SIMSISAK - a Method to Model Nuclide Transport in the SISAK System

A computer model that calculates the transport yield of a nuclide through an arbitrary SISAK experimental set-up has been developed. The model is intended to be used for two types of calculations connected to chemical studies of the heaviest elements. If the production cross section and the nuclide half-life are known, it can be used to estimate the number of decay events to be expected at the detection site. Consequently, if the number of atoms decaying in the detection cells is known, it can be used to estimate the production cross section or the half-life, provided that one of these properties is known

Direct detection of the Th-229 nuclear clock transition

Today’s most precise time and frequency measurements are performed with optical atomic clocks. However, it has been proposed that they could potentially be outperformed by a nuclear clock, which employs a nuclear transition instead of an atomic shell transition. There is only one known nuclear state that could serve as a nuclear clock using currently available technology, namely, the isomeric first excited state of 229Th (denoted 229mTh). Here we report the direct detection of this nuclear state, which is further confirmation of the existence of the isomer and lays the foundation for precise studies of its decay parameters. On the basis of this direct detection, the isomeric energy is constrained to between 6.3 and 18.3 electronvolts, and the half-life is found to be longer than 60 seconds for 229mTh2+. More precise determinations appear to be within reach, and would pave the way to the development of a nuclear frequency standard.status: publishe

Direct detection of the 229^{229}Th nuclear clock transition

Today's most precise time and frequency measurements are performed with optical atomic clocks. However, it has been proposed that they could potentially be outperformed by a nuclear clock, which employs a nuclear transition instead of the atomic shell transitions used so far. By today there is only one nuclear state known which could serve for a nuclear clock using currently available technology, which is the isomeric first excited state in $^{229}$Th. Here we report the direct detection of this nuclear state, which is a further confirmation of the isomer's existence and lays the foundation for precise studies of the isomer's decay parameters. Based on this direct detection the isomeric energy is constrained to lie between 6.3 and 18.3 eV, and the half-life is found to be longer than 60 s for $^{229\mathrm{m}}$Th$^{2+}$. More precise determinations appear in reach and will pave the way for the development of a nuclear frequency standard

The KMT2A recombinome of acute leukemias in 2023

Chromosomal rearrangements of the human KMT2A/MLL gene are associated with de novo as well as therapy-induced infant, pediatric, and adult acute leukemias. Here, we present the data obtained from 3401 acute leukemia patients that have been analyzed between 2003 and 2022. Genomic breakpoints within the KMT2A gene and the involved translocation partner genes (TPGs) and KMT2A-partial tandem duplications (PTDs) were determined. Including the published data from the literature, a total of 107 in-frame KMT2A gene fusions have been identified so far. Further 16 rearrangements were out-of-frame fusions, 18 patients had no partner gene fused to 5'-KMT2A, two patients had a 5'-KMT2A deletion, and one ETV6::RUNX1 patient had an KMT2A insertion at the breakpoint. The seven most frequent TPGs and PTDs account for more than 90% of all recombinations of the KMT2A, 37 occur recurrently and 63 were identified so far only once. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the KMT2A recombinome in acute leukemia patients. Besides the scientific gain of information, genomic breakpoint sequences of these patients were used to monitor minimal residual disease (MRD). Thus, this work may be directly translated from the bench to the bedside of patients and meet the clinical needs to improve patient survival

Population responses of bird populations to climate change on two continents vary with species’ ecological traits but not with direction of change in climate suitability

Climate change is a major global threat to biodiversity with widespread impacts on ecological communities. Evidence for beneficial impacts on populations is perceived to be stronger and more plentiful than that for negative impacts, but few studies have investigated this apparent disparity, or how ecological factors affect population responses to climatic change. We examined the strength of the relationship between species-specific regional population changes and climate suitability trends (CST), using 30-year datasets of population change for 525 breeding bird species in Europe and the USA. These data indicate a consistent positive relationship between population trend and CST across the two continents. Importantly, we found no evidence that this positive relationship differs between species expected to be negatively and positively impacted across the entire taxonomic group, suggesting that climate change is causing equally strong, quantifiable population increases and declines. Species’ responses to changing climatic suitability varied with ecological traits, however, particularly breeding habitat preference and body mass. Species associated with inland wetlands responded most strongly and consistently to recent climatic change. In Europe, smaller species also appeared to respond more strongly, while the relationship with body mass was less clear-cut for North American birds. Overall, our results identify the role of certain traits in modulating responses to climate change and emphasise the importance of long-term data on abundance for detecting large-scale species’ responses to environmental changes

Nuclear moments and isotope shifts of the actinide isotopes <math><mmultiscripts><mi>Cf</mi><mprescripts/><none/><mrow><mn>249</mn><mtext>–</mtext><mn>253</mn></mrow></mmultiscripts></math> probed by laser spectroscopy

International audienceWe report on high-resolution laser spectroscopy studies on Cf249–253 with spectral linewidths in the order of 100 MHz carried out at the RISIKO mass separator at Mainz University. In total three atomic ground-state transitions were investigated and the hyperfine parameters for the odd-A isotopes and isotope shift for all examined isotopes have been determined from the measured spectra. The isotope shift measurements allowed tracking of changes in mean-squared charge radii across the deformed nuclear shell closure at N=152, whereby shape discontinuities were not observed. Experimental hyperfine coupling constants of the atomic ground state were combined with relativistic many-body atomic calculations to extract the nuclear magnetic-dipole moment of Cf249 with improved precision to μI(249Cf)=−0.395(17)μN, whereas μI(251Cf)=−0.571(24)μN and μI(253Cf)=−0.731(35)μN were derived for the first time. Additionally, the spectroscopic quadrupole moments QS(249Cf)=6.27(33)eb and QS(253Cf)=5.53(51)eb were extracted