Simultaneous Measurement of Local Gain and Electron Density in X-ray Lasers

X-ray lasers (XRLs) have experimental average gains that are significantly less than calculated values and a persistently low level of spatial coherence. An XRL has been used both as an injected signal to a short XRL amplifier and as an interferometer beam to measure two-dimensional local gain and density profiles of the XRL plasma with a resolution near 1 micrometer. The measured local gain is in agreement with atomic models but is unexpectedly spatially inhomogeneous. This inhomogeneity is responsible for the low level of spatial coherence observed and helps explain the disparity between observed and simulated gains.     

New piezoelectric moduli of wood: <Emphasis Type="Italic">d</Emphasis><Subscript>31</Subscript> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">d</Emphasis><Subscript>32</Subscript>

This article reports the piezoelectric moduli of wood d ₃₁, d ₃₂, and d ₃₆. The piezoelectric moduli of wood d ₃₁ and d ₃₂ have not been previously reported, although there has been much research on the d ₁₄ and d ₂₅ moduli of wood. The moduli d ₃₁, d ₃₂, and d ₃₆ were measured carefully because their absolute values were considerably smaller than those of d ₁₄ and d ₂₅. For Softwoods, d ₃₆ values were mostly negative, whereas the values for hardwoods had either positive or negative values. The other moduli, d ₃₁ and d ₃₂, were a mixture of positive and negative values in softwoods and hardwoods. The existence of d ₃₁ and d ₃₂ suggests the presence of an electrical polarity of the cellulose crystal in the fiber direction of the wood. The polarities of d ₃₁ and d ₃₂ became clear from wood in the outer part of the trunk, where the crystallinity of cellulose is large and the alignment of the crystals becomes parallel to the fiber direction.     

Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) Embryonic Stem Cell‐Like Cells and Preimplantation Embryos Exhibit Comparable Expression of Pluripotency‐Related Antigens

In this study, inner cell mass (ICM) cells were isolated from in vitro produced buffalo blastocysts and were cultured on mitomycin‐C treated buffalo foetal fibroblast feeder layer for producing embryonic stem (ES) cells. Among different sources (hatched vs expanded blastocysts) or methods (enzymatic vs mechanical), mechanical isolation of ICM from hatched blastocysts resulted in the highest primary colony formation rate and the maximum passage number up to which ES cells survived. Putative ES cells expressed alkaline phosphatase and exhibited a normal karyotype up to passage 7. Putative ES cells and embryos at 2‐ to 4‐cell, 8‐ to 16‐cell, morula and blastocyst stages strongly expressed stage‐specific embryonic antigen (SSEA)‐4 but lacked expressions of SSEA‐1 and SSEA‐3. Putative ES cells also expressed tumour rejection antigen (TRA)‐1‐60, TRA‐1‐81 and Oct4. Whereas in all early embryonic stages, TRA‐1‐60 was observed only in the periplasmic space, and TRA‐1‐81 expression was observed as small spots at a few places inside the embryos, both these markers were expressed by ICM. Oct4 expression, which was observed at all the embryonic stages and also in the trophectoderm, was the strongest in the ICM. Buffalo putative ES cells possess a unique pluripotency‐related surface antigen phenotype, which resembles that of the ICM.     

Earth-Based Radio Tracking of the Galileo Probe for Jupiter Wind Estimation

Although the Galileo probe was designed to communicate only to the orbiter, the probe radio signal was detected at two Earth-based radio observatories where the signal was a billion times weaker. The measured signal frequency was used to derive a vertical profile of the jovian zonal wind speed. Due to the mission geometry, the Earth-based wind estimates are less sensitive to descent trajectory errors than estimates based on probe-orbiter Doppler measurements. The two estimates of wind profiles agree qualitatively; both show high wind speeds at all depths sampled.     

Chaotic Dynamics in an Insect Population

A nonlinear demographic model was used to predict the population dynamics of the flour beetle Tribolium under laboratory conditions and to establish the experimental protocol that would reveal chaotic behavior. With the adult mortality rate experimentally set high, the dynamics of animal abundance changed from equilibrium to quasiperiodic cycles to chaos as adult-stage recruitment rates were experimentally manipulated. These transitions in dynamics corresponded to those predicted by the mathematical model. Phase-space graphs of the data together with the deterministic model attractors provide convincing evidence of transitions to chaos.     

Effect of Three pFSH Doses on Superovulation and Embryo Quality in Goats During Two Breeding Seasons in North‐eastern Mexico

The aim of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of three pFSH doses (80 mg; 145 mg and 215 mg) on ovarian response and on quantity and quality of transferable embryos of goats during the breeding and the non‐breeding seasons. Ovary structures were exposed (laparatomy under general anaesthesia) and numbers of follicles and corpora lutea were registered. Surgical embryo flushing was conducted to count and classify embryos. There were more follicles (3.4 ± 1.1) in does administered 80 mg of pFSH (p < 0.05) than in goats administered 145 mg of pFSH (2.2 ± 1.1) and 215 mg of pFSH (0.9 ± 0.6). Numbers of corpora lutea, blastocysts, and recovered and transferable embryos of goats administered 145 mg pFSH (13.4 ± 3.7, 2.42 ± 1.0, 3.4 ± 1.2 and 3.2 ± 1.1, respectively) and those of goats administered 215 mg pFSH (11.6 ± 2.6, 3.2 ± 0.9, 5.7 ± 1.5, and 5.6 ± 1.5) were greater (p < 0.05) than values obtained from goats administered 80 mg pFSH (4.0 ± 1.5, 0.5 ± 0.3, 1.0 ± 0.5, and 0.8 ± 0.5). Numbers of morula of does administered 80 and 145 mg pFSH (0.4 ± 0.4 and 0.8 ± 0.3) were lower (p < 0.05) than those obtained from animals treated with 215 mg pFSH (2.4 ± 0.9). There was no effect of season upon the analyzed variables. In conclusion, under the prevalent conditions in north‐eastern Mexico, administration of 145 or 215 mg pFSH in a decreasing dose schedule over 3.5 days to bred goats provided a satisfactory superovulatory result.     

Identification, determination, and biological evaluation of a novel styrene trimer contained in polystyrene food containers. 2

An unidentified styrene trimer (ST) isolated from the acetonitrile extract of polystyrene (PS) food containers was characterized as (1S*,6R*,7S*,8S*,11R*)-6,11-diphenyltricyclo[6,2,2,0(2,7)]dodeca-2,9-diene. The content and migration of this compound in PS food containers were determined by GC-MS (SIM). Furthermore, an endocrine-disrupting effect was tested using in vitro and in vivo assays of the compound. In conclusion, it seems that the compound does not present the effect.