Forbush decrease observed by SEVAN particle detector network on November 4, 2021

On November 3-4 2021, an interplanetary coronal mass injection (ICME) hits the magnetosphere, sparking a strong G3-class geomagnetic storm and auroras as far south as California and New Mexico. All detectors of the SEVAN network registered a Forbush decrease (FD) of 5-10 percentdeep in 1 minute time series of count rates. We present the results of a comparison of Fd registered on mountain altitudes on Aragats (Armenia), Lomnicky Stit (Slovakia), Musala (Bulgaria), and at sea level DESY (Hamburg, Germany), and in Mileshovka, Czechia. We present as well purity and barometric coefficients of different coincidences of SEVAN detector layers on Aragats. We demonstrate disturbances of the near-surface electric (NSEF) and geomagnetic fields at the arrival of the ICME on Earth

γ-Catenin-Dependent Signals Maintain BCR-ABL1⁺ B Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

The BCR-ABL1 fusion protein is the cause of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and of a significant fraction of adult-onset B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) cases. Using mouse models and patient-derived samples, we identified an essential role for γ-catenin in the initiation and maintenance of BCR-ABL1 <sup>+</sup> B-ALL but not CML. The selectivity was explained by a partial γ-catenin dependence of MYC expression together with the susceptibility of B-ALL, but not CML, to reduced MYC levels. MYC and γ-catenin enabled B-ALL maintenance by augmenting BIRC5 and enforced BIRC5 expression overcame γ-catenin loss. Since γ-catenin was dispensable for normal hematopoiesis, these lineage- and disease-specific features of canonical Wnt signaling identified a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of BCR-ABL1 <sup>+</sup> B-ALL

Transition Radiation Spectroscopy with Prototypes of the ALICE TRD

We present measurements of the transition radiation (TR) spectrum produced in an irregular radiator at different electron momenta. The data are compared to simulations of TR from a regular radiator.Comment: 4 pages, 5 Figures, Proceedings for "TRDs for the 3rd millennium" (Sept. 4-7, 2003, Bari, Italy

Spin physics with antiprotons

New possibilities arising from the availability at GSI of antiproton beams, possibly polarised, are discussed. The investigation of the nucleon structure can be boosted by accessing in Drell-Yan processes experimental asymmetries related to cross-sections in which the parton distribution functions (PDF) only appear, without any contribution from fragmentation functions; such processes are not affected by the chiral suppression of the transversity function $h_1(x)$. Spin asymmetries in hyperon production and Single Spin Asymmetries are discussed as well, together with further items like electric and magnetic nucleonic form factors and open charm production. Counting rates estimations are provided for each physical case. The sketch of a possible experimental apparatus is proposed.Comment: Presented for the proceedings of ASI "Spin and Symmetry", Prague, July 5-10, 2004, to be published in Czech. J. Phys. 55 (2005

Soil Contamination Interpretation by the Use of Monitoring Data Analysis

The presented study deals with the interpretation of soil quality monitoring data using hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal components analysis (PCA). Both statistical methods contributed to the correct data classification and projection of the surface (0–20 cm) and subsurface (20–40 cm) soil layers of 36 sampling sites in the region of Burgas, Bulgaria. Clustering of the variables led to formation of four significant clusters corresponding to possible sources defining the soil quality like agricultural activity, industrial impact, fertilizing, etc. Two major clusters were found to explain the sampling site locations according to soil composition—one cluster for coastal and mountain sites and another—for typical rural and industrial sites. Analogous results were obtained by the use of PCA. The advantage of the latter was the opportunity to offer more quantitative interpretation of the role of identified soil quality sources by the level of explained total variance. The score plots and the dendrogram of the sampling sites indicated a relative spatial homogeneity according to geographical location and soil layer depth. The high-risk areas and pollution profiles were detected and visualized using surface maps based on Kriging algorithm

X Chromosome Inactivation and Differentiation Occur Readily in ES Cells Doubly-Deficient for MacroH2A1 and MacroH2A2

Macrohistones (mH2As) are unusual histone variants found exclusively in vertebrate chromatin. In mice, the H2afy gene encodes two splice variants, mH2A1.1 and mH2A1.2 and a second gene, H2afy2, encodes an additional mH2A2 protein. Both mH2A isoforms have been found enriched on the inactive X chromosome (Xi) in differentiated mammalian female cells, and are incorporated into the chromatin of developmentally-regulated genes. To investigate the functional significance of mH2A isoforms for X chromosome inactivation (XCI), we produced male and female embryonic stem cell (ESC) lines with stably-integrated shRNA constructs that simultaneously target both mH2A1 and mH2A2. Surprisingly, we find that female ESCs deficient for both mH2A1 and mH2A2 readily execute and maintain XCI upon differentiation. Furthermore, male and female mH2A-deficient ESCs proliferate normally under pluripotency culture conditions, and respond to several standard differentiation procedures efficiently. Our results show that XCI can readily proceed with substantially reduced total mH2A content

Alignment of the ALICE Inner Tracking System with cosmic-ray tracks

37 pages, 15 figures, revised version, accepted by JINSTALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) experiment devoted to investigating the strongly interacting matter created in nucleus-nucleus collisions at the LHC energies. The ALICE ITS, Inner Tracking System, consists of six cylindrical layers of silicon detectors with three different technologies; in the outward direction: two layers of pixel detectors, two layers each of drift, and strip detectors. The number of parameters to be determined in the spatial alignment of the 2198 sensor modules of the ITS is about 13,000. The target alignment precision is well below 10 micron in some cases (pixels). The sources of alignment information include survey measurements, and the reconstructed tracks from cosmic rays and from proton-proton collisions. The main track-based alignment method uses the Millepede global approach. An iterative local method was developed and used as well. We present the results obtained for the ITS alignment using about 10^5 charged tracks from cosmic rays that have been collected during summer 2008, with the ALICE solenoidal magnet switched off.Peer reviewe