Metal chloride cathode for a battery

A method of fabricating a rechargeable battery is disclosed which includes a positive electrode which contains a chloride of a selected metal when the electrode is in its active state. The improvement comprises fabricating the positive electrode by: providing a porous matrix composed of a metal; providing a solution of the chloride of the selected metal; and impregnating the matrix with the chloride from the solution

Very high-energy gamma-ray signature of ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray acceleration in Centaurus A

The association of at least a dozen ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray (UHECR) events with energy $\gtrsim 55$ EeV detected by the Pierre Auger Observatory (PAO) from the direction of Centaurus-A, the nearest radio galaxy, supports the scenario of UHECR acceleration in the jets of radio galaxies. In this work, we model radio to very high energy (VHE,$\gtrsim 100$ \rm GeV) $\gamma$-ray emission from Cen A, including GeV hardness detected by Fermi-LAT and TeV emission detected by HESS. We consider two scenarios: (i) Two zone synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) and external-Compton (EC) models, (ii) Two zone SSC, EC and photo-hadronic emission from cosmic ray interactions. The GeV hardness observed by Fermi-LAT can be explained using these two scenarios, where zone 2 EC emission is very important. Hadronic emission in scenario (ii) can explain VHE data with the same spectral slope as obtained through fitting UHECRs from Cen A. The peak luminosity in cosmic ray proton at 1 TeV, to explain the VHE $\gamma$-ray data is $\approx 2.5 \times 10^{46}$ erg/s. The bolometric luminosity in cosmic ray protons is consistent with the luminosity required to explain the origin of 13 UHECR signal events that are correlated with Cen A.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRASL, Comments welcom

An Assessment of Farmers' Associations in Western Leyte, Philippines

The main purpose of this study was to assess Farmers' Associations in western Leyte, Philippines in terms of six viability indicators and six membership behavior factors. The specific objectives were: (1) to assess Farmers' Associations, in terms of six viability indicators, (2) to ascertain differences among Farmers' Associations in terms of six membership behavior factors, and (3) to determine problems of the Farmers' Associations as perceived by the members. Data collected from 120 members of the eight Farmers' Associations were analyzed using the following SPSS subprograms

Benchmarking B-Cell Epitope Prediction for the Design of Peptide-Based Vaccines: Problems and Prospects

To better support the design of peptide-based vaccines, refinement of methods to predict B-cell epitopes necessitates meaningful benchmarking against empirical data on the cross-reactivity of polyclonal antipeptide antibodies with proteins, such that the positive data reflect functionally relevant cross-reactivity (which is consistent with antibody-mediated change in protein function) and the negative data reflect genuine absence of cross-reactivity (rather than apparent absence of cross-reactivity due to artifactual masking of B-cell epitopes in immunoassays). These data are heterogeneous in view of multiple factors that complicate B-cell epitope prediction, notably physicochemical factors that define key structural differences between immunizing peptides and their cognate proteins (e.g., unmatched electrical charges along the peptide-protein sequence alignments). If the data are partitioned with respect to these factors, iterative parallel benchmarking against the resulting subsets of data provides a basis for systematically identifying and addressing the limitations of methods for B-cell epitope prediction as applied to vaccine design

Imaging and mapping the impact of clouds on skyglow with all-sky photometry

Artificial skyglow is constantly growing on a global scale, with potential ecological consequences ranging up to affecting biodiversity. To understand these consequences, worldwide mapping of skyglow for all weather conditions is urgently required. In particular, the amplification of skyglow by clouds needs to be studied, as clouds can extend the reach of skyglow into remote areas not affected by light pollution on clear nights. Here we use commercial digital single lens reflex cameras with fisheye lenses for all-sky photometry. We track the reach of skyglow from a peri-urban into a remote area on a clear and a partly cloudy night by performing transects from the Spanish town of Balaguer towards Montsec Astronomical Park. From one single all-sky image, we extract zenith luminance, horizontal and scalar illuminance. While zenith luminance reaches near-natural levels at 5km distance from the town on the clear night, similar levels are only reached at 27km on the partly cloudy night. Our results show the dramatic increase of the reach of skyglow even for moderate cloud coverage at this site. The powerful and easy-to-use method promises to be widely applicable for studies of ecological light pollution on a global scale also by non-specialists in photometry.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figure

Eiger triggers death from afar

Cells undergoing programmed cell death release signals that can trigger the death of cells at remote locations.Peer Reviewe