Simulation of ion behavior in an open three-dimensional Paul trap using a power series method

Simulations of the dynamics of ions trapped in a Paul trap with terms in the potential up to the order 10 have been carried out. The power series method is used to solve numerically the equations of motion of the ions. The stability diagram has been studied and the buffer gas cooling has been implemented by a Monte Carlo method. The dipole excitation was also included. The method has been applied to an existing trap and it has shown good agreement with the experimental results and previous simulations using other methods

First Expert Elicitation of Knowledge on Drivers of Emergence of Bovine Besnoitiosis in Europe

Bovine besnoitiosis (BB) is a chronic and debilitating parasitic disease in cattle caused by the protozoan parasite Besnoitia besnoiti. South European countries are affected and have reported clinical cases of BB. However, BB is considered as emerging in other countries/regions of central, eastern and northern Europe. Yet, data on drivers of emergence of BB in Europe are scarce. In this study, fifty possible drivers of emergence of BB in cattle were identified. A scoring system was developed per driver. Then, the scoring was elicited from eleven recognized European experts to: (i) allocate a score to each driver, (ii) weight the score of drivers within each domain and (iii) weight the different domains among themselves. An overall weighted score was calculated per driver, and drivers were ranked in decreasing order of importance. Regression tree analysis was used to group drivers with comparable likelihoods to play a role in the emergence of BB in cattle in Europe. Finally, robustness testing of expert elicitation was performed for the seven drivers having the highest probability to play a key role in the emergence of BB: i.e., (i) legal/illegal movements of live animals from neighbouring/European Union member states or (ii) from third countries, (iii) risk of showing no clinical sign and silent spread during infection and post infection, (iv) as a consequence, difficulty to detect the emergence, (v) existence of vectors and their potential spread, (vi) European geographical proximity of the pathogen/disease to the country, and (vii) animal density of farms. Provided the limited scientific knowledge on the topic, expert elicitation of knowledge, multi-criteria decision analysis, cluster and sensitivity analyses are very important to prioritize future studies, e.g., the need for quantitative import risk assessment and estimation of the burden of BB to evidence and influence policymaking towards changing (or not) its status as a reportable disease, with prevention and control activities targeting, firstly, the top seven drivers. The present methodology could be applied to other emerging animal diseases

Paul trapping of radioactive 6He+ions and direct observation of their beta-decay

We demonstrate that abundant quantities of short-lived beta unstable ions can be trapped in a novel transparent Paul trap and that their decay products can directly be detected in coincidence. Low energy 6He+ (807 ms half-life) ions were extracted from the SPIRAL source at GANIL, then decelerated, cooled and bunched by means of the buffer gas cooling technique. More than 10^8 ions have been stored over a measuring period of six days and about 10^5 decay coincidences between the beta particles and the 6Li^{++} recoiling ions have been recorded. The technique can be extended to other short-lived species, opening new possibilities for trap assisted decay experiments.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys.Rev.Let

Study of β-delayed charged particle emission of 11Li: Evidence of new decay channels

5 pags., 3 figs. -- 9th International Conference on Clustering Aspects of Nuclear Structure and Dynamics (CLUSTERS'07) 3–7 September 2007, Stratford upon Avon, UKThe break-up of the 18.2 MeV state in 11Be was studied in a 11Li β-decay experiment. We report here on the study of the dominating breakup channels involving na6He or 3n2α in the final state, with special emphasis dedicated in this contribution to the three-particle channel. The two emitted charged particles were detected in coincidence using a highly segmented experimental set-up. The observed experimental energy-vs-energy scatter plot indicates a sequential breakup where nuclei of mass 4, alpha particles, and mass 7, 7He, are involved. A Monte-Carlo simulation of the sequential channel, 11Be* → α + 7He → nα6He was performed and compared to the experimental data and to a simulation of the direct break-up of the 18.2 MeV state nα6He by phase space energy distribution. The energy-versus-energy plot are explained by the sequential simulation but not by the phase space simulation. © 2008 IOP Publishing Ltd

Morphometrics as an Insight Into Processes Beyond Tooth Shape Variation in a Bank Vole Population

Phenotype variation is a key feature in evolution, being produced by development and the target of the screening by selection. We focus here on a variable morphological feature: the third upper molar (UM3) of the bank vole, aiming at identifying the sources of this variation. Size and shape of the UM3 occlusal surface was quantified in successive samples of a bank vole population. The first source of variation was the season of trapping, due to differences in the age structure of the population in turn affecting the wear of the teeth. The second direction of variation corresponded to the occurrence, or not, of an additional triangle on the tooth. This intra-specific variation was attributed to the space available at the posterior end of the UM3, allowing or not the addition of a further triangle.This size variation triggering the shape polymorphism is not controlled by the developmental cascade along the molar row. This suggests that other sources of size variation, possibly epigenetic, might be involved. They would trigger an important shape variation as side-effect by affecting the termination of the sequential addition of triangles on the tooth

Degree of tumour vascularity correlates with drug accumulation and tumour response upon TNF-α-based isolated hepatic perfusion

Isolated hepatic perfusion (IHP) with melphalan with or without tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) is currently performed in clinical trials in patients with hepatic metastases. Previous studies led to the hypothesis that the use of TNF-α in isolated limb perfusion causes specific destruction of tumour endothelial cells and thereby induces an increased permeability of tumour vasculature. However, whether TNF-α contributes to the therapeutic efficacy in IHP still remains unclear. In an in vivo rat liver metastas

Identification of valid housekeeping genes for quantitative RT-PCR analysis of cardiosphere-derived cells preconditioned under hypoxia or with prolyl-4-hydroxylase inhibitors

Infarction irreversibly damages the heart, with formation of an akinetic scar that may lead to heart failure. Endogenous cardiac stem cells (CSCs) are a promising candidate cell source for restoring lost tissue and thereby preventing heart failure. CSCs may be isolated in vitro, via the formation of cardiospheres, to give cardiosphere-derived cells (CDCs). Although qRT-PCR analyses of CDCs have been performed, no justification for the selection of the housekeeping gene has been published. Here, we evaluated the most suitable housekeeping gene for RNA expression analysis in CDCs cultured under normoxia, hypoxia or with prolyl-4-hydroxylase inhibitors (PHDIs), from both neonatal and adult rats, to determine the effects of ageing and different culture conditions on the stability of the housekeeping gene for CDCs. Six candidate housekeeping genes, [glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), beta-actin (Actb), hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase 1 (HPRT-1), beta-2-microtubulin (β2M), 60S acidic ribosomal protein large P1 (RPLP-1) and TATA box binding protein (Tbp)] were evaluated in this study. Analysis using geNorm and NormFinder revealed that GAPDH was the most constant housekeeping gene among all genes tested under normoxia for both neonatal and adult CDCs, whereas Actb was the most stable housekeeping gene under hypoxia. For the PHDI-treated CDCs, overall, GADPH, Actb and β2M were more consistently expressed, whereas HPRT-1, RPLP-1 and Tbp showed unstable expression. The ranking for β2M, HPRT-1 and RPLP-1 stability was different for neonatal and adult cells, indicating that expression of these genes was age-dependent. Lastly, independent of age or culture conditions, Tbp was the least stable housekeeping gene. In conclusion, a combination of Actb and GADPH gave the most reliable normalization for comparative analyses of gene transcription in neonatal and adult rat CDCs preconditioned by hypoxia or PHDIs

20 Years Experience of TNF-Based Isolated Limb Perfusion for In-Transit Melanoma Metastases: TNF Dose Matters

Background: Approximately 5-8% of melanoma patients will develop in-transit metastases (IT-mets). Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF) and melphalan-based isolated limb perfusion (TM-ILP) is an attractive treatment modality in melanoma patients with multiple IT-mets. This study reports on a 20 years experience and outlines the evolution and major changes since the introduction of TNF in ILP. Methods: A total of 167 TM-ILPs were performed in 148 patients, between 1991 and 2009. TM-ILPs were performed at high doses of TNF (3-4 mg) from 1991 to 2004 (n = 99) and at low doses of TNF (1-2 mg) from 2004 to 2009 (n = 68) under mild hyperthermic conditions (38°C-39.5°C.). Melphalan doses were unchanged at 10-13 mg/l (leg and arm, respectively). Characteristics for the 167 ILPs were