ABSTRACT
Experiments on acceleration of electrons and production of X-ray radiation with use of ceramic piezoelectric transformers installed in vacuum are described and analyzed. The piezoelectric transformer operates at resonance frequency. Electrons are accelerated from the high-voltage electrode of the ceramic piezoelectric transformer toward the grounded target, where they emit bremsstrahlung and characteristic X-ray radiation in the target material. The returning of the charge to the high-voltage electrode is provided due to electrons emitted from a filament installed in the vicinity of the target. It was found that the X-ray yield increases linearly at increasing of the pressure of the residual gas in the chamber within two orders of magnitude up to about 10 mTorr, when the gas discharge around of the piezoelectric transformer arises. Possibilities for application of piezoelectric transformers for production of accelerating voltage in small-size accelerators are discussed.
ABSTRACT
In an epizootiologic survey of 122 rodents captured in Vladivostok, Russia, antibodies positive for hantavirus were found in Apodemus peninsulae (4/70), A. agrarius (1/39), and Clethrionomys rufocanus (1/8). The hantavirus sequences identified in two seropositive A. peninsulae and two patients with hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) from the Primorye region of Far East Russia were designated as Solovey and Primorye, respectively. The nucleotide sequences of the Solovey, Primorye, and Amur (obtained through GenBank) sequences were closely related (>92% identity). Solovey and Primorye sequences shared 84% nucleotide identity with the prototype Hantaan 76-118. Phylogenetic analysis also indicated a close relationship between Solovey, Primorye, Amur, and other viruses identified in Russia, China, and Korea. Our findings suggest that the Korean field mouse (A. peninsulae) is the reservoir for a hantavirus that causes HFRS over a vast area of east Asia, including Far East Russia.
