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Quantum electrodynamics has been tested to accuracies below the parts-per-trillion level in light-mass systems. However, tests in heavy-mass systems with a large nuclear charge have not yet reached similar accuracy. Here we report the hyperfine-structure splitting in the 1 s ground state of radioactive hydrogen-like 208 Bi 82+ . We produced the isotope in a nuclear reaction and injected the beam into a storage ring to perform laser spectroscopy on samples of 10 5 ions of Bi 82+ that have only a single remaining electron, which experiences extreme magnetic-field strengths. Our result for the hyperfine splitting is in excellent agreement with the most accurate prediction based on a combination of quantum electrodynamics calculations with an empirical treatment of the hyperfine-structure anomaly ratio extracted from laser spectroscopy on neutral atoms of 209 Bi and 208 Bi. This achievement paves the way for the most stringent test of quantum electrodynamics in strong magnetic fields and demonstrates the feasibility of laser spectroscopy on other exotic ions with low production yields. Hyperfine splitting was measured using the laser spectroscopy of accelerator-produced hydrogen-like bismuth ions. This demonstrates the feasibility of such measurements with other exotic ions with low production yields in a storage ring.

This volume brings together a group of transpersonal psychotherapists and spiritual teachers to tell of their own very personal and intimate explorations of consciousness.What has the experience of \"coming home\" meant to them? Has it meant connecting with God, the Divine Feminine, the Cosmos, the Sacred? Has it meant arriving at home in themselves, in their very center, in their essence? Where is home? Is it inside, is it outside, or is it both? All world cultures have stories about this particular place. In addition to describing their own unique quests, the contributors also share how radically such a journey challenged them to face their own vulnerabilities and shadow parts. Various, very different and often startling personal stories are told.Through reading of the very human trials and psycho-spiritual challenges that these nine international teachers have endured on their journeys home, readers will gain insights and greater understanding regarding their own explorations of consciousness. They will realize that the spiritual journey can have many faces and take many paths. The one thing, however, that all authors have in common, is the longing to be fully and wholly oneself.

Metamorphosis, the theme of this book, derives from the Ancient Greek language and refers to a transformative process that often includes disintegration and reintegration, on the route to conscious living with self, community and the world. This collection proposes that engagement with the sacred is what makes research and practice transpersonal, the sacred 'other' that lives both within and beyond us as individuals and unique cultures. The transpersonal approach is distinctive in that it regards the potential metamorphosis of all those involved in research and professional practice a core value. This volume engages the audience in professional, practical, as well as inquiry-related topics that reflect the diverse nature of the transpersonal studies field, and extend an experience of metamorphosis to the reader. The book moves scholarship forward in an innovative and creative way with relevant themes that not only honour the sacred, but lend a transpersonal paradigm to scientific and professional methods and models.

In this paper, we present an experimental and theoretical study of excitation processes for the heaviest stable helium-like ion, that is, He-like uranium occurring in relativistic collisions with hydrogen and argon targets. In particular, we concentrate on angular distributions of the characteristic Kα radiation following the K → L excitation of He-like uranium. We pay special attention to the magnetic sub-level population of the excited 1s2lj states, which is directly related to the angular distribution of the characteristic Kα radiation. We show that the experimental data can be well described by calculations taking into account the excitation by the target nucleus as well as by the target electrons. Moreover, we demonstrate for the first time an important influence of the electron-impact excitation process on the angular distributions of the Kα radiation produced by excitation of He-like uranium in collisions with different targets.

In an embodied approach to re-search and data analysis, the body is understood as the carrier of your experiences. Through the body you relate to others and the world, as you are intertwined and you are transformed by each other. The embodied phenomenological re-search method in psychology developed by Todres (2007) draws on such an embodied perspective. It is based on an existential-phenomenological tradition concerned with a nondual vision of existence, where being and knowing meet as a form of embodiment. Embodied Enquiry (Todres) focuses on the basic embodied connectedness with the world you live in.

The purpose of this embodied phenomenological inquiry was to explore the impact of the so-called Capacitar Body-Mind-Spirit Practices Training for the transformation of individual and community trauma. A general philosophical framework of transpersonal psychology, particularly drawing on the concept of interrelatedness, has been implemented. This research took place in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands with 14 female co-researchers (Mexican, Mexican-American, Mayan, White American) who live in the twin cities of El Paso (Texas, U.S.) and Ciudad Juárez (Chihuahua, Mexico), who were thus exposed to the constant threat of lethal violence and so-called femicide, to discrimination and the socioeconomic problems that are peculiar to this region. The women's embodied experiences of change as a result of the Capacitar Training were investigated with semi-structured multiple interviewing multilingually (English / Spanish / Mayan). Data analysis procedures combined imaginative variation and embodied interpretation that resulted in a general meaning structure with its variations. The contribution to knowledge made by the phenomenological results consists of the confirmation of past research on the impact of the Capacitar Training that showed the potential of the body-mind-spirit practices for transforming trauma with culturally and spiritually diverse individuals. The most significant research findings of the present study suggest that: (1) the majority of the co-researchers' experiences of bodily change through body-mind-spirit practices initiated further integration of past negative (traumatic) and / or positive experiences in an embodied way, including interrelatedness to spirituality, culture and nature; (2) the initial bodily felt shift led to the co-researchers' desire for more change; (3) the experiences of change were independent of the cultural or spiritual background of the co-researchers; (4) a desire to support others' change emerged for the co-researchers based on their own experiences of improvement; and (5) ambiguity arose for a minority of co-researchers in the beginning of the training related to cultural and religious barriers, and self esteem issues; and at the end of the Capacitar Training linked with the question of commitment to time and to the engagement with the practices. To enhance an embodied understanding of the phenomenological results, biographical information from the co-researchers' life experiences related to the borderlands had been compiled during the interviews, which mirrored the body of knowledge on issues in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands and has been presented as a cultural-spiritual narrative composite. Furthermore, evaluative information about the co-researchers' experiences of the conveyance of the Capacitar Training has been synthesized, adding their critical reflections about the conduction and the further development of the Capacitar approach.

The electron cooler of the CRYRING@ESR storage ring at the GSI-FAIR accelerator complex is a unique instrument, which not only provides beam cooling of the stored ions, but also serves as a low-energy electron target for Dielectronic Recombination experiments. The minimisation of vacuum contamination and the response to rapid energy changes are key requirements of the cooler in electron target mode. Therefore, a test bench was prepared to study the outgassing behaviour of the electron gun components and a setup was constructed to evaluate the drift-electrode-modulation of the acceleration voltage of the cooler. The vacuum studies showed that the electron gun cathode was severely malfunctioning and resulted in its replacement. The drift-electrode-modulation of the acceleration voltage showed significant improvements compared to direct modulation of the terminal voltage of the cooler.

The NECTAR (Nuclear rEaCTions At storage Rings) experiment at the ESR heavy-ion storage ring at GSI/FAIR Darmstadt is dedicated to surrogate reaction studies of neutron-induced reactions on heavy nuclei in inverse kinematics. In this work, we report on the implementation and performance of a newly developed fission-fragment detection system integrated into the NECTAR experimental setup. The upgraded detector configuration enables, for the first time in a surrogate experiment, the simultaneous detection ofgamma-decay residues, multi-neutron-emission residues, and fission fragments. The full setup was used for the first time in an experiment where a stored beam of bare 238U92+ ions at 17.24 MeV/u interacted with a gas-jet deuterium target, populating excited 238U and 239U nuclei via the 238U(d,d') and 238U(d,p) reactions. We describe the geometry of the used fission fragment detectors, design constraints, and simulation-based efficiency determination. The target-like particle identification and beam-like residue spectra demonstrating the performance of the complete setup are also shown.

The heaviest stable nuclei in the universe owe their existence to quantum shell structure, the grouping of protons and neutrons into discrete energy levels separated by gaps. The largest known neutron shell gap in stable nuclei, at \\(N=126\\), stabilizes doubly-magic \\(^208\\)Pb and is responsible for the characteristic abundance peak of heavy elements near gold and platinum produced by the rapid neutron-capture process (r-process). Whether this shell gap persists as protons are removed from lead is a question central to both nuclear structure and the modeling of heavy-element synthesis, yet it has remained unanswered due to the extraordinary difficulty of producing the relevant neutron-rich nuclei. Direct experimental knowledge in this region was essentially absent. Here we report the first precision mass measurements of \\(^203,204\\)Pt and \\(^204,205,206\\)Au, performed at GSI using a novel combination of Schottky and isochronous mass spectrometry in a heavy-ion storage ring. The \\(N=126\\) isotones \\(^204\\)Pt and \\(^205\\)Au are more strongly bound than the extrapolated trend of the previously known mass surface by 403 and 464~keV, respectively, revealing an unexpectedly enhanced \\(N=126\\) shell strength below doubly-magic \\(^208\\)Pb. Furthermore, the proton-neutron interaction strength exhibits a hitherto unobserved bifurcation at \\(N=126\\) as protons are removed from \\(^208\\)Pb. Our results redefine the nuclear mass surface in the neutron-rich heavy-element region and provide direct experimental benchmarks for theoretical models whose extrapolations toward more exotic nuclei are essential for r-process nucleosynthesis calculations.

Staphylococcus (S.) aureus is considered as a major mastitis pathogen, with considerable epidemiological information on such infections while the epidemiology of coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) is more controversial. The aim of this study was to use matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) technology for identification of staphylococci isolated from bovine milk at species level and to characterize them in reference to presentation, somatic cell count (SCC), bacterial shedding (cfu) and antimicrobial resistance patterns. A total of 200 staphylococcal isolates (S. aureus n = 100; CNS n = 100) originating from aseptically collected quarter milk samples from different quarters of dairy cows were included in the study. They originated from cases of clinical (CM) and subclinical mastitis (SCM) or were isolated from milk with SCC ≤ 100,000 cells/mL in pure culture. We found staphylococci predominantly in cases of SCM (n = 120). In low-SCC cows, 12 S. aureus and 32 CNS isolates were detected. Eighteen percent of each were associated with CM. Eleven CNS species were identified, S. chromogenes (n = 26) and S. xylosus (n = 40) predominated. CNS, particularly those in low-SCC cows, showed higher MIC90 (minimal inhibitory concentration) values for penicillin, ampicillin, cefoperazone, pirlimycin and marbofloxacin. Based on the present results, a careful interpretation of laboratory results is recommended to avoid antimicrobial therapy of staphylococci without clinical relevance and to ensure prudent use of antimicrobials.