Showing papers by "Paul Scherrer Institute published in 2014"

High secondary aerosol contribution to particulate pollution during haze events in China

Abstract: Rapid industrialization and urbanization in developing countries has led to an increase in air pollution, along a similar trajectory to that previously experienced by the developed nations. In China, particulate pollution is a serious environmental problem that is influencing air quality, regional and global climates, and human health. In response to the extremely severe and persistent haze pollution experienced by about 800 million people during the first quarter of 2013 (refs 4, 5), the Chinese State Council announced its aim to reduce concentrations of PM2.5 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 micrometres) by up to 25 per cent relative to 2012 levels by 2017 (ref. 6). Such efforts however require elucidation of the factors governing the abundance and composition of PM2.5, which remain poorly constrained in China. Here we combine a comprehensive set of novel and state-of-the-art offline analytical approaches and statistical techniques to investigate the chemical nature and sources of particulate matter at urban locations in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xi'an during January 2013. We find that the severe haze pollution event was driven to a large extent by secondary aerosol formation, which contributed 30-77 per cent and 44-71 per cent (average for all four cities) of PM2.5 and of organic aerosol, respectively. On average, the contribution of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) and secondary inorganic aerosol (SIA) are found to be of similar importance (SOA/SIA ratios range from 0.6 to 1.4). Our results suggest that, in addition to mitigating primary particulate emissions, reducing the emissions of secondary aerosol precursors from, for example, fossil fuel combustion and biomass burning is likely to be important for controlling China's PM2.5 levels and for reducing the environmental, economic and health impacts resulting from particulate pollution.

Highly multiplexed imaging of tumor tissues with subcellular resolution by mass cytometry

Abstract: Mass cytometry enables high-dimensional, single-cell analysis of cell type and state. In mass cytometry, rare earth metals are used as reporters on antibodies. Analysis of metal abundances using the mass cytometer allows determination of marker expression in individual cells. Mass cytometry has previously been applied only to cell suspensions. To gain spatial information, we have coupled immunohistochemical and immunocytochemical methods with high-resolution laser ablation to CyTOF mass cytometry. This approach enables the simultaneous imaging of 32 proteins and protein modifications at subcellular resolution; with the availability of additional isotopes, measurement of over 100 markers will be possible. We applied imaging mass cytometry to human breast cancer samples, allowing delineation of cell subpopulations and cell-cell interactions and highlighting tumor heterogeneity. Imaging mass cytometry complements existing imaging approaches. It will enable basic studies of tissue heterogeneity and function and support the transition of medicine toward individualized molecularly targeted diagnosis and therapies.

Description and performance of track and primary-vertex reconstruction with the CMS tracker

Abstract: A description is provided of the software algorithms developed for the CMS tracker both for reconstructing charged-particle trajectories in proton-proton interactions and for using the resulting tracks to estimate the positions of the LHC luminous region and individual primary-interaction vertices. Despite the very hostile environment at the LHC, the performance obtained with these algorithms is found to be excellent. For tt events under typical 2011 pileup conditions, the average track-reconstruction efficiency for promptly-produced charged particles with transverse momenta of p_T > 0.9GeV is 94% for pseudorapidities of |η| < 0.9 and 85% for 0.9 < |η| < 2.5. The inefficiency is caused mainly by hadrons that undergo nuclear interactions in the tracker material. For isolated muons, the corresponding efficiencies are essentially 100%. For isolated muons of p_T = 100GeV emitted at |η| < 1.4, the resolutions are approximately 2.8% in p_T, and respectively, 10μm and 30μm in the transverse and longitudinal impact parameters. The position resolution achieved for reconstructed primary vertices that correspond to interesting pp collisions is 10–12μm in each of the three spatial dimensions. The tracking and vertexing software is fast and flexible, and easily adaptable to other functions, such as fast tracking for the trigger, or dedicated tracking for electrons that takes into account bremsstrahlung.

Measurement of the properties of a Higgs boson in the four-lepton final state

Abstract: Austrian Federal Ministry of Science and Research and the Austrian Science Fund; the Belgian Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique and Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek; the Brazilian Funding Agencies (CNPq, CAPES, FAPERJ, and FAPESP); the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science; CERN; the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ministry of Science and Technology, and National Natural Science Foundation of China; the Colombian Funding Agency (COLCIENCIAS); the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Sport, and the Croatian Science Foundation; the Research Promotion Foundation, Cyprus; the Ministry of Education and Research, Recurrent Financing Contract No. SF0690030s09 and European Regional Development Fund, Estonia; the Academy of Finland, Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture, and Helsinki Institute of Physics; the Institut National de Physique Nucleaire et de Physique des Particules/CNRS and Commissariat a l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives/CEA, France; the Bundesministerium fur Bildung und Forschung, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, and Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft Deutscher Forschungszentren, Germany; the General Secretariat for Research and Technology, Greece; the National Scientific Research Foundation and National Innovation Office, Hungary; the Department of Atomic Energy and the Department of Science and Technology, India; the Institute for Studies in Theoretical Physics and Mathematics, Iran; the Science Foundation, Ireland; the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Italy; the Korean Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the World Class University program of NRF, Republic of Korea; the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences; the Mexican Funding Agencies (CINVESTAV, CONACYT, SEP, and UASLP-FAI); the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, New Zealand; the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission; the Ministry of Science and Higher Education and the National Science Centre, Poland; the Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia, Portugal; JINR, Dubna, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, the Federal Agency of Atomic Energy of the Russian Federation, Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Russian Foundation for Basic Research; the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of Serbia; the Secretaria de Estado de Investigacion, Desarrollo e Innovacion and Programa Consolider-Ingenio 2010, Spain; the Swiss Funding Agencies (ETH Board, ETH Zurich, PSI, SNF, UniZH, Canton Zurich, and SER); the National Science Council, Taipei; the Thailand Center of Excellence in Physics, the Institute for the Promotion of Teaching Science and Technology of Thailand, Special Task Force for Activating Research and the National Science and Technology Development Agency of Thailand; the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey and the Turkish Atomic Energy Authority; the Science and Technology Facilities Council, United Kingdom; the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. National Science Foundation.Individuals have received support from the Marie-Curie program and the European Research Council and EPLANET (European Union); the Leventis Foundation; the A. P. Sloan Foundation; the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation; the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office; the Fonds pour la Formation a la Recherche dans l’Industrie et dans l’Agriculture (FRIA-Belgium); the Agentschap voor Innovatie door Wetenschap en Technologie (IWT-Belgium); the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MEYS) of the Czech Republic; the Council of Science and Industrial Research, India; the Compagnia di San Paolo (Torino); the HOMING PLUS programme of Foundation for Polish Science, cofinanced by EU, Regional Development Fund; and the Thalis and Aristeia programmes cofinanced by EU-ESF and the Greek NSRF.

Observation of the diphoton decay of the Higgs boson and measurement of its properties

Abstract: Observation of the diphoton decay mode of the recently discovered Higgs boson and measurement of some of its properties are reported. The analysis uses the entire dataset collected by the CMS experiment in proton-proton collisions during the 2011 and 2012 LHC running periods. The data samples correspond to integrated luminosities of 5.1 inverse femtobarns at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV and 19.7 inverse femtobarns at 8 TeV. A clear signal is observed in the diphoton channel at a mass close to 125 GeV with a local significance of 5.7 sigma, where a significance of 5.2 sigma is expected for the standard model Higgs boson. The mass is measured to be 124.70 +/- 0.34 GeV = 124.70 +/- 0.31 (stat) +/- 0.15 (syst) GeV, and the best-fit signal strength relative to the standard model prediction is 1.14 +0.26/-0.23 = 1.14 +/- 0.21 (stat) +0.09/-0.05 (syst) +0.13/-0.09 (theo). Additional measurements include the signal strength modifiers associated with different production mechanisms, and hypothesis tests between spin-0 and spin-2 models.

Oxidation products of biogenic emissions contribute to nucleation of atmospheric particles.

Abstract: Atmospheric new-particle formation affects climate and is one of the least understood atmospheric aerosol processes. The complexity and variability of the atmosphere has hindered elucidation of the fundamental mechanism of new-particle formation from gaseous precursors. We show, in experiments performed with the CLOUD (Cosmics Leaving Outdoor Droplets) chamber at CERN, that sulfuric acid and oxidized organic vapors at atmospheric concentrations reproduce particle nucleation rates observed in the lower atmosphere. The experiments reveal a nucleation mechanism involving the formation of clusters containing sulfuric acid and oxidized organic molecules from the very first step. Inclusion of this mechanism in a global aerosol model yields a photochemically and biologically driven seasonal cycle of particle concentrations in the continental boundary layer, in good agreement with observations.

Nonlinear lattice dynamics as a basis for enhanced superconductivity in YBa2Cu3O6.5.

Abstract: Femtosecond X-ray diffraction and ab initio density functional theory calculations are used to determine the crystal structure of YBa2Cu3O6.5 undergoing optically driven, nonlinear lattice excitation above the transition temperature of 52 kelvin, under which conditions the electronic structure of the material changes in such a way as to favour superconductivity. Andrea Cavalleri and colleagues use femtosecond X-ray diffraction measurements and ab initio density functional theory calculations to determine the crystal structure of YBa2Cu3O6+x undergoing optically driven, nonlinear lattice excitation at 100 kelvin. In this exotic non-equilibrium state, the electronic structure of the material changes in such a way as to favour superconductivity. The results reveal that in the driven state the superconducting planes are displaced closer and away from one another in a staggered manner, explaining how superconducting coupling can be enhanced or reduced, inside and between the bilayers. Terahertz-frequency optical pulses can resonantly drive selected vibrational modes in solids and deform their crystal structures1,2,3. In complex oxides, this method has been used to melt electronic order4,5,6, drive insulator-to-metal transitions7 and induce superconductivity8. Strikingly, coherent interlayer transport strongly reminiscent of superconductivity can be transiently induced up to room temperature (300 kelvin) in YBa2Cu3O6+x (refs 9, 10). Here we report the crystal structure of this exotic non-equilibrium state, determined by femtosecond X-ray diffraction and ab initio density functional theory calculations. We find that nonlinear lattice excitation in normal-state YBa2Cu3O6+x at above the transition temperature of 52 kelvin causes a simultaneous increase and decrease in the Cu–O2 intra-bilayer and, respectively, inter-bilayer distances, accompanied by anisotropic changes in the in-plane O–Cu–O bond buckling. Density functional theory calculations indicate that these motions cause drastic changes in the electronic structure. Among these, the enhancement in the character of the in-plane electronic structure is likely to favour superconductivity.

X-ray structure of the mouse serotonin 5-HT3 receptor

Abstract: Neurotransmitter-gated ion channels of the Cys-loop receptor family mediate fast neurotransmission throughout the nervous system. The molecular processes of neurotransmitter binding, subsequent opening of the ion channel and ion permeation remain poorly understood. Here we present the X-ray structure of a mammalian Cys-loop receptor, the mouse serotonin 5-HT3 receptor, at 3.5 A resolution. The structure of the proteolysed receptor, made up of two fragments and comprising part of the intracellular domain, was determined in complex with stabilizing nanobodies. The extracellular domain reveals the detailed anatomy of the neurotransmitter binding site capped by a nanobody. The membrane domain delimits an aqueous pore with a 4.6 A constriction. In the intracellular domain, a bundle of five intracellular helices creates a closed vestibule where lateral portals are obstructed by loops. This 5-HT3 receptor structure, revealing part of the intracellular domain, expands the structural basis for understanding the operating mechanism of mammalian Cys-loop receptors.

The AeroCom evaluation and intercomparison of organic aerosol in global models

Abstract: . This paper evaluates the current status of global modeling of the organic aerosol (OA) in the troposphere and analyzes the differences between models as well as between models and observations. Thirty-one global chemistry transport models (CTMs) and general circulation models (GCMs) have participated in this intercomparison, in the framework of AeroCom phase II. The simulation of OA varies greatly between models in terms of the magnitude of primary emissions, secondary OA (SOA) formation, the number of OA species used (2 to 62), the complexity of OA parameterizations (gas-particle partitioning, chemical aging, multiphase chemistry, aerosol microphysics), and the OA physical, chemical and optical properties. The diversity of the global OA simulation results has increased since earlier AeroCom experiments, mainly due to the increasing complexity of the SOA parameterization in models, and the implementation of new, highly uncertain, OA sources. Diversity of over one order of magnitude exists in the modeled vertical distribution of OA concentrations that deserves a dedicated future study. Furthermore, although the OA / OC ratio depends on OA sources and atmospheric processing, and is important for model evaluation against OA and OC observations, it is resolved only by a few global models. The median global primary OA (POA) source strength is 56 Tg a−1 (range 34–144 Tg a−1) and the median SOA source strength (natural and anthropogenic) is 19 Tg a−1 (range 13–121 Tg a−1). Among the models that take into account the semi-volatile SOA nature, the median source is calculated to be 51 Tg a−1 (range 16–121 Tg a−1), much larger than the median value of the models that calculate SOA in a more simplistic way (19 Tg a−1; range 13–20 Tg a−1, with one model at 37 Tg a−1). The median atmospheric burden of OA is 1.4 Tg (24 models in the range of 0.6–2.0 Tg and 4 between 2.0 and 3.8 Tg), with a median OA lifetime of 5.4 days (range 3.8–9.6 days). In models that reported both OA and sulfate burdens, the median value of the OA/sulfate burden ratio is calculated to be 0.77; 13 models calculate a ratio lower than 1, and 9 models higher than 1. For 26 models that reported OA deposition fluxes, the median wet removal is 70 Tg a−1 (range 28–209 Tg a−1), which is on average 85% of the total OA deposition. Fine aerosol organic carbon (OC) and OA observations from continuous monitoring networks and individual field campaigns have been used for model evaluation. At urban locations, the model–observation comparison indicates missing knowledge on anthropogenic OA sources, both strength and seasonality. The combined model–measurements analysis suggests the existence of increased OA levels during summer due to biogenic SOA formation over large areas of the USA that can be of the same order of magnitude as the POA, even at urban locations, and contribute to the measured urban seasonal pattern. Global models are able to simulate the high secondary character of OA observed in the atmosphere as a result of SOA formation and POA aging, although the amount of OA present in the atmosphere remains largely underestimated, with a mean normalized bias (MNB) equal to −0.62 (−0.51) based on the comparison against OC (OA) urban data of all models at the surface, −0.15 (+0.51) when compared with remote measurements, and −0.30 for marine locations with OC data. The mean temporal correlations across all stations are low when compared with OC (OA) measurements: 0.47 (0.52) for urban stations, 0.39 (0.37) for remote stations, and 0.25 for marine stations with OC data. The combination of high (negative) MNB and higher correlation at urban stations when compared with the low MNB and lower correlation at remote sites suggests that knowledge about the processes that govern aerosol processing, transport and removal, on top of their sources, is important at the remote stations. There is no clear change in model skill with increasing model complexity with regard to OC or OA mass concentration. However, the complexity is needed in models in order to distinguish between anthropogenic and natural OA as needed for climate mitigation, and to calculate the impact of OA on climate accurately.

Searches for electroweak production of charginos, neutralinos, and sleptons decaying to leptons and W, Z, and Higgs bosons in pp collisions at 8 TeV

Abstract: Searches for the direct electroweak production of supersymmetric charginos, neutralinos, and sleptons in a variety of signatures with leptons and W, Z, and Higgs bosons are presented. Results are based on a sample of proton-proton collision data collected at center-of-mass energy sqrt(s) = 8 TeV with the CMS detector in 2012, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.5 inverse femtobarns. The observed event rates are in agreement with expectations from the standard model. These results probe charginos and neutralinos with masses up to 720 GeV, and sleptons up to 260 GeV, depending on the model details.

Evidence for the 125 GeV Higgs boson decaying to a pair of τ leptons

Abstract: A search for a standard model Higgs boson decaying into a pair of tau leptons is performed using events recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2011 and 2012. The dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 4.9 inverse femtobarns at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and 19.7 inverse femtobarns at 8 TeV. Each tau lepton decays hadronically or leptonically to an electron or a muon, leading to six different final states for the tau-lepton pair, all considered in this analysis. An excess of events is observed over the expected background contributions, with a local significance larger than 3 standard deviations for m[H] values between 115 and 130 GeV. The best fit of the observed H to tau tau signal cross section for m[H] = 125 GeV is 0.78 +- 0.27 times the standard model expectation. These observations constitute evidence for the 125 GeV Higgs boson decaying to a pair of tau leptons.

OpenGeoSys: An open-source initiative for numerical simulation of thermo-hydro-mechanical/chemical (THM/C) processes in porous media

Abstract: In this paper we describe the OpenGeoSys (OGS) project, which is a scientific open-source initiative for numerical simulation of thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical processes in porous media. The basic concept is to provide a flexible numerical framework (using primarily the Finite Element Method (FEM)) for solving multifield problems in porous and fractured media for applications in geoscience and hydrology. To this purpose OGS is based on an object-oriented FEM concept including a broad spectrum of interfaces for pre- and postprocessing. The OGS idea has been in development since the mid-eighties. We provide a short historical note about the continuous process of concept and software development having evolved through Fortran, C, and C++ implementations. The idea behind OGS is to provide an open platform to the community, outfitted with professional software-engineering tools such as platform-independent compiling and automated benchmarking. A comprehensive benchmarking book has been prepared for publication. Benchmarking has been proven to be a valuable tool for cooperation between different developer teams, for example, for code comparison and validation purposes (DEVOVALEX and CO2 BENCH projects). On one hand, object-orientation (OO) provides a suitable framework for distributed code development; however, the parallelization of OO codes still lacks efficiency. High-performance-computing efficiency of OO codes is subject to future research.

Search for new physics in the multijet and missing transverse momentum final state in proton-proton collisions at √s=8 Tev

Abstract: A search for new physics is performed in multijet events with large missing transverse momentum produced in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s)=8 TeV using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.5 inverse femtobarns collected with the CMS detector at the LHC. The data sample is divided into three jet multiplicity categories (3-5, 6-7, and 8 or more jets), and studied further in bins of two variables: the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta and the missing transverse momentum. The observed numbers of events in various categories are consistent with backgrounds expected from standard model processes. Exclusion limits are presented for several simplified supersymmetric models of squark or gluino pair production.

Search for the standard model Higgs boson produced in association with a W or a Z boson and decaying to bottom quarks

Abstract: A search for the standard model Higgs boson (H) decaying to bb¯ when produced in association with a weak vector boson (V) is reported for the following channels: W(μν)H, W(eν)H, W(τν)H, Z(μμ)H, Z(ee)H, and Z(νν)H. The search is performed in data samples corresponding to integrated luminosities of up to 5.1 inverse femtobarns at s√=7 TeV and up to 18.9 fb−1 at s√=8 TeV, recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC. An excess of events is observed above the expected background with a local significance of 2.1 standard deviations for a Higgs boson mass of 125 GeV, consistent with the expectation from the production of the standard model Higgs boson. The signal strength corresponding to this excess, relative to that of the standard model Higgs boson, is 1.0±0.5.

Measurement of Higgs boson production and properties in the WW decay channel with leptonic final states

Abstract: A search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying to a W-boson pair at the LHC is reported. The event sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 4.9 fb−1 and 19.4 fb−1 collected with the CMS detector in pp collisions at s√ = 7 and 8 TeV, respectively. The Higgs boson candidates are selected in events with two or three charged leptons. An excess of events above background is observed, consistent with the expectation from the standard model Higgs boson with a mass of around 125 GeV. The probability to observe an excess equal or larger than the one seen, under the background-only hypothesis, corresponds to a significance of 4.3 standard deviations for m H = 125.6 GeV. The observed signal cross section times the branching fraction to WW for m H = 125.6 GeV is 0.72+0.20−0.18 times the standard model expectation. The spin-parity J P = 0+ hypothesis is favored against a narrow resonance with J P = 2+ or J P = 0− that decays to a W-boson pair. This result provides strong evidence for a Higgs-like boson decaying to a W-boson pair.

Reaching the magnetic anisotropy limit of a 3d metal atom

Abstract: Designing systems with large magnetic anisotropy is critical to realize nanoscopic magnets. Thus far, the magnetic anisotropy energy per atom in single-molecule magnets and ferromagnetic films remains typically one to two orders of magnitude below the theoretical limit imposed by the atomic spin-orbit interaction. We realized the maximum magnetic anisotropy for a 3d transition metal atom by coordinating a single Co atom to the O site of an MgO(100) surface. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy reveals a record-high zero-field splitting of 58 millielectron volts as well as slow relaxation of the Co atom's magnetization. This striking behavior originates from the dominating axial ligand field at the O adsorption site, which leads to out-of-plane uniaxial anisotropy while preserving the gas-phase orbital moment of Co, as observed with x-ray magnetic circular dichroism.

Signal amplification and transduction in phytochrome photosensors

Abstract: Sensory proteins must relay structural signals from the sensory site over large distances to regulatory output domains. Phytochromes are a major family of red-light-sensing kinases that control diverse cellular functions in plants, bacteria and fungi. Bacterial phytochromes consist of a photosensory core and a carboxy-terminal regulatory domain. Structures of photosensory cores are reported in the resting state and conformational responses to light activation have been proposed in the vicinity of the chromophore. However, the structure of the signalling state and the mechanism of downstream signal relay through the photosensory core remain elusive. Here we report crystal and solution structures of the resting and activated states of the photosensory core of the bacteriophytochrome from Deinococcus radiodurans. The structures show an open and closed form of the dimeric protein for the activated and resting states, respectively. This nanometre-scale rearrangement is controlled by refolding of an evolutionarily conserved 'tongue', which is in contact with the chromophore. The findings reveal an unusual mechanism in which atomic-scale conformational changes around the chromophore are first amplified into an angstrom-scale distance change in the tongue, and further grow into a nanometre-scale conformational signal. The structural mechanism is a blueprint for understanding how phytochromes connect to the cellular signalling network.

Charge order and its connection with Fermi-liquid charge transport in a pristine high- T c cuprate

Abstract: Electronic inhomogeneity appears to be an inherent characteristic of the enigmatic cuprate superconductors. Here we report the observation of charge-density-wave correlations in the model cuprate superconductor HgBa2CuO(4+δ) (T(c)=72 K) via bulk Cu L3-edge-resonant X-ray scattering. At the measured hole-doping level, both the short-range charge modulations and Fermi-liquid transport appear below the same temperature of about 200 K. Our result points to a unifying picture in which these two phenomena are preceded at the higher pseudogap temperature by q=0 magnetic order and the build-up of significant dynamic antiferromagnetic correlations. The magnitude of the charge modulation wave vector is consistent with the size of the electron pocket implied by quantum oscillation and Hall effect measurements for HgBa2CuO(4+δ) and with corresponding results for YBa2Cu3O(6+δ), which indicates that charge-density-wave correlations are universally responsible for the low-temperature quantum oscillation phenomenon.

Organic aerosol components derived from 25 AMS data sets across Europe using a consistent ME-2 based source apportionment approach

Abstract: . Organic aerosols (OA) represent one of the major constituents of submicron particulate matter (PM1) and comprise a huge variety of compounds emitted by different sources. Three intensive measurement field campaigns to investigate the aerosol chemical composition all over Europe were carried out within the framework of the European Integrated Project on Aerosol Cloud Climate and Air Quality Interactions (EUCAARI) and the intensive campaigns of European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) during 2008 (May–June and September–October) and 2009 (February–March). In this paper we focus on the identification of the main organic aerosol sources and we define a standardized methodology to perform source apportionment using positive matrix factorization (PMF) with the multilinear engine (ME-2) on Aerodyne aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) data. Our source apportionment procedure is tested and applied on 25 data sets accounting for two urban, several rural and remote and two high altitude sites; therefore it is likely suitable for the treatment of AMS-related ambient data sets. For most of the sites, four organic components are retrieved, improving significantly previous source apportionment results where only a separation in primary and secondary OA sources was possible. Generally, our solutions include two primary OA sources, i.e. hydrocarbon-like OA (HOA) and biomass burning OA (BBOA) and two secondary OA components, i.e. semi-volatile oxygenated OA (SV-OOA) and low-volatility oxygenated OA (LV-OOA). For specific sites cooking-related (COA) and marine-related sources (MSA) are also separated. Finally, our work provides a large overview of organic aerosol sources in Europe and an interesting set of highly time resolved data for modeling purposes.

Final results of Borexino Phase-I on low-energy solar neutrino spectroscopy

Abstract: Borexino has been running since May 2007 at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso laboratory in Italy with the primary goal of detecting solar neutrinos. The detector, a large, unsegmented liquid scintillator calorimeter characterized by unprecedented low levels of intrinsic radioactivity, is optimized for the study of the lower energy part of the spectrum. During Phase-I (2007–2010), Borexino first detected and then precisely measured the flux of the Be 7 solar neutrinos, ruled out any significant day-night asymmetry of their interaction rate, made the first direct observation of the pep neutrinos, and set the tightest upper limit on the flux of solar neutrinos produced in the CNO cycle (carbon, nitrogen, oxigen) where carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen serve as catalysts in the fusion process. In this paper we discuss the signal signature and provide a comprehensive description of the backgrounds, quantify their event rates, describe the methods for their identification, selection, or subtraction, and describe data analysis. Key features are an extensive in situ calibration program using radioactive sources, the detailed modeling of the detector response, the ability to define an innermost fiducial volume with extremely low background via software cuts, and the excellent pulse-shape discrimination capability of the scintillator that allows particle identification. We report a measurement of the annual modulation of the Be 7 neutrino interaction rate. The period, the amplitude, and the phase of the observed modulation are consistent with the solar origin of these events, and the absence of their annual modulation is rejected with higher than 99% C.L. The physics implications of Phase-I results in the context of the neutrino oscillation physics and solar models are presented.

Vision 20/20: Perspectives on automated image segmentation for radiotherapy

Abstract: Due to rapid advances in radiation therapy (RT), especially image guidance and treatment adaptation, a fast and accurate segmentation of medical images is a very important part of the treatment. Manual delineation of target volumes and organs at risk is still the standard routine for most clinics, even though it is time consuming and prone to intra- and interobserver variations. Automated segmentation methods seek to reduce delineation workload and unify the organ boundary definition. In this paper, the authors review the current autosegmentation methods particularly relevant for applications in RT. The authors outline the methods’ strengths and limitations and propose strategies that could lead to wider acceptance of autosegmentation in routine clinical practice. The authors conclude that currently, autosegmentation technology in RT planning is an efficient tool for the clinicians to provide them with a good starting point for review and adjustment. Modern hardware platforms including GPUs allow most of the autosegmentation tasks to be done in a range of a few minutes. In the nearest future, improvements in CT-based autosegmentation tools will be achieved through standardization of imaging and contouring protocols. In the longer term, the authors expect a wider use of multimodality approaches and better understanding of correlation of imaging with biology and pathology.

Online coupled regional meteorology chemistry models in Europe: current status and prospects

Abstract: Online coupled mesoscale meteorology atmospheric chemistry models have undergone a rapid evolution in recent years. Although mainly developed by the air quality modelling community, these models are also of interest for numerical weather prediction and regional climate modelling as they can consider not only the effects of meteorology on air quality, but also the potentially important effects of atmospheric composition on weather. Two ways of online coupling can be distinguished: online integrated and online access coupling. Online integrated models simulate meteorology and chemistry over the same grid in one model using one main time step for integration. Online access models use independent meteorology and chemistry modules that might even have different grids, but exchange meteorology and chemistry data on a regular and frequent basis. This article offers a comprehensive review of the current research status of online coupled meteorology and atmospheric chemistry modelling within Europe. Eighteen regional online coupled models developed or being used in Europe are described and compared. Topics discussed include a survey of processes relevant to the interactions between atmospheric physics, dynamics and composition; a brief overview of existing online mesoscale models and European model developments; an analysis on how feedback processes are treated in these models; numerical issues associated with coupled models; and several case studies and model performance evaluation methods. Finally, this article highlights selected scientific issues and emerging challenges that require proper consideration to improve the reliability and usability of these models for the three scientific communities: air quality, numerical meteorology modelling (including weather prediction) and climate modelling. This review will be of particular interest to model developers and users in all three fields as it presents a synthesis of scientific progress and provides recommendations for future research directions and priorities in the development, application and evaluation of online coupled models. © 2014 Author(s).

Generation of 0.9-mJ THz pulses in DSTMS pumped by a Cr:Mg₂SiO₄ laser

Abstract: We report on high-field terahertz transients with 0.9-mJ pulse energy produced in a 400 mm² partitioned organic crystal by optical rectification of a 30-mJ laser pulse centered at 1.25 μm wavelength. The phase-locked single-cycle terahertz pulses cover the hard-to-access low-frequency range between 0.1 and 5 THz and carry peak fields of more than 42 MV/cm and 14 Tesla with the potential to reach over 80 MV/cm by choosing appropriate focusing optics. The scheme based on a Cr:Mg₂SiO₄ laser offers a high conversion efficiency of 3% using uncooled organic crystal. The collimated pump laser configuration provides excellent terahertz focusing conditions.

Large-Amplitude Spin Dynamics Driven by a THz Pulse in Resonance with an Electromagnon

Abstract: Multiferroics have attracted strong interest for potential applications where electric fields control magnetic order. The ultimate speed of control via magnetoelectric coupling, however, remains largely unexplored. Here, we report an experiment in which we drove spin dynamics in multiferroic TbMnO3 with an intense few-cycle terahertz (THz) light pulse tuned to resonance with an electromagnon, an electric-dipole active spin excitation. We observed the resulting spin motion using time-resolved resonant soft x-ray diffraction. Our results show that it is possible to directly manipulate atomic-scale magnetic structures with the electric field of light on a sub-picosecond time scale.