Latest results from the KASCADE-Grande experiment Chiavassa, A.; Apel, W.D.; Arteaga-Velázquez, J.C. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
04/2014, Letnik:
742
Journal Article
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The KASCADE-Grande experiment operated at KIT from January 2004 to November 2012, measuring EAS generated by primary cosmic rays in the 1016–1018eV energy range. The experiment detected, for each ...single event, with a high resolution, the total number of charged particles (Nch) and of muons (Nμ).
In this contribution we present the latest results about:(i)The measurement of the all particle energy spectrum, discussing the influence of the hadronic interaction model used to derive the energy calibration of the experimental data.(ii)The energy spectra derived separating the events according to the Nμ/Nch ratio. This technique allowed us to unveil a steepening of the spectrum of heavy primaries at E~1016.92±0.04eV and a hardening of the spectrum of light primaries at E~1017.08±0.08eV.(iii)The elemental spectra (for five mass groups) obtained applying a detailed unfolding analysis technique.(iv)A search for large scale anisotropies.
Neuromodulin (P-57, GAP-43, B-50, F-1) is a neurospecific calmodulin-binding protein believed to play a role in regulation of neurite outgrowth and neuroplasticity. Neuromodulin is phosphorylated by ...protein kinase C, and this phosphorylation prevents calmodulin from binding to neuromodulin (Alexander, K. A., Cimler, B. M., Meier, K. E. & Storm, D. R. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 6108-6113). The only other protein kinase known to phosphorylate neuromodulin is casein kinase II (Pisano, M. R., Hegazy, M. G., Reimann, E. M. & Dokas, L. A. (1988) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 155, 1207-1212). Phosphoamino acid analyses revealed that casein kinase II modified serine and threonine residues in both native bovine and recombinant mouse neuromodulin. Two serines located in the C-terminal end of neuromodulin, Ser-192 and Ser-193, were identified as the major casein kinase II phosphorylation sites. Thr-88, Thr-89, or Thr-95 were identified as minor casein kinase II phosphorylation sites. Phosphorylation by casein kinase II did not affect the ability of neuromodulin to bind to calmodulin-Sepharose. However, calmodulin did inhibit the phosphorylation of neuromodulin by casein kinase II with a Ki of 1-2 microM. Calmodulin inhibition of casein kinase II phosphorylation was due to calmodulin binding to neuromodulin rather than to the protein kinase. These data suggest that the minimal secondary and tertiary structure exhibited by neuromodulin may be sufficient to juxtapose its calmodulin-binding domain, located at the N-terminal end, with the neuromodulin casein kinase II phosphorylation sites at the C-terminal end of the protein. We propose that calmodulin regulates casein kinase II phosphorylation of neuromodulin by binding to neuromodulin and sterically hindering the interaction of casein kinase II with its phosphorylation sites on neuromodulin.
Relativistic, charged particles present in extensive air showers (EAS) lead to a coherent emission of radio pulses which are measured to identify the shower initiating high-energy cosmic rays. ...Especially during thunderstorms, there are additional strong electric fields in the atmosphere, which can lead to further multiplication and acceleration of the charged particles and thus have influence on the form and strength of the radio emission. For a reliable energy reconstruction of the primary cosmic ray by means of the measured radio signal it is very important to understand how electric fields affect the radio emission. In addition, lightning strikes are a prominent source of broadband radio emissions that are visible over very long distances. This, on the one hand, causes difficulties in the detection of the much lower signal of the air shower. On the other hand the recorded signals can be used to study features of the lightning development. The detection of cosmic rays via the radio emission and the influence of strong electric fields on this detection technique is investigated with the LOPES experiment in Karlsruhe, Germany. The important question if a lightning is initiated by the high electron density given at the maximum of a high-energy cosmic-ray air shower is also investigated, but could not be answered by LOPES. But, these investigations exhibit the capabilities of EAS radio antenna arrays for lightning studies. We report about the studies of LOPES measured radio signals of air showers taken during thunderstorms and give a short outlook to new measurements dedicated to search for correlations of lightning and cosmic rays.
Using data measured by the KASCADE-Grande air shower array, an upper limit to the flux of ultra-high energy gamma-rays in the primary cosmic-ray flux is determined. KASCADE-Grande measures the ...electromagnetic and muonic components for individual air showers in the energy range from 10 PeV up to 1 EeV. The analysis is performed by selecting air showers with low muon contents. A preliminary result on the 90% C.L. upper limit to the relative intensity of gamma-ray with respect to cosmic ray primaries is presented and compared with limits reported by other measurements.
The concentration of free Na+ in the matrix of isolated pig heart mitochondria has been monitored using the fluorescent probe sodium-binding benzofuran isophthalate (SBFI) developed by Minta and ...Tsien (J. Biol. Chem. 264: 19449-19457, 1989). SBFI was sequestered in the matrix by hydrolysis of the permeant acetoxymethyl ester. The sequestered probe showed altered quantum efficiency and excitation spectra in the presence and absence of Na+ when compared with SBFI free acid in solution. Fluorescence was calibrated in situ by using ionophores to equilibrate matrix Na+ with external Na+. SBFI fluorescence showed that matrix Na+ increased linearly as external Na+ was increased to 95 mM in the presence or absence of respiration. Respiring mitochondria maintained a Na+ gradient (Na+ out greater than Na+in) of approximately 8.0. The corresponding gradient in nonrespiring mitochondria was approximately 2.0. The Na+ gradient was nearly equivalent to the H+ gradient in the presence or absence of respiration. The uptake of Pi by respiring mitochondria decreased matrix pH and increased matrix Na+. It is concluded that isolated mitochondria maintain a Na+ gradient across the inner membrane as a result of the activity of the endogenous Na(+)-H+ antiport.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus responsible for COVID-19, employs two key host proteins to gain entry and replicate within cells, angiotensin-converting enzyme ...2 (ACE2) and the cell surface transmembrane protease serine 2 (TMPRSS2).
was first characterized as an androgen-regulated gene in the prostate. Supporting a role for sex hormones, males relative to females are disproportionately affected by COVID-19 in terms of mortality and morbidity. Several studies, including one employing a large epidemiological cohort, suggested that blocking androgen signaling is protective against COVID-19. Here, we demonstrate that androgens regulate the expression of
,
, and androgen receptor (AR) in subsets of lung epithelial cells. AR levels are markedly elevated in males relative to females greater than 70 y of age. In males greater than 70 y old, smoking was associated with elevated levels of AR and ACE2 in lung epithelial cells. Transcriptional repression of the AR enhanceosome with AR or bromodomain and extraterminal domain (BET) antagonists inhibited SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro. Taken together, these studies support further investigation of transcriptional inhibition of critical host factors in the treatment or prevention of COVID-19.
As part of the Deep Convective Cloud and Chemistry (DC3) experiment, the National Science Foundation/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Gulfstream‐V (GV) and NASA DC‐8 research aircraft ...probed the chemical composition of the inflow and outflow of two convective storms (north storm, NS, south storm, SS) originating in the Colorado region on 22 June 2012, a time when the High Park wildfire was active in the area. A wide range of trace species were measured on board both aircraft including biomass burning (BB) tracers hydrogen cyanide (HCN) and acetonitrile (ACN). Acrolein, a much shorter lived tracer for BB, was also quantified on the GV. The data demonstrated that the NS had ingested fresh smoke from the High Park fire and as a consequence had a higher VOC OH reactivity than the SS. The SS lofted aged fire tracers along with other boundary layer ozone precursors and was more impacted by lightning NOx (LNOx) than the NS. The NCAR master mechanism box model was initialized with measurements made in the outflow of the two storms. The NS and SS were predicted to produce 11 and 14 ppbv of O3, respectively, downwind of the storm over 2 days. Sensitivity tests revealed that the ozone production potential of the SS was highly dependent on LNOx. Normalized excess mixing ratios, ΔX/ΔCO, for HCN and ACN were determined in both the fire plume and the storm outflow and found to be 7.0 ± 0.5 and 2.3 ± 0.5 pptv ppbv−1, respectively, and 1.4 ± 0.3 pptv ppbv−1 for acrolein in the outflow only.
Key Points
Lightning NOx is a key driver of ozone production in storm outflows
Storms can transport biomass burning emissions to the upper troposphere
Acrolein is shown to be a good tracer for fresh biomass burning emissions
Results from KASCADE–Grande Bertaina, M.; Apel, W.D.; Arteaga-Velázquez, J.C. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
11/2012, Letnik:
692
Journal Article
Recenzirano
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The KASCADE–Grande experiment, located at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany) is a multi-component extensive air-shower experiment devoted to the study of cosmic rays and their interactions ...at primary energies 1014–1018eV. Main goals of the experiment are the measurement of the all-particle energy spectrum and mass composition in the 1016–1018eV range by sampling charged (Nch) and muon (Nμ) components of the air shower. The method to derive the energy spectrum and its uncertainties, as well as the implications of the obtained result, is discussed. An overview of the analyses performed by KASCADE–Grande to derive the mass composition of the measured high-energy comic rays is presented as well.
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