An improved radio frequency heavy ion source

Abstract

An improved r.f. heavy ion source, which can operate with gases, liquids and solids is described. The operating temperature of the ion source may reach 1000°C. It can therefore, generate ion beams of a considerable number of elements. including metallic ions. At present, ion beams of S⁺, Al⁺, As⁺. Zn⁺, Mg⁺, Cd⁺, Ag⁺, Sm⁺, Te⁺, Se⁺, Sn⁺, In⁺, Hg⁺, etc. have been extracted. The extracted total beam current ranges from several hundred microamperes to the order of milliampere. The useful fraction of ion in the total beam is 70–90%. Life span of the source ranges from 40 hours to more than 100 hours. The emittance of the source is 3 × 10^?6 cm rad. Structure and operating characteristics of this ion source are discussed.     

A Freezing‐Induced Turn‐On Imaging Modality for Real‐Time Monitoring of Cancer Cells in Cryosurgery

Cryosurgery has attracted much attention for the treatment of tumors owing to its clear advantages. However, determining the volume of frozen tissues in real‐time remains a challenge, which greatly lowers the therapeutic efficacy of cryosurgery and hinders its broad application for the treatment of cancers. Herein, we report a freezing‐induced turn‐on strategy for the selective real‐time imaging of frozen cancer cells. As a type of aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) fluorogen, TABD‐Py molecules interact specifically with ice crystals and form aggregates at the ice/water interface. Consequently, bright fluorescent emission appears upon freezing. TABD‐Py molecules are enriched mostly in the cancer cells and exhibit high biocompatibility as well as low cytotoxicity; therefore, a freezing‐induced turn‐on imaging modality for cryosurgery is developed, which will certainly maximize the therapeutic efficacy of cryosurgery in treating tumors.     

Sodium trimer ordering on a NaxCoO2 surface

Sodium ion ordering on an in situ cleaved NaxCoO2 (x=0.84) surface has been studied by ultrahigh vacuum scanning tunneling microscopy at room temperature. Three main phases, with p(3 x 3), ( radical7 x radical7), and (2 radical3 x 2 radical3) hexagonal unit cells and a surface Na concentration of 1/3, 3/7, 1/2, respectively, were identified. One surprising finding is that Na trimers act as the basic building blocks that order in long range. The stability of Na trimers is attributed to the increased Na coordination with oxygen as indicated by ab initio calculations, and possibly at finite temperature by configuration entropy.     

A nonlinear composite plate theory

A general nonlinear theory for the dynamics of elastic anisotropic plates undergoing moderate-rotation vibrations is presented. The theory fully accounts for geometric nonlinearities (moderate rotations and displacements) by using local stress and strain measures and an exact coordinate transformation, which result in nonlinear curvatures and strain-displacement expressions that contain the von Karman strains as a special case. The theory accounts for transverse shear deformations by using a third-order theory and for extensionality and changes in the configuration due to in-plane and transverse deformations. Five third-order nonlinear partial-differential equations of motion describing the extension-extension-bending-shear-shear vibrations of plates are obtained by an asymptotic analysis, which reveals that laminated plates display linear elastic and nonlinear geometric couplings among all motions.     

Mechanistic studies on the pyrolysis and combustion of polystyrene/ammonium perchlorate propellants in the presence of transition metal oxides

The effect of transition metal oxides (Fe₂O₃, MnO₂, Ni₂O₃ and Co₂O₃) on polystyrene/ammonium perchlorate propellant systems has been examined. The mechanism of action of the oxides in increasing the burning rate was examined by studying the effect of the oxides on the thermal decomposition and combustion of the oxidizer and the propellant. It has been concluded that one of the mechanisms by which the oxides act is by promoting the charge-transfer process, which is indicated by the enhancement of the electron-transfer process in ammonium perchlorate and by the correlation between the redox potential of the metal ions and the corresponding burning rates of the propellant.     

Stimuli-Triggered Strand Displacement-Based Multifunctional Gene Detection Platform Controlled By A Multi-Input DNA Logic Gate

Highly sensitive detection of various cancer related genes is of great significance in a number of biomedical applications. Here we describe a logic-controlled multifunctional platform that is capable of detecting two kinds of gene sequences with a 2-aminopurine (2-AP) as a quencher-free fluorescent probe, the fluorescence of which dramatically increases when it loops out the DNA helices. This detection platform is assembled from the split ATP aptamer, G-quadruplex, and the antisense strands of the P53 and K-ras genes, together with their complementary components. It is selectively activated by ATP and K⁺ via the target-induced DNA strand displacement, enabling the exposure of two long toehold regions that allow the P53 and K-ras genes to trigger the next DNA strand displacements. A hairpin DNA containing a looped-out 2-AP in the stem is finally released, accompanying with a significant increase of fluorescence intensity. The whole process behaves as a four-input AND logic gate. Such a logic-controlled gene detection platform is able to convert the external stimulation of ions and biomolecules into a detectable fluorescence output and functions well in gene detection.     

Divalent cation-induced variations in polyelectrolyte conformation and controlling calcite morphologies: direct observation of the phase transition by atomic force microscopy

In the biomineralization process, the changes in conformation of organic matrix may be a widespread phenomenon. Investigation of the structural relationship between organic and inorganic materials is the main subject. The approach taken was to extract quantitative information of the variations in polyelectrolyte conformation during the mineralization process using atomic force microscopy. The results infer the evidence of the role of polyelectrolyte conformation in mineralization of calcium carbonate and the methods for understanding the principle that govern biomineralization.     

Quantifying the intrinsic effects of two point mutation models of proline-proline diamino acid diamide: a first-principle computational study

Two sites of a Pro-Pro diamide were subjected to individual Pro --> Thr point mutations. The parent diamide Pro-Pro as well as selected conformers of the Pro-Thr and Thr-Pro mutant models were subjected to molecular computations at the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level of theory. At the optimized geometries, thermodynamic functions (S, H, and G) were computed. In order to assess relative stabilities of the mutant models, isodesmic reactions were constructed to calculate DeltaS, DeltaH, and DeltaG, relative to the initial Pro-Pro state. The importance of intramolecular hydrogen bonds, involving the -OH group of the Thr side chain, which emerged after the point mutations were also examined. Our findings suggest a novel approach to analyzing the stability of point mutants in peptide models through the analysis of thermodynamic functions.