Development of a special purpose spacecraft interior coating. Phase 2

Numerous acrylic and epoxy modifiers for the fluorocarbon latex resin base were investigated. Optimum coatings were developed by modifying the fluorocarbon latex with an epoxy acrylic resin system. In addition, a number of other formulations, containing hard acrylics as modifiers, displayed attractive properties and potential for further improvements. The preferred formulations dried to touch in about one hour and were fully dried in about twenty four hours under normal room temperature and humidity conditions. In addition to physical and mechanical properties either comparable or superior to those of commercial solvent base polyurethane or polyester coatings, the preferred compositions meet the flammability and offgassing requirements specified by NASA

ArgoNeuT, a liquid argon time projection chamber in a low energy neutrino beam

ArgoNeuT (Argon Neutrino Test), a NSF/DOE project at Fermilab, is the first LArTPC to go in a low energy neutrino beam and just the second LArTPC to go in a neutrino beam ever. ArgoNeuT sits just upstream of the on-axis MINOS near detector in the NuMI beamline, about 1 km from the target station and 100 m underground. The detector features a 47X40X90 cm (169 L) active volume TPC with a fully contained recirculation and purification system. Among other physics, ArgoNeuT will measure the charged-current quasi-elastic (anti-) neutrino cross section on argon at an energy of ~3 GeV.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Topics in Astroparticle and Underground Physics (TAUP 2009), Rome, Italy, 1-5 July 200

Composition of bioactive secondary metabolites and mutagenicity of Sambucus nigra L. Fruit at different stages of ripeness

The relationship between the content of bioactive compounds and mutagenic activity of elderberry fruit at different stages of ripeness was investigated. Significant differences in the antioxidant profiles (TLC, HPLC with post-column derivatization) and antioxidant activity (ABTS, DPPH, and FC tests) were observed for studied elderberry extracts. The more ripen the fruit at the time of harvest were, the higher the content of anthocyanins (increase from 0 to 7.8 mg g−1d.w.) and antioxidant activity of the extracts (about 5-fold increase) were. Cyanogenic glycosides were not detected at any stage of ripeness. Accordingly, Ames MPF test (Xenometrix) did not reveal any mutagenicity. Our study suggests that instability of cyanogenic glycosides ensures safety of food/pharmaceutical products based on even not fully ripen elderberry fruit

ArgoNeuT and the Neutrino-Argon Charged Current Quasi-Elastic Cross Section

ArgoNeuT, a Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber in the NuMI beamline at Fermilab, has recently collected thousands of neutrino and anti-neutrino events between 0.1 and 10 GeV. The experiment will, among other things, measure the cross section of the neutrino and anti-neutrino Charged Current Quasi-Elastic interaction and analyze the vertex activity associated with such events. These topics are discussed along with ArgoNeuT's automated reconstruction software, currently capable of fully reconstructing the muon and finding the event vertex in neutrino interactions.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, presented at the International Nuclear Physics Conference, Vancouver, Canada, July 4-9, 2010, to be published in Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS

Natural products counteracting cardiotoxicity during cancer chemotherapy: The special case of doxorubicin, a comprehensive review

Cardiotoxicity is a frequent undesirable phenomenon observed during oncological treatment that limits the therapeutic dose of antitumor drugs and thus may decrease the effectiveness of cancer eradication. Almost all antitumor drugs exhibit toxic properties towards cardiac muscle. One of the underlying causes of cardiotoxicity is the stimulation of oxidative stress by chemotherapy. This suggests that an appropriately designed diet or dietary supplements based on edible plants rich in antioxidants could decrease the toxicity of antitumor drugs and diminish the risk of cardiac failure. This comprehensive review compares the cardioprotective efficacy of edible plant extracts and foodborne phytochemicals whose beneficial activity was demonstrated in various models in vivo and in vitro. The studies selected for this review concentrated on a therapy frequently applied in cancer, anthracycline antibiotic—doxorubicin—as the oxidative stress- and cardiotoxicity-inducing agent

Strontium optical lattice clocks for practical realization of the metre and secondary representation of the second

We present a system of two independent strontium optical lattice standards probed with a single shared ultra-narrow laser. The absolute frequency of the clocks can be verified by the use of Er:fiber optical frequency comb with the GPS-disciplined Rb frequency standard. We report hertz-level spectroscopy of the clock line and measurements of frequency stability of the two strontium optical lattice clocks.Comment: This is an author-created, un-copyedited version of an article accepted for publication in Meas. Sci. Technol. The publisher is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from it. The Version of Record is available online at doi:10.1088/0957-0233/26/7/07520

Performance of the Electromagnetic Calorimeter of the HERMES Experiment

The performance of the electromagnetic calorimeter of the HERMES experiment is described. The calorimeter consists of 840 radiation resistant F101 lead-glass counters. The response to positrons up to 27.5 GeV, the comparison between the measured energy and the momentum reconstructed from tracking, long-term stability, hadron rejection and neutral meson invariant mass reconstruction are shown.Comment: 22 pages, 13 figures, LaTeX, accepted by NI

Model of Enterpreneurship and Social-cultural and Market Orientation of Small Business Owners in Poland

In the development of SMEs in Poland crucial meaning is legislation, steadily adapted to EU regulations, especially to the European Charter for Small Enterprises. Research conducted in Poland by many authors provide data for doing so, to confirm the hypothesis that among small businesses a vital role in shaping their work situation did not continue to play the market mechanisms and orientations, but mainly socio-cultural factors.W rozwoju MŚP w Polsce podstawowe znaczenie mają również uregulowania prawne, systematycznie dostosowywane do regulacji unijnych, zwłaszcza zaś do Europejskiej Karty Małych Przedsiębiorstw. Badania prowadzone w Polsce przez wielu autorów dostarczają danych ku temu, by potwierdzić tezę, że wśród drobnych przedsiębiorców decydującą rolę w kształtowaniu ich sytuacji pracy odgrywają nadal nie mechanizmy i orientacje rynkowe, ale przede wszystkim czynniki społeczno-kulturowe

Neutrino oscillation physics at an upgraded CNGS with large next generation liquid Argon TPC detectors

The determination of the missing $U_{e3}$ element (magnitude and phase) of the PMNS neutrino mixing matrix is possible via the detection of \numu\to\nue oscillations at a baseline $L$ and energy $E$ given by the atmospheric observations, corresponding to a mass squared difference $E/L \sim \Delta m^2\simeq 2.5\times 10^{-3} eV^2$. While the current optimization of the CNGS beam provides limited sensitivity to this reaction, we discuss in this document the physics potential of an intensity upgraded and energy re-optimized CNGS neutrino beam coupled to an off-axis detector. We show that improvements in sensitivity to $\theta_{13}$ compared to that of T2K and NoVA are possible with a next generation large liquid Argon TPC detector located at an off-axis position (position rather distant from LNGS, possibly at shallow depth). We also address the possibility to discover CP-violation and disentangle the mass hierarchy via matter effects. The considered intensity enhancement of the CERN SPS has strong synergies with the upgrade/replacement of the elements of its injector chain (Linac, PSB, PS) and the refurbishing of its own elements, envisioned for an optimal and/or upgraded LHC luminosity programme.Comment: 37 pages, 20 figure