Asymmetric injection of cathodic arc plasma into a macroparticle filter

The cathodic arc plasmas produced by cathode spots usually include macroparticles, which is undesirable for many applications. A common way of removing macroparticles is to use curved solenoid filters which guide the plasma from the source to the substrate. In this work, an arc source with relatively small cathode is used, limiting the possible locations of plasma production. The relative position of cathodic arc source and macroparticle filtered was systematically varied and the filtered plasma current was recorded. It was found that axis-symmetric plasma injection leads to maximum throughput only if an anode aperture was used, which limited the plasma to near-axis flow by scraping off plasma at larger angles to the axis. When the anode aperture was removed, more plasma could enter the filter. In this case, maximum filtered ion current was achieved when the plasma was injected off-axis, namely offset in the direction where the filter is curved. Such behavior was anticipated because the plasma column in the filter is known to be shifted by ExB and centrifugal drift as well as by non-axis-symmetric components of the magnetic field in the filter entrance and exit plane. The data have implications for plasma transport variations caused by different spot locations on cathodes that are not small compared to the filter cross section

Enrichment of SARS-CoV-2 sequence from nasopharyngeal swabs whilst identifying the nasal microbiome

Simultaneously characterising the genomic information of coronaviruses and the underlying nasal microbiome from a single clinical sample would help characterise infection and disease. Metatranscriptomic approaches can be used to sequence SARS-CoV-2 (and other coronaviruses) and identify mRNAs associated with active transcription in the nasal microbiome. However, given the large sequence background, unenriched metatranscriptomic approaches often do not sequence SARS-CoV-2 to sufficient read and coverage depth to obtain a consensus genome, especially with moderate and low viral loads from clinical samples. In this study, various enrichment methods were assessed to detect SARS-CoV-2, identify lineages and define the nasal microbiome. The methods were underpinned by Oxford Nanopore long-read sequencing and variations of sequence independent single primer amplification (SISPA). The utility of the method(s) was also validated on samples from patients infected seasonal coronaviruses. The feasibility of profiling the nasal microbiome using these enrichment methods was explored. The findings shed light on the performance of different enrichment strategies and their applicability in characterising the composition of the nasal microbiome

Asymmetric Injection of Cathodic Arc Plasma into a Macroparticle Filter Asymmetric Injection of Cathodic Arc Plasma into a Macroparticle Filter

ABSTRACT The cathodic arc plasmas produced by cathode spots usually include macroparticles, which is undesirable for many applications. A common way of removing macroparticles is to use curved solenoid filters which guide the plasma from the source to the substrate. In this work, an arc source with relatively small cathode is used, limiting the possible locations of plasma production. The relative position of cathodic arc source and macroparticle filtered was systematically varied and the filtered plasma current was recorded. It was found that axis-symmetric plasma injection leads to maximum throughput only if an anode aperture was used, which limited the plasma to near-axis flow by scraping off plasma at larger angles to the axis. When the anode aperture was removed, more plasma could enter the filter. In this case, maximum filtered ion current was achieved when the plasma was injected off-axis, namely offset in the direction where the filter is curved. Such behavior was anticipated because the plasma column in the filter is known to be shifted by ExB and centrifugal drift as well as by non-axissymmetric components of the magnetic field in the filter entrance and exit plane. The data have implications for plasma transport variations caused by different spot locations on cathodes that are not small compared to the filter cross section

Design and characterization of a neutralized-transport experiment for heavy-ion fusion

In heavy-ion inertial-confinement fusion systems, intense beams of ions must be transported from the exit of the final-focus magnet system through the fusion chamber to hit spots on the target with radii of about 2 mm. For the heavy-ion-fusion power-plant scenarios presently favored in the U.S., a substantial fraction of the ion-beam space charge must be neutralized during this final transport. The most effective neutralization technique found in numerical simulations is to pass each beam through a low-density plasma after the final focusing. To provide quantitative comparisons of these theoretical predictions with experiment, the Virtual National Laboratory for Heavy Ion Fusion has completed the construction and has begun experimentation with the neutralized-transport experiment. The experiment consists of three main sections, each with its own physics issues. The injector is designed to generate a very high-brightness, space-charge-dominated potassium beam, while still allowing variable perveance by a beam aperturing technique. The magnetic-focusing section, consisting of four pulsed quadrupoles, permits the study of magnet tuning, as well as the effects of phase-space dilution due to higher-order nonlinear fields. In the final section, the converging ion beam exiting the magnetic section is transported through a drift region with plasma sources for beam neutralization, and the final spot size is measured under various conditions of neutralization. In this paper, we discuss the design and characterization of the three sections in detail and present initial results from the experiment

Intraamniotic Zika virus inoculation of pregnant rhesus macaques produces fetal neurologic disease.

Zika virus (ZIKV) infection of pregnant women can cause fetal microcephaly and other neurologic defects. We describe the development of a non-human primate model to better understand fetal pathogenesis. To reliably induce fetal infection at defined times, four pregnant rhesus macaques are inoculated intravenously and intraamniotically with ZIKV at gestational day (GD) 41, 50, 64, or 90, corresponding to first and second trimester of gestation. The GD41-inoculated animal, experiencing fetal death 7 days later, has high virus levels in fetal and placental tissues, implicating ZIKV as cause of death. The other three fetuses are carried to near term and euthanized; while none display gross microcephaly, all show ZIKV RNA in many tissues, especially in the brain, which exhibits calcifications and reduced neural precursor cells. Given that this model consistently recapitulates neurologic defects of human congenital Zika syndrome, it is highly relevant to unravel determinants of fetal neuropathogenesis and to explore interventions

Intraamniotic Zika virus inoculation of pregnant rhesus macaques produces fetal neurologic disease.

Zika virus (ZIKV) infection of pregnant women can cause fetal microcephaly and other neurologic defects. We describe the development of a non-human primate model to better understand fetal pathogenesis. To reliably induce fetal infection at defined times, four pregnant rhesus macaques are inoculated intravenously and intraamniotically with ZIKV at gestational day (GD) 41, 50, 64, or 90, corresponding to first and second trimester of gestation. The GD41-inoculated animal, experiencing fetal death 7 days later, has high virus levels in fetal and placental tissues, implicating ZIKV as cause of death. The other three fetuses are carried to near term and euthanized; while none display gross microcephaly, all show ZIKV RNA in many tissues, especially in the brain, which exhibits calcifications and reduced neural precursor cells. Given that this model consistently recapitulates neurologic defects of human congenital Zika syndrome, it is highly relevant to unravel determinants of fetal neuropathogenesis and to explore interventions

When Robert E. Park Was (Re)Writing ‘The City’: Biography, the Social Survey and the Science of Sociology

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe