Résumé : Il est généralement admis que les cassures double-brin (CDB) de l’ADN sont parmi les lésions les plus toxiques induites par les radiations ionisantes (RI). Les CDBs non ou mal réparées peuvent conduire à une instabilité génomique et à la mort cellulaire. La chimioradiothérapie concomitante est l’une des modalités la plus efficace pour le traitement de certains cancers surtout en stade avancé. Le rendement des CDBs a augmenté quand l’ADN a été irradié en présence de cisplatine avec des électrons de basse énergie (EBEs). Notre étude a pour objectif de réévaluer la contribution des CDBs et d’autres lésions induites par les RI dans la létalité cellulaire. L'effet des RI sur la fonctionnalité de l’ADN plasmidique modifié ou non de façon covalente par le cisplatine a été étudié par mesure de l'efficacité de transformation du plasmide dans E. coli. Les complexes cisplatine-ADN ont été préparés de telle sorte qu’il y avait en moyenne deux adduits de cisplatine par plasmide tel que mesuré par ICP-MS. Nos échantillons ont été irradiés en solution avec des doses croissantes de rayonnements gamma (137Cs). La présence de cisplatine a augmenté la formation des CDBs par un facteur de 2.6 par comparaison avec l'ADN non modifié. Malgré cette augmentation, le rendement des CDBs reste très faible et ne peut pas expliquer la perte de fonctionnalité observée. Alors que, les dommages multiples localisés (LMDS) (non-DSB cluster damage) donnant naissance à des CDBs sous l’action des enzymes de réparation la formamidopyrimidine [fapy]-DNA glycosylase (Fpg) et l’endonuclease III (Nth) où leur rendement a été augmenté d’un facteur de 2.1 lorsque l’ADN a été irradié en présence de cisplatine, ont pu expliquer la perte de fonctionnalité observée. Ces résultats suggèrent que le cisplatine peut agir, non seulement comme un agent chimiothérapeutique, mais aussi comme un radiosensibilisateur efficace par addition d’autres lésions à l’ADN. Aussi, pour la première fois nous avons pu évaluer l’effet des EBEs sur la létalité cellulaire. Des films d'ADN ont été préparés en utilisant la méthode d’adsorption douce sur un substrat de graphite pyrolytique, en présence de 1,3- diaminopropane (Dap[indice supérieur]2+) et ont été irradiées avec des EBEs 10 eV. Nous avons pu conclure, qu’en plus des CSBs, CDBs et des dommages de base, les EBEs sont capables aussi d’induire des LMDS (non-DSB cluster damage) et induire la perte de fonctionnalité de l’ADN. Le rendement des CDBs est très faible d’où ils n’ont pas pu expliquer la perte de fonctionnalité de plasmide observée, après irradiation avec les EBEs. Le rendement très faible des LMDS (non-DSB cluster damage) ne peut pas expliquer la perte de fonctionnalité de l’ADN. Il semble que les EBEs sont capables d’induire des dommages très proches les uns des autres et qui ne peuvent pas être révélés par les enzymes de réparation Fpg et Nth. Plus les dommages sont proches les uns des autres, plus leur réparation est difficile, car une de ces lésions peut inhiber la réparation de l’autre la plus proche. // Abstract : It is generally accepted that DNA double-strand breaks (DSB) are among the most toxic lesions induced by ionizing radiation (IR). Unrepaired or misrepaired DSB can lead to genomic instability and cell death. It is known that concomitant chemoradiation therapy is one of the most preferred methods for the treatment of certain cancers especially in advanced stage. The yield of DSBs was increased when DNA was irradiated with low energy electron (LEEs). The aims of our study was to reassess the contribution of DSBs and other lesions induced by indirect and direct effect of IR in cell lethality. The effect of IR on the DNA functionality of the plasmid modified covalently with cisplatin was studied by measuring the transformation efficiency of the plasmid in E. coli. Cisplatin-DNA complexes were prepared such that there was an average of two cisplatin adducts per plasmid as measured by ICP-MS. Aqueous solutions of the samples were irradiated with 137Cs [gamma]-rays at various doses. Gel electrophoresis analysis shows that cisplatin enhances, by a factor of 2.6, the formation of DSB by [gamma]-rays relative to those in unmodified DNA. Despite this increase, the yield of DSBs is very low and cannot explain the loss of functionality observed after transformation with plasmids modified with cisplatin. While locally multiple damaged sites (LMDS) revealed by repair enzymes Fpg (Formamidopyrimidine [fapy]-DNA glycosylase) and Nth (Endonuclease III) as DSB (nonDSB cluster damage), where their yield was increased by a factor of 2.1 when DNA was irradiated in the presence of cisplatin were able to explain the observed loss of DNA functionality. These results suggest that cisplatin may act not only as a chemotherapeutic agent, but also as an effective radiosensitizer by addition of other DNA lesions. For the first time, we could also evaluate the effect of low energy electrons (LEEs) on DNA functionality. Highly ordered DNA films were prepared on pyrolytic graphite by molecular self-assembly using 1,3-diaminopropane ions (Dap[superscript]2+) to bind together the plasmids and irradiated with LEE (10 eV). We concluded that in addition to CSBs, DSBs and base damage, LEEs induced the formation of non-DSB cluster damage and also induced the loss of DNA functionality under LEE irradiation. The yields of DSBs and of non-DSB cluster damage are too low and so one unable to explain the loss of DNA functionality. It seems that LEEs are able to induce a high complex damage that cannot be revealed by repair enzymes Fpg and Nth. The high complex damage is difficult to repair possibly because the repair of one lesion, may inhibit the repair of another.

No description available.

A Microscopia Eletrônica de Baixa Energia (LEEM) é uma recente e poderosa modalidade para o estudo de superfície passível de uma grande quantidade de degradações, como ruídos e borramento. Ainda incipiente na literatura, este trabalho visou a análise e identificação das fontes de degradações presentes em vídeos, além da utilização de um conjunto de técnicas de remoção de ruído e borramento para a restauração de dados LEEM. Além disso, foram desenvolvidas duas novas técnicas de filtragem de vídeo como intuito de preservar detalhes pequenos e texturas presentes. Na etapa de análise foi constatado que as imagens LEEM possuem uma grande quantidade e variedade de ruídos, sendo o Gaussiano o mais preponderante. Foi também estimada a Função de Espalhamento de Ponto (PSF) do microscópio utilizado, visando o emprego de técnicas de redução de borramento. Este trabalho também analisou a combinação de técnicas de redução de borramento com as técnicas de filtragem do ruído Gaussiano existente. Foi constatado que as técnicas não locais, como Non-Local Means (NLM) eBlock-Matching 3-D (BM3D), proveem uma maior capacidade de filtragem das imagens LEEM, preservando descontinuidades. Ainda nesta análise, identificou-se que algumas técnicas de redução de borramento não são efetivas em imagens LEEM, exceto a técnica Richardson-Lucy (RL) que suprimiu grande parte do borramento sem adicionar mais degradação. A indesejável remoção de pequenas estruturas e texturas pelas técnicas de filtragem existentes motivou o desenvolvimento de duas novas técnicas de filtragem de ruído Gaussiano (NLM3D-LBP-MSB eNLM3D-LBP-Adaptive) que mostraram resultados superiores para filtragem de imagens com grande quantidade de textura. Porém, em imagens com muitas regiões homogêneas o BM3D foi superior. Avaliações quantitativas foram realizadas sobre imagens artificiais. Em imagens LEEM reais, realizou-se um experimento qualitativo em que observadores avaliaram visualmente o resultado de restaurações por diversas técnicas existentes e as propostas neste trabalho. O experimento comprovou que os métodos de filtragem não locais foram superiores, principalmente quando combinados com o método RL. Os métodos propostos produziram bons resultados, entretanto, inferiores aos exibidos pelas técnicas NLM eBM3D. Este trabalho demonstrou que as técnicas de filtragem não locais são as mais adequadas para dados LEEM. Além disso, a técnica RL mostrou-se eficaz na redução de borramento. / Low Energy Electronic Microscopy (LEEM) is a recent and powerful surface science image modality prone to considerable amounts of degradations, such as noise and blurring. Still not fully addressed in the literature, this worked aimed at analysing and identifying the sources of degradation in LEEM videos, as well as the adequacy of existing noise reduction and deblurring techniques for LEEM data. This work also presented two new noise reduction techniques aimed at preserving texture and small details. Our analysis has revealed that LEEM images exhibit a large amount and variety of noises, with Gaussian noise being the most frequent. To handle the deblurring issue, the Point Spread Function (PSF) for the microscopeused in the experiments has also been estimated. This work has also studied the combination of deblurring and denoising techniques for Gaussian noise. Results have shown that non-local techniques such as Non-Local Means (NLM) and Block-Matching 3-D (BM3D) are more adequate for filtering LEEM images, while preserving discontinuities. We have also shown that some deblurring techniques are not suitable for LEEM images, except the RichardsonLucy (RL) approach which coped with most of the blur without the addition of extra degradation. The undesirable removal of small structures and texture by the existing denoising techniques encouraged the development of two novel Gaussian denoising techniques (NLM3D-LBP-MSB and NLM3D-LBP-Adaptive) which exhibited good results for images with a large amount of texture. However, BM3D was superior for images with large homogeneous regions. Quantitative experiments have been carried out for synthetic images. For real LEEM images, a qualitative analysis has been conducted in which observers visually assessed restoration results for existing techniques and also the two proposed ones. This experiment has shown that non-local denoising methodswere superior, especially when combined with theRL method. The proposed methods produced good results, but were out performed by NLM and BM3D. This work has shown that non-local denoising techniques are more adequate for LEEM data. Also, theRL technique is very efficient for deblurring purposes.

It is an aim of this work to provide insight into the energetic influence on the ordering of molecular thin films on crystalline substrates. Here, the term substrate either refers to inorganic crystal surfaces or highly ordered layers of another organic molecular species. In order to calculate the total interface potential of extended molecular domains, a new calculation technique (GRID technique) is developed in the first part of this work. Compared to the standard approach, this method accelerates the potential calculation drastically (times 10000). The other parts of the thesis are dedicated to the comparison of experimental results (obtained by scanning tunneling microscopy and electron diffraction) to the optimal layer structure as predicted by optimization calculations. Potential calculations which are performed for the system perylenetetracarboxylicdianhydride (PTCDA) on graphite demonstrate that point-on-line coincident structures correspond to energetically favorable alignments of the molecular lattice with respect to the substrate lattice. The capability of the GRID technique to predict the optimal layer structure is demonstrated for the system peri-hexabenzocoronene (HBC) on graphite. The organic-organic heteroepitaxy system PTCDA on HBC on graphite is investigated in order to clarify to which extent the ordering mechanism there differs from that of the organic-inorganic heteroepitaxy system PTCDA on graphite. As a result of this investigation, a new type of epitaxy, i.e., substrate induced ordering is found. This new epitaxy type is governed by the inner structure of the substrate lattice unit cell. Here, the substrate surface is a layer of organic molecules itself, hence the substrate surface unit cell does indeed exhibit a complex inner structure. A generalized classification scheme for epitaxial growth incorporating this new type of epitaxy is proposed. In the last chapter, the structure of the first layers of titanylphthalocyanine (TiOPc) on Au(111) is investigated and compared to potential optimization calculations. The correspondence of experimental and theoretical results provides evidence that the GRID technique can, in principle, also be applied to molecular layers on metal surfaces. / Das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist es, Einblicke in die energetischen Einflüsse, die zur Ausbildung der Schichtstruktur organischer Moleküle auf kristallinen Substraten führen, zu geben. Diese Substrate sind entweder Oberflächen anorganische Kristalle oder selbst hochgeordnete Molekülschichten. Um das totale Grenzflächenpotential ausgedehnter Moleküldomänen berechnen zu können, wird im ersten Teil der Arbeit eine neue Berechnungsmethode (GRID Technik) vorgestellt. Im Vergleich mit herkömmlichen Berechnungsmethoden auf der Basis molekülmechanischer Kraftfelder ist diese neue Methode daher um ein Vielfaches schneller (Faktor 100000). Die folgenden Teile der Arbeit sind dem Vergleich experimenteller Ergebnisse (Rastertunnelmikroskopie und Elektronenbeugung) mit, durch Potentialoptimierungsrechnungen als energetisch günstig vorhergesagten, Schichtstrukturen gewidmet. So kann für das System Perylentetracarbonsäuredianhydrid (PTCDA) auf Graphit mittels Potentialberechnungen nachgewiesen werden, daß die experimentell gefundenen ?Point-on-line koinzidenten? Strukturen energetisch günstige Anordnungen des Molekülgitters bezüglich des Substratgitters darstellen. Die Eignung der neuen Berechnungsmethode zur Vorhersage der günstigsten Adsorbatgitterstruktur für ein gegebenes System aus Molekül und Substrat, wird anhand des Systems peri-Hexabenzocoronen (HBC) auf Graphit demonstriert. Das organisch-organische Heteroepitaxiesystem PTCDA auf HBC auf Graphit wird untersucht, um zu klären, inwieweit sich die dafür gültigen Ordnungsmechanismen von denen unterscheiden, die für das Wachstum des organisch-anorganischen Heteroepitaxiesystems PTCDA auf Graphit verantwortlich sind. Dabei gelingt es, eine bisher nicht klassifizierte Art von Epitaxie, d.h. substratinduzierter Ordnung, nachzuweisen. Dieser neue Epitaxietyp ist bedingt durch die innere Struktur einer Substrateinheitszelle - das Substrat ist ja hier selbst eine Schicht geordneter Moleküle, die natürlich eine innere Struktur aufweisen. Im folgenden wird ein verallgemeinertes Klassifizierungssystem für Epitaxietypen abgeleitet, welches den neuen Epitaxietyp beinhaltet. Im letzten Kapitel wird die Struktur von der ersten Lagen von Titanylphthalocyanin (TiOPc) auf Au(111) experimentell untersucht und mit entsprechenden Potentialoptimierungsrechnungen verglichen. Die Übereinstimmung von experimentellen und theoretischen Ergebnissen zeigt, daß die GRID Technik, zumindest prinzipiell, auch für Molekülschichten auf Metallsubstraten anwendbar ist.

Title: Excitation of molecules by cold electrons Author: Miroslav Šulc Department / Institute: Institute of Theoretical Physics, Charles University in Prague Supervisor of the doctoral thesis: prof. RNDr. Jiří Horáček, DrSc., Institute of Theoretical Physics, Charles University Abstract: Several methods for low energy collisional processes are investigated. In the first part, attention is especially devoted to examination of applicability of the R-matrix method combined with the Schwinger-Lanczos (SL) variational principle for potential scattering with long-range forces. Next sections deal with the development of the interaction correlation-polarization (CP) potential in the framework of the Dis- crete Momentum Representation (DMR) method on the grounds of the Local Density Approximation in the Density Functional Theory (DFT) context. Obtained results are then utilized in body-frame (BF), static exchange + polarization (SEP), calcula- tions within an analysis of experimental data for e−-N2 scattering comprising a part of a larger project addressing theoretical examination of rotational excitations of small molecules in the gas phase induced by electron impact. For N2, a new phenomenon consisting in suppression of backward cross-section below 95 meV is observed and con- sequently attributed to...

A Microscopia Eletrônica de Baixa Energia (LEEM) é uma recente e poderosa modalidade para o estudo de superfície passível de uma grande quantidade de degradações, como ruídos e borramento. Ainda incipiente na literatura, este trabalho visou a análise e identificação das fontes de degradações presentes em vídeos, além da utilização de um conjunto de técnicas de remoção de ruído e borramento para a restauração de dados LEEM. Além disso, foram desenvolvidas duas novas técnicas de filtragem de vídeo como intuito de preservar detalhes pequenos e texturas presentes. Na etapa de análise foi constatado que as imagens LEEM possuem uma grande quantidade e variedade de ruídos, sendo o Gaussiano o mais preponderante. Foi também estimada a Função de Espalhamento de Ponto (PSF) do microscópio utilizado, visando o emprego de técnicas de redução de borramento. Este trabalho também analisou a combinação de técnicas de redução de borramento com as técnicas de filtragem do ruído Gaussiano existente. Foi constatado que as técnicas não locais, como Non-Local Means (NLM) eBlock-Matching 3-D (BM3D), proveem uma maior capacidade de filtragem das imagens LEEM, preservando descontinuidades. Ainda nesta análise, identificou-se que algumas técnicas de redução de borramento não são efetivas em imagens LEEM, exceto a técnica Richardson-Lucy (RL) que suprimiu grande parte do borramento sem adicionar mais degradação. A indesejável remoção de pequenas estruturas e texturas pelas técnicas de filtragem existentes motivou o desenvolvimento de duas novas técnicas de filtragem de ruído Gaussiano (NLM3D-LBP-MSB eNLM3D-LBP-Adaptive) que mostraram resultados superiores para filtragem de imagens com grande quantidade de textura. Porém, em imagens com muitas regiões homogêneas o BM3D foi superior. Avaliações quantitativas foram realizadas sobre imagens artificiais. Em imagens LEEM reais, realizou-se um experimento qualitativo em que observadores avaliaram visualmente o resultado de restaurações por diversas técnicas existentes e as propostas neste trabalho. O experimento comprovou que os métodos de filtragem não locais foram superiores, principalmente quando combinados com o método RL. Os métodos propostos produziram bons resultados, entretanto, inferiores aos exibidos pelas técnicas NLM eBM3D. Este trabalho demonstrou que as técnicas de filtragem não locais são as mais adequadas para dados LEEM. Além disso, a técnica RL mostrou-se eficaz na redução de borramento. / Low Energy Electronic Microscopy (LEEM) is a recent and powerful surface science image modality prone to considerable amounts of degradations, such as noise and blurring. Still not fully addressed in the literature, this worked aimed at analysing and identifying the sources of degradation in LEEM videos, as well as the adequacy of existing noise reduction and deblurring techniques for LEEM data. This work also presented two new noise reduction techniques aimed at preserving texture and small details. Our analysis has revealed that LEEM images exhibit a large amount and variety of noises, with Gaussian noise being the most frequent. To handle the deblurring issue, the Point Spread Function (PSF) for the microscopeused in the experiments has also been estimated. This work has also studied the combination of deblurring and denoising techniques for Gaussian noise. Results have shown that non-local techniques such as Non-Local Means (NLM) and Block-Matching 3-D (BM3D) are more adequate for filtering LEEM images, while preserving discontinuities. We have also shown that some deblurring techniques are not suitable for LEEM images, except the RichardsonLucy (RL) approach which coped with most of the blur without the addition of extra degradation. The undesirable removal of small structures and texture by the existing denoising techniques encouraged the development of two novel Gaussian denoising techniques (NLM3D-LBP-MSB and NLM3D-LBP-Adaptive) which exhibited good results for images with a large amount of texture. However, BM3D was superior for images with large homogeneous regions. Quantitative experiments have been carried out for synthetic images. For real LEEM images, a qualitative analysis has been conducted in which observers visually assessed restoration results for existing techniques and also the two proposed ones. This experiment has shown that non-local denoising methodswere superior, especially when combined with theRL method. The proposed methods produced good results, but were out performed by NLM and BM3D. This work has shown that non-local denoising techniques are more adequate for LEEM data. Also, theRL technique is very efficient for deblurring purposes.

No description available.

It is an aim of this work to provide insight into the energetic influence on the ordering of molecular thin films on crystalline substrates. Here, the term substrate either refers to inorganic crystal surfaces or highly ordered layers of another organic molecular species. In order to calculate the total interface potential of extended molecular domains, a new calculation technique (GRID technique) is developed in the first part of this work. Compared to the standard approach, this method accelerates the potential calculation drastically (times 10000). The other parts of the thesis are dedicated to the comparison of experimental results (obtained by scanning tunneling microscopy and electron diffraction) to the optimal layer structure as predicted by optimization calculations. Potential calculations which are performed for the system perylenetetracarboxylicdianhydride (PTCDA) on graphite demonstrate that point-on-line coincident structures correspond to energetically favorable alignments of the molecular lattice with respect to the substrate lattice. The capability of the GRID technique to predict the optimal layer structure is demonstrated for the system peri-hexabenzocoronene (HBC) on graphite. The organic-organic heteroepitaxy system PTCDA on HBC on graphite is investigated in order to clarify to which extent the ordering mechanism there differs from that of the organic-inorganic heteroepitaxy system PTCDA on graphite. As a result of this investigation, a new type of epitaxy, i.e., substrate induced ordering is found. This new epitaxy type is governed by the inner structure of the substrate lattice unit cell. Here, the substrate surface is a layer of organic molecules itself, hence the substrate surface unit cell does indeed exhibit a complex inner structure. A generalized classification scheme for epitaxial growth incorporating this new type of epitaxy is proposed. In the last chapter, the structure of the first layers of titanylphthalocyanine (TiOPc) on Au(111) is investigated and compared to potential optimization calculations. The correspondence of experimental and theoretical results provides evidence that the GRID technique can, in principle, also be applied to molecular layers on metal surfaces. / Das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist es, Einblicke in die energetischen Einflüsse, die zur Ausbildung der Schichtstruktur organischer Moleküle auf kristallinen Substraten führen, zu geben. Diese Substrate sind entweder Oberflächen anorganische Kristalle oder selbst hochgeordnete Molekülschichten. Um das totale Grenzflächenpotential ausgedehnter Moleküldomänen berechnen zu können, wird im ersten Teil der Arbeit eine neue Berechnungsmethode (GRID Technik) vorgestellt. Im Vergleich mit herkömmlichen Berechnungsmethoden auf der Basis molekülmechanischer Kraftfelder ist diese neue Methode daher um ein Vielfaches schneller (Faktor 100000). Die folgenden Teile der Arbeit sind dem Vergleich experimenteller Ergebnisse (Rastertunnelmikroskopie und Elektronenbeugung) mit, durch Potentialoptimierungsrechnungen als energetisch günstig vorhergesagten, Schichtstrukturen gewidmet. So kann für das System Perylentetracarbonsäuredianhydrid (PTCDA) auf Graphit mittels Potentialberechnungen nachgewiesen werden, daß die experimentell gefundenen ?Point-on-line koinzidenten? Strukturen energetisch günstige Anordnungen des Molekülgitters bezüglich des Substratgitters darstellen. Die Eignung der neuen Berechnungsmethode zur Vorhersage der günstigsten Adsorbatgitterstruktur für ein gegebenes System aus Molekül und Substrat, wird anhand des Systems peri-Hexabenzocoronen (HBC) auf Graphit demonstriert. Das organisch-organische Heteroepitaxiesystem PTCDA auf HBC auf Graphit wird untersucht, um zu klären, inwieweit sich die dafür gültigen Ordnungsmechanismen von denen unterscheiden, die für das Wachstum des organisch-anorganischen Heteroepitaxiesystems PTCDA auf Graphit verantwortlich sind. Dabei gelingt es, eine bisher nicht klassifizierte Art von Epitaxie, d.h. substratinduzierter Ordnung, nachzuweisen. Dieser neue Epitaxietyp ist bedingt durch die innere Struktur einer Substrateinheitszelle - das Substrat ist ja hier selbst eine Schicht geordneter Moleküle, die natürlich eine innere Struktur aufweisen. Im folgenden wird ein verallgemeinertes Klassifizierungssystem für Epitaxietypen abgeleitet, welches den neuen Epitaxietyp beinhaltet. Im letzten Kapitel wird die Struktur von der ersten Lagen von Titanylphthalocyanin (TiOPc) auf Au(111) experimentell untersucht und mit entsprechenden Potentialoptimierungsrechnungen verglichen. Die Übereinstimmung von experimentellen und theoretischen Ergebnissen zeigt, daß die GRID Technik, zumindest prinzipiell, auch für Molekülschichten auf Metallsubstraten anwendbar ist.

Background: With increasing clinical use of NK-92 cells and their CAR-modified derivatives in cancer immunotherapy, there is a growing demand for efficient production processes of these “off-the-shelf” therapeutics. In order to ensure safety and prevent the occurrence of secondary tumors, (CAR-)NK-92 cell proliferation has to be inactivated before transfusion. This is commonly achieved by gamma irradiation. Recently, we showed proof of concept that low energy electron irradiation (LEEI) is a new method for NK-92 inactivation. LEEI has several advantages over gamma irradiation, including a faster reaction time, a more reproducible dose rate and much less requirements on radiation shielding. Here, LEEI was further evaluated as a promising alternative to gamma irradiation yielding cells with highly maintained cytotoxic effector function. Methods: Effectiveness and efficiency of LEEI and gamma irradiation were analyzed using NK-92 and CD123-directed CAR-NK-92 cells. LEE-irradiated cells were extensively characterized and compared to gamma-irradiated cells via flow cytometry, cytotoxicity assays, and comet assays, amongst others. Results: Our results show that both irradiation methods caused a progressive decrease in cell viability and are, therefore, suitable for inhibition of cell proliferation. Notably, the NKmediated specific lysis of tumor cells was maintained at stable levels for three days postirradiation, with a trend towards higher activities after LEEI treatment as compared to gamma irradiation. Both gamma irradiation as well as LEEI led to substantial DNA damage and an accumulation of irradiated cells in the G2/M cell cycle phases. In addition, transcriptomic analysis of irradiated cells revealed approximately 12-fold more differentially expressed genes two hours after gamma irradiation, compared to LEEI. Analysis of surface molecules revealed an irradiation-induced decrease in surface expression of CD56, but no changes in the levels of the activating receptors NKp46, NKG2D, or NKp30. Conclusions: The presented data show that LEEI inactivates (CAR-)NK-92 cells as efficiently as gamma irradiation, but with less impact on the overall gene expression. Due to logistic advantages, LEEI might provide a superior alternative for the manufacture of (CAR-)NK-92 cells for clinical application.

Thin metallic films with magnetic properties like magnetite are an interesting material in current technological applications. In the presented work the iron oxide films are grown by molecular beam epitaxy on MgO(001) substrates at temperatures between room temperature and 600K. The film and surface structure are investigated by x-ray reflectometry (XRR), x-ray diffraction (XRD) and low energy electron diffraction (LEED). The chemical properties are investigated by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Furthermore, charge transfer multiplet (CTM) calculations are performed as a means to gain additional information from photoemission spectra. It is shown that only for temperatures higher than 500K the oxide film forms a spinel structure. A previously unobserved (2x1) surface reconstruction in two orthogonal domains is found for various preparation conditions. The application of CTMs results in good quantitative and qualitative agreement to other methods for the determination of the film stoichiometry. In addition CTMs can well describe the segregation of Mg atoms into the oxide film either during film growth or during film annealing. It is found that initially Mg substitutes Fe on all possible lattice sites, only for prolonged treatment at high temperature do Mg atoms favour the octahedral lattice sites of divalent Fe.