The pathological changes in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) typically start in subpleural lung regions, a feature that is currently not explained. IPF, as well as bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis, ...are more common in smokers. We hypothesised that carbon particles, which are major components of cigarette smoke that are transported to alveoli and pleural surface, might be involved in the development of subpleural fibrosis through interaction with pleural mesothelial cells. Carbon particles were administered to mice in combination with bleomycin through intratracheal and/or intrapleural injection and fibrosis was assessed using histomorphometry. Carbon administered to the chest cavity caused severe pleural fibrosis in the presence of bleomycin, whereas bleomycin alone had no fibrogenic effect. The pleural response was associated with progressive fibrosis in subpleural regions, similar to IPF in humans. Matrix accumulation within this area evolved through mesothelial-fibroblastoid transformation, where mesothelial cells acquire myofibroblast characteristics. In contrast, carbon did not exaggerate bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis after combined intratracheal administration. This represents a novel approach to induce a robust experimental model of pleural fibrosis. It also suggests that carbon particles might be involved as a cofactor in the initiation and/or progression of (subpleural) pulmonary and pleural fibrosis. Mesothelial cells appear to be critical contributors to this fibrotic process.
Empirically determined noninvasive ventilation (NIV) settings may not achieve optimal ventilatory support. Some ventilators include monitoring modules to assess ventilatory quality. We conducted a ...bench-to-bedside study to assess the ventilatory quality of the VPAPIII-ResLink (ResMed, North Ryde, Australia). We tested the accuracy of minute ventilation (MV) and leak calculations given by VPAPIII-ResLink compared to those measured by a bench model at varied leak levels and ventilator settings. We systematically assessed NIV efficacy using this system from 2003 to 2006. Ventilation was considered inadequate if leak (>24 L x min(-1)), continuous desaturation (>30% of the trace) or desaturation dips (>3%) were present. On the bench test, both methods were highly correlated (r = 0.947, p>0.0001 and r = 0.959, p<0.0001 for leak and MV, respectively). We performed 222 assessments in 169 patients (aged 66.42+/-16 yrs, 100 males). Abnormalities were detected on 147 (66%) out of 222 occasions. Leak was the most common abnormality (34.2%) followed by desaturation dips (23.8%). The most effective therapeutic solutions were a chin strap if leak was detected (61.2%) and expiratory positive airway pressure increase for desaturation dips (59.5%). In 15.7% of cases, when abnormalities persisted, a polygraphy was performed. The systematic use of this device enables NIV to be optimised, limiting the indication of sleep studies to complex cases.
High Impedance TES Bolometers for EDELWEISS Marnieros, S.; Armengaud, E.; Arnaud, Q. ...
Journal of low temperature physics,
06/2023, Letnik:
211, Številka:
5-6
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The EDELWEISS collaboration aims for direct detection of light dark matter using germanium cryogenic detectors with low threshold phonon sensor technologies and efficient charge readout designs. We ...describe here the development of Ge bolometers equipped with high impedance thermistors based on a Nb
x
Si
1−x
TES alloy. High aspect ratio spiral designs allow the TES impedance to match with JFET or HEMT front-end amplifiers. We detail the behavior of the superconducting transition properties of these sensors and the detector optimization in terms of sensitivity to a-thermal phonons. We report preliminary results of a 200 g Ge detector that was calibrated using
71
Ge activation by neutrons at the LSM underground laboratory.
The excellent energy resolution and low threshold of cryogenic detectors have brought them to the forefront of the search for low-mass Weakly Interacting Massive Particles. The next generation of ...large cryogenic detectors for dark matter search promises further improvements in sensitivity, yet it is difficult and in some cases impossible to test and fully characterize these detectors in an unshielded environment. Therefore, the Queen's SuperCDMS team is installing a well shielded Cryogenic Underground detector TEst facility (CUTE) at SNOLAB to support detector testing and characterization for SuperCDMS and future cryogenic rare event search experiments. Significant effort is put into achieving a very low background environment which may open the door for early science results with the first set of SuperCDMS detectors during the time the main experimental apparatus is being installed. We discuss some of the challenges and solutions implemented in the design of this facility as well as the status and schedule for the start of operations underground at SNOLAB.
Context. We have developed a dual-band (140 and 220 GHz) mm-wave imaging camera based on superconducting kinetic inductance detector (KID) arrays. Each array contains 132 superconducting resonators ...whose resonant frequencies are shifted by mm-wave photons absorption. The read out is achieved with a single electronics chain per band, taking advantage of the intrinsic KID frequency-domain multiplexability. The arrays are easily scalable and well adapted for future large format focal plane instruments. NIKA (formerly Néel IRAM KID Array, now New IRAM KID Array) has been specifically designed for the IRAM 30 m telescope at Pico Veleta, and is one of the first instruments using KIDs to have made measurements of astronomical sources. Aims. In this Letter we describe the solutions adopted to improve the calibration accuracy and the sensitivity of the instrument, and we report on the outcome of the 3rd NIKA observing run of October, 2011. Methods. We use a fast electronic modulation of the readout tone for each KID pixel in order to linearize the instrument calibration, which we track with measurements of planets. We also adopt a new design of the KIDs, sensitive to both polarizations, to increase the amount of radiation absorbed and thus the optical efficiency of the system. Results. We measured an average sensitivity on the sky of 21 mJys0.5 per beam at 140 GHz and 140 mJys0.5 at 220 GHz in the best observing conditions (τ220 ≃ 0.2) after atmospheric noise decorrelation. The sensitivity at 220 GHz was limited by the atmospheric attenuation and loading as well as a reduction in the spectral bandwidth due to a misplaced filter. We found the repeatability in the photometry over the entire observing run to be better than 10% in both bands, thus demonstrating a significant improvement over the previous runs. We also find good agreement between NIKA measurements of faint astronomical sources and previous measurements of the same sources.
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