The Ba3MgSi2O8:Eu2+, Mn2+ shows three emission colors: 442, 505, and 620 nm. The 442 and 505 nm emission originate from Eu2+ ions, while the 620 nm emission originates from Mn2+ ions. The excitation bands of three emission colors are positioned around 375 nm. Electron paramagnetic resonance measurement demonstrates that Eu2+ ions are occupied with three different Ba2+ sites. The red emission of Mn2+ ions has a long decay time of 750 ms due to persistent energy transfer from oxygen vacancies to Mn2+ ions, while the blue and green bands of Eu2+ ions have decay times of 0.32 and 0.64 μs, respectively. The fabricated white-light emitting diode using a 400-nm-emissive chip with a white-light emitting Ba3MgSi2O8:Eu2+, Mn2+ phosphor shows warm white light and higher color stability against input power in comparison with a commercial GaN-pumped (Y1−xGdx)3(Al1−yGay)5O12:Ce3+ phosphor.

n this paper we describe the main characteristics of the JEM-EUSO instrument. The Extreme Universe Space Observatory on the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM-EUSO) of the International Space Station (ISS) will observe Ultra High-Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR) from space. It will detect UV-light of Extensive Air Showers (EAS) produced by UHECRs traversing the Earth's atmosphere. For each event, the detector will determine the energy, arrival direction and the type of the primary particle. The advantage of a space-borne detector resides in the large field of view, using a target volume of about 10(12) tons of atmosphere, far greater than what is achievable from ground. Another advantage is a nearly uniform sampling of the whole celestial sphere. The corresponding increase in statistics will help to clarify the origin and sources of UHECRs and characterize the environment traversed during their production and propagation. JEM-EUSO is a 1.1 ton refractor telescope using an optics of 2.5 m diameter Fresnel lenses to focus the UV-light from EAS on a focal surface composed of about 5,000 multi-anode photomultipliers, for a total of a parts per thousand integral 3a <...10(5) channels. A multi-layer parallel architecture handles front-end acquisition, selecting and storing valid triggers. Each processing level filters the events with increasingly complex algorithms using FPGAs and DSPs to reject spurious events and reduce the data rate to a value compatible with downlink constraints

The successful development of efficient and safe gene delivery vectors continues to be a major obstacle to gene delivery in stem cells. In this study, we have developed an elastin-like polypeptide (ELP)-mediated adeno-associated virus (AAV) delivery system for transducing fibroblasts and human neural stem cells (hNSCs). AAVs have significant promise as therapeutic vectors because of their safety and potential for use in gene targeting in stem cell research. ELP has been recently employed as a biologically inspired 'smart' biomaterial that exhibits an inverse temperature phase transition, thereby demonstrating promise as a novel drug carrier. The ELP that was investigated in this study was composed of a repetitive penta-peptide with [Val-Pro-Gly-Val-Gly]. A novel AAV variant, AAV r3.45, which was previously engineered by directed evolution to enhance transduction in rat NSCs, was nonspecifically immobilized onto ELPs that were adsorbed beforehand on a tissue culture polystyrene surface (TCPS). The presence of different ELP quantities on the TCPS led to variations in surface morphology, roughness and wettability, which were ultimately key factors in the modulation of cellular transduction. Importantly, with substantially reduced viral quantities compared with bolus delivery, ELP-mediated AAV delivery significantly enhanced delivery efficiency in fibroblasts and hNSCs, which have great potential for use in tissue engineering applications and neurodegenerative disorder treatments, respectively. The enhancement of cellular transduction in stem cells, as well as the feasibility of ELPs for utilization in three-dimensional scaffolds, will contribute to the advancement of gene therapy for stem cell research and tissue regenerative medicine.

In this paper we describe the observational principle and the expected performances of JEM-EUSO. Designed as the first mission to explore the ultra-high energy universe from space, JEM-EUSO monitors the Earth's atmosphere at night to record the UV (300-430 nm) tracks generated by the Extensive Air Showers. We present the expected geometrical aperture and annual exposure in nadir and tilt modes for Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays as a function of the ISS altitude.

The Extreme Universe Space Observatory on the Japanese Experiment Module\ud (JEM-EUSO) on board the International Space Station (ISS) is the first\ud space-based mission worldwide in the field of Ultra High-Energy Cosmic\ud Rays (UHECR). For UHECR experiments, the atmosphere is not only the\ud showering calorimeter for the primary cosmic rays, it is an essential\ud part of the readout system, as well. Moreover, the atmosphere must be\ud calibrated and has to be considered as input for the analysis of the\ud fluorescence signals. Therefore, the JEM-EUSO Space Observatory is\ud implementing an Atmospheric Monitoring System (AMS) that will include an\ud IR-Camera and a LIDAR. The AMS Infrared Camera is an infrared, wide FoV,\ud imaging system designed to provide the cloud coverage along the JEM-EUSO\ud track and the cloud top height to properly achieve the UHECR\ud reconstruction in cloudy conditions. In this paper, an updated\ud preliminary design status, the results from the calibration tests of the\ud first prototype, the simulation of the instrument, and preliminary cloud\ud top height retrieval algorithms are presented