A resonance Raman microspectroscopic study is presented of eosinophil peroxidase (EPO) in human eosinophilic granulocytes. Experiments were carried out at the single cell level with laser excitation in Soret-, Qv-, and charge transfer absorption bands of the active site heme of the enzyme. The Raman signal obtained from the cells was almost exclusively due to EPO. Methods were developed to determine depolarization ratios and excitation profiles of Raman bands of EPO in situ. A number of Raman band assignments based on earlier experiments with isolated EPO have been revised. The results show that in agreement with literature on isolated eosinophil peroxidase, the prosthetic group of the enzyme in the (unactivated) cells is a high spin, 6-coordinated, ferric protoporphyrin IX. The core size of the heme is about 2.04 A. The proximal and distal axial ligands are most likely a histidine with the strong imidazolate character typical for peroxidases, and a weakly bound water molecule, respectively. The data furthermore indicate that the central iron is displaced from the plane of the heme ring. The unusual low wavenumber Raman spectrum of EPO, strongly resembling that of lactoperoxidase, intestinal peroxidase and myeloperoxidase, suggests that these mammalian peroxidases are closely related, and characterized by, as yet unspecified, interactions between the peripheral substituents and the protein, different from those found in other protoheme proteins.

No abstract

No abstract

X-ray telescopes with very large collecting area, like the proposed International X-ray Observatory (IXO, with around 3 m 2 at 1 keV), need to be composed of a large number high quality mirror segments, aiming at achieving an angular resolution better than 5 arcsec HEW (Half-Energy-Width). A possible technology to manufacture the modular elements that will compose the entire optical module, named X-ray Optical Units (XOUs), consists of stacking in Wolter-I configuration several layers of thin foils of borosilicate glass, previously formed by hot slumping. The XOUs are subsequently assembled to form complete multi-shell optics with Wolter-I geometry. The achievable global angular resolution of the optic relies on the required surface shape accuracy of slumped foils, on the smoothness of the mirror surfaces and on the correct integration and co-alignment of the mirror segments. The Brera Astronomical Observatory (INAF-OAB) is leading a study, supported by ESA, concerning the implementation of the IXO telescopes based on thin slumped glass foils. In addition to the opto-mechanical design, the study foresees the development of a direct hot slumping thin glass foils production technology. Moreover, an innovative assembly concept making use of Wolter-I counter-form moulds and glass reinforcing ribs is under development. The ribs connect pairs of consecutive foils in an XOU stack, playing a structural and a functional role. In fact, as the ribs constrain the foil profile to the correct shape during the bonding, they damp the low-frequency profile errors still present on the foil after slumping. A dedicated semirobotic Integration MAchine (IMA) has been realized to this scope and used to build a few integrated prototypes made of several layers of slumped plates. In this paper we provide an overview of the project, we report the results achieved so far, including full illumination intra-focus X-ray tests of the last integrated prototype that are compliant with a HEW of around 17''.

No abstract

The New Hard X-ray Mission (NHXM) is a space X-ray telescope project focused on the 0.2 to 80 keV energy band, coupled to good imaging, spectroscopic and polarimetry detectors. The mission is currently undergoing the Phase B study and it has been proposed to ESA as a small-size mission to be further studied in the context of the M3 call; even if the mission was not downselected for this call, its study is being continued by ASI. The required performance is reached with a focal length of 10 m and with four mirror modules, each of them composed of 70 NiCo electroformed mirror shells. The reflecting coating is a broadband graded multilayer film, and the focal plane is mounted onto an extensible bench. Three of the four modules are equipped with a camera made of two detectors positioned in series, a Silicon low energy detector covering the range 0.2 to 15 keV and a high energy detector based on CdTe sensitive from 10 keV up to 120 keV. The fourth module is dedicated to the polarimetry to be performed with enhanced imaging capabilities. In this paper the latest development in the design and manufacturing of the optics is presented. The design has been optimized in order to increase as much as possible the effective area in the high-energy band. The manufacturing of the mirror shells benefits from the latest development in the mandrel production (figuring and polishing), in the multilayer deposition and in the integration improvements.

The optics of a number of future X-ray telescopes will have very long focal lengths (10 -20 m), and will consist of a number of nested/stacked thin, grazing-incidence mirrors. The optical quality characterization of a real mirror can be obtained via profile metrology, and the Point Spread Function of the mirror can be derived via one of the standard computation methods. However, in practical cases it can be difficult to access the optical surfaces of densely stacked mirror shells, after they have been assembled, using the widespread metrological tools. For this reason, the assessment of the imaging resolution of a system of mirrors is better obtained via a direct, full-illumination test in X-rays. If the focus cannot be reached, an intra-focus test can be performed, and the image can be compared with the simulation results based on the metrology, if available. However, until today no quantitative information was extracted from a full-illumination, intra-focal exposure. In this work we show that, if the detector is located at an optimal distance from the mirror, the intensity variations of the intra-focal, full-illumination image in single reflection can be used to reconstruct the profile of the mirror surface, without the need of a wavefront sensor. The Point Spread Function can be subsequently computed from the reconstructed mirror shape. We show the application of this method to an intra-focal (8 m distance from mirror) test performed at PANTER on an optical module prototype made of hot-slumped glass foils with a 20 m focal length, from which we could derive an expected imaging quality near 16 arcsec HEW.

The ATHENA X-ray observatory is a large-class ESA approved mission, with launch scheduled in 2028. The technology of silicon pore optics (SPO) was selected as baseline to assemble ATHENA's optic with hundreds of mirror modules, obtained by stacking wedged and ribbed silicon wafer plates onto silicon mandrels to form the Wolter-I configuration. In the current configuration, the optical assembly has a 3 m diameter and a 2 m 2 effective area at 1 keV, with a required angular resolution of 5 arcsec. The angular resolution that can be achieved is chiefly the combination of i) the focal spot size determined by the pore diffraction, ii) the focus degradation caused by surface and profile errors, iii) the aberrations introduced by the misalignments between primary and secondary segments, iv) imperfections in the co-focality of the mirror modules in the optical assembly. A detailed simulation of these aspects is required in order to assess the fabrication and alignment tolerances; moreover, the achievable effective area and the angular resolution depend on the mirror module design. Therefore, guaranteeing these optical performances requires: a fast design tool to find the most performing solution in terms of mirror module geometry and population, and an accurate point spread function simulation from local metrology and positioning information. In this paper, we present the results of simulations in the framework of ESA-financed projects (SIMPOSiuM, ASPHEA, SPIRIT) to prepare the ATHENA X-ray telescope: we deal with a detailed description of diffractive effects in an SPO mirror module, show ray-tracing results including mirror module misalignments, study in detail diffractive effects in different configurations, and assess the focal spot correspondence in X-rays and in the UV light, an important aspect to perform the mirror module alignment and integration. We also include a proton tracing simulation through a magnetic diverter in Halbach array configuration.