Spectral Signatures of Hydrogen Thioperoxide (HOSH) and Hydrogen Persulfide (HSSH): Possible Molecular Sulfur Sinks in the Dense ISM

For decades, sulfur has remained underdetected in molecular form within the dense interstellar medium (ISM), and somewhere a molecular sulfur sink exists where it may be hiding. With the discovery of hydrogen peroxide (HOOH) in the ISM in 2011, a natural starting point may be found in sulfur-bearing analogs that are chemically similar to HOOH: hydrogen thioperoxide (HOSH) and hydrogen persulfide (HSSH). The present theoretical study couples the accuracy in the anharmonic fundamental vibrational frequencies from the explicitly correlated coupled cluster theory with the accurate rotational constants provided by canonical high-level coupled cluster theory to produce rovibrational spectra for use in the potential observation of HOSH and HSSH. The ν6 mode for HSSH at 886.1 cm−1 is within 0.2 cm−1 of the gas-phase experiment, and the B0 rotational constant for HSSH of 6979.5 MHz is within 9.0 MHz of the experimental benchmarks, implying that the unknown spectral features (such as the first overtones and combination bands) provided herein are similarly accurate. Notably, a previous experimentally-attributed 2ν1 mode, at 7041.8 cm−1, has been reassigned to the ν1 + ν5 combination band based on the present work’s ν1 + ν5 value at 7034.3 cm−1. The most intense vibrational transitions for each molecule are the torsions, with HOSH having a more intense transition of 72 km/mol compared to HSSH’s intensity of 14 km/mol. Furthermore, HOSH has a larger net dipole moment of 1.60 D compared to HSSH’s 1.15 D. While HOSH may be the more likely candidate of the two for possible astronomical observation via vibrational spectroscopy due to the notable difference in their intensities, both HSSH and HOSH have large enough net dipole moments to be detectable by rotational spectroscopy to discover the role these molecules may have as possible molecular sulfur sinks in the dense ISM

Rapid analytical methods for the microalgal and cyanobacterial biorefinery: application on strains of industrial importance.

To realise the potential of microalgae in the biorefinery context, exploitation of multiple products is necessary for profitability and for bioproduct valorisation. Appropriate analytical tools are required for growth optimisation, culture monitoring and quality control purposes, with safe, low-tech and low-cost solutions favourable. Rapid, high-throughput and user-friendly methodologies were devised for a) determination phycobiliproteins, chlorophylls, carotenoids, proteins, carbohydrates and lipids and b) qualitative and quantitative carotenoid profiling using UPLC-PDA-MSE. The complimentary methods were applied on 11 commercially important microalgal strains including Prasinophytes, Haptophytes and cyanobacteria, highlighting the suitability of some strains for coproduct exploitation and the methods utility for research and industrial biotechnology applications. The UPLC method allowed separation of 41 different carotenoid compounds in < 15 minutes. Simple techniques are described for further quantification and comparison of pigment profiles, allowing for easy strain selection and optimisation for pigment production, with suitability for biotechnological or biomedical applications

Recategorization of Video Game Genres

While the categories that are typically used to discriminate games have been useful in the past, more recently game mechanics have become utilized by a wider range of games, leading to earlier definitions becoming a less valuable categorization tool. This paper attempts to provide various ways games could be classified by focusing on the types of emotions they evoke, the skills they require or their relations with personality or cognitive variables. A description of those categories and the challenge in using them to define games is outlined as well as five alternate methods that may help make distinctions between games clearer

Gene Expression Profiling of Bronchoalveolar Lavage Cells Preceding a Clinical Diagnosis of Chronic Lung Allograft Dysfunction.

BackgroundChronic Lung Allograft Dysfunction (CLAD) is the main limitation to long-term survival after lung transplantation. Although CLAD is usually not responsive to treatment, earlier identification may improve treatment prospects.MethodsIn a nested case control study, 1-year post transplant surveillance bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid samples were obtained from incipient CLAD (n = 9) and CLAD free (n = 8) lung transplant recipients. Incipient CLAD cases were diagnosed with CLAD within 2 years, while controls were free from CLAD for at least 4 years following bronchoscopy. Transcription profiles in the BAL cell pellets were assayed with the HG-U133 Plus 2.0 microarray (Affymetrix). Differential gene expression analysis, based on an absolute fold change (incipient CLAD vs no CLAD) &gt;2.0 and an unadjusted p-value ≤0.05, generated a candidate list containing 55 differentially expressed probe sets (51 up-regulated, 4 down-regulated).ResultsThe cell pellets in incipient CLAD cases were skewed toward immune response pathways, dominated by genes related to recruitment, retention, activation and proliferation of cytotoxic lymphocytes (CD8+ T-cells and natural killer cells). Both hierarchical clustering and a supervised machine learning tool were able to correctly categorize most samples (82.3% and 94.1% respectively) into incipient CLAD and CLAD-free categories.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that a pathobiology, similar to AR, precedes a clinical diagnosis of CLAD. A larger prospective investigation of the BAL cell pellet transcriptome as a biomarker for CLAD risk stratification is warranted

Status of Muon Collider Research and Development and Future Plans

The status of the research on muon colliders is discussed and plans are outlined for future theoretical and experimental studies. Besides continued work on the parameters of a 3-4 and 0.5 TeV center-of-mass (CoM) energy collider, many studies are now concentrating on a machine near 0.1 TeV (CoM) that could be a factory for the s-channel production of Higgs particles. We discuss the research on the various components in such muon colliders, starting from the proton accelerator needed to generate pions from a heavy-Z target and proceeding through the phase rotation and decay ($\pi \to \mu \nu_{\mu}$) channel, muon cooling, acceleration, storage in a collider ring and the collider detector. We also present theoretical and experimental R & D plans for the next several years that should lead to a better understanding of the design and feasibility issues for all of the components. This report is an update of the progress on the R & D since the Feasibility Study of Muon Colliders presented at the Snowmass'96 Workshop [R. B. Palmer, A. Sessler and A. Tollestrup, Proceedings of the 1996 DPF/DPB Summer Study on High-Energy Physics (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Menlo Park, CA, 1997)].Comment: 95 pages, 75 figures. Submitted to Physical Review Special Topics, Accelerators and Beam

Ice-Dammed Lake Drainage Evolution at Russell Glacier, West Greenland

KEY POINTS/HIGHLIGHTSTwo rapid ice-dammed lake drainage events gauged and ice dam geometry measured.A melt enlargement model is developed to examine the evolution of drainage mechanism(s).Lake temperature dominated conduit melt enlargement and we hypothesize a flotation trigger.Glaciological and hydraulic factors that control the timing and mechanisms of glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs) remain poorly understood. This study used measurements of lake level at 15 min intervals and known lake bathymetry to calculate lake outflow during two GLOF events from the northern margin of Russell Glacier, west Greenland. We used measured ice surface elevation, interpolated subglacial topography and likely conduit geometry to inform a melt enlargement model of the outburst evolution. The model was tuned to best-fit the hydrograph rising limb and timing of peak discharge in both events; it achieved Mean Absolute Errors of &lt;5%. About one third of the way through the rising limb, conduit melt enlargement became the dominant drainage mechanism. Lake water temperature, which strongly governed the enlargement rate, preconditioned the high peak discharge and short duration of these floods. We hypothesize that both GLOFs were triggered by ice dam flotation, and localized hydraulic jacking sustained most of their early-stage outflow, explaining the particularly rapid water egress in comparison to that recorded at other ice-marginal lakes. As ice overburden pressure relative to lake water hydraulic head diminished, flow became confined to a subglacial conduit. This study has emphasized the inter-play between ice dam thickness and lake level, drainage timing, lake water temperature and consequently rising stage lake outflow and flood evolution