Identification of archaeal proteins that affect the exosome function in vitro

Background  

The archaeal exosome is formed by a hexameric RNase PH ring and three RNA binding subunits and has been shown to bind and degrade RNA in vitro. Despite extensive studies on the eukaryotic exosome and on the proteins interacting with this complex, little information is yet available on the identification and function of archaeal exosome regulatory factors.     

The Influence of Window Parameters on the Transmission Characteristics of Millimeter Waves

This work reports about the influence of some window parameters, such as the mechanical tolerance of disk thickness, the variation of distance between two disks, and the frequency drift during gyrotron operation on the transmission characteristics of millimeter waves. Detailed calculations of the transmission characteristics for a single-disk gyrotron window and frequency tunable double-disk plasma fusion torus windows have been performed. The geometry of the window units has been optimized in order to obtain a suitable transmission characteristic, i.e. power reflection less than –20 dB within a frequency bandwidth of about 1 GHz around the chosen frequencies.     

High precision delta(17)O isotope measurements of oxygen from silicates and other oxides: method and applications

The use of infrared laser-assisted fluorination to release oxygen from milligram quantities of silicates or other oxide mineral grains is a well-established technique. However, relatively few studies have reported the optimisation of this procedure for oxygen-17 isotope measurements. We describe here details of an analytical system using infrared (10 μm) laser-assisted fluorination, in conjunction with a dual inlet mass spectrometer of high resolving power ( approximately 250) to provide (17)O and (18)O oxygen isotope measurements from 0.5-2 mg of silicates or other oxide mineral grains. Respective precisions (1) of typically 0.08 and 0.04 per thousand are obtained for the complete analytical procedure. Departures from the mass-dependent oxygen isotope fractionation line are quantified by Delta(17)O; our precision (1) of such measurements on individual samples is shown to be +/-0.024 per thousand. In turn, this permits the offset between parallel, mass-dependent fractionation lines to be characterised to substantially greater precision than has been possible hitherto. Application of this system to investigate the (17)O versus (18)O relationship for numerous terrestrial whole-rock and mineral samples, of diverse geological origins and age, indicates that the complete data set may be described by a single, mass-dependent fractionation line of slope 0.5244+/- 0.00038 (standard error). Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Long-pulse operation of a 0.5 MW TE10.4 gyrotron at 140GHz

The operation features of a TE_10.4-mode gyrotron oscillator with a quasi-optical mode converter and a single-stage depressed collector at 140 GHz with an output power of 500 kW in long pulses of 0.2 s are presented. Measurements on long-pulse operation of the tube are described in detail, and the significant differences between short- and long-pulse operation concerning efficiency and output power are pointed out. The variation of frequency during a pulse and an irreversible frequency shift during long-pulse operation were measured and are discussed with respect to gyrotron design     

A NEW FINITE ELEMENT APPROXIMATION OF A STATE-CONSTRAINED OPTIMAL CONTROL PROBLEM

In this paper, we study numerical methods for an optimal control problem with pointwise state constraints. The traditional approaches often need to deal with the deltasingularity in the dual equation, which causes many difficulties in its theoretical analysis and numerical approximation. In our new approach we reformulate the state-constrained optimal control as a constrained minimization problems only involving the state, whose optimality condition is characterized by a fourth order elliptic variational inequality. Then direct numerical algorithms （nonconforming finite element approximation） are proposed for the inequality, and error estimates of the finite element approximation are derived. Numerical experiments illustrate the effectiveness of the new approach.     

140-GHz gyrotron with multimegawatt output power

The operational features of a 140-GHz, transverse electric TE_22,6 mode gyrotron oscillator with an advanced quasi-optical mode converter, a Brewster window, and a single-stage depressed collector at 140 GHz with an output power of 2.1 MW and an efficiency of 34% without depressed collector and 53% with depressed collector are presented. The high output power level is possible due to an almost reflectionless termination of the radio frequency (RF) beam line outside the tube. The operation of the TE_22,6 mode gyrotron is described in detail, and the significant features for achieving the high-output power are pointed out     

Single-stage depressed collectors for gyrotrons

Two 140 GHz gyrotrons with a single-step depressed collector have been operated. The different position of the isolating collector gap in the stray magnetic field causes the electron motion in the retarding region to be in one case adiabatic and in the other case nonadiabatic. The kind of motion within the retarding field influences strongly the behavior of the gyrotron with a depressed collector. In the case of nonadiabatic motion a significant amount of transverse momentum is given to the electrons reflected at the collector potential. This causes the reflected electrons to be trapped between the magnetic mirror and the collector. The electrons escape from the trap by diffusion across the magnetic field to the body of the tube thus contributing to the body current. Despite the high body current there is no observable influence of the collector voltage on the RF output power. In the case of adiabatic motion the reflected electrons do not gain a sufficient amount of transverse momentum to be trapped by the magnetic mirror. They pass the cavity toward the gun and they are trapped between the negative gun potential and the collector. The interaction with the RF field by electrons traveling through the cavity enhances the diffusion in the velocity space thus enabling the trapped electrons to overcome the potential barrier and escape toward the collector. Therefore the body current stays at low values since in this case the reflected electrons do not contribute to it. However, at higher collector voltages a reduction of RF power occurred and some noise in the electron beam was observed