R&D ERL: HTS Solenoid

An innovative feature of the ERL project is the use of a solenoid made with High Temperature Superconductor (HTS) with the Superconducting RF cavity. The HTS solenoid design offers many advantages because of several unique design features. Typically the solenoid is placed outside the cryostat which means that the beam gets significantly defused before a focusing element starts. In the current design, the solenoid is placed inside the cryostat which provides an early focusing structure and thus a significant reduction in the emittance of the electron beam. In addition, taking full advantage of the high critical temperature of HTS, the solenoid has been designed to reach the required field at {approx}77 K, which can be obtained with liquid nitrogen. This significantly reduces the cost of testing and allows a variety of critical pre-tests which would have been prohibitively expensive at 4 K in liquid helium because of the additional requirements of cryostat and associated facilities

The Landmarks of Federal Hill: The Pushcart Struggle 1930-1942 (Part IV)

https://digitalcommons.ric.edu/jm_newspaper_columns/1001/thumbnail.jp

The Landmarks of Federal Hill: Historical Broadway Armory

As we mentioned in our previous article, we would give in further detail, the inventory of those structures which are, or have been, proposed to be registered on the National Register of Historic Places, in the Broadway-Armory Historic District. The following is a list of those homes by street names and addresses.https://digitalcommons.ric.edu/jm_newspaper_columns/1018/thumbnail.jp

Nitrogen and Hydrogen Plasma Treatments of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes

This article investigates plasma treatment of vertically aligned multiwall carbon nanotube (CNT) films in different plasma environments for modification of surface chemistry and morphology. The surfaces of the CNTs were functionalized with a pulsed dc plasma treatment, where the power was directly applied to the nanotube film in low pressure argon/nitrogen and argon/hydrogen backgrounds. Optical emission spectroscopy was used to detect atomic and molecular excitations in the gas mixtures as well as in pure gases in the vicinity of the CNT films. In situx-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was performed on the treated samples to examine CNT surface chemistry after treatment. The analysis of CNT films after nitrogen and hydrogen treatment indicated formation of both C-N and C-H bonds, respectively. Correlations of the plasma characteristics to the surface chemistry and morphology of the CNT surfaces are discussed

Etching with Electron Beam Generated Plasmas

A modulated electron beam generated plasma has been used to dry etch standard photoresist materials and silicon. Oxygen–argon mixtures were used to etch organic resist material and sulfur hexafluoride mixed with argon or oxygen was used for the silicon etching. Etch rates and anisotropy were determined with respect to gas compositions, incident ion energy (from an applied rf bias) and plasma duty factor. For 1818 negative resist and i-line resists the removal rate increased nearly linearly with ion energy (up to 220 nm/min at 100 eV), with reasonable anisotropic pattern transfer above 50 eV. Little change in etch rate was seen as gas composition went from pure oxygen to 70% argon, implying the resist removal mechanism in this system required the additional energy supplied by the ions. With silicon substrates at room temperature, mixtures of argon and sulfur hexafluoride etched approximately seven times faster (1375 nm/min) than mixtures of oxygen and sulfur hexafluoride (,200 nm/min) with 200 eV ions, the difference is attributed to the passivation of the silicon by involatile silicon oxyfluoride sSiOxFyd compounds. At low incident ion energies, the Ar–SF6 mixtures showed a strong chemical (lateral) etch component before an ion-assisted regime, which started at ,75 eV. Etch rates were independent of the 0.5%–50% duty factors studied in this work

A primer for microbiome time-series analysis

© The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Coenen, A. R., Hu, S. K., Luo, E., Muratore, D., & Weitz, J. S. A primer for microbiome time-series analysis. Frontiers in Genetics, 11, (2020): 310, doi:10.3389/fgene.2020.00310.Time-series can provide critical insights into the structure and function of microbial communities. The analysis of temporal data warrants statistical considerations, distinct from comparative microbiome studies, to address ecological questions. This primer identifies unique challenges and approaches for analyzing microbiome time-series. In doing so, we focus on (1) identifying compositionally similar samples, (2) inferring putative interactions among populations, and (3) detecting periodic signals. We connect theory, code and data via a series of hands-on modules with a motivating biological question centered on marine microbial ecology. The topics of the modules include characterizing shifts in community structure and activity, identifying expression levels with a diel periodic signal, and identifying putative interactions within a complex community. Modules are presented as self-contained, open-access, interactive tutorials in R and Matlab. Throughout, we highlight statistical considerations for dealing with autocorrelated and compositional data, with an eye to improving the robustness of inferences from microbiome time-series. In doing so, we hope that this primer helps to broaden the use of time-series analytic methods within the microbial ecology research community.This work was supported by the Simons Foundation (SCOPE award ID 329108) and the National Science Foundation (NSF Bio Oc 1829636)

Etching with Electron Beam Generated Plasmas

A modulated electron beam generated plasma has been used to dry etch standard photoresist materials and silicon. Oxygen–argon mixtures were used to etch organic resist material and sulfur hexafluoride mixed with argon or oxygen was used for the silicon etching. Etch rates and anisotropy were determined with respect to gas compositions, incident ion energy (from an applied rf bias) and plasma duty factor. For 1818 negative resist and i-line resists the removal rate increased nearly linearly with ion energy (up to 220 nm/min at 100 eV), with reasonable anisotropic pattern transfer above 50 eV. Little change in etch rate was seen as gas composition went from pure oxygen to 70% argon, implying the resist removal mechanism in this system required the additional energy supplied by the ions. With silicon substrates at room temperature, mixtures of argon and sulfur hexafluoride etched approximately seven times faster (1375 nm/min) than mixtures of oxygen and sulfur hexafluoride (,200 nm/min) with 200 eV ions, the difference is attributed to the passivation of the silicon by involatile silicon oxyfluoride sSiOxFyd compounds. At low incident ion energies, the Ar–SF6 mixtures showed a strong chemical (lateral) etch component before an ion-assisted regime, which started at ,75 eV. Etch rates were independent of the 0.5%–50% duty factors studied in this work

Boundary layers in stochastic thermodynamics

We study the problem of optimizing released heat or dissipated work in stochastic thermodynamics. In the overdamped limit these functionals have singular solutions, previously interpreted as protocol jumps. We show that a regularization, penalizing a properly defined acceleration, changes the jumps into boundary layers of finite width. We show that in the limit of vanishing boundary layer width no heat is dissipated in the boundary layer, while work can be done. We further give a new interpretation of the fact that the optimal protocols in the overdamped limit are given by optimal deterministic transport (Burgers equation).Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure

A novel PIEZO1 mutation in a patient with dehydrated hereditary stomatocytosis: A case report and a brief review of literature

open7noThis work was supported by EHA Junior Research Grant to Immacolata Andolfo (3978026), and by Bando Star Linea 1 - JUNIOR PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR GRANTS - COINOR, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II to Roberta Russo.Background: Dehydrated hereditary stomatocytosis (DHS) or hereditary xerocytosis is a rare, autosomal dominant hemolytic anemia characterized by macrocytosis, presence of stomatocytes and dehydration of red blood cells (RBCs). The dehydration is caused by a defect in cellular cation content. The most frequent expression of the pathology is hemolytic well-compensated anemia with high reticulocyte count, a tendency to macrocytosis, increased mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) and mild jaundice. We here describe a new mutation of PIEZO1 gene, the most frequent mutated gene in DHS, in a family affected by hereditary hemolytic anemia. Case presentation: We describe the case of a 12-years-old girl with well-compensated chronic hemolysis, increased MCHC and a father who had the same hematological characteristics. After excluding secondary causes of chronic hemolysis and enzymatic defects of the RBCs, microscopic observation of the peripheral blood smear, tests of RBC lysis, ektacytometry, SDS-PAGE and in last instance genetic analysis has been performed. This complex diagnostic workup identified a new variant in the PIEZO1 gene, never described in literature, causative of DHS. This pathogenetic variant was also detected in the father. Conclusions: This case report highlights the importance of a correct and exhaustive diagnostic-workup in patients with clinical suspicious for hemolytic anemia in order to make a differential diagnosis. This is relevant for the management of these patients because splenectomy is contraindicated in DHS due to high thrombotic risk.openZama D.; Giulietti G.; Muratore E.; Andolfo I.; Russo R.; Iolascon A.; Pession A.Zama D.; Giulietti G.; Muratore E.; Andolfo I.; Russo R.; Iolascon A.; Pession A

Subclinical giant cell arteritis in polymyalgia rheumatica: Concurrent conditions or a common spectrum of inflammatory diseases?

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) and polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) are common conditions in older adults. Their clinical connection has been recognized over time, with many patients experiencing both conditions separately, simultaneously or in temporal sequence to each other. Early GCA detection is essential to prevent vascular damage, but identifying subclinical GCA in PMR patients remains a challenge and routine screening is not standard practice. Subclinical GCA prevalence in newly diagnosed PMR patients ranges from 23 to 29%, depending on the screening method. Vessel wall imaging and temporal artery biopsy can detect subclinical GCA. Epidemiology and trigger factors show similarities between the two conditions, but PMR is more common than GCA. Genetic and pathogenesis studies reveal shared inflammatory mechanisms involving dendritic cells, pro-inflammatory macrophages, and an IL-6 signature. However, the inflammatory infiltrates differ, with extensive T cell infiltrates seen in GCA while PMR shows an incomplete profile of T cell and macrophage-derived cytokines. Glucocorticoid treatment is effective for both conditions, but the steroid requirements vary. PMR overall mortality might be similar to the general population, while GCA patients with aortic inflammatory aneurysms face increased mortality risk. The GCA-PMR association warrants further research. Considering their kinship, recently the term GCA-PMR Spectrum Disease (GPSD) has been proposed