What One Can Learn From the Cloud Condensation Nuclei (CCN) Size Distributions as Monitored by the BEO Moussala?

In this proceeding we report initial studies into the big data set acquired by the Cloud Condensation Nuclei (CCN) counter of the Basic Environmental Observatory (BEO) Moussala over the whole 2016 year at a frequency of 1 Hz. First, we attempt to reveal correlations between the results for CCN number concentrations on the timescale of a whole year (2016) as averaged over 12 month periods with the meteorological parameters for the same period and with the same time step. Then, we zoom into these data and repeat the study on the timescale of a month for two months from 2016, January and July, with a day time step. For the same two months we show the CCN size distributions averaged over day periods. Finally, we arrive at our main result: typical, in terms of maximal and minimal number concentrations, CCN size distributions for chosen hours, one hour for each month of the year, hence 24 distributions in total. These data show a steady pattern of peaks and valleys independent of the concrete number concentration which moves up and down the number concentrations (y-axis) without significant shifts along the sizes (x-axis).Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure, The 10th Jubilee Conference of the Balkan Physical Union (BPU10), 26-30 August, Sofia, Bulgari

ROOTING OF HAZELNUT (CORYLUS AVELLANA L.) VARIETIES HARDWOOD CUTTINGS

Intensity of rooting on hardwood hazelnut cuttings is evaluated during two consecutive years. The evaluation is conducted on 6 hazelnut varieties (Istarski, Tonda Romana, Extra Yagli, Ludolf, Hall’s Giant, Devianna) in greenhouse conditions at experimental greenhouse of Institute of Agriculture, Skopje. The cuttings are collected during dormancy of the plants, before start of vegetation. Two types of auxins IBA (indole-3-butyric acid) 2%, and NAA (α-naphthalene acetic acid) 0.2% are used. From evaluated varieties, Tonda Romana has the highest percentage of rooting (85.5%) and it is characterized with the highest value of rooted cuttings of first class. At all evaluated varieties, treatment with higher concentration of IBA gives higher percentage of rooted cuttings and higher value of rooted cuttings of first class

Research on the efficacy, tolerability and cost effectiveness of cefixime in the »switch« therapy of urinary tract infections and urosepsis

U razdoblju od 01.01.2005. do 31.12.2005. u Zavodu za infekcije mokraćnog sustava u Klinici za infektivne bolesti »Dr. Fran Mihaljević« u Zagrebu ispitivano je 70 bolesnika oba spola starijih od 18 godina s dijagnozom pijelonefritisa i urosepse koji su nakon parenteralne empirijske antimikrobne terapije primali peroralni cefixim. Etiologija bolesti utvrđena je u 62 bolesnika. E. coli izolirana je u 51 bolesnika, P. mirabilis u 5, Kl. pneumoniae u 6. Empirijska antimikrobna terapija bila je adekvatna u svih bolesnika. Kriteriji za prijelaz na peroralnu terapiju su bili afebrilnost kroz 12–24 sata, stabilizacija općeg stanja i vodećih kliničkih simptoma, tendencija normalizacije broja leukocita i nalaza leukociturije i bakteriurije, te odsutnost zapreka u probavnom sustavu. Razlozi za odabir cefixima za »switch« terapiju su bili njegova djelotvornost, farmakokinetske osobine, primjena 1× dnevno, smanjenje liječenja i mogućnost brzog otpusta iz bolnice. Prosječno trajanje parenteralne antimikrobne terapije ovisno o lijeku je bilo 3 do 5, a peroralne terapije cefiksimom 7 do 10 dana. Svi su bolesnici izliječeni. Nije bilo nuspojava liječenja. Ušteda cijene liječenja po danu s obzirom na prijelaz parenteralne antimikrobne terapije na cefixim je bila i do 157 kuna.In the period from January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2005 at the Institute for urinary tract infections of the University Hospital for Infectious Diseases »Dr. Fran Mihaljevic«, in Zagreb, we examined a total of 70 patients of both sexes, older than 18 years of age with diagnosed pyelonephritis and urosepsis, that received oral cefixime after parenteral empirical antimicrobial therapy. Disease etiology was determined in 62 patients. E. coli was isolated in 51 patients, P. mirabilis in 5, Kl. pneumoniae in 6. Empirical antimicrobial therapy was adequate in all patients. The criteria for switch to oral therapy were the following: afebrile patient for 12–24 hours, stabilization of general condition and leading clinical symptoms, tendency towards normalization in the number of leukocytes and findings of leukocyturia and bacteriuria, and no obstacles in the GI tract. The reasons for choosing cefixime for switch therapy were its efficacy, pharmacokinetic characteristics, once daily administration, reduced duration of treatment and possibility for quick discharge from hospital. Average duration of parenteral antimicrobial therapy, depending on administered drug, was 3 to 5 days, and of peroral therapy with cefixime 7 to 10 days. All patients were cured. There were no side effects to treatment. The cost of treatment per day, with switch from parenteral antimicrobial therapy to cefixim, decreased for up to 157 kunas

Electro-optic time profile monitors for femtosecond electron bunches at the soft x-ray free-electron laser FLASH

Precise measurements of the temporal profile of ultrashort electron bunches are of high interest for the optimization and operation of ultraviolet and x-ray free-electron lasers. The electro-optic (EO) technique has been applied for a single-shot direct visualization of the time profile of individual electron bunches at FLASH. This paper presents a thorough description of the experimental setup and the results. An absolute calibration of the EO technique has been performed utilizing simultaneous measurements with a transverse-deflecting radio-frequency structure that transforms the longitudinal bunch charge distribution into a transverse streak. EO signals as short as 60 fs (rms) have been observed using a gallium-phosphide (GaP) crystal, which is a new record in the EO detection of single electron bunches and close to the physical limit imposed by the EO material properties. The data are in quantitative agreement with a numerical simulation of the EO detection process

Multi-horizon air pollution forecasting with deep neural networks

Air pollution is a global problem, especially in urban areas where the population density is very high due to the diverse pollutant sources such as vehicles, industrial plants, buildings, and waste. North Macedonia, as a developing country, has a serious problem with air pollution. The problem is highly present in its capital city, Skopje, where air pollution places it consistently within the top 10 cities in the world during the winter months. In this work, we propose using Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) models with long short-term memory units to predict the level of PM10 particles at 6, 12, and 24 h in the future. We employ historical air quality measurement data from sensors placed at multiple locations in Skopje and meteorological conditions such as temperature and humidity. We compare different deep learning models’ performance to an Auto-regressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) model. The obtained results show that the proposed models consistently outperform the baseline model and can be successfully employed for air pollution prediction. Ultimately, we demonstrate that these models can help decision-makers and local authorities better manage the air pollution consequences by taking proactive measures

First results from the CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST)

Hypothetical axion-like particles with a two-photon interaction would be produced in the Sun by the Primakoff process. In a laboratory magnetic field (``axion helioscope'') they would be transformed into X-rays with energies of a few keV. Using a decommissioned LHC test magnet, CAST has been running for about 6 months during 2003. The first results from the analysis of these data are presented here. No signal above background was observed, implying an upper limit to the axion-photon coupling < 1.16 10^{-10} GeV^-1 at 95% CL for m_a <~0.02 eV. This limit is comparable to the limit from stellar energy-loss arguments and considerably more restrictive than any previous experiment in this axion mass range.Comment: 4 pages, accepted by PRL. Final version after the referees comment

Incomplete Cd8+ T Lymphocyte Differentiation as a Mechanism for Subdominant Cytotoxic T Lymphocyte Responses to a Viral Antigen

CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) recognize antigen in the context of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules. Class I epitopes have been classified as dominant or subdominant depending on the magnitude of the CTL response to the epitope. In this report, we have examined the in vitro memory CTL response of H-2d haplotype murine CD8+ T lymphocytes specific for a dominant and subdominant epitope of influenza hemagglutinin using activation marker expression and staining with soluble tetrameric MHC–peptide complexes. Immune CD8+ T lymphocytes specific for the dominant HA204-210 epitope give rise to CTL effectors that display activation markers, stain with the HA204 tetramer, and exhibit effector functions (i.e., cytolytic activity and cytokine synthesis). In contrast, stimulation of memory CD8+ T lymphocytes directed to the subdominant HA210-219 epitope results in the generation of a large population of activated CD8+ T cells that exhibit weak cytolytic activity and fail to stain with the HA210 tetramer. After additional rounds of restimulation with antigen, the HA210-219–specific subdominant CD8+ T lymphocytes give rise to daughter cells that acquire antigen-specific CTL effector activity and transition from a HA210 tetramer–negative to a tetramer-positive phenotype. These results suggest a novel mechanism to account for weak CD8+ CTL responses to subdominant epitopes at the level of CD8+ T lymphocyte differentiation into effector CTL. The implications of these findings for CD8+ T lymphocyte activation are discussed

The search for solar axions in the CAST experiment

The CAST (CERN Axion Solar Telescope) experiment at CERN searches for solar axions with energies in the keV range. It is possible that axions are produced in the core of the sun by the interaction of thermal photons with virtual photons of strong electromagnetic fields. In this experiment, the solar axions can be reconverted to photons in the transversal field of a 9 Tesla superconducting magnet. At both ends of the 10m-long dipole magnet three different X-ray detectors were installed, which are sensitive in the interesting photon energy range. Preliminary results from the analysis of the 2004 data are presented: g$_{a\gamma}<0.9\times10^{-10}$ GeV$^{-1}$ at 95% C.L. for axion masses m$_{a} <$ 0.02 eV. At the end of 2005, data started to be taken with a buffer gas in the magnet pipes in order to extend the sensitivity to axion masses up to 0.8 eV.The CAST (CERN Axion Solar Telescope) experiment at CERN searches for solar axions with energies in the keV range. It is possible that axions are produced in the core of the sun by the interaction of thermal photons with virtual photons of strong electromagnetic fields. In this experiment, the solar axions can be reconverted to photons in the transversal field of a 9 Tesla superconducting magnet. At both ends of the 10m-long dipole magnet three different X-ray detectors were installed, which are sensitive in the interesting photon energy range. Preliminary results from the analysis of the 2004 data are presented: g$_{a\gamma}<0.9\times10^{-10}$ GeV$^{-1}$ at 95% C.L. for axion masses m$_{a} <$ 0.02 eV. At the end of 2005, data started to be taken with a buffer gas in the magnet pipes in order to extend the sensitivity to axion masses up to 0.8 eV

Search for solar axions: CAST

The CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST) is searching for axions produced in the Sun's core by the Primakoff process. CAST is using a decommissioned Large Hadron Collider (LHC) test magnet where axions could be converted back into X-rays with energies up to 10 keV. Analysis of the 2003 data showed no signal above background implying an upper limit for the axion-photon coupling constant gagg < 1.16 X 10 ^-10 GeV exp -1 at 95% C.L. for ma . 0.02 eV [1]. The higher quality 2004 data is presently under analysis. CAST Phase II is scheduled to start in late 2005. This will be the first step in extending CAST's sensitivity to axion rest masses up to ~ 1 eV