Suitability of linear quadrupole ion traps for large Coulomb crystals

Growing and studying large Coulomb crystals, composed of tens to hundreds of thousands of ions, in linear quadrupole ion traps presents new challenges for trap implementation. We consider several trap designs, first comparing the total driven micromotion amplitude as a function of location within the trapping volume; total micromotion is an important point of comparison since it can limit crystal size by transfer of radiofrequency drive energy into thermal energy. We also compare the axial component of micromotion, which leads to first-order Doppler shifts along the preferred spectroscopy axis in precision measurements on large Coulomb crystals. Finally, we compare trapping potential anharmonicity, which can induce nonlinear resonance heating by shifting normal mode frequencies onto resonance as a crystal grows. We apply a non-deforming crystal approximation for simple calculation of these anharmonicity-induced shifts, allowing a straightforward estimation of when crystal growth can lead to excitation of different nonlinear heating resonances. In the axial micromotion and anharmonicity points of comparison, we find significant differences between the compared trap designs, with an original rotated-endcap trap performing slightly better than the conventional in-line endcap trap

Are the symptoms of cancer and cancer treatment due to a shared biologic mechanism ?

International audienc

A cytokine-based neuroimmunologic mechanism of cancer-related symptoms

International audienc

Field calibration of blowfly-derived DNA against traditional methods for assessing mammal diversity in tropical forests

Mammal diversity assessments based on DNA derived from invertebrates have been suggested as alternatives to assessments based on traditional methods; however, no study has field-tested both approaches simultaneously. In Peninsular Malaysia, we calibrated the performance of mammal DNA derived from blowflies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) against traditional methods used to detect species. We first compared five methods (cage trapping, mist netting, hair trapping, scat collection, and blowfly-derived DNA) in a forest reserve with no recent reports of megafauna. Blowfly-derived DNA and mist netting detected the joint highest number of species (n=6). Only one species was detected by multiple methods. Compared to the other methods, blowfly-derived DNA detected both volant and non-volant species. In another forest reserve, rich in megafauna, we calibrated blowfly-derived DNA against camera traps. Blowfly-derived DNA detected more species (n=11) than camera traps (n=9), with only one species detected by both methods. The rarefaction curve indicated that blowfly-derived DNA would continue to detect more species with greater sampling effort. With further calibration, blowfly-derived DNA may join the list of traditional field methods. Areas for further investigation include blowfly feeding and dispersal biology, primer biases, and the assembly of a comprehensive and taxonomically-consistent DNA barcode reference library.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author