At EuXFEL, a stray field of ionizing radiation is present near undulator magnets which eventually can lead to their demagnetization and decreased efficiency of the Self-Amplified Spontaneous Emission (SASE) process. In this work we investigate both the origin and composition of the radiation field at the undulator magnets with gafchromic film measurements and Geant4 Monte Carlo simulations. Both measurements and simulations suggest that the radiation field in the upstream undulator cells comes from high-energy electrons striking the beam pipe. In addition, horizontal dose distributions at the entrance of the undulator segments depend on where the electrons hit the beam pipe. Geant4 simulations show that the radiation fluence near magnets is dominated by photons, while charged secondary electrons and positrons contribute almost entirely to the ionizing dose absorbed by magnets.

We have stored the first beams in one of the rings of the double electrostatic ion-storage ring, DESIREE at cryogenic and at room temperature conditions. At cryogenic operations the following parameters are found. Temperature; T= 13K, pressure; p < 10−13 mbar, initial number of stored ions; N > 107 and storage lifetime of a C−2 beam; τ = 450 s.

We report on the first storage of ion beams in the Double ElectroStatic Ion Ring ExpEriment, DESIREE, at Stockholm University. We have produced beams of atomic carbon anions and small carbon anion molecules (C(n)(-), n = 1, 2, 3, 4) in a sputter ion source. The ion beams were accelerated to 10 keV kinetic energy and stored in an electrostatic ion storage ring enclosed in a vacuum chamber at 13 K. For 10 keV C2 (-) molecular anions we measure the residual-gas limited beam storage lifetime to be 448 s ± 18 s with two independent detector systems. Using the measured storage lifetimes we estimate that the residual gas pressure is in the 10(-14) mbar range. When high current ion beams are injected, the number of stored particles does not follow a single exponential decay law as would be expected for stored particles lost solely due to electron detachment in collision with the residual-gas. Instead, we observe a faster initial decay rate, which we ascribe to the effect of the space charge of the ion beam on the storage capacity.

We describe the status of the DESIREE facility, which is an electrostatic ion-storage device consisting of two storage rings with a common section, where ion beams of opposite charges stored in the two rings are merged. The electrostatic storage rings are mounted in a single common vacuum vessel, which is isolated inside an outer vacuum chamber and cooled by means of four cryogenerators. This unique system will allow for studies of interaction among ions of opposite charges at well controlled conditions both in terms of internal degrees of freedom and relative velocity. An advanced ion-beam production system for intense pulses of cold complex molecular ions is also presented.

The internal energy distribution of ammonia formed in the dissociative recombination (DR) of NH4+ with electrons has been studied by an imaging technique at the ion storage ring CRYRING. The DR process resulted in the formation of NH3 + H (0,90 +/- 0.01), with minor contributions from channels producing NH2 + H-2 (0.05 +/- 0.01) and NH2 + 2H (0.04 +/- 0.02). The formed NH3 molecules were highly internally excited, with a mean rovibrational energy of 3.3 +/- 0.4 eV, which corresponds to 70% of the energy released in the neutralization process. The internal energy distribution was semiquantitatively reproduced by ab initio direct dynamics simulations, and the calculations suggested that the NH3 molecules are highly vibrationally excited while rotational excitation is limited. The high internal,excitation and the translational energy of NH3 and H will influence their subsequent reactivity, an aspect that should be taken into account when developing detailed models of the interstellar medium and ammonia-containing plasmas.

Abstract The possibility of an extraterrestrial origin of biomolecule building blocks has been a subject of intense discussions for many years. The detection of amino acids in meteorites opens the possibility of a delivery of biomolecules synthesized in the interstellar medium or star-forming regions to the primeval Earth. Whereas it can be doubted if more complex species like amino acids can survive the strong UV radiation in the early Solar System, this does not necessary hold for more primitive precursor molecules like nitriles. These compounds can also be synthesized very efficiently in methane-nitrogen dominated atmospheres like the one present on Titan and the early ages of Earth. This Contribution focuses on the formation and degradation processes of nitriles in interstellar clouds and planetary atmospheres and on their possible role in the generation of biomolecules.

Protein synthesis is believed to be involved in stabilizing synaptic plasticity. Effects lasting longer than about 2–3h are considered to require synthesis of new proteins, implying a functional separation between early (E) and late (L) components. However, the issue of constitutive vs. new protein synthesis is still unclear, especially in young animals. Here, we examined the effects of two protein synthesis inhibitors, anisomycin and emetine, on long-term-potentiation (LTP) in CA1 area of hippocampal slices from 12- to 20-day-old rats. Either drug was applied from −30min to +30min with respect to LTP induction, a time window previously reported to be critical. However, the LTP remained stable under the entire recording period of 4h (anisomycin), or 8h (emetine). Proper preparation of emetine solution was evidenced by the fact that, in separate experiments, prolonged treatment with emetine gradually blocked baseline responses. Although no corresponding effect was observed with anisomycin, the drug was judged to be potent by its ability to inhibit yeast growth. The ability of anisomycin to inhibit protein synthesis was further confirmed by radiolabeling experiments assessing the degree of leucine incorporation. Our data suggest that LTP up to at least 8h is not dependent on triggered protein synthesis but can be attained by utilizing proteins already available at induction time.

Alcohols and nitriles not only play an important role as templates for synthesis of larger molecules in the interstellar medium and planetary atmospheres, but they can also be regarded as precursors for biomolecules. Alcohols can form carbohydrates through reaction with HCO and nitriles can be hydrolysed to amino acids in aqueous solutions, which is the final step of the well-known Strecker synthesis. Therefore the question of the pathways of formation of alcohols and nitriles and the efficiency and the product distribution of their subsequent degradation reactions in the above-mentioned astrophysical environments is of great interest. In both processes dissociative recombination reactions of protonated nitriles and alcohols may play a major role and are included in models of interstellar clouds and planetary atmospheres. However, the reaction rate coefficients and product branching ratios for the majority of these processes are so far still unknown, which adversely affects the quality of predictions of model calculations. In this Contribution, we therefore present branching ratios and rate constants of the dissociative recombination of protonated methanol (CH3OH2+), as well as protonated acetonitrile (CH3CNH+), acrylonitrile (C2H3CNH+) and cyanoacetylene (HC3NH+). The impact of the obtained new data on model calculations of abundances of important interstellar molecules in dark clouds is discussed.

Alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid (AMPA) and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor mediated responses were investigated in rat hippocampal slices under 4h of long-term potentiation (LTP) expression. A modified medium containing the NMDA receptor antagonist AP5 and low concentration of Mg(2+) was used to monitor isolated AMPA responses. NMDA components were determined from composite excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) under brief (15-20 min) wash-out of AP5. LTP was induced in a medium with low concentration of AP5, resulting in an about two-fold larger increase of the AMPA component than of the NMDA component at both 1h and 4h after induction. Similar results were obtained if LTP was induced in "normal Mg(2+)" and the NMDA components were assessed at the end of experiment, from either composite or isolated NMDA EPSPs, with or without blockade of GABAergic inhibition. It is generally believed that LTP undergoes biochemical and/or structural conversions during the first few hours. Our study, however, shows constant expression of LTP, at least in terms of AMPA versus NMDA components, during this time. The data support the notion that LTP initiates as a predominant amplification of AMPA receptors and remains so for at least 4h.

The aim of this project was to elucidate how different drugs (protein synthesis inhibitors, enzyme inhibitors and enzyme activators) affect the late phase of LTP (long-term potentiation). The hippocampus from 2-3 week old rats was cut into 400 μm thick slices, which were then incubated in an oxygenated artificial cerebrospinal fluid, containing essential ions and glucose. A stable baseline of fEPSP (field excitatory post synaptic potential) in the synaptic layer of the hippocampus region CA1 was first obtained. LTP was induced by three trains of high frequency stimulation (tetanization, consisting of: 100 Hz, 100 impulses, 10 s interval x 3). To compare synapses subjected to LTP with synapses in a control pathway, two stimulating electrodes were used, and LTP was only induced by one of them. The recording electrode was connected to a computer, which graphically showed the outcome of the experiment. After a stabilized LTP (~ 3 h after induction) the maintenance (L-LTP) was studied in the presence of different drugs. Alternatively, the drug was applied before induction of LTP. Another ambition was to find out how the NMDA component (the part of the synaptic response mediated by NMDA receptors) was affected by LTP induction. The results showed that anisomycin, emetine and puromycin (protein synthesis inhibitors) decreased basal synaptic transmission by inducing a slowly developing depression of fEPSPs but had no specific blocking effect on L-LTP. However, L-LTP was impeded by a combined application of emetine and puromycin. Rp-cAMPs (protein kinase A inhibitor) caused smaller levels of LTP but had no specific effect on L-LTP; forskolin (adenylyl cyclase activator) induced potentiation followed by depression of fEPSPs; this effect interacted with paired pulse facilitation, indicative of a presynaptic mechanism, but did not interact with any part of LTP. The NMDA component seemed to contribute to the maintenance of LTP displaying a potentiation of about 50% of the AMPA component (the part of the synaptic response mediated by AMPA receptors) 1 h after induction of LTP and about 61% of the AMPA component 4 h after induction of LTP. But after statistical analysis it was concluded that there was no statistical significance for the asymmetrical changes of the NMDA component and the AMPA components between 1 h and 4 h after LTP induction, and no significance for the NMDA component at all. That makes the NMDA sniffing experiments impossible to use as a base for any conclusions. The lack of clear effect on L-LTP obtained with drugs related to control of protein synthesis might be due to a high level of constituent protein synthesis in slices from young animals.

The paper reports an investigation of the dissociative recombination of at the heavy-ion storage ring CRYRING. The absolute cross-section has been measured as a function of centre-of-mass energy ...

The involvement of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) vs. N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor mediated changes in NMDA-induced long-term depression (LTD) was assessed by monitoring isolated AMPA, isolated NMDA and composite field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSP) in the CA1 area of acute rat hippocampal slices. Application of NMDA (20–50 μM) for 3–5 min led to LTD of both AMPA and NMDA receptor mediated EPSPs with near equal changes of the responses. However, AMPA EPSPs displayed a faster initial recovery than NMDA EPSPs. In addition, during the first 15–25 min after NMDA application, there was a superimposed potentiation of the later, but not early, part of AMPA EPSPs, implying a prolongation of waveform. In contrast, the NMDA EPSP waveform remained unaltered throughout the experiments. While it has been maintained that NMDA-induced depression is equivalent to stimulus-induced LTD, our results reveal additional complexity, suggesting a multitude of changes, most likely at the postsynaptic receptor level.

We have studied the dissociation dynamics of NO+ ions in their ground, X 1Σ+, and first excited metastable, a 3Σ+ states, induced by the capture of electrons of variable collision energy in the dissociative recombination (DR) process. The branching over the different dissociation channels has been measured in a merged-beam experiment on the heavy-ion storage ring, CRYRING. In accord with previous observations, NO+ (X 1Σ+,v=0) ions dissociate dominantly to the N(2D)+O(3P) product limit at 0 and 1.2 eV collision energies. In contrast to earlier reports, the spin-forbidden N(4S)+O(1D) dissociation limit contributes 0(±2)% at 0 eV. At 5.6 eV a new channel coupled to the production of ground-state atoms becomes more important, but no increase in the production of ground-state product atoms was observed. All observed branching fractions compare very favorably with predictions from a simple statistical model, which is based on the multiplicity of each dissociation limit in combination with spin conservation during the dissociation and the initial electron capture. We also report the distribution of fragment pairs from the DR reaction involving the metastable a 3Σ+ state. This state is found to dissociate to nearly all of the energetically allowed product pairs. The lifetime of the a 3Σ+ state is found to be 730(±50) ms, in agreement with earlier, sometimes indirect, observations. The experimental observations have been complemented with ab initio calculations on the different radiative decay processes both for the X 1Σ+ and the a 3Σ+ states. It is found that vibrational relaxation via infrared radiation is faster for NO+ (a 3Σ+,v>0) ions than the electronic decay of these metastable-state ions to the ground state.

The 364-nm negative ion photoelectron spectra of XO and OXO molecules (X=Ni, Pd, and Pt) are reported. The spectra yield the electron affinities (EAs): EA(NiO)=1.455±0.005 eV; EA(PdO)=1.672±0.005 eV; EA(PtO)=2.172±0.005 eV; EA(ONiO)=3.043±0.005 eV; EA(OPdO)=3.086±0.005 eV; EA(OPtO)=2.677±0.005 eV. In addition, for the diatomics, transitions from the anion X̃2Π3/2 and X̃′2Π1/2 states into neutral X̃3Σ−, 3Π, and for NiO and PdO, 1Π, are assigned. Several states have been reassigned from those in the existing literature. Anion 2Π3/2–2Π1/2 spin–orbit splittings are measured, as are neutral 3Π2–3Π1 spin–orbit splittings: the XO 3Π 2–3Π1 splittings increase from 405±30 cm−1 (NiO) to 805±30 cm−1 (PdO) to 3580±40 cm−1 (PtO). A bond length shortening of 0.03±0.01 Å is measured upon electron detachment from NiO−, resulting in an anion bond length of 1.66±0.01 Å. The bond length does not change upon electron detachment from PdO− using 3.4-eV photons. The Pt–O bond length decreases by 0.035±0.010 Å in the 3Π1←2Π3/2 transition. The spectrum of OPtO displays a significantly more extended vibrational progression than those of ONiO or OPdO, and the O–Pt bond length is found to decrease by 0.07±0.01 Å upon electron detachment. The spectra support the view that the Ni–O bond is largely ionic, the Pd–O bond is somewhat less so, and the Pt–O bond displays a substantial covalent character.