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Objective Two series of experiments were conducted to determine how the incremental levels of sodium metabisulfite (SMB)-treated fruit and vegetable discards (FVD) in diet of Hanwoo heifers and cows affect their performance and health. Methods In Exp. 1, 36 Hanwoo heifers were stratified by age (13.3 ± 0.83 mo) and initial body weight (305 ± 19.7 kg), and divided randomly to one of three diets containing 0, 10, or 20% SMB-treated FVD (as-fed basis). The experiment lasted 110 d, including 20 d of adaptation. In Exp. 2, 24 multiparous Hanwoo cows were divided into three groups based on age (48.2 ± 2.81 mo) and initial body condition score (2.64 ± 0.33). Cows in each block were assigned randomly to one of three diets containing 0, 11, or 22% SMB-treated FVD (as-fed basis). The experiment lasted 80 d, including a 20-d adaptation period. In both experiments, SMB-treated FVD was used as a replacement for wet brewers grain in total mixed ration (TMR). Results Growing heifers exhibited no differences in their daily feed intake (6.58 ± 0.61 kg/d DM), average daily gain (0.60 ± 0.07 kg/d), and body condition score when they consumed the incremental levels of SMB-treated FVD. Although the majority of blood metabolites were unaffected by treatments, blood urea-N and s-hydroxybutyrate levels decreased linearly as the SMB-treated FVD level increased in TMR. Similar to Exp. 1, minor differences were found in daily feed intake (8.27 ± 0.72 kg DM/d) and body condition score of Hanwoo cows. The majority of blood metabolites remained unaffected by treatments, but blood urea-N decreased as the SMB-treated FVD level in TMR increased. Conclusion Our findings suggest that SMB-treated FVD could be safely incorporated into the diet of Hanwoo heifers and cows, potentially improving N-use efficiency in the body while not impairing performance or health.

Glycation is a spontaneous post-translational modification of lysine, arginine, and the N-terminus of proteins. Protein glycation is closely related to the pathogenesis of human diseases, including diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, renal disease, and cancer. The levels of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are positively correlated with the progression of many diseases. However, it remains challenging to analyze glycation-related products, such as reactive carbonyl species, Schiff bases, Amadori compounds, and AGEs, because of their high heterogeneity. Many analysis methods, such as fluorescence detection, immunoassays, and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, have attempted to correlate glycation products with diseases. Some enrichment methods have been used to increase the probability of detection of glycated proteins due to their low abundance in blood plasma. This review summarizes the enrichment and analysis methods that are currently used to identify glycation as a disease biomarker in exploratory studies.

Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass for the International Space Station (ISS-CREAM) was designed to study high-energy cosmic rays up to PeV and recorded data from August 22nd, 2017 to February 12th, 2019 on the ISS. In this analysis, the Silicon Charge Detector (SCD), CALorimeter (CAL), and Top and Bottom Counting Detectors (TCD/BCD) are used. The SCD is composed of four layers and provides the measurement of cosmic-ray charges with a resolution of $\sim$0.2e. The CAL comprises 20 interleaved tungsten plates and scintillators, measures the incident cosmic-ray particles' energies, and provides a high energy trigger. The TCD/BCDs consist of photodiode arrays and plastic scintillators and provide a low-energy trigger. In this analysis, the SCD top layer is used for charge determination. Here, we present the heavy nuclei analysis using the ISS-CREAM instrument.

One of the consequences of having a high-density calorimeter as part of an experiment is a large number of secondary shower particles generated in the calorimeter -- some of which scatter back up towards the charge measurement devices. This so-called "backscatter effect" can interfere severely with accurate charge measurement of the primary nucleus, especially at high energies, as the number of backscattered particles increases with the incident energy. In this analysis, we study the effect of backscattered particles on particle identification by simulating the ISS-CREAM instrument model detector response using the GEANT3 simulation package [1] with the FLUKA hadronic model [2]. Our study shows the importance of the fine segmentation of charge detectors above the calorimeter. It can minimize backscattered particle contamination in the same charge detector segment as the incident particle to avoid its charge misidentification. We present simulation results regarding charge measurements, including the tracking resolution, backscattering effects, and charge determination efficiency.

The Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass for the International Space Station (ISS-CREAM) experiment successfully recorded the data for about 539 days from August 2017 to February 2019. In this talk, we report the measurement of the cosmic-ray proton energy spectrum from the ISS-CREAM experiment in the energy range of 2.5 TeV - 650 TeV. For the analysis, we used the silicon charge detector (SCD) placed at the top of the ISS-CREAM payload to identify the incoming cosmic-ray charge. The SCD is finely segmented to minimize charge misidentification due to backscatter effects. The four-layer SCD consists of 10,752 silicon pixels, each of which is 1.37×1.57×0.05 cm^3 in size. The calorimeter (CAL) consists of 20 layers of tungsten/scintillating fibers preceded by carbon targets. It provided cosmic-ray tracking, energy determination, and the high-energy trigger. The Top and Bottom Counting detectors (T/BCD) are above and below the CAL, respectively, and provided the low energy trigger. Each T/BCD is composed of an array of 20×20 photodiodes on plastic scintillators. The measured proton spectral index of 2.67±0.02 between 2.5 and 12.5 TeV is consistent with prior CREAM measurements. The spectrum softens above∼10 TeV consistent with the bump-like structure as reported by CREAM-I+III, DAMPE, and NUCLEON, but ISS-CREAM extends measurements to higher energies than those prior measurement

We present a permanent magnet–based spherical wheel motor that can be used in omnidirectional mobility applications. The proposed motor consists of a ball‐shaped rotor with a magnetic dipole and a hemispherical shell with circumferential air‐core coils attached to the outer surface acting as a stator. Based on the rotational symmetry of the rotor poles and stator coils, we are able to model the rotor poles and stator coils as dipoles. A simple physical model constructed based on a torque model enables fast numerical simulations of motor dynamics. Based on these numerical simulations, we test various control schemes that enable constant‐speed rotation along arbitrary axes with small rotational attitude error. Torque analysis reveals that the back electromotive force induced in the coils can be used to construct a control scheme that achieves the desired results. Numerical simulations of trajectories confirm that even without explicit methods for correcting the rotational attitude error, it is possible to drive the motor with a low attitude error (

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of optic disc size on correlation between Bruch’s membrane opening-minimum rim width (BMO-MRW) and peripapillary retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) thickness from three scan circles. METHODS: In this retrospective, observational study, non-glaucomatous eyes without visible RNFL defect or visual field loss were included. A total of 101 subjects were distributed into three groups based on disc size: group 1 (n = 26), small disc (disc area 2.43 mm(2)). All patients underwent standard ophthalmic examinations including confocal scanning laser tomography and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography. RESULTS: Global BMO-MRW was the thickest in group 1 (314.96 ± 60.38 μm, BMO area: 1.72 ± 0.45 mm(2)), followed by that in group 2 (259.03 ± 40.04 μm, BMO area: 2.29 ± 0.31 mm(2)). It was the thinnest in group 3 (236.74 ± 31.21 μm, BMO area: 2.91 ± 0.31 mm(2); p 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Correlation between BMO-MRW values and RNFL thickness differed significantly according to disc size. Thus, when we assess BMO-MRW in relation to RNFL thickness, disc size may need to be taken into consideration.

We propose a substrate with high thermal conductivity, manufactured by the low‐temperature co‐fired ceramic (LTCC) multilayer circuit process technology, as a new DC/DC converter platform for power electronics applications. We compare the reliability and power conversion efficiency of a converter using the LTCC substrate with the one using a conventional printed circuit board (PCB) substrate, to demonstrate the superior characteristics of the LTCC substrates. The power conversion efficiencies of the LTCC‐ and PCB‐based synchronous buck converters are 95.5% and 94.5%, respectively, while those of nonsynchronous buck converters are 92.5% and 91.3%, respectively, at an output power of 100 W. To verify the reliability of the LTCC‐based converter, two types of tests were conducted. Storage temperature tests were conducted at −20 °C and 85 °C for 100 h each. The variation in efficiency after the tests was less than 0.3%. A working temperature test was conducted for 60 min, and the temperature of the converter was saturated at 58.2 °C without a decrease in efficiency. These results demonstrate the applicability of LTCC as a substrate for power conversion systems.

In this study, magnetic steel slag biochar (MSSB) was synthesized from low-cost steel slag waste to investigate the effectiveness of steel slag biochar composite for NH4-N removal and magnetic properties in aqueous solution. The maximum adsorption capacity of NH4-N by MSSB was 4.366 mg/g according to the Langmuir model. The magnetic properties of MSSB indicated paramagnetic behavior and a saturation magnetic moment of 2.30 emu/g at 2 Tesla. The NH4-N adsorption process was well characterized by the pseudo-second order kinetic model and Temkin isotherm model. This study demonstrated the potential of magnetic biochar synthesized from steel slag waste for NH4-N removal in aqueous solution.

BackgroundTear deficiency due to lacrimal gland (LG) dysfunction is one of the major causes of dry eye disease (DED). Therefore, LG stem cell-based therapies have been extensively reported to regenerate injured lacrimal tissue; however, the number of stem cells in the LG tissue is low, and 2D long-term cultivation reduces the differentiation capacity of stem cells. Nevertheless, 3D LG organoids could be an alternative for a DED therapy because it is capable of prolonged growth while maintaining the characteristics of the LG tissue. Here, we report the development of LG organoids and their application as cell therapeutics.MethodsDigested cells from human LG tissue were mixed with Matrigel and cultured in five different media modified from human prostate/salivary organoid culture media. After organoid formation, the growth, specific marker expression, and histological characteristics were analyzed to authenticate the formation of LG organoids. The secretory function of LG organoids was confirmed through calcium influx or proteomics analysis after pilocarpine treatment. To explore the curability of the developed organoids, mouse-derived LG organoids were fabricated and transplanted into the lacrimal tissue of a mouse model of DED.ResultsThe histological features and specific marker expression of LG organoids were similar to those of normal LG tissue. In the pilocarpine-treated LG organoid, levels of internal Ca2+ions and β-hexosaminidase, a lysosomal protein in tear fluid, were increased. In addition, the secreted proteins from pilocarpine-treated lacrimal organoids were identified through proteomics. More than 70% of the identified proteins were proven to exosome through gene ontology analysis. These results indicate that our developed organoid was pilocarpine reactive, demonstrating the function of LG. Additionally, we developed LG organoids from patients with Sjogren’s syndrome patients (SS) and confirmed that their histological features were similar to those of SS-derived LG tissue. Finally, we confirmed that the mouse LG organoids were well engrafted in the lacrimal tissue two weeks after transplantation.ConclusionThis study demonstrates that the established LG organoids resemble the characteristics of normal LG tissue and may be used as a therapy for patients with DED.

AIM: To confirm the changes in proteins related with hypoxia-induced retinal cell death and to assess the effects of resveratrol (Res). METHODS: The therapeutic effect of Res was verified using an ischemic/reperfusion (I/R) model in vivo and a hypoxia modelin retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in vitro. Death of RGCs were confirmed by TUNEL assay. Protein expression was confirmed by Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. In addition, flow cytometric analysis was used to confirm the response in the cell unit to obtain more accurate data. RESULTS: ErbB2 expression and apoptosis in the ganglion cell layer (GCL) increased after I/R injury. Treatment of Res rescued I/R-induced ganglion cell death, downregulated apoptosis and ErbB2 protein expression in the retina. In subsequent in vitro models, Res affects apoptosis by regulating the phosphorylation and expression of mouse double minute 2 homolog (MDM2), along with those of ErbB2. These results suggest that Res reverses GCL-specific apoptosis via downregulation of ErbB2 in ischemic injury. CONCLUSION: In light of Res favorable properties, it should be evaluated in the treatment of RGC death and related retinal disease characterized by ErbB2 and MDM2 expression. Therefore, Res is appropriate therapeutic agent for treating ischemic injury-related eye diseases by targeting the expression of ErbB2 and MDM2.

Additional file 1: Table S1. The components of culture medium for lacrimal gland organoid. Table S2. The primers used for quantitative RT-PCR.

Background Stem cell transplantation has been proposed as an alternative treatment for intractable optic nerve disorders characterized by irrecoverable loss of cells. Mesenchymal stem cells, with varying tissue regeneration and recovery capabilities, are being considered for potential cell therapies. To overcome the limitations of cell therapy, we isolated exosomes from human placenta-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hPMSCs) and investigated their therapeutic effects in R28 cells (retinal precursor cells) exposed to CoCl2. Method After 9 h of exposure to CoCl2, the hypoxic damaged R28 cells were divided into the non-treatment group (CoCl2 + R28 cells) and treatment group (CoCl2 + R28 cells treated with exosome). Immunoblot analysis was performed for Pcna, Hif-1α, Vegf, Vimentin, Thy-1, Gap43, Ermn, Neuroflament, Wnt3a, β-catenin, phospo-GSK3β, Lef-1, UBA2, Skp1, βTrcp, and ubiquitin. The proteomes of each group were analyzed by liquid chromatography/tandem mass (LC-MS/MS) spectrometry. Differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were detected by label-free quantification, and the interactions of the proteins were examined through signal transduction pathway and gene ontology analysis. Result We observed that exosome could significantly recover proliferation damaged by CoCl2 treatment. In addition, the treatment group presented the decreased expression of Hif-1α protein (P P p 2 in lacking UBA2 R28 cells. Conclusion This study reported that hypoxic damaged expression of regeneration markers in R28 cells was significantly recovered by hPMSC exosomes. We could also demonstrate that UBA2 played a key role in activating the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway during protection of hypoxic damaged R28 cells, induced by hPMSC exosomes.

Freshwater Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 has been considered to be a platform for the production of the next generation of biofuels and is used as a model organism in various fields. Various genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, and proteomics studies have been performed on this strain, whereas marine Synechocystis sp. PCC 7338 has not been widely studied despite its wide distribution. This study analyzed the proteome profiles of two Synechocystis strains using a liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry-based bottom-up proteomic approach. Proteomic profiling of Synechocystis sp. PCC 7338 was performed for the first time with a data-dependent acquisition method, revealing 18,779 unique peptides and 1794 protein groups. A data-independent acquisition method was carried out for the comparative quantitation of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 and 7338. Among 2049 quantified proteins, 185 up- and 211 down-regulated proteins were defined in Synechocystis sp. PCC 7338. Some characteristics in the proteome of Synechocystis sp. PCC 7338 were revealed, such as its adaptation to living conditions, including the down-regulation of some photosynthesis proteins, the up-regulation of kdpB, and the use of osmolyte glycine as a substrate in C1 metabolism for the regulation of carbon flow. This study will facilitate further studies on Synechocystis 7338 to define in depth the proteomic differences between it and other Synechocystis strains.

This study examined the feasibility of using non-sterilized swine wastewater for lipid production by an isolated microalga, Scenedesmus rubescens. Different dilution ratios using municipal wastewater as a diluent were tested to determine the suitable levels of microalgal growth in the wastewaters, its nutrient removal, and its lipid production. The highest lipid productivity (8.37 mg/L/d) and NH4+ removal (76.49%) were achieved in swine wastewater that had been diluted to 30 times using municipal wastewater. Various bacteria coexisted in the wastewaters during the cultivation of S. rubescens. These results suggest the practical feasibility of a system to produce lipids from swine wastewater by using microalgae.

Emiliania huxleyi is one of the most abundant marine planktons, and it has a crucial feature in the carbon cycle. However, proteomic analyses of Emiliania huxleyi have not been done extensively. In this study, a three-dimensional liquid chromatography (3D-LC) system consisting of strong cation exchange, high- and low-pH reversed-phase liquid chromatography was established for in-depth proteomic profiling of Emiliania huxleyi. From tryptic proteome digest, 70 fractions were generated and analyzed using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. In total, more than 84,000 unique peptides and 10,000 proteins groups were identified with a false discovery rate of ≤0.01. The physicochemical properties of the identified peptides were evaluated. Using ClueGO, approximately 700 gene ontology terms and 15 pathways were defined from the identified protein groups with p-value ≤0.05, covering a wide range of biological processes, cellular components, and molecular functions. Many biological processes associated with CO2 fixation, photosynthesis, biosynthesis, and metabolic process were identified. Various molecular functions relating to protein binding and enzyme activities were also found. The 3D-LC strategy is a powerful approach for comparative proteomic studies on Emiliania huxleyi to reveal changes in its protein level and related mechanism.

IntroductionCardiovascular disease (CVD) in patients with diabetes is the leading cause of death. Finding early biomarkers for detecting asymptomatic patients with CVD can improve survival. Recently, plasma proteomics—targeted selected reaction monitoring/multiple reaction monitoring analyses (MRM)—has emerged as highly specific and sensitive tools compared with classic ELISA methods. The objective was to identify differentially regulated proteins according to the severity of the coronary artery atherosclerosis.Research design and methodsA discovery cohort, a verification cohort and a validation cohort consisted of 18, 53, and 228 subjects, respectively. The grade of coronary artery stenosis was defined as a percentage of luminal stenosis of the major coronary arteries. Participants were divided into six groups, depending on the presence of diabetes and the grade of coronary artery stenosis. Two mass spectrometric approaches were employed: (1) conventional shotgun liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry for a discovery and (2) quantitative MRM for verification and validation. An analysis of the covariance was used to examine the biomarkers’ predictivity beyond conventional cardiovascular risks.ResultsA total of 1349 different proteins were identified from a discovery cohort. We selected 52 proteins based on the tandem mass tag quantitative analysis then summarized as follows: chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 7 (CXCL7), apolipoprotein C-II (APOC2), human lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP) and dedicator of cytokinesis 2 (DOCK2) in diabetes; CXCL7, APOC2, LBP, complement 4A (C4A), vitamin D-binding protein (VTDB) and laminin β1 subunit in non-diabetes. Analysis of covariance showed that APOC2, DOCK2, CXCL7 and VTDB were upregulated and C4A was downregulated in patients with diabetes showing severe coronary artery stenosis. LBP and VTDB were downregulated in patients without diabetes, showing severe coronary artery stenosis.ConclusionWe identified significant associations between circulating APOC2, C4A, CXCL7, DOCK2, LBP and VTDB levels and the degree of coronary artery stenosis using the MRM technique.

Proteomics is a large-scale study of proteins, aiming at the description and characterization of all expressed proteins in biological systems. The expressed proteins are typically highly complex and large in abundance range. To fulfill high accuracy and sensitivity of proteome analysis, the hybrid platforms of multidimensional (MD) separations and mass spectrometry have provided the most powerful solution. Multidimensional separations provide enhanced peak capacity and reduce sample complexity, which enables mass spectrometry to analyze more proteins with high sensitivity. Although two-dimensional (2D) separations have been widely used since the early period of proteomics, three-dimensional (3D) separation was barely used by low reproducibility of separation, increased analysis time in mass spectrometry. With developments of novel microscale techniques such as nano-UPLC and improvements of mass spectrometry, the 3D separation becomes a reliable and practical selection. This review summarizes existing offline and online 3D-LC platforms developed for proteomics and their applications. In detail, setups and implementation of those systems as well as their advances are outlined. The performance of those platforms is also discussed and compared with the state-of-the-art 2D-LC. In addition, we provide some perspectives on the future developments and applications of 3D-LC in proteomics.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been investigated to treat liver diseases, but the efficiency of MSCs to treat chronic liver diseases is conflicting. FGF21 can reduce inflammation and fibrosis. We established FGF21‐secreting adipose derived stem cells (FGF21_ADSCs) to enhance the effects of ADSCs and transplanted them into thioacetamide (TAA)‐induced liver fibrosis mice via the tail vein. Transplantation of FGF21_ADSCs significantly improved liver fibrosis by decreasing serum hyaluronic acid and reducing the expression of fibrosis‐related factors such as α‐smooth muscle actin (α‐SMA), collagen and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase‐1 (TIMP‐1) compared with the Empty_ADSCs by inhibition of p‐JNK, NF‐κB and p‐Smad2/3 signalling. α‐lactoalbumin (LA) and lactotransferrin (LTF), secretory factors produced from FGF21_ADSCs inhibited TGF‐β1‐induced expression of α‐SMA and collagen in LX‐2 cells. These results suggest that transplantation of FGF21_ADSCs inhibited liver fibrosis more effectively than Empty_ADSCs, possibly via secretion of α‐LA and LTF.

We propose a multilayered-substrate-based power semiconductor discrete device package for a low switching loss and high heat dissipation. To verify the proposed package, cost-effective, low-temperature co-fired ceramic, multilayered substrates are used. A bare die is attached to an embedded cavity of the multilayered substrate. Because the height of the pad on the top plane of the die and the signal line on the substrate are the same, the length of the bond wires can be shortened. A large number of thermal vias with a high thermal conductivity are embedded in the multilayered substrate to increase the heat dissipation rate of the package. The packaged silicon carbide Schottky barrier diode satisfies the reliability testing of a high-temperature storage life and temperature humidity bias. At 175 degrees C, the forward current is 7 A at a forward voltage of 1.13V, and the reverse leakage current is below 100A up to a reverse voltage of 980V. The measured maximum reverse current (I-RM), reverse recovery time (T-rr), and reverse recovery charge (Q(rr)) are 2.4 A, 16.6ns, and 19.92 nC, respectively, at a reverse voltage of 300V and di/dt equal to 300 A/s.

In this paper, we describe measurements of the response functions of a fiber-based dual-readout calorimeter for pions, protons and multiparticle “jets” with energies in the range from 20 to 180 GeV. The calorimeter uses lead as absorber material and has a total mass of 1350 kg. It is complemented by leakage counters made of scintillating plastic, with a total mass of 500 kg. The effects of these leakage counters on the calorimeter performance are studied as well. In a separate section, we investigate and compare different methods to measure the energy resolution of a calorimeter. Using only the signals provided by the calorimeter, we demonstrate that our dual-readout calorimeter, calibrated with electrons, is able to reconstruct the energy of proton and pion beam particles to within a few percent at all energies. The fractional widths of the signal distributions for these particles ( σ∕E ) scale with the beam energy as 30%∕E , without any additional contributing terms. In this paper, we describe measurements of the response functions of a fiber-based dual- readout calorimeter for pions, protons and multiparticle "jets" with energies in the range from 10 to 180 GeV. The calorimeter uses lead as absorber material and has a total mass of 1350 kg. It is complemented by leakage counters made of scintillating plastic, with a total mass of 500 kg. The effects of these leakage counters on the calorimeter performance are studied as well. In a separate section, we investigate and compare different methods to measure the energy resolution of a calorimeter. Using only the signals provided by the calorimeter, we demonstrate that our dual-readout calorimeter, calibrated with electrons, is able to reconstruct the energy of proton and pion beam particles to within a few percent at all energies. The fractional widths of the signal distributions for these particles (sigma/E) scale with the beam energy as 30%/sqrt(E), without any additional contributing terms.

International audience; Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass for the International Space Station (ISS-CREAM) experi-ment is designed to study the composition and energy spectra of cosmic-ray particles from 10^12 to 10^15 eV. ISS-CREAM was launched and deployed to the ISS in August 2017. The ISS-CREAM payload employs a Silicon Charge Detector for charge measurements, Top and Bot-tom Counting Detector for electron-hadron separation and a low-energy trigger, a Boronated Scintillator Detector for additional electron-hadron separation, and a Calorimeter (CAL) for en-ergy measurements and a high-energy trigger. The CAL is constructed of 20 layers of tungsten plates interleaved with scintillating fiber ribbons read out by hybrid-photodiodes (HPDs) and densified carbon targets. Each CAL layer is made of 3.5 mm (1 X_0) thick tungsten plates alter-nating with fifty 0.5 mm thick and 1 cm wide scintillating fiber ribbons. Consecutive layers of fiber ribbons are installed orthogonal to each other. Energy deposition in the CAL determines the particle energy and provides tracking information to determine which segment(s) of the charge detectors to use for the charge measurement. Tracking for showers is accomplished by extrapolating each shower axis back to the charge detectors. The performance of the ISS-CREAM CAL during flight is presented.

International audience; Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass for the International Space Station (ISS-CREAM) is an experiment for studying the origin, acceleration, and propagation mechanisms of high-energy cosmic rays. The ISS-CREAM instrument was launched on the 14th of August 2017 to the ISS aboard the SpaceX-12 Dragon spacecraft. The Top and Bottom Counting Detectors (TCD/BCD) are parts of the ISS-CREAM instrument and designed for studying electron and gamma-ray physics. The TCD/BCD each consist of an array of 20 × 20 photodiodes on a plastic scintillator. The TCD/BCD can separate electrons from protons by using the difference between the shapes of electromagnetic and hadronic showers in the high energy region. The Boosted Decision Tree (BDT) method, which is a deep learning method, is used in this separation study. We will present results of the electron/proton separation study and rejection power in various energy ranges.

International audience; The Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass experiment for the International Space Station (ISS-CREAM) is designed and built to measure the elemental energy spectra of cosmic-ray particles (1 ≤ Z ≤ 26) and electrons. It measures the energy of incident cosmic rays from 10^12 to 10^15 eV. ISS-CREAM was launched and deployed to the ISS in August 2017. The Science Operations Center (SOC) at the University of Maryland has been operating the payload on the Interna-tional Space Station (ISS) in coordination with the Payload Operations Integration Center (POIC) at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. The SOC has been responsible for sending commands to and receiving data from the Science Flight Computer (SFC) on board ISS-CREAM. The ISS-CREAM data taking program interfaces with the POIC using the Telescience Resources Kit through the Software Toolkit for Ethernet Lab-Like Architecture developed by the Boeing Company. The command uplink and data downlink have been through the Track-ing and Data Relay Satellite System. We present the ISS-CREAM flight operations including ISS communications, SFC performance, etc.

International audience; Cosmic Ray Energetics and Mass for the International Space Station (ISS-CREAM) is designed to directly measure the energy spectra of high-energy cosmic rays, encompassing proton to iron nuclei, over the energy range from 1012 to 1015 eV [1]. The capability to measure an extended energy range enables us to probe the origin and acceleration mechanisms of cosmic rays. The ISS-CREAM instrument is configured with the balloon-borne CREAM calorimeter (CAL) for energy measurements and four layers of a finely segmented Silicon Charge Detector (SCD) for charge measurements. In addition, two new compact detectors have been developed for electron/proton separation: Top and Bottom scintillator-based counting detectors (TCD/BCD) and a boronated scintillator detector (BSD). Simulations use the GEANT3 package [2] with the FLUKA hadronic model [3]. An isotropic event generator was developed for the ISS-CREAM geometry with particles incident from the upper hemisphere. We will present simulation results regarding ISS-CREAM performance, including trigger rates, energy resolution, energy response, tracking resolution, charge efficiency, etc.

Genetic information of reproduction and growth is essential for sustainable molluscan fisheries and aquaculture management. However, there is limited knowledge regarding the reproductive activity of the commercially important Pacific abalone Haliotis discus hannai. We performed de novo transcriptome sequencing of the ganglia in sexually immature and mature female Pacific abalone to better understand the sexual maturation process and the underlying molecular mechanisms. Of the ~305 million high-quality clean reads, 76,684 transcripts were de novo-assembled with an average length of 741 bp, 28.54% of which were annotated and classified according to Gene Ontology terms. There were 256 differentially expressed genes between the immature and mature abalone. Tandem mass spectrometry analysis, as compared to the predicted-peptide database of abalone ganglia transcriptome unigenes, identified 42 neuropeptide precursors, including 29 validated by peptidomic analyses. Label-free quantification revealed differential occurrences of 18 neuropeptide families between immature and mature abalone, including achatin, FMRFamide, crustacean cardioactive peptide, and pedal peptide A and B that were significantly more frequent at the mature stage. These results represent the first significant contribution to both maturation-related transcriptomic and peptidomic resources of the Pacific abalone ganglia and provide insight into the roles of various neuropeptides in reproductive regulation in marine gastropods.

International audience; The Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass (CREAM) instrument on the International Space Station (ISS) is an experiment to study origin, propagation, acceleration and elemental composition of cosmic rays. The Top Counting Detector (TCD) and Bottom Counting Detector (BCD) are parts of the detector suite of the ISS-CREAM experiment and are designed to separate electrons and protons for studying electron and gamma-ray physics. In addition, the TCD/BCD provide a redundant trigger to that of the calorimeter and a low energy trigger to the ISS-CREAM instrument. After launching, the TCD/BCD trigger was found to be working well. Also, the TCD/BCD have been stable and their hit positions were confirmed to be well matched with other detectors on board. We present the performance and status of the TCD/BCD in flight.

International audience; The Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass experiment for the International Space Station (ISS-CREAM) is a space-borne mission designed for the precision measurement of the energy and elemental composition of cosmic rays. The Silicon Charge Detector (SCD), placed at the top of the ISS-CREAM payload, consists of 4 layers. Each layer has 2688 silicon pixels and associated electronics arranged in such a fashion that its active detection area of 78.2 × 73.6 cm 2 is free of dead area. The foremost goal of the SCD is to efficiently and precisely measure the charge of cosmic rays passing through it. The 4-layer configuration was chosen to achieve the best precision in measuring the charge of cosmic rays within the constraints on the mass, volume and power allotted to it. The amount of material used for its support structure was minimized as well to reduce the chance of interactions of the cosmic ray within the structure. Given the placement of the SCD, its 4-layer configuration and the minimal amount of material in the cosmic-ray trajectory, the SCD is designed to measure the charge of cosmic rays ranging from protons to iron nuclei with excellent detection efficiency and charge resolution. We present the design and fabrication of the SCD as well as its performance during space environment tests which it underwent successfully. We also present its performance in charge measurement using heavy ions in a beam test at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.

The Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass for the International Space Station (ISS-CREAM) instrument is a next-generation experiment for the direct detection and study of cosmic-ray nuclei and electrons. With a long exposure in low Earth orbit, the experiment will determine the particle fluxes and spectral details of cosmic-ray nuclei from hydrogen to iron, over an energy range of about 1 0 12 eV to > 1 0 15 eV, and of cosmic-ray electrons over an energy range of about 5 × 1 0 10 eV to > 1 0 13 eV. The instrument was deployed to the ISS in August 2017 on the SpaceX CRS-12 mission. We review the design, implementation and performance of one of the ISS-CREAM detector systems: a boron loaded scintillation detector used in discriminating electron-induced events from the much more abundant cosmic-ray nuclei.

Proteomics, the large-scale study of all proteins of an organism or system, is a powerful tool for studying biological systems. It can provide a holistic view of the physiological and biochemical states of given samples through identification and quantification of large numbers of peptides and proteins. In forensic science, proteomics can be used as a confirmatory and orthogonal technique for well-built genomic analyses. Proteomics is highly valuable in cases where nucleic acids are absent or degraded, such as hair and bone samples. It can be used to identify body fluids, ethnic group, gender, individual, and estimate post-mortem interval using bone, muscle, and decomposition fluid samples. Compared to genomic analysis, proteomics can provide a better global picture of a sample. It has been used in forensic science for a wide range of sample types and applications. In this review, we briefly introduce proteomic methods, including sample preparation techniques, data acquisition using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, and data analysis using database search, spectral library search, and de novo sequencing. We also summarize recent applications in the past decade of proteomics in forensic science with a special focus on human samples, including hair, bone, body fluids, fingernail, muscle, brain, and fingermark, and address the challenges, considerations, and future developments of forensic proteomics.