On the optimal choice of fourth-order Runge-Kutta formulas

A criterion for optimum stability of Runge-Kutta formulas is suggested. It is shown, for the fourth-order case, that Kutta's formula is optimum.     

Highly coherent injection-seeded 13.2 nm tabletop soft x-ray laser

We report a dramatic improvement of the spatial coherence and beam divergence (0.66 mrad) of a 13.2 nm wavelength Ni-like Cd tabletop laser by injection seeding the soft x-ray laser amplifier with high-harmonics pulses generated in a Ne gas jet. This phase coherent laser is an attractive light source for at-wavelength interferometry of extreme ultraviolet lithography optics and other applications.     

Detection of Cancer Cell Death Mediated by a Synthetic Granzyme B-like Peptide Fluorescent Conjugate and the same Peptide Binding in Bacteria

Granzyme-mediated apoptosis, supported by pore-forming perforin, plays an important role in CD8+ T lymphocytes (CTL)-dependent cellular immunity protection against both cancer and viral infection. Quantitative and qualitative problems with CTL are potential contributing factors to disease progression. The feasibility of developing CTL-independent cellular immunity is desired but must first overcome the barrier of CTL-independent target cell recognition. Granzyme B with its strong pro-apoptotic activity in many different target cells is investigated for use in the CTL-independent cellular immunity approach, and granzyme B or its bioactive peptides without the enzymatic activity are more desirable for use. Native granzyme B with enzymatic activity is usually investigated in cancer cells for its mediation of apoptosis by detection of DNA fragmentation. Detection of cell death mediated by such peptides in cancer cells is needed to demonstrate the potential therapeutic purposes. We show with never-before-seen microscopic images using fluorescence microscopy that a synthetic granzyme B-like peptide fluorescent conjugate (GP1R) can: 1) mediate cell death of different cancer cells via membrane extrusion, 2) bind to constitutively expressed binding targets in different cancer cells and bacteria, and 3) promote bacterial phagocytosis. The putative binding targets may serve as a universal pathologic biomarker detectable by GP1R. Our data taken together demonstrate the potential applications of GP1R for use in CTL-independent target cell recognition and target cell death induction. It may lead to development of rapid targeted detection and new treatment of cancer, viral and bacterial infections. The new treatment may show mutual benefits for two or more diseases.     

Evidence for the ground-state resonance of 26O

Evidence for the ground state of the neutron-unbound nucleus (26)O was observed for the first time in the single proton-knockout reaction from a 82 MeV/u (27)F beam. Neutrons were measured in coincidence with (24)O fragments. (26)O was determined to be unbound by 150(-150)(+50) keV from the observation of low-energy neutrons. This result agrees with recent shell-model calculations based on microscopic two- and three-nucleon forces.     

Demonstration of a 100 Hz repetition rate gain-saturated diode-pumped table-top soft x-ray laser

We demonstrate the operation of a gain-saturated table-top soft x-ray laser at 100?Hz repetition rate. The laser generates an average power of 0.15?mW at λ=18.9 nm, the highest laser power reported to date from a sub-20-nm wavelength compact source. Picosecond laser pulses of 1.5?μJ energy were produced at λ=18.9 nm by amplification in a Mo plasma created by tailoring the temporal intensity profile of single pump pulses with 1?J energy produced by a diode-pumped chirped pulse amplification Yb:YAG laser. Lasing was also obtained in the 13.9?nm line of Ni-like Ag. These results increase by an order of magnitude the repetition rate of plasma-based soft x-ray lasers opening the path to milliwatt average power table-top lasers at sub-20?nm wavelengths.     

The GJK Distance Algorithm: An Interval Version for Incremental Motions

The tracking of distance between two convex polyhedra is commonly used in the field of robotics, including collision detection or path planning. One of the well-known algorithms in this area is the distance algorithm developed by Gilbert, Johnson and Keerthi. Although this algorithm is widely-used in robotics, up till now, there has been no verification of the computed results. This paper will present an interval version for tracking the distance between convex polyhedra using the C++ library PROFIL/BIAS.     

Boson-Fermion duality in four dimensions: Neutrinos from photons and vice versa

We present a construction of bosons from fermions in any space dimension. In three dimensions, photons can be constructed from neutrinos, and posses the correct P, C, T and rotational properties. A new massless particle is required, identical to the photon except that it is even under charge conjugations. In a special sense, a photon is $\text{7}\text{8}$ of a neutrino. The inverse construction, neutrinos from these massless bosons, suggests that none of these is truly fundamental.     

Approximation Spaces in the Numerical Analysis of Operator Equations

We show that generalized approximation spaces can be used to prove stability and convergence of projection methods for certain types of operator equations in which unbounded operators occur. Besides the convergence, we also get orders of convergence by this approach, even in case of non-uniformly bounded projections. We give an example in which weighted uniform convergence of the collocation method for an easy Cauchy singular integral equation is studied.