Inclusive\bar K^{0*} (892) andK 0*(892) production on silicon by 200 GeVK − andπ −

The production of the neutralK ^? (892) resonances by 200 GeVK ^? andπ ^? has been studied over the kinematic range 0.0<x _f<1.0 andp _t ² <5.0 GeV². Longitudinal and transverse momentum distributions are presented. In addition the decay angular distributions inK ^? fragmentation to \(\bar K^{0*} \) have been investigated.     

Joint production of ϕ mesons andπ ±,π 0,p,\bar p,K s 0 andK ± in hadronic interactions

The joint production of ? mesons andπ ^±,π ⁰,p, \(\bar p\) ,K _s ⁰ andK ^± is investigated using a sample of 600,000 inclusive ? meson events obtained in hadron Be interactions with incidentπ ^±,p, \(\bar p\) andK ^± beams. Evidence is presented for the joint production of ? mesons and strange particles produced with non-strange incident beams. With incidentK ^± beam the number of additional strange particles is suppressed. The results are found to be in agreement with the qualitative predictions of a parton fusion model. The comparison with the Lund model for lowp _T processes is fair.     

Electron Probe Microanalysis of HfO2 Thin Films on Conductive and Insulating Substrates

Quantitative electron probe microanalysis of highly insulating materials is a complicated problem, partially solved by coating samples with grounded thin conductive layers or using novel scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques, such as low-voltage and/or variable pressure SEM. In this work, some problems of quantitative X-ray microanalysis of thin HfO₂ films, in particular the possibility to determine mass thickness correlated to the density of the layer material, are discussed. For comparison, Al₂O₃, Ta₂O₅ and TiO₂ films grown onto both semiconductive Si and insulating quartz substrates were also analysed. All the films studied were synthesized by atomic layer deposition method.     

An immobilized microbial heparinase for blood deheparinization

A new medical application of an immobilized microbial enzyme is described. Extracorporeal devices require systemic heparin administration to prevent thrombus formation; however, the use of heparin often leads to serious hemorrhagic complica tions. Heparinase isolated from Flavobacterium has been immobilized and used in a fluidized bed reactor to eliminate heparin from blood passing through an extracorporeal circuit both in vitro and in vivo. This paper discusses the stepwise de velopment of this heparinase reactor including: (1) improvements in the fermentation resulting in an inexpensive large-scale source of heparinase without the addition of the previously required inducer, heparin; (2) the use of batch processes to adapt previous purification schemes to large-scale heparinase production and the subsequent purifica tion of heparinase to a single SDS-PAGE banding protein; (3) the immobilization of heparinase with a 91% activity recovery and good stability, (4) the design and suc cessful testing of a fluidized bed reactor containing immobilized heparinase in the re moval of clinically used quantities of heparin from both human blood in vitro and ca nine blood in vivo; and (5) the initiation of animal studies focusing on the toxicology of heparinase-derived heparin degradation products and the short and long term effects of exposure to these products and to heparinase.     

Measurement ofD meson production in 200 GeV π−-Be interactions

We have measured the differential and total cross sections ofD meson production in 200 GeV π^?-beryllium interactions, using a sample of 48 fully reconstructed and nearly background-freeD mesons in the decay channelsK ^?π^±,K ^?π^±π^± andK ^?π^?π^±π^±. A single electron trigger has been used to select events containing a pair of charmed particles. A vertex telescope of 6 silison microstrip detectors allowed the reconstruction of tracks of charged secondaries and the reconstruction of primary and decay vertices with high precision. The ratio of branching fractions for \(\mathop {D^0 }\limits^{( - )} \to K^ \mp \pi ^ \pm \) to \(\mathop {D^0 }\limits^{( - )} \to K^ \mp \pi ^ \mp \pi ^ \pm \pi ^ \pm \) , and an upper limit for \(D^0 - \bar D^0 \) mixing are presented.     

A-dependence study of inclusive ϑ production

TheA-dependence of the inclusive ? meson cross-section is measured using two target materials, beryllium and tantalum, in the kinematic range 0F<0.3 andp _T ² <1 GeV². Parametrizing the cross-section with δ(A)=δ(A=1)A ^α, yields α=0.90 ±0.02 and α=0.86±0.02 for production of ?'s with 120 GeVπ ⁺ andp-beams respectively.     

Production of cobalt and nickel particles by hydrogen reduction

Cobalt and nickel nanoparticles were produced by hydrogen reduction reaction from cobalt or nickel chloride precursor vapour in nitrogen carrier gas. This aerosol phase method to produce nanoparticles is a scalable one-step process. Two different setups were introduced in particle production: a batch type reactor and a continuously operated reactor. Common feature in these setups was hydrogen mixing in a vertical flow reactor. The process was monitored on-line for particle mass concentration and for gas phase chemical reactions. Tapered element oscillating microbalance measured the particle mass concentration and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used to monitor relevant gas phase species. The produced cobalt and nickel particles were characterised using transmission electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction. The produced cobalt and nickel particles were crystalline with cubic fcc structure. Twinning was often observed in cobalt particles while nickel particles were mostly single crystals. The cobalt particles formed typically long agglomerates. No significant neck growth between the primary particles was observed. The primary particle size for cobalt and nickel was below 100 nm.     

High-throughput direct-infusion ion trap mass spectrometry: a new method for metabolomics

A fast method was developed to directly infuse raw plant extracts into a linear ion trap mass spectrometer, using the ion trap to isolate and fragment as many ions as possible from the extract. The full mass spectra can be analysed by multivariate statistics to determine discriminating ions, and the fragmentation data allows rapid classification or identification of these ions. The methodology was used to screen a wide range of strains of endophytic fungi in perennial ryegrass seeds for differences in metabolic profiles. The results show that this newly developed methodology is able to determine discriminating ions that can be present in very low concentrations. It also yielded sufficient fragmentation data to classify or identify the discriminating ions.