Search

An analytical method for direct determination of amino acids (methionine, proline, glycine, histidine, arginine, and lysine) in biologics by hydrophilic interaction HPLC with UV detection was developed. Sample preparation was carried out by solid-phase extraction. HPLC separation used an SeQuant ZIC-HILIC column (250 × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) in isocratic mode and a mobile phase consisting of MeCN and ammonium formate (20 mM) at pH 3.3 (65:35, v/v) and flow rate 0.8 mL/min. UV detection was made at 198 nm. The procedure was validated for specificity, precision, linearity, and accuracy. The developed chromatographic method can be used as an alternative for quantitative determination of amino acids in biologics. The advantages of this method are simplification of the sample-preparation stage by eliminating the derivatization stage and the ability for simultaneous selective quantitative determination of several amino acids.

Authenticity evaluation of proteins obtained with recombinant DNA technology is an important step in confirming efficacy and safety of the drugs based on them. One of the main ways to assess the authenticity is to compare molecular structure of the test and standard samples using the peptide mapping method with chromatographic separation of the products obtained by enzymatic degradation. Proper selection of a standard reference sample is essential in order to achieve reliable results. A standard sample of Interferon (CRS, Chemical Reference Substances) recommended by the European Agency for the Quality of Medicines for interferon alpha-2b substances containing N-terminal methionine is inappropriate, since the Interferon CRS sample doesn’t contain methionine. We present the results of development of qualification procedure for methionine form of Interferon alfa-2b industrial standard sample (ISS). The range of use for this ISS is authenticity confirmation for the methionine form of interferon alpha-2b substance using peptide mapping method with reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (reverse-phase HPLC). The quality assessment was performed for all the parameters specified by the manufacturer of this candidate substance at the initial stage of qualification procedure, due to changed application area, and changed package size. Further, 30 peptide cards of the ISS candidate substance were obtained after pre-trypsinolysis of the protein followed by validated HPLC method with proven repeatability. It was shown that the hydrolysis conditions, i.e., the choice of trypsin preparations, may significantly affect the peptide map profile. Therefore, a reference to specific manufacturer and the catalog number of the product should be provided in description of application conditions for the ISS proposed. A set of eight reference peaks (peaks of comparison) has been justified, as based on evaluation of peptide maps and results of high-resolution mass spectrometry. The peak with maximally stable yield and intensity was selected as the main peak with an established absolute retention time. Two peaks with relative retention times were chosen as essential peaks for evaluation, i.e., the 1st peak containing N-terminal methionine, and the 2nd peak of highest molecular weight with an established amino acid sequence covering 11% of the studied interferon molecule. We have also qualified ISS parameters expressed as absolute (minimum for one reference peak), and relative (for the remaining reference peaks) retention time periods. Authenticity of the ISS candidate was further confirmed by the peptide mapping method, as compared with interferon CRS reference standard. Their peak patterns proved to be near-similar, except of a peak with eluted peptide containing N-terminal methionine as revealed by high-resolution mass spectrometry

The Pamela apparatus will allow precise measurements of cosmic rays in Low Earth Orbit, mainly focusing on the antiparticles component. The apparatus is now ready for flight, and the launch is foreseen during June 2006. The paper briefly reports the status of the experiment, and the performances of the various components as measured before the launch.

The experiment Sileye-3/Alteino is constituted by a cosmic-ray silicon detector and an electroencephalograph. The main scientific aims include the investigation of the Light Flash phenomenon, the study of astronaut brain activity in space when subject to cosmic rays, the measurement of cosmic rays and the radiation environment inside the International Space Station. The experiment was operating on board the station from 27 April to 5 May 2002. The cosmic-ray detector is composed of eight silicon strip planes triggered by two scintillators placed on top and bottom of the stack. The detector is capable of identifying nuclei from B to As in the energy range above ≃60 MeV/n. Also protons and lighter particles are registered although with a reduced efficiency. The instrument was active in the Pirs module of the station for 130 h. In this work, we describe the silicon strip detector characteristics and its calibration performed using cosmic-ray nuclei.

PAMELA is a satellite-borne experiment which will measure the antiparticle component of cosmic rays over an extended energy range and with unprecedented accuracy. The apparatus consists of a perman ...

The ALTEA project, an international and multi-disciplinary collaboration scheduled to fly in the International Space Station (ISS) after July 2006, is aimed at studying particle radiation in space environment and its effects on astronauts, in particular the anomalous perception of ‘light flashes’. In this paper, we present experimental results obtained by testing the Flight Model of the ALTEA particle detector in two measurement sessions performed at the heavy ion accelerator of GSI laboratory in Darmstadt, Germany. Instrument response was compared with Monte-carlo simulations to study its linearity and calculate amplification.

The ALTEA program is an international and multi-disciplinary collaboration aimed at studying particle radiation in space environment and its effects on astronauts, in particular the anomalous perception of Light Flashes. This paper describes ALTEA space facility scheduled to fly in the International Space Station (ISS) after July 2006, what kind of data are produced and how data are transmitted to Earth, processed and analyzed. 2006 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of COSPAR.

The ALTEA project investigates the risks of functional brain damage induced by particle radiation in space. A modular facility (the ALTEA facility) is being implemented and will be operated in the International Space Station (ISS) to record electrophysiological and behavioral descriptors of brain function and to monitor their time dynamics and correlation with particles and space environment. The focus of the program will be on abnormal visual perceptions (often reported as "light flashes" by astronauts) and the impact on retinal and brain visual structures of particle in microgravity conditions. The facility will be made available to the international scientific community for human neurophysiological, electrophysiological and psychophysics experiments, studies on particle fluxes, and dosimetry. A precursor of ALTEA (the 'Alteino' project) helps set the experimental baseline for the ALTEA experiments, while providing novel information on the radiation environment onboard the ISS and on the brain electrophysiology of the astronauts during orbital flights. Alteino was flown to the ISS on the Soyuz TM34 as part of mission Marco Polo. Controlled ground experiments using mice and accelerator beams complete the experimental strategy of ALTEA. We present here the status of progress of the ALTEA project and preliminary results of the Alteino study on brain dynamics, particle fluxes and abnormal visual perceptions. c2004 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The experiment Sileye-3/Alteino was placed on board the International Space Station on 27 April 2002. The instrument is constituted by a cosmic ray silicon detector and an electroencephalograph. The main scientific aims include the investigation of the Light Flash phenomenon, the study of astronaut brain activity in space when subject to cosmic rays, the measurement of the radiation environment and the nuclear abundances inside the ISS. The instrument cosmic ray detector was active for 130 hours. In addition 6 astronaut Light Flash observation sessions were held, resulting in the observation of this phenomenon on the ISS.

In this paper we report on the energy spectrum of protons of albedo origin measured by the instruments NINA and NINA-2 at different geomagnetic locations, and the behaviour of the proton flux as a function of altitude out of the South Atlantic Anomaly. The instrument NINA was used on board the satellite Resurs-01-N4 between 1998 and 1999, at an altitude of about 830 km. The NINA-2 apparatus, on board the satellite MITA, was put into orbit in July 2000, at an altitude of about 450 km. A detailed understanding of the fluxes of charged particles in near Earth orbit is important to reach an accurate theoretical description of the Earth’s magnetic field, but also as input for the calculation of the back-ground for scientific instruments aboard satellites, like the future AGILE and GLAST g astronomy telescopes.Key words. Magnetospheric physics (energetic particles, trapped; instruments and techniques)

The NINA apparatus, on board the Russian satellite Resurs-01 n.4, has been in polar orbit since 1998 July 10, at an altitude of 840 km. Its main scientific task is to study the galactic, solar and anomalous components of cosmic rays in the energy interval 10--200 MeV/n. In this paper we present a description of the instrument and its basic operating modes. Measurements of Galactic Cosmic Ray spectra will also be shown.

An algorithm for reconstructing the characteristics (charge, mass, and energy) of cosmic-radiation nuclei with 20- to 200-MeV/nucleon energies is described. The detector is a telescope of three two-coordinate planes with two 1-mm-thick iron filters inserted between them. Each plane is composed of two strip silicon detectors with 3.6-mm-wide orthogonally oriented strips, an effective area of 6 × 6 cm2, and a thickness of 380 μm. The algorithm for reconstructing the nuclei characteristics is based on the analysis of how the specific ionization losses change as the nuclei pass through the filter material. The results of the Monte Carlo simulation are presented for the energy dependence of the telescope acceptance and the energy deposited in the detectors by different nuclei in view of the detector calibration on the nuclear beams of the accelerator. The mass resolution of the telescope is ∼30, 12, and 5% for He, N, and Al nuclei, respectively. The energy resolution, which is ∼20%, is much the same for all nuclei.

The Altcriss project was submitted in response to ESA AO-2004. It was approved in March 2005 and begun in December 2005 with Progress 21-P launch from Baikonur. It is currently operating on board the International Space Station, performing a survey of the radiation environment and the effectiveness of shielding materials from cosmic rays. It uses the active silicon detector Sileye-3 and a series of passive dosimeters (CR-39, TLD). The detectors have currently been operational in different location of the Pirs (docking) and Service module of the Russian section of the Station. The project is expected to continue up to 2008.

The experiment Sileye-3/Alteino was first operational on board the International Space Station between 27/4 and 1/5/2002. It is constituted of a cosmic ray silicon detector and an electroencephalograph and is used to monitor radiation environment and study the light flash phenomenon in space. As a stand-alone device, Sileye-3/Alteino can monitor in real time cosmic ray nuclei. In this work, we report on relative nuclear abundance measurements in different regions of the orbit for nuclei from B to Fe in the energy range above ≃60 MeV/n. Abundances of nuclei such as O and Ne relative to C are found to be increased in respect to particle composition outside of the station, whereas the Fe group is reduced. This effect could be ascribed to nuclear interactions with the hull of the station.

PAMELA is a satellite-borne experiment that will study the antiproton and positron fluxes in cosmic rays in a wide range of energy (from 80 MeV up to 190 GeV for antiprotons and from 50 MeV up to 270 GeV for positrons) and with high statistics, and that will measure the antihelium/helium ratio with a sensitivity of the order of 10/sup -8/. The detector will fly on-board a polar orbiting Resurs DK1 satellite, which will be launched into space by a Soyuz rocket in 2004 from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, for a 3-year-long mission. Particle identification and energy measurements are performed in the PAMELA apparatus using the following subdetectors: a magnetic spectrometer made up of a permanent magnet equipped with double-sided microstrip silicon detectors, an electromagnetic imaging calorimeter composed of layers of tungsten absorber and silicon detectors planes, a transition radiation detector made of straw tubes interleaved with carbon fiber radiators, a plastic scintillator time-of-flight and trigger system, a set of anticounter plastic scintillator detectors, and a neutron detector. The features of the detectors and the main results obtained in beam test sessions are presented.

We present in this paper a status report of the space experiment PAMELA. PAMELA is a satellite-borne experiment which primarily aims to measure the antiproton and positron spectra in the cosmic rad ...

In this work we present preliminary results of nuclear composition measurements on board space station MIR obtained with SILEYE-2 particle telescope. SILEYE-2 was placed on MIR in 1997 and has been working since then. It consists of an array of 6 active silicon strip detectors which allow nuclear and energetic identification of cosmic rays in the energy range between approximately 30 and 200 MeV/n. The device is attached to an helmet and connected to an eye mask which shields the cosmonaut eyes from light and allow studies of the Light Flashes (LF) phenomenon. In addition to the study of the causes of LF, the device is used to perform real time long term radiation environment monitoring inside the MIR, performing measurements in solar quiet and active days.

[1] In this paper we report on the energy spectra and abundance ratios of hydrogen and helium isotopes of albedo origin, measured by the instruments NINA and NINA-2 in near-equatorial regions. The instrument NINA flew on board the satellite Resurs-01-N4 between 1998 and 1999, at a 830 km average altitude. The NINA-2 apparatus, on board the satellite MITA, was put into orbit in July 2000 at an altitude of about 450 km. NINA and NINA-2 measurements revealed that 2H, 3H, 3He, and 4He are a significant portion of the secondary flux above the atmosphere. The energy spectra of hydrogen isotopes are practically flat across the energy range of 10–40 MeV/n, while the spectra of helium isotopes can be fitted by a power law of spectral indexes γ = 0.8 and γ = 1.5 for 3He and 4He, respectively.

The ALTEA project participates to the quest for increasing the safety of manned space flights. It addresses the problems related to possible functional damage to neural cells and circuits due to particle radiation in space environment. Specifically it aims at studying the functionality of the astronauts' Central Nervous Systems (CNS) during long space flights and relating it to the peculiar environments in space, with a particular focus on the particle flux impinging in the head. The project is a large international and multidisciplinary collaboration. Competences in particle physics, neurophysiology, psychophysiology, electronics, space environment, data analyses will work together to construct the fully integrated vision electrophysiology and particle analyser system which is the core device of the project: an helmet-shaped multi-sensor device that will measure concurrently the dynamics of the functional status of the visual system and passage of each particle through the brain within a pre-determined energy window. ALTEA is scheduled to fly in the International Space Station in late 2002. One part of the multi-sensor device, one of the advanced silicon telescopes, will be launched in the ISS in early 2002 and serve as test for the final device and as discriminating dosimeter for the particle fluences within the ISS.

The PAMELA equipment will be assembled in 2001 and installed on board the Russian satellite Resurs. PAMELA is conceived mainly to study the antiproton and positron fluxes in cosmic rays up to high ...

We provide in this paper a status report of the space experiment PAMELA. PAMELA aims primarily to measure the flux of antiparticles, namely antiprotons and positrons, in cosmic rays with unpreceden ...

Cosmic ray measurements performed with the instrument SilEye-2 on the Mir space station are presented. SilEye-2 is a silicon detector telescope used to study the causes of the light flashes perceived by astronauts. As a stand-alone device, it monitors the short- and long-term radiation composition inside Mir. The cosmic ray detector consists of an array of six active silicon strip detectors which allow nuclear identification of cosmic rays up to iron. The device was operational for more than 1000 h in the years 1998–2000, also measuring several solar particle events. In this work we present the in-flight performance of the instrument and nuclear abundance data from boron to silicon above � 150 MeV n −1 inside Mir.

In June 1998 the telescope NINA will be launched in space on board of the Russian satellite Resource-01 n.4. The main scientific objective of the mission is the study of the anomalous, galactic and solar components of the cosmic rays in the energy interval 10–200 MeV/n. The core of the instrument is a silicon detector whose performances have been tested with a particle beam at the GSI Laboratory in Germany in 1997; we report here on the results obtained during the beam calibration.

Silicon Photomultipliers (Si-PM) consist of an array of semiconductor photodiodes joint on the common substrate and operating in limited geiger mode. A new generation of Si-PM is currently under test in INFN Rome Tor Vergata facilities: they consist of a 5625 element, 3 * 3 mm 2 array with an improved light response. These elements have been characterized. Furthermore, a functional model of the Si-PM has been developed to be used in a VLSI development of front-end electronics.

The Sirad experiment aims to measure with great precision the cosmic ray radiation environment on the outside of the International Space Station. The detector, composed of a stack of 32 silicon detectors arranged in X–Y pattern and surmounted by a scintillator system, is capable of detecting nuclei from protons to Iron in the energy range between ≃ 30 MeV / n and ≃ 5 GeV / n .

NINA is the first of three telescopes of the Russian Italian Mission (RIM), devoted through the detection of cosmic rays to the study of galactic and extragalactic astrophysical phenomena. The detector of RIM-1 mission consists of 16 double sided silicon strips. The use of silicon technology is space applications has severel advantages thanks to its low consumption, high signal to noise ratio, low dead area, and no use of gas refueling systems. Indeed these detectors and the electronics used comes from balloon cosmic ray research carried out by the Wizard collaboration in the past years. NINA will be placed in a 700 km polar orbit on the Russian Resource-01 n. 4 satellite by the end of 1996. Solar and galactic cosmic ray nuclei from Hydrogen to Iron in the 10-100 MeV/n region will be studied. In addition to the physical goals, which include the study of anomalous component nuclei inside and outside the radiation belts, technological aspects of this low cost (1.5M dollars) mission will be equally important to the development of the following two steps of RIM mission: PAMELA and GILDA missions--devoted to antimatter and gamma ray research respectively--will make extensive use of the research and development performed with NINA.

Light flashes are unusual visual phenomena that are observed in space and are caused by the interaction of energetic cosmic-ray particles with the human visual system. Using data gathered on board the Mir space station during the Sileye-2 experiment1, we show here that there are two separate components of cosmic rays that cause these flashes: one due to heavy nuclei and one due to protons. This indicates that perception by an astronaut's visual apparatus could involve two complementary mechanisms.

[1] The detector New Instrument for Nuclear Analysis (NINA) aboard the satellite Resurs-01-N4 detected hydrogen and helium isotopes geomagnetically trapped, while crossing the South Atlantic Anomaly. Deuterium and tritium at L shell < 1.2 were unambiguously recognized. The 3He and 4He power law spectra, reconstructed at L shell = 1.2 and B < 0.22 G, have indices equal to 2.30 ± 0.08 in the energy range 12–50 MeV nucleon−1 and 3.4 ± 0.2 in 10–30 MeV nucleon−1, respectively. The measured 3He/4He ratio and the reconstructed deuterium profile as a function of L shell bring one to the conclusion that the main source of radiation belt light isotopes at Resurs altitudes (∼800 km) and for energy greater than 10 MeV nucleon−1 is the interaction of trapped protons with residual atmospheric helium.

The telescope ‘Gamma-1’ is designed to investigate cosmic gamma rays in the energy range from 50 MeV to 5000 MeV. The geometrical sensitive area of the telescope amounts to 1500 cm2, the angular resolution in each direction is equal to 1.2° at the energy 300 MeV and is about 20′ when including a coded mask in the telescope, the energy resolution changes from 70% at 100 MeV to 35% at 550 MeV. The characteristics of the telescope and its systems have been determined by the Monte-Carlo method as well as by accelerator calibrations. Discrete sources at the intensity level of 10−7 quanta cm−2 s−1 may be recorded in a year of observations with the gamma-ray telescope ‘Gamma-1’ with a source location accuracy of ≈ 10 arc min.

On July the 10th, 1998 the telescope NINA was launched in space on board the Russian satellite Resurs-01 n.4. The scientific task of the mission is the study of the galactic, solar and anomalous components of the cosmic rays in the energy interval 10–200 MeV/n for contained particles. The core of NINA is a segmented silicon detector mounted onto the satellite so to point to the zenith. In this paper we report about the cosmic ray measurements performed by the telescope during its first 6 months of operation.

In this work we describe the instrument Sileye-3/Alteino, placed on board the International Space Station in April 2002. The instrument is constituted by an Electroencephalograph and a cosmic ray silicon detector. The scientific aims include the investigation of the Light Flash phenomenon, the measurement of the radiation environment and the nuclear abundance inside the ISS and the study of astronaut brain activity in space when subject to cosmic rays.

The mission NINA is the first step of a wide scientific program named WiZard-RIM, conceived to make extensive studies on the Anomalous Component and the isotopic composition of the cosmic rays from hydrogen to iron, in the energy range 10–100 MeV/n. NINA is a silicon detector which is going to fly on the Russian Resource 01 n.4 satellite by the end of 1997.