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Observation of high energy and very high emission from Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) is crucial to study the gigantic explosion and the underline processes. With a large field-of-view and almost full duty cycle, the Water Cherenkov Detector Array (WCDA), a sub-array of the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO), is appropriate to monitor the very high energy emission from unpredictable transients such as GRBs. Nevertheless, the main issue for an extensive air shower array is the high energy threshold which limits the horizon of the detector. To address this issue a new trigger method is developed in this article to lower the energy threshold of WCDA for GRB observation. The proposed method significantly improves the detection efficiency of WCDA for gamma-rays around the GRB direction at 10-300 GeV. The sensitivity of the WCDA for GRB detection with the new trigger method is estimated. The achieved sensitivity of the quarter WCDA array above 10 GeV is comparable with that of Fermi-LAT. The data analysis process and corresponding fluence upper limit for GRB 190719C is presented as an example.

The main scientific goal of LHAASO-WCDA is to survey gamma-ray sources with energy from 100 GeV to 30 TeV. To observe high-energy shower events, especially to measure the energy spectrum of cosmic rays from 100 TeV to 10 PeV, a dynamic range extension system (WCDA++) is designed to use a 1.5-inch PMT with a dynamic range of four orders of magnitude for each cell in WCDA-1. The dynamic range is extended by using these PMTs to measure the effective charge density in the core region of air shower events, which is an important parameter for identifying the composition of primary particles. The system has been running for more than one year. In this paper, the details of the design and performance of WCDA++ are presented.

The kilometer square array (KM2A) of the large high altitude air shower observatory (LHAASO) aims at surveying the northern γ-ray sky at energies above 10 TeV with unprecedented sensitivity. γ-ray observations have long been one of the most powerful tools for dark matter searches, as, e.g., high-energy γ rays could be produced by the decays of heavy dark matter particles. In this Letter, we present the first dark matter analysis with LHAASO-KM2A, using the first 340 days of data from 1/2-KM2A and 230 days of data from 3/4-KM2A. Several regions of interest are used to search for a signal and account for the residual cosmic-ray background after γ/hadron separation. We find no excess of dark matter signals, and thus place some of the strongest γ-ray constraints on the lifetime of heavy dark matter particles with mass between 105 and 109 GeV. Our results with LHAASO are robust, and have important implications for dark matter interpretations of the diffuse astrophysical high-energy neutrino emission.

The extension of the cosmic-ray spectrum beyond 1 petaelectronvolt (PeV; 1015 electronvolts) indicates the existence of the so-called PeVatrons—cosmic-ray factories that accelerate particles to PeV energies. We need to locate and identify such objects to find the origin of Galactic cosmic rays1. The principal signature of both electron and proton PeVatrons is ultrahigh-energy (exceeding 100 TeV) γ radiation. Evidence of the presence of a proton PeVatron has been found in the Galactic Centre, according to the detection of a hard-spectrum radiation extending to 0.04 PeV (ref. 2). Although γ-rays with energies slightly higher than 0.1 PeV have been reported from a few objects in the Galactic plane3–6, unbiased identification and in-depth exploration of PeVatrons requires detection of γ-rays with energies well above 0.1 PeV. Here we report the detection of more than 530 photons at energies above 100 teraelectronvolts and up to 1.4 PeV from 12 ultrahigh-energy γ-ray sources with a statistical significance greater than seven standard deviations. Despite having several potential counterparts in their proximity, including pulsar wind nebulae, supernova remnants and star-forming regions, the PeVatrons responsible for the ultrahigh-energy γ-rays have not yet been firmly localized and identified (except for the Crab Nebula), leaving open the origin of these extreme accelerators. Observations of γ-rays with energies up to 1.4 PeV find that 12 sources in the Galaxy are PeVatrons, one of which is the Crab Nebula.

We report the discovery of a new unidentified extended $\gamma$-ray source in the Galactic plane named LHAASO J0341+5258 with a pre-trial significance of 8.2 standard deviations above 25 TeV. The best fit position is R.A.$=55.34^{\circ}\pm0.11^{\circ}$ and Dec$=52.97^{\circ}\pm0.07^{\circ}$. The angular size of LHAASO J0341+5258 is $0.29^\circ \pm 0.06^\circ_{stat} \pm0.02^\circ_{sys}$. The flux above 25 TeV is about $20\%$ of the flux of Crab Nebula. Although a power-law fit of the spectrum from 10 TeV to 200 TeV with the photon index $\alpha=2.98 \pm 0.19_{stat} \pm 0.02_{sys}$ is not excluded, the LHAASO data together with the flux upper limit at 10 GeV set by the Fermi LAT observation, indicate a noticeable steepening of an initially hard power-law spectrum %($\alpha \leq 1.75$) spectrum with a cutoff at $\approx 50$ TeV. We briefly discuss the origin of UHE gamma-rays. The lack of an energetic pulsar and a young SNR inside or in the vicinity of LHAASO J0341+5258 challenge, but do not exclude both the leptonic and hadronic scenarios of gamma-ray production., Comment: Accepted by APJL

Recently, the LHAASO Collaboration published the detection of 12 ultrahigh-energy γ-ray sources above 100 TeV, with the highest energy photon reaching 1.4 PeV. The first detection of PeV γ rays from astrophysical sources may provide a very sensitive probe of the effect of the Lorentz invariance violation (LIV), which results in decay of high-energy γ rays in the superluminal scenario and hence a sharp cutoff of the energy spectrum. Two highest energy sources are studied in this work. No signature of the existence of the LIV is found in their energy spectra, and the lower limits on the LIV energy scale are derived. Our results show that the first-order LIV energy scale should be higher than about 10^{5} times the Planck scale M_{Pl} and that the second-order LIV scale is10^{-3}M_{Pl}. Both limits improve by at least one order of magnitude the previous results.

We report the discovery of an extended very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray source around the location of the middle-aged (207.8 kyr) pulsar PSR J0622+3749 with the Large High-Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO). The source is detected with a significance of 8.2σ for E25 TeV assuming a Gaussian template. The best-fit location is (right ascension, declination) =(95.47°±0.11°,37.92°±0.09°), and the extension is 0.40°±0.07°. The energy spectrum can be described by a power-law spectrum with an index of -2.92±0.17_{stat}±0.02_{sys}. No clear extended multiwavelength counterpart of the LHAASO source has been found from the radio to sub-TeV bands. The LHAASO observations are consistent with the scenario that VHE electrons escaped from the pulsar, diffused in the interstellar medium, and scattered the interstellar radiation field. If interpreted as the pulsar halo scenario, the diffusion coefficient, inferred for electrons with median energies of ∼160 TeV, is consistent with those obtained from the extended halos around Geminga and Monogem and much smaller than that derived from cosmic ray secondaries. The LHAASO discovery of this source thus likely enriches the class of so-called pulsar halos and confirms that high-energy particles generally diffuse very slowly in the disturbed medium around pulsars.

We report the discovery of a UHE gamma-ray source, LHAASO J2108+5157, by analyzing the LHAASO-KM2A data of 308.33 live days. Significant excess of gamma-ray induced showers is observed in both energy bands of 25-100 TeV and $\gt$100 TeV with 9.5 sigma and 8.5 sigma, respectively. This source is not significantly favored as an extensive source with the angular extension smaller than the point-spread function of KM2A. The measured energy spectrum from 20 to 200 TeV can be approximately described by a power-law function with an index of -2.83$\pm$ 0.18stat. A harder spectrum is demanded at lower energies considering the flux upper limit set by Fermi-LAT observations. The position of the gamma-ray emission is correlated with a giant molecular cloud, which favors a hadronic origin. No obvious counterparts have been found, deeper multiwavelength observations will help to shed new light on this intriguing UHE source., Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, accepted by ApJL

In order to study the radial transport of tungsten ions in long-pulse H-mode discharges, a space-resolved spectrometer working at 30–520 A has been newly developed to measure a radial profile of the tungsten line emission. The spectrometer is installed behind a long extension vacuum tube connected to a horizontal midplane diagnostic port of EAST tokamak. The long distance between the plasma and spectrometer, 8835.5 mm, enables observation of the radial profile of impurity line emissions in a wide vertical range of − 8 . 5 ≤ Z ≤ 40 cm ( − 0 . 1 ≤ ρ ≤ 0 . 6 ) . A good spectral resolution of Δ λ 0 = 4 − 5 pixels at the foot position of spectral line profiles and a high spatial resolution of Δ Z = 2 . 5 cm are obtained in addition to a sufficient temporal resolution, e.g. 50 ms/frame. As a result, accurate radial profiles have been successfully obtained in EAST Ohmic and H-mode discharges for several impurity species such as carbon, oxygen, argon, iron and tungsten. The radial profiles of tungsten line emissions from W 42 + – W 45 + ions with 4p–4s transitions measured at two wavelength ranges of 45–70 A and 120–140 A are analyzed for the ion density evaluation based on the photon emissivity coefficient from ADAS database. The result shows that the density of W 43 + – W 45 + ions ranges at 2–6 × 108 cm−3 in steady H-mode discharges with T e ( 0 ) = 3 keV and n e ( 0 ) = 4 × 1013 cm−3.

The main scientific goal of the LHAASO WFCTA experiment is to measure the cosmic ray energy spectra and composition from 10 TeV to 1 EeV. Cherenkov photons in the extensive air shower measured by the SiPM camera of Cherenkov telescopes can be used to reconstruct the cosmic ray energy. The absolute calibration of the camera is a crucial step to achieve the accurate measurement of the cosmic ray energy spectrum. A multi-wavelength cylindrical illuminator based on LEDs is developed and mounted inside the telescope to calibrate and monitor the camera, and the illuminator’s stability is better than 0.5% under the temperature variation from -26 to 26 ° C. A portable probe with a single photoelectron resolution of 21.6% is developed. After calibration by National Institute of Metrology, China (NIM), the probe is taken to the LHAASO site to measure the absolute photon density of the cylindrical illuminator inside the telescope. Based on the illuminator with known photon density, the photon conversion factor of the camera can be calibrated, and the overall calibration uncertainty is less than 2.6%.

A newly developed flat-field extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectrometer working at 10–130 A wavelength range with high spectral resolution and fast-time response has been developed to observe line emissions from highly ionized tungsten ions in the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST). This flat-field EUV spectrometer is equipped with a laminar-type varied-line-spacing (VLS) concave holographic grating (2400 grooves/mm at grating center) fixed at an angle of incidence of 88.6°, and a back-illuminated charge-coupled device (CCD) with pixel numbers of 1024 × 255 (26 × 26 μ m2/pixel). The CCD is routinely operated at 5 ms per frame with full vertical binning (FVB) mode. An excellently high spectral resolution of Δ λ 0 = 4–6 pixels (full width at foot position of spectral line profile), which corresponds to full width of half maximum (FWHM) of 0.1 A at 20 A, has been obtained by carefully adjusting angles and positions of the grating and CCD. Thus, the line identification of complicated tungsten spectra became possible, when a precise wavelength calibration was done. Typical tungsten spectra are recorded at low ( T e = 1 . 0 keV) and high ( T e = 2 . 6 keV) electron temperatures . Tungsten unresolved transition arrays (W-UTA) existing at wavelength ranges of 15–35 and 45–65 A were preliminarily identified as line emissions from W 24 + –W 33 + and W 27 + –W 45 + ions, respectively, by referring to previous experimental results and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) database. Developing a set of analytical computer programs, line spectra observed with the EUV spectrometer have been automatically identified after data acquisition basically for all discharges during daily EAST experiment.

Notch signaling plays a critical role in the development and function of macrophages. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between Notch signaling pathway and macrophage apoptosis after LPS stimulation. In RAW 264.7 cells, the mRNA expression of Jagged1, Hes1, Hes 5 and GM-CSF, and protein expression of NICD1 and GM-CSF were increased after LPS stimulation. Inhibition of Notch signaling by γ-secretase inhibitor DAPT and the suppression of Notch1 expression using siRNA both significantly prevented LPS induced activation of JNK and NF-kB, and simultaneously the expression of GM-CSF was also down regulated significantly. JNK inhibitor SP600125 was used to block the phosphorylation of JNK signaling, Western blot results showed that the activation of NF-kB was blocked and expression of GM-CSF was down-regulated. Finally, flow cytometry analyses showed that the Notch signaling was involved in the regulation of macrophage apoptosis after LPS stimulation. Our study showed that the Notch signaling pathway was activated and involved in the regulation of macrophage apoptosis after LPS stimulation through JNK/ NF-kB signaling regulated GM-CSF expression.

The Water Cherenkov Detector Array (WCDA) is a major component of the Large High Altitude Air Shower Array Observatory (LHAASO), a new generation cosmic-ray experiment with unprecedented sensitivity, currently under construction. The WCDA is aimed at the study of TeV $\gamma$-rays. In order to evaluate the prospects of searching for TeV $\gamma$-ray sources with the WCDA, we present in this paper a projection for the one-year sensitivity of the WCDA to TeV $\gamma$-ray sources from TeVCat (footnote: http://tevcat.uchicago.edu) using an all-sky approach. Out of 128 TeVCat sources observable to the WCDA up to a zenith angle of $45^\circ$, we estimate that 42 would be detectable for one year of observations at a median energy of 1 TeV. Most of them are Galactic sources, and the extragalactic sources are Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN)., Comment: 10 pages,10 figures, it is to be published in Chinese Physics C

The core impurity confinement properties are experimentally investigated in the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) plasma heated by lower hybrid wave (LHW) and electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) (LHW+ECRH). It is shown that the impurity confinement time (τ imp) in the L-mode plasma jointly heated by LHW and ECRH is weakly dependent on electron density but strongly dependent on the heating power, thus it is shorter than that in LHW-only heated L-mode plasma with the similar plasma parameters. The combined heating of LHW and ECRH can reduce the collisionality and indicates a more effective heating method for core τ imp reduction and normalized poloidal beta (β P) improvement. It should be emphasized that in this high β P operation window the small ELM regime can be accessed, and an L-mode level τ imp (40 ms–80 ms) and high β N (∼ 1.7) can be obtained simultaneously. It means that this typical small ELMy H-mode regime has an advantage in avoiding the serious tungsten accumulation, and will be competitive in future long-pulse steady-state and high-performance operation with high-Z material plasma-facing components.

The LHAASO-WFCTA experiment, which aims to observe cosmic rays in the sub-EeV range using the fluorescence technique, uses a new generation of high-performance telescopes. To ensure that the experiment has excellent detection capability associated with the measurement of the energy spectrum, the primary composition of cosmic rays, and so on, an accurate geometrical reconstruction of air-shower events is fundamental. This paper describes the development and testing of geometrical reconstruction for stereo viewed events using the WFCTA (Wide Field of view Cherenkov/Fluorescence Telescope Array) detectors. Two approaches, which take full advantage of the WFCTA detectors, are investigated. One is the stereo-angular method, which uses the pointing of triggered SiPMs in the shower trajectory, and the other is the stereo-timing method, which uses the triggering time of the fired SiPMs. The results show that both methods have good geometrical resolution; the resolution of the stereo-timing method is slightly better than the stereo-angular method because the resolution of the latter is slightly limited by the shower track length.

A sub-array of the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO), KM2A is mainly designed to observe a large fraction of the northern sky to hunt for γ-ray sources at energies above 10 TeV. Even though the detector construction is still underway, half of the KM2A array has been operating stably since the end of 2019. In this paper, we present the KM2A data analysis pipeline and the first observation of the Crab Nebula, a standard candle in very high energy γ-ray astronomy. We detect γ-ray signals from the Crab Nebula in both energy ranges of 10 100 TeV and 100 TeV with high significance, by analyzing the KM2A data of 136 live days between December 2019 and May 2020. With the observations, we test the detector performance, including angular resolution, pointing accuracy and cosmic-ray background rejection power. The energy spectrum of the Crab Nebula in the energy range 10-250 TeV fits well with a single power-law function dN/dE = (1.13 0.05 0.08 ) 10 (E/20 TeV) cm s TeV . It is consistent with previous measurements by other experiments. This opens a new window of γ-ray astronomy above 0.1 PeV through which new ultrahigh-energy γ-ray phenomena, such as cosmic PeVatrons, might be discovered.

A systematic approach for analysing vibration-related problems of electrical machines, integrating both complex electromagnetic and rotordynamic analyses, is completely presented with an in-house finite-element solution module, formulated from related theories in rotor-dynamics. The electromagnetic analysis processes with the MagNet software are described herein to obtain the performance curves of electrical machines. They are integrated into the equation of motion to investigate the corresponding vibration characteristics. Based on the previously published work, the squirrel-cage-type induction motor is employed as an extended case study to demonstrate the integrated procedure. Three types of silicon steel core materials are considered in order to explore their effects in the dynamic properties of the system. Also, what happens on the vibration amplitude of rotor critical positions at the instant right before and after passing the critical speed are investigated thoroughly. The corresponding results exhibit that the complete procedures in using the proposed methodology can solve the reliability issues of electrical machines effectively.

High‐speed spindle systems designed with gas bearings are widely used in electronic industries for printed circuit board drilling and semiconductor wafer cutting. This study focuses on investigating the stiffness of the gas bearing when the spindle itself is suspended under the supplied air pressure without rotating. The investigation utilized both the experimental ball impact test method and the numerical finite difference method to solve the modeling Reynolds equation for the stiffness evaluation respectively. The most frequently used condition of the 6 bar supply pressure is investigated experimentally for stiffness at the beginning of the study. It is then compared with the numerical results as derived from the theoretical calculated pressure distribution of the gas bearing. The validated numerical scheme is applied further to calculate the stiffness at other supply pressure and geometric variations. Moreover, it is also investigated for influences on the gas bearing stiffness by making a ser...

In a high-speed gas spindle, the drawbar force required to hold the drill bit is produced by the deformation of disc spring stacks. This drawbar force, applied to the collet—spindle interface, generates a contact pressure on the collet to hold the drill bit in position. Thus, the behaviour of the collet—spindle interface is critical to machining quality. Accordingly, this study investigated how disc spring characteristics affect the collet—spindle interface in a high-speed spindle. Typi-cally, the drawbar force will decrease following the deformation of disc springs resulting from the effects of centrifugal force at high rotational speeds. This effect must be considered, especially in high-speed spindle applications. This study first measured the drawbar force experimentally and compared these results with theoretical and finite-element analysis (FEA) data under static conditions (i.e. no rotation). Having obtained satisfactory agreement among these data, the FEA was extended to a further investigation. Properties of the collet—spindle contact interface were analysed, given changes in rotational speed from 0 to 300 000 r/min under various disc spring deflections, various friction coefficients between the disc springs and their support, and distinct taper angles at the collet—spindle interface. All of these conditions are discussed here. These essential parameters are believed to cover much of the design of high-speed gas spindle systems.

The study developed a multipurpose finite element solution module with the theoretical groundwork originated from principles of rotordynamics. This module is capable of solving many of the related rotating machine problems such as of the high speed gas bearing spindles and the electric machines. The goal of this paper is to utilize the developed solution module in investigating various aspects of the vibration behavior of an induction motor system for solving its failure problem of the shaft. Some of the crucial factors to the quality and performance of the motor, such as the vibration amplitude as resulted from the bearing wear, damping effects, mass unbalance, and the passing of system resonance critical speeds, are all investigated in the study. An efficient dual-rotor model is verified to have excellent accuracy when comparing the calculated frequency response function (FRF) with that from modal testing. The results of the transient orbit analysis indicate that the bearing stiffness and damping dominates the vibration amplitude remarkably. The effects both from the bearing damping as well as from the clamping-damping between the silicon steel core and the rotating shaft are all examined. It is noticed that the bearing damping plays the major role in the restraint of the vibration amplitudes of the rotor. For the analysis of vibration suppression with different eccentricities of the unbalanced masses, it is found that the adding of balance masses will normally suppress the vibration amplitude effectively until the point where an optimum amount that causes the minimum balanced vibration amplitudes is observed. Both the qualitative and quantitative analyses for the effectiveness of the balance mass added with different eccentricity ratios are studied. Thus, the critical adding mass ratio (i.e. the adding mass ratio at the minimum balanced amplitude factor) can also be predicted through its linear relationship with the eccentricity ratio. Based on all the findings through the study, it is concluded that the approach not only can solve the realistic shaft vibration failure problems of a motor and the demonstrated processes are also believed to be able to help the designers to have better command of motor performance at the system design stage.

Fasting glucose and insulin are intermediate traits for type 2 diabetes. Here we explore the role of coding variation on these traits by analysis of variants on the HumanExome BeadChip in 60,564 non-diabetic individuals and in 16,491 T2D cases and 81,877 controls. We identify a novel association of a low-frequency nonsynonymous SNV in GLP1R (A316T; rs10305492; MAF=1.4%) with lower FG (β=-0.09±0.01mmoll-1, P=3.4 × 10-12), T2D risk (OR[95%CI]=0.86[0.76-0.96], P=0.010), early insulin secretion (β=-0.07±0.035pmolinsulin mmolglucose-1, P=0.048), but higher 2-h glucose (β=0.16±0.05mmoll-1, P=4.3 × 10-4). We identify a gene-based association with FG at G6PC2 (p SKAT =6.8 × 10-6) driven by four rare protein-coding SNVs (H177Y, Y207S, R283X and S324P). We identify rs651007 (MAF=20%) in the first intron of ABO at the putative promoter of an antisense lncRNA, associating with higher FG (β=0.02±0.004mmoll-1, P=1.3 × 10-8). Our approach identifies novel coding variant associations and extends the allelic spectrum of variation underlying diabetes-related quantitative traits and T2D susceptibility. © 2015 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.

The extraction of alkaline earth cations by xylene solutions of dinonylnaphthalenesulfonic acid (HDNNS) from aqueous hydrochloric acid solutions containing various aqueous-soluble unsubstituted crown ether ligands (15-crown-6 (15C5), 18-crown-6 (18C6) and 21-crown-7 (21C7)) has been investigated. The extraction results indicate that the extraction of the larger alkaline earth cations by HDNNS is strongly synergized by the presence of the crown ethers in the aqueous phase. Promising results for intra-Group-IIa cation separations have been obtained with each of the three crown ethers investigated. Separation factors for the radium–calcium couple of at least 10 2 are obtained under a number of conditions, while the separation factors within the radium–barium–strontium series are much lower. Possible problems in developing an extraction chromatographic resin for radium separation and preconcentration based on the extraction data are discussed.

As part of an ongoing investigation of the properties of dialkyl substituted diphosphonic acids as solvent extraction reagents for metal cations, we have studied the extraction of alkaline earth cations, Fe(III) and representative actinides (Am(III), U(VI) and Th(IV)) at tracer-level concentration by o-xylene solutions of P,P′-di(2-ethylhexyl) butanediphosphonic acid, H2DEH[BuDP]. The extractant and acid dependencies of these metal ions exhibited significant differences from those of the previously investigated analogous extractants in which the two phosphonate groups are separated by a methylene or an ethylene bridge. The aggregation of H2DEH[BuDP] was investigated in toluene at 25° C by vapor pressure osmometry. H2DEH[BuDP] was found to exist predominantly as a trimeric species in the 0.1-0.005 molal concentration range. Osmometric measurements and infrared spectra indicate that Ca(II) is extracted into H2DEH[BuDP] solutions with little disruption of the structure of the extractant. Iron(III) c...

Considerable interest has been generated for the development of suitable corneal endothelial graft alternatives through cell-tissue engineering, which can potentially alleviate the shortage of corneal transplant material. The advent of less invasive suture-less key-hole surgery options such as Descemet’s Stripping Endothelial Keratoplasty (DSEK) and Descemet’s Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty (DMEK), which involve transplantation of solely the endothelial layer instead of full thickness cornea, provide further impetus for the development of alternative endothelial grafts for clinical applications. A major challenge for this endeavor is the lack of specific markers for this cell type. To identify genes that reliably mark corneal endothelial cells (CECs) in vivo and in vitro, we performed RNA-sequencing on freshly isolated human CECs (from both young and old donors), CEC cultures, and corneal stroma. Gene expression of these corneal cell types was also compared to that of other human tissue types. Based on high throughput comparative gene expression analysis, we identified a panel of markers that are: i) highly expressed in CECs from both young donors and old donors; ii) expressed in CECs in vivo and in vitro; and iii) not expressed in corneal stroma keratocytes and the activated corneal stroma fibroblasts. These were SLC4A11, COL8A2 and CYYR1. The use of this panel of genes in combination reliably ascertains the identity of the CEC cell type.

An excimer pumped dye laser generating ultra-short (560 fs full width at half maximum, FWHM) pulses in the ultraviolet (UV, 248 nm) and visible (496 nm) spectral ranges is used to desorb protein ions from different matrices. The effects of laser-light energy and power density on secondary-ion yields from insulin are reported. These data are compared to data obtained by employing a nitrogen laser (337 nm, 3 ns FWHM). The existence of a threshold energy density for the matrix-asisted laser desorbtion (MALD) of insulin ions by the ultra-short pulses is established. This threshold energy is of the same order of magnitude for the two laser systems employed and does not depend on the laser pulse length (the energy deposition time). Thus we demonstrate that the amount of laser energy deposited into the sample, rather than the laser power, is the important parameter in the MALD process.

Two-photon transitions A 2 Σ + (ν′ = 0)-X 2 Π(ν″ = 0) of nitric oxide are investigated by high-resolution resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization spectroscopy. The underlying causes behind observed anomalous intensity features of these two-photon transitions are discussed. Several new lines produced by the three-photon transitions “L 2 Π(ν = 4)-C 2 Π(ν = 6)” -X 2 Π(ν″ = 0) and K 2 Π(ν = 1) -X 2 Π(ν″ = 0) are assigned. The values for T ν and B ν of the K 2 Π(ν = 1) state are determi 66350 cm −1 has been resolved. It is suggested that several lines with anomalous intensity on the O 12 branch of the A 2 Σ + (ν′ = band should be interpreted as the result of an autoionization process rather than as the result of an accidental resonance of a third photon with rotational levels of the “L 2 Π(ν = 4)-C 2 Π(ν = 6) state as previously has been anticipated.

24 male autopsy cases aged 35–60 years have been collected from Shanghai China to study the relationships between human hair and internal tissues. Autopsy samples of hair, kidney-cortex, liver and lung were analyzed. A radiochemical neutron activation analysis (RNAA) based on a simple group extraction scheme was used for measuring the trace elements As, Cd, Hg, Cu and Zn. Zinc diethyldithiocarbamate Zn(DDC)2 and methly isobutyl ketone-iodide have been chosen as reagent. Trace element of Se was determined by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). A SLOWPOKE reactor with a thermal neutron flux of 8·1011 n·cm−2·s−1 and a swimming pool type reactor with a thermal neutron flux of 1·1013 n·cm−2·s−1 were used for short and long irradiation of samples, respectively. The reliability of methods has been checked by analyzing biological standard reference materials Horse Kidney (IAEA H8), Tomato Leaves (NBS 1573) and Human Hair (NIES-5). The analytical results show that toxic elements As, Cd and Hg exist in a larger individual variability than the essential elements of Cu, Se and Zn for each tissue. A linear regression analysis related to the six elements of primary interest for the IAEA Coordinated Research Program (CRP) has been done by a computer program for each pair of hair-tissue. A positive correlation is found between concentration of As in hair and kidney-cortex, the correlation coefficient r is 0.751 (p

Objectives: To assess the magnitude of cigarette smuggling after the market opened in Taiwan. Methods: Review of tobacco industry documents for references to smuggling activities related to Taiwan and government statistics on seizure of smuggled cigarettes. Results: The market opening in 1987 led to an increase in smuggling. Contraband cigarettes became as available as legal ones, with only a small fraction (8%) being seized. Being specifically excluded from the market-opening, Japan entered the Taiwan market by setting up a Swiss plant as a legal cover for smuggling 10–20 times its legal quota of exports to Taiwan. Smuggling in Taiwan contributed to increased consumption of foreign brands, particularly by the young. Taiwan, not a member of the World Health Organization, was excluded from the East Asian 16-member “Project Crocodile”, a regional anti-smuggling collaborative effort to implement the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Conclusions: Taiwan showed a sharp increase in smuggling after market liberalisation. Being excluded from the international community, Taiwan faces an uphill battle to fight smuggling alone. If Taiwan remained as its weakest link, global efforts to reduce tobacco use will be undermined, particularly for countries in the East Asian region.

Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) is a powerful tool for study of the secondary conformation of intact protein in biological tissues and for diagnosis of disease states. The purpose of this study is to utilize FT-IR as a diagnostic tool to estimate the secondary structure of amide I in normal and cancer tissue of human colon.Pairs of tissue samples from colon cancer and histologically normal mucosa tissue 5-10 cm from the tumor were obtained from a patient who underwent partial colectomy. In the present study we investigated the changes in the secondary structure of amide I of normal and malignant human colon tissue using FT-IR microspectroscopy with attenuated total reflectance. Secondary-derivative analysis relative to the original and curve-fitting analysis infrared spectra were also carried out.The conformational changes of the secondary structure of protein in normal and cancerous human colon tissue were (1) the composition of alpha-helixes increased in human cancerous colon tissue (15.30%) compared to normal colon tissue (11.72%); (2) beta-sheets which were 46.8% in healthy tissue decreased to 30.71% in cancer tissue; (3) beta-turns increased from 26.28% in normal tissue to 38.48% in cancer tissue; and (4) the composition of random coils was not significantly different between normal tissue (15.12%) and cancer tissue (15.51%).Our data demonstrate that protein in colon cancer displays abnormal FT-IR spectra. The conformational changes of the secondary structure of this protein in terms of alpha-helixes, beta-sheets and beta-turns were observed in normal and cancerous tissue from the same individual were compared.

The purpose of this study is to examine the applicability of an infared spectroscopic methodology for the study of an environmental problem. The effect of cyanide concentrations on the biophysical conformation of the fish liver homogenate was determined by using an attenuated total reflectance (ATR)/Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) microspectroscopy. Alive male model fish, Tilapia Zillii, was used. The liver from fish was isolated and homogenized in pH 8.0 Tris buffer solution. The results indicate that the IR peak intensity increased markedly in the C-H stretching range (3000-2800 cm-1), ester C = O stretching of lipids (1743 cm-1) and carbohydrate bands (1195-950 cm-1), but decreased in the amide I at 1649 cm-1 and the free asymmetric stretching band of phosphate at 1261 cm-1 with the increase of KCN concentrations. The marked release of hepatic enzymes and glutathione into homogenate induced by cyanide might account for the higher IR spectral peak intensity of fish liver tissue after treatment with KCN. The cyanide was also found to induce the protein structure of fish liver homogenate from alpha-helical conformation to beta-conformation.

Annual report of an Argonne National Laboratory Chemistry Division program on radiolytic generation of gases from synthetic waste. This report includes results of studies on simulated waste solutions to measure the presence and absence of organic chelators and their products.

Yields of H{sub 2}, N{sub 2}O, O{sub 2}, and N{sub 2}, in simulated waste solutions, containing high nitrate, nitrite, hydroxide and aluminate, were experimentally measured in the presence and absence of moderate concentrations of organic chelators and some of their degradation products. These yields were measured at 30 and 60{degrees}C. No effect of dose rate on yield of H{sub 2} was observed and the amount of H{sub 2} increases linearly with dose and with the concentration of the organic additive. The generation of N{sub 2}O was observed only when organic solutes were present and its yield was dose rate dependent. Rate constants for H atom abstraction from the organic component by free H atoms were determined and these were correlated with the efficiency of the organic solute and in the generation of H{sub 2}. The rate of thermal generation of H{sub 2} and N{sub 2}O was also measured and was found to substantially increase in solutions that were preirradiated, presumably due to the generation of radiolytic degradation products. Computer modeling of the radiolytic precesses show the yield of H{sub 2} is strongly dependent on the nitrite concentration; the yield decreases with increasing nitrite concentration. The yield will be only weaklymore » dependent on nitrate concentration above 0.5 M. Simulation of the homogeneous reactions that describe the chemistry of the NO{sub x} system indicate that: no N{sub 2}O will be formed in the absence of NO{sub x}-organic reactions. 18 refs., 41 figs., 13 tabs.« less

The correlations of essential element Se between human hair and kidney-cortex, liver, and lung from the same subjects were investigated by instrumental neutron activation analysis, using the reaction 76Se (n, gamma) 77mSe, for 24 Chinese autopsies. The concentration of Se is higher in kidney-cortex (2.04-5.36 mg/kg) than in liver (0.73-2.29), lung (0.50-1.85), and hair (0.37-1.43). It is important to know that there are significant relationships of Se concentration between hair and the other three internal organs. The correlation coefficient by linear regression analysis are 0.639, 0.570, and 0.635 for liver, lung, and kidney-cortex, respectively; and the P values are all less than 0.01 for the three tissues.

In order to study the relationships between trace element concentrations of hair and internal body burdens, a radiochemical NAA technique has been used for determination of the elements As, Cd, and Hg in autopsy samples of liver, kidney-cortex, lung, and hair from 24 male persons who died by accident. High significant positive correlations were observed between the As concentration in hair and in kidney-cortex, and between Cd and Zn concentrations in kidney-cortex. The contents of Cd, both for lung and kidney-cortex, were related to the smoking habits of the subjects.

In this work, a simple group separation scheme based on extraction for NAA determination of trace of As, Cd, Hg, Cu and Zn in biological materials is described. For this purpose, zinc-diethyldithiocarbamate, Zn(DDC)2, and methyl isobutyl ketone-iodide have been chosen as reagents. The elements can be extracted successively and quantitatively from strong mineral acids without adjusting pH of the solution, and separated into two groups suitable for gamma-ray spectrometry. Samples of 100–200 mg dry weight were double-sealed into polyethylene bags and irradiated in a swimming pool reactor with a thermal neutron flux of 1013n·cm−2·s−1 for 44 hours. After a cooling period of 1–3 days, the samples were digested with microgram quantities of carrier in concentrated nitric acid and sulfuric acid at 150°C for 3.5 hours in a teflon bomb, then extracted as described above. The reliability of the analytical method was checked using reference materials Horse Kidney IAEA H-8, Human Hair NIES-5 and Tomato Leaves NBS-1573. Most of the results obtained for reference materials agreed with the certified values12. Chinese autopsy samples of hair and liver were presented.

The characteristic properties of the chelating resin-3926(II) and the advantage of using it in the preconcentration procedure was described. The chemical recoveries determined by the trace technique were presented. The preconcentration procedure put forward in this paper may be used satisfactorily in neutron activation analysis.