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The Photoconductor Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) will be equipped with two sensor arrays consisting of 16 X 25 pixels each. Arranged in linear arrays of 16 detectors the sensitivity of the sensors is tuned to the wavelength ranges 60 micrometers to 130 micrometers and 130 micrometers to 210 micrometers , by applying different levels of stress to the Ge:Ga crystal utilizing a special leaf spring which is part of each of the 25 modules. The electronics of the sensors are mounted on the same module but thermally isolated from the sensor level which is at a lower temperature of about 2 K. The sensors are read out by a specially developed integrating and multiplexing cryogenic read-out electronics. With a fore optics made of light cones in front of the detector cavities a 100% filling factor is achieved and a high quantum efficiency close to 0.5 is expected. In order to achieve extremely good stress uniformity in all detectors and therefore equal cutoff wavelengths, a high degree of the quality of the Ge:Ga detectors and of the assembling components used for this dedicated stress mechanism is required. The first 6 engineering modules have been successfully manufactured and tested afterwards. The relative responsivity of a set of pixels has been determined and a good performance has been demonstrated for the sensors, which are very close to fulfilling the requirements for PACS aboard the infrared spectra telescope FIRST.

We have performed a series of measurements with the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt beamline of the electron storage ring BESSY 1 which provide the basis for the absolute calibration of the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS). ACIS is a prime focal plane instrument aboard the recently-launched Chandra X-ray Observatory. We have achieved an absolute detection efficiency knowledge accurate to better than 5% over the 0.3 - 4 keV band. We describe our measurement and analysis techniques, including our detector response modeling and pileup corrections. We summarize a variety of external and internal consistency checks which provide the basis for our error estimates. We discuss the factors limiting the accuracy of our measurements.© (2000) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Monocytes have a limited life span, and their homeostasis is regulated by apoptosis in vivo. When cultured in the absence of appropriate exogenous stimuli, they undergo apoptosis, but under the influence of survival signals, these cells differentiate into macrophages or dendritic cells. Here we show that ligation of the high-affinity IgE receptor (FcepsilonRI) on human monocytes from nonatopic individuals markedly reduces apoptosis induced by serum deprivation or by CD95/Fas ligation. Aggregation of FcepsilonRI reduces its own expression but fails to modulate CD95/Fas expression. In contrast, FcepsilonRI ligation enhances the expression of the antiapoptotic molecules Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL, but not Mcl-1, in monocytes. Incubation of unstimulated cells with culture supernatants of FcepsilonRI-activated monocytes prolongs their life span, whereas CD95/Fas expression remains unaffected. The incidence of apoptosis is restored considerably when the supernatant is depleted of TNF-alpha, whereas elimination of IL-1beta, GM-CSF, or IL-12 has no effect. These results indicate that FcepsilonRI mediates signals preventing monocyte apoptosis directly by increasing the levels of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL, and indirectly by means of TNF-alpha in an autocrine and paracrine fashion. This process may contribute to the establishment of chronic allergic disorders such as atopic dermatitis.

For the Photoconductive Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) 2 sensor arrays consisting of each 16 X 25 pixels are foreseen. The sensors arranged in linear arrays with 16 detectors are tuned to the wavelength ranges 60 micrometer to 130 micrometer and 130 micrometer to 210 micrometer by applying different levels of stress to the Ge:Ga crystals utilizing a special leaf spring which is part of each of the 25 modules. The electronics of the sensors are mounted on the same module but thermally isolated from the sensor level which is linked to a 1.7 K stage. The sensors are read out by a new generation of the integrating and multiplexing cryogenic readout electronics (CRE). With the optical design a 100% filling factor is achieved and with a fore optics made of light cones in front of the detector cavities a high detection efficiency close to 1 is expected. In order to achieve extreme high stress uniformity among all detectors and therefore equal cutoff wavelengths, a high degree of the quality of the Ge:Ga detectors and of the assembling components used for this dedicated stress mechanism is required. The first two engineering modules have been successfully manufactured and tested afterwards. The relative responsivity of a set of pixels has been determined and a good performance demonstrated for the sensors which are very close to fulfill the requirements for PACS aboard the infrared telescope FIRST.© (1999) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

We have performed precise measurements of x-ray absorption constants for all the thin films comprising CCD gate structure, namely, phosphorous doped polysilicon, silicon dioxide, and silicon nitride. X-ray absorption of these films shows large oscillations around the corresponding absorption edges: nitrogen K, oxygen K, silicon L and K. As a result, quantum efficiency of a CCD in the soft x-ray range deviates significantly from the generally assumed simple model predictions. In order to cover the range of energies from 60 eV to 3000 eV transmission measurements were performed at several synchrotron beamlines at ALS, PTB BESSY, SRC. A model of the CCD response with near edge x-ray absorption structure taken into account predicts a very complicated shape of the energy dependence of the quantum efficiency around silicon and oxygen absorption edges. Experimental measurements of CCD quantum efficiency relative to a calibrated detector were performed at BESSY for both frontside illuminated and backside illuminated CCDs for energies around the oxygen absorption edge. Experimental results were found to be in a good agreement with our model.

Using a CdZnTe sample detector, a variety of diagnostic tools are applied, so as to assess the crystal characteristics and to compare these to the x-ray response measured with synchrotron radiation. Correlations are found, such that x-ray response degrading processes can be identified. In this respect the performance of the detector is found to be limited by both large scale defects such as some grain boundaries and also pipes and by crystal imperfections, together with impurities and other crystal defects, both at the surface and in the bulk crystal. The relatively soft CdZnTe crystals are very sensitive to improper handling, producing particularly surface damage, which in turn deteriorates the detector performance, as is rather clearly established by photoluminescence measurements.

The design, calibration, and performance of the high purity germanium (HPGe) solid state detectors (SSDs) used in the calibration of the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility high resolution mirror assembly (HRMA) is discussed. The focal plane SSD was used with various apertures to measure the point response function, as well as the effective area of the mirror. The good energy resolution of the detector allowed the effective energy of the mirrors to be measured with a single exposure using a continuum source. The energy resolution was also exploited in measuring the molecular contamination on the mirror surfaces. The SSDs are the transfer detector standards for the HRMA calibration over the energy range from 700 eV to 10 keV. The calibration of the SSDs was performed mostly at the PTB radiometry laboratory using the electron storage ring BESSY. The spectral and spacial distribution of the undispersed synchrotron radiation can be calculated from first principles using the Schwinger Equation. With the electron storage ring being run in a reduced current mode of a few electrons, uncertainties in the calculated flux are below 1%. A comparison of the measured and calculated flux made it possible to determine the detector efficiency with an uncertainty of typically 1%. Electronic effects such as pile- up, count rate linearity and deadtime have been investigated.

The prelaunch calibration of AXAF encompasses many aspects of the telescope. In principle, all that is needed is the complete point response function. This is, however, a function of energy, off-axis angle of the source, and operating mode of the facility. No single measurement would yield the entire result. Also, any calibration made prior to launch will be affected by changes in conditions after launch, such as the change from one g to zero g. The reflectivity of the mirror and perhaps even the detectors can change as well, for example by addition or removal of small amounts of material deposited on their surfaces. In this paper, we give a broad view of the issues in performing such a calibration, and discuss how they are being addressed in prelaunch preparation of AXAF. As our title indicates, we concentrate here on the total throughput of the observatory. This can be thought of as the integral of the point response function, i.e. the encircled energy, out to the largest practical solid angle for an observation. Since there is no standard x-ray source in the sky whose flux is well known to the approximately 1% accuracy we are trying to achieve, we must do this calibration on the ground. We also must provide a means for monitoring any possible changes in this calibration from prelaunch until on-orbit operation can transfer the calibration to a celestial x-ray source whose emission is stable. In the paper, we analyze the elements of the absolute throughput calibration, which we call the effective area. We review the requirements for calibrations of components or subsystems of the AXAF facility, including the mirror, detectors, and gratings. We show how it is necessary to have an absolute calibrated detection system available during the prelaunch calibrations to measure the flux in the x-ray beam used for calibrating AXAF. We show how it is necessary to calibrate this ground-based detection system at standard man-made x-ray sources, such as electron storage rings. We present the status of all these calibrations, with indications of the measurements remaining to be done, even though the measurements on the AXAF flight optics and detectors will have been completed by the time this paper is presented. We evaluate progress toward the goal of making 1% measurements of the absolute x-ray flux from astrophysical sources, so that comparisons can be made with their emission at other wavelengths, in support of observations such as the Sunyaev-Zeldovitch effect, which can give absolute distance measurements independent of the traditional distance measuring techniques in astronomy.

IgE-bearing human epidermal Langerhans cells (LC) are suspected of playing a key role in the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis (AD). We and others have shown that these cells bind IgE via the high affinity receptor Fc epsilon RI (FceRI) (1, 2). Recent findings have shown that the expression of this receptor on LC and related dendritic cells in the skin is highly upregulated in lesions skin of AD when compared with nonatopic individuals and this is correlated to a high IgE serum levels (3). Functionally, LC from normal skin differ from those of atopic skin in terms of calcium mobilization upon receptor ligation (4). Beside qualitative alterations in the activation cascade, unresponsiveness also may be related to inefficient triggering in normal LC displaying low amounts of receptors. Thus, the variations in receptor expression may be crucial for the outcome of the signal transduction initiated by FceRI-cross-linking on LC, implying the need of a better understanding of the mechanisms regulating the receptor display on LC. However, detailed functional, biochemical and molecular biological analysis of FceRI + LC is hampered by the limited number of LC routinely obtained from skin biopsies or surgical samples. Recently several cytokines, especially granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), have been identified that speed the development of dendritic cells from blood and bone marrow precursors in suspension cultures (5, 6, 7, 8, 9). We took advantage of this progress to establish a model for the study of the regulation of FceRI on LC and other dendritic cells.

Soft x-ray detectors for astronomical applications are often also sensitive to visible and UV photons. Filters of a new design have been developed, which could be used in future missions to suppress the flooding of x-ray detectors by low energy photons. Three series of filters are discussed: aluminum/silicon multilayers, Niobium and calcium/boron multilayers. The filters are typically 100 to 200 nm thick and reject the IR/visible/UV from 10-4 to 10-6. The transmission for soft x-rays is above 10% for wavelengths less than 30 nm, when combining the bandpasses of at least two filters. The optimum transmission band depends very much on the filter type. The IR/visible/UV has been measured using standard laboratory spectro- photometers while the x-ray transmission characteristics have been determined using synchrotron radiation.© (1996) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

In order to characterize the instrumentation on AXAF, each of the science instrument teams carries out sub-assembly calibrations. For the high energy transmission grating (HETG) group, this means individual measurements of the diffraction efficiencies of each of the 336 grating elements that goes into the completed HETG assembly. Measurements are made at a number of energies (corresponding to x-ray emission lines) which fix the parameters of a model. This model is determined from first principles and verified by extensively testing sample grating elements at synchrotron radiation facilities. Here we present new synchrotron radiation (SR) data obtained at the national Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) and at the radiometry laboratory of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) using the electron storage ring BESSY in Berlin. The gratings are from AXAF flight lots, and we apply an improved data reduction technique which builds on our experience from last year (Markert et al., SPIE Proceedings 2518, 424, 1995). Our analysis takes into account the effects of small extended wings in the diffraction of the various orders in the NSLS data. Our goal is to obtain efficiencies in the 0th and plus/minus 1st diffraction orders which are accurate in the 1% level, except near absorption edges, where accuracies in the 5% to 10% level are required. With a few exceptions (discussed here) our new data/improved model meets these goals.

A convenient synthesis of trisamido molybdenum(VI) alkylidyne complexes has been developed, in which the key step is the addition of a geminal dichloride to a trisamido molybdenum(III) complex in the presence of magnesium to continuously recycle unwanted side product 4, selectively generating the desired alkylidyne complexes in high yield.

The polymerization pathways of epoxidized and hydroxylated triglycerides with phosphoric acid (H3PO4) were investigated using model reactions. Involved epoxides and diols were derived from oleic acid methyl ester, which was easily monitored by one- and two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques as well as electrospray ionization mass spectroscopy (ESI-MS). Phosphoric acid played two key functions: (a) as a Bronsted acid catalyst that activated the epoxide toward nucleophilic attack by the diol, thus generating ether (C–O–C) cross-linkages; and (b) as a reaction partner establishing phosphate ester linkages [(RO)2(O)P–O–C, R = C or H]. In studies with 18O labeled diol, phosphate esters formed exclusively from H3PO4 and epoxide without incorporation of diol whereas diols acted as polymerization initiators in polyether formations.

We perform precise measurements of the x-ray transmission of the thin films comprising CCD gate structure, namely, phosphorus doped polysilicon, silicon dioxide, and silicon nitride. The x-ray transmission of these films shows large oscillations with small changes in energy in the vicinity of the following absorption edges: nitrogen K (400 eV), oxygen K (536 eV), silicon L and K (100 and 1840 eV, respectively). As a result, quantum efficiency of a CCD in the soft x-ray range deviates significantly from simple model predictions based on Henke et al. (1993) mass absorption coefficients. The measurements covered the range of energies from 60 to 3000 eV, using synchrotron beamlines at the Advanced Light Source (ALS; Berkeley), Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt BESSY (Berlin), the Synchrotron Radiation Center (SRC; University of Wisconsin-Madison). Our model of the CCD response includes near edge x-ray absorption structure and predicts a very complicated shape of the energy dependence of the quantum efficiency around silicon and oxygen absorption edges. Experimental measurements of CCD quantum efficiency relative to a calibrated detector at the BESSY synchrotron confirmed our model predictions for both frontside and backside illuminated CCDs.

Inflammatory dendritic epidermal cells present in skin lesions of the atopic eczema/dermatitis syndrome display the highest expression of the high-affinity receptor for IgE (FcepsilonRI), ever detected on human antigen-presenting cells. Owing to the instability of the FcepsilonRI (alphagammagamma) complex and fast cleavage from the cell surface during the interleukin-4/granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor driven in vitro differentiation of monocytes, a method to generate inflammatory dendritic epidermal cells was not at our disposal in the past and the amount of ex vivo isolated inflammatory dendritic epidermal cells available for functional assays was limited. Therefore, information about the role of inflammatory dendritic epidermal cells and FcepsilonRI on this dendritic cell subtype in atopic and inflammatory skin diseases is completely missing. In this study, we were able to: (i) increase the expression of a functional FcepsilonRI complex on the cell surface of immature monocyte-derived dendritic cells from atopic donors by creating a reducing microenvironment; (ii) enhance significantly the intracellular pool of the FcepsilonRIgamma chains, which is the limiting parameter for the FcepsilonRI surface expression; and (iii) generate monocyte-derived dendritic cells displaying the phenotypical characteristics of inflammatory dendritic epidermal cells, producing high amounts of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines similar to the cytokines found in lesional skin of the atopic eczema/dermatitis syndrome. Altogether the high expression of functional FcepsilonRI on these cells enables us for the first time to study inflammatory dendritic epidermal cells and FcepsilonRI-mediated mechanisms of inflammatory dendritic epidermal cells in vitro, in order to shed light on the putative role of this important cell type in the atopic eczema/dermatitis syndrome.

Patients with atopic dermatitis display substantial immunologic abnormalities, among which elevated total IgE is considered as a hallmark; however, a subgroup of atopic dermatitis patients exhibits normal IgE levels, but mechanisms contributing to the so-called "intrinsic" or "nonallergic" form of atopic dermatitis are obscure. In order to unravel similarities and differences of both atopic dermatitis subtypes, the phenotype of monocytes, total serum IgE levels, and serum levels of cytokines regulating the IgE production from nonatopic individuals and patients with allergic rhinitis, and extrinsic and intrinsic atopic dermatitis were measured. Concomitantly, genomic DNA probes of all subjects were analyzed for single nucleotide polymorphisms of candidate genes of structures involved in the regulation of the IgE synthesis, such as interleukin-4 and the interleukin-4R/interleukin-13R. Our data show that the surface expression of the high- and low-affinity receptor for IgE (FcepsilonRI and FcepsilonRII/CD23) and the interleukin-4Ralpha chain were significantly elevated in monocytes from patients with extrinsic atopic dermatitis. Furthermore, serum levels of interleukin-13 were significantly increased in patients with intrinsic atopic dermatitis. In addition, the frequency of the interleukin-4Ralpha polymorphism C3223T and the interleukin-4 polymorphism C590T tended to be higher in extrinsic atopic dermatitis than in intrinsic atopic dermatitis. Altogether our findings indicate that intrinsic atopic dermatitis patients exhibit phenotypic and immunologic features, which differ from those of patients with extrinsic atopic dermatitis or other atopic disorders.