monitor system for the Belle II experiment Hataya, K.; Adachi, I.; Dolenec, R. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
12/2017, Volume:
876
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
The Belle II detector is under construction at KEK in Japan. In the forward endcap region of the Belle II detector, particle identification (PID) is performed by the Aerogel Ring Imaging Cherenkov ...(ARICH) counter composed of aerogel tiles and 144-channel Hybrid Avalanche Photo-Detectors (HAPDs). The photon detection efficiency of the photosensor is important for a stable operation of the ARICH. To examine the performance of the HAPDs periodically, a monitor system using scattered photons injected by optical fibers is being developed. In this paper, we report the test using the prototype monitor system and the tests with a partially built ARICH detector.
A recessed-gate AlGaN-GaN field-modulating plate (FP) field-effect transistor (FET) was successfully fabricated on an SiC substrate. By employing a recessed-gate structure on an FP FET, the ...transconductance was increased from 150 to 270 mS/mm, leading to an improvement in gain characteristics, and current collapse was minimized. At 2 GHz, a 48-mm-wide recessed FP FET exhibited a record output power of 230 W (4.8 W/mm) with 67% power-added efficiency and 9.5-dB linear gain with a drain bias of 53 V.
This paper describes the small-signal characterization through delay-time analysis and high-power operation of the Ka-band of AlGaN/GaN heterojunction field-effect transistors (FETs). An FET with a ...gatewidth of 100 /spl mu/m and a gate length of 0.09 /spl mu/m has exhibited a current gain cutoff frequency (f/sub T/) of 81 GHz, a maximum frequency of oscillation (fmax) of 187 GHz, and a maximum stable gain of 10.5 dB at 30 GHz (8.3 dB at 60 GHz). Delay-time analysis has demonstrated channel electron velocities of 1.50/spl times/10/sup 7/ to 1.75/spl times/10/sup 7/ cm/s in a gate-length range of 0.09-0.25 /spl mu/m. State-of-the-art performance-saturated power of 5.8 W with a linear gain of 9.2 dB and a power-added efficiency of 43.2%-has been achieved at 30 GHz using a single chip having a gatewidth of 1.0 mm and a gate length of 0.25 /spl mu/m.
Recessed-gate AlGaN-GaN heterojunction field-effect transistors (FETs) with a field-modulating plate (FP) have been successfully fabricated for high-voltage and high-power microwave applications. The ...developed recessed-gate FP-FET with a gate length of 1 /spl mu/m exhibited an increased transconductance of 200 mS/mm. A series of current collapse measurements revealed that the recessed-gate FP-FET is highly desirable for collapse-free high-voltage power operation. Equivalent circuit analysis demonstrated that the gain loss due to the additional gate feedback capacitance associated with the FP electrode is considerably compensated by increasing the drain bias voltage to more than 30 V. A 48-mm-wide recessed-gate FP-FET biased at a drain voltage of 48 V exhibited a record saturated output power of 197 W with a linear gain of 10.1 dB and a power-added efficiency of 67% at 2 GHz.
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