We present new, contemporaneous Hubble Space Telescope STIS and XMM-Newton observations of the O7 III(n)((f)) star ξ Per. We supplement the new data with archival IUE spectra, to analyze the variability of the wind lines and X-ray flux of ξ Per. The variable wind of this star is known to have a 2.086-day periodicity. We use a simple, heuristic spot model that fits the low-velocity (near-surface) IUE wind line variability very well, to demonstrate that the low-velocity absorption in the new STIS spectra of N iv λ1718 and Si iv λ1402 vary with the same 2.086-day period. It is remarkable that the period and amplitude of the STIS data agree with those of the IUE spectra obtained 22 yr earlier. We also show that the time variability of the new XMM-Newton fluxes is also consistent with the 2.086-day period. Thus, our new, multiwavelength coordinated observations demonstrate that the mechanism that causes the UV wind line variability is also responsible for a significant fraction of the X-rays in single O stars. The sequence of events for the multiwavelength light-curve minima is Si iv λ1402, N iv λ1718, and X-ray flux, each separated by a phase of about 0.06 relative to the 2.086-day period. Analysis of the X-ray fluxes shows that they become softer as they weaken. This is contrary to expectations if the variability is caused by periodic excess absorption. Furthermore, the high-resolution X-ray spectra suggest that the individual emission lines at maximum are more strongly blueshifted. If we interpret the low-velocity wind line light curves in terms of our model, it implies that there are two bright regions, i.e., regions with less absorption, separated by 180°, on the surface of the star. We note that the presence and persistence of two spots separated by 180° suggest that a weak dipole magnetic field is responsible for the variability of the UV wind line absorption and X-ray flux in ξ Per.

An increase in the cross-sectional area (CSA) of the pulmonary arteries has been implicated in the progression of emphysema in COPD patients. Standardization of vessel size requires matching segments of the airway with their corresponding blood vessels. Automated matching is still error-prone, and manual matching by sifting through 2D slices is tedious and time-consuming. We propose a virtual reality (VR) system for the visualization of the airway and the vascular tree as a means of streamlining the verification of appropriate airway/vascular segment pairs selected for quantitation of arterial CSAs. In this work, we outline the technical specifications and design considerations and challenges for such system; we also compare user's performance on the proposed system with the conventional 2D method.

<p>Reference radiation fields for x-ray qualities are described by the International Organization of Standards (ISO). This study describes the procedure to establish nine different low energy X-ray qualities at the national metrology laboratory, Swedish Radiation Protection Authority, following the document ISO 4037. Measurements of tube voltage, half-value layer, mean energy and spectral resolution have been performed for qualities N-15, N-20, N-25, N-30, N-40, L-20, L-30, L-35 and L-55. Furthermore, dose equivalent conversion coefficients for operational quantities ambient dose equivalent, personal dose equivalent and directional dose equivalent have been calculated by folding the mono-energetic conversion factors with measured spectral distributions of the x-ray qualities. The spectral distributions were unfolded from pulse-height distributions to photon distributions using simulated data of the semi-conductor detector used for measurements, generated with the Monte Carlo code PENELOPE.</p>

Reference radiation fields for x-ray qualities are described by the International Organization of Standards (ISO). This study describes the procedure to establish nine different low energy X-ray qualities at the national metrology laboratory, Swedish Radiation Protection Authority, following the document ISO 4037. Measurements of tube voltage, half-value layer, mean energy and spectral resolution have been performed for qualities N-15, N-20, N-25, N-30, N-40, L-20, L-30, L-35 and L-55. Furthermore, dose equivalent conversion coefficients for operational quantities ambient dose equivalent, personal dose equivalent and directional dose equivalent have been calculated by folding the mono-energetic conversion factors with measured spectral distributions of the x-ray qualities. The spectral distributions were unfolded from pulse-height distributions to photon distributions using simulated data of the semi-conductor detector used for measurements, generated with the Monte Carlo code PENELOPE.

When probing the inner structures of unresolved astrophysical sources, spectropolarimetry has proven to be a solid tool, both independent and complementary to spectral and timing analyses. In this thesis, I theoretically explore the polarization of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), which are powered by accretion onto supermassive black holes and often reveal significant mass outflows. Their emission is strongly anisotropic and the standard model of AGN postulates that the anisotropy is caused by a confinement of the radiation in the funnel of an obscuring body of circumnuclear dust; the radiation is thus forced to escape along the funnel where it photo-ionizes conically shaped outflows. The asymmetrical configuration explains an observational dichotomy where AGN properties are characterized according to the observer's line-of-sight. However, AGN observations differ significantly from one waveband to another and the broadband validity of the unified model has to be tested by a method that gives strong constraints on the AGN morphology. In this thesis, I subsequently investigate how morphological and composition constraints on the different substructures in thermal, radio-quiet Active Galactic Nuclei can be deduced from optical, UV and X-ray polarization properties.

Through the work on X-ray and gamma-ray data of AGN I contributed significantly to the progress in the unification of AGN since I finished my PhD in 2000. <p> The study of the evolutionary behaviour of X-ray selected blazars (Beckmann & Wolter 2001; Beckmann et al. 2002, 2003b; Beckmann 2003) shows that their evolution is not as strongly negative as indicated by previous studies. The overall luminosity function is consistent with no evolution in the 0.1−2.4 keV band as seen by ROSAT/PSPC. There is still a difference compared to the luminosity function of FSRQ and LBL, which seem to show a positive evolution, indicating that they have been more luminous and/or numerous at cosmological distances. We indicated a scenario in order to explain this discrepancy, in which the high luminous FSRQ develop into the fainter LBL and finally into the BL Lac objects with high frequency peaks in their spectral energy distribution but overall low bolometric luminosity. <p> Studying the variability pattern of hard X-ray selected Seyfert galaxies, we actually found differences between type 1 and type 2 objects, in the sense that type 2 seemed to be more variable (Beckmann et al. 2007a). This breaking of the unified model is caused by the different average luminosity of the absorbed and unabsorbed sources, as discussed in Sect. 4.7.3. This can be explained by a larger inner disk radius when the AGN core is most active (the so-called receding disc model). <p> The work on the sample characteristics of hard X-ray detected AGN also led to the proof that the average intrinsic spectra of type 1 and type 2 objects are the same when reflection processes are taken into account (Beckmann et al. 2009d). This also explains why in the past Seyfert 2 objects were seen to have harder X-ray spectra than Seyfert 1, as the stronger reflection hump in the type 2 objects makes the spectra appear to be flatter, although the underlying continuum is the same. <p> Further strong evidence for the unification scheme comes from the observation of a fundamental plane which connects type 1 and type 2 objects smoothly (Beckmann et al. 2009d). In addition, in the case of the Seyfert 1.9 galaxy MCG-05-23-016 I showed that the spectral energy distribution of this source and its accretion rate is similar to that of a Galactic binary (Beckmann et al. 2008a). <p> Throughout the studies I have shown that the intrinsic spectral shape appears to be very stable on weeks to year time scale (Beckmann et al. 2004d, 2005b, 2007b, 2008a). This implies that the overall geometry of the AGN over these time scales did not change dramatically. The variations in intensity can then be explained in two ways: either the amount of material emitting the hard X-rays varies, or the amount of plasma visible to the observer varied, e.g. through different orientation of the disk with respect to the observer. In an upcoming paper we will show though, that NGC 4151 indeed also shows different spectral states, similar to the low-hard versus high-soft spectra in Galactic black hole binaries (Lubinski et al. 2010). A similar result seems to emerge from our INTEGRAL studies on NGC 2110 (Beckmann & Do Cao 2011). For INTEGRAL's AO-8 I have submitted a proposal in order to study spectral states in the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 2992, which seems to show a state change over the past 5 years as seen in Swift/BAT longterm monitoring. <p> The work on the luminosity function of AGN at hardest X-rays (Beckmann et al. 2006d) had a large impact on our understanding of the cosmic X-ray background. As this was the first study of its kind, it showed for the first time that indeed the fraction of highly obscured Compton thick AGN is much lower than expected before the launch of INTEGRAL and Swift. The X-ray luminosity function we revealed is indeed not consistent with the source population seen by INTEGRAL (Beckmann et al. 2006a, 2009d; Sazonov et al. 2007) and Swift (Tueller et al. 2008) being the only contributors to the cosmic hard X-ray background. Thus other sources outside the parameter space observable by these missions have to contribute significantly to the cosmic X-ray background. Our work on the luminosity function triggered several other studies on this issue. The subsequent derived luminosity functions by other groups (Sazonov et al. 2007; Tueller et al. 2008; Paltani et al. 2008) are consistent with our findings. <p> This also gave rise to an increased interest in the exact shape of the Cosmic X-ray background around its peak at 30 keV, triggering several attempts to a new measurement. Background studies were presented based on a Earth-occultation observation by INTEGRAL (Churazov et al. 2007, 2008; Türler et al. 2010) and by Swift (Ajello et al. 2008). <p> The understanding of the emission processes in AGN requires knowledge over a wide range of the spectral energy distribution (SED). In studies using CGRO/EGRET and Fermi/LAT data I derived the SED for blazars and non-blazars towards the gamma-ray range (Beckmann 2003; Beckmann et al. 2004b, 2010b). The work on the LAT data not only presented the gamma-ray detection of five gamma-ray blazars (QSO B0836+710, RX J1111.5+3452, H 1426+428, RX J1924.8-2914, and PKS 2149-306) for the first time, but also showed the potential in the combination of INTEGRAL and Fermi data. In the case of Cen A I derived the total energy output of the inverse Compton component based on the combined LAT, ISGRI, and JEM-X data, showing evidence for a spectral break at several hundred keV (Beckmann et al. 2010b). <br> In addition I successfully showed that gamma-ray blazars can be predicted through the study of their synchrotron branch at energies below 2 keV (Beckmann 2003 and this work). <p> Contributions of mine to research in fields other than AGN include the study of INTEGRAL detected gamma-ray bursts (e.g. Beckmann et al. 2003a, 2004a, 2008b, 2009a). Here and in collaboration with other colleagues I showed the potential of INTEGRAL data on GRB research. In the field of Galactic X-ray binaries I published one of the first Swift results on a newly discovered highly absorbed HMXB, IGR J16283-4838 (Beckmann et al. 2005a, 2006b). I also contributed significantly to analysis of many other Galactic sources, as shown in Section 4.6.1.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 197-202). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 197-202). Also available on the Internet.

La chromatine, dont l’unité de base est le nucléosome, est une structure nucléoprotéique dynamique qui nécessite un remodelage au cours des processus nucléaires utilisant l’ADN comme matrice tels que la réplication, la transcription ou la réparation des cassures et autres types de lésions à l’ADN. Plusieurs facteurs capables de moduler la structure de la chromatine ont été caractérisés. Ils regroupent les complexes de remodelage ATP-dépendants et les enzymes modifiant les histones de façon post-traductionnelle. Nous nous intéressons au laboratoire à la voie de méthylation de la lysine 20 située sur la queue aminoterminale de l’histone H4. Le premier niveau de méthylation est induit par la monométhyltransférase PR-Set7 tandis que la di et tri méthylation sont déposées par le couple d’enzymes SUV4-20H1/2. Pour mieux caractériser le rôle joué par PR-Set7 au cours du développement, j’ai étudié la fonction de l'orthologue de PR-Set7 chez la Drosophile (dPR-Set7). La première partie de ma thèse a consisté à caractériser le rôle de dPR-Set7 dans la transcription. De manière intéressante, nous avons montré que la régulation transcriptionnelle médiée par PR-Set7 nécessite son domaine SET enzymatique mais pas H4K20me, suggérant l'existence d’autres substrats non-histones. Nous avons mis en évidence une interaction fonctionnelle de PR-Set7 et ISWI qui est la sous unité catalytique des complexes de remodelage de la chromatine (CRC). Fait intéressant, ISWI contient un patch basique identique à la queue N-terminale de H4 suggérant qu’il pourrait être un substrat pour dPR-Set7. La deuxième partie de ma thèse a consisté à combiner l’effet des radiations à ceux induits par les inhibiteurs des méthyltransférases responsables de la méthylation H4K20 et les radiations dans les lignées de cellules cancéreuses du pancréas et de l’ovaire. Par l'utilisation de différents inhibiteurs ciblant soit PR-Set7 ou les enzymes SUV4-20H, j’ai voulu savoir si la baisse des niveaux de H4K20me pourrait contribuer à une meilleure efficacité des traitements aux rayons X. Nos résultats montrent que la diminution globale des marques H4K20me2/3 suite à l’inhibition des enzymes SUV4-20H n’impacte que faiblement sur la survie des cellules et la combinaison des deux traitements les rendraient plus radiosensibles. / Chromatin is a dynamic nucleoprotein structure that requires remodeling for all nuclear processes such as replication, transcription and DNA damage. Several factors have been characterized to modulate chromatin structure and include ATP-dependent remodeling complexes and histone-modifying enzymes. We are interested in the laboratory in the methylation pathway of lysine 20 on histone H4 tail. The first level of methylation is induced by the monomethyltransferase PR-Set7 and the di/tri methylation are deposited by the SUV4-20H enzymes. To better characterize the role of dPR-Set7 during development, I wanted to study the function of Drosophila PR-Set7 (dPR-Set7). The first part of my thesis aimed to unravel the role of dPR-Set7 in transcription. Interestingly, transcriptional regulation mediated by PR-Set7 requires its enzymatic SET domain but not H4K20me, suggesting the existence of other non-histone substrates. We demonstrated a functional interaction between PR-Set7 and ISWI, the catalytic subunit of chromatin remodeling complexes (CRC). Interestingly, ISWI contains a basic patch identical to the histone H4 tail suggesting that it could be a substrate for dPR-Set7. The second part of my thesis consisted in combining inhibitors of H4K20 methyltransferase and radiation in ovarian and pancreatic cancer cell lines. I wanted to know if the decrease of H4K20me levels by inhibiting either PR-Set7 or SUV4-20H enzymes, contribute to better X-ray treatments. Our results show that the overall decrease of H4K20me2/3 marks following the inhibition of SUV4-20H enzymes has a low impact on cell survival and the combining effects of both treatments sensitize cancer cells.

Les travaux de ce doctorat concernent le développement d'une technique de caractérisation non destructive encore peu utilisée dans le domaine de la microélectronique : la tomographie par rayons X dans un microscope électronique à balayage. Cet instrument a été utilisé pour l'analyse haute résolution d'interconnexions métalliques, telles que les piliers de cuivre ainsi que les vias traversants, utilisées dans le cadre de l'intégration 3D pour connecter verticalement plusieurs puces entre elles. Les contributions les plus significatives de ces travaux sont : (1) l'amélioration des capacités d'analyse offertes par l'instrument. De nombreuses études – simulations et expériences – ont été menées afin de déterminer et améliorer les résolutions 2D et 3D de ce système d'imagerie. Il a été montré que la résolution 2D de ce système d'imagerie pouvait atteindre 60 nanomètres. La qualité des images acquises et reconstruites a également été améliorée à travers l'implémentation d'algorithmes de reconstruction itératifs et de nombreuses méthodes d'alignement des radiographies. (2) La réduction du temps d'analyse d'un facteur 3 à travers l'implémentation d'algorithmes de reconstruction contraints tels que la méthode de reconstruction basée sur la minimisation de la variation totale. (3) La mise en place d'algorithmes de correction efficaces pour l'élimination d'artéfacts de reconstruction liés à la polychromaticité du faisceau de rayons X utilisé. (4) La mise en application de l'ensemble de ces algorithmes sur des cas réels, rencontrés par des technologues. / In this thesis, an original non-destructive 3D characterization technique has been developed : the X-ray tomography hosted in a scanning electron microscope. This instrument is not widely used in the microelectronics field. This computed tomography (CT) system has been used for the high resolution analysis of metallic interconnections such as copper pillars and through silicon vias (TSVs). These components are widely used in the field of 3D integration to make vertical stacks of interconnected chips.The most significant contributions of this thesis are : (1) the enhancement of the analytical capabilities of the instrument. Many studies – simulations and experiments – have been performed in order to determine and improve the 2D and 3D resolutions of this imaging system. It has been shown that the 2D resolution of this instrument can reach 60 nanometers. The quality of the projections and reconstruction has also been improved through the implementation of iterative reconstruction algorithms and various projections alignment methods. (2) The reduction of the scanning time by a factor 3 through the implementation of constrained reconstruction techniques such as the reconstruction method based on the total variation minimization. (3) The application of effective correction algorithms for removing reconstruction artefacts due to the polychromaticity of the X-ray beam. (4) The application of all these reconstruction methods and algorithms on real cases encountered by materials engineers.