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The positive identification of the molecular components of interstellar icy grain mantles is critically reliant upon the availability of laboratory-generated mid-infrared absorption spectra which can be compared against data acquired by ground- and space-borne telescopes. However, one molecule which remains thus far undetected in interstellar ices is H 2 S, despite its important roles in astrochemical and geophysical processes. Such a lack of a detection is surprising, particularly in light of its relative abundance in cometary ices which are believed to be the most pristine remnants of pre-solar interstellar ices available for study. In this paper, we present the results of an extensive and quantitative mid-infrared spectroscopic characterisation of H 2 S ices deposited at 20, 40, and 70 K and thermally processed to sublimation in an ultrahigh-vacuum system. We anticipate our results to be useful in confirming the detection of interstellar H 2 S ice using high-resolution and high-sensitivity instruments such as the James Webb Space Telescope, as well as in the identification of solid H 2 S in icy environments in the outer Solar System, such as comets and moons., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The detection of various molecular species, including complex organic molecules relevant to biochemical and geochemical processes, in astronomical settings, such as the interstellar medium or the outer solar system, has led to the increased need for a better understanding of the chemistry occurring in these cold regions of space. In this context, the chemistry of ices prepared and processed at cryogenic temperatures has proven to be of particular interest due to the fact that many interstellar molecules are believed to originate within the icy mantles adsorbed on nano- and micro-scale dust particles. The chemistry leading to the formation of such molecules may be initiated by ionizing radiation in the form of galactic cosmic rays or stellar winds, and thus, there has been an increased interest in commissioning experimental setups capable of simulating and better characterizing this solid-phase radiation astrochemistry. In this article, we describe a new facility called AQUILA (Atomki-Queen's University Ice Laboratory for Astrochemistry), which has been purposefully designed to study the chemical evolution of ices analogous to those that may be found in the dense interstellar medium or the outer solar system as a result of their exposure to keV ion beams. The results of some ion irradiation studies of CH3OH ice at 20 K are discussed to exemplify the experimental capabilities of the AQUILA as well as to highlight its complementary nature to another laboratory astrochemistry setup at our institute., (© 2024 Author(s). Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.)

Background: Wild edible plants (WEPs) are usually considered to constitute all plant resources that are neither cultivated nor domesticated but are used as nutritional supplements by local people. WEPs play a vital role in ensuring food and livelihood security for countless families and communities around the world. The objective of the study was to assess and document wild edible plants used by communities in the Arsi Robe district as food., Methods: Semi-structured interviews, market surveys, and guided field walks were employed as data collection tools. The data were analyzed using preference ranking, direct matrix ranking, and Jaccard's similarity index., Results: The present study revealed various types of wild edible plants consumed by local communities in the Arsi Robe district of the East Arsi Zone. This could be justified by the documentation of 36 different wild edible plants in the study area. These WEPs belong to 31 genera and 25 families. Most of the growth forms of the edible wild plants in the district were shrubs (16, 44.44%) and trees (14, 38.88%). Amaranthus caudatus and Bridelia micrantha are the most preferred WEPs in the study area. The finding of the study also revealed that Lepidotrichilia volkensii and Premna schimperi are among the novel WEPs that had not before been documented as food items in other areas. Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata, Ficus sycomorus, Cordia africana, and Ficus sur are species with multiple uses. Agricultural expansion, charcoal production, the construction of different materials, making agricultural tools, deforestation, and other factors were the top prioritized threats affecting the abundance and diversity of wild edible plants., Conclusion: Along with the sustainable utilization and conservation of the existing WEPs of the study district, priority should be given to the urgent collection, domestication, and cultivation of multiuse wild edible plant species such as Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata, Ficus sycomorus, Cordia africana, and Ficus sur in the study area., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The use of mid-infrared spectroscopy to characterise the chemistry of icy interstellar and Solar System environments will be exploited in the near future to better understand the chemical processes and molecular inventories in various astronomical environments. This is, in part, due to observational work made possible by the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope as well as forthcoming missions to the outer Solar System that will observe in the mid-infrared spectroscopic region ( e.g. , the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer and the Europa Clipper missions). However, such spectroscopic characterisations are crucially reliant upon the generation of laboratory data for comparative purposes. In this paper, we present an extensive mid-infrared characterisation of SO 2 ice condensed at several cryogenic temperatures between 20 and 100 K and thermally annealed to sublimation in an ultrahigh-vacuum system. Our results are anticipated to be useful in confirming the detection (and possibly thermal history) of SO 2 on various Solar System bodies, such as Ceres and the icy Galilean moons of Jupiter, as well as in interstellar icy grain mantles.

The 5-year Ocean Regulation of Climate by Heat and Carbon Sequestration and Transports (ORCHESTRA) programme and its 1-year extension ENCORE (ENCORE is the National Capability ORCHESTRA Extension) was an approximately 11-million-pound programme involving seven UK research centres that finished in March 2022. The project sought to radically improve our ability to measure, understand and predict the exchange, storage and export of heat and carbon by the Southern Ocean. It achieved this through a series of milestone observational campaigns in combination with model development and analysis. Twelve cruises in the Weddell Sea and South Atlantic were undertaken, along with mooring, glider and profiler deployments and aircraft missions, all contributing to measurements of internal ocean and air-sea heat and carbon fluxes. Numerous forward and adjoint numerical experiments were developed and supported by the analysis of coupled climate models. The programme has resulted in over 100 peer-reviewed publications to date as well as significant impacts on climate assessments and policy and science coordination groups. Here, we summarize the research highlights of the programme and assess the progress achieved by ORCHESTRA/ENCORE and the questions it raises for the future. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Heat and carbon uptake in the Southern Ocean: the state of the art and future priorities'.

Laboratory experiments have confirmed that the radiolytic decay rate of astrochemical ice analogues is dependent upon the solid phase of the target ice, with some crystalline molecular ices being more radio-resistant than their amorphous counterparts. The degree of radio-resistance exhibited by crystalline ice phases is dependent upon the nature, strength, and extent of the intermolecular interactions that characterise their solid structure. For example, it has been shown that crystalline CH 3 OH decays at a significantly slower rate when irradiated by 2 keV electrons at 20 K than does the amorphous phase due to the stabilising effect imparted by the presence of an extensive array of strong hydrogen bonds. These results have important consequences for the astrochemistry of interstellar ices and outer Solar System bodies, as they imply that the chemical products arising from the irradiation of amorphous ices (which may include prebiotic molecules relevant to biology) should be more abundant than those arising from similar irradiations of crystalline phases. In this present study, we have extended our work on this subject by performing comparative energetic electron irradiations of the amorphous and crystalline phases of the sulphur-bearing molecules H 2 S and SO 2 at 20 K. We have found evidence for phase-dependent chemistry in both these species, with the radiation-induced exponential decay of amorphous H 2 S being more rapid than that of the crystalline phase, similar to the effect that has been previously observed for CH 3 OH. For SO 2 , two fluence regimes are apparent: a low-fluence regime in which the crystalline ice exhibits a rapid exponential decay while the amorphous ice possibly resists decay, and a high-fluence regime in which both phases undergo slow exponential-like decays. We have discussed our results in the contexts of interstellar and Solar System ice astrochemistry and the formation of sulphur allotropes and residues in these settings., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Mifsud, Herczku, Rácz, Rahul, Kovács, Juhász, Sulik, Biri, McCullough, Kaňuchová, Ioppolo, Hailey and Mason.)

The high magnetic confinement provided by the minimum-B structure of electron cyclotron resonance ion sources (ECRIS) hosts a non-equilibrium plasma, composed of cold multi-charged ions and hot electrons whose energy can expand up to ≈1 MeV. With a very limited accessibility, the ECR plasma is difficult to study. The x-ray photons generated by the interaction of the warm and hot electron populations within the plasma, as well as the photons generated by electrons lost to the chamber wall, are a signal of great interest as it gives an insight to the properties of the ECR plasma. After an introduction presenting the mechanism generating the x rays in ECRIS, this Review presents the methodology to measure x rays both for volumetric measurements and plasma imaging. The main insights of those measurements are presented. Prospects of x-ray measurements to better understand the plasma dynamics are finally highlighted.

Objectives: Using dental Ti implants has become a well-accepted and used method for replacing missing dentition. It has become evident that in many cases peri-implant inflammation develops. The objective was to create and evaluate the antibacterial effect of silver nanoparticle (Ag-NP) coated Ti surfaces that can help to prevent such processes if applied on the surface of dental implants. Methods: Annealing I, Ag ion implantation by the beam of an Electron Cyclotron Resonance Ion Source (ECRIS), Ag Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD), Annealing II procedures were used, respectively, to create a safely anchored Ag-NP layer on 1x1 cm 2 Grade 2 titanium samples. The antibacterial effect was evaluated by culturing Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 29213) on the surfaces of the samples for 8 hours, and comparing the results to that of glass as control and of pure titanium samples. Alamar Blue assay was carried out to check cytotoxicity. Results: It was proved that silver nanoparticles were present on the treated surfaces. The average diameter of the particles was 58 nm, with a 25 nm deviation and Gaussian distribution, the the filling factor was 25%. Antibacterial evaluation revealed that the nanoparticle covered samples had an antibacterial effect of 64.6% that was statistically significant. Tests also proved that the nanoparticles are safely anchored to the titanium surface and are not cytotoxic. Conclusion: Creating a silver nanoparticle layer can be an option to add antibacterial features to the implant surface and to help in the prevention of peri-implant inflammatory processes. Recent studies demonstrated that silver nanoparticles can induce pathology in mammal cells, thus safe fixation of the particles is essential to prevent them from getting into the circulation., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Purpose: The techniques mostly used for the diagnosis of superior mesenteric artery (SMA) stenosis are computed tomography angiography (CTA), and magnetic resonance angiography. We aimed to evaluate color-coded Doppler Ultrasonography (CDUS) for the detection of SMA stenoses and to determine Doppler criteria., Methods: We identified retrospectively 65 patients with CTA images of SMA stenosis and examined them with CDUS for the Doppler measurement of SMA peak systolic flow velocity (PSV), end-diastolic velocity (EDV), and mesenterico-aortic ratio (MAR). Results were analyzed with receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis., Results: The optimal threshold values for determining 50%-69% SMA stenoses were PSV >280 cm/s, EDV >45 cm/s, and MAR >3.6. For identifying 70%-99% SMA stenoses, they were PSV >395 cm/s, EDV >74 cm/s, and MAR >3.6., Conclusion: CDUS is a convenient method with high accuracy for identifying SMA stenosis. PSV yielded better results than EDV and MAR., (© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Objectives: The aim of this study is to assess magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), T2-weighted image (T2WI), and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps' threshold values before computed tomography (CT)-guided transthorasic biopsy in solitary pulmonary nodules (SPN) by describing tumoral cell density., Materials and Methods: Patients who had SPN were prospectively evaluated with MRI (T1WI, T2WI) and DWI (b=0, b=500, b=1000).The ADC maps were created for each patient. Before the biopsy, lesion muscle ratios (LMR) at T2WI, ADC value, and lesion spinal cord ratio at each b values were noted. The measurements were correlated with the histopathological results., Results: A total of 53 patients were included in the study: 30.2% (n=16) were female, and 69.8% (n=37) were male. Among them, 17 lesions (32.1%) were benign, and 36 lesions (67.9%) were malignant. The age varied between 40 and 82 years, with a mean of 61.7±9.1 years. The SPN diameters were between 10 and 30 mm, and the median was 24 mm. The LSR0 and LMR values were not statistically significant in detecting malignancy. LSR500 >0.53 value can predict malignancy with 100% sensitivity and 70.6% specificity. LSR1000 >0.53 can predict malignancy with 88.9% sensitivity and 88.2% specificity. Setting the cut-off value at 0.9×10 -3 , the ADC values had a sensitivity of 72.2% and a specificity of 88.2% for predicting malignancy., Conclusion: For SPN follow-up, a new following-up protocol can be safely established using DWI and ADC mapping. Using these MRI parameters might decrease unnecessary biopsy rates and complications of biopsies.

Background  Video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) is widely used for thoracic surgery operations, and day by day it becomes routine for the excision of undetermined pulmonary nodules. However, it is sometimes hard to reach millimetric nodules through a VATS incision. Therefore, some additional techniques were developed to reach such nodules little in size and which are settled on a challenging localization. In the literature, coils, hook wires, methylene blue, lipidol, and barium staining, and also ultrasound guidance were described for this aim. Herein we discuss our experience with CT-guided methylene blue labeling of small, deeply located pulmonary nodules just before VATS excision. Method  From April 2013 to October 2016, 11 patients with millimetric pulmonary nodules (average 8, 7 mm) were evaluated in our clinic. For all these patients who had strong predisposing factors for malignancy, an 18F-FDG PET-CT scan was also performed. The patients whose nodules were decided to be excised were consulted the radiology clinic. The favorable patients were taken to CT room 2 hours prior to the operation, and CT-guided methylene blue staining were performed under sterile conditions. Results  Mean nodule size of 11 patients was 8.7 mm (6, 2-12). Mean distance from the visceral pleural surface was 12.7 mm (4-29.3). Four of the nodules were located on the left (2 upper lobes, 2 lower lobes), and seven of them were on the right (four lower lobes, two upper lobes, one middle lobe). The maximum standardized uptake values (SUV max) on 18F-FDG PET/CT scan ranged between 0 and 2, 79. Conclusion  CT-guided methylene blue staining of millimetric deeply located pulmonary nodules is a safe and feasible technique that helps surgeon find these undetermined nodules by VATS technique without any need of digital palpation., Competing Interests: Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work., (Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

Imaging of the electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasmas by using CCD camera in combination with a pinhole is a non-destructive diagnostics method to record the strongly inhomogeneous spatial density distribution of the X-ray emitted by the plasma and by the chamber walls. This method can provide information on the location of the collisions between warm electrons and multiple charged ions/atoms, opening the possibility to investigate the direct effect of the ion source tuning parameters to the plasma structure. The first successful experiment with a pinhole X-ray camera was carried out in the Atomki ECR Laboratory more than 10 years ago. The goal of that experiment was to make the first ECR X-ray photos and to carry out simple studies on the effect of some setting parameters (magnetic field, extraction, disc voltage, gas mixing, etc.). Recently, intensive efforts were taken to investigate now the effect of different RF resonant modes to the plasma structure. Comparing to the 2002 experiment, this campaign used wider instrumental stock: CCD camera with a lead pinhole was placed at the injection side allowing X-ray imaging and beam extraction simultaneously. Additionally, Silicon Drift Detector (SDD) and High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detectors were installed to characterize the volumetric X-ray emission rate caused by the warm and hot electron domains. In this paper, detailed comparison study on the two X-ray camera and detector setups and also on the technical and scientific goals of the experiments is presented.

Simulation of ion beam extraction from an Electron Cyclotron Resonance Ion Source (ECRIS) is a fully 3 dimensional problem, even if the extraction geometry has cylindrical symmetry. Because of the strong magnetic flux density, not only the electrons are magnetized but also the Larmor radius of ions is much smaller than the geometrical dimension of the plasma chamber (Ø 64 × 179 mm). If we assume that the influence of collisions is small on the path of particles, we can do particle tracking through the plasma if the initial coordinates of particles are known. We generated starting coordinates of plasma ions by simulation of the plasma electrons, accelerated stochastically by the 14.5 GHz radio frequency power fed to the plasma. With that we were able to investigate the influence of different electron energies on the extracted beam. Using these assumptions, we can reproduce the experimental results obtained 10 years ago, where we monitored the beam profile with the help of viewing targets. Additionally, methods have been developed to investigate arbitrary 2D cuts of the 6D phase space. To this date, we are able to discuss full 4D information. Currently, we extend our analysis tool towards 5D and 6D, respectively.

We report on the modification of fullerenes with iron and chlorine using two individually controllable plasmas in the Bio-Nano electron cyclotron resonance ion source (ECRIS). One of the plasmas is composed of fullerene and the other one is composed of iron and chlorine. The online ion beam analysis allows one to investigate the rate of the vapor-phase collisional modification process in the ECRIS, while the offline analyses (e.g., liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry) of the materials deposited on the plasma chamber can give information on the surface-type process. Both analytical methods show the presence of modified fullerenes such as fullerene-chlorine, fullerene-iron, and fullerene-chlorine-iron.

With about 1000-h of relativistic high-energy ion beams provided by Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba, about 70 users are performing various biology experiments every year. A rich variety of ion species from hydrogen to xenon ions with a dose rate of several Gy/min is available. Carbon, iron, silicon, helium, neon, argon, hydrogen, and oxygen ions were utilized between 2012 and 2014. Presently, three electron cyclotron resonance ion sources (ECRISs) and one Penning ion source are available. Especially, the two frequency heating techniques have improved the performance of an 18 GHz ECRIS. The results have satisfied most requirements for life-science studies. In addition, this improved performance has realized a feasible solution for similar biology experiments with a hospital-specified accelerator complex.

An experimental campaign aiming to investigate electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma X-ray emission has been recently carried out at the ECRISs-Electron Cyclotron Resonance Ion Sources laboratory of Atomki based on a collaboration between the Debrecen and Catania ECR teams. In a first series, the X-ray spectroscopy was performed through silicon drift detectors and high purity germanium detectors, characterizing the volumetric plasma emission. The on-purpose developed collimation system was suitable for direct plasma density evaluation, performed "on-line" during beam extraction and charge state distribution characterization. A campaign for correlating the plasma density and temperature with the output charge states and the beam intensity for different pumping wave frequencies, different magnetic field profiles, and single-gas/gas-mixing configurations was carried out. The results reveal a surprisingly very good agreement between warm-electron density fluctuations, output beam currents, and the calculated electromagnetic modal density of the plasma chamber. A charge-coupled device camera coupled to a small pin-hole allowing X-ray imaging was installed and numerous X-ray photos were taken in order to study the peculiarities of the ECRIS plasma structure.

The surface properties of metallic implants play an important role in their clinical success. Improving upon the inherent shortcomings of Ti implants, such as poor bioactivity, is imperative for achieving clinical use. In this study, we have developed a Ti implant modified with Ca or dual Ca + Si ions on the surface using an electron cyclotron resonance ion source (ECRIS). The physicochemical and biological properties of ion-implanted Ti surfaces were analyzed using various analytical techniques, such as surface analyses, potentiodynamic polarization and cell culture. Experimental results indicated that a rough morphology was observed on the Ti substrate surface modified by ECRIS plasma ions. The in vitro electrochemical measurement results also indicated that the Ca + Si ion-implanted surface had a more beneficial and desired behavior than the pristine Ti substrate. Compared to the pristine Ti substrate, all ion-implanted samples had a lower hemolysis ratio. MG63 cells cultured on the high Ca and dual Ca + Si ion-implanted surfaces revealed significantly greater cell viability in comparison to the pristine Ti substrate. In conclusion, surface modification by electron cyclotron resonance Ca and Si ion sources could be an effective method for Ti implants.

The output of highly charged ions from an electron cyclotron resonance ion source (ECRIS) consists of ionic losses from a highly confined plasma. Therefore, an increase of the output of the ions of interest always is a compromise between an increase in the confinement and an increase of the losses. One route towards a solution consists of attacking the losses in directions - i.e., radial directions - that do not contribute to the required output. This was demonstrated in an experiment (using the Kei ECRIS at NIRS, Japan) where radial losses were electrostatically reduced by positively biasing one set of six "side" electrodes surrounding the plasma in side-ward directions attached (insulated) to the cylindrical wall of the plasma chamber. Recently new studies were performed in two laboratories using two essentially different ion sources. At the BioNano ECRIS (Toyo University, Japan) various sets of electrodes were used; each of the electrodes could be biased individually. At the Atomki ECRIS (Hungary), one movable, off-axis side electrode was applied in technically two versions. The measurements show indeed a decrease of ionic losses but different effectivities as compared to the biased disk.

The two-frequency heating technique was studied to increase the beam intensities of highly charged ions provided by the high-voltage extraction configuration (HEC) ion source at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS). The observed dependences on microwave power and frequency suggested that this technique improved plasma stability but it required precise frequency tuning and more microwave power than was available before 2013. Recently, a new, high-power (1200 W) wide band-width (17.1-18.5 GHz) travelling-wave-tube amplifier (TWTA) was installed. After some single tests with klystron and TWT amplifiers the simultaneous injection of the two microwaves has been successfully realized. The dependence of highly charged ions (HCI) currents on the superposed microwave power was studied by changing only the output power of one of the two amplifiers, alternatively. While operating the klystron on its fixed 18.0 GHz, the frequency of the TWTA was swept within its full limits (17.1-18.5 GHz), and the effect of this frequency on the HCI-production rate was examined under several operation conditions. As an overall result, new beam records of highly charged argon, krypton, and xenon beams were obtained at the NIRS-HEC ion source by this high-power two-frequency operation mode.

A simple table-size ECR plasma generator operates in the ATOMKI without axial magnetic trap and without any particle extraction tool. Radial plasma confinement is ensured by a NdFeB hexapole. The table-top ECR is a simplified version of the 14 GHz ATOMKI-ECRIS. Plasma diagnostics experiments are planned to be performed at this device before installing the measurement setting at the "big" ECRIS. Recently, the plasma generator has been operated in pulsed RF mode in order to investigate the time evolution of the ECR plasma in two different ways. (1) The visible light radiation emitted by the plasma was investigated by the frames of a fast camera images with 1 ms temporal resolution. Since the visible light photographs are in strong correlation with the two-dimensional spatial distribution of the cold electron components of the plasma it can be important to understand better the transient processes just after the breakdown and just after the glow. (2) The time-resolved ion current on a specially shaped electrode was measured simultaneously in order to compare it with the visible light photographs. The response of the plasma was detected by changing some external setting parameters (gas pressure and microwave power) and was described in this paper.

A synthesis technology of endohedral fullerenes such as Fe@C60 has developed with an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source. The production of N@C60 was reported. However, the yield was quite low, since most fullerene molecules were broken in the ECR plasma. We have adopted gas-mixing techniques in order to cool the plasma and then reduce fullerene dissociation. Mass spectra of ion beams extracted from fullerene-He, Ar or Xe mixed plasmas were observed with a Faraday cup. From the results, the He gas mixing technique is effective against fullerene destruction.

In the paper, the material science experiments, carried out recently using the Bio-Nano electron cyclotron resonance ion source (ECRIS) at Toyo University, are reported. We have investigated several methods to synthesize endohedral C60 using ion-ion and ion-molecule collision reaction in the ECRIS. Because of the simplicity of the configuration, we can install a large choice of additional equipment in the ECRIS. The Bio-Nano ECRIS is suitable not only to test the materials production but also to test technical developments to improve or understand the performance of an ECRIS.

In this paper, we discuss the results of our study of the synthesis of endohedral iron-fullerenes. A low energy Fe(+) ion beam was irradiated to C60 thin film by using a deceleration system. Fe(+)-irradiated C60 thin film was analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography and laser desorption/ ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. We investigated the performance of the deceleration system for using a Fe(+) beam with low energy. In addition, we attempted to isolate the synthesized material from a Fe(+)-irradiated C60 thin film by high performance liquid chromatography.

Fullerene plasmas generated by pulse-modulated microwaves have been investigated under typical conditions at the Bio-Nano electron cyclotron resonance ion source. The effect of the pulse modulation is distinct from that of simply structured gases, and then the density of the fullerene plasmas increased as decreasing the duty ratio. The density for a pulse width of 10 μs at the period of 100 μs is 1.34 times higher than that for CW mode. We have studied the responses of fullerene and argon plasmas to pulsed microwaves. After the turnoff of microwave power, fullerene plasmas lasted ∼30 times longer than argon plasmas.

We have developed an electron cyclotron resonance ion source apparatus, which is designed for the production of endohedral fullerene. In this study, we irradiated the Fe(+) beam to the C(60) thin film. We changed the experimental condition of the dose and the ion energy. We could observe the Fe + C(60) peak by analysis of the time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The highest intensity of the Fe + C(60) peak was observed at the ion energy of 200 eV. The Fe + C(60) peak intensity tended to become high in the case of long irradiation time and large dose.

The ECR ion source has been operating in ATOMKI (Debrecen) since 1996. During the past 15 years lots of minor and numerous major technical modifications have been carried out on the ECRIS. Many of these changes aimed the increasing of beams charge, intensity, and the widening of the ion choice. Another group of the modifications were performed to develop special, non-standard operation modes or to produce peculiar plasmas and beams.

Molecular and negative ion beams, usually produced in special ion sources, play an increasingly important role in fundamental and applied atomic physics. The ATOMKI-ECRIS is a standard ECR ion source, designed to provide highly charged ion (HCI) plasmas and beams. In the present work, H(-), O(-), OH(-), O(2)(-), C(-), C(60)(-) negative ions and H(2)(+), H(3)(+), OH(+), H(2)O(+), H(3)O(+), O(2)(+) positive molecular ions were generated in this HCI-ECRIS. Without any major modification in the source and without any commonly applied tricks (such as usage of cesium or magnetic filter), negative ion beams of several μA and positive molecular ion beams in the mA range were successfully obtained.

The beam transport of N(+) ion and C(60)(+) ion in the Bio-Nano ECRIS with min-B configuration was investigated based on the ion beam profiles. The N(+) beam could be focused under the low-beam current conditions. Also the C(60)(+) beam could be focused in spite of the large space-charge effect which will lead the divergence of the beam. We confirmed that our beam transport system works well even for the C(60)(+) ion beam. We estimated the highest C(60)(+) beam current with the focused beam profile by comparing the N(+) ion beam.

In this paper a study on the ion transmission ratio of a nanoporous alumina sample is presented. The sample was investigated by scanning transmission ion microscopy (STIM) with different beam sizes. The hexagonally close-packed Al(2)O(3) nanocapillary array, realized as a suspended membrane of 15 microm thickness, had pore diameters of approximately 215 nm and spacing of approximately 450 nm. When the proton beam size was limited to a single domain, a peak transmission ratio of 19% was observed as is expected from the geometry (approximately 19-20%). This result points out an almost perfectly parallel alignment of the capillaries within one domain. However, for larger beam scanning areas (sampling multiple domains) the transmission ratio was reduced to 5%. The STIM analysis over an area larger than the typical domain size revealed an overall capillary angular spread of approximately 2 degrees.

We developed an electron cyclotron resonance ion source (ECRIS) for new materials production on nanoscale. Our main target is the endohedral fullerenes, which have potential in medical care, biotechnology, and nanotechnology. In particular, iron-encapsulated fullerene can be applied as a contrast material for magnetic resonance imaging or microwave heat therapy. Thus, our new ECRIS is named the Bio-Nano ECRIS. In this article, the recent progress of the development of the Bio-Nano ECRIS is reported: (i) iron ion beam production using induction heating oven and (ii) optimization of singly charged C(60) ion beam production.

Heavy ion radiotherapy awakens worldwide interest recently. The clinical results obtained by the Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences in Japan have clearly demonstrated the advantages of carbon ion radiotherapy. Presently, there are four facilities for heavy ion radiotherapy in operation, and several new facilities are under construction or being planned. The most common requests for ion sources are a long lifetime and good stability and reproducibility. Sufficient intensity has been achieved by electron cyclotron resonance ion sources at the present facilities.

In order to observe and study systematically the plasma of electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion sources (ECRIS) we made a high number of high-resolution visible light plasma photos and movies in the ATOMKI ECRIS Laboratory. This required building the ECR ion source into an open ECR plasma device, temporarily. An 8MP digital camera was used to record photos of plasmas made from Ne, Ar, and Kr gases and from their mixtures. We studied and recorded the effect of ion source setting parameters (gas pressure, gas composition, magnetic field, and microwave power) to the shape, color, and structure of the plasma. The analysis of the photo series gave us many qualitative and numerous valuable physical information on the nature of ECR plasmas.

The ability to introduce antibodies to live cells opens new insights to a wide range of applications, such as protein intracellular trafficking studies, protein interference studies with blocking antibodies, and live immunolabeling or protein phosphorylation states studies. Apart from single-chain format variable (scFv) antibodies, DNA transfection of eukaryotic cells is rarely used to produce antibodies in situ, mainly due to inappropriate folding of the antibody in the cytoplasm. Thus, the development of dedicated carriers is needed since antibodies, which are large, unable to cross the plasma membrane and effective release of the antibody in the cytoplasm need to be overcome. We studied these two crucial steps using a dedicated delivery reagent in live cells and compared the results with immunocytochemistry experiments in fixed cells.

Over 3000 cancer patients have already been treated by the heavy-ion medical accelerator in Chiba at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences since 1994. The clinical results have clearly verified the effectiveness and safety of heavy-ion radiotherapy. The most important result has been to establish that the carbon ion is one of the most effective radiations for radiotherapy. The ion source is required to realize a stable beam with the same conditions for daily operation. However, the deposition of carbon ions on the wall of the plasma chamber is normally unavoidable. This causes an "anti-wall-coating effect," i.e., a decreasing of the beam, especially for the higher charge-state ions due to the surface material of the wall. The ion source must be required to produce a sufficiently intense beam under the bad condition. Other problems were solved by improvements and maintenance, and thus we obtained enough reproducibility and stability along with decreased failures. We summarize our over 13 years of experience, and show the scope for further developments.

The goal of this article is to present simulations on the extraction from an electron cyclotron resonance ion source (ECRIS). The aim of this work is to find out an extraction system, which allows one to reduce the emittances and to increase the current of the extracted ion beam at the focal point of the analyzing dipole. But first, we should locate the correct software which is able to reproduce the specific physics of an ion beam. To perform the simulations, the following softwares have been tested: SIMION 3D, AXCEL, CPO 3D, and especially, for the magnetic field calculation, MATHEMATICA coupled with the RADIA module. Emittance calculations have been done with two types of ECRIS: one with a hexapole and one without a hexapole, and the difference will be discussed.

The compact electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source with a permanent magnet configuration (Kei2 source) has been developed at National Institute of Radiological Sciences for a new carbon therapy facility. The Kei2 source was designed for production of C(4+) ions; its performance such as beam intensity and stability has already reached the medical requirements. Therefore, the prototype development of the source for medical use is essentially finished. Recently, we have started a few studies on other applications of the source. One is the production of fullerenes in the ECR plasma and modified fullerenes with various atoms for new materials. A second application is the production of multiply charged ions (not only carbon) for ion implantation. In this paper, some basic experiments for these applications are reported.

Protein delivery represents a powerful tool for experiments in live cells including studies of protein-protein interactions, protein interference with blocking antibodies, intracellular trafficking and protein or peptide biological functions. Most available reagents dedicated to the protein delivery allow efficient crossing of the plasma membrane. Nevertheless, the major disadvantage for these reagents is a weak release of the delivered protein into the cytoplasm. In this publication we demonstrate efficient protein delivery with a non-peptide based reagent, in human epithelial carcinoma HeLa cells and primary human skin fibroblasts. Using a fluorescent protein in combination with fluorescence microscopy and fluorescence-assisted cell sorting analysis, we show that the delivered protein is indeed released effectively in the cytoplasm, as expected for a dedicated carrier. Furthermore, we present a step-by-step method to optimize conditions for successful intracellular protein delivery.