Determination of the eta'-proton scattering length in free space

Taking advantage of both the high mass resolution of the COSY-11 detector and the high energy resolution of the low-emittance proton-beam of the Cooler Synchrotron COSY we determine the excitation function for the pp --> pp eta' reaction close-to-threshold. Combining these data with previous results we extract the scattering length for the eta'-proton potential in free space to be Re(a_{p eta'}) = 0+-0.43 fm and Im(a_{p eta'}) = 0.37(+0.40)(-0.16) fm.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

General thoughts to the Kaon pair production in the threshold region

Simple--minded thoughts about the cross sections for the reactions pp-->ppK+K- and pp-->ppK0K0 are presented, which certainly do not account for the complex coupled channel problem but rather provide some ideas into the mutual reaction dynamics.Comment: Talk given at 9th International Workshop on Meson Production, Properties and Interaction, Cracow, Poland, 9-13 June 2006. 3 pages, 2 figure

Dynamics of the near threshold eta meson production in proton-proton interaction

We present the results of measurements of the analysing power for the p(pol)p --> pp eta reaction at the excess energies of Q=10 and 36 MeV, and interpret these results within the framework of the meson exchange models. The determined values of the analysing power at both excess energies are consistent with zero implying that the eta meson is produced predominantly in s-wave.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, Presented at the Workshop on the physics of excited nucleons (NSTAR 2007), 5-8 September 2007, Bonn, German

Additive Manufacturing Under Lunar Gravity and Microgravity

Mankind is setting to colonize space, for which the manufacturing of habitats, tools, spare parts and other infrastructure is required. Commercial manufacturing processes are already well engineered under standard conditions on Earth, which means under Earth’s gravity and atmosphere. Based on the literature review, additive manufacturing under lunar and other space gravitational conditions have only been researched to a very limited extent. Especially, additive manufacturing offers many advantages, as it can produce complex structures while saving resources. The materials used do not have to be taken along on the mission, they can even be mined and processed on-site. The Einstein-Elevator offers a unique test environment for experiments under different gravitational conditions. Laser experiments on selectively melting regolith simulant are successfully conducted under lunar gravity and microgravity. The created samples are characterized in terms of their geometry, mass and porosity. These experiments are the first additive manufacturing tests under lunar gravity worldwide

Membrane association and remodeling by intraflagellar transport protein IFT172.

The cilium is an organelle used for motility and cellular signaling. Intraflagellar transport (IFT) is a process to move ciliary building blocks and signaling components into the cilium. How IFT controls the movement of ciliary components is currently poorly understood. IFT172 is the largest IFT subunit essential for ciliogenesis. Due to its large size, the characterization of IFT172 has been challenging. Using giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs), we show that IFT172 is a membrane-interacting protein with the ability to remodel large membranes into small vesicles. Purified IFT172 has an architecture of two globular domains with a long rod-like protrusion, resembling the domain organization of coatomer proteins such as COPI-II or clathrin. IFT172 adopts two different conformations that can be manipulated by lipids or detergents: 1) an extended elongated conformation and 2) a globular closed architecture. Interestingly, the association of IFT172 with membranes is mutually exclusive with IFT57, implicating multiple functions for IFT172 within IFT

Generalized Dalitz Plot analysis of the near threshold pp-->ppK+K- reaction in view of the K+K- final state interaction

The excitation function for the $pp\to ppK^+K^-$ reaction revealed a significant enhancement close to threshold which may plausibly be assigned to the influence of the $pK^-$ and $K^+K^-$ final state interactions. In an improved reanalysis of COSY-11 data for the $pp\to ppK^+K^-$ reaction at excess energies of Q = 10 MeV and 28 MeV including the proton-K- interaction the enhancement is confirmed. Invariant mass distributions for the two- and three-particle subsystems allow to test at low excess energies the ansatz and parameters for the description of the interaction in the ppK+K- system as derived from the COSY-ANKE data. Finally, based for the first time on the low energy K+K- invariant mass distributions and the generalized Dalitz plot analysis, we estimate the scattering length for the K+K- interaction to be |Re(a_K^+K^-)| = 0.5 + 4.0 -0.5 fm and Im(a_K^+K^-) = 3.0 +- 3.0 fm.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.

CTCF loss has limited effects on global genome architecture in Drosophila despite critical regulatory functions.

Vertebrate genomes are partitioned into contact domains defined by enhanced internal contact frequency and formed by two principal mechanisms: compartmentalization of transcriptionally active and inactive domains, and stalling of chromosomal loop-extruding cohesin by CTCF bound at domain boundaries. While Drosophila has widespread contact domains and CTCF, it is currently unclear whether CTCF-dependent domains exist in flies. We genetically ablate CTCF in Drosophila and examine impacts on genome folding and transcriptional regulation in the central nervous system. We find that CTCF is required to form a small fraction of all domain boundaries, while critically controlling expression patterns of certain genes and supporting nervous system function. We also find that CTCF recruits the pervasive boundary-associated factor Cp190 to CTCF-occupied boundaries and co-regulates a subset of genes near boundaries together with Cp190. These results highlight a profound difference in CTCF-requirement for genome folding in flies and vertebrates, in which a large fraction of boundaries are CTCF-dependent and suggest that CTCF has played mutable roles in genome architecture and direct gene expression control during metazoan evolution

Refined high-content imaging-based phenotypic drug screening in zebrafish xenografts

Zebrafish xenotransplantation models are increasingly applied for phenotypic drug screening to identify small compounds for precision oncology. Larval zebrafish xenografts offer the opportunity to perform drug screens at high-throughput in a complex in vivo environment. However, the full potential of the larval zebrafish xenograft model has not yet been realized and several steps of the drug screening workflow still await automation to increase throughput. Here, we present a robust workflow for drug screening in zebrafish xenografts using high-content imaging. We established embedding methods for high-content imaging of xenografts in 96-well format over consecutive days. In addition, we provide strategies for automated imaging and analysis of zebrafish xenografts including automated tumor cell detection and tumor size analysis over time. We also compared commonly used injection sites and cell labeling dyes and show specific site requirements for tumor cells from different entities. We demonstrate that our setup allows us to investigate proliferation and response to small compounds in several zebrafish xenografts ranging from pediatric sarcomas and neuroblastoma to glioblastoma and leukemia. This fast and cost-efficient assay enables the quantification of anti-tumor efficacy of small compounds in large cohorts of a vertebrate model system in vivo. Our assay may aid in prioritizing compounds or compound combinations for further preclinical and clinical investigations