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The minimum achievable particle beam emittance in an electron accelerator depends strongly on the intrinsic emittance of the photocathode electron source. This is measurable as the mean longitudinal and transverse energy spreads in the photoemitted electron beam (MLE and MTE respectively); consequently, MLE and MTE are notable figures of merit for photocathodes used as electron sources in particle accelerators. The overall energy spread is defined by the sum of the MTE and the MLE, and the minimization of MTE is crucial to reduce emittance and thus generate a high-brightness electron beam. Reducing the electron beam emittance in an accelerator that drives a Free-Electron Laser (FEL) delivers a significant reduction in the saturation length for an x-ray FEL, thus reducing the machine's construction footprint and operating costs while increasing the x-ray beam brightness. The ability to measure the transverse energy distribution curve of photoelectrons emitted from a photocathode is a key enabler in photocathode research and development that has prompted the Accelerator Science and Technology Centre (ASTeC) at the STFC Daresbury Laboratory to develop the Transverse Energy Spread Spectrometer to make these crucial measurements. We present details of the design for the upgraded TESS instrument with measured data for copper (100), (110), and (111) single-crystal photocathodes illuminated at UV wavelengths around 266 nm.

Term energies for dielectronic-recombination Rydberg resonances below 0.07 eV are determined for Sc18+ with absolute accuracies below 0.0002 eV by electron collision spectroscopy in an ion storage ring, using the twin-electron-beam technique and a cryogenic photocathode. The lithiumlike 2s_{1/2}-2p_{3/2} transition energy for Z=21 is determined to 4.6 ppm, less than 1% of the few-body effects on radiative corrections. Features from the hyperfine structure of the 2s state could be resolved in the dielectronic-recombination spectrum.

In 2005 we have described in exponentially growing E. coli cells a new fundamental genetic phenomenon,--quasi-adaptive response to alkylating compounds (quasi-Ada). Phenotypic expression of quasi-Ada is similar to the true Ada response. However, in contrast to the letter, it develops in the course of pretreatment of the cells by a sublethal dose of nonalkylating agent, an NO-containing dinitrosyl iron complex with glutathione (DNICglu). To reveal the mechanisms of quasi-adaptation and its association with the function of the Ada regulatory protein, here we used a unique property of dual gene expression regulation of aidB1 gene, a part of the Ada-regulon, namely its relative independence from Ada protein in anaerobic conditions. Based on the results of aidB1 gene expression analysis an EPR spectra of E. coli MV2176 cells (aidB1::lacZ) in aerobic and anaerobic conditions after the corresponding treatments, we conclude that the function and the spatial structure of meAda and [(Cys-)2Fe+(NO+)2]Ada are identical and thus the nitrosylated protein represents a regulator of the Ada regulon gene expression during quasi-adaptation development.

Measurements on the energetic structure of the dissociative recombination rate coefficient in the millielectronvolt range are described for H3+ ions produced in the lowest rotational levels by collisional cooling and stored as a fast beam in the magnetic storage ring TSR (Test Storage Ring). The observed resonant structure is consistent with that found previously at the storage ring facility CRYRING in Stockholm, Sweden; theoretical predictions yield good agreement on the overall size of the rate coefficient, but do not reproduce the detailed structure. First studies on the nuclear spin symmetry influencing the lowest level populations show a small effect different from the theoretical predictions. Heating processes in the residual gas and by collisions with energetic electrons, as well as cooling owing to interaction with cold electrons, were observed in long-time storage experiments, using the low-energy dissociative recombination rate coefficient as a probe, and their consistency with the recent cold H3+ measurements is discussed.

This work is a part of a directional search for new crystal donors of nitric oxide (NO), which are promising for complex chemotherapy. The relationships between the physico-chemical properties of NO donors, their genotoxic and mutagenic activities, and the dependence on intracellular iron were studied. New crystal NO donors (di- and trinitrosyl iron complexes with synthetic ligands) were examined for the first time and compared with known NO donors containing natural ligands. All but one compound induced expression of the Escherichia coli sfiA gene belonging to the SOS regulon and exerted a mutagenic effect on Salmonella typhimurium TA1535. These effects were fully or significantly inhibited by the iron(II)-chelating agent o-phenanthrolin, depending on the mono- or binuclear structure of the ligands. The rate of donating free NO in solution did not positively correlate with the genotoxic activity of the crystal NO donors. The genetic activity of all NO donors proved to depend on intracellular iron.

The energy-resolved rate coefficient for the dissociative recombination (DR) of H(3)(+) with slow electrons has been measured by the storage-ring method using an ion beam produced from a radiofrequency multipole ion trap, employing buffer-gas cooling at 13 K. The electron energy spread of the merged-beams measurement is reduced to 500 microeV by using a cryogenic GaAs photocathode. This and a previous cold- measurement jointly confirm the capability of ion storage rings, with suitable ion sources, to store and investigate H(3)(+) in the two lowest, (J,G) = (1,1) and (1,0) rotational states prevailing also in cold interstellar matter. The use of para-H(2) in the ion source, expected to enhance para-H(3)(+) in the stored ion beam, is found to increase the DR rate coefficient at meV electron energies.