Status Report: A Detector for Measuring the Ground State Hyperfine Splitting of Antihydrogen

The ASACUSA (Atomic Spectroscopy And Collisions Using Slow Antiprotons) collaboration at the Antiproton Decelerator at CERN aims to measure the ground state hyperfine structure of antihydrogen. A Rabi-like spectrometer line has been built for this purpose. A detector for counting antihydrogen is located at the end of the beam line. This contribution will focus on the tracking detector, whose challenging task it is to discriminate between background events and antiproton annihilations originating from antihydrogen atoms which are produced only in small amounts.Comment: Presented at the Seventh Meeting on CPT and Lorentz Symmetry, Bloomington, Indiana, June 20-24, 201

Cloning of a Carcinoembryonic Antigen Gene Family Member Expressed in Leukocytes of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Patients and Bone Marrow

The carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) gene family belongs to the immunoglobulin superfamily and can be subdivided into the CEA and pregnancy-specific glycoprotein subgroups. The basic structure of the encoded proteins consists of, in addition to a leader, one IgV-like and 2, 3, or 6 IgC-like domains. These domains are followed by varying COOH-terminal regions responsible for secretion, transmembrane anchoring, or insertion into the membrane by a glycosyl phosphatidylinositol tail. Here we report on the characterization of CGM6, a new member of the CEA gene subgroup, by complementary DNA cloning. The deduced coding region comprises 349 amino acids and consists of a leader, one IgV-like, two IgC-like domains, and a hydrophobic region, which is replaced by a glycosyl phosphatidylinositol moiety in the mature protein. CGM6 transcripts were only found thus far in leukocytes of chronic myeloid leukemia patients, in normal bone marrow, and in marginal amounts in normal granulocytes. The CGM6 gene product might, therefore, represent a myeloid marker. Analyses of CGM6 protein-expressing HeLa transfectants with monoclonal antibodies strongly indicate that the CGM6 gene codes for the CEA family member NCA-95

An atomic hydrogen beam to test ASACUSA's apparatus for antihydrogen spectroscopy

The ASACUSA collaboration aims to measure the ground state hyperfine splitting (GS-HFS) of antihydrogen, the antimatter pendant to atomic hydrogen. Comparisons of the corresponding transitions in those two systems will provide sensitive tests of the CPT symmetry, the combination of the three discrete symmetries charge conjugation, parity, and time reversal. For offline tests of the GS-HFS spectroscopy apparatus we constructed a source of cold polarised atomic hydrogen. In these proceedings we report the successful observation of the hyperfine structure transitions of atomic hydrogen with our apparatus in the earth's magnetic field.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, proceedings for conference EXA 2014 (Exotic Atoms - Vienna

Numerical Simulations of Hyperfine Transitions of Antihydrogen

One of the ASACUSA (Atomic Spectroscopy And Collisions Using Slow Antiprotons) collaboration's goals is the measurement of the ground state hyperfine transition frequency in antihydrogen, the antimatter counterpart of one of the best known systems in physics. This high precision experiment yields a sensitive test of the fundamental symmetry of CPT. Numerical simulations of hyperfine transitions of antihydrogen atoms have been performed providing information on the required antihydrogen events and the achievable precision

The Human Pregnancy-Specific Glycoprotein Genes are Tightly Linked on the Long Arm of Chromosome 19 and are Coordinately Expressed

The pregnancy-specific glycoprotein (PSG) genes encode a group of proteins which are found in large amounts in placenta and maternal serum. In situ hybridization analyses of metaphase chromosomes reveal that all the human pregnancy-specific glycoprotein (PSG) genes are located on the long arm of chromosome 19 (19q13.2–13.3), overlapping the region containing the closely-related carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) gene subgroup. Higher resolution analyses indicate that the PSG genes are closely linked within an 800kb SacII restriction endonuclease fragment. This has been confirmed through restriction endonuclease mapping and DNA sequence analyses of isolated genomic clones, which show that at least some of these genes are located in very close proximity. Further, these studies have helped to identify a new member of the PSG gene sub-family (PSG7). DNA/RNA hybridization analyses, using gene-specific oligonucleotide probes based on published sequences, showed that five from six PSG genes tested are coordinately transcribed in the placenta. Due to the close proximity of these genes and their coordinated expression pattern, common transcriptional regulatory elements may exist

A hydrogen beam to characterize the ASACUSA antihydrogen hyperfine spectrometer

The antihydrogen programme of the ASACUSA collaboration at the antiproton decelerator of CERN focuses on Rabi-type measurements of the ground-state hyperfine splitting of antihydrogen for a test of the combined Charge-Parity-Time symmetry. The spectroscopy apparatus consists of a microwave cavity to drive hyperfine transitions and a superconducting sextupole magnet for quantum state analysis via Stern-Gerlach separation. However, the small production rates of antihydrogen forestall comprehensive performance studies on the spectroscopy apparatus. For this purpose a hydrogen source and detector have been developed which in conjunction with ASACUSA's hyperfine spectroscopy equipment form a complete Rabi experiment. We report on the formation of a cooled, polarized, and time modulated beam of atomic hydrogen and its detection using a quadrupole mass spectrometer and a lock-in amplification scheme. In addition key features of ASACUSA's hyperfine spectroscopy apparatus are discussed.

Phosphoric Glimmers in Eden: Coverdale\u27s Failed Allegory and Hawthorne\u27s Moral in The Blithedale Romance

Allegory\u27s history in America, as expressed by Deborah L. Madsen, includes the strand of “American exceptionalism” — the idea that America is a “redeemer” nation. This viewpoint is critiqued in Nathaniel Hawthorne\u27s The Blithedale Romance through the genre of allegory. Through his otherworldy language Miles Coverdale, the novel\u27s unreliable narrator, creates a flawed or failed allegory about the creation of a new Eden. The characters both do and do not embody their allegorical figures. Three of the main characters, Zenobia, Hollingsworth, and Coverdale, fail, because of their selfishness, to embody the goodness and purity of their allegorical counterparts: Eve, Charity/Adam, and Dionysus/Transcendental Poet. Priscilla\u27s veiled nature makes her allegorical counterpart difficult to decipher, but clues in the narrative suggest she may be figured as Pandora; however, her lack of conscious evil works against this role. Westervelt as the Devil and Moodie as Pride and Shame round out the allegory, although, they, too, fail to fully embody their roles. The failure of Coverdale\u27s allegory to adequately cover the narrative allows Hawthorne\u27s seeming critique of “American exceptionalism” to shine through his moral that a new Eden is impossible in a fallen world

How Can Standards-Based Grading be Implemented into an English Language Arts Classroom in Order to Give More Accurate Feedback of Student Achievement

Properly and fairly assessing student work is an important and timely job. This paper will document the background of traditional grading, along with how standards-­‐based grading benefits teachers, students, and parents. Key pieces of learning around this pertinent topic of assessment come from the current work of Guskey, as well as Wormeli and Reeves. It will also address barriers to standards-­‐ based grading, and what professionals can do to implement this grading system into schools and classrooms, and cover how standards-­‐based grading can be implemented into an English Language Arts classroom in order to give more accurate feedback of student achievement. Tools created by the author include a PowerPoint for parents, a brochure outlining how standards-­‐based grading works, as well as student-­‐friendly resources such as posters and rubrics

Measuring the Effect of Social Background on Judicial Decision-Making in Tax Cases

Judicial decision-making is an important part of the law-making process. The positive research of judicial decision-making is expanding, and its normative significance is undeniable. Even so, judicial decision-making in tax cases has not yet received much empirical attention. This study contributes to the existing literature, empirically evaluating if, and to what extent, non-legal factors affect the outcomes of tax cases. It examines the potential effects of judges’ social backgrounds and adds to the rather small but growing empirical literature on tax litigation. I coded the dependent variable—the judge’s level of acceptance of the taxpayer’s claim, meaning whether the judge sides with the taxpayer and overrules the IRS’s decisions—as an ordinal variable rather than the more common binary coding of the prevailing party. Binary coding can often be arbitrary, resulting in loss of information and misestimation. By allowing for an intermediate category of the prevailing party, in addition to the traditional binary options, the variable transforms to an ordinal measure of the judge’s acceptance level of the taxpayer’s claim. This study finds that in the Israeli setting, judges’ gender, seniority, age at the time of appointment, and age at the time of the decision affect judges’ decisions and subsequently the law