We are developing kilo-pixel arrays of transition-edge sensors (TESs) for the X-ray Integral Field Unit on ESA's (European Space Agency's) Athena observatory. Previous measurements of AC-biased Mo/Au ...TESs have highlighted a frequency-dependent loss mechanism that results in broader transitions and worse spectral performance compared to the same devices measured under DC (Direct Current) bias. In order to better understand the nature of this loss, we are now studying TES pixels in different geometric configurations. We present measurements on devices of different sizes and with different metal features used for noise mitigation and X-ray absorption. Our results show how the loss mechanism is strongly dependent upon the amount of metal in close proximity to the sensor and can be attributed to induced eddy current coupling to these features. We present a finite element model that successfully reproduces the magnitude and geometry dependence of the losses. Using this model, we present mitigation strategies that should reduce the losses to an acceptable level.
Introduction: The majority of hearing loss in children can be accounted for by genetic causes. Non-syndromic hearing loss accounts for 80% of genetic hearing loss in children, with mutations in ...DFNB1/GJB2 being by far the most common cause. Among the second tier genetic causes of hearing loss in children are mutations in the DFNB9/OTOF gene. Methods: In total, 65 recessive non-syndromic hearing loss families were screened by genotyping for association with the DFNB9/OTOF gene. Families with genotypes consistent with linkage or uninformative for linkage to this gene region were further screened for mutations in the 48 known coding exons of otoferlin. Results: Eight OTOF pathological variants were discovered in six families. Of these, Q829X was found in two families. We also noted 23 other coding variant, believed to have no pathology. A previously published missense allele I515T was found in the heterozygous state in an individual who was observed to be temperature sensitive for the auditory neuropathy phenotype. Conclusions: Mutations in OTOF cause both profound hearing loss and a type of hearing loss where otoacoustic emissions are spared called auditory neuropathy.
We report the observation of a gravitational-wave signal produced by the coalescence of two stellar-mass black holes. The signal, GW151226, was observed by the twin detectors of the Laser ...Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) on December 26, 2015 at 03:38:53 UTC. The signal was initially identified within 70 s by an online matched-filter search targeting binary coalescences. Subsequent off-line analyses recovered GW151226 with a network signal-to-noise ratio of 13 and a significance greater than 5(sigma). The signal persisted in the LIGO frequency band for approximately 1 s, increasing in frequency and amplitude over about 55 cycles from 35 to 450 Hz, and reached a peak gravitational strain of 3.4(+0.7/-0.9) x 10(exp -22). The inferred source-frame initial black hole masses are 14.2(+8.3/-3.7 Stellar Mass and 7.5(+2.3/-2.3) Stellar Mass, and the final black hole mass is 20.8(+6.1/-1.7) Stellar Mass. We find that at least one of the component black holes has spin greater than 0.2. This source is located at a luminosity distance of 440(+180/-190) Mpc corresponding to a redshift of 0.090(+.030/-0.04). All uncertainties define a 90% credible interval. This second gravitational-wave observation provides improved constraints on stellar populations and on deviations from general relativity.
Long-term memory of cocaine-associated context was established by conditioned place preference learning. After 1 week, exposure to context in the absence of cocaine (memory retrieval) was paired with ...one of the following treatments: saline, scopolamine (muscarinic acetylcholine receptor antagonist), dizocilpine (MK-801; noncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist) or D-cycloserine (partial N-methyl-D-aspartate agonist). In subsequent conditioned place preference tests, place preference was suppressed in the drug-treated groups but not saline-treated groups. Results suggest that the amnesic agents, scopolamine and MK-801, disrupted reconsolidation of cocaine-associated contextual memory. In contrast, the mnemonic agent D-cycloserine might have facilitated extinction learning during context exposure in the absence of cocaine. Challenge administration of cocaine reinstated place preference in all groups except the MK-801 group, suggesting that suppression of conditioned response may or may not suppress memory evoked by drug-context reexposure.
Abstract Nitric oxide (NO) produced by neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) has a role in late-phase long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term memory (LTM) formation. Our recent studies implicated ...NO signaling in contextual and auditory cued fear conditioning. The present study investigated the role of NO signaling in visually cued fear conditioning. First, visually cued fear conditioning was investigated in wild-type (WT) and nNOS knockout (KO) mice. Second, the effects of pharmacological modulators of NO signaling on the acquisition of visually cued fear conditioning were investigated. Third, plasma levels of corticosterone were measured to determine a relationship between physiological and behavioral responses to fear conditioning. Fourth, levels of extracellular signal-related kinase (ERK1/2) and cyclic AMP response element binding protein (CREB) phosphorylation, downstream of NO signaling, were determined in the amygdala as potential correlates of fear learning. Mice underwent single or multiple (4) spaced trainings that consisted of a visual cue (blinking light) paired with footshock. WT mice acquired cued and contextual LTM following single and multiple trainings. nNOS KO mice acquired neither cued nor contextual LTM following a single training; however, multiple trainings improved contextual but not cued LTM. The selective nNOS inhibitor S-methyl-thiocitrulline (SMTC) impaired cued and contextual LTM in WT mice. The NO donor molsidomine recovered contextual LTM but had no effect on cued LTM in nNOS KO mice. Re-exposure to the visual cue 24 h posttraining elicited freezing response and a marked increase in plasma corticosterone levels in WT but not nNOS KO mice. The expression of CREB phosphorylation (Ser-133) was significantly higher in naive nNOS KO mice than in WT counterparts, and pharmacological modulators of NO had significant effects on levels of CREB phosphorylation and expression. These findings suggest that visual cue-dependent LTM is impaired in nNOS KO mice, and aberrant modulation of CREB in the absence of the nNOS gene may hinder cued and contextual LTM formation.
A program has been initiated to measure the energy dependence of selected high-yield fission products used in the analysis of nuclear test data. We present out initial work of neutron activation ...using a dual-fission chamber with quasi-monoenergetic neutrons and gamma-counting method. Quasi-monoenergetic neutrons of energies from 0.5 to 15MeV using the TUNL 10MV FM tandem to provide high-precision and self-consistent measurements of fission product yields (FPY). The final FPY results will be coupled with theoretical analysis to provide a more fundamental understanding of the fission process. To accomplish this goal, we have developed and tested a set of dual-fission ionization chambers to provide an accurate determination of the number of fissions occurring in a thick target located in the middle plane of the chamber assembly. Details of the fission chamber and its performance are presented along with neutron beam production and characterization. Also presented are studies on the background issues associated with room-return and off-energy neutron production. We show that the off-energy neutron contribution can be significant, but correctable, while room-return neutron background levels contribute less than <1% to the fission signal.
Noble-gas geochemistry is an important tool for understanding planetary processes from accretion to mantle dynamics and atmospheric formation. Central to much of the modelling of such processes is ...the crystal-melt partitioning of noble gases during mantle melting, magma ascent and near-surface degassing. Geochemists have traditionally considered the 'inert' noble gases to be extremely incompatible elements, with almost 100 per cent extraction efficiency from the solid phase during melting processes. Previously published experimental data on partitioning between crystalline silicates and melts has, however, suggested that noble gases approach compatible behaviour, and a significant proportion should therefore remain in the mantle during melt extraction. Here we present experimental data to show that noble gases are more incompatible than previously demonstrated, but not necessarily to the extent assumed or required by geochemical models. Independent atomistic computer simulations indicate that noble gases can be considered as species of 'zero charge' incorporated at crystal lattice sites. Together with the lattice strain model, this provides a theoretical framework with which to model noble-gas geochemistry as a function of residual mantle mineralogy.
On September 14, 2015, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detected a gravitational-wave transient (GW150914); we characterize the properties of the source and its ...parameters. The data around the time of the event were analyzed coherently across the LIGO network using a suite of accurate waveform models that describe gravitational waves from a compact binary system in general relativity. GW150914 was produced by a nearly equal mass binary black hole of masses 36(+5/-4) solar mass and 29(+4/-4) solar mass; for each parameter we report the median value and the range of the 90% credible interval. The dimensionless spin magnitude of the more massive black hole is bound to be less than 0.7 (at 90% probability). The luminosity distance to the source is 410(+160/-180) Mpc, corresponding to a redshift 0.09(+0.03/−0.04) assuming standard cosmology. The source location is constrained to an annulus section of 610 sq deg, primarily in the southern hemisphere. The binary merges into a black hole of mass 62(+4/−4) solar mass and spin 0.67(+0.05/−0.07). This black hole is significantly more massive than any other inferred from electromagnetic observations in the stellar-mass regime.
On 21 August 2009, the Airborne Detector for Energetic Lightning Emissions (ADELE), an array of six gamma‐ray detectors, detected a brief burst of gamma rays while flying aboard a Gulfstream V jet ...near two active thunderstorm cells. The duration and spectral characteristics of the event are consistent with the terrestrial gamma ray flashes (TGFs) seen by instruments in low Earth orbit. A long‐duration, complex +IC flash was taking place in the nearer cell at the same time, at a distance of ∼10 km from the plane. The sferics that are probably associated with this flash extended over 54 ms and included several ULF pulses corresponding to charge moment changes of up to 30 C km, this value being in the lower half of the range of sferics associated with TGFs seen from space. Monte Carlo simulations of gamma ray propagation in the Earth's atmosphere show that a TGF of normal intensity would, at this distance, have produced a gamma ray signal in ADELE of approximately the size and spectrum that was actually observed. We conclude that this was the first detection of a TGF from an aircraft. We show that because of the distance, ADELE's directional and spectral capabilities could not strongly constrain the source altitude of the TGF but that such constraints would be possible for TGFs detected at closer range.
Key Points
A terrestrial gamma ray flash has been observed from an aircraft for the first time
This terrestrial gamma ray flash (TGF) was associated with an unusual +IC flash
Compton scattering makes it hard to identify TGF source altitude at >5 km distance
A wide variety of astrophysical and cosmological sources are expected to contribute to a stochastic gravitational-wave background. Following the observations of GW150914 and GW151226, the rate and ...mass of coalescing binary black holes appear to be greater than many previous expectations. As a result, the stochastic background from unresolved compact binary coalescences is expected to be particularly loud. We perform a search for the isotropic stochastic gravitational-wave background using data from Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory's (aLIGO) first observing run. The data display no evidence of a stochastic gravitational-wave signal. We constrain the dimensionless energy density of gravitational waves to be Ω_{0}<1.7×10^{-7} with 95% confidence, assuming a flat energy density spectrum in the most sensitive part of the LIGO band (20-86 Hz). This is a factor of ∼33 times more sensitive than previous measurements. We also constrain arbitrary power-law spectra. Finally, we investigate the implications of this search for the background of binary black holes using an astrophysical model for the background.
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