Scanning force microscopy was used for the determination of the elastic properties of living cells in their culture conditions. The studies were carried out on human epithelial cells. Two similar lines of normal cells (Hu609 and HCV29) and three cancerous ones (Hu456, T24, BC3726) were measured using the scanning force microscope in order to collect the force versus indentation curves. The BC3726 line originates from the HCV29 cell line which was transformed by the v-ras oncogene. To evaluate their elastic properties, Young's modulus values were determined. The present study has shown that normal cells have a Young's modulus of about one order of magnitude higher than cancerous ones. Such a change might be attributed to a difference in the organisation of cell cytoskeletons and requires further studies.

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Isotope shifts in dielectronic recombination spectra were studied for Li-like A Nd 57+ ions with A=142 and A=150. From the displacement of resonance positions energy shifts δE 142,150 (2s − 2p 1/2 ) = 40.2(3)(6) meV ((stat)(sys)) and δE 142,150 (2s − 2p 3/2 ) = 42.3(12)(20) meV of 2s − 2p j transitions were deduced. An evaluation of these values within a full QED treatment yields a change in the mean-square charge radius of 142,150 δ r 2 = -1.36(1)(3) fm 2 . The approach is conceptually new and combines the advantage of a simple atomic structure with high sensitivity to nuclear size.

The 2s(1/2)-2p(1/2) energy splittings DeltaE(L) of the lithiumlike ions 19779Au76+, 20882Pb79+, and 23892U89+ have been measured at the Experimental Storage Ring, utilizing low energy dielectronic recombination. The resonance energies in total 41 different 1s(2) 2p(1/2)nl(j(')) (n > or =20) autoionizing Rydberg states populated in the dielectronic capture process have been determined. The 2s(1/2)-->2p(1/2) excitation energies have been obtained by extrapolation of these resonance energies to the associated series limits n--> infinity. The combined analysis of the experimental data for all three ions yields DeltaE(L)=216.134(96) eV for Au76+, 230.650(81) eV for Pb79+, and 280.516(99) eV for U89+.