WorldWideScience

Sample records for extremely high background

  1. Single-photon detector operating under extremely high background photon flux conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Prochazka, Ivan; Sopko, Bruno; Blazej, Josef

    2009-01-01

    We are reporting our results in research and development in the field of avalanche semiconductor single-photon detectors and their application. Our goal was a development of a solid-state photon-counting detector capable of high-precision photon arrival time tagging in extremely harsh operating conditions. The background photon flux exceeding 10 9 photons per second hitting the detector active area should not avoid the useful signal detection and recognition on the signal level of units of photons per second. This is background photon flux about two orders of magnitude higher than what the conventional solid-state photon counters accept. The detection timing resolution should be better than 100 ps and the delay stability should be on picosecond level. We have developed and tested the active quenched and gated avalanche structure on silicon providing the required features in connection with the K14 detection chips. The detector is capable of gated operation under the conditions of background photon flux of 5x10 9 photons per second. The operational detector tolerates long term exposures to the input photon flux exceeding 10 15 photons (>1 mW) per second without damage.

  2. Position sensitive detection of neutrons in high radiation background field.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vavrik, D; Jakubek, J; Pospisil, S; Vacik, J

    2014-01-01

    We present the development of a high-resolution position sensitive device for detection of slow neutrons in the environment of extremely high γ and e(-) radiation background. We make use of a planar silicon pixelated (pixel size: 55 × 55 μm(2)) spectroscopic Timepix detector adapted for neutron detection utilizing very thin (10)B converter placed onto detector surface. We demonstrate that electromagnetic radiation background can be discriminated from the neutron signal utilizing the fact that each particle type produces characteristic ionization tracks in the pixelated detector. Particular tracks can be distinguished by their 2D shape (in the detector plane) and spectroscopic response using single event analysis. A Cd sheet served as thermal neutron stopper as well as intensive source of gamma rays and energetic electrons. Highly efficient discrimination was successful even at very low neutron to electromagnetic background ratio about 10(-4).

  3. Number of Black Children in Extreme Poverty Hits Record High. Analysis Background.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Children's Defense Fund, Washington, DC.

    To examine the experiences of black children and poverty, researchers conducted a computer analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey, the source of official government poverty statistics. The data are through 2001. Results indicated that nearly 1 million black children were living in extreme poverty, with after-tax…

  4. Health effects in residents of regions with high background radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hanson, G.P.

    1984-01-01

    Possible health problems created by high natural levels of background radiation are hard to detect, partly because the health problems involved would exist to some degree irrespective of radiation exposure, partly because other factors affect the incidence of such problems, and partly because the differences between normal background radiation levels and radiation levels found in most high-radiation areas are not extreme. Nevertheless, the need to know about such health effects is evident, and so various studies conducted over the past 30 years have sought to determine whether those effects exist and what they are. Overall, however, the fragmentary and uncertain nature of many of these findings makes it hard to draw firm conclusions about the health risks involved or the desirability of countermeasures. So despite considerable efforts and some progress over the past three decades, the need for a clear quantitative assessment of the consequences is as great as ever

  5. Cytogenetic findings from inhabitants of different ages in high background radiation areas of Yangjiang

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Deqing; Yao Suyan; Zhang Chaoyang

    1997-01-01

    Objective: To explore the relationship between high background radiation and injurious effect on inhabitants. Method: Peripheral blood samples were collected from the inhabitants of 10, 40, 55 and 70 years old in high background radiation areas (HBRA) of Yangjiang, Chromosome preparations were carried out with conventional whole-blood microculture. Results: The percentage of dicentric chromosome with fragments in inhabitants of HBRA was significantly higher than that in control areas (CA) (0.469% vs. 0.315%, P<0.01), and there was an increase in the aberration frequencies with age (or accumulated doses). Conclusion: Chromosome aberration is an extremely sensitive indicator of radiation damage and a good radio-biodosimeter

  6. Critical point in the QCD phase diagram for extremely strong background magnetic fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Endrödi, Gergely

    2015-01-01

    Lattice simulations have demonstrated that a background (electro)magnetic field reduces the chiral/deconfinement transition temperature of quantum chromodynamics for eB<1 GeV 2 . On the level of observables, this reduction manifests itself in an enhancement of the Polyakov loop and in a suppression of the light quark condensates (inverse magnetic catalysis) in the transition region. In this paper, we report on lattice simulations of 1+1+1-flavor QCD at an unprecedentedly high value of the magnetic field eB=3.25 GeV 2 . Based on the behavior of various observables, it is shown that even at this extremely strong field, inverse magnetic catalysis prevails and the transition, albeit becoming sharper, remains an analytic crossover. In addition, we develop an algorithm to directly simulate the asymptotically strong magnetic field limit of QCD. We find strong evidence for a first-order deconfinement phase transition in this limiting theory, implying the presence of a critical point in the QCD phase diagram. Based on the available lattice data, we estimate the location of the critical point.

  7. Genetic background of extreme violent behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tiihonen, J; Rautiainen, M-R; Ollila, H M; Repo-Tiihonen, E; Virkkunen, M; Palotie, A; Pietiläinen, O; Kristiansson, K; Joukamaa, M; Lauerma, H; Saarela, J; Tyni, S; Vartiainen, H; Paananen, J; Goldman, D; Paunio, T

    2015-06-01

    In developed countries, the majority of all violent crime is committed by a small group of antisocial recidivistic offenders, but no genes have been shown to contribute to recidivistic violent offending or severe violent behavior, such as homicide. Our results, from two independent cohorts of Finnish prisoners, revealed that a monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) low-activity genotype (contributing to low dopamine turnover rate) as well as the CDH13 gene (coding for neuronal membrane adhesion protein) are associated with extremely violent behavior (at least 10 committed homicides, attempted homicides or batteries). No substantial signal was observed for either MAOA or CDH13 among non-violent offenders, indicating that findings were specific for violent offending, and not largely attributable to substance abuse or antisocial personality disorder. These results indicate both low monoamine metabolism and neuronal membrane dysfunction as plausible factors in the etiology of extreme criminal violent behavior, and imply that at least about 5-10% of all severe violent crime in Finland is attributable to the aforementioned MAOA and CDH13 genotypes.

  8. Study of the CMS RPC detector performance in high radiation background conditions

    CERN Document Server

    Miguel Colin, Osvaldo

    2017-01-01

    The RPC system at the CMS Detector is operating successfully from beginning of the data taking. The high instantaneous luminosity causes an extremely high flux of ionizing particles. The long period of operation (Run1 and Run2) in a huge radiation background conditions, gives the opportunity to study the operation capability of the RPCs and also to predict a data-driven extrapolation about the expecting particle rates at HL LHC (High Luminosity) scenario. The obtained results in terms of measured rate, currents and integrated charged will be presented in the poster. When it is possible they will be compared to the relevant results obtained from the dedicated study where a set of test chambers have been irradiated at GIF++ laboratory setup.

  9. Danish extreme wind atlas: Background and methods for a WAsP engineering option

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rathmann, O; Kristensen, L; Mann, J [Risoe National Lab., Wind Energy and Atmospheric Physics Dept., Roskilde (Denmark); Hansen, S O [Svend Ole Hansen ApS, Copenhagen (Denmark)

    1999-03-01

    Extreme wind statistics is necessary design information when establishing wind farms and erecting bridges, buildings and other structures in the open air. Normal mean wind statistics in terms of directional and speed distribution may be estimated by wind atlas methods and are used to estimate e.g. annual energy output for wind turbines. It is the purpose of the present work to extend the wind atlas method to also include the local extreme wind statistics so that an extreme value as e.g. the 50-year wind can be estimated at locations of interest. Together with turbulence estimates such information is important regarding the necessary strength of wind turbines or structures to withstand high wind loads. In the `WAsP Engineering` computer program a flow model, which includes a model for the dynamic roughness of water surfaces, is used to realise such an extended wind atlas method. With basis in an extended wind atlas, also containing extreme wind statistics, this allows the program to estimate extreme winds in addition to mean winds and turbulence intensities at specified positions and heights. (au) EFP-97. 15 refs.

  10. Background problem for a large solid angle, high sensitivity detector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, M.

    1977-01-01

    With extremely good vacuum (10 -11 to 10 -13 torr) and well controlled beams, the ISR has a good reputation for clean beam conditions and low background for most types of experiments. However, for a detector covering a large solid angle, measuring processes with small cross sections (approximately 10 -38 cm 2 ) there are serious background problems which took almost a year to solve. Since ISABELLE may have similar problems, a summary is given of experience at the ISR with the hope that some of the solutions can be installed in ISABELLE at an early stage

  11. Extreme states of matter high energy density physics

    CERN Document Server

    Fortov, Vladimir E

    2016-01-01

    With its many beautiful colour pictures, this book gives fascinating insights into the unusual forms and behaviour of matter under extremely high pressures and temperatures. These extreme states are generated, among other things, by strong shock, detonation and electric explosion waves, dense laser beams,electron and ion beams, hypersonic entry of spacecraft into dense atmospheres of planets, and in many other situations characterized by extremely high pressures and temperatures.Written by one of the world's foremost experts on the topic, this book will inform and fascinate all scientists dealing with materials properties and physics, and also serve as an excellent introduction to plasma-, shock-wave and high-energy-density physics for students and newcomers seeking an overview. This second edition is thoroughly revised and expanded, in particular with new material on high energy-density physics, nuclear explosions and other nuclear transformation processes.

  12. Extreme Weight-Control Behaviors and Suicide Risk among High School Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Emily R.; Weiler, Robert M.; Barnett, Tracey E.; Pealer, Lisa N.

    2016-01-01

    Background: Suicide is the third leading cause of death for people ages 15-19. Research has established an association across numerous risk factors and suicide, including depression, substance abuse, bullying victimization, and feelings of alienation. However, the connection between disordered eating as manifested in extreme weight-control…

  13. Injuries in an Extreme Conditioning Program

    OpenAIRE

    Aune, Kyle T.; Powers, Joseph M.

    2016-01-01

    Background: Extreme conditioning programs (ECPs) are fitness training regimens relying on aerobic, plyometric, and resistance training exercises, often with high levels of intensity for a short duration of time. These programs have grown rapidly in popularity in recent years, but science describing the safety profile of these programs is lacking. Hypothesis: The rate of injury in the extreme conditioning program is greater than the injury rate of weightlifting and the majority of injuries occ...

  14. High repetition rate laser-driven MeV ion acceleration at variable background pressures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Snyder, Joseph; Ngirmang, Gregory; Orban, Chris; Feister, Scott; Morrison, John; Frische, Kyle; Chowdhury, Enam; Roquemore, W. M.

    2017-10-01

    Ultra-intense laser-plasma interactions (LPI) can produce highly energetic photons, electrons, and ions with numerous potential real-world applications. Many of these applications will require repeatable, high repetition targets that are suitable for LPI experiments. Liquid targets can meet many of these needs, but they typically require higher chamber pressure than is used for many low repetition rate experiments. The effect of background pressure on the LPI has not been thoroughly studied. With this in mind, the Extreme Light group at the Air Force Research Lab has carried out MeV ion and electron acceleration experiments at kHz repetition rate with background pressures ranging from 30 mTorr to >1 Torr using a submicron ethylene glycol liquid sheet target. We present these results and provide two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation results that offer insight on the thresholds for the efficient acceleration of electrons and ions. This research is supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under LRIR Project 17RQCOR504 under the management of Dr. Riq Parra and Dr. Jean-Luc Cambier. Support was also provided by the DOD HPCMP Internship Program.

  15. Automatic residue removal for high-NA extreme illumination

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moon, James; Nam, Byong-Sub; Jeong, Joo-Hong; Kong, Dong-Ho; Nam, Byung-Ho; Yim, Dong Gyu

    2007-10-01

    An epidemic for smaller node has been that, as the device architecture shrinks, lithography process requires high Numerical Aperture (NA), and extreme illumination system. This, in turn, creates many lithography problems such as low lithography process margin (Depth of Focus, Exposure Latitude), unstable Critical Dimension (CD) uniformity and restricted guideline for device design rule and so on. Especially for high NA, extreme illumination such as immersion illumination systems, above all the related problems, restricted design rule due to forbidden pitch is critical and crucial issue. This forbidden pitch is composed of numerous optical effects but majority of these forbidden pitch compose of photo resist residue and these residue must be removed to relieve some room for already tight design rule. In this study, we propose automated algorithm to remove photo resist residue due to high NA and extreme illumination condition. This algorithm automatically self assembles assist patterns based on the original design layout, therefore insuring the safety and simplicity of the generated assist pattern to the original design and removes any resist residue created by extreme illumination condition. Also we tested our automated algorithm on full chip FLASH memory device and showed the residue removal effect by using commercial verification tools as well as on actual test wafer.

  16. Overcoming High Energy Backgrounds at Pulsed Spallation Sources

    CERN Document Server

    Cherkashyna, Nataliia; DiJulio, Douglas D.; Khaplanov, Anton; Pfeiffer, Dorothea; Scherzinger, Julius; Cooper-Jensen, Carsten P.; Fissum, Kevin G.; Ansell, Stuart; Iverson, Erik B.; Ehlers, Georg; Gallmeier, Franz X.; Panzner, Tobias; Rantsiou, Emmanouela; Kanaki, Kalliopi; Filges, Uwe; Kittelmann, Thomas; Extegarai, Maddi; Santoro, Valentina; Kirstein, Oliver; Bentley, Phillip M.

    2015-01-01

    Instrument backgrounds at neutron scattering facilities directly affect the quality and the efficiency of the scientific measurements that users perform. Part of the background at pulsed spallation neutron sources is caused by, and time-correlated with, the emission of high energy particles when the proton beam strikes the spallation target. This prompt pulse ultimately produces a signal, which can be highly problematic for a subset of instruments and measurements due to the time-correlated properties, and different to that from reactor sources. Measurements of this background have been made at both SNS (ORNL, Oak Ridge, TN, USA) and SINQ (PSI, Villigen, Switzerland). The background levels were generally found to be low compared to natural background. However, very low intensities of high-energy particles have been found to be detrimental to instrument performance in some conditions. Given that instrument performance is typically characterised by S/N, improvements in backgrounds can both improve instrument pe...

  17. Mechanical characterization of alloys in extreme conditions of high strain rates and high temperature

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cadoni, Ezio

    2018-03-01

    The aim of this paper is the description of the mechanical characterization of alloys under extreme conditions of temperature and loading. In fact, in the frame of the Cost Action CA15102 “Solutions for Critical Raw Materials Under Extreme Conditions (CRM-EXTREME)” this aspect is crucial and many industrial applications have to consider the dynamic response of materials. Indeed, for a reduction and substitution of CRMs in alloys is necessary to design the materials and understand if the new materials behave better or if the substitution or reduction badly affect their performance. For this reason, a deep knowledge of the mechanical behaviour at high strain-rates of considered materials is required. In general, machinery manufacturing industry or transport industry as well as energy industry have important dynamic phenomena that are simultaneously affected by extended strain, high strain-rate, damage and pressure, as well as conspicuous temperature gradients. The experimental results in extreme conditions of high strain rate and high temperature of an austenitic stainless steel as well as a high-chromium tempered martensitic reduced activation steel Eurofer97 are presented.

  18. Probing neutrino dark energy with extremely high-energy cosmic neutrinos

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ringwald, A.; Schrempp, L.

    2006-06-01

    Recently, a new non-Standard Model neutrino interaction mediated by a light scalar field was proposed, which renders the big-bang relic neutrinos of the cosmic neutrino background a natural dark energy candidate, the so-called Neutrino Dark Energy. As a further consequence of this interaction, the neutrino masses become functions of the neutrino energy densities and are thus promoted to dynamical, time/redshift dependent quantities. Such a possible neutrino mass variation introduces a redshift dependence into the resonance energies associated with the annihilation of extremely high-energy cosmic neutrinos on relic anti-neutrinos and vice versa into Z-bosons. In general, this annihilation process is expected to lead to sizeable absorption dips in the spectra to be observed on earth by neutrino observatories operating in the relevant energy region above 10 13 GeV. In our analysis, we contrast the characteristic absorption features produced by constant and varying neutrino masses, including all thermal background effects caused by the relic neutrino motion. We firstly consider neutrinos from astrophysical sources and secondly neutrinos originating from the decomposition of topological defects using the appropriate fragmentation functions. On the one hand, independent of the nature of neutrino masses, our results illustrate the discovery potential for the cosmic neutrino background by means of relic neutrino absorption spectroscopy. On the other hand, they allow to estimate the prospects for testing its possible interpretation as source of Neutrino Dark Energy within the next decade by the neutrino observatories ANITA and LOFAR. (Orig.)

  19. Polygenic determinants in extremes of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dron, Jacqueline S; Wang, Jian; Low-Kam, Cécile; Khetarpal, Sumeet A; Robinson, John F; McIntyre, Adam D; Ban, Matthew R; Cao, Henian; Rhainds, David; Dubé, Marie-Pierre; Rader, Daniel J; Lettre, Guillaume; Tardif, Jean-Claude; Hegele, Robert A

    2017-11-01

    HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) remains a superior biochemical predictor of CVD risk, but its genetic basis is incompletely defined. In patients with extreme HDL-C concentrations, we concurrently evaluated the contributions of multiple large- and small-effect genetic variants. In a discovery cohort of 255 unrelated lipid clinic patients with extreme HDL-C levels, we used a targeted next-generation sequencing panel to evaluate rare variants in known HDL metabolism genes, simultaneously with common variants bundled into a polygenic trait score. Two additional cohorts were used for validation and included 1,746 individuals from the Montréal Heart Institute Biobank and 1,048 individuals from the University of Pennsylvania. Findings were consistent between cohorts: we found rare heterozygous large-effect variants in 18.7% and 10.9% of low- and high-HDL-C patients, respectively. We also found common variant accumulation, indicated by extreme polygenic trait scores, in an additional 12.8% and 19.3% of overall cases of low- and high-HDL-C extremes, respectively. Thus, the genetic basis of extreme HDL-C concentrations encountered clinically is frequently polygenic, with contributions from both rare large-effect and common small-effect variants. Multiple types of genetic variants should be considered as contributing factors in patients with extreme dyslipidemia. Copyright © 2017 by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

  20. Gene expression profiles in testis of pigs with extreme high and low levels of androstenone

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bendixen Christian

    2007-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background: Boar taint is a major obstacle when using uncastrated male pigs for swine production. One of the main compounds causing this taint is androstenone, a pheromone produced in porcine testis. Here we use microarrays to study the expression of thousands of genes simultaneously in testis of high and low androstenone boars. The study allows identification of genes and pathways associated with elevated androstenone levels, which is essential for recognising potential molecular markers for breeding purposes. Results: Testicular tissue was collected from 60 boars, 30 with extreme high and 30 with extreme low levels of androstenone, from each of the two breeds Duroc and Norwegian Landrace. The samples were hybridised to porcine arrays containing 26,877 cDNA clones, detecting 563 and 160 genes that were differentially expressed (p Conclusion: This study contributes to the understanding of the complex genetic system controlling and responding to androstenone levels in pig testis. The identification of new pathways and genes involved in the biosynthesis and metabolism of androstenone is an important first step towards finding molecular markers to reduce boar taint.

  1. Beta activity measurements in high, variable gamma backgrounds

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stanga, D.; Sandu, E.; Craciun, L.

    1997-01-01

    In many cases beta activity measurements must be performed in high and variable gamma backgrounds. In such instances it is necessary to use well-shielded detectors but this technique is limited to laboratory equipment and frequently insufficient. In order to perform in a simple manner beta activity measurements in high and variable backgrounds a software-aided counting technique have been developed and a counting system have been constructed. This technique combines the different counting techniques with traditional method of successive measurement of the sample and background. The counting system is based on a programmable multi-scaler which is endowed with appropriate software and allow all operations to be performed via keyboard in an interactive fashion. Two large - area proportional detectors were selected in order to have the same background and the same gamma response within 5%. A program has been developed for the counting data analysis and beta activity computing. The software-aided counting technique has been implemented for beta activity measurement in high and variable backgrounds. (authors)

  2. Extremely high concentration of folates in premature newborns.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zikavska, T; Brucknerova, I

    2014-01-01

    Extremely high concentration of folates in premature newborns: case reports. Folates are a group of water soluble compounds, which are important for metabolic processes in human body. These are important during periods of rapid cell growth. The most accurate indicator of long-term folate level status in the body is the determination of red blood cell (RBC) folate concentrations. The optimal level of RBC folate is not known in neonatal period. Authors discuss the reasons for extremely high level of RBC folate concentrations. In our work we present the cases of two premature newborns with extremely high level of RBC folate concentrations, which were analyzed immunochemically on the first day of life and after six weeks of life. In both cases we measured RBC folate concentrations on the 1st day of life. After 6 weeks we found extremely high RBC folate concentration level (5516.67 ng/ml) in the first case after RBC transfusions. In second case after two months of life the RBC folate concentration level was doubled (2335.1 ng/ml) until 24 hours after RBC transfusion compared to levels after birth. The normal range of RBC folate values vary in newborns. The upper limit of daily dose of folic acid in pregnancy and neonatal period is not known. On the other hand it is an easily excreted water-soluble vitamin but in premature newborn it can lead to the disruption of metabolic balance and slow its degradation. Some factors can have an impact on RBC folate concentration. Blood transfusion can be one of the main influences on RBC folate concentration. To clarify these mechanisms further studies are required (Ref. 29).

  3. Neurodevelopmental problems and extremes in BMI

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nóra Kerekes

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Background. Over the last few decades, an increasing number of studies have suggested a connection between neurodevelopmental problems (NDPs and body mass index (BMI. Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD and autism spectrum disorders (ASD both seem to carry an increased risk for developing extreme BMI. However, the results are inconsistent, and there have been only a few studies of the general population of children.Aims. We had three aims with the present study: (1 to define the prevalence of extreme (low or high BMI in the group of children with ADHD and/or ASDs compared to the group of children without these NDPs; (2 to analyze whether extreme BMI is associated with the subdomains within the diagnostic categories of ADHD or ASD; and (3 to investigate the contribution of genetic and environmental factors to BMI in boys and girls at ages 9 and 12.Method. Parents of 9- or 12-year-old twins (n = 12,496 were interviewed using the Autism—Tics, ADHD and other Comorbidities (A-TAC inventory as part of the Child and Adolescent Twin Study in Sweden (CATSS. Univariate and multivariate generalized estimated equation models were used to analyze associations between extremes in BMI and NDPs.Results. ADHD screen-positive cases followed BMI distributions similar to those of children without ADHD or ASD. Significant association was found between ADHD and BMI only among 12-year-old girls, where the inattention subdomain of ADHD was significantly associated with the high extreme BMI. ASD scores were associated with both the low and the high extremes of BMI. Compared to children without ADHD or ASD, the prevalence of ASD screen-positive cases was three times greater in the high extreme BMI group and double as much in the low extreme BMI group. Stereotyped and repetitive behaviors were significantly associated with high extreme BMIs.Conclusion. Children with ASD, with or without coexisting ADHD, are more prone to have low or high extreme BMIs than

  4. Inelastic X-ray scattering experiments at extreme conditions: high temperatures and high pressures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S.Hosokawa

    2008-03-01

    Full Text Available In this article, we review the present status of experimental techniques under extreme conditions of high temperature and high pressure used for inelastic X-ray scattering (IXS experiments of liquid metals, semiconductors, molten salts, molecular liquids, and supercritical water and methanol. For high temperature experiments, some types of single-crystal sapphire cells were designed depending on the temperature of interest and the sample thickness for the X-ray transmission. Single-crystal diamond X-ray windows attached to the externally heated high-pressure vessel were used for the IXS experiment of supercritical water and methanol. Some typical experimental results are also given, and the perspective of IXS technique under extreme conditions is discussed.

  5. Fixed-site high-frequency transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation for treatment of chronic low back and lower extremity pain

    OpenAIRE

    Gozani, Shai

    2016-01-01

    Shai N Gozani NeuroMetrix, Inc., Waltham, MA, USA Objective: The objective of this study was to determine if fixed-site high-frequency transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (FS-TENS) is effective in treating chronic low back and lower extremity pain. Background: Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation is widely used for treatment of chronic pain. General-purpose transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation devices are designed for stimulation anywhere on the body and often cannot be ...

  6. Polygenic determinants in extremes of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol[S

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dron, Jacqueline S.; Wang, Jian; Low-Kam, Cécile; Khetarpal, Sumeet A.; Robinson, John F.; McIntyre, Adam D.; Ban, Matthew R.; Cao, Henian; Rhainds, David; Dubé, Marie-Pierre; Rader, Daniel J.; Lettre, Guillaume; Tardif, Jean-Claude

    2017-01-01

    HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) remains a superior biochemical predictor of CVD risk, but its genetic basis is incompletely defined. In patients with extreme HDL-C concentrations, we concurrently evaluated the contributions of multiple large- and small-effect genetic variants. In a discovery cohort of 255 unrelated lipid clinic patients with extreme HDL-C levels, we used a targeted next-generation sequencing panel to evaluate rare variants in known HDL metabolism genes, simultaneously with common variants bundled into a polygenic trait score. Two additional cohorts were used for validation and included 1,746 individuals from the Montréal Heart Institute Biobank and 1,048 individuals from the University of Pennsylvania. Findings were consistent between cohorts: we found rare heterozygous large-effect variants in 18.7% and 10.9% of low- and high-HDL-C patients, respectively. We also found common variant accumulation, indicated by extreme polygenic trait scores, in an additional 12.8% and 19.3% of overall cases of low- and high-HDL-C extremes, respectively. Thus, the genetic basis of extreme HDL-C concentrations encountered clinically is frequently polygenic, with contributions from both rare large-effect and common small-effect variants. Multiple types of genetic variants should be considered as contributing factors in patients with extreme dyslipidemia. PMID:28870971

  7. High resolution spectroscopy of six new extreme helium stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heber, U.; Jones, G.; Drilling, J. S.

    1986-01-01

    High resolution spectra of six newly discovered extreme helium stars are presented. LSS 5121 is shown to be a spectroscopical twin of the hot extreme helium star HD 160641. A preliminary LTE analysis of LSS 3184 yielded an effective temperature of 22,000 K and a surface gravity of log g = 3.2. Four stars form a new subgroup, classified by sharp-lined He I spectra and pronounced O II spectra, and it is conjectured that these lie close to the Eddington limit. The whole group of extreme helium stars apparently is inhomogeneous with respect to luminosity to mass ratio and chemical composition.

  8. Workshop on extremely high energy density plasmas and their diagnostics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ishii, Shozo (ed.)

    2001-09-01

    Compiled are the papers presented at the workshop on 'Extremely High Energy Density Plasmas and Their Diagnostics' held at National Institute for Fusion Science. The papers cover physics and applications of extremely high-energy density plasmas such as dense z-pinch, plasma focus, and intense pulsed charged beams. Separate abstracts were presented for 7 of the papers in this report. The remaining 25 were considered outside the subject scope of INIS. (author)

  9. Workshop on extremely high energy density plasmas and their diagnostics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ishii, Shozo

    2001-09-01

    Compiled are the papers presented at the workshop on 'Extremely High Energy Density Plasmas and Their Diagnostics' held at National Institute for Fusion Science. The papers cover physics and applications of extremely high-energy density plasmas such as dense z-pinch, plasma focus, and intense pulsed charged beams. Separate abstracts were presented for 7 of the papers in this report. The remaining 25 were considered outside the subject scope of INIS. (author)

  10. Extremely-high vacuum pressure measurement by laser ionization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kokubun, Kiyohide

    1991-01-01

    Laser ionization method has the very high sensitivity for detecting atoms and molecules. Hurst et al. successfully detected a single Cs atom by means of resonance ionization spectroscopy developed by them. Noting this high sensitivity, the authors have attempted to apply the laser ionization method to measure gas pressure, particularly in the range down to extremely high vacuum. At present, hot cathode ionization gauges are used for measuring gas pressure down to ultrahigh vacuum, however, those have a number of disadvantages. The pressure measurement using lasers does not have such disadvantages. The pressure measurement utilizing the laser ionization method is based on the principle that when laser beam is focused through a lens, the amount of atom or molecule ions generated in the focused space region is proportional to gas pressure. In this paper, the experimental results are presented on the nonresonant multiphoton ionization characteristics of various kinds of gases, the ion detection system with high sensitivity and an extremely high vacuum system prepared for the laser ionization experiment. (K.I.)

  11. Extremely high frequency RF effects on electronics.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Loubriel, Guillermo Manuel; Vigliano, David; Coleman, Phillip Dale; Williams, Jeffery Thomas; Wouters, Gregg A.; Bacon, Larry Donald; Mar, Alan

    2012-01-01

    The objective of this work was to understand the fundamental physics of extremely high frequency RF effects on electronics. To accomplish this objective, we produced models, conducted simulations, and performed measurements to identify the mechanisms of effects as frequency increases into the millimeter-wave regime. Our purpose was to answer the questions, 'What are the tradeoffs between coupling, transmission losses, and device responses as frequency increases?', and, 'How high in frequency do effects on electronic systems continue to occur?' Using full wave electromagnetics codes and a transmission-line/circuit code, we investigated how extremely high-frequency RF propagates on wires and printed circuit board traces. We investigated both field-to-wire coupling and direct illumination of printed circuit boards to determine the significant mechanisms for inducing currents at device terminals. We measured coupling to wires and attenuation along wires for comparison to the simulations, looking at plane-wave coupling as it launches modes onto single and multiconductor structures. We simulated the response of discrete and integrated circuit semiconductor devices to those high-frequency currents and voltages, using SGFramework, the open-source General-purpose Semiconductor Simulator (gss), and Sandia's Charon semiconductor device physics codes. This report documents our findings.

  12. Solidification at the High and Low Rate Extreme

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Meco, Halim [Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States)

    2004-12-19

    The microstructures formed upon solidification are strongly influenced by the imposed growth rates on an alloy system. Depending on the characteristics of the solidification process, a wide range of growth rates is accessible. The prevailing solidification mechanisms, and thus the final microstructure of the alloy, are governed by these imposed growth rates. At the high rate extreme, for instance, one can have access to novel microstructures that are unattainable at low growth rates. While the low growth rates can be utilized for the study of the intrinsic growth behavior of a certain phase growing from the melt. Although the length scales associated with certain processes, such as capillarity, and the diffusion of heat and solute, are different at low and high rate extremes, the phenomena that govern the selection of a certain microstructural length scale or a growth mode are the same. Consequently, one can analyze the solidification phenomena at both high and low rates by using the same governing principles. In this study, we examined the microstructural control at both low and high extremes. For the high rate extreme, the formation of crystalline products and factors that control the microstructure during rapid solidification by free-jet melt spinning are examined in Fe-Si-B system. Particular attention was given to the behavior of the melt pool at different quench-wheel speeds. Since the solidification process takes place within the melt-pool that forms on the rotating quench-wheel, we examined the influence of melt-pool dynamics on nucleation and growth of crystalline solidification products and glass formation. High-speed imaging of the melt-pool, analysis of ribbon microstructure, and measurement of ribbon geometry and surface character all indicate upper and lower limits for melt-spinning rates for which nucleation can be avoided, and fully amorphous ribbons can be achieved. Comparison of the relevant time scales reveals that surface-controlled melt

  13. Extreme Transients in the High Energy Universe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kouveliotou, Chryssa

    2013-01-01

    The High Energy Universe is rich in diverse populations of objects spanning the entire cosmological (time)scale, from our own present-day Milky Way to the re-ionization epoch. Several of these are associated with extreme conditions irreproducible in laboratories on Earth. Their study thus sheds light on the behavior of matter under extreme conditions, such as super-strong magnetic fields (in excess of 10^14 G), high gravitational potentials (e.g., Super Massive Black Holes), very energetic collimated explosions resulting in relativistic jet flows (e.g., Gamma Ray Bursts, exceeding 10^53 ergs). In the last thirty years, my work has been mostly focused on two apparently different but potentially linked populations of such transients: magnetars (highly magnetized neutron stars) and Gamma Ray Bursts (strongly beamed emission from relativistic jets), two populations that constitute unique astrophysical laboratories, while also giving us the tools to probe matter conditions in the Universe to redshifts beyond z=10, when the first stars and galaxies were assembled. I did not make this journey alone I have either led or participated in several international collaborations studying these phenomena in multi-wavelength observations; solitary perfection is not sufficient anymore in the world of High Energy Astrophysics. I will describe this journey, present crucial observational breakthroughs, discuss key results and muse on the future of this field.

  14. Extremely short duration high intensity interval training substantially improves insulin action in young healthy males

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Babraj, John A; Vollaard, Niels B J; Keast, Cameron

    2009-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Traditional high volume aerobic exercise training reduces cardiovascular and metabolic disease risk but involves a substantial time commitment. Extremely low volume high-intensity interval training (HIT) has recently been demonstrated to produce improvements to aerobic function...... cycle sprints per session). Aerobic performance (250-kJ self-paced cycling time trial), and glucose, insulin and NEFA responses to a 75-g oral glucose load (oral glucose tolerance test; OGTT) were determined before and after training. RESULTS: Following 2 weeks of HIT, the area under the plasma glucose......, to substantially improve insulin action in young sedentary subjects is remarkable. This novel time-efficient training paradigm can be used as a strategy to reduce metabolic risk factors in young and middle aged sedentary populations who otherwise would not adhere to time consuming traditional aerobic exercise...

  15. Wave-mixing with high-order harmonics in extreme ultraviolet region

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dao, Lap Van; Dinh, Khuong Ba; Le, Hoang Vu; Gaffney, Naylyn; Hannaford, Peter

    2015-01-01

    We report studies of the wave-mixing process in the extreme ultraviolet region with two near-infrared driving and controlling pulses with incommensurate frequencies (at 1400 nm and 800 nm). A non-collinear scheme for the two beams is used in order to spatially separate and to characterise the properties of the high-order wave-mixing field. We show that the extreme ultraviolet frequency mixing can be treated by perturbative, very high-order nonlinear optics; the modification of the wave-packet of the free electron needs to be considered in this process

  16. High resolution modelling of extreme precipitation events in urban areas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siemerink, Martijn; Volp, Nicolette; Schuurmans, Wytze; Deckers, Dave

    2015-04-01

    The present day society needs to adjust to the effects of climate change. More extreme weather conditions are expected, which can lead to longer periods of drought, but also to more extreme precipitation events. Urban water systems are not designed for such extreme events. Most sewer systems are not able to drain the excessive storm water, causing urban flooding. This leads to high economic damage. In order to take appropriate measures against extreme urban storms, detailed knowledge about the behaviour of the urban water system above and below the streets is required. To investigate the behaviour of urban water systems during extreme precipitation events new assessment tools are necessary. These tools should provide a detailed and integral description of the flow in the full domain of overland runoff, sewer flow, surface water flow and groundwater flow. We developed a new assessment tool, called 3Di, which provides detailed insight in the urban water system. This tool is based on a new numerical methodology that can accurately deal with the interaction between overland runoff, sewer flow and surface water flow. A one-dimensional model for the sewer system and open channel flow is fully coupled to a two-dimensional depth-averaged model that simulates the overland flow. The tool uses a subgrid-based approach in order to take high resolution information of the sewer system and of the terrain into account [1, 2]. The combination of using the high resolution information and the subgrid based approach results in an accurate and efficient modelling tool. It is now possible to simulate entire urban water systems using extreme high resolution (0.5m x 0.5m) terrain data in combination with a detailed sewer and surface water network representation. The new tool has been tested in several Dutch cities, such as Rotterdam, Amsterdam and The Hague. We will present the results of an extreme precipitation event in the city of Schiedam (The Netherlands). This city deals with

  17. Is Extremely High Life Satisfaction during Adolescence Advantageous?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suldo, Shannon M.; Huebner, E. Scott

    2006-01-01

    This study examined whether extremely high life satisfaction was associated with adaptive functioning or maladaptive functioning. Six hundred ninety-eight secondary level students completed the Students' Life Satisfaction Scale [Huebner, 1991a, School Psychology International, 12, pp. 231-240], Youth Self-Report of the Child Behavior Checklist…

  18. Chromosome Aberration on High Level Background Natural Radiation Areas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yanti-Lusiyanti; Zubaidah-Alatas

    2001-01-01

    When the body is irradiated, all cells can suffer cytogenetic damage that can be seen as structural damage of chromosome in the lymphocytes. People no matter where they live in world are exposed to background radiation from natural sources both internal and external such as cosmic radiation, terrestrial radiation, cosmogenic radiation radon and thoron. Level of area natural ionizing radiation is varies depending on the altitude, the soil or rock conditions, particular food chains and the building materials and construction features. Level of normal areas of background exposure is annual effective dose 2.4 mSv and the high level areas of background exposure 20 mSv. This paper discuses the frequency of aberration chromosome especially dysenteries in several countries having high level radiation background. It seems that frequency of chromosome aberrations increase, generally with the increase of age of the people and the accumulated dose received. (author)

  19. Which Screening Tools Can Predict Injury to the Lower Extremities in Team Sports? A Systematic Review

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dallinga, Joan M.; Benjaminse, Anne; Lemmink, Koen A. P. M.

    2012-01-01

    Background: Injuries to lower extremities are common in team sports such as soccer, basketball, volleyball, football and field hockey. Considering personal grief, disabling consequences and high costs caused by injuries to lower extremities, the importance for the prevention of these injuries is

  20. MDT Performance in a High Rate Background Environment

    CERN Document Server

    Aleksa, Martin; Hessey, N P; Riegler, W

    1998-01-01

    A Cs137 gamma source with different lead filters in the SPS beam-line X5 has been used to simulate the ATLAS background radiation. This note shows the impact of high background rates on the MDT efficiency and resolution for three kinds of pulse shaping and compares the results with GARFIELD simulations. Furthermore it explains how the performance can be improved by time slewing corrections and double track separation.

  1. Regional-Scale High-Latitude Extreme Geoelectric Fields Pertaining to Geomagnetically Induced Currents

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pulkkinen, Antti; Bernabeu, Emanuel; Eichner, Jan; Viljanen, Ari; Ngwira, Chigomezyo

    2015-01-01

    Motivated by the needs of the high-voltage power transmission industry, we use data from the high-latitude IMAGE magnetometer array to study characteristics of extreme geoelectric fields at regional scales. We use 10-s resolution data for years 1993-2013, and the fields are characterized using average horizontal geoelectric field amplitudes taken over station groups that span about 500-km distance. We show that geoelectric field structures associated with localized extremes at single stations can be greatly different from structures associated with regionally uniform geoelectric fields, which are well represented by spatial averages over single stations. Visual extrapolation and rigorous extreme value analysis of spatially averaged fields indicate that the expected range for 1-in-100-year extreme events are 3-8 V/km and 3.4-7.1 V/km, respectively. The Quebec reference ground model is used in the calculations.

  2. Stochastic background of gravitational waves from hybrid preheating.

    Science.gov (United States)

    García-Bellido, Juan; Figueroa, Daniel G

    2007-02-09

    The process of reheating the Universe after hybrid inflation is extremely violent. It proceeds through the nucleation and subsequent collision of large concentrations of energy density in bubblelike structures, which generate a significant fraction of energy in the form of gravitational waves. We study the power spectrum of the stochastic background of gravitational waves produced at reheating after hybrid inflation. We find that the amplitude could be significant for high-scale models, although the typical frequencies are well beyond what could be reached by planned gravitational wave observatories. On the other hand, low-scale models could still produce a detectable stochastic background at frequencies accessible to those detectors. The discovery of such a background would open a new window into the very early Universe.

  3. Precise muon drift tube detectors for high background rate conditions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Engl, Albert

    2011-08-04

    The muon spectrometer of the ATLAS-experiment at the Large Hadron Collider consists of drift tube chambers, which provide the precise measurement of trajectories of traversing muons. In order to determine the momentum of the muons with high precision, the measurement of the position of the muon in a single tube has to be more accurate than {sigma}{<=}100 {mu}m. The large cross section of proton-proton-collisions and the high luminosity of the accelerator cause relevant background of neutrons and {gamma}s in the muon spectrometer. During the next decade a luminosity upgrade to 5.10{sup 34} cm{sup -2}s{sup -1} is planned, which will increase the background counting rates considerably. In this context this work deals with the further development of the existing drift chamber technology to provide the required accuracy of the position measurement under high background conditions. Two approaches of improving the drift tube chambers are described: - In regions of moderate background rates a faster and more linear drift gas can provide precise position measurement without changing the existing hardware. - At very high background rates drift tube chambers consisting of tubes with a diameter of 15 mm are a valuable candidate to substitute the CSC muon chambers. The single tube resolution of the gas mixture Ar:CO{sub 2}:N{sub 2} in the ratio of 96:3:1 Vol %, which is more linear and faster as the currently used drift gas Ar:CO{sub 2} in the ratio of 97:3 Vol %, was determined at the Cosmic Ray Measurement Facility at Garching and at high {gamma}-background counting rates at the Gamma Irradiation Facility at CERN. The alternative gas mixture shows similar resolution without background. At high background counting rates it shows better resolution as the standard gas. To analyse the data the various parts of the setup have to be aligned precisely to each other. The change to an alternative gas mixture allows the use of the existing hardware. The second approach are drift tubes

  4. Cosmic far-infrared background at high galactic latitudes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stecker, F.W.; Puget, J.L.; Fazio, G.G.

    1977-01-01

    We predict far-infrared background fluxes from various cosmic sources. These fluxes lie near the high-frequency side of the blackbody radiation spectrum. These sources could account for a significant fraction of the background radiation at frequencies above 400 GHz which might be misinterpreted as a ''Comptonization'' distortion of the blackbody radiation. Particular attention is paid to the possible contributions from external galaxies, from rich clusters of galaxies, and from galactic dust emission

  5. Cosmic far-infrared background at high galactic latitudes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stecker, F.W.; Puget, J.L.; Fazio, G.G.

    1976-12-01

    Far-infrared background fluxes from various cosmic sources are predicted. These fluxes lie near the high-frequency side of the blackbody radiation spectrum. These sources could account for a significant fraction of the background radiation at frequencies above 400 GHz, which might be misinterpreted as a comptonization distortion of the blackbody radiation. Particular attention is paid to the possible contributions from external galaxies, rich clusters of galaxies and from galactic dust emission

  6. High-resolution Sonographic Measurements of Lower Extremity Bursae in Chinese Healthy Young Men

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yong-Yan Gao

    2016-01-01

    Conclusions: Using HR-US imaging, we were able to analyze lower extremity bursae with high detection rates in healthy young men. The normal ranges of lower extremity bursa dimensions in healthy young men measured by HR-US in this study could be used as reference values for evaluation of bursa abnormalities in the lower extremity.

  7. Extremely high thermal conductivity anisotropy of double-walled carbon nanotubes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhaoji Ma

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Based on molecular dynamics simulations, we reveal that double-walled carbon nanotubes can possess an extremely high anisotropy ratio of radial to axial thermal conductivities. The mechanism is basically the same as that for the high thermal conductivity anisotropy of graphene layers - the in-plane strong sp2 bonds lead to a very high intralayer thermal conductivity while the weak van der Waals interactions to a very low interlayer thermal conductivity. However, different from flat graphene layers, the tubular structures of carbon nanotubes result in a diameter dependent thermal conductivity. The smaller the diameter, the larger the axial thermal conductivity but the smaller the radial thermal conductivity. As a result, a DWCNT with a small diameter may have an anisotropy ratio of thermal conductivity significantly higher than that for graphene layers. The extremely high thermal conductivity anisotropy allows DWCNTs to be a promising candidate for thermal management materials.

  8. Extreme Consumption Drinking Gaming and Prepartying among High School Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tomaso, Cara C.; Zamboanga, Byron L.; Haas, Amie L.; Kenney, Shannon R.; Ham, Lindsay S.; Borsari, Brian

    2016-01-01

    Drinking games and prepartying (i.e., drinking before going to a social gathering/event) have emerged as high-risk drinking behaviors in high school students. The present study examines the current prepartying behaviors of high school students who report current participation in extreme-consumption games (e.g., chugging) with those who do not.…

  9. Natural background radiation exposures world-wide

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bennett, B.G.

    1993-01-01

    The average radiation dose to the world's population from natural radiation sources has been assessed by UNSCEAR to be 2.4 mSv per year. The components of this exposure, methods of evaluation and, in particular, the variations in the natural background levels are presented in this paper. Exposures to cosmic radiation range from 0.26 mSv per year at sea level to 20 times more at an altitude of 6000 m. Exposures to cosmogenic radionuclides ( 3 H, 14 C) are relatively insignificant and little variable. The terrestrial radionuclides 40 K, 238 U, and 232 Th and the decay products of the latter two constitute the remainder of the natural radiation exposure. Wide variations in exposure occur for these components, particularly for radon and its decay products, which can accumulate to relatively high levels indoors. Unusually high exposures to uranium and thorium series radionuclides characterize the high natural background areas which occur in several localized regions in the world. Extreme values in natural radiation exposures have been estimated to range up to 100 times the average values. (author). 15 refs, 3 tabs

  10. Precise muon drift tube detectors for high background rate conditions

    CERN Document Server

    Engl, Albert; Dünnweber, Wolfgang

    The muon spectrometer of the ATLAS-experiment at the Large H adron Collider consists of drift tube chambers, which provide the precise m easurement of trajec- tories of traversing muons. In order to determine the moment um of the muons with high precision, the measurement of the position of the m uon in a single tube has to be more accurate than σ ≤ 100 m. The large cross section of proton-proton-collisions and th e high luminosity of the accelerator cause relevant background of neutrons and γ s in the muon spectrome- ter. During the next decade a luminosity upgrade [1] to 5 10 34 cm − 2 s − 1 is planned, which will increase the background counting rates consider ably. In this context this work deals with the further development of the existing drift chamber tech- nology to provide the required accuracy of the position meas urement under high background conditions. Two approaches of improving the dri ft tube chambers are described: • In regions of moderate background rates a faster and more lin ear ...

  11. The noise background and its suppression in high energy physics experiment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Meng Xiangcheng

    1996-01-01

    In the modern high energy physics experiments, system is very complicated and from a lot of sources may originate noise and background. How to reduce and restrain noise and backgrounds? It should use different suppression mode for different kinds of noise and backgrounds

  12. Signal-to-noise ratios of multiplexing spectrometers in high backgrounds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knacke, R. F.

    1978-01-01

    Signal-to-noise ratios and the amount of multiplexing gain achieved with a Michelson spectrometer during detector and background noise are studied. Noise caused by the warm background is found in 10 and 20-micron atmospheric windows in high resolution Fourier spectroscopy. An equation is derived for the signal-to-noise ratio based on the number of channels, total time to obtain the complete spectrum, the signal power in one spectral element, and the detector noise equivalent power in the presence of negligible background. Similar expressions are derived for backgrounds yielding a noise equivalent power to a spectral element, and backgrounds having flat spectra in the frequency range under investigation.

  13. Epidemiological investigation of radiological effects in high background radiation areas of Yangjiang, China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wei, Luxin; Zha, Yongru; Tao, Zufan; He, Weihui; Chen, Deqing; Yuan, Yongling

    1990-01-01

    The purpose of this investigation is to provide some information for providing whether any detrimental effects exist in a large population whose families have been continuously exposed to a low dose rate radiation. Two areas in Yangjiang Country, characterized by high background radiation (HBR) with environmental gamma exposure, large population size and long-term inhabitants, were selected for evaluation of late effects of HBR. The areas with normal radiation background close to the Yangjiang Country were selected as control areas. Up to 1986 approximately one million person-years in each area in both HBR and control areas have been observed. No increase of cancer mortality was found in the HBR areas; on the contrary, cancer mortality tended to be lower in the HBR areas than the control areas. The prevalence of hereditary diseases and congenital defects was similar in both HBR and control areas, but the frequency of Down's syndrome was higher in the HBR areas (through within the normal range) than the control areas. A possible explanation is the difference of age of maternity between the HBR and control areas, and the extremely low frequency in the control areas. Possible factors influencing the incidence of mutationbased diseases were comparable in the HBR and control groups. However, the cultural and educational levels were somewhat different, probably affecting health status and family planning. It is likely that there may be a dose threshold for cancer incidence, but this remains to be determined by further research. (N.K.)

  14. High-resolution stochastic generation of extreme rainfall intensity for urban drainage modelling applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peleg, Nadav; Blumensaat, Frank; Molnar, Peter; Fatichi, Simone; Burlando, Paolo

    2016-04-01

    Urban drainage response is highly dependent on the spatial and temporal structure of rainfall. Therefore, measuring and simulating rainfall at a high spatial and temporal resolution is a fundamental step to fully assess urban drainage system reliability and related uncertainties. This is even more relevant when considering extreme rainfall events. However, the current space-time rainfall models have limitations in capturing extreme rainfall intensity statistics for short durations. Here, we use the STREAP (Space-Time Realizations of Areal Precipitation) model, which is a novel stochastic rainfall generator for simulating high-resolution rainfall fields that preserve the spatio-temporal structure of rainfall and its statistical characteristics. The model enables a generation of rain fields at 102 m and minute scales in a fast and computer-efficient way matching the requirements for hydrological analysis of urban drainage systems. The STREAP model was applied successfully in the past to generate high-resolution extreme rainfall intensities over a small domain. A sub-catchment in the city of Luzern (Switzerland) was chosen as a case study to: (i) evaluate the ability of STREAP to disaggregate extreme rainfall intensities for urban drainage applications; (ii) assessing the role of stochastic climate variability of rainfall in flow response and (iii) evaluate the degree of non-linearity between extreme rainfall intensity and system response (i.e. flow) for a small urban catchment. The channel flow at the catchment outlet is simulated by means of a calibrated hydrodynamic sewer model.

  15. MR imaging findings of high-voltage electrical burns in the upper extremities: correlation with angiographic findings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Gyung Kyu; Kang, Ik Won; Hwang, Dae Hyun; Min, Seon Jung; Han, You Mi (Dept. of Radiology, Hallym Univ. College of Medicine, Hangang Sacred Heart Hospital, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)); Suh, Kyung Jin (Dept. of Radiology, Dongguk Univ. College of Medicine, Gyeongju Hospital, Gyeongju (Korea, Republic of)), email: kyungjin.suh@gmail.com; Choi, Min Ho (Dept. of Internal Medicine, Hallym Univ. College of Medicine, Hangang Sacred Heart Hospital, Seoul (Korea, Republic of))

    2011-02-15

    Background: A high-voltage electrical burn is often associated with deep muscle injuries. Hidden, undetected deep muscle injuries have a tendency for progressive tissue necrosis, and this can lead to major amputations or sepsis. MRI has excellent soft tissue contrast and it may aid in differentiating the areas of viable deep muscle from the areas of non-viable deep muscle. Purpose: To describe the MR imaging findings of a high-voltage electrical burn in the upper extremity with emphasis on the usefulness of the gadolinium-enhanced MRI and to compare the MR imaging findings with angiography. Material and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the imaging studies of six patients with high-voltage electrical burns who underwent both MRI and angiography at the burn center of our hospital from January 2005 to December 2009. The imaging features were evaluated for the involved locations, the MR signal intensity of the affected muscles, the MR enhancement pattern, the involved arteries and the angiographic findings (classified as normal, sluggish flow, stenosis or occlusion) of the angiography of the upper extremity. We assessed the relationship between the MR imaging findings and the angiographic findings. Results: The signal intensities of affected muscles were isointense or of slightly high signal intensity as compared with the adjacent unaffected skeletal muscle on the T1-weighted MR images. Affected muscles showed heterogenous high signal intensity relative to the adjacent unaffected skeletal muscle on the T2- weighted images. The gadolinium-enhanced T1-weighted images showed diffuse inhomogeneous enhancement or peripheral rim enhancement of the affected muscles. The angiographic findings of the arterial injuries showed complete occlusion in three patients, severe stenosis in two patients and sluggish flow in one patient. Of these, the five patients with complete occlusion or severe stenosis on angiography showed non-perfused and non-viable areas of edematous muscle on

  16. Asthma in Patients Climbing to High and Extreme Altitudes in the Tibetan Everest Region

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Huismans, Henrike K.; Douma, W. Rob; Kerstjens, Huib A. M.; Renkema, Tineke E. J.

    Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the behavior of asthma in patients traveling to high and extreme altitudes. Methods: Twenty-four Dutch patients with mild asthma did a trekking at high and extreme altitudes (up to 6410 m = 21030 ft) in the Tibetan Everest region. Asthma symptoms,

  17. High resolution extremity CT for biomechanics modeling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ashby, A.E.; Brand, H.; Hollerbach, K.; Logan, C.M.; Martz, H.E.

    1995-01-01

    With the advent of ever more powerful computing and finite element analysis (FEA) capabilities, the bone and joint geometry detail available from either commercial surface definitions or from medical CT scans is inadequate. For dynamic FEA modeling of joints, precise articular contours are necessary to get appropriate contact definition. In this project, a fresh cadaver extremity was suspended in parafin in a lucite cylinder and then scanned with an industrial CT system to generate a high resolution data set for use in biomechanics modeling

  18. High resolution extremity CT for biomechanics modeling

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ashby, A.E.; Brand, H.; Hollerbach, K.; Logan, C.M.; Martz, H.E.

    1995-09-23

    With the advent of ever more powerful computing and finite element analysis (FEA) capabilities, the bone and joint geometry detail available from either commercial surface definitions or from medical CT scans is inadequate. For dynamic FEA modeling of joints, precise articular contours are necessary to get appropriate contact definition. In this project, a fresh cadaver extremity was suspended in parafin in a lucite cylinder and then scanned with an industrial CT system to generate a high resolution data set for use in biomechanics modeling.

  19. Looking for Cosmic Neutrino Background

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chiaki eYanagisawa

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Since the discovery of neutrino oscillation in atmospheric neutrinos by the Super-Kamiokande experiment in 1998, study of neutrinos has been one of exciting fields in high-energy physics. All the mixing angles were measured. Quests for 1 measurements of the remaining parameters, the lightest neutrino mass, the CP violating phase(s, and the sign of mass splitting between the mass eigenstates m3 and m1, and 2 better measurements to determine whether the mixing angle theta23 is less than pi/4, are in progress in a well-controlled manner. Determining the nature of neutrinos, whether they are Dirac or Majorana particles is also in progress with continuous improvement. On the other hand, although the ideas of detecting cosmic neutrino background have been discussed since 1960s, there has not been a serious concerted effort to achieve this goal. One of the reasons is that it is extremely difficult to detect such low energy neutrinos from the Big Bang. While there has been tremendous accumulation of information on Cosmic Microwave Background since its discovery in 1965, there is no direct evidence for Cosmic Neutrino Background. The importance of detecting Cosmic Neutrino Background is that, although detailed studies of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis and Cosmic Microwave Background give information of the early Universe at ~a few minutes old and ~300 k years old, respectively, observation of Cosmic Neutrino Background allows us to study the early Universe at $sim$ 1 sec old. This article reviews progress made in the past 50 years on detection methods of Cosmic Neutrino Background.

  20. A geophysical tour of high background radiation areas of the world

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Krishnan, D.; Kher, R.K.; Nambi, K.S.V.

    1995-01-01

    A comparison of the findings including health effects in four major high natural background areas of the world are given. Such high background areas could prove to be a radiation ecology laboratory gifted by nature and provide further insight in the relation of radiation, natural or otherwise and human health. 3 refs., 2 tabs

  1. Upper Extremity Functional Status of Female Youth Softball Pitchers Using the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic Questionnaire

    OpenAIRE

    Holtz, Kaila A.; O’Connor, Russell J.

    2018-01-01

    Background: Softball is a popular sport with a high incidence of upper extremity injuries. The Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic (KJOC) questionnaire is a validated performance and functional assessment tool used in overhead athletes. Upper extremity pain patterns and baseline KJOC scores have not been reported for active female youth softball pitchers. Purpose/Hypothesis: The purpose of this study was to establish the prevalence of upper extremity pain and its effect in female youth softball pi...

  2. Study of radiation background at various high altitude locations in preparation for rare event search in cosmic rays

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bhattacharyya, R.; Dey, S.; Ghosh, Sanjay K.; Maulik, A.; Raha, Sibaji; Syam, D., E-mail: rupamoy@gmail.com, E-mail: dey_s2001@yahoo.com, E-mail: sanjay@jcbose.ac.in, E-mail: atanu.maulik@jcbose.ac.in, E-mail: sibaji.raha@jcbose.ac.in, E-mail: syam.debapriyo@gmail.com [Centre for Astroparticle Physics and Space Science, Bose Institute, Block-EN, Sector-V, Kolkata-700091 (India)

    2017-04-01

    Various phenomenological models presented over the years have hinted at the possible presence of strangelets, which are nuggets of Strange Quark Matter (SQM), in cosmic rays. One way to search for such rare events is through the deployment of large area Nuclear Track Detector (NTD) arrays at high mountain altitudes. Before the deployment of any such array can begin, a detailed study of the radiation background is essential. Also, a proper understanding of the response of detectors exposed to extreme weather conditions is necessary. With that aim, pilot studies were carried out at various high altitude locations in India such as Darjeeling (2200 m a.m.s.l), Ooty (2200 m a.m.s.l) and Hanle (4500 m a.m.s.l). Small arrays of CR-39 as well as high threshold Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) detectors were given open air exposures for periods ranging from three months to two years. The findings of such studies are reported in this paper.

  3. Fluctuations in radiation backgrounds at high redshift and the first stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holzbauer, Lauren Nicole

    The first stars to light up our universe are as yet unseen, but there have been many attempts to elucidate their properties. The characteristics of these stars (`Population/Pop III' stars) that we do know lie mostly within theory; they formed out of metal-free hydrogen and helium gas contained in dark matter minihalos at redshifts z 20-30. The extent to which Pop III star formation reached into later times is unknown. Current and near future instruments are incapable of resolving individual Pop III stars. Consequently, astronomers must devise creative means with which to indirectly predict and measure and their properties. In this thesis, we will investigate a few of those means. We use a new method to model fluctuations of the Lyman-Werner (LW) and Lyman-alpha radiation backgrounds at high redshift. At these early epochs the backgrounds are symptoms of a universe newly lit with its first stars. LW photons (11.5-13.6 eV) are of particular interest because they dissociate molecular hydrogen, the primary coolant in the first minihalos that is necessary for star formation. By using a variation of the `halo model', which describes the spatial distribution and clustering of halos, we can efficiently generate power spectra for these backgrounds. Spatial fluctuations in the LW and (indirectly) the Lyman-alpha BG can tell us about the transition from primordial star formation to a more metal-enriched mode that marks the beginning of the second generation of stars in our Universe. The Near Infrared Background (NIRB) has for some time been considered a potential tool with which to indirectly observe the first stars. Ultraviolet (UV) emission from these stars is redshifted into the NIR band, making the NIRB amenable for hunting Pop III stellar signatures. There have been several measurements of the NIRB and subsequent theoretical studies attempting to explain them in recent years. Though controversial, residual levels of the mean NIRB intensity and anisotropies have been

  4. Production processes at extremely high energies

    CERN Document Server

    Gastmans, R; Wu, Tai Tsun

    2013-01-01

    The production processes are identified that contribute to the rise of the total cross section in proton-proton scattering at extremely high energies, s->~. At such energies, the scattering can be described by a black disk (completely absorptive) with a radius expanding logarithmically with energy surrounded by a gray fringe (partially absorptive). For the leading term of (lns)^2 in the increasing total cross section, the gray fringe is neglected, and geometrical optics is generalized to production processes. It is known that half of the rise in the total cross section is due to elastic scattering. The other half is found to originate from the production of jets with relatively small momenta in the center-of-mass system.

  5. Extremely Durable, Flexible Supercapacitors with Greatly Improved Performance at High Temperatures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Sung-Kon; Kim, Hae Jin; Lee, Jong-Chan; Braun, Paul V; Park, Ho Seok

    2015-08-25

    The reliability and durability of energy storage devices are as important as their essential characteristics (e.g., energy and power density) for stable power output and long lifespan and thus much more crucial under harsh conditions. However, energy storage under extreme conditions is still a big challenge because of unavoidable performance decays and the inevitable damage of components. Here, we report high-temperature operating, flexible supercapacitors (f-SCs) that can provide reliable power output and extreme durability under severe electrochemical, mechanical, and thermal conditions. The outstanding capacitive features (e.g., ∼40% enhancement of the rate capability and a maximum capacitances of 170 F g(-1) and 18.7 mF cm(-2) at 160 °C) are attributed to facilitated ion transport at elevated temperatures. Under high-temperature operation and/or a flexibility test in both static and dynamic modes at elevated temperatures >100 °C, the f-SCs showed extreme long-term stability of 100000 cycles (>93% of initial capacitance value) and mechanical durability after hundreds of bending cycles (at bend angles of 60-180°). Even at 120 °C, the versatile design of tandem serial and parallel f-SCs was demonstrated to provide both desirable energy and power requirements at high temperatures.

  6. Radon exhalation rate and natural radionuclide content in building materials of high background areas of Ramsar, Iran.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bavarnegin, E; Fathabadi, N; Vahabi Moghaddam, M; Vasheghani Farahani, M; Moradi, M; Babakhni, A

    2013-03-01

    Radon exhalation rates from building materials used in high background radiation areas (HBRA) of Ramsar were measured using an active radon gas analyzer with an emanation container. Radon exhalation rates from these samples varied from below the lower detection limit up to 384 Bq.m(-2) h(-1). The (226)Ra, (232)Th and (40)K contents were also measured using a high resolution HPGe gamma- ray spectrometer system. The activity concentration of (226)Ra, (232)Th and (40)K content varied from below the minimum detection limit up to 86,400 Bq kg(-1), 187 Bq kg(-1) and 1350 Bq kg(-1), respectively. The linear correlation coefficient between radon exhalation rate and radium concentration was 0.90. The result of this survey shows that radon exhalation rate and radium content in some local stones used as basements are extremely high and these samples are main sources of indoor radon emanation as well as external gamma radiation from uranium series. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Design, fabrication, and characterization of high-efficiency extreme ultraviolet diffusers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Naulleau, Patrick P.; Liddle, J. Alexander; Salmassi, Farhad; Anderson, Erik H.; Gullikson, Eric M.

    2004-02-19

    As the development of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography progresses, interest grows in the extension of traditional optical components to the EUV regime. The strong absorption of EUV by most materials and its extremely short wavelength, however, makes it very difficult to implement many components that are commonplace in the longer wavelength regimes. One such example is the diffuser often implemented with ordinary ground glass in the visible light regime. Here we demonstrate the fabrication of reflective EUV diffusers with high efficiency within a controllable bandwidth. Using these techniques we have fabricated diffusers with efficiencies exceeding 10% within a moderate angular single-sided bandwidth of approximately 0.06 radians.

  8. Monte Carlo simulations of low background detectors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miley, H.S.; Brodzinski, R.L.; Hensley, W.K.; Reeves, J.H.

    1995-01-01

    An implementation of the Electron Gamma Shower 4 code (EGS4) has been developed to allow convenient simulation of typical gamma ray measurement systems. Coincidence gamma rays, beta spectra, and angular correlations have been added to adequately simulate a complete nuclear decay and provide corrections to experimentally determined detector efficiencies. This code has been used to strip certain low-background spectra for the purpose of extremely low-level assay. Monte Carlo calculations of this sort can be extremely successful since low background detectors are usually free of significant contributions from poorly localized radiation sources, such as cosmic muons, secondary cosmic neutrons, and radioactive construction or shielding materials. Previously, validation of this code has been obtained from a series of comparisons between measurements and blind calculations. An example of the application of this code to an exceedingly low background spectrum stripping will be presented. (author) 5 refs.; 3 figs.; 1 tab

  9. Bright high-repetition-rate source of narrowband extreme-ultraviolet harmonics beyond 22 eV

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, He [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Materials Sciences Division; Xu, Yiming [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Materials Sciences Division; Ulonska, Stefan [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Materials Sciences Division; Robinson, Joseph S. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Materials Sciences Division; Ranitovic, Predrag [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Materials Sciences Division; Kaindl, Robert A. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Materials Sciences Division

    2015-06-11

    Novel table-top sources of extreme-ultraviolet light based on high-harmonic generation yield unique insight into the fundamental properties of molecules, nanomaterials or correlated solids, and enable advanced applications in imaging or metrology. Extending high-harmonic generation to high repetition rates portends great experimental benefits, yet efficient extreme-ultraviolet conversion of correspondingly weak driving pulses is challenging. In this article, we demonstrate a highly-efficient source of femtosecond extreme-ultraviolet pulses at 50-kHz repetition rate, utilizing the ultraviolet second-harmonic focused tightly into Kr gas. In this cascaded scheme, a photon flux beyond ≈3 × 1013 s-1 is generated at 22.3 eV, with 5 × 10-5 conversion efficiency that surpasses similar harmonics directly driven by the fundamental by two orders-of-magnitude. The enhancement arises from both wavelength scaling of the atomic dipole and improved spatio-temporal phase matching, confirmed by simulations. Finally, spectral isolation of a single 72-meV-wide harmonic renders this bright, 50-kHz extreme-ultraviolet source a powerful tool for ultrafast photoemission, nanoscale imaging and other applications.

  10. Sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) in lymphocytes of inhabitants in high background radiation area

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Jinsheng; Zheng Qiaoling

    1985-01-01

    Blood samples were taken from 126 students of 15-16 years old, living in the high background radiation area, and from 124 controls of the same age range, living in the normal background radiation area. All students were interviewed for evaluation of their health status. Whole blood cultures were done with RPMI 1640 medium supplemented with 20% fetal calf serum and antibiotics, The culture were incubated for 54-56 h in the presence of BrdU (10 μg/ml). Metaphases were stained for SCE using a modified techniqu of perry and Wolff. From each person 20 second division metaphases were analysed for SCEs. The average frequencies of SCEs observed in the high background group and the control group are presented. More SCEs were observed in the high background group than in the control with a statistically signigicant difference. In regard to the sex factor, it was found that the SCE frequencies in both sexes of the high background group were slightly higher than those in the control group. These findings suggest that continuous low-level irradiation by the high background radiation may induce increased frequency of SCEs

  11. Precision tracking at high background rates with the ATLAS muon spectrometer

    CERN Document Server

    Hertenberger, Ralf; The ATLAS collaboration

    2012-01-01

    Since start of data taking the ATLAS muon spectrometer performs according to specification. End of this decade after the luminosity upgrade of LHC by a factor of ten the proportionally increasing background rates require the replacement of the detectors in the most forward part of the muon spectrometer to ensure high quality muon triggering and tracking at background hit rates of up to 15,kHz/cm$^2$. Square meter sized micromegas detectors together with improved thin gap trigger detectors are suggested as replacement. Micromegas detectors are intrinsically high rate capable. A single hit spatial resolution below 40,$mu$m has been shown for 250,$mu$m anode strip pitch and perpendicular incidence of high energy muons or pions. The ongoing development of large micromegas structures and their investigation under non-perpendicular incidence or in high background environments requires precise and reliable monitoring of muon tracks. A muon telescope consisting of six small micromegas works reliably and is presently ...

  12. The extremely high 137Cs inventory in the Sulu Sea: a possible mechanism

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamada, Masatoshi; Wang Zhongliang; Zheng Jian

    2006-01-01

    Large-volume seawater samples were collected in the Sulu and South China Seas and their 137 Cs activities were determined by γ-ray spectrometry using a low background type high-purity Ge detector. Vertical distributions of 137 Cs activity showed an exponential decrease in the South China Sea, whereas a subsurface maximum at 200 m depth and monotonic decrease below 300 m were observed in the Sulu Sea. A significant difference in intermediate water 137 Cs activities in the 500-2000 m depth was observed between the Sulu and South China Seas, i.e., the 137 Cs activities in the Sulu Sea were remarkably higher than those in the South China Sea. The difference in the 137 Cs inventory below 500 m was ∼1200 Bq m -2 between the Sulu and South China Seas. The 137 Cs total inventory of 3200 Bq m -2 in the Sulu Sea was 5.7 times higher than that expected from global fallout. A possible mechanism controlling this extremely high 137 Cs total inventory may be inflows of the 137 Cs rich water masses through the Luzon Strait, lateral transport across the Mindoro Strait into the Sulu Sea, and then subduction into the deep layer in the basin

  13. Characteristics of extreme ultraviolet emission from high-Z plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ohashi, H.; Higashiguchi, T.; Suzuki, Y.; Kawasaki, M.; Suzuki, C.; Tomita, K.; Nishikino, M.; Fujioka, S.; Endo, A.; Li, B.; Otsuka, T.; Dunne, P.; O'Sullivan, G.

    2016-01-01

    We demonstrate the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and soft x-ray sources in the 2 to 7 nm spectral region related to the beyond EUV (BEUV) question at 6.x nm and the water window source based on laser-produced high-Z plasmas. Resonance emission from multiply charged ions merges to produce intense unresolved transition arrays (UTAs), extending below the carbon K edge (4.37 nm). An outline of a microscope design for single-shot live cell imaging is proposed based on high-Z plasma UTA source, coupled to multilayer mirror optics. (paper)

  14. Characteristics of extreme ultraviolet emission from high-Z plasmas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ohashi, H.; Higashiguchi, T.; Suzuki, Y.; Kawasaki, M.; Suzuki, C.; Tomita, K.; Nishikino, M.; Fujioka, S.; Endo, A.; Li, B.; Otsuka, T.; Dunne, P.; O'Sullivan, G.

    2016-03-01

    We demonstrate the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and soft x-ray sources in the 2 to 7 nm spectral region related to the beyond EUV (BEUV) question at 6.x nm and the water window source based on laser-produced high-Z plasmas. Resonance emission from multiply charged ions merges to produce intense unresolved transition arrays (UTAs), extending below the carbon K edge (4.37 nm). An outline of a microscope design for single-shot live cell imaging is proposed based on high-Z plasma UTA source, coupled to multilayer mirror optics.

  15. Probability modeling of high flow extremes in Yingluoxia watershed, the upper reaches of Heihe River basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Zhanling; Li, Zhanjie; Li, Chengcheng

    2014-05-01

    Probability modeling of hydrological extremes is one of the major research areas in hydrological science. Most basins in humid and semi-humid south and east of China are concerned for probability modeling analysis of high flow extremes. While, for the inland river basin which occupies about 35% of the country area, there is a limited presence of such studies partly due to the limited data availability and a relatively low mean annual flow. The objective of this study is to carry out probability modeling of high flow extremes in the upper reach of Heihe River basin, the second largest inland river basin in China, by using the peak over threshold (POT) method and Generalized Pareto Distribution (GPD), in which the selection of threshold and inherent assumptions for POT series are elaborated in details. For comparison, other widely used probability distributions including generalized extreme value (GEV), Lognormal, Log-logistic and Gamma are employed as well. Maximum likelihood estimate is used for parameter estimations. Daily flow data at Yingluoxia station from 1978 to 2008 are used. Results show that, synthesizing the approaches of mean excess plot, stability features of model parameters, return level plot and the inherent independence assumption of POT series, an optimum threshold of 340m3/s is finally determined for high flow extremes in Yingluoxia watershed. The resulting POT series is proved to be stationary and independent based on Mann-Kendall test, Pettitt test and autocorrelation test. In terms of Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Anderson-Darling test and several graphical diagnostics such as quantile and cumulative density function plots, GPD provides the best fit to high flow extremes in the study area. The estimated high flows for long return periods demonstrate that, as the return period increasing, the return level estimates are probably more uncertain. The frequency of high flow extremes exhibits a very slight but not significant decreasing trend from 1978 to

  16. High-Energy Neutron Backgrounds for Underground Dark Matter Experiments

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chen, Yu [Syracuse Univ., NY (United States)

    2016-01-01

    Direct dark matter detection experiments usually have excellent capability to distinguish nuclear recoils, expected interactions with Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) dark matter, and electronic recoils, so that they can efficiently reject background events such as gamma-rays and charged particles. However, both WIMPs and neutrons can induce nuclear recoils. Neutrons are then the most crucial background for direct dark matter detection. It is important to understand and account for all sources of neutron backgrounds when claiming a discovery of dark matter detection or reporting limits on the WIMP-nucleon cross section. One type of neutron background that is not well understood is the cosmogenic neutrons from muons interacting with the underground cavern rock and materials surrounding a dark matter detector. The Neutron Multiplicity Meter (NMM) is a water Cherenkov detector capable of measuring the cosmogenic neutron flux at the Soudan Underground Laboratory, which has an overburden of 2090 meters water equivalent. The NMM consists of two 2.2-tonne gadolinium-doped water tanks situated atop a 20-tonne lead target. It detects a high-energy (>~ 50 MeV) neutron via moderation and capture of the multiple secondary neutrons released when the former interacts in the lead target. The multiplicity of secondary neutrons for the high-energy neutron provides a benchmark for comparison to the current Monte Carlo predictions. Combining with the Monte Carlo simulation, the muon-induced high-energy neutron flux above 50 MeV is measured to be (1.3 ± 0.2) ~ 10-9 cm-2s-1, in reasonable agreement with the model prediction. The measured multiplicity spectrum agrees well with that of Monte Carlo simulation for multiplicity below 10, but shows an excess of approximately a factor of three over Monte Carlo prediction for multiplicities ~ 10 - 20. In an effort to reduce neutron backgrounds for the dark matter experiment SuperCDMS SNO- LAB, an active neutron veto was developed

  17. Extragalactic background light measurements and applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cooray, Asantha

    2016-03-01

    This review covers the measurements related to the extragalactic background light intensity from γ-rays to radio in the electromagnetic spectrum over 20 decades in wavelength. The cosmic microwave background (CMB) remains the best measured spectrum with an accuracy better than 1%. The measurements related to the cosmic optical background (COB), centred at 1 μm, are impacted by the large zodiacal light associated with interplanetary dust in the inner Solar System. The best measurements of COB come from an indirect technique involving γ-ray spectra of bright blazars with an absorption feature resulting from pair-production off of COB photons. The cosmic infrared background (CIB) peaking at around 100 μm established an energetically important background with an intensity comparable to the optical background. This discovery paved the way for large aperture far-infrared and sub-millimetre observations resulting in the discovery of dusty, starbursting galaxies. Their role in galaxy formation and evolution remains an active area of research in modern-day astrophysics. The extreme UV (EUV) background remains mostly unexplored and will be a challenge to measure due to the high Galactic background and absorption of extragalactic photons by the intergalactic medium at these EUV/soft X-ray energies. We also summarize our understanding of the spatial anisotropies and angular power spectra of intensity fluctuations. We motivate a precise direct measurement of the COB between 0.1 and 5 μm using a small aperture telescope observing either from the outer Solar System, at distances of 5 AU or more, or out of the ecliptic plane. Other future applications include improving our understanding of the background at TeV energies and spectral distortions of CMB and CIB.

  18. High Energy Ion Acceleration by Extreme Laser Radiation Pressure

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-03-14

    published in the internationally leading journal Physical Review Letters. We continued to progress this pionee 15.  SUBJECT TERMS ion therapy, heavy ion ...Thomson parabola spectrometer: To separate and provide a measurement of the charge -to-mass ratio and energy spectrum of the different ion species...AFRL-AFOSR-UK-TR-2017-0015 High energy ion acceleration by extreme laser radiation pressure Paul McKenna UNIVERSITY OF STRATHCLYDE VIZ ROYAL COLLEGE

  19. The analysis on the extreme water shortage event in Hangzhou in 1247 AD and its natural and social backgrounds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Haolong

    2017-04-01

    Yangtze River Delta locating in the north subtropics of China, is famous for numerous rivers and lakes. Because of East Asian monsoon rainfall, flood is always the most primary disaster in this area during the past 2000 years. However, there were also several extreme water shortage events in the history. Example in Hangzhou in 1247 AD was such a typical year in the area. In the paper, the severity of this extreme event and the closely tied spatiotemporal variation of drought in Yangtze River Delta was quantitatively analyzed on the basis of documentary records during Southern Song Dynasty. Furtherly, its natural and social backgrounds was discussed. The result s are summarized as follows: 1) Wells, canals and West Lake of Hangzhou dried up in 1247 AD. The water level of canals was about 1.32-2.64 m lower than that in the normal year. The reduction of storage capacity in West Lake was 21 million stere or so. 2) The droughts in Yangtze River Delta was moderate on the whole, but that in the west of Zhejiang Province was severe. The drought in Hangzhou lasted from the 2nd lunar month to the end of this year. 3) The water shortage event was closely related to the quick going north and farther northern location of summer rain belt. The descending sea-level weakening the tide in Qiantang River, can also reduce the supply of water resources. 4) The quick growth of urban population, excessive aquaculture, and ineffective government supervision played an important social role in the process of this event. In the all, this extreme water shortage event was the result of both natural and social factors. This research is very helpful for the futuristic water resource forecast in Yangtze River Delta, and it also affords us lessons on the risk management and heritage conservation that merit attention. Key Words: Hangzhou, 1247 AD, water shortage, canal, West Lake, natural factors, social factors

  20. Prediction of background in low-energy spectrum of phoswich detector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arun, B.; Manohari, M.; Mathiyarasu, R.; Rajagopal, V.; Jose, M.T.

    2014-01-01

    In vivo monitoring of actinides in occupational workers is done using Phoswich detector by measuring the low-energy X ray and gamma rays. Quantification of actinides like plutonium and americium in the lungs is extremely difficult due to higher background in the low-energy regions, which is from ambient background as well as from the subject. In the latter case, it is mainly due to the Compton scattering of body potassium, which varies person-to-person. Hence, an accurate prediction of subject-specific background counts in the lower-energy regions is an essential element in the in vivo measurement of plutonium and americium. Empirical equations are established for the prediction of background count rate in 239 Pu and 241 Am lower-energy regions, called 'target regions', as a function of count rate in the monitoring region (97-130 keV)/ 40 K region in the high-energy spectrum, weight-to-height ratio of the subject (scattering parameter) and the gender. (authors)

  1. Mechanism of high-temperature background of internal friction in metals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shapoval, B.I.; Arzhavitin, V.M.

    1988-01-01

    Data of theoretical and experimental studies on energy dissipation in vibrating metal at small amplitudes and elevated temperatures (high temperature background of internal friction) are generalized and systematized. Evolution of knowledge of the background as a phenomenon influenced mainly by crystal structure defects - their form, quantity, mobility and interaction is followed. Considered is a wide range of investigated metal states and measurement conditions, and interrelations with other characteristics, for instance, strength ones. On the basis of the data obtained by authors and other investigations a concept of an additional third stage of the background increase with the temperature - the stage of deviation from exponential dependence at premelting point, is introduced. 107 refs.; 32 figs.; 3 tabs

  2. A web-based study of bipolarity and impulsivity in athletes engaging in extreme and high-risk sports.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dudek, Dominika; Siwek, Marcin; Jaeschke, Rafał; Drozdowicz, Katarzyna; Styczeń, Krzysztof; Arciszewska, Aleksandra; Chrobak, Adrian A; Rybakowski, Janusz K

    2016-06-01

    We hypothesised that men and women who engage in extreme or high-risk sports would score higher on standardised measures of bipolarity and impulsivity compared to age and gender matched controls. Four-hundred and eighty extreme or high-risk athletes (255 males and 225 females) and 235 age-matched control persons (107 males and 128 females) were enrolled into the web-based case-control study. The Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) and Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) were administered to screen for bipolarity and impulsive behaviours, respectively. Results indicated that extreme or high-risk athletes had significantly higher scores of bipolarity and impulsivity, and lower scores on cognitive complexity of the BIS-11, compared to controls. Further, there were positive correlations between the MDQ and BIS-11 scores. These results showed greater rates of bipolarity and impulsivity, in the extreme or high-risk athletes, suggesting these measures are sensitive to high-risk behaviours.

  3. A genome-wide analysis of putative functional and exonic variation associated with extremely high intelligence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spain, S L; Pedroso, I; Kadeva, N; Miller, M B; Iacono, W G; McGue, M; Stergiakouli, E; Davey Smith, G; Putallaz, M; Lubinski, D; Meaburn, E L; Plomin, R; Simpson, M A

    2016-08-01

    Although individual differences in intelligence (general cognitive ability) are highly heritable, molecular genetic analyses to date have had limited success in identifying specific loci responsible for its heritability. This study is the first to investigate exome variation in individuals of extremely high intelligence. Under the quantitative genetic model, sampling from the high extreme of the distribution should provide increased power to detect associations. We therefore performed a case-control association analysis with 1409 individuals drawn from the top 0.0003 (IQ >170) of the population distribution of intelligence and 3253 unselected population-based controls. Our analysis focused on putative functional exonic variants assayed on the Illumina HumanExome BeadChip. We did not observe any individual protein-altering variants that are reproducibly associated with extremely high intelligence and within the entire distribution of intelligence. Moreover, no significant associations were found for multiple rare alleles within individual genes. However, analyses using genome-wide similarity between unrelated individuals (genome-wide complex trait analysis) indicate that the genotyped functional protein-altering variation yields a heritability estimate of 17.4% (s.e. 1.7%) based on a liability model. In addition, investigation of nominally significant associations revealed fewer rare alleles associated with extremely high intelligence than would be expected under the null hypothesis. This observation is consistent with the hypothesis that rare functional alleles are more frequently detrimental than beneficial to intelligence.

  4. The evolution of extreme precipitations in high resolution scenarios over France

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colin, J.; Déqué, M.; Somot, S.

    2009-09-01

    Over the past years, improving the modelling of extreme events and their variability at climatic time scales has become one of the challenging issue raised in the regional climate research field. This study shows the results of a high resolution (12 km) scenario run over France with the limited area model (LAM) ALADIN-Climat, regarding the representation of extreme precipitations. The runs were conducted in the framework of the ANR-SCAMPEI national project on high resolution scenarios over French mountains. As a first step, we attempt to quantify one of the uncertainties implied by the use of LAM : the size of the area on which the model is run. In particular, we address the issue of whether a relatively small domain allows the model to create its small scale process. Indeed, high resolution scenarios cannot be run on large domains because of the computation time. Therefore one needs to answer this preliminary question before producing and analyzing such scenarios. To do so, we worked in the framework of a « big brother » experiment. We performed a 23-year long global simulation in present-day climate (1979-2001) with the ARPEGE-Climat GCM, at a resolution of approximately 50 km over Europe (stretched grid). This first simulation, named ARP50, constitutes the « big brother » reference of our experiment. It has been validated in comparison with the CRU climatology. Then we filtered the short waves (up to 200 km) from ARP50 in order to obtain the equivalent of coarse resolution lateral boundary conditions (LBC). We have carried out three ALADIN-Climat simulations at a 50 km resolution with these LBC, using different configurations of the model : * FRA50, run over a small domain (2000 x 2000 km, centered over France), * EUR50, run over a larger domain (5000 x 5000 km, centered over France as well), * EUR50-SN, run over the large domain (using spectral nudging). Considering the facts that ARPEGE-Climat and ALADIN-Climat models share the same physics and dynamics

  5. A Practical Theorem on Gravitational Wave Backgrounds

    OpenAIRE

    Phinney, E. S.

    2001-01-01

    There is an extremely simple relationship between the spectrum of the gravitational wave background produced by a cosmological distribution of discrete gravitational wave sources, the total time-integrated energy spectrum of an individual source, and the present-day comoving number density of remnants. Stated in this way, the background is entirely independent of the cosmology, and only weakly dependent on the evolutionary history of the sources. This relationship allows one easily to compute...

  6. Fabrication of surfaces with extremely high contact angle hysteresis from polyelectrolyte multilayer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Liming; Wei, Jingjing; Su, Zhaohui

    2011-12-20

    High contact angle hysteresis on polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEMs) ion-paired with hydrophobic perfluorooctanoate anions is reported. Both the bilayer number of PEMs and the ionic strength of deposition solutions have significant influence on contact angle hysteresis: higher ionic strength and greater bilayer number cause increased contact angle hysteresis values. The hysteresis values of ~100° were observed on smooth PEMs and pinning of the receding contact line on hydrophilic defects is implicated as the cause of hysteresis. Surface roughness can be used to further tune the contact angle hysteresis on the PEMs. A surface with extremely high contact angle hysteresis of 156° was fabricated when a PEM was deposited on a rough substrate coated with submicrometer scale silica spheres. It was demonstrated that this extremely high value of contact angle hysteresis resulted from the penetration of water into the rough asperities on the substrate. The same substrate hydrophobized by chemical vapor deposition of 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorooctyltriethoxysilane exhibits high advancing contact angle and low hysteresis. © 2011 American Chemical Society

  7. Large Aperture "Photon Bucket" Optical Receiver Performance in High Background Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vilnrotter, Victor A.; Hoppe, D.

    2011-01-01

    The potential development of large aperture groundbased "photon bucket" optical receivers for deep space communications, with acceptable performance even when pointing close to the sun, is receiving considerable attention. Sunlight scattered by the atmosphere becomes significant at micron wavelengths when pointing to a few degrees from the sun, even with the narrowest bandwidth optical filters. In addition, high quality optical apertures in the 10-30 meter range are costly and difficult to build with accurate surfaces to ensure narrow fields-of-view (FOV). One approach currently under consideration is to polish the aluminum reflector panels of large 34-meter microwave antennas to high reflectance, and accept the relatively large FOV generated by state-of-the-art polished aluminum panels with rms surface accuracies on the order of a few microns, corresponding to several-hundred micro-radian FOV, hence generating centimeter-diameter focused spots at the Cassegrain focus of 34-meter antennas. Assuming pulse-position modulation (PPM) and Poisson-distributed photon-counting detection, a "polished panel" photon-bucket receiver with large FOV will collect hundreds of background photons per PPM slot, along with comparable signal photons due to its large aperture. It is demonstrated that communications performance in terms of PPM symbol-error probability in high-background high-signal environments depends more strongly on signal than on background photons, implying that large increases in background energy can be compensated by a disproportionally small increase in signal energy. This surprising result suggests that large optical apertures with relatively poor surface quality may nevertheless provide acceptable performance for deep-space optical communications, potentially enabling the construction of cost-effective hybrid RF/optical receivers in the future.

  8. Laser waveform control of extreme ultraviolet high harmonics from solids.

    Science.gov (United States)

    You, Yong Sing; Wu, Mengxi; Yin, Yanchun; Chew, Andrew; Ren, Xiaoming; Gholam-Mirzaei, Shima; Browne, Dana A; Chini, Michael; Chang, Zenghu; Schafer, Kenneth J; Gaarde, Mette B; Ghimire, Shambhu

    2017-05-01

    Solid-state high-harmonic sources offer the possibility of compact, high-repetition-rate attosecond light emitters. However, the time structure of high harmonics must be characterized at the sub-cycle level. We use strong two-cycle laser pulses to directly control the time-dependent nonlinear current in single-crystal MgO, leading to the generation of extreme ultraviolet harmonics. We find that harmonics are delayed with respect to each other, yielding an atto-chirp, the value of which depends on the laser field strength. Our results provide the foundation for attosecond pulse metrology based on solid-state harmonics and a new approach to studying sub-cycle dynamics in solids.

  9. Investigation on Down's syndrome in the children living in high background radiation area

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zha Yongru

    1989-01-01

    After the survey in 1975 and 1979 of Down's syndrome in the children living in high background radiation area, we made a follow-up investigation in 1985 and 1986. All the obtained data are analysed. 25258 children in high background radiation area were examined and 22 children with Down's syndrome were identified, the morbidity rate being 0.87%. 21837 children in control area were examined and four children with Down's syndrome were identified, the morbidity being 0.18%. There was a statistically significant difference between the two groups. It was noted that the occurrence of Down's syndrome was related to the maternal age but there was no evidence suggesting a close relationship between high background radiation and the development of Down's syndrome

  10. Image-based motion compensation for high-resolution extremities cone-beam CT

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sisniega, A.; Stayman, J. W.; Cao, Q.; Yorkston, J.; Siewerdsen, J. H.; Zbijewski, W.

    2016-03-01

    Purpose: Cone-beam CT (CBCT) of the extremities provides high spatial resolution, but its quantitative accuracy may be challenged by involuntary sub-mm patient motion that cannot be eliminated with simple means of external immobilization. We investigate a two-step iterative motion compensation based on a multi-component metric of image sharpness. Methods: Motion is considered with respect to locally rigid motion within a particular region of interest, and the method supports application to multiple locally rigid regions. Motion is estimated by maximizing a cost function with three components: a gradient metric encouraging image sharpness, an entropy term that favors high contrast and penalizes streaks, and a penalty term encouraging smooth motion. Motion compensation involved initial coarse estimation of gross motion followed by estimation of fine-scale displacements using high resolution reconstructions. The method was evaluated in simulations with synthetic motion (1-4 mm) applied to a wrist volume obtained on a CMOS-based CBCT testbench. Structural similarity index (SSIM) quantified the agreement between motion-compensated and static data. The algorithm was also tested on a motion contaminated patient scan from dedicated extremities CBCT. Results: Excellent correction was achieved for the investigated range of displacements, indicated by good visual agreement with the static data. 10-15% improvement in SSIM was attained for 2-4 mm motions. The compensation was robust against increasing motion (4% decrease in SSIM across the investigated range, compared to 14% with no compensation). Consistent performance was achieved across a range of noise levels. Significant mitigation of artifacts was shown in patient data. Conclusion: The results indicate feasibility of image-based motion correction in extremities CBCT without the need for a priori motion models, external trackers, or fiducials.

  11. Radiation dose in the high background radiation area in Kerala, India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Christa, E P; Jojo, P J; Vaidyan, V K; Anilkumar, S; Eappen, K P

    2012-03-01

    A systematic radiological survey has been carried out in the region of high-background radiation area in Kollam district of Kerala to define the natural gamma-radiation levels. One hundred and forty seven soil samples from high-background radiation areas and five samples from normal background region were collected as per standard sampling procedures and were analysed for (238)U, (232)Th and (40)K by gamma-ray spectroscopy. External gamma dose rates at all sampling locations were also measured using a survey meter. The activities of (238)U, (232)Th and (40)K was found to vary from 17 to 3081 Bq kg(-1), 54 to 11976 Bq kg(-1) and BDL (67.4 Bq kg(-1)) to 216 Bq kg(-1), respectively, in the study area. Such heterogeneous distribution of radionuclides in the region may be attributed to the deposition phenomenon of beach sand soil in the region. Radium equivalent activities were found high in several locations. External gamma dose rates estimated from the levels of radionuclides in soil had a range from 49 to 9244 nGy h(-1). The result of gamma dose rate measured at the sampling sites using survey meter showed an excellent correlation with dose rates computed from the natural radionuclides estimated from the soil samples.

  12. Fixed-site high-frequency transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation for treatment of chronic low back and lower extremity pain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gozani, Shai N

    2016-01-01

    Objective The objective of this study was to determine if fixed-site high-frequency transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (FS-TENS) is effective in treating chronic low back and lower extremity pain. Background Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation is widely used for treatment of chronic pain. General-purpose transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation devices are designed for stimulation anywhere on the body and often cannot be used while the user is active or sleeping. FS-TENS devices are designed for placement at a pre-determined location, which enables development of a wearable device for use over extended time periods. Methods Study participants with chronic low back and/or lower extremity pain self-administered an FS-TENS device for 60 days. Baseline, 30-, and 60-day follow-up data were obtained through an online questionnaire. The primary outcome measure was the patient global impression of change. Pain intensity and interference were assessed using the Brief Pain Inventory. Changes in use of concomitant pain medications were evaluated with a single-item global self-rating. Results One hundred and thirty participants were enrolled, with 88 completing the 60-day follow-up questionnaire. Most participants (73.9%) were 50 years of age or older. At baseline, low back pain was identified by 85.3%, lower extremity pain by 71.6%, and upper extremity pain by 62.5%. Participants reported widespread pain, at baseline, with a mean of 3.4 (standard deviation 1.1) pain sites. At the 60-day follow-up, 80.7% of participants reported that their chronic pain had improved and they were classified as responders. Baseline characteristics did not differentiate non-responders from responders. There were numerical trends toward reduced pain interference with walking ability and sleep, and greater pain relief in responders. There was a large difference in use of concomitant pain medications, with 80.3% of responders reporting a reduction compared to 11.8% of non

  13. Fixed-site high-frequency transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation for treatment of chronic low back and lower extremity pain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gozani SN

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Shai N Gozani NeuroMetrix, Inc., Waltham, MA, USA Objective: The objective of this study was to determine if fixed-site high-frequency transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (FS-TENS is effective in treating chronic low back and lower extremity pain. Background: Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation is widely used for treatment of chronic pain. General-purpose transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation devices are designed for stimulation anywhere on the body and often cannot be used while the user is active or sleeping. FS-TENS devices are designed for placement at a pre-determined location, which enables development of a wearable device for use over extended time periods. Methods: Study participants with chronic low back and/or lower extremity pain self-administered an FS-TENS device for 60 days. Baseline, 30-, and 60-day follow-up data were obtained through an online questionnaire. The primary outcome measure was the patient global impression of change. Pain intensity and interference were assessed using the Brief Pain Inventory. Changes in use of concomitant pain medications were evaluated with a single-item global self-rating. Results: One hundred and thirty participants were enrolled, with 88 completing the 60-day follow-up questionnaire. Most participants (73.9% were 50 years of age or older. At baseline, low back pain was identified by 85.3%, lower extremity pain by 71.6%, and upper extremity pain by 62.5%. Participants reported widespread pain, at baseline, with a mean of 3.4 (standard deviation 1.1 pain sites. At the 60-day follow-up, 80.7% of participants reported that their chronic pain had improved and they were classified as responders. Baseline characteristics did not differentiate non-responders from responders. There were numerical trends toward reduced pain interference with walking ability and sleep, and greater pain relief in responders. There was a large difference in use of concomitant pain medications, with 80

  14. An Extreme Degree of Difficulty: The Educational Demographics of Urban Neighborhood High Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neild, Ruth Curran; Balfanz, Robert

    2006-01-01

    Despite the growth of a variety of alternatives to the neighborhood high school, most students in big-city school systems still attend large comprehensive high schools that serve a particular residential area. The authors contend that the extreme concentration of educational need at these schools is often overlooked by policymakers, school reform…

  15. The extreme condition analyzing for NEMPI shielding of electronic system in high-intensity pulsed radiation diagnosing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cheng Xiaolei; Liu Fang; Ouyang Xiaoping

    2012-01-01

    The difficulty for estimating the NEMPI (electromagnetic pulsed interference caused by the nuclear reaction) on the electronic system in high-intensity pulsed radiation diagnosing is analyzed in this article. To solve the difficulty, a method called 'Extreme Condition Analyzing' is presented for estimating the NEMPI conservatively and reliably. Through an extreme condition hypothesizing which could be described as 'Entire Coupling of Electric Field Energy', the E max (maximum electric field intensity which could be endured by the electronic system in the high-intensity pulsed radiation) could be figured out without any other information of the EMP caused by the nuclear reaction. Then a feasibility inspection is introduced, to confirm that the EMPI shielding request according to E max is not too extreme to be achieved. (authors)

  16. Tail-like Congenital Duplication of Lower Extremity (Extra Leg or ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    2018-01-01

    Jan 1, 2018 ... ABSTRACT. BACKGROUND: Congenital duplication of lower extremity, either complete or incomplete is extremely rare. Only 26 cases had been reported till 2010, of which only 5 cases had feature of complete duplication. Theories have been proposed that the cause of this abnormality includes maternal ...

  17. Adjuvant radiotherapy in high-grade extremity sarcomas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Franca, Carlos Antonio da Silva; Penna, Antonio Belmiro Rodrigues Campbell; Carvalho, Antonio Carlos Pires; Vieira, Sergio Lannes

    2010-01-01

    Objective: to evaluate the therapies utilized in the authors' institution for management of high-grade extremity sarcomas, analyzing the overall survival rates following multidisciplinary treatment. Materials and methods: retrospective study developed in the period from 1993 to 2007 with 36 patients diagnosed with stages IIb/III, submitted to postoperative external beam radiotherapy, with or without boost dose, utilizing high-dose brachytherapy. Results: thirty-six patients underwent surgery followed by adjuvant external beam radiation therapy. Four patients (11%) received boost dose with brachytherapy, and seven (19%) received chemotherapy. The average dose for radiotherapy was 50 Gy (CI 95%: 47-53 Gy), and the four patients with brachytherapy boost received doses ranging from 16.2 to 35 Gy. Chemotherapy was indicated for seven patients (19%) with positive margins. Fifteen patients (42%) presented local or distant recurrence, and all of them progressed to death. Twenty-one patients (58%) remain with no clinical/radiological evidence of local/distant recurrence. The mean follow-up time was 88 months (IC 95%: 74-102). The overall seven years survival rate was 80%. Conclusion: combined surgery and radiotherapy is an effective treatment with excellent outcomes in cases where brachytherapy is associated, with improved overall survival rates. (author)

  18. High resolution gamma spectrometry of size-separated soils from high background areas of Kerala

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Menon, M.R.; Sadasivan, S.; Nambi, K.S.V.

    1992-01-01

    Soil samples from a high background area of Kerala were analysed for their natural radionuclide content and distribution with particle size. The samples exhibited inhomogeneity in activity distribution. The smaller size particles had higher activity. The open air dose estimates are also presented. (author). 5 refs., 2 tabs

  19. Non-perturbative background field calculations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stephens, C.R.; Department of Physics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112)

    1988-01-01

    New methods are developed for calculating one loop functional determinants in quantum field theory. Instead of relying on a calculation of all the eigenvalues of the small fluctuation equation, these techniques exploit the ability of the proper time formalism to reformulate an infinite dimensional field theoretic problem into a finite dimensional covariant quantum mechanical analog, thereby allowing powerful tools such as the method of Jacobi fields to be used advantageously in a field theory setting. More generally the methods developed herein should be extremely valuable when calculating quantum processes in non-constant background fields, offering a utilitarian alternative to the two standard methods of calculation: perturbation theory in the background field or taking the background field into account exactly. The formalism developed also allows for the approximate calculation of covariances of partial differential equations from a knowledge of the solutions of a homogeneous ordinary differential equation. copyright 1988 Academic Press, Inc

  20. Non-perturbative background field calculations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stephens, C. R.

    1988-01-01

    New methods are developed for calculating one loop functional determinants in quantum field theory. Instead of relying on a calculation of all the eigenvalues of the small fluctuation equation, these techniques exploit the ability of the proper time formalism to reformulate an infinite dimensional field theoretic problem into a finite dimensional covariant quantum mechanical analog, thereby allowing powerful tools such as the method of Jacobi fields to be used advantageously in a field theory setting. More generally the methods developed herein should be extremely valuable when calculating quantum processes in non-constant background fields, offering a utilitarian alternative to the two standard methods of calculation—perturbation theory in the background field or taking the background field into account exactly. The formalism developed also allows for the approximate calculation of covariances of partial differential equations from a knowledge of the solutions of a homogeneous ordinary differential equation.

  1. Detection prospects of the cosmic neutrino background

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Yu-Feng

    2015-04-01

    The existence of the cosmic neutrino background (CνB) is a fundamental prediction of the standard Big Bang cosmology. Although current cosmological probes provide indirect observational evidence, the direct detection of the CνB in a laboratory experiment is a great challenge to the present experimental techniques. We discuss the future prospects for the direct detection of the CνB, with the emphasis on the method of captures on beta-decaying nuclei and the PTOLEMY project. Other possibilities using the electron-capture (EC) decaying nuclei, the annihilation of extremely high-energy cosmic neutrinos (EHECνs) at the Z-resonance, and the atomic de-excitation method are also discussed in this review (talk given at the International Conference on Massive Neutrinos, Singapore, 9-13 February 2015).

  2. Detection of admittivity anomaly on high-contrast heterogeneous backgrounds using frequency difference EIT.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jang, J; Seo, J K

    2015-06-01

    This paper describes a multiple background subtraction method in frequency difference electrical impedance tomography (fdEIT) to detect an admittivity anomaly from a high-contrast background conductivity distribution. The proposed method expands the use of the conventional weighted frequency difference EIT method, which has been used limitedly to detect admittivity anomalies in a roughly homogeneous background. The proposed method can be viewed as multiple weighted difference imaging in fdEIT. Although the spatial resolutions of the output images by fdEIT are very low due to the inherent ill-posedness, numerical simulations and phantom experiments of the proposed method demonstrate its feasibility to detect anomalies. It has potential application in stroke detection in a head model, which is highly heterogeneous due to the skull.

  3. High dose rate brachytherapy for the treatment of soft tissue sarcoma of the extremity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Speight, J.L.; Streeter, O.E.; Chawla, S.; Menendez, L.E.

    1996-01-01

    Purpose: we examined the role of preoperative neoadjuvant chemoradiation and adjuvant high-dose rate brachytherapy on the management of prognostically unfavorable soft tissue sarcomas of the extremities. Our goal was to examine the effect of high dose rate interstitial brachytherapy (HDR IBT) on reducing the risk of local recurrence following limb-sparing resection, as well as shortening treatment duration. Materials and methods: eleven patients, ranging in age from 31 to 73 years old, with soft tissue sarcoma of the extremity were treated at USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center during 1994 and 1995. All patients had biopsy proven soft tissue sarcoma, and all were suitable candidates for limb-sparing surgery. All lesions were greater than 5cm in size and were primarily high grade. Tumor histologies included malignant fibrous histiocytoma (45%), liposarcoma (18%) and leiomyosarcoma, synovial cell sarcoma and spindle cell sarcoma (36%). Sites of tumor origin were the lower extremity (55%), upper extremity (18%) and buttock (9%), 1 patient (9%) had lesions in both the upper and lower extremity. Patients received HDR IBT following combined chemotherapy and external beam irradiation (EBRT) and en bloc resection of the sarcoma. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy consisted of three to four cycles of either Ifosfamide/Mesna with or without Adriamycin, or Mesna, Adriamycin, Ifosfamide and Dacarbazine. One patient received Cis-platin in addition to Ifos/Adr. A minimum of two cycles of chemotherapy were administered prior to EBRT. Additional cycles of chemotherapy were completed concurrently with EBRT but prior to HDR IBT. Preoperative EBRT doses ranging from 40 to 59.4 Gy were given in daily fractions of 180 to 200cGy. Following en bloc resection, HDR IBT was administered using the Omnitron tm 2000 remote afterloading system. Doses ranging from 13 to 30 Gy were delivered to the surgical tumor bed at depths of 0.5mm to 0.75mm from the radioactive source. Results: median follow-up was

  4. Extreme-ultraviolet wavelength and lifetime measurements in highly ionized krypton

    CERN Document Server

    Kukla, K W; Vogt, C M V; Berry, H G; Dunford, R W; Curtis, L J; Cheng, S

    2005-01-01

    We have studied the spectrum of highly ionized krypton in the extreme-ultraviolet wavelength region (50-300 Aa), using beam-foil excitation of fast krypton ions at the Argonne ATLAS accelerator facility. We report measurements of transition wavelengths and excited-state lifetimes for n=2 states in the lithiumlike, berylliumlike, and boronlike ions, Kr/sup 31+,32+,33+/. Excited state lifetimes ranging from 10 ps to 3 ns were measured by acquiring time- of-flight-delayed spectra with a position-sensitive multichannel detector.

  5. Past and present views in the approach to the problem of high natural background areas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mastino, G.G.

    1982-01-01

    High natural background areas are of great interest because they present anomalous conditions in their geological and geochemical features and consequently in the background radiation levels. High natural background areas have been recognised as representing a valid field of investigation for assessing the effects induced by low-level exposures. Such an approach represents the first attempt to draw an environmental impact evaluation, even if focussed on a single potentially harmful parameter only. Past and current studies on High Background Radiation Areas are reviewed with special emphasis on the ongoing programs and prospectives; their significance is discussed on the basis of the sectorial approach mostly used in the environmental studies. A more complete approach is suggested based on the impact evaluation and extention to all the potentially harmful environmental factors

  6. Study of a pressure measurement method using laser ionization for extremely-high vacuum

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kokubun, Kiyohide

    1991-01-01

    A method of measuring pressures in the range of extremely-high vacuum (XHV) using the laser ionization has been studied. For this purpose, nonresonant multiphoton ionization of various kinds of gases has been studied, and highly-sensitive ion-detection systems and an extremely-high vacuum equipment were fabricated. These results are presented in detail. Two ion-detection systems were fabricated and tested: the one is based on the pulse-counting method, and the other utilizes the image-processing technique. The former is superior in detecting a few ions or less. The latter was processing technique. The former is superior in detecting a few ions or less. The latter was verified to able to count accurately the number of ions in the range of a few to several hundreds. To obtain the information on residual gases and test our pressure measurement system, an extremely-high vacuum system was fabricated in our own fashion, attained a pressure lower than 1 x 10 -10 Pa, measured with an extractor gauge. The outgassing rate of this vacuum vessel was measured to be 7.8 x 10 -11 Pa·m 3 /s·m 2 . The surface structures and the surface compositions of the raw material, the machined material, and the machined-and-outgased material were studied by SEM and AES. Besides, the pumping characteristics and the residual gases of the XHV system were investigated in detail at each pumping stage. On the course of these studies, the method of pressure measurement using the laser-ionization has been verified to be very effective for measuring pressures in XHV. (J.P.N.)

  7. Null infinity and extremal horizons in AdS-CFT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hickling, Andrew; Wiseman, Toby; Lucietti, James

    2015-01-01

    We consider AdS gravity duals to CFT on background spacetimes with a null infinity. Null infinity on the conformal boundary may extend to an extremal horizon in the bulk. For example it does so for Poincaré–AdS, although does not for planar Schwarzschild–AdS. If null infinity does extend into an extremal horizon in the bulk, we show that the bulk near-horizon geometry is determined by the geometry of the boundary null infinity. Hence the ‘infra-red’ geometry of the bulk is fixed by the large scale behaviour of the CFT spacetime. In addition the boundary stress tensor must have a particular decay at null infinity. As an application, we argue that for CFT on asymptotically flat backgrounds, any static bulk dual containing an extremal horizon extending from the boundary null infinity, must have the near-horizon geometry of Poincaré–AdS. We also discuss a class of boundary null infinity that cannot extend to a bulk extremal horizon, although we give evidence that they can extend to an analogous null surface in the bulk which possesses an associated scale-invariant ‘near-geometry’. (paper)

  8. PCA-based approach for subtracting thermal background emission in high-contrast imaging data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunziker, S.; Quanz, S. P.; Amara, A.; Meyer, M. R.

    2018-03-01

    Aims.Ground-based observations at thermal infrared wavelengths suffer from large background radiation due to the sky, telescope and warm surfaces in the instrument. This significantly limits the sensitivity of ground-based observations at wavelengths longer than 3 μm. The main purpose of this work is to analyse this background emission in infrared high-contrast imaging data as illustrative of the problem, show how it can be modelled and subtracted and demonstrate that it can improve the detection of faint sources, such as exoplanets. Methods: We used principal component analysis (PCA) to model and subtract the thermal background emission in three archival high-contrast angular differential imaging datasets in the M' and L' filter. We used an M' dataset of β Pic to describe in detail how the algorithm works and explain how it can be applied. The results of the background subtraction are compared to the results from a conventional mean background subtraction scheme applied to the same dataset. Finally, both methods for background subtraction are compared by performing complete data reductions. We analysed the results from the M' dataset of HD 100546 only qualitatively. For the M' band dataset of β Pic and the L' band dataset of HD 169142, which was obtained with an angular groove phase mask vortex vector coronagraph, we also calculated and analysed the achieved signal-to-noise ratio (S/N). Results: We show that applying PCA is an effective way to remove spatially and temporarily varying thermal background emission down to close to the background limit. The procedure also proves to be very successful at reconstructing the background that is hidden behind the point spread function. In the complete data reductions, we find at least qualitative improvements for HD 100546 and HD 169142, however, we fail to find a significant increase in S/N of β Pic b. We discuss these findings and argue that in particular datasets with strongly varying observing conditions or

  9. Accuracy of Handheld Blood Glucose Meters at High Altitude

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Mol, Pieter; Krabbe, Hans G.; de Vries, Suzanna T.; Fokkert, Marion J.; Dikkeschei, Bert D.; Rienks, Rienk; Bilo, Karin M.; Bilo, Henk J. G.

    2010-01-01

    Background: Due to increasing numbers of people with diabetes taking part in extreme sports (e. g., high-altitude trekking), reliable handheld blood glucose meters (BGMs) are necessary. Accurate blood glucose measurement under extreme conditions is paramount for safe recreation at altitude. Prior

  10. Global patterns of NDVI-indicated vegetation extremes and their sensitivity to climate extremes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu Guo; Liu Hongyan; Yin Yi

    2013-01-01

    Extremes in climate have significant impacts on ecosystems and are expected to increase under future climate change. Extremes in vegetation could capture such impacts and indicate the vulnerability of ecosystems, but currently have not received a global long-term assessment. In this study, a robust method has been developed to detect significant extremes (low values) in biweekly time series of global normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from 1982 to 2006 and thus to acquire a global pattern of vegetation extreme frequency. This pattern coincides with vegetation vulnerability patterns suggested by earlier studies using different methods over different time spans, indicating a consistent mechanism of regulation. Vegetation extremes were found to aggregate in Amazonia and in the semi-arid and semi-humid regions in low and middle latitudes, while they seldom occurred in high latitudes. Among the environmental variables studied, extreme low precipitation has the highest slope against extreme vegetation. For the eight biomes analyzed, these slopes are highest in temperate broadleaf forest and temperate grassland, suggesting a higher sensitivity in these environments. The results presented here contradict the hypothesis that vegetation in water-limited semi-arid and semi-humid regions might be adapted to drought and suggest that vegetation in these regions (especially temperate broadleaf forest and temperate grassland) is highly prone to vegetation extreme events under more severe precipitation extremes. It is also suggested here that more attention be paid to precipitation-induced vegetation changes than to temperature-induced events. (letter)

  11. Epidemiological studies in high background radiation areas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Akiba, Suminori

    2012-01-01

    Below the doses of 100-200 mSv of radiation exposure, no acute health effect is observed, and the late health effects such as cancer are yet unclear. The problems making the risk evaluation of low dose radiation exposure difficult are the fact that the magnitude of expected health effects are small even if the risk is assumed to increase in proportion to radiation doses. As a result, studies need to be large particular when dealing with rare disease such as cancer. In addition, the expected health effects are so small that they can easily be masked by lifestyles and environmental factors including smoking. This paper will discuss cancer risk possibly associated with low-dose and low-dose rate radiation exposure, describing epidemiological studies on the residents in the high-background radiation areas. (author)

  12. Correlation between work concentration level and background music: a pilot study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shih, Yi-Nuo; Huang, Rong-Hwa; Chiang, Han-Sun

    2009-01-01

    It is a common phenomenon for office workers {to listen to music} while executing daily routines at their desks. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between work concentration level and background music. This research would first follow examples in previous researches, and then explore the influence of background music on participants' scores on attention tests. We hope to gain a preliminary understanding of the possible influence of background music on people's focus and concentration when doing work. Thirty-two college students were separated into three controlled groups; all were given the attention test. Group [a] listened to background music while being tested for 10 minutes; group [b] had no background music at all; and group [c] listened to the music for 10 minutes prior to the attention test. The test was conducted in a "noise free" environment. The means and error rates for each group were then calculated. The findings showed that, in comparison with "no music at all", those who listened to music prior to testing obtained higher scores in attentiveness (most probably a supplemental effect of the music), whereas those who listened to music during attention test showed extremely high level of variation in attention test scoring. Background music does affect people's job-site behavior. In fact, all three test conditions - no background music at all, background music before the work shift, and background music during work - have affected worker performance on different levels.

  13. Characteristics of Extreme Extratropical Cyclones in a High-Resolution Global Climate Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Catalano, A. J.; Broccoli, A. J.; Kapnick, S. B.; Janoski, T. P.

    2017-12-01

    In the northeastern United States, many of the strongest impacts from extratropical cyclones (ETCs) are associated with storms that exhibit slow movement, unusual tracks, or exceptional intensity. Examples of extreme ETCs include the Appalachian storm of November 1950, the Perfect Storm of October 1991, and the Superstorm of March 1993. Owing to the rare nature of these events, it is difficult to quantify the associated risks (e.g. high winds, storm surge) given the limited duration of high-quality observational datasets. Furthermore, storms with even greater impacts than those observed may be possible, particularly in a warming climate. In the context of tropical cyclones, Lin and Emanuel (2016) have used the metaphor "grey swans" to refer to high-impact events that have not been observed but may be physically possible. One method for analyzing "grey swans" is to generate a larger sample of ETCs using a coupled climate model. Therefore, we use long simulations (over 1,000 years with atmospheric constituents fixed at 1990 levels) from a global climate model (GFDL FLOR) with 50km atmospheric resolution. FLOR has been shown to realistically simulate the spatial distribution and climatology of ETCs during the reanalysis era. We will discuss the climatological features of these extreme ETC events.

  14. Radioactivity in food crops from high background radiation area in southwest area

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shanthi, G.; Maniyan, C.G.; Allan Gnana Raj, G.; Thampi Thanka Kumaran, J.

    2009-01-01

    The study was carried out to evaluate radioactive concentration in food crops grown in naturally high-background radiation areas in southwest India. Seventeen varieties of food crops were collected from different parts of Kanyakumari district. The gross alpha and beta activities of the collected samples were measured using alpha scintillation counter and low beta counter respectively. The alpha activity was maximum in tapioca (497± 72 Bq kg -1 ) and the beta activity was maximum in paddy grain (10,946±583 Bq kg -1 ). The gamma activity of the food samples was studied by measuring the activity concentration of the radionuclides ( 226 Ra, 228 Th, 238 U, 40 K) in the food crops. The radioactivity content of the food crops from high-background radiation area was higher when compared to similar samples collected from low-background radiation area. The daily radionuclide intake from the food crops grown and consumed by the public was 127.696 Bq and daily internal dose resulting from ingestion of radionuclides in food was 2.34 μSv. (author)

  15. Extreme weather events and infectious disease outbreaks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McMichael, Anthony J

    2015-01-01

    Human-driven climatic changes will fundamentally influence patterns of human health, including infectious disease clusters and epidemics following extreme weather events. Extreme weather events are projected to increase further with the advance of human-driven climate change. Both recent and historical experiences indicate that infectious disease outbreaks very often follow extreme weather events, as microbes, vectors and reservoir animal hosts exploit the disrupted social and environmental conditions of extreme weather events. This review article examines infectious disease risks associated with extreme weather events; it draws on recent experiences including Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the 2010 Pakistan mega-floods, and historical examples from previous centuries of epidemics and 'pestilence' associated with extreme weather disasters and climatic changes. A fuller understanding of climatic change, the precursors and triggers of extreme weather events and health consequences is needed in order to anticipate and respond to the infectious disease risks associated with human-driven climate change. Post-event risks to human health can be constrained, nonetheless, by reducing background rates of persistent infection, preparatory action such as coordinated disease surveillance and vaccination coverage, and strengthened disaster response. In the face of changing climate and weather conditions, it is critically important to think in ecological terms about the determinants of health, disease and death in human populations.

  16. Microbiology of the surface water samples in the high background radiation areas of Ramsar, Iran

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Motamedifar, Mohammad; Zamani, Khosrow; Sedigh, Hadi; Mortazavi, Seyed Mohammad Javad; Taeb, Shahram; Haghani, M.; Mortazavi, Seyed Ali Reza; Soofi, Amir

    2014-01-01

    Residents of high background radiation areas of Ramsar have lived in these areas for many generations and received radiation doses much higher than the dose limit recommended by ICRP for radiation workers. The radioactivity of the high background radiation areas of Ramsar is reported to be due to 226 Ra and its decay products, which have been brought to the surface by the waters of hot springs. Over the past years the department has focused on different aspects of the health effects of the elevated levels of natural radiation in Ramsar. This study was aimed to perform a preliminary investigation on the bioeffects of exposure to elevated levels of natural radiation on the microbiology of surface water samples. Water samples were collected from surface water streams in Talesh Mahalleh district, Ramsar as well as a nearby area with normal levels of background radiation. Only two strains of bacteria, that is, Providencia stuartii and Shimwellia blattae, could be isolated from the water samples collected from high background radiation areas, while seven strains (Escherichia coli, Enterobacter asburiae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Shigella dysenteriae, Buttiauxella agerstis, Tatumella punctuata and Raoultella ornithinolytica) were isolated from the water samples collected from normal background radiation areas. All the bacteria isolated from water samples of high and normal background radiation areas were sensitive to ultraviolet radiation, heat, betadine, alcohol, and deconex. Although other investigators have reported that bacteria isolated from hot springs show radioresistance, the results reported here do not reveal any adaptive response. (author)

  17. Radon exhalation rate and natural radionuclide content in building materials of high background areas of Ramsar, Iran

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bavarnegin, E.; Fathabadi, N.; Vahabi Moghaddam, M.; Vasheghani Farahani, M.; Moradi, M.; Babakhni, A.

    2013-01-01

    Radon exhalation rates from building materials used in high background radiation areas (HBRA) of Ramsar were measured using an active radon gas analyzer with an emanation container. Radon exhalation rates from these samples varied from below the lower detection limit up to 384 Bq.m −2 h −1 . The 226 Ra, 232 Th and 40 K contents were also measured using a high resolution HPGe gamma- ray spectrometer system. The activity concentration of 226 Ra, 232 Th and 40 K content varied from below the minimum detection limit up to 86,400 Bq kg −1 , 187 Bq kg −1 and 1350 Bq kg −1 , respectively. The linear correlation coefficient between radon exhalation rate and radium concentration was 0.90. The result of this survey shows that radon exhalation rate and radium content in some local stones used as basements are extremely high and these samples are main sources of indoor radon emanation as well as external gamma radiation from uranium series. -- Highlights: ► In the selection process of local samples, portable scintillometer (NaI) was used. ► The activity concentration of 226 Ra varied from below the MDL up to 86400 Bq kg −1 . ► The activity concentration of 232 Th varied from below the MDL up to 187 Bq kg −1 . ► The activity concentration of 40 K varied from below the MDL up to 1350 Bq kg −1

  18. Cosmic microwave background distortions at high frequencies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peter, W.; Peratt, A.L.

    1988-01-01

    The authors analyze the deviation of the cosmic background radiation spectrum from the 2.76+-0.02 0 Κ blackbody curve. If the cosmic background radiation is due to absorption and re-emission of synchrotron radiation from galactic-width current filaments, higher-order synchrotron modes are less thermalized than lower-order modes, causing a distortion of the blackbody curve at higher frequencies. New observations of the microwave background spectrum at short wavelengths should provide an indication of the number of synchrotron modes thermalized in this process. The deviation of the spectrum from that of a perfect blackbody can thus be correlated with astronomical observations such as filament temperatures and electron energies. The results are discussed and compared with the theoretical predictions of other models which assume the presence of intergalactic superconducting cosmic strings

  19. A trauma-like model of political extremism: psycho-political fault lines in Israel.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laor, Nathaniel; Yanay-Shani, Alma; Wolmer, Leo; Khoury, Oula

    2010-10-01

    This study examines a trauma-like model of potentially violent political extremism among Jewish Israelis. We study the psychosocial characteristics of political extremists that may lie at the root of sociopolitical instability and assess personal (gender, stressful life events, Holocaust family background, and political activism) and psychological parameters (self- and political transcendence, perceived political threats, in/out-group identification ratio) that may predict readiness to engage in destructive political behavior. We examine the ideological zeal of various political groups, the relationship between the latter and perceived political threats, and the predictors of extreme political activism. Results showed that the extreme political poles displayed high level of ideological and morbid transcendence. Right extremists displayed higher perceived threats to physical existence and national identity. Left extremists scored highest on perceived moral integrity threat. Higher perceived threats to national identity and moral integrity, risk, and self-transcendence statistically explain morbid transcendence. When fear conjures up extremely skewed sociopolitical identifications across political boundaries, morbid transcendence may manifest itself in destructive political activity. © 2010 Association for Research in Nervous and Mental Disease.

  20. Recent and future warm extreme events and high-mountain slope stability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huggel, C; Salzmann, N; Allen, S; Caplan-Auerbach, J; Fischer, L; Haeberli, W; Larsen, C; Schneider, D; Wessels, R

    2010-05-28

    The number of large slope failures in some high-mountain regions such as the European Alps has increased during the past two to three decades. There is concern that recent climate change is driving this increase in slope failures, thus possibly further exacerbating the hazard in the future. Although the effects of a gradual temperature rise on glaciers and permafrost have been extensively studied, the impacts of short-term, unusually warm temperature increases on slope stability in high mountains remain largely unexplored. We describe several large slope failures in rock and ice in recent years in Alaska, New Zealand and the European Alps, and analyse weather patterns in the days and weeks before the failures. Although we did not find one general temperature pattern, all the failures were preceded by unusually warm periods; some happened immediately after temperatures suddenly dropped to freezing. We assessed the frequency of warm extremes in the future by analysing eight regional climate models from the recently completed European Union programme ENSEMBLES for the central Swiss Alps. The models show an increase in the higher frequency of high-temperature events for the period 2001-2050 compared with a 1951-2000 reference period. Warm events lasting 5, 10 and 30 days are projected to increase by about 1.5-4 times by 2050 and in some models by up to 10 times. Warm extremes can trigger large landslides in temperature-sensitive high mountains by enhancing the production of water by melt of snow and ice, and by rapid thaw. Although these processes reduce slope strength, they must be considered within the local geological, glaciological and topographic context of a slope.

  1. Extremity dosimetry at US Department of Energy facilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harty, R.; Reece, W.D.; MacLellan, J.A.

    1986-05-01

    A questionnaire on extremity dosimetry was distributed to DOE facilities along with a questionnaire on beta dosimetry. An informal telephone survey was conducted as a follow-up survey to answer a few additional questions concerning extremity monitoring practices. The responses to the questionnaire and the telephone survey are summarized in this report. Background information, developed from operational experience and a review of the current literature, is presented as a basis for understanding the information obtained by the survey and questionnaire

  2. Investigation of radioactivity-induced backgrounds in EXO-200

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Albert, J. B.; Auty, D. J.; Barbeau, P. S.; Beck, D.; Belov, V.; Benitez-Medina, C.; Breidenbach, M.; Brunner, T.; Burenkov, A.; Cao, G. F.; Chambers, C.; Cleveland, B.; Coon, M.; Craycraft, A.; Daniels, T.; Danilov, M.; Daugherty, S. J.; Davis, C. G.; Davis, J.; Delaquis, S.; Der Mesrobian-Kabakian, A.; DeVoe, R.; Didberidze, T.; Dolgolenko, A.; Dolinski, M. J.; Dunford, M.; Fairbank, W.; Farine, J.; Feldmeier, W.; Fierlinger, P.; Fudenberg, D.; Giroux, G.; Gornea, R.; Graham, K.; Gratta, G.; Hall, C.; Herrin, S.; Hughes, M.; Jewell, M. J.; Jiang, X. S.; Johnson, A.; Johnson, T. N.; Johnston, S.; Karelin, A.; Kaufman, L. J.; Killick, R.; Koffas, T.; Kravitz, S.; Kuchenkov, A.; Kumar, K. S.; Leonard, D. S.; Licciardi, C.; Lin, Y. H.; Ling, J.; MacLellan, R.; Marino, M. G.; Mong, B.; Moore, D.; Nelson, R.; Odian, A.; Ostrovskiy, I.; Piepke, A.; Pocar, A.; Prescott, C. Y.; Rivas, A.; Rowson, P. C.; Russell, J. J.; Schubert, A.; Sinclair, D.; Smith, E.; Stekhanov, V.; Tarka, M.; Tolba, T.; Tsang, R.; Twelker, K.; Vuilleumier, J. -L.; Waite, A.; Walton, J.; Walton, T.; Weber, M.; Wen, L. J.; Wichoski, U.; Wood, J.; Yang, L.; Yen, Y. -R.; Zeldovich, O. Ya.

    2015-07-15

    The search for neutrinoless double-beta decay ( 0 ν β β ) requires extremely low background and a good understanding of their sources and their influence on the rate in the region of parameter space relevant to the 0 ν β β signal. We report on studies of various β and γ backgrounds in the liquid-xenon-based EXO- 200 0 ν β β experiment. With this work we try to better understand the location and strength of specific background sources and compare the conclusions to radioassay results taken before and during detector construction. Finally, we discuss the implications of these studies for EXO-200 as well as for the next-generation, tonne-scale nEXO detector.

  3. INLA goes extreme: Bayesian tail regression for the estimation of high spatio-temporal quantiles

    KAUST Repository

    Opitz, Thomas; Huser, Raphaë l; Bakka, Haakon; Rue, Haavard

    2018-01-01

    approach is based on a Bayesian generalized additive modeling framework that is designed to estimate complex trends in marginal extremes over space and time. First, we estimate a high non-stationary threshold using a gamma distribution for precipitation

  4. On the frequency dependence of the high temperature background

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Povolo, F.; Hermida, E.B.

    1996-01-01

    The high temperature background (HTB) damping in metals and alloys has been measured mostly as a function of temperature. These data were described by several empirical expressions proposed in the literature. In the present work, HTB in pure Mg and in two alloys (Zry-4 and Cu-5 at.%Au), measured with a torsion pendulum with variable moment of inertia, are analyzed on considering a new treatment of the data. This analysis provides an useful tool to determine whether a damping process is linear or not. (orig.)

  5. Extreme Environment Circuit Blocks for Spacecraft Power & Propulsion System & Other High Reliability Applications, Phase II

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Chronos Technology (DIv of FMI, Inc.) proposes to design, fabricate, and deliver a performance proven, and commercially available set of extreme high operating...

  6. Prophylactic Fasciotomy in a Porcine Model of Extremity Trauma

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-07-16

    Morrison, MRCS,b,c,d Jerry R. Spencer, BS,a James D. Ross, PhD,a and Todd E. Rasmussen, MD, FACSa,e,f,* a59th Medical Wing, Joint Base San Antonio, San...Vascular injury Extremity Ischemiaereperfusion Recovery Neuromuscular Functional Fasciotomy a b s t r a c t Background: Extremity injury, with...prophylactic fasciotomy on neuromuscular recovery, labora- tory markers of ischemiaereperfusion, and tissue injury as determined by histologic evaluation. We

  7. Optimization with Extremal Dynamics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boettcher, Stefan; Percus, Allon G.

    2001-01-01

    We explore a new general-purpose heuristic for finding high-quality solutions to hard discrete optimization problems. The method, called extremal optimization, is inspired by self-organized criticality, a concept introduced to describe emergent complexity in physical systems. Extremal optimization successively updates extremely undesirable variables of a single suboptimal solution, assigning them new, random values. Large fluctuations ensue, efficiently exploring many local optima. We use extremal optimization to elucidate the phase transition in the 3-coloring problem, and we provide independent confirmation of previously reported extrapolations for the ground-state energy of ±J spin glasses in d=3 and 4

  8. The Effect of Sport Specialization on Lower Extremity Injury Rates in High School Athletes

    OpenAIRE

    McGuine, Timothy A.; Bell, David; Brooks, Margaret Alison; Hetzel, Scott; Pfaller, Adam; Post, Eric

    2017-01-01

    Objectives: Sport specialization has been shown to be associated with increased risk of musculoskeletal lower extremity injuries (LEI) in adolescent athletes presenting in clinical settings. However, the association of sport specialization and incidence of LEI has not been studied prospectively in a large population of adolescent athletes. The objective of this study was to compare the incidence of LEI in high school athletes identified as having low (LOW), moderate (MOD) or high (HIGH) level...

  9. Assessing Climate Variability using Extreme Rainfall and ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    user1

    extreme frequency); the average intensity of rainfall from extreme events ... frequency and extreme intensity indices, suggesting that extreme events are more frequent and intense during years with high rainfall. The proportion of total rainfall from ...

  10. Extremely deformable structures

    CERN Document Server

    2015-01-01

    Recently, a new research stimulus has derived from the observation that soft structures, such as biological systems, but also rubber and gel, may work in a post critical regime, where elastic elements are subject to extreme deformations, though still exhibiting excellent mechanical performances. This is the realm of ‘extreme mechanics’, to which this book is addressed. The possibility of exploiting highly deformable structures opens new and unexpected technological possibilities. In particular, the challenge is the design of deformable and bi-stable mechanisms which can reach superior mechanical performances and can have a strong impact on several high-tech applications, including stretchable electronics, nanotube serpentines, deployable structures for aerospace engineering, cable deployment in the ocean, but also sensors and flexible actuators and vibration absorbers. Readers are introduced to a variety of interrelated topics involving the mechanics of extremely deformable structures, with emphasis on ...

  11. Astronomy: social background of students of the integrated high school

    Science.gov (United States)

    Voelzke, M. R.; Barbosa, J. I. L.

    2017-07-01

    Astronomy-related contents exist in almost all levels of basic education in Brazil and are also frequently disseminated through mass media. Thus, students form their own explanations about the phenomena studied by this science. Therefore, this work has the objective of identifying the possible social background of the Integrated High School students on the term Astronomy. It is a research of a basic nature, descriptive, and for that reason a quali-quantitative approach was adopted; the procedures to obtain the data were effected in the form of a survey. The results show that the tested students have a social background about the object Astronomy, which is on the one hand fortified by elements they have made or which is part of the experience lived by the respondents within the formal space of education, and on the other hand based on elements possibly disseminated through the mass media.

  12. Effects of elevated mean and extremely high temperatures on the physio-ecological characteristics of geographically distinctive populations of Cunninghamia lanceolata

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Ting; Jia, Xiaorong; Liao, Huixuan; Peng, Shijia; Peng, Shaolin

    2016-12-01

    Conventional models for predicting species distribution under global warming scenarios often treat one species as a homogeneous whole. In the present study, we selected Cunninghamia lanceolata (C. lanceolata), a widely distributed species in China, to investigate the physio-ecological responses of five populations under different temperature regimes. The results demonstrate that increased mean temperatures induce increased growth performance among northern populations, which exhibited the greatest germination capacity and largest increase in the overlap between the growth curve and the monthly average temperature. However,tolerance of the southern population to extremely high temperatures was stronger than among the population from the northern region,shown by the best growth and the most stable photosynthetic system of the southern population under extremely high temperature. This result indicates that the growth advantage among northern populations due to increased mean temperatures may be weakened by lower tolerance to extremely high temperatures. This finding is antithetical to the predicted results. The theoretical coupling model constructed here illustrates that the difference in growth between populations at high and low latitudes and altitudes under global warming will decrease because of the frequent occurrence of extremely high temperatures.

  13. Performance of High Temperature Operational Amplifier, Type LM2904WH, under Extreme Temperatures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patterson, Richard; Hammoud, Ahmad; Elbuluk, Malik

    2008-01-01

    Operation of electronic parts and circuits under extreme temperatures is anticipated in NASA space exploration missions as well as terrestrial applications. Exposure of electronics to extreme temperatures and wide-range thermal swings greatly affects their performance via induced changes in the semiconductor material properties, packaging and interconnects, or due to incompatibility issues between interfaces that result from thermal expansion/contraction mismatch. Electronics that are designed to withstand operation and perform efficiently in extreme temperatures would mitigate risks for failure due to thermal stresses and, therefore, improve system reliability. In addition, they contribute to reducing system size and weight, simplifying its design, and reducing development cost through the elimination of otherwise required thermal control elements for proper ambient operation. A large DC voltage gain (100 dB) operational amplifier with a maximum junction temperature of 150 C was recently introduced by STMicroelectronics [1]. This LM2904WH chip comes in a plastic package and is designed specifically for automotive and industrial control systems. It operates from a single power supply over a wide range of voltages, and it consists of two independent, high gain, internally frequency compensated operational amplifiers. Table I shows some of the device manufacturer s specifications.

  14. Thyroid nodularity and chromosome aberrations among women in areas of high background radiation in China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Z.Y.; Boice, J.D. Jr.; Wei, L.X.; Beebe, G.W.; Zha, Y.R.; Kaplan, M.M.; Tao, Z.F.; Maxon, H.R. III; Zhang, S.Z.; Schneider, A.B.

    1990-01-01

    Thyroid nodularity following continuous low-dose radiation exposure in China was determined in 1,001 women aged 50-65 years who resided in areas of high background radiation (330 mR/yr) their entire lives, and in 1,005 comparison subjects exposed to normal levels of radiation (114 mR/yr). Cumulative doses to the thyroid were estimated to be of the order of 14 cGy and 5 cGy, respectively. Personal interviews and physical examinations were conducted, and measurements were made of serum thyroid hormone levels, urinary iodine concentrations, and chromosome aberrations in circulating lymphocytes. For all nodular disease, the prevalences in the high background and control areas were 9.5% and 9.3%, respectively. For single nodules, the prevalences were 7.4% in the high background area and 6.6% in the control area (prevalence ratio = 1.13; 95% confidence interval = 0.82-1.55). There were no differences found in serum levels of thyroid hormones. Women in the high background region, however, had significantly lower concentrations of urinary iodine and significantly higher frequencies of stable and unstable chromosome aberrations. Increased intake of allium vegetables such as garlic and onions was associated with a decreased risk of nodular disease, which seems consistent with experimental studies suggesting that allium compounds can inhibit tumor growth and proliferation. The prevalence of mild diffuse goiter was higher in the high background radiation region, perhaps related to a low dietary intake of iodine. These data suggest that continuous exposure to low-level radiation throughout life is unlikely to appreciably increase the risk of thyroid cancer. However, such exposure may cause chromosomal damage

  15. Extreme Environment High Temperature Communication Systems, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The purpose of this project is to develop and demonstrate a communications system capable of operation at extreme temperatures and pressures in hostile and corrosive...

  16. Cytogenetic investigation in a population living in the high background radiation area in China

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Deqing, C.

    1980-04-01

    On the basis of the previous investigation, 24,000 metaphases of the lymphocytes of 120 inhabitants from Tongyou region, where the highest individual cummulative exposure per year of 372 mR in weighted average was recorded in the high background radiation area selected, have been analysed with the method recommended by WHO in 1973, in order to determine the extent of human chromosome aberrations induced by the high background radiation of various levels. The results show that the difference between the total number of chromosome breakages in the individuals living in the high background radiation area and that in the control area (0.32x10/sup -2/ and 0.27x10/sup -2/ per cell respectively) is not significant whereas that between the numbers of two-hite aberrations (mainly dicentric) in the same two groups (0.042x10/sup -2/ and 0.0048x10/sup -2/ per cell) is significant (X/sup 2/ = 6.1475, P<0.05). In addition, the normal value of the chromosome aberrations of human lymphocytes was analyzed.

  17. Definitive intraoperative very high-dose radiotherapy for localized osteosarcoma in the extremities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oya, Natsuo; Kokubo, Masaki; Mizowaki, Takashi; Shibamoto, Yuta; Nagata, Yasushi; Sasai, Keisuke; Nishimura, Yasumasa; Tsuboyama, Tadao; Toguchida, Junya; Nakamura, Takashi; Hiraoka, Masahiro

    2001-01-01

    Purpose: To evaluate the outcome and adverse effects in patients with osteosarcoma treated with very high-dose definitive intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT), with the intention of saving the affected limb. Methods and Materials: Thirty-nine patients with osteosarcoma in their extremities were treated with definitive IORT. The irradiation field included the tumor plus an adequate wide margin and excluded the major vessels and nerves. Forty-five to 80 Gy of electrons or X-rays were delivered. The median follow-up of the surviving patients was 124 months. Results: The cause-specific and relapse-free 5-year survival rate was 50% and 43%, respectively. Distant metastasis developed in 23 patients; 19 died and 4 were alive for >10 years. Nine local recurrences were found 4-29 months after IORT in the affected limb. No radiation-induced skin reaction or nerve palsy was observed in the patients treated with X-rays. Experiments using phantoms also confirmed that the scatter dose was below the toxic level in the IORT setting with X-rays. Conclusions: Very high-dose definitive IORT combined with preventive nailing and chemotherapy appeared to be a promising quality-of-life-oriented alternative to treating patients with osteosarcomas in the extremities, although the problem of recurrences from the surrounding unirradiated soft tissue remains to be solved

  18. The influence of non thermal coherent EMR with low intensity and extremely high frequency on total activity and isoenzyme composition of peroxidase

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nerkararyan, A.V.; Shahinyan, M.A.; Khachatryan, A.V.; Vardevanyan, P.O.

    2011-01-01

    In this work the influence of non-thermal coherent electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with low intensity and extremely high frequency on intensity of wheat developing germ metabolism has been investigated. Particularly, total activity and isoenzymatic composition of peroxidase of germ cells have been determined during their growth. The role of water in formation of organism response reaction to the external physical field effect has also been investigated. It has been shown, that water appears to be a primary element of extremely high frequency EMR effect on bio system. Extremely high frequency EMR irradiation of germinating seeds and the cultivation of dry seeds and their germs by irradiated water stimulate peroxidase synthesis in germ cells. The redistribution of quantitative composition of peroxidase molecular forms takes place in germ cells effected by EMR with extremely high frequency and low intensity

  19. Localities With Elevated Radiation Background in the High Karst Zone of Montenegro

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vukotic, P.; Svrkota, R.; Andjelic, T.; Zekic, R.; Antovic, N.

    2011-01-01

    Research aimed to find localities in Montenegro with an elevated terrestrial gamma background was conducted during the period 2008-2009. For this purpose, 138 localities which have geological formations known to contain minerals with potentially high concentrations of U, Th and K, were selected throughout the country for a dosimetric survey. There are four distinctive geotectonic units in Montenegro: the Adriatic-Ionian Zone (JZ), the Budva-Cukali Zone (BZ), the High Karst Zone (VK), and the Durmitor Tectonic Unit (DTJ). The central and southern parts of Montenegro belong to the VK zone, whose geological structure is predominated by Mesozoic carbonate sediments, with occurrences of red and white bauxite formations, Triassic volcanic rocks, Paleogene flysch sediments and Quaternary sediments. In total, 38 localities belonging to the VK zone were selected for field investigations of terrestrial radiation. Knowing from earlier investigations that in Montenegro the average absorbed dose-rate in the air, 1 m above the ground, is 55 nGy/h, it was arbitrarily adopted that only localities with absorbed doses at least 50 % above this average value would be considered as having a relatively elevated radiation background. Field measurements have shown that 12 of the surveyed localities in the VK zone have such elevated dose values, five of them being with the highest dose rates in Montenegro. Among these five sites, the highest dose rate (192 nGy/h) was found at a locality which lies on andesite volcanic rock, while the other four localities (131 - 149 nGy/h) lie on bauxite deposits. Compared to the other areas in the world known to have a high natural radiation background, all of these localities in Montenegro have a moderately elevated radiation level. From the 12 localities with a relatively elevated radiation background, soil samples have been collected and analyzed by gamma spectrometry to determine activity concentrations of 40K, 232Th, 235U, 238U, 226Ra and 137Cs

  20. Detection of the relationship between peak temperature and extreme precipitation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Y.; Liu, J.; Zhiyong, Y.

    2017-12-01

    Under the background of climate change and human activities, the characteristics and pattern of precipitation have changed significantly in many regions. As the political and cultural center of China, the structure and character of precipitation in Jingjinji District has varied dramatically in recent years. In this paper, the daily precipitation data throughout the period 1960-2013 are selected for analyzing the spatial-temporal variability of precipitation. The results indicate that the frequency and intensity of precipitation presents an increasing trend. Based on the precipitation data, the maximum, minimum and mean precipitation in different temporal and spatial scales is calculated respectively. The temporal and spatial variation of temperature is obtained by using statistical methods. The relationship between temperature and precipitation in different range is analyzed. The curve relates daily precipitation extremes with local temperatures has a peak structure, increasing at the low-medium range of temperature variations but decreasing at high temperatures. The relationship between extreme precipitation is stronger in downtown than that in suburbs.

  1. Cancer occurrence in the high natural background radiation area of Kerala coast

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Krishnan Nair, M.; Sreedevi Amma, N.; Ramachandran, T.P.; Varghese Cherian; Jayalakshmy, P.; Mani, K.S.; Boban, T.G.; Jayadevan, S.; Gangadharan, P.

    1994-01-01

    In order to assess the health effects if any, in populations living in high background radiation areas, the Department of Atomic Energy has sanctioned a 5-year project to establish a Registry covering Karunagappally taluk. The study proposes to cover a population of about 1,00,000 persons living in high background radiation areas where the radiation levels range anywhere between 10 and 825 μR/h inside the houses; for comparison the study proposes to cover another 3,00,000 persons living in nearby normal areas where the natural radiation levels range between 6 and 200 μ R/h. The data collected so far in the first 2.5 years are presented in this paper which covers a population of about 1,10,000 persons living in three villages. No attempt is made to interpret the data at this preliminary stage. (author). 7 tabs

  2. Design and environmental applications of an ultra-low-background, high-efficiency intrinsic Ge gamma-ray spectrometer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wogman, N.A.

    1981-04-01

    A coincidence shielded intrinsic Ge gamma-ray spectrometer incorporating a 25% efficient, high resolution coaxial diode inside a 30 cm diameter NaI(Tl) shield is described. System design eliminates the major cause of background and minimizes cosmic-ray created background events through the use of electronic means. The system provides a peak-to-Compton ratio of greater than 1000 to 1 for 137 Cs and high sensitivity for both low and high level radionuclide measurements. At 3 MeV the background is 0.000058 counts per minute per keV. At 1 MeV it is 0.00048 counts per minute per keV, and at 0.5 MeV it is 0.0045 counts per minute per keV. Traces of primordial radionuclides create background events such as at 2.614 MeV (0.016 counts per minute total peak area), at 2.448 MeV (0.0058 counts per minute per total peak area), and at 2.204 MeV (0.023 counts per minute per total peak area). The system is discussed with respect to its background design, methods to improve its design, and its application to measurements of neutron activated and environmental materials problems

  3. Objectively assessed recess physical activity in girls and boys from high and low socioeconomic backgrounds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baquet, Georges; Ridgers, Nicola D; Blaes, Aurélie; Aucouturier, Julien; Van Praagh, Emmanuel; Berthoin, Serge

    2014-02-21

    The school environment influences children's opportunities for physical activity participation. The aim of the present study was to assess objectively measured school recess physical activity in children from high and low socioeconomic backgrounds. Four hundred and seven children (6-11 years old) from 4 primary schools located in high socioeconomic status (high-SES) and low socioeconomic status (low-SES) areas participated in the study. Children's physical activity was measured using accelerometry during morning and afternoon recess during a 4-day school week. The percentage of time spent in light, moderate, vigorous, very high and in moderate- to very high-intensity physical activity were calculated using age-dependent cut-points. Sedentary time was defined as 100 counts per minute. Boys were significantly (p active than girls. No difference in sedentary time between socioeconomic backgrounds was observed. The low-SES group spent significantly more time in light (p physical activity compared to the high-SES group. High-SES boys and girls spent significantly more time in moderate (p physical activity than low-SES boys. Differences were observed in recess physical activity levels according to socioeconomic background and sex. These results indicate that recess interventions should target children in low-SES schools.

  4. Extremely low temperature properties of epoxy GFRP

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kadotani, Kenzo; Nagai, Matao; Aki, Fumitake.

    1983-01-01

    The examination of fiber-reinforced plastics, that is, plastics such as epoxy, polyester and polyimide reinforced with high strength fibers such as glass, carbon, boron and steel, for extremely low temperature use began from the fuel tanks of rockets. Therafter, the trial manufacture of superconducting generators and extremely low temperature transformers and the manufacture of superconducting magnets for nuclear fusion experimental setups became active, and high performance FRPs have been adopted, of which the extremely low temperature properties have been sufficiently grasped. Recently, the cryostats made of FRPs have been developed, fully utilizing such features of FRPs as high strength, high rigidity, non-magnetic material, insulation, low heat conductivity, light weight and the freedom of molding. In this paper, the mechanical properties at extremely low temperature of the plastic composite materials used as insulators and structural materials for extremely low temperature superconducting equipment is outlined, and in particular, glass fiber-reinforced epoxy laminates are described somewhat in detail. The fracture strain of GFRP at extremely low temperature is about 1.3 times as large as that at room temperature, but at extremely low temperature, clear cracking occurred at 40% of the fracture strain. The linear thermal contraction of GFRP showed remarkable anisotropy. (Kako, I.)

  5. Extreme events in total ozone over Arosa – Part 1: Application of extreme value theory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. E. Rieder

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available In this study ideas from extreme value theory are for the first time applied in the field of stratospheric ozone research, because statistical analysis showed that previously used concepts assuming a Gaussian distribution (e.g. fixed deviations from mean values of total ozone data do not adequately address the structure of the extremes. We show that statistical extreme value methods are appropriate to identify ozone extremes and to describe the tails of the Arosa (Switzerland total ozone time series. In order to accommodate the seasonal cycle in total ozone, a daily moving threshold was determined and used, with tools from extreme value theory, to analyse the frequency of days with extreme low (termed ELOs and high (termed EHOs total ozone at Arosa. The analysis shows that the Generalized Pareto Distribution (GPD provides an appropriate model for the frequency distribution of total ozone above or below a mathematically well-defined threshold, thus providing a statistical description of ELOs and EHOs. The results show an increase in ELOs and a decrease in EHOs during the last decades. The fitted model represents the tails of the total ozone data set with high accuracy over the entire range (including absolute monthly minima and maxima, and enables a precise computation of the frequency distribution of ozone mini-holes (using constant thresholds. Analyzing the tails instead of a small fraction of days below constant thresholds provides deeper insight into the time series properties. Fingerprints of dynamical (e.g. ENSO, NAO and chemical features (e.g. strong polar vortex ozone loss, and major volcanic eruptions, can be identified in the observed frequency of extreme events throughout the time series. Overall the new approach to analysis of extremes provides more information on time series properties and variability than previous approaches that use only monthly averages and/or mini-holes and mini-highs.

  6. Down syndrome and the high background radiation areas of Kerala

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jaikrishan, G.; Ramachandran, E.N.; Karuppasamy, C.V.; Sudheer, K.R.; Andrews, V.J.; Soren, D.C.; Anil Kumar, V.; Koya, P.K.M.; Cheriyan, V.D.; Seshadri, M.

    2010-01-01

    Down syndrome (DS) or trisomy-21 is a complex human clinical entity compromising several functional, structural and developmental features with wide variation in expression levels. The diagnosis is confirmed in majority of the cases by an extra dose of chromosome 21 by cytogenetics and occasionally it may be due to either chromosomal translocation or mosaicism (different cell lines in the same individual). The extra chromosome 21 is usually formed by non-disjunction during meiosis and is the most common numerical chromosomal anomaly compatible with life, as chromosome 21 is one of the smallest with relatively fewer genes most of which are reckoned to be non lethal. Though exact causative factors and pathogenesis is not fully understood, a rise in maternal age at conception coupled with deleterious environmental influence on an ageing ovum is a recognized risk factor. The de novo nature of trisomy-21 and its relatively higher frequency makes it a reliable indicator to assess the role of chronic high background radiation in inducing germ line mutation and congenital malformation. Many other relatively common congenital malformations with multifactorial origin may not have this de novo property and associating its incidence with the prevailing natural background radiation become more complex. In vitro studies have shown association between high intensity radiation and genetics effects but such a relationship so far was not established between DS and radiation

  7. CLASH: EXTREME EMISSION-LINE GALAXIES AND THEIR IMPLICATION ON SELECTION OF HIGH-REDSHIFT GALAXIES

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huang, Xingxing; Wang, Junxian; Shu, Xinwen; Zheng, Wei; Ford, Holland; Lemze, Doron; Moustakas, John; Van der Wel, Arjen; Zitrin, Adi; Frye, Brenda L.; Postman, Marc; Bradley, Larry; Coe, Dan; Bartelmann, Matthias; Benítez, Narciso; Broadhurst, Tom; Donahue, Megan; Infante, Leopoldo

    2015-01-01

    We utilize the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble observations of 25 clusters to search for extreme emission-line galaxies (EELGs). The selections are carried out in two central bands: F105W (Y 105 ) and F125W (J 125 ), as the flux of the central bands could be enhanced by the presence of [O III] λλ4959, 5007 at redshifts of ∼0.93-1.14 and 1.57-1.79, respectively. The multiband observations help to constrain the equivalent widths (EWs) of emission lines. Thanks to cluster lensing, we are able to identify 52 candidates down to an intrinsic limiting magnitude of 28.5 and to a rest-frame [O III] λλ4959, 5007 EW of ≅ 3700 Å. Our samples include a number of EELGs at lower luminosities that are missed in other surveys, and the extremely high EW can only be found in such faint galaxies. These EELGs can mimic a dropout feature similar to that of high-redshift galaxies and contaminate the color-color selection of high-redshift galaxies when the signal-to-noise ratio is limited or the band coverage is incomplete

  8. CLASH: EXTREME EMISSION-LINE GALAXIES AND THEIR IMPLICATION ON SELECTION OF HIGH-REDSHIFT GALAXIES

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Huang, Xingxing; Wang, Junxian; Shu, Xinwen [CAS Key Laboratory for Research in Galaxies and Cosmology, Department of Astronomy, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026 (China); Zheng, Wei; Ford, Holland; Lemze, Doron [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Moustakas, John [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Siena College, 515 Loudon Road, Loudonville, NY 12211 (United States); Van der Wel, Arjen [Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy, Königstuhl 17, D-69117, Heidelberg (Germany); Zitrin, Adi [Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, MS 249-17, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Frye, Brenda L. [Steward Observatory/Department of Astronomy, University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721-0065 (United States); Postman, Marc; Bradley, Larry; Coe, Dan [Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21208 (United States); Bartelmann, Matthias [Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, P. O. Box 9513, 2300 RA Leiden (Netherlands); Benítez, Narciso [Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC), C/Camino Bajo de Huétor 24, Granada E-18008 (Spain); Broadhurst, Tom [Department of Theoretical Physics, University of Basque Country UPV/EHU E-Bilbao (Spain); Donahue, Megan [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824 (United States); Infante, Leopoldo, E-mail: hxx@mail.ustc.edu.cn [Departamento de Astronoía y Astrofísica, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, V. Mackenna 4860 Santiago 22 (Chile); and others

    2015-03-01

    We utilize the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble observations of 25 clusters to search for extreme emission-line galaxies (EELGs). The selections are carried out in two central bands: F105W (Y {sub 105}) and F125W (J {sub 125}), as the flux of the central bands could be enhanced by the presence of [O III] λλ4959, 5007 at redshifts of ∼0.93-1.14 and 1.57-1.79, respectively. The multiband observations help to constrain the equivalent widths (EWs) of emission lines. Thanks to cluster lensing, we are able to identify 52 candidates down to an intrinsic limiting magnitude of 28.5 and to a rest-frame [O III] λλ4959, 5007 EW of ≅ 3700 Å. Our samples include a number of EELGs at lower luminosities that are missed in other surveys, and the extremely high EW can only be found in such faint galaxies. These EELGs can mimic a dropout feature similar to that of high-redshift galaxies and contaminate the color-color selection of high-redshift galaxies when the signal-to-noise ratio is limited or the band coverage is incomplete.

  9. Further investigation on chromosome aberrations in lymphocytes of inhabitants in high background radiation area in Yangjiang

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Deqing; Zhang Chaoyang; Yao Suyan

    1985-01-01

    Blood samples were taken from 122 healthy secondary school students at the age of 15 to 16 living in a high background radiation region and from 99 controls, All subjects from both areas had lived there since their births; they were non-smokers and without history of exposure to medical X-rays. The youngsters of 15 to 16 years old who were native-born and grew up in the high background radiation area received approximately 3.5 rad more cumulative γ-ray exposure than those in the control area. For each individual 200 M-1 cells were analysed. The frequency of chromosome aberrations in the high background group was 0.47/100 cells, while that in the control group was 0.33/100 cells, the diffrence being statistically significant. The frequencies of acentrics (fragment, acentric ring and minute), dicentrics and stable aberrations (inversion and translocation) were 0.41, 0.021 and 0.045/100 cells respectively in the high background group, and 0.30, 0.020 and 0.005/100 cells respectively in the control group. Only the difference of stable aberrations between the two groups was significant

  10. Attitudes, Values and Background of High School Journalists Compared with the Media Elite.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Sammye

    To compare attitudes, values, and background of high school journalists with those of the media elite (journalists already working in the media), a survey was administered to 132 public and private high school students attending the Trinity University Journalism Institute during June 5-9, 1983. These students were the editors of their newspapers,…

  11. Local likelihood estimation of complex tail dependence structures in high dimensions, applied to US precipitation extremes

    KAUST Repository

    Camilo, Daniela Castro

    2017-10-02

    In order to model the complex non-stationary dependence structure of precipitation extremes over the entire contiguous U.S., we propose a flexible local approach based on factor copula models. Our sub-asymptotic spatial modeling framework yields non-trivial tail dependence structures, with a weakening dependence strength as events become more extreme, a feature commonly observed with precipitation data but not accounted for in classical asymptotic extreme-value models. To estimate the local extremal behavior, we fit the proposed model in small regional neighborhoods to high threshold exceedances, under the assumption of local stationarity. This allows us to gain in flexibility, while making inference for such a large and complex dataset feasible. Adopting a local censored likelihood approach, inference is made on a fine spatial grid, and local estimation is performed taking advantage of distributed computing resources and of the embarrassingly parallel nature of this estimation procedure. The local model is efficiently fitted at all grid points, and uncertainty is measured using a block bootstrap procedure. An extensive simulation study shows that our approach is able to adequately capture complex, non-stationary dependencies, while our study of U.S. winter precipitation data reveals interesting differences in local tail structures over space, which has important implications on regional risk assessment of extreme precipitation events. A comparison between past and current data suggests that extremes in certain areas might be slightly wider in extent nowadays than during the first half of the twentieth century.

  12. Local likelihood estimation of complex tail dependence structures in high dimensions, applied to US precipitation extremes

    KAUST Repository

    Camilo, Daniela Castro; Huser, Raphaë l

    2017-01-01

    In order to model the complex non-stationary dependence structure of precipitation extremes over the entire contiguous U.S., we propose a flexible local approach based on factor copula models. Our sub-asymptotic spatial modeling framework yields non-trivial tail dependence structures, with a weakening dependence strength as events become more extreme, a feature commonly observed with precipitation data but not accounted for in classical asymptotic extreme-value models. To estimate the local extremal behavior, we fit the proposed model in small regional neighborhoods to high threshold exceedances, under the assumption of local stationarity. This allows us to gain in flexibility, while making inference for such a large and complex dataset feasible. Adopting a local censored likelihood approach, inference is made on a fine spatial grid, and local estimation is performed taking advantage of distributed computing resources and of the embarrassingly parallel nature of this estimation procedure. The local model is efficiently fitted at all grid points, and uncertainty is measured using a block bootstrap procedure. An extensive simulation study shows that our approach is able to adequately capture complex, non-stationary dependencies, while our study of U.S. winter precipitation data reveals interesting differences in local tail structures over space, which has important implications on regional risk assessment of extreme precipitation events. A comparison between past and current data suggests that extremes in certain areas might be slightly wider in extent nowadays than during the first half of the twentieth century.

  13. Nitrogen accumulation and partitioning in a High Arctic tundra ecosystem from extreme atmospheric N deposition events

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Choudhary, Sonal; Blaud, Aimeric; Osborn, A. Mark; Press, Malcolm C.; Phoenix, Gareth K.

    2016-01-01

    Arctic ecosystems are threatened by pollution from recently detected extreme atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition events in which up to 90% of the annual N deposition can occur in just a few days. We undertook the first assessment of the fate of N from extreme deposition in High Arctic tundra and are presenting the results from the whole ecosystem "1"5N labelling experiment. In 2010, we simulated N depositions at rates of 0, 0.04, 0.4 and 1.2 g N m"−"2 yr"−"1, applied as "1"5NH_4"1"5NO_3 in Svalbard (79"°N), during the summer. Separate applications of "1"5NO_3"− and "1"5NH_4"+ were also made to determine the importance of N form in their retention. More than 95% of the total "1"5N applied was recovered after one growing season (~ 90% after two), demonstrating a considerable capacity of Arctic tundra to retain N from these deposition events. Important sinks for the deposited N, regardless of its application rate or form, were non-vascular plants > vascular plants > organic soil > litter > mineral soil, suggesting that non-vascular plants could be the primary component of this ecosystem to undergo measurable changes due to N enrichment from extreme deposition events. Substantial retention of N by soil microbial biomass (70% and 39% of "1"5N in organic and mineral horizon, respectively) during the initial partitioning demonstrated their capacity to act as effective buffers for N leaching. Between the two N forms, vascular plants (Salix polaris) in particular showed difference in their N recovery, incorporating four times greater "1"5NO_3"− than "1"5NH_4"+, suggesting deposition rich in nitrate will impact them more. Overall, these findings show that despite the deposition rates being extreme in statistical terms, biologically they do not exceed the capacity of tundra to sequester pollutant N during the growing season. Therefore, current and future extreme events may represent a major source of eutrophication. - Highlights: • High Arctic tundra demonstrated a

  14. Extreme ultraviolet spectroscopy of highly charged argon ions at the Berlin EBIT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Biedermann, C; Radtke, R; Fussmann, G; Allen, F I

    2007-01-01

    Extreme ultraviolet radiation from highly charged argon was investigated at the Berlin Electron Beam Ion Trap with a 2 m grazing incidence spectrometer. Lines in the wavelength range 150 to 660 A originating from C-like Ar 12+ to Li-like Ar 15+ ions have been identified and are compared with database information from solar line lists and predictions. Line ratios for the observed resonance, intercombination and forbidden lines offer important diagnostic capabilities for low density, hot plasmas

  15. High frequencies of elevated alkaline phosphatase activity and rickets exist in extremely low birth weight infants despite current nutritional support

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Parker Bruce R

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Osteopenia and rickets are common among extremely low birth weight infants (ELBW, Methods We evaluated all ELBW infants admitted to Texas Children's Hospital NICU in 2006 and 2007. Of 211 admissions, we excluded 98 patients who were admitted at >30 days of age or did not survive/stay for >6 weeks. Bone radiographs obtained in 32 infants were reviewed by a radiologist masked to laboratory values. Results In this cohort of 113 infants, P-APA was found to have a significant inverse relationship with BW, gestational age and serum phosphorus. In paired comparisons, P-APA of infants Conclusion Elevation of P-APA >600 IU/L was very common in ELBW infants. BW was significantly inversely related to both P-APA and radiologic rickets. No single value of P-APA was related to radiological findings of rickets. Given the very high risk of osteopenia and rickets among ELBW infants, we recommend consideration of early screening and early mineral supplementation, especially among infants

  16. Static Object Detection Based on a Dual Background Model and a Finite-State Machine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heras Evangelio Rubén

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Detecting static objects in video sequences has a high relevance in many surveillance applications, such as the detection of abandoned objects in public areas. In this paper, we present a system for the detection of static objects in crowded scenes. Based on the detection of two background models learning at different rates, pixels are classified with the help of a finite-state machine. The background is modelled by two mixtures of Gaussians with identical parameters except for the learning rate. The state machine provides the meaning for the interpretation of the results obtained from background subtraction; it can be implemented as a look-up table with negligible computational cost and it can be easily extended. Due to the definition of the states in the state machine, the system can be used either full automatically or interactively, making it extremely suitable for real-life surveillance applications. The system was successfully validated with several public datasets.

  17. A statistical background noise correction sensitive to the steadiness of background noise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oppenheimer, Charles H

    2016-10-01

    A statistical background noise correction is developed for removing background noise contributions from measured source levels, producing a background noise-corrected source level. Like the standard background noise corrections of ISO 3741, ISO 3744, ISO 3745, and ISO 11201, the statistical background correction increases as the background level approaches the measured source level, decreasing the background noise-corrected source level. Unlike the standard corrections, the statistical background correction increases with steadiness of the background and is excluded from use when background fluctuation could be responsible for measured differences between the source and background noise levels. The statistical background noise correction has several advantages over the standard correction: (1) enveloping the true source with known confidence, (2) assuring physical source descriptions when measuring sources in fluctuating backgrounds, (3) reducing background corrected source descriptions by 1 to 8 dB for sources in steady backgrounds, and (4) providing a means to replace standardized background correction caps that incentivize against high precision grade methods.

  18. State-of-the-Art of Extreme Pressure Lubrication Realized with the High Thermal Diffusivity of Liquid Metal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Haijiang; Tian, Pengyi; Lu, Hongyu; Jia, Wenpeng; Du, Haodong; Zhang, Xiangjun; Li, Qunyang; Tian, Yu

    2017-02-15

    Sliding between two objects under very high load generally involves direct solid-solid contact at molecular/atomic level, the mechanism of which is far from clearly disclosed yet. Those microscopic solid-solid contacts could easily lead to local melting of rough surfaces. At extreme conditions, this local melting could propagate to the seizure and welding of the entire interface. Traditionally, the microscopic solid-solid contact is alleviated by various lubricants and additives based on their improved mechanical properties. In this work, we realized the state-of-the-art of extreme pressure lubrication by utilizing the high thermal diffusivity of liquid metal, 2 orders of magnitude higher than general organic lubricants. The extreme pressure lubrication property of gallium based liquid metal (GBLM) was compared with gear oil and poly-α-olefin in a four-ball test. The liquid metal lubricates very well at an extremely high load (10 kN, the maximum capability of a four-ball tester) at a rotation speed of 1800 rpm for a duration of several minutes, much better than traditional organic lubricants which typically break down within seconds at a load of a few kN. Our comparative experiments and analysis showed that this superextreme pressure lubrication capability of GBLM was attributed to the synergetic effect of the ultrafast heat dissipation of GBLM and the low friction coefficient of FeGa 3 tribo-film. The present work demonstrated a novel way of improving lubrication capability by enhancing the lubricant thermal properties, which might lead to mechanical systems with much higher reliability.

  19. Likelihood estimators for multivariate extremes

    KAUST Repository

    Huser, Raphaë l; Davison, Anthony C.; Genton, Marc G.

    2015-01-01

    The main approach to inference for multivariate extremes consists in approximating the joint upper tail of the observations by a parametric family arising in the limit for extreme events. The latter may be expressed in terms of componentwise maxima, high threshold exceedances or point processes, yielding different but related asymptotic characterizations and estimators. The present paper clarifies the connections between the main likelihood estimators, and assesses their practical performance. We investigate their ability to estimate the extremal dependence structure and to predict future extremes, using exact calculations and simulation, in the case of the logistic model.

  20. Likelihood estimators for multivariate extremes

    KAUST Repository

    Huser, Raphaël

    2015-11-17

    The main approach to inference for multivariate extremes consists in approximating the joint upper tail of the observations by a parametric family arising in the limit for extreme events. The latter may be expressed in terms of componentwise maxima, high threshold exceedances or point processes, yielding different but related asymptotic characterizations and estimators. The present paper clarifies the connections between the main likelihood estimators, and assesses their practical performance. We investigate their ability to estimate the extremal dependence structure and to predict future extremes, using exact calculations and simulation, in the case of the logistic model.

  1. Legacies from extreme drought increase ecosystem sensitivity to future extremes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, M. D.; Knapp, A.; Hoover, D. L.; Avolio, M. L.; Felton, A. J.; Wilcox, K. R.

    2016-12-01

    Climate extremes, such as drought, are increasing in frequency and intensity, and the ecological consequences of these extreme events can be substantial and widespread. Although there is still much to be learned about how ecosystems will respond to an intensification of drought, even less is known about the factors that determine post-drought recovery of ecosystem function. Such knowledge is particularly important because post-drought recovery periods can be protracted depending on the extent to which key plant populations, community structure and biogeochemical processes are affected. These drought legacies may alter ecosystem function for many years post-drought and may impact future sensitivity to climate extremes. We experimentally imposed two extreme growing season droughts in a central US grassland to assess the impacts of repeated droughts on ecosystem resistance (response) and resilience (recovery). We found that this grassland was not resistant to the first extreme drought due to reduced productivity and differential sensitivity of the co-dominant C4 grass (Andropogon gerardii) and C3 forb (Solidago canadensis) species. This differential sensitivity led to a reordering of species abundances within the plant community. Yet, despite this large shift in plant community composition, which persisted post-drought, the grassland was highly resilient post-drought, due to increased abundance of the dominant C4 grass. Because of this shift to increased C4 grass dominance, we expected that previously-droughted grassland would be more resistant to a second extreme drought. However, contrary to these expectations, previously droughted grassland was more sensitive to drought than grassland that had not experienced drought. Thus, our result suggest that legacies of drought (shift in community composition) may increase ecosystem sensitivity to future extreme events.

  2. Background field coils for the High Field Test Facility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zbasnik, J.P.; Cornish, D.N.; Scanlan, R.M.; Jewell, A.M.; Leber, R.L.; Rosdahl, A.R.; Chaplin, M.R.

    1980-01-01

    The High Field Test Facility (HFTF), presently under construction at LLNL, is a set of superconducting coils that will be used to test 1-m-o.d. coils of prototype conductors for fusion magnets in fields up to 12 T. The facility consists of two concentric sets of coils; the outer set is a stack of Nb-Ti solenoids, and the inner set is a pair of solenoids made of cryogenically-stabilized, multifilamentary Nb 3 Sn superconductor, developed for use in mirror-fusion magnets. The HFTF system is designed to be parted along the midplane to allow high-field conductors, under development for Tokamak fusion machines, to be inserted and tested. The background field coils were wound pancake-fashion, with cold-welded joints at both the inner and outer diameters. Turn-to-turn insulation was fabricated at LLNL from epoxy-fiberglass strip. The coils were assembled and tested in our 2-m-diam cryostat to verify their operation

  3. Projected changes of extreme weather events in the eastern United States based on a high resolution climate modeling system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gao, Y; Fu, J S; Drake, J B; Liu, Y; Lamarque, J-F

    2012-01-01

    This study is the first evaluation of dynamical downscaling using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model on a 4 km × 4 km high resolution scale in the eastern US driven by the new Community Earth System Model version 1.0 (CESM v1.0). First we examined the global and regional climate model results, and corrected an inconsistency in skin temperature during the downscaling process by modifying the land/sea mask. In comparison with observations, WRF shows statistically significant improvement over CESM in reproducing extreme weather events, with improvement for heat wave frequency estimation as high as 98%. The fossil fuel intensive scenario Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5 was used to study a possible future mid-century climate extreme in 2057–9. Both the heat waves and the extreme precipitation in 2057–9 are more severe than the present climate in the Eastern US. The Northeastern US shows large increases in both heat wave intensity (3.05 °C higher) and annual extreme precipitation (107.3 mm more per year). (letter)

  4. Ultra-high field upper extremity peripheral nerve and non-contrast enhanced vascular imaging.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shailesh B Raval

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to explore the efficacy of Ultra-high field [UHF] 7 Tesla [T] MRI as compared to 3T MRI in non-contrast enhanced [nCE] imaging of structural anatomy in the elbow, forearm, and hand [upper extremity].A wide range of sequences including T1 weighted [T1] volumetric interpolate breath-hold exam [VIBE], T2 weighted [T2] double-echo steady state [DESS], susceptibility weighted imaging [SWI], time-of-flight [TOF], diffusion tensor imaging [DTI], and diffusion spectrum imaging [DSI] were optimized and incorporated with a radiofrequency [RF] coil system composed of a transverse electromagnetic [TEM] transmit coil combined with an 8-channel receive-only array for 7T upper extremity [UE] imaging. In addition, Siemens optimized protocol/sequences were used on a 3T scanner and the resulting images from T1 VIBE and T2 DESS were compared to that obtained at 7T qualitatively and quantitatively [SWI was only qualitatively compared]. DSI studio was utilized to identify nerves based on analysis of diffusion weighted derived fractional anisotropy images. Images of forearm vasculature were extracted using a paint grow manual segmentation method based on MIPAV [Medical Image Processing, Analysis, and Visualization].High resolution and high quality signal-to-noise ratio [SNR] and contrast-to-noise ratio [CNR]-images of the hand, forearm, and elbow were acquired with nearly homogeneous 7T excitation. Measured [performed on the T1 VIBE and T2 DESS sequences] SNR and CNR values were almost doubled at 7T vs. 3T. Cartilage, synovial fluid and tendon structures could be seen with higher clarity in the 7T T1 and T2 weighted images. SWI allowed high resolution and better quality imaging of large and medium sized arteries and veins, capillary networks and arteriovenous anastomoses at 7T when compared to 3T. 7T diffusion weighted sequence [not performed at 3T] demonstrates that the forearm nerves are clearly delineated by fiber tractography. The

  5. Spin-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy using femtosecond extreme ultraviolet light pulses from high-order harmonic generation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Plötzing, M.; Adam, R., E-mail: r.adam@fz-juelich.de; Weier, C.; Plucinski, L.; Schneider, C. M. [Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Peter Grünberg Institut (PGI-6), 52425 Jülich (Germany); Eich, S.; Emmerich, S.; Rollinger, M.; Aeschlimann, M. [University of Kaiserslautern and Research Center OPTIMAS, 67663 Kaiserslautern (Germany); Mathias, S. [Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, I. Physikalisches Institut, 37077 Göttingen (Germany)

    2016-04-15

    The fundamental mechanism responsible for optically induced magnetization dynamics in ferromagnetic thin films has been under intense debate since almost two decades. Currently, numerous competing theoretical models are in strong need for a decisive experimental confirmation such as monitoring the triggered changes in the spin-dependent band structure on ultrashort time scales. Our approach explores the possibility of observing femtosecond band structure dynamics by giving access to extended parts of the Brillouin zone in a simultaneously time-, energy- and spin-resolved photoemission experiment. For this purpose, our setup uses a state-of-the-art, highly efficient spin detector and ultrashort, extreme ultraviolet light pulses created by laser-based high-order harmonic generation. In this paper, we present the setup and first spin-resolved spectra obtained with our experiment within an acquisition time short enough to allow pump-probe studies. Further, we characterize the influence of the excitation with femtosecond extreme ultraviolet pulses by comparing the results with data acquired using a continuous wave light source with similar photon energy. In addition, changes in the spectra induced by vacuum space-charge effects due to both the extreme ultraviolet probe- and near-infrared pump-pulses are studied by analyzing the resulting spectral distortions. The combination of energy resolution and electron count rate achieved in our setup confirms its suitability for spin-resolved studies of the band structure on ultrashort time scales.

  6. Extremal black holes as exact string solutions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Horowitz, G.T.; Tseytlin, A.A.

    1994-01-01

    We show that the leading order solution describing an extremal electrically charged black hole in string theory is, in fact, an exact solution to all orders in α' when interpreted in a Kaluza-Klein fashion. This follows from the observation that it can be obtained via dimensional reduction from a five-dimensional background which is proved to be an exact string solution

  7. High-energy roller injuries to the upper extremity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Askins, G; Finley, R; Parenti, J; Bush, D; Brotman, S

    1986-12-01

    Eleven cases of high-energy industrial roller injuries treated between 1980 and 1984 were retrospectively reviewed. The dominant extremity was affected in nine. Six patients sustained fractures and/or dislocations, and three of these patients required fasciotomies for clinical signs of impending compartment syndromes. All fracture/dislocations, with the exception of a scapula fracture, anterior dislocation of a thumb interphalangeal joint, and a fractured coronoid process of the ulna, required open reduction with internal fixation. Three patients required split-thickness skin grafting for extensive skin degloving. Two patients required immediate amputation. Late sequelae included prolonged edema, nutritional depletion, neuroma formation of the superficial branch of the radial nerve, late carpal tunnel syndrome, and partial brachial plexus palsy. Industrial roller injuries continue to be an occupational hazard associated with more severe crushing trauma than the low-energy wringer washer injuries first described by MacCollum (11). Attention must be paid to the treatment of crushed skin, muscle, and nerves, fracture stabilization, nutritional support, and occupational therapy. Concurrent monitoring for signs of a developing compartment syndrome and complications of rhabdomyolysis is essential.

  8. Pyogenic Arthritis of the Ankle Joint Following a High-Voltage Electrical Burn in the Lower Extremity: A Case Report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Kuk Seon; Lee, Gyung Kyu; Kang, Ik Won; Hwang, Dae Hyun; Lee, Eil Seong; Min, Seon Jung; Han, You Mie [Dept. of Radiology, Hangang Scared Heart Hospital, Hallym University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Eil Seong [Dept.of Radiology, Gyeongju Hospital, Dongguk University College of Medicine, Gyeongju (Korea, Republic of)

    2011-04-15

    A high-voltage electrical burn caused extensive deep muscle injuries beneath a relatively small skin wound at the contact point. Hidden, undetected deep muscle injuries have a tendency for progressive tissue necrosis, which can lead to major amputations or sepsis. The radiologic features of this rare, sometimes life-threatening injury have occasionally been described in the literature. However, to the best of our knowledge, there have been no reports on a case of pyogenic arthritis of the ankle joint following a high-voltage electrical burn involving the lower extremity. We report a case of the pyogenic arthritis of the ankle joint following a high-voltage electrical burn involving the lower extremity.

  9. Extremely high efficiency phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes with horizontal emitting dipoles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Kwon-Hyeon; Moon, Chang-Ki; Lee, Jeong-Hwan; Kim, Jang-Joo

    2014-10-01

    We present the factors influencing the orientation of the phosphorescent dyes in phosphorescent OLEDs. And, we report that an OLED containing a phosphorescent emitter with horizontally oriented dipoles in an exciplex-forming co-host that exhibits an extremely high EQE of 32.3% and power efficiency of 142 lm/W, the highest values ever reported in literature. Furthermore, we experimentally and theoretically correlated the EQE of OLEDs to the PL quantum yield and the horizontal dipole ratio of phosphorescent dyes using three different dyes.

  10. Nitrogen accumulation and partitioning in a High Arctic tundra ecosystem from extreme atmospheric N deposition events

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Choudhary, Sonal, E-mail: S.Choudhary@sheffield.ac.uk [Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN (United Kingdom); Management School, University of Sheffield, Conduit Road, Sheffield S10 1FL (United Kingdom); Blaud, Aimeric [Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN (United Kingdom); Osborn, A. Mark [Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN (United Kingdom); School of Applied Sciences, RMIT University, PO Box 71, Bundoora, VIC 3083 (Australia); Press, Malcolm C. [School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT (United Kingdom); Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, M15 6BH (United Kingdom); Phoenix, Gareth K. [Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN (United Kingdom)

    2016-06-01

    Arctic ecosystems are threatened by pollution from recently detected extreme atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition events in which up to 90% of the annual N deposition can occur in just a few days. We undertook the first assessment of the fate of N from extreme deposition in High Arctic tundra and are presenting the results from the whole ecosystem {sup 15}N labelling experiment. In 2010, we simulated N depositions at rates of 0, 0.04, 0.4 and 1.2 g N m{sup −2} yr{sup −1}, applied as {sup 15}NH{sub 4}{sup 15}NO{sub 3} in Svalbard (79{sup °}N), during the summer. Separate applications of {sup 15}NO{sub 3}{sup −} and {sup 15}NH{sub 4}{sup +} were also made to determine the importance of N form in their retention. More than 95% of the total {sup 15}N applied was recovered after one growing season (~ 90% after two), demonstrating a considerable capacity of Arctic tundra to retain N from these deposition events. Important sinks for the deposited N, regardless of its application rate or form, were non-vascular plants > vascular plants > organic soil > litter > mineral soil, suggesting that non-vascular plants could be the primary component of this ecosystem to undergo measurable changes due to N enrichment from extreme deposition events. Substantial retention of N by soil microbial biomass (70% and 39% of {sup 15}N in organic and mineral horizon, respectively) during the initial partitioning demonstrated their capacity to act as effective buffers for N leaching. Between the two N forms, vascular plants (Salix polaris) in particular showed difference in their N recovery, incorporating four times greater {sup 15}NO{sub 3}{sup −} than {sup 15}NH{sub 4}{sup +}, suggesting deposition rich in nitrate will impact them more. Overall, these findings show that despite the deposition rates being extreme in statistical terms, biologically they do not exceed the capacity of tundra to sequester pollutant N during the growing season. Therefore, current and future extreme events

  11. Gender specific analysis of occupational diseases of the low back caused by carrying, lifting or extreme trunk flexion—use of a prevention index to identify occupations with high prevention needs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thiede, Markus; Liebers, Falk; Seidler, Andreas; Gravemeyer, Stefan; Latza, Ute

    2014-01-01

    Background Gender specific analysis of the occupational disease of the lumbar spine caused by carrying, lifting, or extreme trunk flexion in Germany (OD No.2108) with the aim to identify areas of focus for prevention and research with a prevention index (PI). Methods Data from the German Statutory Accident Insurance stratified by gender are shown. Results From 2002 until 2009 there were 2,877 confirmed cases of an OD No. 2108 (40.1% male and 59.1% female). The PI indicated the highest prevention need for female nursing/midwifery associate professionals and male building frame and related trades workers. Patient transfer and working in extremely bent posture were the most frequent exposures. Conclusions The identified occupations with high need for prevention among men come from nearly all major occupational groups whereas women cluster in occupational groups from the health and care sectors. Am. J. Ind. Med. 57:233–244, 2014. © 2013 The Authors. American Journal of Industrial Medicine Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. PMID:24243091

  12. Spatiotemporal distribution characteristics and attribution of extreme regional low temperature event

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Feng Tai-Chen; Zhang Ke-Quan; Wang Xiao-Juan; Zhang Wen-Yu; Su Hai-Jing; Gong Zhi-Qiang

    2015-01-01

    Based on an objective identification technique for regional low temperature event (OITRLTE), the daily minimum temperature in China has been detected from 1960 to 2013. During this period, there were 60 regional extreme low temperature events (ERLTEs), which are included in the 690 regional low temperature events (RLTEs). The 60 ERLTEs are analyzed in this paper. The results show that in the last 50 years, the intensity of the ERLTEs has become weak; the number of lasted days has decreased; and, the affected area has become small. However, that situation has changed in this century. In terms of spatial distribution, the high intensity regions are mainly in Northern China while the high frequency regions concentrate in Central and Eastern China. According to the affected area of each event, the 60 ERLTEs are classified into six types. The atmospheric circulation background fields which correspond to these types are also analyzed. The results show that, influenced by stronger blocking highs of Ural and Lake Baikal, as well as stronger southward polar vortex and East Asia major trough at 500-hPa geopotential height, cold air from high latitudes is guided to move southward and abnormal northerly winds at 850 hPa makes the cold air blow into China along diverse paths, thereby forming different types of regional extreme low temperatures in winter. (paper)

  13. Evaluation of trends in high temperature extremes in north-western Europe in regional climate models

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Min, E; Hazeleger, W; Van Oldenborgh, G J; Sterl, A

    2013-01-01

    Projections of future changes in weather extremes on the regional and local scale depend on a realistic representation of trends in extremes in regional climate models (RCMs). We have tested this assumption for moderate high temperature extremes (the annual maximum of the daily maximum 2 m temperature, T ann.max ). Linear trends in T ann.max from historical runs of 14 RCMs driven by atmospheric reanalysis data are compared with trends in gridded station data. The ensemble of RCMs significantly underestimates the observed trends over most of the north-western European land surface. Individual models do not fare much better, with even the best performing models underestimating observed trends over large areas. We argue that the inability of RCMs to reproduce observed trends is probably not due to errors in large-scale circulation. There is also no significant correlation between the RCM T ann.max trends and trends in radiation or Bowen ratio. We conclude that care should be taken when using RCM data for adaptation decisions. (letter)

  14. Lower extremity muscle activation during baseball pitching.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campbell, Brian M; Stodden, David F; Nixon, Megan K

    2010-04-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate muscle activation levels of select lower extremity muscles during the pitching motion. Bilateral surface electromyography data on 5 lower extremity muscles (biceps femoris, rectus femoris, gluteus maximus, vastus medialis, and gastrocnemius) were collected on 11 highly skilled baseball pitchers and compared with individual maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) data. The pitching motion was divided into 4 distinct phases: phase 1, initiation of pitching motion to maximum stride leg knee height; phase 2, maximum stride leg knee height to stride foot contact (SFC); phase 3, SFC to ball release; and phase 4, ball release to 0.5 seconds after ball release (follow-through). Results indicated that trail leg musculature elicited moderate to high activity levels during phases 2 and 3 (38-172% of MVIC). Muscle activity levels of the stride leg were moderate to high during phases 2-4 (23-170% of MVIC). These data indicate a high demand for lower extremity strength and endurance. Specifically, coaches should incorporate unilateral and bilateral lower extremity exercises for strength improvement or maintenance and to facilitate dynamic stabilization of the lower extremities during the pitching motion.

  15. The effects of extracorporeal shockwave on acute high-energy long bone fractures of the lower extremity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Ching-Jen; Liu, Hao-Chen; Fu, Te-Hu

    2007-02-01

    High-energy long bone fractures of the lower extremity are at risk of poor fracture healing and high rate of non-union. Extracorporeal shockwave was shown effective to heal non-union of long bone fracture. However, the effect of shockwave on acute fractures is unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of shockwave on acute high-energy fractures of the lower extremity. Between January and October 2004, 56 patients with 59 acute high-energy fractures were enrolled in this study. Patients were randomly divided into two groups with 28 patients with 28 fractures in the study group and 28 patients with 31 fractures in the control group. Both groups showed similar age, gender, type of fracture and follow-up time. Patients in the study group received open reduction and internal fixation and shockwave treatment immediately after surgery on odd-numbered days of the week, whereas, patients in the control group received open reduction and internal fixation without shockwave treatment on even-numbered days of the week. Postoperative managements were similarly performed in both groups including crutch walking with non-weight bearing on the affected limb until fracture healing shown on radiographs. The evaluation parameters included clinical assessments of pain score and weight bearing status of the affected leg and serial radiographs at 3, 6 and 12 months. The primary end-point is the rate of non-union at 12 months, and the secondary end point is the rate of fracture healing at 3, 6 and 12 months. At 12 months, the rate of non-union was 11% for the study group versus 20% for the control group (P fracture healing was noted in the study group than the control group at 3, 6 and 12 months (P fracture healing and decreasing the rate of non-union in acute high-energy fractures of the lower extremity.

  16. Correlation Among Students’ Family Background, Academic Performance in Junior High School, and Senior High School Tracking in Taiwan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ming-Fu Huang

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available There were numerous previous studies on educational tracking. However, most of the data adopted in these studies were collected a decade ago, involving sample population 20-64 years of age. Among them, many elderly samples had undergone senior high school tracking in the early years. The present study used the data of students and parents from the 3rd wave (2005 of the Taiwan Education Panel Survey (TEPS. A path analysis was conducted to investigate the inequality of opportunities involved in the influence of student family background on educational tracking at the senior high school stage. The results show: although the overall percentage of junior high school graduates entering advanced levels was approximately 100% and almost all students of different family backgrounds entered advanced levels, the most crucial factor among those affecting educational tracking of senior high school stage was students’ academic performance during junior high school. Students with higher family socioeconomic status and fewer siblings showed better academic performance in junior high schools, and consequently had higher possibilities of entering public senior high schools leading to a more promising future. This indicates that though the inequality in the quantity of opportunities approached 0, the inequality in the quality of opportunities still remained, which fails to support the hypothesis of the maximally maintained inequality of educational opportunity (MMI; however, the result supports the hypothesis of the effectively maintained inequality of educational opportunity (EMI.

  17. Real-time visual biofeedback during weight bearing improves therapy compliance in patients following lower extremity fractures

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Raaben, Marco; Holtslag, Herman R; Leenen, Luke P H; Augustine, Robin; Blokhuis, Taco J

    BACKGROUND: Individuals with lower extremity fractures are often instructed on how much weight to bear on the affected extremity. Previous studies have shown limited therapy compliance in weight bearing during rehabilitation. In this study we investigated the effect of real-time visual biofeedback

  18. Study on extreme high temperature of cooling water in Chinese coastal nuclear power plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yu Fan; Jiang Ziying

    2012-01-01

    In order to protect aquatic life from the harmful effects of thermal discharge, the appropriate water temperature limits or the scope of the mixing zone is a key issue in the regulatory control of the environmental impact of thermal discharge. Based on the sea surface temperature in the Chinese coastal waters, the extreme value of the seawater temperature change was analyzed by using the Gumbel model. The limit of the design temperature rise of cooling water in the outfall is 9 ℃, and the limit of the temperature rise of cooling water in the edge of the mixing zone is 4 ℃. The extreme high temperature of the cooling water in Chinese coastal nuclear power plant is 37 ℃ in the Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, and is 40 ℃ in East China Sea, South China Sea. (authors)

  19. Radon-thoron exposures in high background radiation areas: a review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nambi, K.S.

    1994-01-01

    The radon-thoron measurements reported in literature for the high background radiation areas (HBRAs) of the world are summarised here. The most important areas covered are the Radon Spas and the thorium bearing monazite deposits. Special mention is made of the ongoing programmes of radon-thoron survey in the monazite beach areas of India; preliminary measurements indicate significant levels of thoron exposures. The diurnal and seasonal variations are quite wide underscoring the importance of carrying out integrated measurements for meaningful assessments of population exposures. Radon-thoron inhalation dose rates upto 30 mSv/y have been measured in lran as well as India. It has been generally observed that the cumulative population doses due to radon-thoron inhalation are as high as those due to the external exposures in these HBRAs. (author). 7 refs., 2 tabs., 3 figs

  20. Detection and Attribution of Climate Change : From global mean temperature change to climate extremes and high impact weather.

    CERN Multimedia

    CERN. Geneva

    2013-01-01

    This talk will describe how evidence has grown in recent years for a human influence on climate and explain how the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that it is extremely likely (>95% probability) that human influence on climate has been the dominant cause of the observed global-mean warming since the mid-20th century. The fingerprint of human activities has also been detected in warming of the ocean, in changes in the global water cycle, in reductions in snow and ice, and in changes in some climate extremes. The strengthening of evidence for the effects of human influence on climate extremes is in line with long-held basic understanding of the consequences of mean warming for temperature extremes and for atmospheric moisture. Despite such compelling evidence this does not mean that every instance of high impact weather can be attributed to anthropogenic climate change, because climate variability is often a major factor in many locations, especially for rain...

  1. Complex Plasma Research Under Extreme Conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ishihara, Osamu

    2008-01-01

    Complex plasma research under extreme conditions is described. The extreme conditions include low-dimensionality for self-organized structures of dust particles, dust magnetization in high magnetic field, criticality in phase transition, and cryogenic environment for Coulomb crystals and dust dynamics.

  2. Investigation and analysis of etiology of down's syndrome in children of high background radiation area

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zha Yongru

    1985-01-01

    In order to find out what caused the differences in incidences of Down's syndrome between the children in high background radiation area and those in control area, investigation and analysis were carried ou in 5 aspects based on the original data and the information from the previous survey. These are: the incidences of congenital malformations in normal areas, the age distribution of children examined, the maternal age, the dates of birth of afflicted children, and the radiation exposure of mothers. The results suggested that the higher incidence of Down's syndrome in high background area might be related to the materal age. Further studies are needed to arrive at a conclusion

  3. High-resolution projections of mean and extreme precipitations over China through PRECIS under RCPs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Jinxin; Huang, Gordon; Wang, Xiuquan; Cheng, Guanhui; Wu, Yinghui

    2018-06-01

    The impact of global warming on the characteristics of mean and extreme precipitations over China is investigated by using the Providing REgional Climate Impacts for Studies (PRECIS) model. The PRECIS model was driven by the Hadley Centre Global Environment Model version 2 with Earth System components and coupling (HadGEM2-ES). The results of both models are analyzed in terms of mean precipitation and indices of precipitation extremes (R95p, R99p, SDII, WDF, and CWD) over China at the resolution of 25 km under the Representative Concentration Pathways 4.5 and 8.5 (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) scenarios for the baseline period (1976-2005) and two future periods (2036-2065 and 2070-2099). With improved resolution, the PRECIS model is able to better represent the fine-scale physical process than HadGEM2-ES. It can provide reliable spatial patterns of precipitation and its related extremes with high correlations to observations. Moreover, there is a notable improvement in temporal patterns simulation through the PRECIS model. The PRECIS model better reproduces the regional annual cycle and frequencies of daily precipitation intensity than its driving GCM. Under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, both the HadGEM2-ES and the precis project increasing annual precipitation over the entire country for two future periods. Precipitation increase in winter is greater than the increase in summer. The results suggest that increased radiative forcing from RCP4.5 to RCP8.5 would further intensify the magnitude of projected precipitation changes by both PRECIS and HadGEM2-ES. For example, some parts of south China with decreased precipitation under RCP4.5 would expect even less precipitation under RCP8.5; regions (northwest, northcentral and northeast China) with increased precipitation under RCP4.5 would expect more precipitation under RCP8.5. Apart from the projected increase in annual total precipitation, the results also suggest that there will be an increase in the days with precipitation higher than

  4. Extreme Unconditional Dependence Vs. Multivariate GARCH Effect in the Analysis of Dependence Between High Losses on Polish and German Stock Indexes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rokita, Pawel

    Classical portfolio diversification methods do not take account of any dependence between extreme returns (losses). Many researchers provide, however, some empirical evidence for various assets that extreme-losses co-occur. If the co-occurrence is frequent enough to be statistically significant, it may seriously influence portfolio risk. Such effects may result from a few different properties of financial time series, like for instance: (1) extreme dependence in a (long-term) unconditional distribution, (2) extreme dependence in subsequent conditional distributions, (3) time-varying conditional covariance, (4) time-varying (long-term) unconditional covariance, (5) market contagion. Moreover, a mix of these properties may be present in return time series. Modeling each of them requires different approaches. It seams reasonable to investigate whether distinguishing between the properties is highly significant for portfolio risk measurement. If it is, identifying the effect responsible for high loss co-occurrence would be of a great importance. If it is not, the best solution would be selecting the easiest-to-apply model. This article concentrates on two of the aforementioned properties: extreme dependence (in a long-term unconditional distribution) and time-varying conditional covariance.

  5. Aluminum as a source of background in low background experiments

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Majorovits, B., E-mail: bela@mppmu.mpg.de [MPI fuer Physik, Foehringer Ring 6, 80805 Munich (Germany); Abt, I. [MPI fuer Physik, Foehringer Ring 6, 80805 Munich (Germany); Laubenstein, M. [Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, INFN, S.S.17/bis, km 18 plus 910, I-67100 Assergi (Italy); Volynets, O. [MPI fuer Physik, Foehringer Ring 6, 80805 Munich (Germany)

    2011-08-11

    Neutrinoless double beta decay would be a key to understanding the nature of neutrino masses. The next generation of High Purity Germanium experiments will have to be operated with a background rate of better than 10{sup -5} counts/(kg y keV) in the region of interest around the Q-value of the decay. Therefore, so far irrelevant sources of background have to be considered. The metalization of the surface of germanium detectors is in general done with aluminum. The background from the decays of {sup 22}Na, {sup 26}Al, {sup 226}Ra and {sup 228}Th introduced by this metalization is discussed. It is shown that only a special selection of aluminum can keep these background contributions acceptable.

  6. High current density ion beam obtained by a transition to a highly focused state in extremely low-energy region

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hirano, Y., E-mail: y.hirano@aist.go.jp, E-mail: hirano.yoichi@phys.cst.nihon-u.ac.jp [Innovative Plasma Processing Group, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8568 (Japan); College of Science and Technologies, Nihon University, Chiyodaku, Tokyo 101-0897 (Japan); Kiyama, S.; Koguchi, H. [Innovative Plasma Processing Group, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8568 (Japan); Fujiwara, Y.; Sakakita, H. [Innovative Plasma Processing Group, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8568 (Japan); Department of Engineering Mechanics and Energy, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8577 (Japan)

    2015-11-15

    A high current density (≈3 mA/cm{sup 2}) hydrogen ion beam source operating in an extremely low-energy region (E{sub ib} ≈ 150–200 eV) has been realized by using a transition to a highly focused state, where the beam is extracted from the ion source chamber through three concave electrodes with nominal focal lengths of ≈350 mm. The transition occurs when the beam energy exceeds a threshold value between 145 and 170 eV. Low-level hysteresis is observed in the transition when E{sub ib} is being reduced. The radial profiles of the ion beam current density and the low temperature ion current density can be obtained separately using a Faraday cup with a grid in front. The measured profiles confirm that more than a half of the extracted beam ions reaches the target plate with a good focusing profile with a full width at half maximum of ≈3 cm. Estimation of the particle balances in beam ions, the slow ions, and the electrons indicates the possibility that the secondary electron emission from the target plate and electron impact ionization of hydrogen may play roles as particle sources in this extremely low-energy beam after the compensation of beam ion space charge.

  7. ACUTE EFFECTS OF STATIC STRETCHING, DYNAMIC EXERCISES, AND HIGH VOLUME UPPER EXTREMITY PLYOMETRIC ACTIVITY ON TENNIS SERVE PERFORMANCE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ertugrul Gelen

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to compare the acute effects of static stretching; dynamic exercises and high volume upper extremity plyometric activity on tennis serve performance. Twenty-six elite young tennis players (15.1 ± 4.2 years, 167.9 ± 5.8 cm and 61.6 ± 8.1 kg performed 4 different warm-up (WU routines in a random order on non-consecutive days. The WU methods consisted of traditional WU (jogging, rally and serve practice (TRAD; traditional WU and static stretching (TRSS; traditional WU and dynamic exercise (TRDE; and traditional WU and high volume upper extremity plyometric activity (TRPLYP. Following each WU session, subjects were tested on a tennis serve ball speed test. TRAD, TRSS, TRDE and TRPLYO were compared by repeated measurement analyses of variance and post-hoc comparisons. In this study a 1 to 3 percent increase in tennis serve ball speed was recorded in TRDE and TRPLYO when compared to TRAD (p 0.05. ICCs for ball speed showed strong reliability (0.82 to 0.93 for the ball speed measurements.The results of this study indicate that dynamic and high volume upper extremity plyometric WU activities are likely beneficial to serve speed of elite junior tennis players.

  8. Quantitative methods for stochastic high frequency spatio-temporal and non-linear analysis: Assessing health effects of exposure to extreme ambient temperature

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liss, Alexander

    Extreme weather events, such as heat waves and cold spells, cause substantial excess mortality and morbidity in the vulnerable elderly population, and cost billions of dollars. The accurate and reliable assessment of adverse effects of extreme weather events on human health is crucial for environmental scientists, economists, and public health officials to ensure proper protection of vulnerable populations and efficient allocation of scarce resources. However, the methodology for the analysis of large national databases is yet to be developed. The overarching objective of this dissertation is to examine the effect of extreme weather on the elderly population of the Conterminous US (ConUS) with respect to seasonality in temperature in different climatic regions by utilizing heterogeneous high frequency and spatio-temporal resolution data. To achieve these goals the author: 1) incorporated dissimilar stochastic high frequency big data streams and distinct data types into the integrated data base for use in analytical and decision support frameworks; 2) created an automated climate regionalization system based on remote sensing and machine learning to define climate regions for the Conterminous US; 3) systematically surveyed the current state of the art and identified existing gaps in the scientific knowledge; 4) assessed the dose-response relationship of exposure to temperature extremes on human health in relatively homogeneous climate regions using different statistical models, such as parametric and non-parametric, contemporaneous and asynchronous, applied to the same data; 5) assessed seasonal peak timing and synchronization delay of the exposure and the disease within the framework of contemporaneous high frequency harmonic time series analysis and modification of the effect by the regional climate; 6) modeled using hyperbolic functional form non-linear properties of the effect of exposure to extreme temperature on human health. The proposed climate

  9. QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF EXTREMAL PROBLEMS IN ARBITRARY DOMAINS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Samokhin Mikhail Vasilevich

    2012-10-01

    The author considers the problems concerning where B is either a unit sphere in the (D space or one of the classes , p>1. He shows the possibility of the results concerning the characteristic of extreme functions, their uniqueness, the possilble presentation of the functions from the classes and with the use of the Cauchy-Stieltjes integrals in the component of the D\\ suppµ set and the boundary behavior of an extreme function from the (D class. One should note that the given mathematical system can be implemented for making decisions in the field of construction engineering and structural analysis, it can provide research assistants and engineers with the background necessary for developing sound solutions and rational proposals.

  10. Improved Survival With Radiation Therapy in High-Grade Soft Tissue Sarcomas of the Extremities: A SEER Analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koshy, Matthew; Rich, Shayna E.; Mohiuddin, Majid M.

    2010-01-01

    Purpose: The benefit of radiation therapy in extremity soft tissue sarcomas remains controversial. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of radiation therapy on overall survival among patients with primary soft tissue sarcomas of the extremity who underwent limb-sparing surgery. Methods and Materials: A retrospective study from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database that included data from January 1, 1988, to December 31, 2005. A total of 6,960 patients constituted the study population. Overall survival curves were constructed using the Kaplan-Meir method and for patients with low- and high-grade tumors. Hazard ratios were calculated based on multivariable Cox proportional hazards models. Results: Of the cohort, 47% received radiation therapy. There was no significant difference in overall survival among patients with low-grade tumors by radiation therapy. In high-grade tumors, the 3-year overall survival was 73% in patients who received radiation therapy vs. 63% for those who did not receive radiation therapy (p < 0.001). On multivariate analysis, patients with high-grade tumors who received radiation therapy had an improved overall survival (hazard ratio 0.67, 95% confidence interval 0.57-0.79). In patients receiving radiation therapy, 13.5% received it in a neoadjuvant setting. The incidence of patients receiving neoadjuvant radiation did not change significantly between 1988 and 2005. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the largest population-based study reported in patients undergoing limb-sparing surgery for soft tissue sarcomas of the extremities. It reports that radiation was associated with improved survival in patients with high-grade tumors.

  11. Mitigation of houses with extremely high indoor radon concentrations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jiranek, M.; Neznal, M.

    2006-01-01

    Full text of publication follows: The paper reports on the experience of the Czech Technical University in dealing with mitigation of houses in which unusually high indoor radon concentrations were found. The whole process of remediation is illustrated by example of an old single-family house that was built in the area formed by highly permeable soils with high radon content in the soil air. T he house has a small cellar located under 1/5 of the ground floor area. Two types of floors, i.e. timber floors and cracked concrete slabs were found in the house. As a result of extremely high radon concentration in the sub-floor region (up to 600 kBq/m 3 ) and leaky structures in contact with soil, radon concentrations around 100 kBq/m 3 in the cellar and up to 60 kBq/m 3 in the living rooms on the ground floor were measured prior to mitigation. Mitigation measures that were carried out in the house consist of reconstruction of timber floors and installation of active soil depressurization. Timber floors were replaced with concrete slab fitted with damp proof membrane, thermal insulation and floor covering. The soil depressurization system was made up of two sections. The first section is composed of the network of perforated pipes inserted in the drainage layer placed under the new floors and four perforated tubes drilled under the existing floors. The soil air from this section is extracted by means of a roof fan installed at the top of the vertical exhaust pipe running inside the living space and terminating above the roof. The second section was designed to withdraw by means of a small fan radon-laden air from the filling in the floor above the cellar and from perforated tubes drilled into the sub-floor region under the rooms adjacent to the cellar. It serves also for the active ventilation of the cellar. Pressure, temperature and radon concentration sensors were installed into the drainage layer during the reconstruction of floors to record variations in these

  12. Crenarchaeal biofilm formation under extreme conditions.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrea Koerdt

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Biofilm formation has been studied in much detail for a variety of bacterial species, as it plays a major role in the pathogenicity of bacteria. However, only limited information is available for the development of archaeal communities that are frequently found in many natural environments. METHODOLOGY: We have analyzed biofilm formation in three closely related hyperthermophilic crenarchaeotes: Sulfolobus acidocaldarius, S. solfataricus and S. tokodaii. We established a microtitre plate assay adapted to high temperatures to determine how pH and temperature influence biofilm formation in these organisms. Biofilm analysis by confocal laser scanning microscopy demonstrated that the three strains form very different communities ranging from simple carpet-like structures in S. solfataricus to high density tower-like structures in S. acidocaldarius in static systems. Lectin staining indicated that all three strains produced extracellular polysaccharides containing glucose, galactose, mannose and N-acetylglucosamine once biofilm formation was initiated. While flagella mutants had no phenotype in two days old static biofilms of S. solfataricus, a UV-induced pili deletion mutant showed decreased attachment of cells. CONCLUSION: The study gives first insights into formation and development of crenarchaeal biofilms in extreme environments.

  13. Background reduction in the SNO+ experiment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Segui, L. [University of Oxford, Denys Wilkinson Building, Keble Road, OX1 Oxford (United Kingdom)

    2015-08-17

    SNO+ is a large multi-purpose liquid scintillator experiment, which first aim is to detect the neutrinoless double beta decay of {sup 130}Te. It is placed at SNOLAB, at 6000 m.w.e. and it is based on the SNO infrastructure. SNO+ will contain approximately 780 tonnes of liquid scintillator, loaded with {sup 130}Te inside an acrylic vessel (AV) with an external volume of ultra pure water to reduce the external backgrounds. Light produced in the scintillator by the interaction of particles will be detected with about 9,000 photomultiplier’s. For the neutrinoless double beta decay phase, due to its the extremely low rate expected, the control, knowledge and reduction of the background is essential. Moreover, it will also benefit other phases of the experiment focused on the study of solar neutrinos, nucleon decay, geoneutrinos and supernovae. In order to reduce the internal background level, a novel purification technique for tellurium loaded scintillators has been developed by the collaboration that reduces the U/Th concentration and several cosmic-activated isotopes by at least a factor 10{sup 2} -10{sup 3} in a single pass. In addition, different rejection techniques have been developed for the remaining internal backgrounds based on Monte-Carlo simulations. In this work, the scintillator purification technique and the levels obtained with it will be discussed. Furthermore, an overview of the different backgrounds for the double-beta phase will be presented, highlighting some of the techniques developed to reject the remained decays based on their expected timing differences.

  14. Warmer and wetter winters: characteristics and implications of an extreme weather event in the High Arctic

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hansen, Brage B; Isaksen, Ketil; Benestad, Rasmus E; Kohler, Jack; Pedersen, Åshild Ø; Loe, Leif E; Coulson, Stephen J; Larsen, Jan Otto; Varpe, Øystein

    2014-01-01

    One predicted consequence of global warming is an increased frequency of extreme weather events, such as heat waves, droughts, or heavy rainfalls. In parts of the Arctic, extreme warm spells and heavy rain-on-snow (ROS) events in winter are already more frequent. How these weather events impact snow-pack and permafrost characteristics is rarely documented empirically, and the implications for wildlife and society are hence far from understood. Here we characterize and document the effects of an extreme warm spell and ROS event that occurred in High Arctic Svalbard in January–February 2012, during the polar night. In this normally cold semi-desert environment, we recorded above-zero temperatures (up to 7 °C) across the entire archipelago and record-breaking precipitation, with up to 98 mm rainfall in one day (return period of >500 years prior to this event) and 272 mm over the two-week long warm spell. These precipitation amounts are equivalent to 25 and 70% respectively of the mean annual total precipitation. The extreme event caused significant increase in permafrost temperatures down to at least 5 m depth, induced slush avalanches with resultant damage to infrastructure, and left a significant ground-ice cover (∼5–20 cm thick basal ice). The ground-ice not only affected inhabitants by closing roads and airports as well as reducing mobility and thereby tourism income, but it also led to high starvation-induced mortality in all monitored populations of the wild reindeer by blocking access to the winter food source. Based on empirical-statistical downscaling of global climate models run under the moderate RCP4.5 emission scenario, we predict strong future warming with average mid-winter temperatures even approaching 0 °C, suggesting increased frequency of ROS. This will have far-reaching implications for Arctic ecosystems and societies through the changes in snow-pack and permafrost properties. (letter)

  15. Warmer and wetter winters: characteristics and implications of an extreme weather event in the High Arctic

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hansen, Brage B.; Isaksen, Ketil; Benestad, Rasmus E.; Kohler, Jack; Pedersen, Åshild Ø.; Loe, Leif E.; Coulson, Stephen J.; Larsen, Jan Otto; Varpe, Øystein

    2014-11-01

    One predicted consequence of global warming is an increased frequency of extreme weather events, such as heat waves, droughts, or heavy rainfalls. In parts of the Arctic, extreme warm spells and heavy rain-on-snow (ROS) events in winter are already more frequent. How these weather events impact snow-pack and permafrost characteristics is rarely documented empirically, and the implications for wildlife and society are hence far from understood. Here we characterize and document the effects of an extreme warm spell and ROS event that occurred in High Arctic Svalbard in January-February 2012, during the polar night. In this normally cold semi-desert environment, we recorded above-zero temperatures (up to 7 °C) across the entire archipelago and record-breaking precipitation, with up to 98 mm rainfall in one day (return period of >500 years prior to this event) and 272 mm over the two-week long warm spell. These precipitation amounts are equivalent to 25 and 70% respectively of the mean annual total precipitation. The extreme event caused significant increase in permafrost temperatures down to at least 5 m depth, induced slush avalanches with resultant damage to infrastructure, and left a significant ground-ice cover (˜5-20 cm thick basal ice). The ground-ice not only affected inhabitants by closing roads and airports as well as reducing mobility and thereby tourism income, but it also led to high starvation-induced mortality in all monitored populations of the wild reindeer by blocking access to the winter food source. Based on empirical-statistical downscaling of global climate models run under the moderate RCP4.5 emission scenario, we predict strong future warming with average mid-winter temperatures even approaching 0 °C, suggesting increased frequency of ROS. This will have far-reaching implications for Arctic ecosystems and societies through the changes in snow-pack and permafrost properties.

  16. Probing the origin of cosmic-rays with extremely high energy neutrinos using the IceCube Observatory

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Aartsen, M.G.; Abbasi, R.; Ackermann, M.

    2013-01-01

    originate from cosmogenic neutrinos produced in the interactions of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays with ambient photons while propagating through intergalactic space. Exploiting IceCube’s large exposure for extremely high energy neutrinos and the lack of observed events above 100 PeV, we can rule out...

  17. Prospect for extreme field science

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tajima, T. [Ludwig Maximilian Univ. and Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics, Garching (Germany); Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Kyoto and KEK, Tsukuba (Japan)

    2009-11-15

    The kind of laser extreme light infrastructure (ELI) provides will usher in a class of experiments we have only dreamed of for years. The characteristics that ELI brings in include: the highest intensity ever, large fluence, and relatively high repetition rate. A personal view of the author on the prospect of harnessing this unprecedented opportunity for advancing science of extreme fields is presented. The first characteristic of ELI, its intensity, will allow us to access, as many have stressed already, extreme fields that hover around the Schwinger field or at the very least the neighboring fields in which vacuum begins to behave as a nonlinear medium. In this sense, we are seriously probing the 'material' property of vacuum and thus the property that theory of relativity itself described and will entail. We will probe both special theory and general theory of relativity in regimes that have been never tested so far. We may see a glimpse into the reach of relativity or even its breakdown in some extreme regimes. We will learn Einstein and may even go beyond Einstein, if our journey is led. Laser-driven acceleration both by the laser field itself and by the wakefield that is triggered in a plasma is huge. Energies, if not luminosity, we can access, may be unprecedented going far beyond TeV. The nice thing about ELI is that it has relatively high repetition rate and average fluence as compared with other extreme lasers. This high fluence can be a key element that leads to applications to high energy physics, such as gamma-gamma collider driver experiment, and some gamma ray experiments that may be relevant in the frontier of photo-nuclear physics, and atomic energy applications. Needless to say, high fluence is one of most important features that industrial and medical applications may need. If we are lucky, we may see a door opens at the frontier of novel physics that may not be available by any other means. (authors)

  18. Critical exponents of extremal Kerr perturbations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gralla, Samuel E.; Zimmerman, Peter

    2018-05-01

    We show that scalar, electromagnetic, and gravitational perturbations of extremal Kerr black holes are asymptotically self-similar under the near-horizon, late-time scaling symmetry of the background metric. This accounts for the Aretakis instability (growth of transverse derivatives) as a critical phenomenon associated with the emergent symmetry. We compute the critical exponent of each mode, which is equivalent to its decay rate. It follows from symmetry arguments that, despite the growth of transverse derivatives, all generally covariant scalar quantities decay to zero.

  19. How Heart Valves Evolve to Adapt to an Extreme-Pressure System

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Amstrup Funder, Jonas; Christian Danielsen, Carl; Baandrup, Ulrik

    2017-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Heart valves which exist naturally in an extreme-pressure system must have evolved in a way to resist the stresses of high pressure. Giraffes are interesting as they naturally have a blood pressure twice that of humans. Thus, knowledge regarding giraffe heart valves may aid...... in developing techniques to design improved pressure-resistant biological heart valves. METHODS: Heart valves from 12 giraffes and 10 calves were explanted and subjected to either biomechanical or morphological examinations. Strips from the heart valves were subjected to cyclic loading tests, followed...... in giraffes than in calves, which would make giraffe valves more resistant to the high-pressure forces. However, collagen also stiffens and thickens the valves. The mitral leaflets showed similar (but mostly insignificant) trends in strength, stiffness, and collagen content....

  20. Background sources at PEP

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lynch, H.; Schwitters, R.F.; Toner, W.T.

    1988-01-01

    Important sources of background for PEP experiments are studied. Background particles originate from high-energy electrons and positrons which have been lost from stable orbits, γ-rays emitted by the primary beams through bremsstrahlung in the residual gas, and synchrotron radiation x-rays. The effect of these processes on the beam lifetime are calculated and estimates of background rates at the interaction region are given. Recommendations for the PEP design, aimed at minimizing background are presented. 7 figs., 4 tabs

  1. Structural studies of disordered materials using high-energy x-ray diffraction from ambient to extreme conditions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kohara, Shinji [Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (SPring-8/JASRI), 1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo, Hyogo 679-5198 (Japan); Itou, Masayoshi [Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (SPring-8/JASRI), 1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo, Hyogo 679-5198 (Japan); Suzuya, Kentaro [Japan Atomic Energy Agency (J-PARC/JAEA), Tokai, Naka, Ibaraki 319-1195 (Japan); Inamura, Yasuhiro [Japan Atomic Energy Agency (J-PARC/JAEA), Tokai, Naka, Ibaraki 319-1195 (Japan); Sakurai, Yoshiharu [Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (SPring-8/JASRI), 1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo, Hyogo 679-5198 (Japan); Ohishi, Yasuo [Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (SPring-8/JASRI), 1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo, Hyogo 679-5198 (Japan); Takata, Masaki [Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (SPring-8/JASRI), 1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo, Hyogo 679-5198 (Japan)

    2007-12-19

    High-energy x-rays from a synchrotron radiation source allow us to obtain high-quality diffraction data for disordered materials from ambient to extreme conditions, which is necessary for revealing the detailed structures of glass, liquid and amorphous materials. We introduced high-energy x-ray diffraction beamlines and a dedicated diffractometer for glass, liquid and amorphous materials at SPring-8 and report the recent developments of ancillary equipment. Furthermore, the structures of liquid and amorphous materials determined from the high-energy x-ray diffraction data obtained at SPring-8 are discussed.

  2. Resolving the Origin of the Diffuse Soft X-ray Background

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Randall K.; Foster, Adam R.; Edgar, Ricard J.; Brickhouse, Nancy S.; Sanders, Wilton T.

    2012-01-01

    In January 1993, the Diffuse X-ray Spectrometer (DXS) measured the first high-resolution spectrum of the diffuse soft X-ray background between 44-80A. A line-dominated spectrum characteristic of a 10(exp 6)K collisionally ionized plasma' was expected but while the observed spectrum was clearly line-dominated, no model would fit. Then in 2003 the Cosmic Hot Interstellar Plasma Spectrometer (CHIPS) launched and observed the diffuse extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) spectrum between 90- 265A. Although many emission lines were again expected; only Fe IX at 171.1A was detected. The discovery of X-rays from comets led to the realization that heavy ions (Z=6-28) in the solar wind will emit soft X-rays as the ions interact via charge exchange with neutral atoms in the heliosphere and geocorona. Using a new model for solar wind charge exchange (SWCX) emission, we show that the diffuse soft X-ray background can be understood as a combination of emission from charge exchange onto the slow and fast solar wind together with a more distant and diffuse hot (10(exp 6)K) plasma.

  3. Down's syndrome and related abnormalities in an area of high background radiation in coastal Kerala

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kochupillai, N.; Verma, I.C.; Grewal, M.S.; Ramalingaswami, V.

    1976-01-01

    It is stated that in a coastal area of Kerala, Southern India, the background radiation is between 1500 and 3000 mR/yr, this being due to the presence of Th-containing monazite mineral in the soil. During an epidemiological study of modular lesions of the thyroid in this area an apparently high prevalence of Down's syndrome and other forms of severe mental retardation was observed. A house-to-house survey of relevant abnormalities in this area was made, and also in a comparable control area without high background radiation. The frequency of chromosome aberrations in a sample of the population in the study and control areas was also investigated. The observations support the view that radiation induces genetic anomalies occur with above average frequency in the population living in the area with high background radiation. Only gross abnormalities evident in clinical examination were recorded. The study and control populations were similar in age and sex structure and general sociologic conditions. Severe mental retardation was the commonest abnormality encountered, and 85% of the abnormalities detected in the study population were genetic in origin, compared with 56% in the control population. Prevalence of Down's syndrome was 0.93 per 1000 in the study population. (U.K.)

  4. Peculiar velocity effects in high-resolution microwave background experiments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Challinor, Anthony; Leeuwen, Floor van

    2002-01-01

    We investigate the impact of peculiar velocity effects due to the motion of the solar system relative to the cosmic microwave background (CMB) on high resolution CMB experiments. It is well known that on the largest angular scales the combined effects of Doppler shifts and aberration are important; the lowest Legendre multipoles of total intensity receive power from the large CMB monopole in transforming from the CMB frame. On small angular scales aberration dominates and is shown here to lead to significant distortions of the total intensity and polarization multipoles in transforming from the rest frame of the CMB to the frame of the solar system. We provide convenient analytic results for the distortions as series expansions in the relative velocity of the two frames, but at the highest resolutions a numerical quadrature is required. Although many of the high resolution multipoles themselves are severely distorted by the frame transformations, we show that their statistical properties distort by only an insignificant amount. Therefore, the cosmological parameter estimation is insensitive to the transformation from the CMB frame (where theoretical predictions are calculated) to the rest frame of the experiment

  5. Health effects in residents of high background radiation regions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hanson, G.P.; Komarov, E.

    1983-01-01

    Studies carried out in various countries and by the World Health Organization on health effects of exposure of populations to high levels of natural background radiation result in observations of different significance. There are indications of changes in chromosome aberration rate; Down's syndrome has been observed to be possibly related to radiation exposure; malignant neoplasms in bone apparently correspond to high concentrations of 226 Ra in drinking water. Although various researchers have looked for them, effects have not been demonstrated regarding cancer mortality (other than malignant neoplasms involving bone), gross congenital abnormalities, fertility index, growth and development, hereditary disease (other than the possibility of Down's syndrome), infant mortality, longevity, multiple births, sex ratio, or spontaneous abortion rate. On the basis of reported data clear quantitative conception of the risk of low-level radiation from natural sources could not be developed and feasibility studies of further epidemiological programmes should be organized. The possibility of reducing the collective population dose from natural sources could be further explored and a basis for necessary legal action on establishment of standards for possible sources of natural radiation, such as building materials, fertilizers, natural gas and water, might be developed. (author)

  6. Statistical Model of Extreme Shear

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Gunner Chr.; Hansen, Kurt Schaldemose

    2004-01-01

    In order to continue cost-optimisation of modern large wind turbines, it is important to continously increase the knowledge on wind field parameters relevant to design loads. This paper presents a general statistical model that offers site-specific prediction of the probability density function...... by a model that, on a statistically consistent basis, describe the most likely spatial shape of an extreme wind shear event. Predictions from the model have been compared with results from an extreme value data analysis, based on a large number of high-sampled full-scale time series measurements...... are consistent, given the inevitabel uncertainties associated with model as well as with the extreme value data analysis. Keywords: Statistical model, extreme wind conditions, statistical analysis, turbulence, wind loading, statistical analysis, turbulence, wind loading, wind shear, wind turbines....

  7. Using extreme value theory approaches to forecast the probability of outbreak of highly pathogenic influenza in Zhejiang, China.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiangpeng Chen

    Full Text Available Influenza is a contagious disease with high transmissibility to spread around the world with considerable morbidity and mortality and presents an enormous burden on worldwide public health. Few mathematical models can be used because influenza incidence data are generally not normally distributed. We developed a mathematical model using Extreme Value Theory (EVT to forecast the probability of outbreak of highly pathogenic influenza.The incidence data of highly pathogenic influenza in Zhejiang province from April 2009 to November 2013 were retrieved from the website of Health and Family Planning Commission of Zhejiang Province. MATLAB "VIEM" toolbox was used to analyze data and modelling. In the present work, we used the Peak Over Threshold (POT model, assuming the frequency as a Poisson process and the intensity to be Pareto distributed, to characterize the temporal variability of the long-term extreme incidence of highly pathogenic influenza in Zhejiang, China.The skewness and kurtosis of the incidence of highly pathogenic influenza in Zhejiang between April 2009 and November 2013 were 4.49 and 21.12, which indicated a "fat tail" distribution. A QQ plot and a mean excess plot were used to further validate the features of the distribution. After determining the threshold, we modeled the extremes and estimated the shape parameter and scale parameter by the maximum likelihood method. The results showed that months in which the incidence of highly pathogenic influenza is about 4462/2286/1311/487 are predicted to occur once every five/three/two/one year, respectively.Despite the simplicity, the present study successfully offers the sound modeling strategy and a methodological avenue to implement forecasting of an epidemic in the midst of its course.

  8. Foundations of high-energy-density physics physical processes of matter at extreme conditions

    CERN Document Server

    Larsen, Jon

    2017-01-01

    High-energy-density physics explores the dynamics of matter at extreme conditions. This encompasses temperatures and densities far greater than we experience on Earth. It applies to normal stars, exploding stars, active galaxies, and planetary interiors. High-energy-density matter is found on Earth in the explosion of nuclear weapons and in laboratories with high-powered lasers or pulsed-power machines. The physics explored in this book is the basis for large-scale simulation codes needed to interpret experimental results whether from astrophysical observations or laboratory-scale experiments. The key elements of high-energy-density physics covered are gas dynamics, ionization, thermal energy transport, and radiation transfer, intense electromagnetic waves, and their dynamical coupling. Implicit in this is a fundamental understanding of hydrodynamics, plasma physics, atomic physics, quantum mechanics, and electromagnetic theory. Beginning with a summary of the topics and exploring the major ones in depth, thi...

  9. PHASE QUANTIZATION STUDY OF SPATIAL LIGHT MODULATOR FOR EXTREME HIGH-CONTRAST IMAGING

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dou, Jiangpei; Ren, Deqing, E-mail: jpdou@niaot.ac.cn, E-mail: jiangpeidou@gmail.com [Physics and Astronomy Department, California State University Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, CA 91330 (United States)

    2016-11-20

    Direct imaging of exoplanets by reflected starlight is extremely challenging due to the large luminosity ratio to the primary star. Wave-front control is a critical technique to attenuate the speckle noise in order to achieve an extremely high contrast. We present a phase quantization study of a spatial light modulator (SLM) for wave-front control to meet the contrast requirement of detection of a terrestrial planet in the habitable zone of a solar-type star. We perform the numerical simulation by employing the SLM with different phase accuracy and actuator numbers, which are related to the achievable contrast. We use an optimization algorithm to solve the quantization problems that is matched to the controllable phase step of the SLM. Two optical configurations are discussed with the SLM located before and after the coronagraph focal plane mask. The simulation result has constrained the specification for SLM phase accuracy in the above two optical configurations, which gives us a phase accuracy of 0.4/1000 and 1/1000 waves to achieve a contrast of 10{sup -10}. Finally, we have demonstrated that an SLM with more actuators can deliver a competitive contrast performance on the order of 10{sup -10} in comparison to that by using a deformable mirror.

  10. State Recognition of High Voltage Isolation Switch Based on Background Difference and Iterative Search

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Jiayuan; Yu, Chengtao; Bo, Bin; Xue, Yu; Xu, Changfu; Chaminda, P. R. Dushantha; Hu, Chengbo; Peng, Kai

    2018-03-01

    The automatic recognition of the high voltage isolation switch by remote video monitoring is an effective means to ensure the safety of the personnel and the equipment. The existing methods mainly include two ways: improving monitoring accuracy and adopting target detection technology through equipment transformation. Such a method is often applied to specific scenarios, with limited application scope and high cost. To solve this problem, a high voltage isolation switch state recognition method based on background difference and iterative search is proposed in this paper. The initial position of the switch is detected in real time through the background difference method. When the switch starts to open and close, the target tracking algorithm is used to track the motion trajectory of the switch. The opening and closing state of the switch is determined according to the angle variation of the switch tracking point and the center line. The effectiveness of the method is verified by experiments on different switched video frames of switching states. Compared with the traditional methods, this method is more robust and effective.

  11. High-z X-ray Obscured Quasars in Galaxies with Extreme Mid-IR/Optical Colors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piconcelli, E.; Lanzuisi, G.; Fiore, F.; Feruglio, C.; Vignali, C.; Salvato, M.; Grappioni, C.

    2009-05-01

    Extreme Optical/Mid-IR color cuts have been used to uncover a population of dust-enshrouded, mid-IR luminous galaxies at high redshifts. Several lines of evidence point towards the presence of an heavily absorbed, possibly Compton-thick quasar at the heart of these systems. Nonetheless, the X-ray spectral properties of these intriguing sources still remain largely unexplored. Here we present an X-ray spectroscopic study of a large sample of 44 extreme dust-obscured galaxies (EDOGs) with F24 μm/FR>2000 and F24 μm>1.3 mJy selected from a 6 deg2 region in the SWIRE fields. The application of our selection criteria to a wide area survey has been capable of unveiling a population of X-ray luminous, absorbed z>1 quasars which is mostly missed in the traditional optical/X-ray surveys performed so far. Advances in the understanding of the X-ray properties of these recently-discovered sources by Simbol-X observations will be also discussed.

  12. High-Resolution Dynamical Downscaling Ensemble Projections of Future Extreme Temperature Distributions for the United States

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zobel, Zachary; Wang, Jiali; Wuebbles, Donald J.; Kotamarthi, V. Rao

    2017-12-01

    The aim of this study is to examine projections of extreme temperatures over the continental United States (CONUS) for the 21st century using an ensemble of high spatial resolution dynamically downscaled model simulations with different boundary conditions. The downscaling uses the Weather Research and Forecast model at a spatial resolution of 12 km along with outputs from three different Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 global climate models that provide boundary conditions under two different future greenhouse gas (GHG) concentration trajectories. The results from two decadal-length time slices (2045-2054 and 2085-2094) are compared with a historical decade (1995-2004). Probability density functions of daily maximum/minimum temperatures are analyzed over seven climatologically cohesive regions of the CONUS. The impacts of different boundary conditions as well as future GHG concentrations on extreme events such as heat waves and days with temperature higher than 95°F are also investigated. The results show that the intensity of extreme warm temperature in future summer is significantly increased, while the frequency of extreme cold temperature in future winter decreases. The distribution of summer daily maximum temperature experiences a significant warm-side shift and increased variability, while the distribution of winter daily minimum temperature is projected to have a less significant warm-side shift with decreased variability. Using "business-as-usual" scenario, 5-day heat waves are projected to occur at least 5-10 times per year in most CONUS and ≥95°F days will increase by 1-2 months by the end of the century.

  13. WEAK LINE QUASARS AT HIGH REDSHIFT: EXTREMELY HIGH ACCRETION RATES OR ANEMIC BROAD-LINE REGIONS?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shemmer, Ohad; Trakhtenbrot, Benny; Netzer, Hagai; Anderson, Scott F.; Brandt, W. N.; Schneider, Donald P.; Diamond-Stanic, Aleksandar M.; Fan Xiaohui; Lira, Paulina; Plotkin, Richard M.; Richards, Gordon T.; Strauss, Michael A.

    2010-01-01

    We present Gemini-North K-band spectra of two representative members of the class of high-redshift quasars with exceptionally weak rest-frame ultraviolet emission lines (WLQs), SDSS J114153.34+021924.3 at z = 3.55 and SDSS J123743.08+630144.9 at z = 3.49. In both sources, we detect an unusually weak broad Hβ line and place tight upper limits on the strengths of their [O III] lines. Virial, Hβ-based black hole mass determinations indicate normalized accretion rates of L/L Edd =0.4 for these sources, which is well within the range observed for typical quasars with similar luminosities and redshifts. We also present high-quality XMM-Newton imaging spectroscopy of SDSS J114153.34+021924.3 and find a hard-X-ray photon index of Γ = 1.91 +0.24 -0.22 , which supports the virial L/L Edd determination in this source. Our results suggest that the weakness of the broad emission lines in WLQs is not a consequence of an extreme continuum-emission source but instead due to abnormal broad emission line region properties.

  14. Soft Tissue Reconstruction of Complete Circumferential Defects of the Upper Extremity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhi Yang Ng

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available BackgroundUpper extremity soft tissue defects with complete circumferential involvement are not common. Coupled with the unique anatomy of the upper extremity, the underlying etiology of such circumferential soft tissue defects represent additional reconstructive challenges that require treatment to be tailored to both the patient and the wound. The aim of this study is to review the various options for soft tissue reconstruction of complete circumferential defects in the upper extremity.MethodsA literature review of PubMed and MEDLINE up to December 2016 was performed. The current study focuses on forearm and arm defects from the level at or proximal to the wrist and were assessed based on Tajima's classification (J Trauma 1974. Data reviewed for analysis included patient demographics, causality, defect size, reconstructive technique(s employed, and postoperative follow-up and functional outcomes (when available.ResultsIn accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, 14 unique articles were identified for a total of 50 patients (mean=28.1 years. Underlying etiologies varied from extensive thermal or electrical burns to high impact trauma leading to degloving or avulsion, crush injuries, or even occur iatrogenically after tumor extirpation or extensive debridement. Treatment options ranged from the application of negative pressure wound dressings to the opposite end of the spectrum in hand transplantation.ConclusionsWith the evolution of reconstructive techniques over time, the extent of functional and aesthetic rehabilitation of these complex upper extremity injuries has also improved. The proposed management algorithm comprehensively addresses the inherent challenges associated with these complex cases.

  15. [Injury mechanisms in extreme violence settings].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arcaute-Velazquez, Fernando Federico; García-Núñez, Luis Manuel; Noyola-Vilallobos, Héctor Faustino; Espinoza-Mercado, Fernando; Rodríguez-Vega, Carlos Eynar

    2016-01-01

    Extreme violence events are consequence of current world-wide economic, political and social conditions. Injury patterns found among victims of extreme violence events are very complex, obeying several high-energy injury mechanisms. In this article, we present the basic concepts of trauma kinematics that regulate the clinical approach to victims of extreme violence events, in the hope that clinicians increase their theoretical armamentarium, and reflecting on obtaining better outcomes. Copyright © 2016. Published by Masson Doyma México S.A.

  16. A large, benign prostatic cyst presented with an extremely high serum prostate-specific antigen level.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Han-Kuang; Pemberton, Richard

    2016-01-08

    We report a case of a patient who presented with an extremely high serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) level and underwent radical prostatectomy for presumed prostate cancer. Surprisingly, the whole mount prostatectomy specimen showed only small volume, organ-confined prostate adenocarcinoma and a large, benign intraprostatic cyst, which was thought to be responsible for the PSA elevation. 2016 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.

  17. Influence of Anthropogenic Climate Change on Planetary Wave Resonance and Extreme Weather Events.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mann, Michael E; Rahmstorf, Stefan; Kornhuber, Kai; Steinman, Byron A; Miller, Sonya K; Coumou, Dim

    2017-03-27

    Persistent episodes of extreme weather in the Northern Hemisphere summer have been shown to be associated with the presence of high-amplitude quasi-stationary atmospheric Rossby waves within a particular wavelength range (zonal wavenumber 6-8). The underlying mechanistic relationship involves the phenomenon of quasi-resonant amplification (QRA) of synoptic-scale waves with that wavenumber range becoming trapped within an effective mid-latitude atmospheric waveguide. Recent work suggests an increase in recent decades in the occurrence of QRA-favorable conditions and associated extreme weather, possibly linked to amplified Arctic warming and thus a climate change influence. Here, we isolate a specific fingerprint in the zonal mean surface temperature profile that is associated with QRA-favorable conditions. State-of-the-art ("CMIP5") historical climate model simulations subject to anthropogenic forcing display an increase in the projection of this fingerprint that is mirrored in multiple observational surface temperature datasets. Both the models and observations suggest this signal has only recently emerged from the background noise of natural variability.

  18. Extreme High-Temperature Events Over East Asia in 1.5°C and 2°C Warmer Futures: Analysis of NCAR CESM Low-Warming Experiments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Donghuan; Zhou, Tianjun; Zou, Liwei; Zhang, Wenxia; Zhang, Lixia

    2018-02-01

    Extreme high-temperature events have large socioeconomic and human health impacts. East Asia (EA) is a populous region, and it is crucial to assess the changes in extreme high-temperature events in this region under different climate change scenarios. The Community Earth System Model low-warming experiment data were applied to investigate the changes in the mean and extreme high temperatures in EA under 1.5°C and 2°C warming conditions above preindustrial levels. The results show that the magnitude of warming in EA is approximately 0.2°C higher than the global mean. Most populous subregions, including eastern China, the Korean Peninsula, and Japan, will see more intense, more frequent, and longer-lasting extreme temperature events under 1.5°C and 2°C warming. The 0.5°C lower warming will help avoid 35%-46% of the increases in extreme high-temperature events in terms of intensity, frequency, and duration in EA with maximal avoidance values (37%-49%) occurring in Mongolia. Thus, it is beneficial for EA to limit the warming target to 1.5°C rather than 2°C.

  19. Enhancing protein to extremely high content in photosynthetic bacteria during biogas slurry treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Anqi; Zhang, Guangming; Meng, Fan; Lu, Pei; Wang, Xintian; Peng, Meng

    2017-12-01

    This work proposed a novel approach to achieve an extremely high protein content in photosynthetic bacteria (PSB) using biogas slurry as a culturing medium. The results showed the protein content of PSB could be enhanced strongly to 90% in the biogas slurry, which was much higher than reported microbial protein contents. The slurry was partially purified at the same time. Dark-aerobic was more beneficial than light-anaerobic condition for protein accumulation. High salinity and high ammonia of the biogas slurry were the main causes for protein enhancement. In addition, the biogas slurry provided a good buffer system for PSB to grow. The biosynthesis mechanism of protein in PSB was explored according to theoretical analysis. During biogas slurry treatment, the activities of glutamate synthase and glutamine synthetase were increased by 26.55%, 46.95% respectively. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. 'Extreme' parents and sport: a socio-legal perspective | Singh | South ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    It sketches a brief background to the ageold phenomenon of 'extreme' parents, youth and significant others, who get overexcited and display harmful conduct. It also explores the possibility that educators may be opening themselves and their organisations to potential legal liability by not taking active steps to eliminate such ...

  1. Extreme Achalasia Presenting as Anorexia Nervosa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. J. Goldsmith

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Background. Achalasia may lead to cachexia if not diagnosed in an early stage. Surgery in cachectic patients is hazardous and complications may result in a protracted recovery or even death. Different treatment options have been described. In this paper, we report a stepwise surgical laparoscopic approach which appears to be safe and effective. Methods. Over a one-year period, a patient with a body mass index (BMI below 17 being treated for anorexia nervosa was referred with dysphagia. Because of the extreme cachexia, a laparoscopic feeding jejunostomy (LFJ was fashioned to enable long-term home enteral feeding. The patient underwent a laparoscopic Heller myotomy (LHM when the BMI was normal. Results. The patient recovered well following this stepwise approach. Conclusion. Patients with advanced achalasia usually present with extreme weight loss. In this small group of patients, a period of home enteral nutrition (HEN via a laparoscopically placed feeding jejunostomy allows weight gain prior to safe definitive surgery.

  2. Resolving the origin of the diffuse soft X-ray background

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Smith, Randall K.; Foster, Adam R.; Edgar, Richard J.; Brickhouse, Nancy S. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge MA 02138 (United States)

    2014-05-20

    The ubiquitous diffuse soft (1/4 keV) X-ray background was one of the earliest discoveries of X-ray astronomy. At least some of the emission may arise from charge exchange between solar wind ions and neutral atoms in the heliosphere, but no detailed models have been fit to the available data. Here, we report on a new model for charge exchange in the solar wind, which, when combined with a diffuse hot plasma component, filling the Local Cavity provides a good fit to the only available high-resolution soft X-ray and extreme ultraviolet spectra using plausible parameters for the solar wind. The implied hot plasma component is in pressure equilibrium with the local cloud that surrounds the solar system, creating for the first time a self-consistent picture of the local interstellar medium.

  3. Database on epidemiological survey in high background radiation research

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhou Sunyuan; Guo Furong; Liu Yusheng

    1992-01-01

    In order to store and check the data of the health survey in high background radiation area (HBRA) and control area in Guangdong Province, and to use these data in future, three databases were set up by using RBASE 5000 database software. (1) HD: the database based on the household registers especially established for the health survey from 1979 to 1986, covering more than 160000 subjects and 2200000 data. (2) DC: the database based on the registration cards of deaths from cancers and all other diseases during the period of 1975-1986 including more than 10000 cases and 260000 data. (3) MCC: the database for the case-control study on mutation-related factors for four kinds of cancers (liver, stomach, lung cancers and leukemia), embracing 626 subjects and close to 90000 data. The data in the databases were checked up with the original records and compared with the manual analytical results

  4. Modeling and evaluation of a high-resolution CMOS detector for cone-beam CT of the extremities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cao, Qian; Sisniega, Alejandro; Brehler, Michael; Stayman, J Webster; Yorkston, John; Siewerdsen, Jeffrey H; Zbijewski, Wojciech

    2018-01-01

    Quantitative assessment of trabecular bone microarchitecture in extremity cone-beam CT (CBCT) would benefit from the high spatial resolution, low electronic noise, and fast scan time provided by complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) x-ray detectors. We investigate the performance of CMOS sensors in extremity CBCT, in particular with respect to potential advantages of thin (CMOS x-ray detector incorporating the effects of CsI:Tl scintillator thickness was developed. Simulation studies were performed using nominal extremity CBCT acquisition protocols (90 kVp, 0.126 mAs/projection). A range of scintillator thickness (0.35-0.75 mm), pixel size (0.05-0.4 mm), focal spot size (0.05-0.7 mm), magnification (1.1-2.1), and dose (15-40 mGy) was considered. The detectability index was evaluated for both CMOS and a-Si:H flat-panel detector (FPD) configurations for a range of imaging tasks emphasizing spatial frequencies associated with feature size aobj. Experimental validation was performed on a CBCT test bench in the geometry of a compact orthopedic CBCT system (SAD = 43.1 cm, SDD = 56.0 cm, matching that of the Carestream OnSight 3D system). The test-bench studies involved a 0.3 mm focal spot x-ray source and two CMOS detectors (Dalsa Xineos-3030HR, 0.099 mm pixel pitch) - one with the standard CsI:Tl thickness of 0.7 mm (C700) and one with a custom 0.4 mm thick scintillator (C400). Measurements of modulation transfer function (MTF), detective quantum efficiency (DQE), and CBCT scans of a cadaveric knee (15 mGy) were obtained for each detector. Optimal detectability for high-frequency tasks (feature size of ~0.06 mm, consistent with the size of trabeculae) was ~4× for the C700 CMOS detector compared to the a-Si:H FPD at nominal system geometry of extremity CBCT. This is due to ~5× lower electronic noise of a CMOS sensor, which enables input quantum-limited imaging at smaller pixel size. Optimal pixel size for high-frequency tasks was CMOS

  5. High-energy synchrotron x-ray diffraction studies on disordered materials. From ambient condition to an extreme condition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kohara, Shinji; Ohishi, Yasuo; Suzuya, Kentaro; Takata, Masaki

    2007-01-01

    High-energy x-rays from synchrotron radiation source allow us to measure high-quality diffraction data of the disordered materials from under ambient condition to an extreme condition, which is necessary to reveal the detailed structure of glass, liquid, and amorphous materials. We introduce the high-energy x-ray diffraction beamline and dedicated diffractometer for glass, liquid, and amorphous materials with the recent developments of ancillary equipments. Furthermore our recent studies on the structures of disordered materials reviewed. (author)

  6. Statistical removal of background signals from high-throughput 1H NMR line-broadening ligand-affinity screens

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Worley, Bradley; Sisco, Nicholas J.; Powers, Robert

    2015-01-01

    NMR ligand-affinity screens are vital to drug discovery, are routinely used to screen fragment-based libraries, and used to verify chemical leads from high-throughput assays and virtual screens. NMR ligand-affinity screens are also a highly informative first step towards identifying functional epitopes of unknown proteins, as well as elucidating the biochemical functions of protein–ligand interaction at their binding interfaces. While simple one-dimensional 1 H NMR experiments are capable of indicating binding through a change in ligand line shape, they are plagued by broad, ill-defined background signals from protein 1 H resonances. We present an uncomplicated method for subtraction of protein background in high-throughput ligand-based affinity screens, and show that its performance is maximized when phase-scatter correction is applied prior to subtraction

  7. Review of epidemiological and cytogenetic studies on high background radiation area residents

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Iwasaki, Toshiyasu

    2008-01-01

    Emerging scientific knowledge in the field of radiation biology has put into question the generic use of a simple linear extrapolation of radiation effects from high to low dose or dose rate. Though the direct information of biological effects at low dose or low dose rate has been accumulated, it is still immature to mention health effects as the consequence of biological effects. As epidemiological data have been the main sources of direct information on human health effects, studies of the health of population exposed by low dose or low dose rate ionizing radiation will help to improve our understanding. In this meaning, the epidemiological studies of residents in high background radiation areas (HBRA), which are supported by us, will provide important direct information on the biological and health effects of chronic low dose rate ionizing radiation. The epidemiological results in HBRA in China showed there are no significant increases of cancer risks caused by the high background levels of ionizing radiation. From the results which come from cytogeneticl studies, the frequencies of unstable chromosomal aberrations have shown good correlation with cumulative doses in their lifetimes, which indicated it is a sensitive and informative biomarker. On the other hand, the frequencies of stable chromosomal aberrations have shown no significant difference and the frequency was much higher than that of unstable type aberrations. It suggests that mutagenic factors other than radiation contribute more than the elevated level of radiation to the induction of DNA rearrangements which could lead to the increase of cancer risk in HBRA in China. (author)

  8. In vivo measurement of uranium in the human chest under high background conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kruger, P.J.; Feather, J.I.

    1981-08-01

    The use of a low-background counting room was considered essential for in vivo gamma counting of uranium in the human chest. When such measurements were, however, carried out under relatively high background conditions, this necessitated a new method of analysis. It was found that a linear relationship between LnN and E exists for each individual where N is the count rate per keV and E the energy in keV, for gamma energies between 90 keV and 300 keV. The displacements from this straight line at the energy values of 90 and 186 keV then represent the contribution of the uranium present. These displacements were calibrated for natural uranium. It was possible to detect contamination levels of lower than half MPLB [af

  9. Extremity Soft Tissue Sarcoma: A Review of 19 Cases. | Eyesan ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Background: Although soft tissue sarcoma is a rare tumour, it accounts for a significant proportion of malignancies seen in many orthopaedic practices. The objectives of this study are to evaluate the pattern of presentation of extremity soft tissue sarcoma and the treatment outcome in our patients. Method: This is a 3 year ...

  10. Best-practice life expectancy: An extreme value approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anthony Medford

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Background: Whereas the rise in human life expectancy has been extensively studied, the evolution of maximum life expectancies, i.e., the rise in best-practice life expectancy in a group of populations, has not been examined to the same extent. The linear rise in best-practice life expectancy has been reported previously by various authors. Though remarkable, this is simply an empirical observation. Objective: We examine best-practice life expectancy more formally by using extreme value theory. Methods: Extreme value distributions are fit to the time series (1900 to 2012 of maximum life expectancies at birth and age 65, for both sexes, using data from the Human Mortality Database and the United Nations. Conclusions: Generalized extreme value distributions offer a theoretically justified way to model best-practice life expectancies. Using this framework one can straightforwardly obtain probability estimates of best-practice life expectancy levels or make projections about future maximum life expectancy. Comments: Our findings may be useful for policymakers and insurance/pension analysts who would like to obtain estimates and probabilities of future maximum life expectancies.

  11. High dark matter densities and the formation of extreme dwarf galaxies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lake, G.

    1990-01-01

    The extreme dwarfs of the Local Group, GR 8, Draco, and Ursa Minor have high densities of dark matter. If the dark matter is dissipationless, then there is a simple relation between the redshift of turnaround z(turn) and its current mean density. Three alternatives for the dSphs are discussed. If the dark matter follows the light, then z(turn) is greater than 30. If a density profile is adopted so that the mean density becomes low enough to be barely consistent with the standard density fluctuation spectrum of cold dark matter, then the mass-to-light ratios are greater than 1000 solar mass/solar luminosity. The last alternative is dissipational dark matter. In this case, the additional collapse factor owing to dissipation allows a later epoch of formation. 39 refs

  12. Neutron detection in a high gamma-ray background with EJ-301 and EJ-309 liquid scintillators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stevanato, L.; Cester, D.; Nebbia, G.; Viesti, G.

    2012-01-01

    Using a fast digitizer, the neutron–gamma discrimination capability of the new liquid scintillator EJ-309 is compared with that obtained using standard EJ-301. Moreover the capability of both the scintillation detectors to identify a weak neutron source in a high gamma-ray background is demonstrated. The probability of neutron detection is PD=95% at 95% confidence level for a gamma-ray background corresponding to a dose rate of 100 μSv/h.

  13. Extreme ultra-violet emission spectroscopy of highly charged gadolinium ions with an electron beam ion trap

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ohashi, Hayato; Nakamura, Nobuyuki; Sakaue, Hiroyuki A

    2013-01-01

    We present extreme ultra-violet emission spectra of highly charged gadolinium ions obtained with an electron beam ion trap at electron energies of 0.53–1.51 keV. The electron energy dependence of the spectra in the 5.7–11.3 nm range is compared with calculation with the flexible atomic code. (paper)

  14. Extremely high magnetoresistance and conductivity in the type-II Weyl semimetals WP2 and MoP2.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Nitesh; Sun, Yan; Xu, Nan; Manna, Kaustuv; Yao, Mengyu; Süss, Vicky; Leermakers, Inge; Young, Olga; Förster, Tobias; Schmidt, Marcus; Borrmann, Horst; Yan, Binghai; Zeitler, Uli; Shi, Ming; Felser, Claudia; Shekhar, Chandra

    2017-11-21

    The peculiar band structure of semimetals exhibiting Dirac and Weyl crossings can lead to spectacular electronic properties such as large mobilities accompanied by extremely high magnetoresistance. In particular, two closely neighboring Weyl points of the same chirality are protected from annihilation by structural distortions or defects, thereby significantly reducing the scattering probability between them. Here we present the electronic properties of the transition metal diphosphides, WP 2 and MoP 2 , which are type-II Weyl semimetals with robust Weyl points by transport, angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy and first principles calculations. Our single crystals of WP 2 display an extremely low residual low-temperature resistivity of 3 nΩ cm accompanied by an enormous and highly anisotropic magnetoresistance above 200 million % at 63 T and 2.5 K. We observe a large suppression of charge carrier backscattering in WP 2 from transport measurements. These properties are likely a consequence of the novel Weyl fermions expressed in this compound.

  15. Upper extremity transplantation: current concepts and challenges in an emerging field.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elliott, River M; Tintle, Scott M; Levin, L Scott

    2014-03-01

    Loss of an isolated upper limb is an emotionally and physically devastating event that results in significant impairment. Patients who lose both upper extremities experience profound disability that affects nearly every aspect of their lives. While prosthetics and surgery can eventually provide the single limb amputee with a suitable assisting hand, limited utility, minimal haptic feedback, weight, and discomfort are persistent problems with these techniques that contribute to high rates of prosthetic rejection. Moreover, despite ongoing advances in prosthetic technology, bilateral amputees continue to experience high levels of dependency, disability, and distress. Hand and upper extremity transplantation holds several advantages over prosthetic rehabilitation. The missing limb is replaced with one of similar skin color and size. Sensibility, voluntary motor control, and proprioception are restored to a greater degree, and afford better dexterity and function than prosthetics. The main shortcomings of transplantation include the hazards of immunosuppression, the complications of rejection and its treatment, and high cost. Hand and upper limb transplantation represents the most commonly performed surgery in the growing field of Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation (VCA). As upper limb transplantation and VCA have become more widespread, several important challenges and controversies have emerged. These include: refining indications for transplantation, optimizing immunosuppression, establishing reliable criteria for monitoring, diagnosing, and treating rejection, and standardizing outcome measures. This article will summarize the historical background of hand transplantation and review the current literature and concepts surrounding it.

  16. CO2-Philic polymer membrane with extremely high separation performance

    KAUST Repository

    Yave, Wilfredo

    2010-01-12

    Polymeric membranes are attractive for CO2 separation and concentration from different gas streams because of their versatility and energy efficiency; they can compete with, and they may even replace, traditional absorption processes. Here we describe a simple and powerful method for developing nanostructured and CO2-philic polymer membranes for CO2 separation. A poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(butylene terephthalate) multiblock copolymer is used as membrane material. Smart additives such as polyethylene glycol dibutyl ether are incorporated as spacers or fillers for producing nanostructured materials. The addition of these specific additives produces CO2-philic membranes and increases the CO2 permeability (750 barrer) up to five-fold without the loss of selectivity. The membranes present outstanding performance for CO2 separation, and the measured CO2 flux is extremely high ( > 2 m3 m -2 h-1 bar-1) with selectivity over H2 and N2 of 10 and 40, respectively, making them attractive for CO 2 capture. © 2009 American Chemical Society.

  17. CO2-Philic polymer membrane with extremely high separation performance

    KAUST Repository

    Yave, Wilfredo; Car, Anja; Funari, S.; Nunes, Suzana Pereira; Peinemann, Klaus-Viktor

    2010-01-01

    Polymeric membranes are attractive for CO2 separation and concentration from different gas streams because of their versatility and energy efficiency; they can compete with, and they may even replace, traditional absorption processes. Here we describe a simple and powerful method for developing nanostructured and CO2-philic polymer membranes for CO2 separation. A poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(butylene terephthalate) multiblock copolymer is used as membrane material. Smart additives such as polyethylene glycol dibutyl ether are incorporated as spacers or fillers for producing nanostructured materials. The addition of these specific additives produces CO2-philic membranes and increases the CO2 permeability (750 barrer) up to five-fold without the loss of selectivity. The membranes present outstanding performance for CO2 separation, and the measured CO2 flux is extremely high ( > 2 m3 m -2 h-1 bar-1) with selectivity over H2 and N2 of 10 and 40, respectively, making them attractive for CO 2 capture. © 2009 American Chemical Society.

  18. Extreme implanting in Si: A study of ion-induced damage at high temperature and high dose

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Holland, O.W.

    1994-01-01

    Ion-solid interactions near room temperature and below have been well studied in single-crystal Si. While this has led to a better understanding of the mechanisms responsible for nucleation and growth of lattice damage during irradiation, these studies have not, in general, been extended to high temperatures (e.g., >200 degrees C). This is the case despite the commercialization of ion beam technologies which utilize high-temperature processing, such as separation by implantation of oxygen (SIMOX). In this process, a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) material is produced by implanting a high dose of oxygen ions into a Si wafer to form a buried, stoichiometric oxide layer. Results will be presented of a study of damage accumulation during high-dose implantation of Si at elevated temperatures. In particular, O + -ions were used because of the potential impact of the results on the SIMOX technology. It will be shown that the nature of the damage accumulation at elevated temperatures is quite distinctive and portends the presence of a new mechanism, one which is only dominant under the extreme conditions encountered during ion beam synthesis (i.e., high temperature and high dose). This mechanism is discussed and shown to be quite general and not dependent on the chemical identity of the ions. Also, techniques for suppressing this mechanism by open-quotes defect engineeringclose quotes are discussed. Such techniques are technologically relevant because they offer the possibility of reducing the defect density of the SOI produced by SIMOX

  19. Very high cycle fatigue crack initiation in electroplated Ni films under extreme stress gradients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baumert, E.K.; Pierron, O.N.

    2012-01-01

    A characterization technique based on kilohertz micro-resonators is presented to investigate the very high cycle fatigue behavior of 20 μm thick electroplated Ni films with a columnar microstructure (grain diameter less than 2 μm). The films exhibit superior fatigue resistance due to the extreme stress gradients at the surface. The effects of stress amplitude and environment on the formation of fatigue extrusions and micro-cracks are discussed based on scanning electron microscopy and the tracking of the specimens’ resonant frequency.

  20. On the contribution of active galactic nuclei to the high-redshift metagalactic ionizing background

    Science.gov (United States)

    D'Aloisio, Anson; Upton Sanderbeck, Phoebe R.; McQuinn, Matthew; Trac, Hy; Shapiro, Paul R.

    2017-07-01

    Motivated by the claimed detection of a large population of faint active galactic nuclei (AGNs) at high redshift, recent studies have proposed models in which AGNs contribute significantly to the z > 4 H I ionizing background. In some models, AGNs are even the chief sources of reionization. If proved true, these models would make necessary a complete revision to the standard view that galaxies dominated the high-redshift ionizing background. It has been suggested that AGN-dominated models can better account for two recent observations that appear to be in conflict with the standard view: (1) large opacity variations in the z ˜ 5.5 H I Ly α forest, and (2) slow evolution in the mean opacity of the He II Ly α forest. Large spatial fluctuations in the ionizing background from the brightness and rarity of AGNs may account for the former, while the earlier onset of He II reionization in these models may account for the latter. Here we show that models in which AGN emissions source ≳50 per cent of the ionizing background generally provide a better fit to the observed H I Ly α forest opacity variations compared to standard galaxy-dominated models. However, we argue that these AGN-dominated models are in tension with constraints on the thermal history of the intergalactic medium (IGM). Under standard assumptions about the spectra of AGNs, we show that the earlier onset of He II reionization heats up the IGM well above recent temperature measurements. We further argue that the slower evolution of the mean opacity of the He II Ly α forest relative to simulations may reflect deficiencies in current simulations rather than favour AGN-dominated models as has been suggested.

  1. Future Projection of Summer Extreme Precipitation from High Resolution Multi-RCMs over East Asia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Gayoung; Park, Changyong; Cha, Dong-Hyun; Lee, Dong-Kyou; Suh, Myoung-Seok; Ahn, Joong-Bae; Min, Seung-Ki; Hong, Song-You; Kang, Hyun-Suk

    2017-04-01

    Recently, the frequency and intensity of natural hazards have been increasing due to human-induced climate change. Because most damages of natural hazards over East Asia have been related to extreme precipitation events, it is important to estimate future change in extreme precipitation characteristics caused by climate change. We investigate future changes in extremal values of summer precipitation simulated by five regional climate models participating in the CORDEX-East Asia project (i.e., HadGEM3-RA, RegCM4, MM5, WRF, and GRIMs) over East Asia. 100-year return value calculated from the generalized extreme value (GEV) parameters is analysed as an indicator of extreme intensity. In the future climate, the mean values as well as the extreme values of daily precipitation tend to increase over land region. The increase of 100-year return value can be significantly associated with the changes in the location (intensity) and scale (variability) GEV parameters for extreme precipitation. It is expected that the results of this study can be used as fruitful references when making the policy of disaster management. Acknowledgements The research was supported by the Ministry of Public Safety and Security of Korean government and Development program under grant MPSS-NH-2013-63 and the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning of Korea (NRF-2016M3C4A7952637) for its support and assistant in completion of the study.

  2. Extreme waves at Filyos, southern Black Sea

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. Bilyay

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available A wave measurement project was carried out for a new port planned in Filyos, in the Western Black Sea region of Turkey. The measurement at a depth of 12.5 m lasted for a period of two years and 7949 records were obtained. During the analysis, it was noticed that there were 209 records in which H/Hs ratio was higher than 2.0. These higher waves in a record are called extreme waves in this study. Although the purpose of wave measurement is not to investigate extreme waves, it is believed that studying these unexpected waves could be interesting. Therefore, detailed statistical and spectral analyses on the extreme waves were done for the records. The analyses results show that the distribution of surface profiles of the records containing extreme waves deviates from Gaussian distribution with the negative skewness changing between –0.01 and –0.4 and with the high kurtosis in the range of 3.1–4.2. Although the probability of occurrence of the extreme waves is over-predicted by the Rayleigh distribution, a higher ratio of Hsrms indicates that the wave height distribution can be represented by Rayleigh. The average value of the slope of the frequency spectrum at the high frequency range is proportional to f–9 which is much steeper than the typical wind-wave frequency power law, f–4, –5. The directional spreading is measured with the parameter Smax and it is in the range of 5–70 for the extreme wave records. The wave and current interaction was also investigated and it was found that in most cases, extreme waves occur when the wave and the current are almost aligned. Furthermore, it is observed that extreme waves appear within a group of high waves.

  3. Diffraction, chopping, and background subtraction for LDR

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wright, Edward L.

    1988-01-01

    The Large Deployable Reflector (LDR) will be an extremely sensitive infrared telescope if the noise due to the photons in the large thermal background is the only limiting factor. For observations with a 3 arcsec aperture in a broadband at 100 micrometers, a 20-meter LDR will emit 10(exp 12) per second, while the photon noise limited sensitivity in a deep survey observation will be 3,000 photons per second. Thus the background subtraction has to work at the 1 part per billion level. Very small amounts of scattered or diffracted energy can be significant if they are modulated by the chopper. The results are presented for 1-D and 2-D diffraction calculations for the lightweight, low-cost LDR concept that uses an active chopping quaternary to correct the wavefront errors introduced by the primary. Fourier transforms were used to evaluate the diffraction of 1 mm waves through this system. Unbalanced signals due to dust and thermal gradients were also studied.

  4. Spatiotemporal distribution characteristics and attribution of extreme regional low temperature event

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feng, Tai-Chen; Zhang, Ke-Quan; Su, Hai-Jing; Wang, Xiao-Juan; Gong, Zhi-Qiang; Zhang, Wen-Yu

    2015-10-01

    Based on an objective identification technique for regional low temperature event (OITRLTE), the daily minimum temperature in China has been detected from 1960 to 2013. During this period, there were 60 regional extreme low temperature events (ERLTEs), which are included in the 690 regional low temperature events (RLTEs). The 60 ERLTEs are analyzed in this paper. The results show that in the last 50 years, the intensity of the ERLTEs has become weak; the number of lasted days has decreased; and, the affected area has become small. However, that situation has changed in this century. In terms of spatial distribution, the high intensity regions are mainly in Northern China while the high frequency regions concentrate in Central and Eastern China. According to the affected area of each event, the 60 ERLTEs are classified into six types. The atmospheric circulation background fields which correspond to these types are also analyzed. The results show that, influenced by stronger blocking highs of Ural and Lake Baikal, as well as stronger southward polar vortex and East Asia major trough at 500-hPa geopotential height, cold air from high latitudes is guided to move southward and abnormal northerly winds at 850 hPa makes the cold air blow into China along diverse paths, thereby forming different types of regional extreme low temperatures in winter. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41305075), the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant Nos. 2012CB955203 and 2012CB955902), and the Special Scientific Research on Public Welfare Industry, China (Grant No. GYHY201306049).

  5. Investigating NARCCAP Precipitation Extremes via Bivariate Extreme Value Theory (Invited)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weller, G. B.; Cooley, D. S.; Sain, S. R.; Bukovsky, M. S.; Mearns, L. O.

    2013-12-01

    We introduce methodology from statistical extreme value theory to examine the ability of reanalysis-drive regional climate models to simulate past daily precipitation extremes. Going beyond a comparison of summary statistics such as 20-year return values, we study whether the most extreme precipitation events produced by climate model simulations exhibit correspondence to the most extreme events seen in observational records. The extent of this correspondence is formulated via the statistical concept of tail dependence. We examine several case studies of extreme precipitation events simulated by the six models of the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP) driven by NCEP reanalysis. It is found that the NARCCAP models generally reproduce daily winter precipitation extremes along the Pacific coast quite well; in contrast, simulation of past daily summer precipitation extremes in a central US region is poor. Some differences in the strength of extremal correspondence are seen in the central region between models which employ spectral nudging and those which do not. We demonstrate how these techniques may be used to draw a link between extreme precipitation events and large-scale atmospheric drivers, as well as to downscale extreme precipitation simulated by a future run of a regional climate model. Specifically, we examine potential future changes in the nature of extreme precipitation along the Pacific coast produced by the pineapple express (PE) phenomenon. A link between extreme precipitation events and a "PE Index" derived from North Pacific sea-surface pressure fields is found. This link is used to study PE-influenced extreme precipitation produced by a future-scenario climate model run.

  6. EPS-LASSO: Test for High-Dimensional Regression Under Extreme Phenotype Sampling of Continuous Traits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Chao; Fang, Jian; Shen, Hui; Wang, Yu-Ping; Deng, Hong-Wen

    2018-01-25

    Extreme phenotype sampling (EPS) is a broadly-used design to identify candidate genetic factors contributing to the variation of quantitative traits. By enriching the signals in extreme phenotypic samples, EPS can boost the association power compared to random sampling. Most existing statistical methods for EPS examine the genetic factors individually, despite many quantitative traits have multiple genetic factors underlying their variation. It is desirable to model the joint effects of genetic factors, which may increase the power and identify novel quantitative trait loci under EPS. The joint analysis of genetic data in high-dimensional situations requires specialized techniques, e.g., the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO). Although there are extensive research and application related to LASSO, the statistical inference and testing for the sparse model under EPS remain unknown. We propose a novel sparse model (EPS-LASSO) with hypothesis test for high-dimensional regression under EPS based on a decorrelated score function. The comprehensive simulation shows EPS-LASSO outperforms existing methods with stable type I error and FDR control. EPS-LASSO can provide a consistent power for both low- and high-dimensional situations compared with the other methods dealing with high-dimensional situations. The power of EPS-LASSO is close to other low-dimensional methods when the causal effect sizes are small and is superior when the effects are large. Applying EPS-LASSO to a transcriptome-wide gene expression study for obesity reveals 10 significant body mass index associated genes. Our results indicate that EPS-LASSO is an effective method for EPS data analysis, which can account for correlated predictors. The source code is available at https://github.com/xu1912/EPSLASSO. hdeng2@tulane.edu. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author (2018). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please

  7. Radioactive background of Granito Madeira, north Amazonas, Brazil

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Moura, Vanderlei; Pereira, Claubia; Martins, Agnaldo Kenji, E-mail: vandermoura@gmail.com, E-mail: claubia@nuclear.ufmg.br, E-mail: amartins@mtaboca.com.br [Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil). Departamento de Engenharia Nuclear; Mineracao Taboca S.A., Presidente Figueiredo, AM (Brazil)

    2017-11-01

    Naturally occurring radionuclides, such as the uranium and thorium decay chains, are present in rocks and soils. But its distribution is not homogeneous: it depends on the type of rock being that those of volcanic origin have higher concentrations of uranium and thorium. These are NORM. Locations with NORM present higher dose rates than the world average. Thus, the determination of the natural radioactivity of a NORM region is of extreme importance since it provides data for the estimation of human exposure to natural radiation. In addition, if there is a mining company exploring NORM, the background radiation estimation should be considered in the decommissioning and future planning. There are places in Brazil, such as Granito Madeira in the state of Amazonas, in the north of Brazil, where NORM is present. It is an extremely remote area located within the Amazon Forest currently in the process of open cast mining. In this study, the iodide scintillator detector was used to measure and map the natural background radiation of the Granito Madeira using a scintillator detector of sodium iodide that was transported in tracks within the forest. The data obtained were georeferenced, classified and used to obtain the annual dose related to gamma radiation. The results are presented in frequency histograms and maps. The annual average was (6.0 ± 3.0) mSv.y{sup -1}. These data were compared to those available from other regions with NORM in Brazil and the 2010 UNSCEAR report. (author)

  8. Radioactive background of Granito Madeira, north Amazonas, Brazil

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moura, Vanderlei; Pereira, Claubia; Martins, Agnaldo Kenji

    2017-01-01

    Naturally occurring radionuclides, such as the uranium and thorium decay chains, are present in rocks and soils. But its distribution is not homogeneous: it depends on the type of rock being that those of volcanic origin have higher concentrations of uranium and thorium. These are NORM. Locations with NORM present higher dose rates than the world average. Thus, the determination of the natural radioactivity of a NORM region is of extreme importance since it provides data for the estimation of human exposure to natural radiation. In addition, if there is a mining company exploring NORM, the background radiation estimation should be considered in the decommissioning and future planning. There are places in Brazil, such as Granito Madeira in the state of Amazonas, in the north of Brazil, where NORM is present. It is an extremely remote area located within the Amazon Forest currently in the process of open cast mining. In this study, the iodide scintillator detector was used to measure and map the natural background radiation of the Granito Madeira using a scintillator detector of sodium iodide that was transported in tracks within the forest. The data obtained were georeferenced, classified and used to obtain the annual dose related to gamma radiation. The results are presented in frequency histograms and maps. The annual average was (6.0 ± 3.0) mSv.y"-"1. These data were compared to those available from other regions with NORM in Brazil and the 2010 UNSCEAR report. (author)

  9. Moving in extreme environments: what's extreme and who decides?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cotter, James David; Tipton, Michael J

    2014-01-01

    , extreme loading, chronic unloading and high altitude. Ramifications include factors such as health and safety, productivity, enjoyment and autonomy, acute and chronic protection and optimising adaptation.

  10. Silicon-Carbide Power MOSFET Performance in High Efficiency Boost Power Processing Unit for Extreme Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ikpe, Stanley A.; Lauenstein, Jean-Marie; Carr, Gregory A.; Hunter, Don; Ludwig, Lawrence L.; Wood, William; Del Castillo, Linda Y.; Fitzpatrick, Fred; Chen, Yuan

    2016-01-01

    Silicon-Carbide device technology has generated much interest in recent years. With superior thermal performance, power ratings and potential switching frequencies over its Silicon counterpart, Silicon-Carbide offers a greater possibility for high powered switching applications in extreme environment. In particular, Silicon-Carbide Metal-Oxide- Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors' (MOSFETs) maturing process technology has produced a plethora of commercially available power dense, low on-state resistance devices capable of switching at high frequencies. A novel hard-switched power processing unit (PPU) is implemented utilizing Silicon-Carbide power devices. Accelerated life data is captured and assessed in conjunction with a damage accumulation model of gate oxide and drain-source junction lifetime to evaluate potential system performance at high temperature environments.

  11. ON THE EFFECT OF THE COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND IN HIGH-REDSHIFT (SUB-)MILLIMETER OBSERVATIONS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Da Cunha, Elisabete; Groves, Brent; Walter, Fabian; Decarli, Roberto; Rix, Hans-Walter [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Astronomie, Koenigstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg (Germany); Weiss, Axel [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Radioastronomie, Auf dem Huegel 69, D-53121 Bonn (Germany); Bertoldi, Frank [Argelander Institute for Astronomy, University of Bonn, Auf dem Huegel 71, D-53121 Bonn (Germany); Carilli, Chris [National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Pete V. Domenici Array Science Center, P.O. Box O, Socorro, NM 87801 (United States); Daddi, Emanuele; Sargent, Mark [Laboratoire AIM, CEA/DSM-CNRS-Universite Paris Diderot, Irfu/Service d' Astrophysique, CEA Saclay, Orme des Merisiers, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex (France); Elbaz, David; Ivison, Rob [UK Astronomy Technology Centre, Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ (United Kingdom); Maiolino, Roberto [Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, 19 J. J. Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0HE (United Kingdom); Riechers, Dominik [Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 (United States); Smail, Ian, E-mail: cunha@mpia.de [Institute for Computational Cosmology, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE (United Kingdom)

    2013-03-20

    Modern (sub-)millimeter interferometers enable the measurement of the cool gas and dust emission of high-redshift galaxies (z > 5). However, at these redshifts the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature is higher, approaching, and even exceeding, the temperature of cold dust and molecular gas observed in the local universe. In this paper, we discuss the impact of the warmer CMB on (sub-)millimeter observations of high-redshift galaxies. The CMB affects the observed (sub-)millimeter dust continuum and the line emission (e.g., carbon monoxide, CO) in two ways: (1) it provides an additional source of (both dust and gas) heating and (2) it is a non-negligible background against which the line and continuum emission are measured. We show that these two competing processes affect the way we interpret the dust and gas properties of high-redshift galaxies using spectral energy distribution models. We quantify these effects and provide correction factors to compute what fraction of the intrinsic dust (and line) emission can be detected against the CMB as a function of frequency, redshift, and temperature. We discuss implications on the derived properties of high-redshift galaxies from (sub-)millimeter data. Specifically, the inferred dust and molecular gas masses can be severely underestimated for cold systems if the impact of the CMB is not properly taken into account.

  12. A telescope for observation from space of extreme lightnings in the upper atmosphere

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nam, S.; Artikova, S.; Chung, T.; Garipov, G.; Jeon, J.A.; Jeong, S.; Jin, J.Y.; Khrenov, B.A.; Kim, J.E.; Kim, M.; Kim, Y.K.; Klimov, P.; Lee, J.; Lee, H.Y.; Na, G.W.; Oh, S.J.; Panasyuk, M.; Park, I.H.; Park, J.H.; Park, Y.-S.

    2008-01-01

    A new type of telescope with a wide field-of-view and functions of fast zoom-in has been introduced. Two kinds of MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) micromirrors, digital and analog, are used for reflectors of the telescope, placed at different focal lengths. We apply this technology to the observation from space of TLE (Transient Luminous Events), extremely large transient sparks occurring at the upper atmosphere. TLE are one type of important backgrounds to be understood for future space observation of UHECR (Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays). The launch of the payload carried by a Russian microsatellite is foreseen in the middle of 2008

  13. Diagnosis and management of deep vein thrombosis of the upper extremity: a review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baarslag, Henk J.; Reekers, Jim A.; Koopman, Maria M.W.; Beek, Edwin J.R. van

    2004-01-01

    Deep vein thrombosis of the upper extremity is an increasing clinical problem due to the use of long-term indwelling catheters for chemotherapy or long-term feeding. The clinical diagnosis is difficult to make, and various imaging modalities have been used for this purpose. The use of (interventional) radiological procedures has been advancing in recent years. This review describes the clinical background, the imaging modalities that may be employed, treatment options and outcome of patients with upper extremity thrombosis. (orig.)

  14. Beyond Extreme Ultra Violet (BEUV) Radiation from Spherically symmetrical High-Z plasmas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoshida, Kensuke; Fujioka, Shinsuke; Higashiguchi, Takeshi; Ugomori, Teruyuki; Tanaka, Nozomi; Kawasaki, Masato; Suzuki, Yuhei; Suzuki, Chihiro; Tomita, Kentaro; Hirose, Ryouichi; Eshima, Takeo; Ohashi, Hayato; Nishikino, Masaharu; Scally, Enda; Nshimura, Hiroaki; Azechi, Hiroshi; O'Sullivan, Gerard

    2016-03-01

    Photo-lithography is a key technology for volume manufacture of high performance and compact semiconductor devices. Smaller and more complex structures can be fabricated by using shorter wavelength light in the photolithography. One of the most critical issues in development of the next generation photo-lithography is to increase energy conversion efficiency (CE) from laser to shorter wavelength light. Experimental database of beyond extreme ultraviolet (BEUV) radiation was obtained by using spherically symmetrical high-Z plasmas generated with spherically allocated laser beams. Absolute energy and spectra of BEUV light emitted from Tb, Gd, and Mo plasmas were measured with a absolutely calibrated BEUV calorimeter and a transmission grating spectrometer. 1.0 x 1012 W/cm2 is the optimal laser intensity to produced efficient BEUV light source plasmas with Tb and Gd targets. Maximum CE is achieved at 0.8% that is two times higher than the published CEs obtained with planar targets.

  15. Epidemiological studies in high-background radiation areas its potential contribution to evaluating risk of low-level radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Akiba, Suminori; Nair, R.K.; Nakamura, Seiichi; Mizuno, Shoich

    2008-01-01

    The health effect of low-level ionizing radiation is yet unclear. As pointed out by Upton in his review (Upton, 1989), low-level ionizing radiation seems to have different biological effects from what high-level radiation has. Its evaluation requires epidemiological studies of scale-large cohorts (ICRP 99, 2005) such of atomic bomb survivors and nuclear workers. Epidemiological studies in high-background radiation (HBR) areas are also expected to make a significant contribution toward this end. Among several HBR areas in the world, Yangjiang, Guangdong Province in China, Karunagappally in Kerala State of India, Manawalakurichi and Koodankulam in Tamil Nadu of India, and Ramsar in Iran are important areas where epidemiological studies are possible, because of their relatively high background radiation levels and large population sizes. (author)

  16. AN EXTREMELY CARBON-RICH, EXTREMELY METAL-POOR STAR IN THE SEGUE 1 SYSTEM

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Norris, John E.; Yong, David; Gilmore, Gerard; Wyse, Rosemary F. G.; Frebel, Anna

    2010-01-01

    We report the analysis of high-resolution, high signal-to-noise ratio, spectra of an extremely metal-poor, extremely C-rich red giant, Seg 1-7, in Segue 1-described in the literature alternatively as an unusually extended globular cluster or an ultra-faint dwarf galaxy. The radial velocity of Seg 1-7 coincides precisely with the systemic velocity of Segue 1, and its chemical abundance signature of [Fe/H] = -3.52, [C/Fe] = +2.3, [N/Fe] = +0.8, [Na/Fe] = +0.53, [Mg/Fe] = +0.94, [Al/Fe] = +0.23, and [Ba/Fe] < -1.0 is similar to that of the rare and enigmatic class of Galactic halo objects designated CEMP-no (carbon-rich, extremely metal-poor with no enhancement (over solar ratios) of heavy neutron-capture elements). This is the first star in a Milky Way 'satellite' that unambiguously lies on the metal-poor, C-rich branch of the Aoki et al. bimodal distribution of field halo stars in the ([C/Fe], [Fe/H])-plane. Available data permit us only to identify Seg 1-7 as a member of an ultra-faint dwarf galaxy or as debris from the Sgr dwarf spheroidal galaxy. In either case, this demonstrates that at extremely low abundance, [Fe/H ] <-3.0, star formation and associated chemical evolution proceeded similarly in the progenitors of both the field halo and satellite systems. By extension, this is consistent with other recent suggestions that the most metal-poor dwarf spheroidal and ultra-faint dwarf satellites were the building blocks of the Galaxy's outer halo.

  17. Global predictability of temperature extremes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coughlan de Perez, Erin; van Aalst, Maarten; Bischiniotis, Konstantinos; Mason, Simon; Nissan, Hannah; Pappenberger, Florian; Stephens, Elisabeth; Zsoter, Ervin; van den Hurk, Bart

    2018-05-01

    Extreme temperatures are one of the leading causes of death and disease in both developed and developing countries, and heat extremes are projected to rise in many regions. To reduce risk, heatwave plans and cold weather plans have been effectively implemented around the world. However, much of the world’s population is not yet protected by such systems, including many data-scarce but also highly vulnerable regions. In this study, we assess at a global level where such systems have the potential to be effective at reducing risk from temperature extremes, characterizing (1) long-term average occurrence of heatwaves and coldwaves, (2) seasonality of these extremes, and (3) short-term predictability of these extreme events three to ten days in advance. Using both the NOAA and ECMWF weather forecast models, we develop global maps indicating a first approximation of the locations that are likely to benefit from the development of seasonal preparedness plans and/or short-term early warning systems for extreme temperature. The extratropics generally show both short-term skill as well as strong seasonality; in the tropics, most locations do also demonstrate one or both. In fact, almost 5 billion people live in regions that have seasonality and predictability of heatwaves and/or coldwaves. Climate adaptation investments in these regions can take advantage of seasonality and predictability to reduce risks to vulnerable populations.

  18. ANTERIOR KNEE PAIN AND LOWER EXTREMITY FUNCTIONS IN INDIAN ADOLESCENT POPULATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Riddhi Shroff

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Background & Purpose - Anterior knee pain is one of the most common musculoskeletal complain seen in Indian adolescent population with high incidence among those who are active in sports and recreation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the age of onset of anterior knee pain, to find its effect on sports participation and also to find the activities which are maximally affected due to anterior knee pain in Indian population. Method- A questionnaire based survey was conducted among 50 subjects using three outcome measures namely self made demographic questionnaire, anterior knee pain scale and lower extremity functional scale. Result- Maximally affected activities are running, jumping & squatting and maximally affected functions are squatting, running on uneven ground, making sharp turns while running and hopping with increase incidence of anterior knee pain among those who participate daily in sports. Conclusion- The study concluded, that in adolescent age group of 11-17 years, anterior knee pain is more prevalent in adolescent girls with the age of onset being around 13 years for girls & 14.5 years in boys and it also showed moderate positive correlation between anterior knee pain and lower extremity functions.

  19. China's deep geological disposal program for high level radioactive waste, background and status 1998

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ju Wang; Xu Guoqing; Guo Yonghai

    2001-01-01

    This paper presents the background and progress made in the study of China's high level radioactive waste, including site screening, site evaluation, the study on radionuclide migration, bentonite, natural analogue studies, and performance assessment, etc. The study on Beishan area, the potential area for China's geological repository, is also presented in this paper. (author)

  20. A single pH fluorescent probe for biosensing and imaging of extreme acidity and extreme alkalinity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chao, Jian-Bin; Wang, Hui-Juan; Zhang, Yong-Bin; Li, Zhi-Qing; Liu, Yu-Hong; Huo, Fang-Jun; Yin, Cai-Xia; Shi, Ya-Wei; Wang, Juan-Juan

    2017-07-04

    A simple tailor-made pH fluorescent probe 2-benzothiazole (N-ethylcarbazole-3-yl) hydrazone (Probe) is facilely synthesized by the condensation reaction of 2-hydrazinobenzothiazole with N-ethylcarbazole-3-formaldehyde, which is a useful fluorescent probe for monitoring extremely acidic and alkaline pH, quantitatively. The pH titrations indicate that Probe displays a remarkable emission enhancement with a pK a of 2.73 and responds linearly to minor pH fluctuations within the extremely acidic range of 2.21-3.30. Interestingly, Probe also exhibits strong pH-dependent characteristics with pK a 11.28 and linear response to extreme-alkalinity range of 10.41-12.43. In addition, Probe shows a large Stokes shift of 84 nm under extremely acidic and alkaline conditions, high selectivity, excellent sensitivity, good water-solubility and fine stability, all of which are favorable for intracellular pH imaging. The probe is further successfully applied to image extremely acidic and alkaline pH values fluctuations in E. coli cells. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Hygienic diagnosis in extreme conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sofronov, G.A.

    1997-01-01

    Review for book by M.P. Zakharchenko, S.A. Lopatin, G.N. Novozhilov, V.I. Zakharov Hygienic diagnosis in extreme conditions is presented discussing the problem of people health preservation under extreme conditions. Hygienic diagnosis is considered illustrated by cases of hostilities (Afghan War), earthquake response in Armenia (1988) and Chernobyl accident response. Attention is paid to the estimation of radiation doses to people and characteristics of main types of dosimeters. The high scientific level of the book is marked

  2. IS THERE AN UNACCOUNTED FOR EXCESS IN THE EXTRAGALACTIC COSMIC RADIO BACKGROUND?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Subrahmanyan, Ravi [Raman Research Institute, CV Raman Avenue, Sadashivanagar, Bangalore 560080 (India); Cowsik, Ramanath, E-mail: rsubrahm@rri.res.in, E-mail: cowsik@physics.wustl.edu [Physics Department and McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences, Washington University, Campus Box 1105, St. Louis, MO 63130 (United States)

    2013-10-10

    Analyses of the distribution of absolute brightness temperature over the radio sky have recently led to suggestions that there exists a substantial unexplained extragalactic radio background. Consequently, there have been numerous attempts to place constraints on plausible origins of this 'excess'. We suggest here that this expectation of a large extragalactic background, over and above that contributed by the sources observed in the surveys, is based on an extremely simple geometry adopted to model the Galactic emission and the procedure adopted in the estimation of the extragalactic contribution. In this paper, we derive the extragalactic radio background from wide-field radio images using a more realistic modeling of the Galactic emission and decompose the sky maps at 150, 408, and 1420 MHz into anisotropic Galactic and isotropic extragalactic components. The anisotropic Galactic component is assumed to arise from a highly flattened spheroid representing the thick disk, embedded in a spherical halo, both centered at the Galactic center, along with Galactic sources, filamentary structures, and Galactic loops and spurs. All components are constrained to be positive and the optimization scheme minimizes the sky area occupied by the complex filaments. We show that in contrast with simple modeling of Galactic emission as a plane parallel slab, the more realistic modeling yields estimates for the uniform extragalactic brightness that are consistent with expectations from known extragalactic radio source populations.

  3. Reconstruction of the Lower Extremity Using Free Flaps

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Min Jo Kang

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available BackgroundThe aim of lower-extremity reconstruction has focused on wound coverage and functional recovery. However, there are limitations in the use of a local flap in cases of extensive defects of the lower-extremities. Therefore, free flap is a useful option in lower-extremity reconstruction.MethodsWe performed a retrospective review of 49 patients (52 cases who underwent lower-extremity reconstruction at our institution during a 10-year period. In these patients, we evaluated causes and sites of defects, types of flaps, recipient vessels, types of anastomosis, survival rate, and complications.ResultsThere were 42 men and 10 women with a mean age of 32.7 years (range, 3-72 years. The sites of defects included the dorsum of the foot (19, pretibial area (17, ankle (7, heel (5 and other sites (4. The types of free flap included latissimus dorsi muscle flap (10, scapular fascial flap (6, anterolateral thigh flap (6, and other flaps (30. There were four cases of vascular complications, out of which two flaps survived after intervention. The overall survival of the flaps was 96.2% (50/52. There were 19 cases of other complications at recipient sites such as partial graft loss (8, partial flap necrosis (6 and infection (5. However, these complications were not notable and were resolved with skin grafts.ConclusionsThe free flap is an effective method of lower-extremity reconstruction. Good outcomes can be achieved with complete debridement and the selection of appropriate recipient vessels and flaps according to the recipient site.

  4. SPREAD: a high-resolution daily gridded precipitation dataset for Spain – an extreme events frequency and intensity overview

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. Serrano-Notivoli

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available A high-resolution daily gridded precipitation dataset was built from raw data of 12 858 observatories covering a period from 1950 to 2012 in peninsular Spain and 1971 to 2012 in Balearic and Canary islands. The original data were quality-controlled and gaps were filled on each day and location independently. Using the serially complete dataset, a grid with a 5 × 5 km spatial resolution was constructed by estimating daily precipitation amounts and their corresponding uncertainty at each grid node. Daily precipitation estimations were compared to original observations to assess the quality of the gridded dataset. Four daily precipitation indices were computed to characterise the spatial distribution of daily precipitation and nine extreme precipitation indices were used to describe the frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation events. The Mediterranean coast and the Central Range showed the highest frequency and intensity of extreme events, while the number of wet days and dry and wet spells followed a north-west to south-east gradient in peninsular Spain, from high to low values in the number of wet days and wet spells and reverse in dry spells. The use of the total available data in Spain, the independent estimation of precipitation for each day and the high spatial resolution of the grid allowed for a precise spatial and temporal assessment of daily precipitation that is difficult to achieve when using other methods, pre-selected long-term stations or global gridded datasets. SPREAD dataset is publicly available at https://doi.org/10.20350/digitalCSIC/7393.

  5. Taking water-based mud to extremes : new ultra-high temperature water-based mud development and applications in Europe

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Conn, L.; Cullum, D.; Ray, R.; Marinescu, P. [Mi SWACO, Calgary, AB (Canada)

    2008-07-01

    The design, development and field applications of an ultra-high temperature water-based mud used for drilling very deep and hot wells in continental Europe was described. Basin-centred gas production from unconventional tight sands represents a significant resources that may revive exploration and gas production. However, these accumulations lie deep down from normal-pressure reservoirs and the bottom hole static temperatures are greater than 200 degrees C. In addition, they host acid gases such as carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide. As such, there are severe limitations on the design and choice of drilling fluids. This paper also described the extensive laboratory work that is needed to optimize the formulation of drilling fluids for high densities and extreme high temperatures. The lessons learned were described with reference to critical engineering guidelines for running a water-based system in such harsh conditions. The effectiveness of new fluids in delivering optimum drilling in extreme high temperature high pressure (HTHP) conditions were demonstrated using a unique software program that predicted the rheological behaviour, pressure losses, equivalent circulating density and equivalent static density. The new water-based system proved to be effective in drilling HTHP wells in areas where invert emulsion drilling fluid systems are not allowed.

  6. Operational early warning platform for extreme meteorological events

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mühr, Bernhard; Kunz, Michael

    2015-04-01

    Operational early warning platform for extreme meteorological events Most natural disasters are related to extreme weather events (e.g. typhoons); weather conditions, however, are also highly relevant for humanitarian and disaster relief operations during and after other natural disaster like earthquakes. The internet service "Wettergefahren-Frühwarnung" (WF) provides various information on extreme weather events, especially when these events are associated with a high potential for large damage. The main focus of the platform is on Central Europe, but major events are also monitored worldwide on a daily routine. WF provides high-resolution forecast maps for many weather parameters which allow detailed and reliable predictions about weather conditions during the next days in the affected areas. The WF service became operational in February 2004 and is part of the Center for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction Technology (CEDIM) since 2007. At the end of 2011, CEDIM embarked a new type of interdisciplinary disaster research termed as forensic disaster analysis (FDA) in near real time. In case of an imminent extreme weather event WF plays an important role in CEDIM's FDA group. It provides early and precise information which are always available and updated several times during a day and gives advice and assists with articles and reports on extreme events.

  7. Background studies of high energy γ rays from (n,γ) reactions in the CANDLES experiment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakajima, K.; Iida, T.; Akutagawa, K.; Batpurev, T.; Chan, W. M.; Dokaku, F.; Fushimi, K.; Kakubata, H.; Kanagawa, K.; Katagiri, S.; Kawasaki, K.; Khai, B. T.; Kino, H.; Kinoshita, E.; Kishimoto, T.; Hazama, R.; Hiraoka, H.; Hiyama, T.; Ishikawa, M.; Li, X.; Maeda, T.; Matsuoka, K.; Moser, M.; Nomachi, M.; Ogawa, I.; Ohata, T.; Sato, H.; Shamoto, K.; Shimada, M.; Shokati, M.; Takahashi, N.; Takemoto, Y.; Takihira, Y.; Tamagawa, Y.; Tozawa, M.; Teranishi, K.; Tetsuno, K.; Trang, V. T. T.; Tsuzuki, M.; Umehara, S.; Wang, W.; Yoshida, S.; Yotsunaga, N.

    2018-07-01

    High energy γ rays with several MeV produced by (n,γ) reactions can be a trouble for low background measurements in the underground laboratories such as double beta decay experiments. In the CANDLES project, which aimed to observe the neutrino-less double beta decay from 48Ca, γ rays caused by (n,γ) reactions were found to be the most significant background. The profile of the background was studied by measurements with a neutron source and a simulation with a validity check of neutron processes in Geant4. The observed spectrum of γ rays from (n,γ) reactions was well reproduced by the simulated spectra, which were originated from the surrounding rock and a detector tank made of stainless steel. The environmental neutron flux was derived by the observed event rate of γ rays from (n,γ) reactions using the simulation. The thermal and non-thermal neutron flux were found to be (1.3 ± 0.6) ×10-6 cm-2s-1 and (1.1 ± 0.5) ×10-5 cm-2s-1 , respectively. It is necessary to install an additional shield to reduce the background from (n,γ) reaction to the required level.

  8. Current management strategies and long-term clinical outcomes of upper extremity venous thrombosis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bleker, S. M.; van Es, N.; Kleinjan, A.; Buller, H. R.; Kamphuisen, P. W.; Aggarwal, A.; Beyer-Westendorf, J.; Camporese, G.; Cosmi, B.; Gary, T.; Ghirarduzzi, A.; Kaasjager, K.; Lerede, T.; Marschang, P.; Meijer, Karina; Otten, H. -M.; Porreca, E.; Righini, M.; Verhamme, P.; van Wissen, S.; Di Nisio, M.

    Background: There is scant information on the optimal management and clinical outcome of deep and superficial vein thrombosis of the upper extremity (UEDVT and UESVT). Objectives: To explore treatment strategies and the incidence of recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE), mortality, postthrombotic

  9. An influence of extremal edges on boundary extension.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hale, Ralph G; Brown, James M; McDunn, Benjamin A; Siddiqui, Aisha P

    2015-08-01

    Studies have shown that people consistently remember seeing more of a studied scene than was physically present (e.g., Intraub & Richardson Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 15, 179-187, 1989). This scene memory error, known as boundary extension, has been suggested to occur due to an observer's failure to differentiate between the contributing sources of information, including the sensory input, amodal continuation beyond the view boundaries, and contextual associations with the main objects and depicted scene locations (Intraub, 2010). Here, "scenes" made of abstract shapes on random-dot backgrounds, previously shown to elicit boundary extension (McDunn, Siddiqui, & Brown Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 21, 370-375, 2014), were compared with versions made with extremal edges (Palmer & Ghose Psychological Science, 19, 77-84, 2008) added to their borders, in order to examine how boundary extension is influenced when amodal continuation at the borders' view boundaries is manipulated in this way. Extremal edges were expected to reduce boundary extension as compared to the same scenes without them, because extremal edge boundaries explicitly indicate an image's end (i.e., they do not continue past the view boundary). A large and a small difference (16 % and 40 %) between the close and wide-angle views shown during the experiment were tested to examine the effects of both boundary extension and normalization with and without extremal edges. Images without extremal edges elicited typical boundary extension for the 16 % size change condition, whereas the 40 % condition showed signs of normalization. With extremal edges, a reduced amount of boundary extension occurred for the 16 % condition, and only normalization was found for the 40 % condition. Our findings support and highlight the importance of amodal continuation at the view boundaries as a component of boundary extension.

  10. Combined effects of extremely high frequency electromagnetic field and antibiotics on Enterococcus Hirae growth and survival

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ohanyan, V.A.

    2012-01-01

    Combined effects of extremely high frequency electromagnetic field and antibiotics on Enterococcus hirae ATCC 9790 bacterial growth and survival were investigated using 51.8 GHz and 53 GHz frequencies in combination with two commonly used antibiotics: ampicillin and dalacin. Results revealed that, despite bacterial type and membrane structure and properties, the combined effect, especially with 53 GHz and dalacin, suppresses bacterial growth and decreases their survival

  11. Photon emission of extremal Kerr-Newman black holes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wei, Shao-Wen; Gu, Bao-Min; Wang, Yong-Qiang; Liu, Yu-Xiao [Lanzhou University, Institute of Theoretical Physics, Lanzhou (China)

    2017-02-15

    In this paper, we deal with the null geodesics extending from the near-horizon region out to a distant observatory in an extremal Kerr-Newman black hole background. In particular, using the matched asymptotic expansion method, we analytically solve the null geodesics near the superradiant bound in the form of algebraic equations. For the case that the photon trajectories are limited in the equatorial plane, the shifts in the azimuthal angle and time are obtained. (orig.)

  12. Best Practice Life Expectancy:An Extreme value Approach

    OpenAIRE

    Medford, Anthony

    2017-01-01

    Background: Whereas the rise in human life expectancy has been extensively studied, the evolution of maximum life expectancies, i.e., the rise in best-practice life expectancy in a group of populations, has not been examined to the same extent. The linear rise in best-practice life expectancy has been reported previously by various authors. Though remarkable, this is simply an empirical observation. Objective: We examine best-practice life expectancy more formally by using extreme value th...

  13. Frequency Analysis of High Flow Extremes in the Yingluoxia Watershed in Northwest China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhanling Li

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Statistical modeling of hydrological extremes is significant to the construction of hydraulic engineering. This paper, taking the Yingluoxia watershed as the study area, compares the annual maximum (AM series and the peaks over a threshold (POT series in order to study the hydrological extremes, examines the stationarity and independence assumptions for the two series, and discusses the estimations and uncertainties of return levels from the two series using the Generalized Extreme Value (GEV and Generalized Pareto distribution (GPD models. For comparison, the return levels from all threshold excesses with considering the extremal index are also estimated. For the POT series, the threshold is selected by examining the mean excess plot and the stability of the parameter estimates and by using common-sense. The serial correlation is reduced by filtering out a set of dependent threshold excesses. Results show that both series are approximately stationary and independent. The GEV model fits the AM series well and the GPD model fits the POT series well. The estimated return levels are fairly comparable for the AM series, the POT series, and all threshold excesses with considering the extremal index, with the difference being less than 10% for return periods longer than 10 years. The uncertainties of the estimated return levels are the highest for the AM series, and next for the POT series and then for all threshold excesses series in turn.

  14. Mortality associated with extremity injuries compared with other types of trauma

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sanches JEA

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available José Eduardo Arantes Sanches1, José Maria Pereira de Godoy3, André Luciano Baitello2, Alceu Gomes Chueire11Departments of Orthopedic and Traumatology, 2Trauma, 3Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, São Jose do Rio Preto, BrazilBackground: The aim of this study was to evaluate one-month hospital mortality in victims with injuries of the extremities.Methods: All accident victims admitted to the Hospital de Base in São José do Rio Preto, Brazil, during the period from July 2004 to June 2005, were evaluated in an observational study. Patients were classified using the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS. Patients with severe injuries of the extremities (AIS 3–4 were compared with those without injuries or with minor extremity injuries (AIS 0–2.Results: A total of 3489 accident victims were evaluated; 3244 (92.98% did not suffer injuries or had minor injuries of the extremities (AIS 0–2 and 245 (7.02% had severe injuries (AIS 3–4. Of the 245 patients with AIS 3–4 extremity injuries, 13 (5.31% patients died, and of those without severe injuries to the extremities, 34 (1.05% died (Fisher’s Exact test P = 0.0000, relative risk 5.063, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.707–9.467.Conclusion: Patients with injuries of the extremities are at greater risk of death than accident victims with other types of trauma.Keywords: trauma, extremities, mortality, Brazil

  15. Base Oil-Extreme Pressure Additive Synergy in Lubricants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Extreme pressure (EP) additives are those containing reactive elements such as sulfur, phosphorus, and chlorine. In lubrication processes that occur under extremely severe conditions (e.g., high pressure and/or slow speed), these elements undergo chemical reactions generating new materials (tribofi...

  16. [The action of low-intensity extremely high-freguency electromagnetic radiation on growth parameters for bacteria Enterococcus hirae].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oganian, V; Sarkisian, A; Tadevosian, A; Torchunian, A

    2008-01-01

    It has been found that the exposure of Enterococcus hirae ATCC9790, grown under anaerobic conditions for 30 min or 1 h, to low-intensity (flux capacity 0.06 mW/sm2) coherent electromagnetic radiation (EMI) of extremely high-frequency 45 - 53 GHz), or millimeter waves causes a marked prolongation of the lag-growth phase and a decrease in their specific growth rate, the inhibitory effect increasing in the frequency range from 49 to 53 GHz. The effect enhanced as duration of expocure was encreased from 30 min to 1 h; however, further increase in exposure duration to 2 h did not cause an enhancement of the effect. It has been shown that the action of extremely high-frequency EMI on these bacteria does not depend on medium pH (pH 8.0 or pH 6.0). It is proposed that these bacteria have defensive or reparation mechanisms which compensate for the action of radiation; the occurrence of different mechanisms for pH regulation is not ruled out.

  17. Adventure and Extreme Sports.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gomez, Andrew Thomas; Rao, Ashwin

    2016-03-01

    Adventure and extreme sports often involve unpredictable and inhospitable environments, high velocities, and stunts. These activities vary widely and include sports like BASE jumping, snowboarding, kayaking, and surfing. Increasing interest and participation in adventure and extreme sports warrants understanding by clinicians to facilitate prevention, identification, and treatment of injuries unique to each sport. This article covers alpine skiing and snowboarding, skateboarding, surfing, bungee jumping, BASE jumping, and whitewater sports with emphasis on epidemiology, demographics, general injury mechanisms, specific injuries, chronic injuries, fatality data, and prevention. Overall, most injuries are related to overuse, trauma, and environmental or microbial exposure. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Background current of radioisotope manometer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vydrik, A.A.

    1987-01-01

    The technique for calculating the main component of the background current of radioisotopic monometers, current from direct collision of ionizing particles and a collector, is described. The reasons for appearance of background photoelectron current are clarified. The most effective way of eliminating background current components is collector protection from the source by a screen made of material with a high gamma-quanta absorption coefficient, such as lead, for example

  19. Extreme Programming: Maestro Style

    Science.gov (United States)

    Norris, Jeffrey; Fox, Jason; Rabe, Kenneth; Shu, I-Hsiang; Powell, Mark

    2009-01-01

    "Extreme Programming: Maestro Style" is the name of a computer programming methodology that has evolved as a custom version of a methodology, called extreme programming that has been practiced in the software industry since the late 1990s. The name of this version reflects its origin in the work of the Maestro team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory that develops software for Mars exploration missions. Extreme programming is oriented toward agile development of software resting on values of simplicity, communication, testing, and aggressiveness. Extreme programming involves use of methods of rapidly building and disseminating institutional knowledge among members of a computer-programming team to give all the members a shared view that matches the view of the customers for whom the software system is to be developed. Extreme programming includes frequent planning by programmers in collaboration with customers, continually examining and rewriting code in striving for the simplest workable software designs, a system metaphor (basically, an abstraction of the system that provides easy-to-remember software-naming conventions and insight into the architecture of the system), programmers working in pairs, adherence to a set of coding standards, collaboration of customers and programmers, frequent verbal communication, frequent releases of software in small increments of development, repeated testing of the developmental software by both programmers and customers, and continuous interaction between the team and the customers. The environment in which the Maestro team works requires the team to quickly adapt to changing needs of its customers. In addition, the team cannot afford to accept unnecessary development risk. Extreme programming enables the Maestro team to remain agile and provide high-quality software and service to its customers. However, several factors in the Maestro environment have made it necessary to modify some of the conventional extreme

  20. Mandelbrot's Extremism

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Beirlant, J.; Schoutens, W.; Segers, J.J.J.

    2004-01-01

    In the sixties Mandelbrot already showed that extreme price swings are more likely than some of us think or incorporate in our models.A modern toolbox for analyzing such rare events can be found in the field of extreme value theory.At the core of extreme value theory lies the modelling of maxima

  1. Effects of Extreme Temperatures on Cause-Specific Cardiovascular Mortality in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xuying; Li, Guoxing; Liu, Liqun; Westerdahl, Dane; Jin, Xiaobin; Pan, Xiaochuan

    2015-12-21

    Limited evidence is available for the effects of extreme temperatures on cause-specific cardiovascular mortality in China. We collected data from Beijing and Shanghai, China, during 2007-2009, including the daily mortality of cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, ischemic heart disease and hypertensive disease, as well as air pollution concentrations and weather conditions. We used Poisson regression with a distributed lag non-linear model to examine the effects of extremely high and low ambient temperatures on cause-specific cardiovascular mortality. For all cause-specific cardiovascular mortality, Beijing had stronger cold and hot effects than those in Shanghai. The cold effects on cause-specific cardiovascular mortality reached the strongest at lag 0-27, while the hot effects reached the strongest at lag 0-14. The effects of extremely low and high temperatures differed by mortality types in the two cities. Hypertensive disease in Beijing was particularly susceptible to both extremely high and low temperatures; while for Shanghai, people with ischemic heart disease showed the greatest relative risk (RRs = 1.16, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.34) to extremely low temperature. People with hypertensive disease were particularly susceptible to extremely low and high temperatures in Beijing. People with ischemic heart disease in Shanghai showed greater susceptibility to extremely cold days.

  2. Imaging of upper extremity stress fractures in the athlete.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Mark W

    2006-07-01

    Although it is much less common than injuries in the lower extremities, an upper extremity stress injury can have a significant impact on an athlete. If an accurate and timely diagnosis is to be made, the clinician must have a high index of suspicion of a stress fracture in any athlete who is involved in a throwing, weightlifting, or upper extremity weight-bearing sport and presents with chronic pain in the upper extremity. Imaging should play an integral role in the work-up of these patients; if initial radiographs are unrevealing, further cross-sectional imaging should be strongly considered. Although a three-phase bone scan is highly sensitive in this regard, MRI has become the study of choice at most centers.

  3. A low cost, high precision extreme/harsh cold environment, autonomous sensor data gathering and transmission platform.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chetty, S.; Field, L. A.

    2014-12-01

    SWIMS III, is a low cost, autonomous sensor data gathering platform developed specifically for extreme/harsh cold environments. Arctic ocean's continuing decrease of summer-time ice is related to rapidly diminishing multi-year ice due to the effects of climate change. Ice911 Research aims to develop environmentally inert materials that when deployed will increase the albedo, enabling the formation and/preservation of multi-year ice. SWIMS III's sophisticated autonomous sensors are designed to measure the albedo, weather, water temperature and other environmental parameters. This platform uses low cost, high accuracy/precision sensors, extreme environment command and data handling computer system using satellite and terrestrial wireless solution. The system also incorporates tilt sensors and sonar based ice thickness sensors. The system is light weight and can be deployed by hand by a single person. This presentation covers the technical, and design challenges in developing and deploying these platforms.

  4. Statistical Model of Extreme Shear

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Kurt Schaldemose; Larsen, Gunner Chr.

    2005-01-01

    In order to continue cost-optimisation of modern large wind turbines, it is important to continuously increase the knowledge of wind field parameters relevant to design loads. This paper presents a general statistical model that offers site-specific prediction of the probability density function...... by a model that, on a statistically consistent basis, describes the most likely spatial shape of an extreme wind shear event. Predictions from the model have been compared with results from an extreme value data analysis, based on a large number of full-scale measurements recorded with a high sampling rate...

  5. How extreme is extreme hourly precipitation?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Papalexiou, Simon Michael; Dialynas, Yannis G.; Pappas, Christoforos

    2016-04-01

    The importance of accurate representation of precipitation at fine time scales (e.g., hourly), directly associated with flash flood events, is crucial in hydrological design and prediction. The upper part of a probability distribution, known as the distribution tail, determines the behavior of extreme events. In general, and loosely speaking, tails can be categorized in two families: the subexponential and the hyperexponential family, with the first generating more intense and more frequent extremes compared to the latter. In past studies, the focus has been mainly on daily precipitation, with the Gamma distribution being the most popular model. Here, we investigate the behaviour of tails of hourly precipitation by comparing the upper part of empirical distributions of thousands of records with three general types of tails corresponding to the Pareto, Lognormal, and Weibull distributions. Specifically, we use thousands of hourly rainfall records from all over the USA. The analysis indicates that heavier-tailed distributions describe better the observed hourly rainfall extremes in comparison to lighter tails. Traditional representations of the marginal distribution of hourly rainfall may significantly deviate from observed behaviours of extremes, with direct implications on hydroclimatic variables modelling and engineering design.

  6. Sensitivity of European wheat to extreme weather

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mäkinen, H; Kaseva, J; Trnka, M

    2018-01-01

    The frequency and intensity of extreme weather is increasing concomitant with changes in the global climate change. Although wheat is the most important food crop in Europe, there is currently no comprehensive empirical information available regarding the sensitivity of European wheat to extreme...... weather. In this study, we assessed the sensitivity of European wheat yields to extreme weather related to phenology (sowing, heading) in cultivar trials across Europe (latitudes 37.21° to 61.34° and longitudes −6.02° to 26.24°) during the period 1991–2014. All the observed agro-climatic extremes (≥31 °C...... wheat cultivars that responded positively (+10%) to drought after sowing, or frost during winter (−15 °C and −20 °C). Positive responses to extremes were often shown by cultivars associated with specific regions, such as good performance under high temperatures by southern-origin cultivars. Consequently...

  7. Impacts of extreme weather events on highly eutrophic marine ecosystem (Rogoznica Lake, Adriatic coast)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ciglenečki, I.; Janeković, I.; Marguš, M.; Bura-Nakić, E.; Carić, M.; Ljubešić, Z.; Batistić, M.; Hrustić, E.; Dupčić, I.; Garić, R.

    2015-10-01

    Rogoznica Lake is highly eutrophic marine system located on the Eastern Adriatic coast (43°32‧N, 15°58‧E). Because of the relatively small size (10,276 m2) and depth (15 m) it experiences strong natural and indirect anthropogenic influences. Dynamics within the lake is characterized by the extreme and highly variable environmental conditions (seasonal variations in salinity and temperature, water stratification and mixing, redox and euxinic conditions, concentrations of nutrients) which significantly influence the biology inside the lake. Due to the high phytoplankton activity, the upper part of the water column is well oxygenated, while hypoxia/anoxia usually occurs in the bottom layers. Anoxic part of the water column is characterized with high concentrations of sulfide (up to 5 mM) and nutrients (NH4+ up to 315 μM; PO43- up to 53 μM; SiO44- up to 680 μM) indicating the pronounced remineralization of the allochthonous organic matter, produced in the surface waters. The mixolimnion varies significantly within a season feeling effects of the Adriatic atmospheric and ocean dynamics (temperature, wind, heat fluxes, rainfall) which all affect the vertical stability and possibly induce vertical mixing and/or turnover. Seasonal vertical mixing usually occurs during the autumn/winter upon the breakdown of the stratification, injecting oxygen-rich water from the surface into the deeper layers. Depending on the intensity and duration of the vertical dynamics (slower diffusion and/or faster turnover of the water layers) anoxic conditions could developed within the whole water column. Extreme weather events such as abrupt change in the air temperature accompanied with a strong wind and consequently heat flux are found to be a key triggering mechanism for the fast turnover, introducing a large amount of nutrients and sulfur species from deeper parts to the surface. Increased concentration of nutrients, especially ammonium, phosphate, and silicates persisting for

  8. Clinical application of lower extremity CTA and lower extremity perfusion CT as a method of diagnostic for lower extremity atherosclerotic obliterans

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Moon, Il Bong; Dong, Kyung Rae [Dept. Radiological Technology, Gwangju Health University, Gwangju (Korea, Republic of); Goo, Eun Hoe [Dept. Radiological Science, Cheongju University, Cheongju (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-11-15

    The purpose of this study was to assess clinical application of lower extremity CTA and lower extremity perfusion CT as a method of diagnostic for lower extremity atherosclerotic obliterans. From January to July 2016, 30 patients (mean age, 68) were studied with lower extremity CTA and lower extremity perfusion CT. 128 channel multi-detector row CT scans were acquired with a CT scanner (SOMATOM Definition Flash, Siemens medical solution, Germany) of lower extremity perfusion CT and lower extremity CTA. Acquired images were reconstructed with 3D workstation (Leonardo, Siemens, Germany). Site of lower extremity arterial occlusive and stenosis lesions were detected superficial femoral artery 36.6%, popliteal artery 23.4%, external iliac artery 16.7%, common femoral artery 13.3%, peroneal artery 10%. The mean total DLP comparison of lower extremity perfusion CT and lower extremity CTA, 650 mGy-cm and 675 mGy-cm, respectively. Lower extremity perfusion CT and lower extremity CTA were realized that were never be two examination that were exactly the same legions. Future through the development of lower extremity perfusion CT soft ware programs suggest possible clinical applications.

  9. INLA goes extreme: Bayesian tail regression for the estimation of high spatio-temporal quantiles

    KAUST Repository

    Opitz, Thomas

    2018-05-25

    This work is motivated by the challenge organized for the 10th International Conference on Extreme-Value Analysis (EVA2017) to predict daily precipitation quantiles at the 99.8% level for each month at observed and unobserved locations. Our approach is based on a Bayesian generalized additive modeling framework that is designed to estimate complex trends in marginal extremes over space and time. First, we estimate a high non-stationary threshold using a gamma distribution for precipitation intensities that incorporates spatial and temporal random effects. Then, we use the Bernoulli and generalized Pareto (GP) distributions to model the rate and size of threshold exceedances, respectively, which we also assume to vary in space and time. The latent random effects are modeled additively using Gaussian process priors, which provide high flexibility and interpretability. We develop a penalized complexity (PC) prior specification for the tail index that shrinks the GP model towards the exponential distribution, thus preventing unrealistically heavy tails. Fast and accurate estimation of the posterior distributions is performed thanks to the integrated nested Laplace approximation (INLA). We illustrate this methodology by modeling the daily precipitation data provided by the EVA2017 challenge, which consist of observations from 40 stations in the Netherlands recorded during the period 1972–2016. Capitalizing on INLA’s fast computational capacity and powerful distributed computing resources, we conduct an extensive cross-validation study to select the model parameters that govern the smoothness of trends. Our results clearly outperform simple benchmarks and are comparable to the best-scoring approaches of the other teams.

  10. Thermodynamics of extremal rotating thin shells in an extremal BTZ spacetime and the extremal black hole entropy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lemos, José P. S.; Minamitsuji, Masato; Zaslavskii, Oleg B.

    2017-02-01

    In a (2 +1 )-dimensional spacetime with a negative cosmological constant, the thermodynamics and the entropy of an extremal rotating thin shell, i.e., an extremal rotating ring, are investigated. The outer and inner regions with respect to the shell are taken to be the Bañados-Teitelbom-Zanelli (BTZ) spacetime and the vacuum ground state anti-de Sitter spacetime, respectively. By applying the first law of thermodynamics to the extremal thin shell, one shows that the entropy of the shell is an arbitrary well-behaved function of the gravitational area A+ alone, S =S (A+). When the thin shell approaches its own gravitational radius r+ and turns into an extremal rotating BTZ black hole, it is found that the entropy of the spacetime remains such a function of A+, both when the local temperature of the shell at the gravitational radius is zero and nonzero. It is thus vindicated by this analysis that extremal black holes, here extremal BTZ black holes, have different properties from the corresponding nonextremal black holes, which have a definite entropy, the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy S (A+)=A/+4G , where G is the gravitational constant. It is argued that for extremal black holes, in particular for extremal BTZ black holes, one should set 0 ≤S (A+)≤A/+4G;i.e., the extremal black hole entropy has values in between zero and the maximum Bekenstein-Hawking entropy A/+4 G . Thus, rather than having just two entropies for extremal black holes, as previous results have debated, namely, 0 and A/+4 G , it is shown here that extremal black holes, in particular extremal BTZ black holes, may have a continuous range of entropies, limited by precisely those two entropies. Surely, the entropy that a particular extremal black hole picks must depend on past processes, notably on how it was formed. A remarkable relation between the third law of thermodynamics and the impossibility for a massive body to reach the velocity of light is also found. In addition, in the procedure, it

  11. Seasonal temperature extremes in Potsdam

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kundzewicz, Zbigniew; Huang, Shaochun

    2010-12-01

    The awareness of global warming is well established and results from the observations made on thousands of stations. This paper complements the large-scale results by examining a long time-series of high-quality temperature data from the Secular Meteorological Station in Potsdam, where observation records over the last 117 years, i.e., from January 1893 are available. Tendencies of change in seasonal temperature-related climate extremes are demonstrated. "Cold" extremes have become less frequent and less severe than in the past, while "warm" extremes have become more frequent and more severe. Moreover, the interval of the occurrence of frost has been decreasing, while the interval of the occurrence of hot days has been increasing. However, many changes are not statistically significant, since the variability of temperature indices at the Potsdam station has been very strong.

  12. Extreme Energy Events Project: Construction of the detectors and installation in Italian High Schools

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abbrescia, M.; An, S.; Antolini, R.; Badala, A.; Baldini Ferroli, R.; Bencivenni, G.; Blanco, F.; Bressan, E.; Chiavassa, A.; Chiri, C.; Cifarelli, L.; Cindolo, F.; Coccia, E.; De Pasquale, S.; Di Giovanni, A.; D'Incecco, M.; Fabbri, F.L.; Frolov, V.; Garbini, M.; Gustavino, C.

    2008-01-01

    The EEE Project, conceived by its leader Antonino Zichichi, aims to detect Extreme Energy Events of cosmic rays with an array of muon telescopes distributed over the Italian territory. The Project involves Italian High Schools in order to introduce young people to Physics, also countervailing the recent crisis of university scientific classes inscriptions. The detectors for the EEE telescopes are Multigap Resistive Plate Chambers (MRPC) and have been constructed by teams of High School students who went in shift at the CERN laboratories. The mechanics and the electronics were developed by groups of researchers from CERN, the Italian Centro Fermi and INFN. The first group of schools of the EEE Project has inaugurated their telescopes recently. A status report of the Project and the preliminary results are presented

  13. Extreme Energy Events Project: Construction of the detectors and installation in Italian High Schools

    CERN Document Server

    Abbrescia, M; An, S; Antolini, R; Badalà, A; Baldini Ferroli, R; Bencivenni, G; Blanco, F; Bressan, E; Chiavassa, A; Chiri, C; Cifarelli, L; Cindolo, F; Coccia, E; De Pasquale, S; Di Giovanni, A; D’Incecco, M; Fabbri, F L; Frolov, V; Garbini, M; Gustavino, C; Hatzifotiadou, D; Imponente, G; Kim, J; La Rocca, P; Librizzi, F; Maggiora, A; Menghetti, H; Miozzi, S; Moro, R; Panareo, M; Pappalardo, G S; Piragino, G; Riggi, F; Romano, F; Sartorelli, G; Sbarra, C; Selvi, M; Serci, S; Williams, C; Zuyeuski, R

    2008-01-01

    The EEE Project, conceived by its leader Antonino Zichichi, aims to detect Extreme Energy Events of cosmic rays with an array of muon telescopes distributed over the Italian territory. The Project involves Italian High Schools in order to introduce young people to Physics, also countervailing the recent crisis of university scientific classes inscriptions. The detectors for the EEE telescopes are Multigap Resistive Plate Chambers (MRPC) and have been constructed by teams of High School students who went in shift at the CERN laboratories. The mechanics and the electronics were developed by groups of researchers from CERN, the Italian Centro Fermi and INFN. The first group of schools of the EEE Project has inaugurated their telescopes recently. A status report of the Project and the preliminary results are presented.

  14. Measures of serial extremal dependence and their estimation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Davis, Richard A.; Mikosch, Thomas Valentin; Zhao, Yuwei

    2013-01-01

    extremal dependence is typically characterized by clusters of exceedances of high thresholds in the series. We start by discussing the notion of extremal index of a univariate sequence, i.e. the reciprocal of the expected cluster size, which has attracted major attention in the extremal value literature...... has attracted attention for modeling and statistical purposes. We apply the extremogram to max-stable processes. Finally, we discuss estimation of the extremogram both in the time and frequency domains....

  15. Reconstruction of the Lower Extremity Using Free Flaps

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Min Jo Kang

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Background The aim of lower-extremity reconstruction has focused on wound coverage andfunctional recovery. However, there are limitations in the use of a local flap in cases of extensivedefects of the lower-extremities. Therefore, free flap is a useful option in lower-extremityreconstruction.Methods We performed a retrospective review of 49 patients (52 cases who underwentlower-extremity reconstruction at our institution during a 10-year period. In these patients,we evaluated causes and sites of defects, types of flaps, recipient vessels, types of anastomosis,survival rate, and complications.Results There were 42 men and 10 women with a mean age of 32.7 years (range, 3-72years. The sites of defects included the dorsum of the foot (19, pretibial area (17, ankle(7, heel (5 and other sites (4. The types of free flap included latissimus dorsi muscle flap(10, scapular fascial flap (6, anterolateral thigh flap (6, and other flaps (30. There werefour cases of vascular complications, out of which two flaps survived after intervention. Theoverall survival of the flaps was 96.2% (50/52. There were 19 cases of other complications atrecipient sites such as partial graft loss (8, partial flap necrosis (6 and infection (5. However,these complications were not notable and were resolved with skin grafts.Conclusions The free flap is an effective method of lower-extremity reconstruction. Goodoutcomes can be achieved with complete debridement and the selection of appropriaterecipient vessels and flaps according to the recipient site.

  16. Effects of Extreme Temperatures on Cause-Specific Cardiovascular Mortality in China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xuying Wang

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Objective: Limited evidence is available for the effects of extreme temperatures on cause-specific cardiovascular mortality in China. Methods: We collected data from Beijing and Shanghai, China, during 2007–2009, including the daily mortality of cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, ischemic heart disease and hypertensive disease, as well as air pollution concentrations and weather conditions. We used Poisson regression with a distributed lag non-linear model to examine the effects of extremely high and low ambient temperatures on cause-specific cardiovascular mortality. Results: For all cause-specific cardiovascular mortality, Beijing had stronger cold and hot effects than those in Shanghai. The cold effects on cause-specific cardiovascular mortality reached the strongest at lag 0–27, while the hot effects reached the strongest at lag 0–14. The effects of extremely low and high temperatures differed by mortality types in the two cities. Hypertensive disease in Beijing was particularly susceptible to both extremely high and low temperatures; while for Shanghai, people with ischemic heart disease showed the greatest relative risk (RRs = 1.16, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.34 to extremely low temperature. Conclusion: People with hypertensive disease were particularly susceptible to extremely low and high temperatures in Beijing. People with ischemic heart disease in Shanghai showed greater susceptibility to extremely cold days.

  17. Extreme value distributions

    CERN Document Server

    Ahsanullah, Mohammad

    2016-01-01

    The aim of the book is to give a through account of the basic theory of extreme value distributions. The book cover a wide range of materials available to date. The central ideas and results of extreme value distributions are presented. The book rwill be useful o applied statisticians as well statisticians interrested to work in the area of extreme value distributions.vmonograph presents the central ideas and results of extreme value distributions.The monograph gives self-contained of theory and applications of extreme value distributions.

  18. Pathological characteristics of extremely severe acute radiation injury in a patient's legs and hands after a very uneven accidental exposure to an extremely high dose of 192Ir

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Qing; Li Guomin; Liu Shujun; Yang Yijing; Li Fumeng; Yang Junhua

    1997-01-01

    The pathological characteristics of an extremely high dose radiation in the legs and hands of a patient is reported. the patient was exposed to 192 Ir γ-rays for 9 hours and 20 minutes, the activity of which was 2.76 TBq. The amputations of the right thigh and left forearm had to be performed 8 days after the irradiation and the debridements and skin graftings were performed on the right hand and the inner side of left knee 55 days after the radiation. Microscopically, massive necrosis of cells of the epidermis, cutaneous appendages, hypodermics and skeletal muscles, and hemorrhage in the dermis, hypodermics and skeletal muscles were seen in the local irradiated parts of the right shank. But the arrector pili muscles in the dermis of the right shank remained. On the fingers and the palm of the left hand, vacuolar degeneration and massive necrosis of the cells of epidermis were present with extensive neutrophil infiltration. Cysts of large or small size were formed from the necrotic cells, separating epidermis from dermis. There were degeneration and necrosis of glandular epithelium cells of sweat glands. Hemorrhage was present in dermis and hypodermics. All the hematopoietic tissues in the bone marrow in the upper ends of the tibia and fibula and in the lower ends of the femur, the radius and the ulna disappeared. Acute radiation ulcers were present on the skin of the left knee and on the skin of the thumb, index finger and middle finger of the right hand. The extremely severe acute radiation injury caused by extremely high dose of 192 Ir led to the necrosis of the extensive soft tissues deep to skeletal muscles and the disappearance of the hematopoietic tissues in the bone marrow

  19. Extreme Precipitation and Emergency Room Visits for Influenza in Massachusetts: A Case-Crossover Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    BACKGROUND: Influenza peaks during the wintertime in temperate regions and during the annual rainy season in tropical regions – however reasons for the observed differences in disease ecology are poorly understood. We hypothesize that episodes of extreme precipitation also result...

  20. Extremely high efficient nanoreactor with Au@ZnO catalyst for photocatalysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Su, Chung-Yi; Yang, Tung-Han; Gurylev, Vitaly; Huang, Sheng-Hsin; Wu, Jenn-Ming; Perng, Tsong-Pyng

    2015-10-01

    We fabricated a photocatalytic Au@ZnO@PC (polycarbonate) nanoreactor composed of monolayered Au nanoparticles chemisorbed on conformal ZnO nanochannel arrays within the PC membrane. A commercial PC membrane was used as the template for deposition of a ZnO shell into the pores by atomic layer deposition (ALD). Thioctic acid (TA) with sufficient steric stabilization was used as a molecular linker for functionalization of Au nanoparticles in a diameter of 10 nm. High coverage of Au nanoparticles anchored on the inner wall of ZnO nanochannels greatly improved the photocatalytic activity for degradation of Rhodamine B. The membrane nanoreactor achieved 63% degradation of Rhodamine B within only 26.88 ms of effective reaction time owing to its superior mass transfer efficiency based on Damköhler number analysis. Mass transfer limitation can be eliminated in the present study due to extremely large surface-to-volume ratio of the membrane nanoreactor.

  1. Automaton Rover for Extreme Environments, Phase II

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Extreme environments abound in the solar system and include the radiation around Jupiter, high surface temperatures on Mercury and Venus, and hot, high pressure...

  2. Novel all-extremity high-intensity interval training improves aerobic fitness, cardiac function and insulin resistance in healthy older adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hwang, Chueh-Lung; Yoo, Jeung-Ki; Kim, Han-Kyul; Hwang, Moon-Hyon; Handberg, Eileen M; Petersen, John W; Christou, Demetra D

    2016-09-01

    Aging is associated with decreased aerobic fitness and cardiac remodeling leading to increased risk for cardiovascular disease. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) on the treadmill has been reported to be more effective in ameliorating these risk factors compared with moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) in patients with cardiometabolic disease. In older adults, however, weight-bearing activities are frequently limited due to musculoskeletal and balance problems. The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility and safety of non-weight-bearing all-extremity HIIT in older adults. In addition, we tested the hypothesis that all-extremity HIIT will be more effective in improving aerobic fitness, cardiac function, and metabolic risk factors compared with all-extremity MICT. Fifty-one healthy sedentary older adults (age: 65±1years) were randomized to HIIT (n=17), MICT (n=18) or non-exercise control (CONT; n=16). HIIT (4×4min 90% of peak heart rate; HRpeak) and isocaloric MICT (70% of HRpeak) were performed on a non-weight-bearing all-extremity ergometer, 4×/week for 8weeks under supervision. All-extremity HIIT was feasible in older adults and resulted in no adverse events. Aerobic fitness (peak oxygen consumption; VO2peak) and ejection fraction (echocardiography) improved by 11% (PHIIT, while no changes were observed in MICT and CONT (P≥0.1). Greater improvements in ejection fraction were associated with greater improvements in VO2peak (r=0.57; PHIIT by 26% (P=0.016). Diastolic function, body composition, glucose and lipids were unaffected (P≥0.1). In conclusion, all-extremity HIIT is feasible and safe in older adults. HIIT, but not MICT, improved aerobic fitness, ejection fraction, and insulin resistance. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Novel All-Extremity High-Intensity Interval Training Improves Aerobic Fitness, Cardiac Function and Insulin Resistance in Healthy Older Adults

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hwang, Chueh-Lung; Yoo, Jeung-Ki; Kim, Han-Kyul; Hwang, Moon-Hyon; Handberg, Eileen M.; Petersen, John W.; Christou, Demetra D.

    2016-01-01

    Aging is associated with decreased aerobic fitness and cardiac remodeling leading to increased risk for cardiovascular disease. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) on the treadmill has been reported to be more effective in ameliorating these risk factors compared with moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) in patients with cardiometabolic disease. In older adults, however, weight-bearing activities are frequently limited due to musculoskeletal and balance problems. The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility and safety of non-weight-bearing all-extremity HIIT in older adults. In addition, we tested the hypothesis that all-extremity HIIT will be more effective in improving aerobic fitness, cardiac function, and metabolic risk factors compared with all-extremity MICT. Fifty-one healthy sedentary older adults (age: 65±1 years) were randomized to HIIT (n=17), MICT (n=18) or non-exercise control (CONT; n=16). HIIT (4×4 minutes 90% of peak heart rate; HRpeak) and isocaloric MICT (70% of HRpeak) were performed on a non-weight-bearing all-extremity ergometer, 4x/week for 8 weeks under supervision. All-extremity HIIT was feasible in older adults and resulted in no adverse events. Aerobic fitness (peak oxygen consumption; VO2peak) and ejection fraction (echocardiography) improved by 11% (PHIIT, while no changes were observed in MICT and CONT (P≥0.1). Greater improvements in ejection fraction were associated with greater improvements in VO2peak (r=0.57; PHIIT by 26% (P=0.016). Diastolic function, body composition, glucose and lipids were unaffected (P≥0.1). In conclusion, all-extremity HIIT is feasible and safe in older adults. HIIT, but not MICT, improved aerobic fitness, ejection fraction, and insulin resistance. PMID:27346646

  4. Evaluation of high resolution spatio-temporal precipitation extremes from a stochastic weather generator

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørup, Hjalte Jomo Danielsen; Christensen, O. B.; Arnbjerg-Nielsen, Karsten

    2017-01-01

    Spatio-temporal rainfall is modelled for the North-Eastern part of Zealand (Denmark) using the Spatio-Temporal Neyman-Scott Rectangular Pulses model as implemented in the RainSim software. Hourly precipitation series for fitting the model are obtained from a dense network of tipping bucket rain...... gauges in the model area. The spatiotemporal performance of the model with respect to precipitation extremes is evaluated in the points of a 2x2 km regular grid covering the full model area. The model satisfactorily reproduces the extreme behaviour of the observed precipitation with respect to event...... intensity levels and unconditional spatial correlation when evaluated using an event based ranking approach at point scale and an advanced spatiotemporal coupling of extreme events. Prospectively the model can be used as a tool to evaluate the impact of climate change without relying on precipitation output...

  5. Evaluation of high resolution spatio-temporal precipitation extremes from a stochastic weather generator

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørup, Hjalte Jomo Danielsen; Christensen, O. B.; Arnbjerg-Nielsen, Karsten

    gauges in the model area. The spatio-temporal performance of the model with respect to precipitation extremes is evaluated in the points of a 2x2 km regular grid covering the full model area. The model satisfactorily reproduces the extreme behaviour of the observed precipitation with respect to event...... intensity levels and unconditional spatial correlation when evaluated using an event based ranking approach at point scale and an advanced spatio-temporal coupling of extreme events. Prospectively the model can be used as a tool to evaluate the impact of climate change without relying onprecipitation output......Spatio-temporal rainfall is modelled for the North-Eastern part of Zealand (Denmark) using the Spatio-Temporal Neyman-Scott Rectangular Pulses model as implemented in the RainSim software. Hourly precipitation series for fitting the model are obtained from a dense network of tipping bucket rain...

  6. Investigating Extreme Lifestyles through Mangrove Transcriptomics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dassanayake, Maheshi

    2009-01-01

    Mangroves represent phylogenetically diverse taxa in tropical coastal terrestrial habitats. They are extremophiles, evolutionarily adapted to tolerate flooding, anoxia, high temperatures, wind, and high and extremely variable salt conditions in typically resource-poor environments. The genetic basis for these adaptations is, however, virtually…

  7. Diffuse Cosmic Infrared Background Radiation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dwek, Eli

    2002-01-01

    The diffuse cosmic infrared background (CIB) consists of the cumulative radiant energy released in the processes of structure formation that have occurred since the decoupling of matter and radiation following the Big Bang. In this lecture I will review the observational data that provided the first detections and limits on the CIB, and the theoretical studies explaining the origin of this background. Finally, I will also discuss the relevance of this background to the universe as seen in high energy gamma-rays.

  8. Analytical expression for the phantom generated bremsstrahlung background in high energy electron beams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sorcini, B.B.; Hyoedynmaa, S; Brahme, A.

    1995-01-01

    Qualification of the bremsstrahlung photon background generated by an electron beam in a phantom is important for accurate high energy electron beam dosimetry in radiation therapy. An analytical expression has been derived for the background of phantom generated bremsstrahlung photons in plane parallel electron beams normally incident on phantoms of any atomic number between 4 and 92 (Be, C, H 2 O, Al, Cu, Ag, Pb and U). The expression can be used with fairly good accuracy in the energy range between 1 and 50 MeV. The expression is globally based on known scattering power and radiation and collision stopping power data for the phantom material at the mean energy of the incident electrons. The depth dose distribution due to the bremsstrahlung generated in the phantom is derived by folding the bremsstrahlung energy fluence with a simple analytical one-dimensional photon energy deposition kernel. The energy loss of the primary electrons and the generation, attenuation and absorption of bremsstrahlung photons are taken into account in the analytical formula. The photon energy deposition kernel is used to account for the bremsstrahlung produced at one depth that will contribute to the down stream dose. A simple analytical expression for photon energy deposition kernel is consistent with the classical analytical relation describing the photon depth dose distribution. From the surface to the practical range the photon dose increases almost linearly due to accumulation and buildup of the photon produced at different phantom layers. At depths beyond the practical range a simple exponential function can be use to describe the bremsstrahlung attenuation in the phantom. For comparison Monte Carlo calculated distributions using ITS3 Monte Carlo Code were used. Good agreement is found between the analytical expression and Monte Carlo calculation. Deviations of 5% from Monte Carlo calculated bremmstrahlung background are observed for high atomic number materials. The method can

  9. Non-extremal Kerr black holes as particle accelerators

    OpenAIRE

    Gao, Sijie; Zhong, Changchun

    2011-01-01

    It has been shown that extremal Kerr black holes can be used as particle accelerators and arbitrarily high energy may be obtained near the event horizon. We study particle collisions near the event horizon (outer horizon) and Cauchy horizon (inner horizon) of a non-extremal Kerr black hole. Firstly, we provide a general proof showing that particles cannot collide with arbitrarily high energies at the outter horizon. Secondly, we show that ultraenergetic collisions can occur near the inner hor...

  10. Extreme climate, not extreme weather: the summer of 1816 in Geneva, Switzerland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. Auchmann

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available We analyze weather and climate during the "Year without Summer" 1816 using sub-daily data from Geneva, Switzerland, representing one of the climatically most severely affected regions. The record includes twice daily measurements and observations of air temperature, pressure, cloud cover, wind speed, and wind direction as well as daily measurements of precipitation. Comparing 1816 to a contemporary reference period (1799–1821 reveals that the coldness of the summer of 1816 was most prominent in the afternoon, with a shift of the entire distribution function of temperature anomalies by 3–4 °C. Early morning temperature anomalies show a smaller change for the mean, a significant decrease in the variability, and no changes in negative extremes. Analyzing cloudy and cloud-free conditions separately suggests that an increase in the number of cloudy days was to a significant extent responsible for these features. A daily weather type classification based on pressure, pressure tendency, and wind direction shows extremely anomalous frequencies in summer 1816, with only one day (compared to 20 in an average summer classified as high-pressure situation but a tripling of low-pressure situations. The afternoon temperature anomalies expected from only a change in weather types was much stronger negative in summer 1816 than in any other year. For precipitation, our analysis shows that the 80% increase in summer precipitation compared to the reference period can be explained by 80% increase in the frequency of precipitation, while no change could be found neither in the average intensity of precipitation nor in the frequency distribution of extreme precipitation. In all, the analysis shows that the regional circulation and local cloud cover played a dominant role. It also shows that the summer of 1816 was an example of extreme climate, not extreme weather.

  11. Extreme eigenvalues of sample covariance and correlation matrices

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Heiny, Johannes

    This thesis is concerned with asymptotic properties of the eigenvalues of high-dimensional sample covariance and correlation matrices under an infinite fourth moment of the entries. In the first part, we study the joint distributional convergence of the largest eigenvalues of the sample covariance...... matrix of a p-dimensional heavy-tailed time series when p converges to infinity together with the sample size n. We generalize the growth rates of p existing in the literature. Assuming a regular variation condition with tail index ... eigenvalues are essentially determined by the extreme order statistics from an array of iid random variables. The asymptotic behavior of the extreme eigenvalues is then derived routinely from classical extreme value theory. The resulting approximations are strikingly simple considering the high dimension...

  12. Characterization of gaseous detectors at the CERN Gamma Irradiation Facility: GEM performance in presence of high background radiation

    CERN Document Server

    AUTHOR|(CDS)2097588

    Muon detection is an efficient tool to recognize interesting physics events over the high background rate expected at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. The muon systems of the LHC experiments are based on gaseous ionization detectors. In view of the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) upgrade program, the increasing of background radiation could affect the gaseous detector performance, especially decreasing the efficiency and shortening the lifetime through ageing processes. The effects of charge multiplication, materials and gas composition on the ageing of gaseous detectors have been studied for decades, but the future upgrade of LHC requires additional studies on this topic. At the CERN Gamma Irradiation Facility (GIF++), a radioactive source of cesium-137 with an activity of 14 TBq is used to reproduce reasonably well the expected background radiation at HL-LHC. A muon beam has been made available to study detector performance. The characterization of the beam trigger will be discussed in the present w...

  13. Extreme heat and cultural and linguistic minorities in Australia: perceptions of stakeholders

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-01-01

    Background Despite acclimatisation to hot weather, many individuals in Australia are adversely affected by extreme heat each summer, placing added pressure on the health sector. In terms of public health, it is therefore important to identify vulnerable groups, particularly in the face of a warming climate. International evidence points to a disparity in heat-susceptibility in certain minority groups, although it is unknown if this occurs in Australia. With cultural diversity increasing, the aim of this study was to explore how migrants from different cultural backgrounds and climate experiences manage periods of extreme heat in Australia. Methods A qualitative study was undertaken across three Australian cities, involving interviews and focus groups with key informants including stakeholders involved in multicultural service provision and community members. Thematic analysis and a framework approach were used to analyse the data. Results Whilst migrants and refugees generally adapt well upon resettlement, there are sociocultural barriers encountered by some that hinder environmental adaptation to periods of extreme heat in Australia. These barriers include socioeconomic disadvantage and poor housing, language barriers to the access of information, isolation, health issues, cultural factors and lack of acclimatisation. Most often mentioned as being at risk were new arrivals, people in new and emerging communities, and older migrants. Conclusions With increasing diversity within populations, it is important that the health sector is aware that during periods of extreme heat there may be disparities in the adaptive capacity of minority groups, underpinned by sociocultural and language-based vulnerabilities in migrants and refugees. These factors need to be considered by policymakers when formulating and disseminating heat health strategies. PMID:24889099

  14. Wind and Wave Setup Contributions to Extreme Sea Levels at a Tropical High Island: A Stochastic Cyclone Simulation Study for Apia, Samoa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ron Karl Hoeke

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Wind-wave contributions to tropical cyclone (TC-induced extreme sea levels are known to be significant in areas with narrow littoral zones, particularly at oceanic islands. Despite this, little information exists in many of these locations to assess the likelihood of inundation, the relative contribution of wind and wave setup to this inundation, and how it may change with sea level rise (SLR, particularly at scales relevant to coastal infrastructure. In this study, we explore TC-induced extreme sea levels at spatial scales on the order of tens of meters at Apia, the capitol of Samoa, a nation in the tropical South Pacific with typical high-island fringing reef morphology. Ensembles of stochastically generated TCs (based on historical information are combined with numerical simulations of wind waves, storm-surge, and wave setup to develop high-resolution statistical information on extreme sea levels and local contributions of wind setup and wave setup. The results indicate that storm track and local morphological details lead to local differences in extreme sea levels on the order of 1 m at spatial scales of less than 1 km. Wave setup is the overall largest contributor at most locations; however, wind setup may exceed wave setup in some sheltered bays. When an arbitrary SLR scenario (+1 m is introduced, overall extreme sea levels are found to modestly decrease relative to SLR, but wave energy near the shoreline greatly increases, consistent with a number of other recent studies. These differences have implications for coastal adaptation strategies.

  15. Impacts of Extreme Events on Human Health. Chapter 4

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bell, Jesse E.; Herring, Stephanie C.; Jantarasami, Lesley; Adrianopoli, Carl; Benedict, Kaitlin; Conlon, Kathryn; Escobar, Vanessa; Hess, Jeremy; Luvall, Jeffrey; Garcia-Pando, Carlos Perez; hide

    2016-01-01

    Increased Exposure to Extreme Events Key Finding 1: Health impacts associated with climate-related changes in exposure to extreme events include death, injury, or illness; exacerbation of underlying medical conditions; and adverse effects on mental health[High Confidence]. Climate change will increase exposure risk in some regions of the United States due to projected increases in the frequency and/or intensity of drought, wildfires, and flooding related to extreme precipitation and hurricanes [Medium Confidence].Disruption of Essential Infrastructure Key Finding 2: Many types of extreme events related to climate change cause disruption of infrastructure, including power, water, transportation, and communication systems, that are essential to maintaining access to health care and emergency response services and safeguarding human health [High Confidence].Vulnerability to Coastal Flooding Key Finding 3: Coastal populations with greater vulnerability to health impacts from coastal flooding include persons with disabilities or other access and functional needs, certain populations of color, older adults, pregnant women and children, low-income populations, and some occupational groups [High Confidence].Climate change will increase exposure risk to coastal flooding due to increases in extreme precipitation and in hurricane intensity and rainfall rates, as well as sea level rise and the resulting increases in storm surge.

  16. Dry deposition of sulphur at a high-altitude background station in South Africa

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Zunckel, M

    1999-10-01

    Full Text Available station also plays a role in the observed day-to-day variation as pollutants are trapped immediately below this layer. The pressure difference between the base of the absolutely stable layer and the surface pressure at Ben MacDhui is used to indicate... AT A HIGH-ALTITUDE BACKGROUND STATION IN SOUTH AFRICA MARK ZUNCKEL1;2 , STUART PIKETH1 and TALI FREIMAN1 1 Climatology Research Group, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; 2 CSIR Environmentek, P.O. Box 17001, Congella, South Africa...

  17. Quantitative Assessment on Anthropogenic Contributions to the Rainfall Extremes Associated with Typhoon Morakot (2009)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, C. T.; Lo, S. H.; Wang, C. C.; Tsuboki, K.

    2017-12-01

    More than 2000 mm rainfall occurred over southern Taiwan when a category 1 Typhoon Morakot pass through Taiwan in early August 2009. Entire village and hundred of people were buried by massive mudslides induced by record-breaking precipitation. Whether the past anthropogenic warming played a significant role in such extreme event remained very controversial. On one hand, people argue it's nearly impossible to attribute an individual extreme event to global warming. On the other hand, the increase of heavy rainfall is consistent with the expected effects of climate change on tropical cyclone. To diagnose possible anthropogenic contributions to the odds of such heavy rainfall associated with Typhoon Morakot, we adapt an existing probabilistic event attribution framework to simulate a `world that was' and compare it with an alternative condition, 'world that might have been' that removed the historical anthropogenic drivers of climate. One limitation for applying such approach to high-impact weather system is that it will require models capable of capturing the essential processes lead to the studied extremes. Using a cloud system resolving model that can properly simulate the complicated interactions between tropical cyclone, large-scale background, topography, we first perform the ensemble `world that was' simulations using high resolution ECMWF YOTC analysis. We then re-simulate, having adjusted the analysis to `world that might have been conditions' by removing the regional atmospheric and oceanic forcing due to human influences estimated from the CMIP5 model ensemble mean conditions between all forcing and natural forcing only historical runs. Thus our findings are highly conditional on the driving analysis and adjustments therein, but the setup allows us to elucidate possible contribution of anthropogenic forcing to changes in the likelihood of heavy rainfall associated Typhoon Morakot in early August 2009.

  18. Extremely High Phosphate Sorption Capacity in Cu-Pb-Zn Mine Tailings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Longbin; Li, Xiaofang; Nguyen, Tuan A H

    2015-01-01

    Elevated inorganic phosphate (Pi) concentrations in pore water of amended tailings under direct revegetation may cause toxicity in some native woody species but not native forbs or herb species, all of which are key constituents in target native plant communities for phytostabilizing base metal mine tailings. As a result, Pi sorption capacity has been quantified by a conventional batch procedure in three types of base metal mine tailings sampled from two copper (Cu)-lead (Pb)-zinc (Zn) mines, as the basis for Pi-fertiliser addition. It was found that the Pi-sorption capacity in the tailings and local soil was extremely high, far higher than highly weathered agricultural soils in literature, but similar to those of volcanic ash soils. The Langmuir P-sorption maximum was up to 7.72, 4.12, 4.02 and 3.62 mg P g-1 tailings, in the fresh tailings of mixed Cu-Pb-Zn streams (MIMTD7), the weathered tailings of mixed Cu-Pb-Zn streams (MIMTD5), EHM-TD (fresh Cu-stream, high magnetite content) and local soil (weathered shale and schist), respectively. Physicochemical factors highly correlated with the high Pi-sorption in the tailings were fine particle distribution, oxalate and dithionite-citrate-bicarbonate extractable Fe (FeO and Fed), oxalate-extractable Al and Mn, and the levels of soluble Cd and Zn, and total S and Fe. Large amounts of amorphous Fe oxides and oxyhydroxides may have been formed from the oxidation of pyritic materials and redox cycles of Fe-minerals (such as pyrite (FeS2), ankerite (Ca(Fe Mg)(CO3)2 and siderite (FeCO3), as indicated by the extractable FeO values. The likely formation of sparingly soluble Zn-phosphate in the Pb-Zn tailings containing high levels of Zn (from sphalerite ((Zn,Fe)S, ZnS, (Zn,Cd)S)) may substantially lower soluble Zn levels in the tailings through high rates of Pi-fertiliser addition. As a result, the possibility of P-toxicity in native plant species caused by the addition of soluble phosphate fertilizers would be minimal.

  19. Extremely Preterm Birth

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Events Advocacy For Patients About ACOG Extremely Preterm Birth Home For Patients Search FAQs Extremely Preterm Birth ... Spanish FAQ173, June 2016 PDF Format Extremely Preterm Birth Pregnancy When is a baby considered “preterm” or “ ...

  20. Extreme pressure differences at 0900 NZST and winds across New Zealand

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salinger, M. James; Griffiths, Georgina M.; Gosai, Ashmita

    2005-07-01

    Trends in extremes in station daily sea-level pressure differences at 0900 NZST are examined, and extreme daily wind gusts, across New Zealand, since the 1960s. Annual time series were examined (with indices of magnitude and frequency over threshold percentiles) from the daily indices selected. These follow from earlier indices of normalized monthly mean sea-level pressure differences between station pairs, except the daily indices are not normalized. The frequency statistics quantify the number of extreme zonal (westerly and easterly), or extreme meridional (southerly or northerly), pressure gradient events. The frequency and magnitude of extreme westerly episodes has increased slightly over New Zealand, with a significant increase in the westerly extremes to the south of New Zealand. In contrast, the magnitude and frequency of easterly extremes has decreased over New Zealand, but increased to the south, with some trends weakly significant. The frequency and magnitude of daily southerly extremes has decreased significantly in the region.Extreme daily wind gust events at key climate stations in New Zealand and at Hobart, Australia, are highly likely to be associated with an extreme daily pressure difference. The converse was less likely to hold: extreme wind gusts were not always observed on days with extreme daily pressure difference, probably due to the strong influence that topography has on localized station winds. Significant correlations exist between the frequency indices and both annual-average mean sea-level pressures around the Australasian region and annual-average sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the Southern Hemisphere. These correlations are generally stronger for indices of extreme westerly or extreme southerly airflows. Annual-average pressures in the Tasman Sea or Southern Ocean are highly correlated to zonal indices (frequency of extreme westerlies). SST anomalies in the NINO3 region or on either side of the South Island are

  1. Hawkes process model with a time-dependent background rate and its application to high-frequency financial data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Omi, Takahiro; Hirata, Yoshito; Aihara, Kazuyuki

    2017-07-01

    A Hawkes process model with a time-varying background rate is developed for analyzing the high-frequency financial data. In our model, the logarithm of the background rate is modeled by a linear model with a relatively large number of variable-width basis functions, and the parameters are estimated by a Bayesian method. Our model can capture not only the slow time variation, such as in the intraday seasonality, but also the rapid one, which follows a macroeconomic news announcement. By analyzing the tick data of the Nikkei 225 mini, we find that (i) our model is better fitted to the data than the Hawkes models with a constant background rate or a slowly varying background rate, which have been commonly used in the field of quantitative finance; (ii) the improvement in the goodness-of-fit to the data by our model is significant especially for sessions where considerable fluctuation of the background rate is present; and (iii) our model is statistically consistent with the data. The branching ratio, which quantifies the level of the endogeneity of markets, estimated by our model is 0.41, suggesting the relative importance of exogenous factors in the market dynamics. We also demonstrate that it is critically important to appropriately model the time-dependent background rate for the branching ratio estimation.

  2. Hawkes process model with a time-dependent background rate and its application to high-frequency financial data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Omi, Takahiro; Hirata, Yoshito; Aihara, Kazuyuki

    2017-07-01

    A Hawkes process model with a time-varying background rate is developed for analyzing the high-frequency financial data. In our model, the logarithm of the background rate is modeled by a linear model with a relatively large number of variable-width basis functions, and the parameters are estimated by a Bayesian method. Our model can capture not only the slow time variation, such as in the intraday seasonality, but also the rapid one, which follows a macroeconomic news announcement. By analyzing the tick data of the Nikkei 225 mini, we find that (i) our model is better fitted to the data than the Hawkes models with a constant background rate or a slowly varying background rate, which have been commonly used in the field of quantitative finance; (ii) the improvement in the goodness-of-fit to the data by our model is significant especially for sessions where considerable fluctuation of the background rate is present; and (iii) our model is statistically consistent with the data. The branching ratio, which quantifies the level of the endogeneity of markets, estimated by our model is 0.41, suggesting the relative importance of exogenous factors in the market dynamics. We also demonstrate that it is critically important to appropriately model the time-dependent background rate for the branching ratio estimation.

  3. State of the art of D ampersand D Instrumentation Technology: Alpha counting in the presence of high background

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dickerman, C.E.

    1995-08-01

    Discrimination of alpha activity in the presence of a high radiation background has been identified as an area of concern to be studied for D ampersand D applications. Upon evaluating the range of alpha detection needs for D ampersand D operations, we have expanded this study to address the operational concern of greatly expediting alpha counting of rough surfaces and rubble. Note that the term, ''rough surfaces'' includes a wide range of practical cases, including contaminated equipment and work surfaces. We have developed provisional applications requirements for instrumentation of this type; and we also have generated the scope of a program of instrument evaluation and testing, with emphasis on practical implementation. In order to obtain the full operational benefit of alpha discrimination in the presence of strong beta-gamma radiation background, the detection system must be capable of some form of remote or semi-remote operation in order to reduce operator exposure. We have identified a highly promising technique, the long-range alpha detector (LRAD), for alpha discrimination in the presence of high radiation background. This technique operates upon the principle of transporting alphaionized air to an ionization detector. A transport time within a few seconds is adequate. Neither the provisional requirements nor the evaluation and testing scope were expressly tailored to force the selection of a LRAD technology, and they could be used as a basis for studies of other promising technologies. However, a technology that remotely detects alpha-ionized air (e. g., LRAD) is a natural fit to the key requirements of rejection of high background at the survey location and operator protection. Also, LRAD appears to be valuable for D ampersand D applications as a means of greatly expediting surface alpha-activity surveys that otherwise would require performing time-consuming scans over surfaces of interest with alpha detector probes, and even more labor-intensive surface

  4. Response of Simple, Model Systems to Extreme Conditions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ewing, Rodney C. [Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); Lang, Maik [Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)

    2015-07-30

    The focus of the research was on the application of high-pressure/high-temperature techniques, together with intense energetic ion beams, to the study of the behavior of simple oxide systems (e.g., SiO2, GeO2, CeO2, TiO2, HfO2, SnO2, ZnO and ZrO2) under extreme conditions. These simple stoichiometries provide unique model systems for the analysis of structural responses to pressure up to and above 1 Mbar, temperatures of up to several thousands of kelvin, and the extreme energy density generated by energetic heavy ions (tens of keV/atom). The investigations included systematic studies of radiation- and pressure-induced amorphization of high P-T polymorphs. By studying the response of simple stoichiometries that have multiple structural “outcomes”, we have established the basic knowledge required for the prediction of the response of more complex structures to extreme conditions. We especially focused on the amorphous state and characterized the different non-crystalline structure-types that result from the interplay of radiation and pressure. For such experiments, we made use of recent technological developments, such as the perforated diamond-anvil cell and in situ investigation using synchrotron x-ray sources. We have been particularly interested in using extreme pressures to alter the electronic structure of a solid prior to irradiation. We expected that the effects of modified band structure would be evident in the track structure and morphology, information which is much needed to describe theoretically the fundamental physics of track-formation. Finally, we investigated the behavior of different simple-oxide, composite nanomaterials (e.g., uncoated nanoparticles vs. core/shell systems) under coupled, extreme conditions. This provided insight into surface and boundary effects on phase stability under extreme conditions.

  5. Nonlinear wave-mixing processes in the extreme ultraviolet

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Misoguti, L.; Christov, I. P.; Backus, S.; Murnane, M. M.; Kapteyn, H. C.

    2005-01-01

    We present data from two-color high-order harmonic generation in a hollow waveguide, that suggest the presence of a nonlinear-optical frequency conversion process driven by extreme ultraviolet light. By combining the fundamental and second harmonic of an 800 nm laser in a hollow-core fiber, with varying relative polarizations, and by observing the pressure and power scaling of the various harmonic orders, we show that the data are consistent with a picture where we drive the process of high-harmonic generation, which in turn drives four-wave frequency mixing processes in the extreme EUV. This work promises a method for extending nonlinear optics into the extreme ultraviolet region of the spectrum using an approach that has not previously been considered, and has compelling implications for generating tunable light at short wavelengths

  6. Extreme states of matter on earth and in the cosmos

    CERN Document Server

    Fortov, Vladimir E

    2011-01-01

    With its many beautiful colour pictures, this book gives fascinating insights into the unusual forms and behaviour of matter under extremely high pressures and temperatures. These extreme states are generated, among other things, by strong shock, detonation and electric explosion waves, dense laser beams,electron and ion beams, hypersonic entry of spacecraft into dense atmospheres of planets, and in many other situations characterized by extremely high pressures and temperatures. Written by one of the world's foremost experts on the topic, this book will inform and fascinate all scientists dealing with materials properties and physics, and also serve as an excellent introduction to plasma-, shock-wave and high-energy-density physics for students and newcomers seeking an overview.  

  7. Highly Efficient Method for the Synthesis of Activated Mesoporous Biocarbons with Extremely High Surface Area for High-Pressure CO2 Adsorption.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Gurwinder; Lakhi, Kripal S; Kim, In Young; Kim, Sungho; Srivastava, Prashant; Naidu, Ravi; Vinu, Ajayan

    2017-09-06

    A simple and efficient way to synthesize activated mesoporous biocarbons (AMBs) with extremely high BET surface area and large pore volume has been achieved for the first time through a simple solid state activation of freely available biomass, Arundo donax, with zinc chloride. The textural parameters of the AMB can easily be controlled by varying the activation temperature. It is demonstrated that the mesoporosity of AMB can be finely tuned with a simple adjustment of the amount of activating agent. AMB with almost 100% mesoporosity can be achieved using the activating agent and the biomass ratio of 5 and carbonization at 500 °C. Under the optimized conditions, AMB with a BET surface area of 3298 m 2 g -1 and a pore volume of 1.9 cm 3 g -1 can be prepared. While being used as an adsorbent for CO 2 capture, AMB registers an impressively high pressure CO 2 adsorption capacity of 30.2 mmol g -1 at 30 bar which is much higher than that of activated carbon (AC), multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), highly ordered mesoporous carbons, and mesoporous carbon nitrides. AMB also shows high stability with excellent regeneration properties under vacuum and temperatures of up to 250 °C. These impressive textural parameters and high CO 2 adsorption capacity of AMB clearly reveal its potential as a promising adsorbent for high-pressure CO 2 capture and storage application. Also, the simple one-step synthesis strategy outlined in this work would provide a pathway to generate a series of novel mesoporous activated biocarbons from different biomasses.

  8. Extreme environment electronics

    CERN Document Server

    Cressler, John D

    2012-01-01

    Unfriendly to conventional electronic devices, circuits, and systems, extreme environments represent a serious challenge to designers and mission architects. The first truly comprehensive guide to this specialized field, Extreme Environment Electronics explains the essential aspects of designing and using devices, circuits, and electronic systems intended to operate in extreme environments, including across wide temperature ranges and in radiation-intense scenarios such as space. The Definitive Guide to Extreme Environment Electronics Featuring contributions by some of the world's foremost exp

  9. The Current State of Head and Neck Injuries in Extreme Sports

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, Vinay K.; Rango, Juan; Connaughton, Alexander J.; Lombardo, Daniel J.; Sabesan, Vani J.

    2015-01-01

    Background: Since their conception during the mid-1970s, international participation in extreme sports has grown rapidly. The recent death of extreme snowmobiler Caleb Moore at the 2013 Winter X Games has demonstrated the serious risks associated with these sports. Purpose: To examine the incidence and prevalence of head and neck injuries (HNIs) in extreme sports. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiological study. Methods: The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) was used to acquire data from 7 sports (2000-2011) that were included in the Winter and Summer X Games. Data from the NEISS database were collected for each individual sport per year and type of HNI. Cumulative data for overall incidence and injuries over the entire 11-year period were calculated. National estimates were determined using NEISS-weighted calculations. Incidence rates were calculated for extreme sports using data from Outdoor Foundation Participation Reports. Results: Over 4 million injuries were reported between 2000 and 2011, of which 11.3% were HNIs. Of all HNIs, 83% were head injuries and 17% neck injuries. The 4 sports with the highest total incidence of HNI were skateboarding (129,600), snowboarding (97,527), skiing (83,313), and motocross (78,236). Severe HNI (cervical or skull fracture) accounted for 2.5% of extreme sports HNIs. Of these, skateboarding had the highest percentage of severe HNIs. Conclusion: The number of serious injuries suffered in extreme sports has increased as participation in the sports continues to grow. A greater awareness of the dangers associated with these sports offers an opportunity for sports medicine and orthopaedic physicians to advocate for safer equipment, improved on-site medical care, and further research regarding extreme sports injuries. PMID:26535369

  10. Extremal dyonic black holes in D=4 Gauss-Bonnet gravity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, C.-M.; Gal'tsov, Dmitri V.; Orlov, Dmitry G.

    2008-01-01

    We investigate extremal dyon black holes in the Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton theory with higher curvature corrections in the form of the Gauss-Bonnet density coupled to the dilaton. In the same theory without the Gauss-Bonnet term the extremal dyon solutions exist only for discrete values of the dilaton coupling constant a. We show that the Gauss-Bonnet term acts as a dyon hair tonic enlarging the allowed values of a to continuous domains in the plane (a,q m ) where q m is the magnetic charge. In the limit of the vanishing curvature coupling (a large magnetic charge) the dyon solutions obtained tend to the Reissner-Nordstroem solution but not to the extremal dyons of the Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton theory. Both solutions have the same dependence of the horizon radius in terms of charges. The entropy of new dyonic black holes interpolates between the Bekenstein-Hawking value in the limit of the large magnetic charge (equivalent to the vanishing Gauss-Bonnet coupling) and twice this value for the vanishing magnetic charge. Although an expression for the entropy can be obtained analytically using purely local near-horizon solutions, its interpretation as the black hole entropy is legitimate only once the global black hole solution is known to exist, and we obtain numerically the corresponding conditions on the parameters. Thus, a purely local analysis is insufficient to fully understand the entropy of the curvature-corrected black holes. We also find dyon solutions which are not asymptotically flat, but approach the linear dilaton background at infinity. They describe magnetic black holes on the electric linear dilaton background.

  11. The effect of extremely high glucose concentrations on 21 routine chemistry and thyroid Abbott assays: interference study

    OpenAIRE

    ?uhadar, Serap; K?seo?lu, Mehmet; ?inpolat, Yasemin; Bu?dayc?, G?ler; Usta, Murat; Semerci, Tuna

    2016-01-01

    Abstract Introduction: Extremely high glucose concentrations have been shown to interfere with creatinine assays especially with Jaffe method in peritoneal dialysate. Because diabetes is the fastest growing chronic disease in the world, laboratories study with varying glucose concentrations. We investigated whether different levels of glucose spiked in serum interfere with 21 routine chemistry and thyroid assays at glucose concentrations between 17-51 mmol/L. Materials and methods: Base...

  12. Mathematical Analysis of Extremity Immersion Cooling for Brain Temperature Management

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Xu, Xiaojiang; Santee, William; Berglund, Larry; Gonzalez, Richard

    2004-01-01

    .... As blood flow rates and surface-to-volume ratios are generally high in the extremities, heat exchange between the body and the environment through the extremities is an important path for heat exchange...

  13. Microwave tomography for functional imaging of extremity soft tissues: feasibility assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Semenov, Serguei; Kellam, James; Althausen, Peter; Williams, Thomas; Abubakar, Aria; Bulyshev, Alexander; Sizov, Yuri

    2007-01-01

    It is important to assess the viability of extremity soft tissues, as this component is often the determinant of the final outcome of fracture treatment. Microwave tomography (MWT) and sensing might be able to provide a fast and mobile assessment of such properties. MWT imaging of extremities possesses a complicated, nonlinear, high dielectric contrast inverse problem of diffraction tomography. There is a high dielectric contrast between bone and soft tissue in the extremities. A contrast between soft tissue abnormalities is less pronounced when compared with the high bone-soft tissue contrast. The goal of this study was to assess the feasibility of MWT for functional imaging of extremity soft tissues, i.e. to detect a relatively small contrast within soft tissues in closer proximity to high contrast boney areas. Both experimental studies and computer simulation were performed. Experiments were conducted using live pigs with compromised blood flow and compartment syndrome within an extremity. A whole 2D tomographic imaging cycle at 1 GHz was computer simulated and images were reconstructed using the Newton, MR-CSI and modified Born methods. Results of experimental studies demonstrate that microwave technology is sensitive to changes in the soft tissue blood content and elevated compartment pressure. It was demonstrated that MWT is feasible for functional imaging of extremity soft tissues, circulatory-related changes, blood flow and elevated compartment pressure

  14. Evolution of extreme high waters along the east coast of India and at the head of the Bay of Bengal

    Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

    Antony, C.; Unnikrishnan, A.S.; Woodworth, P.L.

    . The highest water levels above mean sea level have the greatest magnitude towards the northern part of the Bay, which decreases towards its south-west. Extreme high waters were observed to result from a combination of moderate, or even small, surges with large...

  15. Measurement of natural background neutron

    CERN Document Server

    Li Jain, Ping; Tang Jin Hua; Tang, E S; Xie Yan Fong

    1982-01-01

    A high sensitive neutron monitor is described. It has an approximate counting rate of 20 cpm for natural background neutrons. The pulse amplitude resolution, sensitivity and direction dependence of the monitor were determined. This monitor has been used for natural background measurement in Beijing area. The yearly average dose is given and compared with the results of KEK and CERN.

  16. Simple description of the 3K cosmic microwave background

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Henry, P.S.

    1980-01-01

    An intuitive model for the expansion of the universe is developed in which special relativity is used to describe events seen by a hypothetical observer in a Lorentz frame of reference. The cosmic microwave background photons he sees are the red-shifted remnants of hot photons emitted from the matter flying rapidly away from him. This special relativistic model, also called the Milne model, represents the extreme case of a Friedmann (general relativistic) universe in the limit of vanishingly small density of matter. The special relativistic model approximates an open universe (one that expands forever) with increasing accuracy as time evolves

  17. SPECIFICITY OF SELF-PRESERVATION MOTIVATION IN EXTREME SITUATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ekaterina Anatolevna Karacheva

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available The article presents the results of the study motivation of self-preservation in an extreme situation. Usually extreme situation unfold from the point of view of functioning, health, high negative level mental stress and tension. The extreme situation is the situation of human activity to which man acts, carrying out certain activities. The article provides an overview of russian and foreign authors dealing with this problem. Theoretical models of motivation of self-preservation Z. Freud, A. Maslow, G. Murray, M. Magomed-Eminov. The study explores the leading motivation in an extreme situation and analyzed the levels of motivation of self-preservation. The study was conducted in the Afghan veterans, using a method of unfinished sentences and other. Identified two levels of motivation of self-preservation: individual and personal. Revealed that the motivation of self-preservation is the leading motivation in an extreme situation.

  18. High background radiation area: an important source of exploring the health effects of low dose ionizing radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wei Luxin

    1997-01-01

    Objective: For obtaining more effective data from epidemiological investigation in high background radiation areas, it is necessary to analyze the advantages, disadvantages, weak points and problems of this kind of radiation research. Methods: For epidemiological investigation of population health effects of high background radiation, the author selected high background radiation areas of Yangjiang (HBRA) and a nearby control area (CA) as an instance for analysis. The investigation included classification of dose groups, comparison of the confounding factors in the incidence of mutation related diseases, cancer mortalities and the frequencies of chromosomal aberrations between HBRA and CA. This research program has become a China-Japan cooperative research since 1991. Results: The confounding factors above-mentioned were comparable between HBRA and CA, and within the dose groups in HBRA, based on a systematic study for many years. The frequencies of chromosomal aberrations increased with the increase of cumulative dose, but not for children around or below 10 years of age. The relative risks (RR) of total and site-specific cancer mortalities for HBRA were lower or around 1.00, compared with CA. The incidence of hereditary diseases and congenital deformities in HBRA were in normal range. The results were interpreted preliminarily by the modified 'dual radiation action' theory and the 'benefit-detriment competition' hypothesis. Conclusions: The author emphasizes the necessity for continuing epidemiological research in HBRA, especially for international cooperation. He also emphasizes the importance of combination of epidemiology and radiobiology

  19. Low-Mass Dark Matter Search Results and Radiogenic Backgrounds for the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pepin, Mark David [Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States)

    2016-12-01

    An ever-increasing amount of evidence suggests that approximately one quarter of the energy in the universe is composed of some non-luminous, and hitherto unknown, “dark matter”. Physicists from numerous sub-fields have been working on and trying to solve the dark matter problem for decades. The common solution is the existence of some new type of elementary particle with particular focus on weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). One avenue of dark matter research is to create an extremely sensitive particle detector with the goal of directly observing the interaction of WIMPs with standard matter. The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) project operated at the Soudan Underground Laboratory from 2003–2015, under the CDMS II and SuperCDMS Soudan experiments, with this goal of directly detecting dark matter. The next installation, SuperCDMS SNOLAB, is planned for near-future operation. The reason the dark-matter particle has not yet been observed in traditional particle physics experiments is that it must have very small cross sections, thus making such interactions extremely rare. In order to identify these rare events in the presence of a background of known particles and interactions, direct detection experiments employ various types and amounts of shielding to prevent known backgrounds from reaching the instrumented detector(s). CDMS utilized various gamma and neutron shielding to such an effect that the shielding, and other experimental components, themselves were sources of background. These radiogenic backgrounds must be understood to have confidence in any WIMP-search result. For this dissertation, radiogenic background studies and estimates were performed for various analyses covering CDMS II, SuperCDMS Soudan, and SuperCDMS SNOLAB. Lower-mass dark matter t c2 inent in the past few years. The CDMS detectors can be operated in an alternative, higher-biased, mode v to decrease their energy thresholds and correspondingly increase their sensitivity

  20. Generic Hurricane Extreme Seas State

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wehmeyer, Christof; Skourup, Jesper; Frigaard, Peter

    2012-01-01

    Extreme sea states, which the IEC 61400-3 (2008) standard requires for the ultimate limit state (ULS) analysis of offshore wind turbines are derived to establish the design basis for the conceptual layout of deep water floating offshore wind turbine foundations in hurricane affected areas....... Especially in the initial phase of floating foundation concept development, site specific metocean data are usually not available. As the areas of interest are furthermore not covered by any design standard, in terms of design sea states, generic and in engineering terms applicable environmental background...... data is required for a type specific conceptual design. ULS conditions for different return periods are developed, which can subsequently be applied in siteindependent analysis and conceptual design. Recordings provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), of hurricanes along...

  1. Extreme learning machines 2013 algorithms and applications

    CERN Document Server

    Toh, Kar-Ann; Romay, Manuel; Mao, Kezhi

    2014-01-01

    In recent years, ELM has emerged as a revolutionary technique of computational intelligence, and has attracted considerable attentions. An extreme learning machine (ELM) is a single layer feed-forward neural network alike learning system, whose connections from the input layer to the hidden layer are randomly generated, while the connections from the hidden layer to the output layer are learned through linear learning methods. The outstanding merits of extreme learning machine (ELM) are its fast learning speed, trivial human intervene and high scalability.   This book contains some selected papers from the International Conference on Extreme Learning Machine 2013, which was held in Beijing China, October 15-17, 2013. This conference aims to bring together the researchers and practitioners of extreme learning machine from a variety of fields including artificial intelligence, biomedical engineering and bioinformatics, system modelling and control, and signal and image processing, to promote research and discu...

  2. Millimeter waves or extremely high frequency electromagnetic fields in the environment: what are their effects on bacteria?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soghomonyan, Diana; Trchounian, Karen; Trchounian, Armen

    2016-06-01

    Millimeter waves (MMW) or electromagnetic fields of extremely high frequencies at low intensity is a new environmental factor, the level of which is increased as technology advance. It is of interest that bacteria and other cells might communicate with each other by electromagnetic field of sub-extremely high frequency range. These MMW affected Escherichia coli and many other bacteria, mainly depressing their growth and changing properties and activity. These effects were non-thermal and depended on different factors. The significant cellular targets for MMW effects could be water, cell plasma membrane, and genome. The model for the MMW interaction with bacteria is suggested; a role of the membrane-associated proton FOF1-ATPase, key enzyme of bioenergetic relevance, is proposed. The consequences of MMW interaction with bacteria are the changes in their sensitivity to different biologically active chemicals, including antibiotics. Novel data on MMW effects on bacteria and their sensitivity to different antibiotics are presented and discussed; the combined action of MMW and antibiotics resulted with more strong effects. These effects are of significance for understanding changed metabolic pathways and distinguish role of bacteria in environment; they might be leading to antibiotic resistance in bacteria. The effects might have applications in the development of technique, therapeutic practices, and food protection technology.

  3. Changes in extreme regional sea level under global warming

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Brunnabend, S. E.; Dijkstra, H. A.; Kliphuis, Michael; Bal, Henri E.; Seinstra, Frank J.; van Werkhoven, Ben; Maassen, J.; van Meersbergen, Maarten

    2017-01-01

    An important contribution to future changes in regional sea level extremes is due to the changes in intrinsic ocean variability, in particular ocean eddies. Here, we study a scenario of future dynamic sea level (DSL) extremes using a high-resolution version of the Parallel Ocean Program and

  4. High-resolution Fourier-transform extreme ultraviolet photoabsorption spectroscopy of 14N15N

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heays, A. N.; Dickenson, G. D.; Salumbides, E. J.; de Oliveira, N.; Joyeux, D.; Nahon, L.; Lewis, B. R.; Ubachs, W.

    2011-12-01

    The first comprehensive high-resolution photoabsorption spectrum of 14N15N has been recorded using the Fourier-transform spectrometer attached to the Desirs beamline at the Soleil synchrotron. Observations are made in the extreme ultraviolet and span 100 000-109 000 cm-1 (100-91.7 nm). The observed absorption lines have been assigned to 25 bands and reduced to a set of transition energies, f values, and linewidths. This analysis has verified the predictions of a theoretical model of N2 that simulates its photoabsorption and photodissociation cross section by solution of an isotopomer independent formulation of the coupled-channel Schrödinger equation. The mass dependence of predissociation linewidths and oscillator strengths is clearly evident and many local perturbations of transition energies, strengths, and widths within individual rotational series have been observed.

  5. Simulation of Experimental Background using FLUKA

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rokni, Sayed

    1999-05-11

    In November 1997, Experiment T423 began acquiring data with the intentions of understanding the energy spectra of high-energy neutrons generated in the interaction of electrons with lead. The following describes a series of FLUKA simulations studying (1) particle yields in the absence of all background; (2) the background caused from scattering in the room; (3) the effects of the thick lead shielding which surrounded the detector; (4) the sources of neutron background created in this lead shielding; and (5) the ratio of the total background to the ideal yield. In each case, particular attention is paid to the neutron yield.

  6. Silicic, high- to extremely high-grade ignimbrites and associated deposits from the Paraná Magmatic Province, southern Brazil

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luchetti, Ana Carolina F.; Nardy, Antonio J. R.; Madeira, José

    2018-04-01

    The Cretaceous trachydacites and dacites of Chapecó type (ATC) and dacites and rhyolites of Palmas type (ATP) make up 2.5% of the 800.000 km3 of volcanic pile in the Paraná Magmatic Province (PMP), emplaced at the onset of Gondwana breakup. Together they cover extensive areas in southern Brazil, overlapping volcanic sequences of tholeiitic basalts and andesites; occasional mafic units are also found within the silicic sequence. In the central region of the PMP silicic volcanism comprises porphyritic ATC-type, trachydacite high-grade ignimbrites (strongly welded) overlying aphyric ATP-type, rhyolite high- to extremely high-grade ignimbrites (strongly welded to lava-like). In the southwestern region strongly welded to lava-like high-grade ignimbrites overlie ATP lava domes, while in the southeast lava domes are found intercalated within the ignimbrite sequence. Characteristics of these ignimbrites are: widespread sheet-like deposits (tens to hundreds of km across); absence of basal breccias and basal fallout layers; ubiquitous horizontal to sub-horizontal sheet jointing; massive, structureless to horizontally banded-laminated rock bodies locally presenting flow folding; thoroughly homogeneous vitrophyres or with flow banding-lamination; phenocryst abundance presenting upward and lateral decrease; welded glass blobs in an 'eutaxitic'-like texture; negligible phenocryst breakage; vitroclastic texture locally preserved; scarcity of lithic fragments. These features, combined with high eruption temperatures (≥ 1000 °C), low water content (≤ 2%) and low viscosities (104-7 Pa s) suggest that the eruptions were characterized by low fountaining, little heat loss during collapse, and high mass fluxes producing extensive deposits.

  7. Nitrogen-enriched carbon with extremely high mesoporosity and tunable mesopore size for high-performance supercapacitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Xiaoqing; Li, Chengfei; Fu, Ruowen

    2016-07-01

    As one of the most potential electrode materials for supercapacitors, nitrogen-enriched nanocarbons are still facing challenge of constructing developed mesoporosity for rapid mass transportation and tailoring their pore size for performance optimization and expanding their application scopes. Herein we develop a series of nitrogen-enriched mesoporous carbon (NMC) with extremely high mesoporosity and tunable mesopore size by a two-step method using silica gel as template. In our approach, mesopore size can be easily tailored from 4.7 to 35 nm by increasing the HF/TEOS volume ratio from 1/100 to 1/4. The NMC with mesopores of 6.2 nm presents the largest mesopore volume, surface area and mesopore ratio of 2.56 cm3 g-1, 1003 m2 g-1 and 97.7%, respectively. As a result, the highest specific capacitance of 325 F g-1 can be obtained at the current density of 0.1 A g-1, which can stay over 88% (286 F g-1) as the current density increases by 100 times (10 A g-1). This approach may open the doors for preparation of nitrogen-enriched nanocarbons with desired nanostructure for numerous applications.

  8. Laser-produced dense plasma in extremely high pressure gas and its application to a plasma-bridged gap switch

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamada, J.; Okuda, A.

    1989-01-01

    When an extremely high pressure gas is irradiated by an intense laser light, a dense plasma produced at the focal spot moves towards the focusing lens with a high velocity. Making use of this phenomenon, a new plasma-bridged gap switch is proposed and its switching characteristics is experimentally examined. From the experiments, it is confirmed that the switching time is almost constant with the applied voltage only when the focal spot is just on the positive electrode, indicating that the bridging of gap is caused by the laser light. (author)

  9. Full Solar Spectrum Light Driven Thermocatalysis with Extremely High Efficiency on Nanostructured Ce Ion Substituted OMS-2 Catalyst for VOCs Purification

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hou, J.T.; Li, Y.Z.; Mao, M.Y.

    2015-01-01

    solar spectrum, visible-infrared, and infrared light, the Ce ion substituted OMS-2 catalyst exhibits extremely high catalytic activity and excellent durability for the oxidation of volatile organic pollutants such as benzene, toluene, and acetone. Based on the experimental evidence, we propose a novel...... in a considerable increase of temperature. By combining the efficient photothermal conversion and thermocatalytic activity of the Ce ion substituted OMS-2 catalyst, we carried out full solar spectrum, visible-infrared, and infrared light driven catalysis with extremely high efficiency. Under the irradiation of full...... mechanism of solar light driven thermocatalysis for the Ce ion substituted OMS-2 catalyst. The reason why the Ce ion substituted OMS-2 catalyst exhibits much higher catalytic activity than pure OMS-2 and CeO2/OMS-2 nano composite under the full solar spectrum irradiation is discussed....

  10. A case-control study of nasopharyngeal carcinoma among inhabitants in high background radiation areas of Yangjiang, China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zou Jianming; Sun Quanfu; Yuan Yongling

    1999-01-01

    Objective: The purpose of the study was to confirm and explore main risk factors of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) in cohort members of the investigated areas, and evaluate effects of confounding factors on cancer risk associated with exposure to high background radiation. Methods: The deceased cases of NPC during the period of 1987-1995 were selected as study subjects for each of whom two controls were randomly selected from potential control subjects who died from causes other than malignant tumors and external causes, and matched for sex and years of birth and death (within 5 years). Using structure questionnaire, the relevant information including socioeconomic status, dietary habits, smoking and alcohol consumption, history of illness, agricultural use of pesticide, medical X-ray exposure and familial history of NPC were collected. The odds ratio (OR) was used as a measure of association between NPC and the risk factors. Results: 102 cases and 202 controls were successfully investigated. Single factor conditional logistic regression analysis showed that the occurrence of NPC was closely positively associated with intake of salted fish, pickles, fermented soybeans, cured meats, history of chronic rhinitis and familial history of NPC. Further multiple conditional logistic regression analysis turned out that intake of salted fish, history of chronic rhinits and familial history of NPC were the independent risk factors of NPC. After controlling for history of chronic rhinits and familial history of NPC, the results based on multiple conditional logistic regression analysis from high background radiation, intake of salted fish and fermented soybeans, tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption showed that only intake of salted fish was a significant risk factor (OR = 2.8, 95% CI 1.52-5.18), tobacco smoking (OR = 1.2, 95% CI 0.65-2.22), alcohol consumption (OR = 0.83, 95% CI 0.38-1.78) and exposure to high background radiation (OR= 0.86, 95% CI 0.44-1.68) did not

  11. Extreme cosmos

    CERN Document Server

    Gaensler, Bryan

    2011-01-01

    The universe is all about extremes. Space has a temperature 270°C below freezing. Stars die in catastrophic supernova explosions a billion times brighter than the Sun. A black hole can generate 10 million trillion volts of electricity. And hypergiants are stars 2 billion kilometres across, larger than the orbit of Jupiter. Extreme Cosmos provides a stunning new view of the way the Universe works, seen through the lens of extremes: the fastest, hottest, heaviest, brightest, oldest, densest and even the loudest. This is an astronomy book that not only offers amazing facts and figures but also re

  12. An enhanced treatment program with markedly reduced mortality after a transtibial or higher non-traumatic lower extremity amputation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kristensen, Morten T; Holm, Gitte; Krasheninnikoff, Michael

    2016-01-01

    Background and purpose - Historically, high 30-day and 1-year mortality post-amputation rates (> 30% and 50%, respectively) have been reported in patients with a transtibial or higher non-traumatic lower extremity amputation (LEA). We evaluated whether allocating experienced staff and implementing...... adjusted for age, sex, residential and health status, the disease that caused the amputation, and the index amputation level showed that 30-day and 1-year mortality risk was reduced by 52% (HR =0.48, 95% CI: 0.25-0.91) and by 46% (HR =0.54, 95% CI: 0.35-0.86), respectively, in the intervention group...

  13. Fixed-site high-frequency transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation for treatment of chronic low back and lower extremity pain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gozani, Shai N

    2016-01-01

    The objective of this study was to determine if fixed-site high-frequency transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (FS-TENS) is effective in treating chronic low back and lower extremity pain. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation is widely used for treatment of chronic pain. General-purpose transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation devices are designed for stimulation anywhere on the body and often cannot be used while the user is active or sleeping. FS-TENS devices are designed for placement at a pre-determined location, which enables development of a wearable device for use over extended time periods. Study participants with chronic low back and/or lower extremity pain self-administered an FS-TENS device for 60 days. Baseline, 30-, and 60-day follow-up data were obtained through an online questionnaire. The primary outcome measure was the patient global impression of change. Pain intensity and interference were assessed using the Brief Pain Inventory. Changes in use of concomitant pain medications were evaluated with a single-item global self-rating. One hundred and thirty participants were enrolled, with 88 completing the 60-day follow-up questionnaire. Most participants (73.9%) were 50 years of age or older. At baseline, low back pain was identified by 85.3%, lower extremity pain by 71.6%, and upper extremity pain by 62.5%. Participants reported widespread pain, at baseline, with a mean of 3.4 (standard deviation 1.1) pain sites. At the 60-day follow-up, 80.7% of participants reported that their chronic pain had improved and they were classified as responders. Baseline characteristics did not differentiate non-responders from responders. There were numerical trends toward reduced pain interference with walking ability and sleep, and greater pain relief in responders. There was a large difference in use of concomitant pain medications, with 80.3% of responders reporting a reduction compared to 11.8% of non-responders. FS-TENS is a safe and effective

  14. Extremely High Phosphate Sorption Capacity in Cu-Pb-Zn Mine Tailings.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Longbin Huang

    Full Text Available Elevated inorganic phosphate (Pi concentrations in pore water of amended tailings under direct revegetation may cause toxicity in some native woody species but not native forbs or herb species, all of which are key constituents in target native plant communities for phytostabilizing base metal mine tailings. As a result, Pi sorption capacity has been quantified by a conventional batch procedure in three types of base metal mine tailings sampled from two copper (Cu-lead (Pb-zinc (Zn mines, as the basis for Pi-fertiliser addition. It was found that the Pi-sorption capacity in the tailings and local soil was extremely high, far higher than highly weathered agricultural soils in literature, but similar to those of volcanic ash soils. The Langmuir P-sorption maximum was up to 7.72, 4.12, 4.02 and 3.62 mg P g-1 tailings, in the fresh tailings of mixed Cu-Pb-Zn streams (MIMTD7, the weathered tailings of mixed Cu-Pb-Zn streams (MIMTD5, EHM-TD (fresh Cu-stream, high magnetite content and local soil (weathered shale and schist, respectively. Physicochemical factors highly correlated with the high Pi-sorption in the tailings were fine particle distribution, oxalate and dithionite-citrate-bicarbonate extractable Fe (FeO and Fed, oxalate-extractable Al and Mn, and the levels of soluble Cd and Zn, and total S and Fe. Large amounts of amorphous Fe oxides and oxyhydroxides may have been formed from the oxidation of pyritic materials and redox cycles of Fe-minerals (such as pyrite (FeS2, ankerite (Ca(Fe Mg(CO32 and siderite (FeCO3, as indicated by the extractable FeO values. The likely formation of sparingly soluble Zn-phosphate in the Pb-Zn tailings containing high levels of Zn (from sphalerite ((Zn,FeS, ZnS, (Zn,CdS may substantially lower soluble Zn levels in the tailings through high rates of Pi-fertiliser addition. As a result, the possibility of P-toxicity in native plant species caused by the addition of soluble phosphate fertilizers would be minimal.

  15. Fabrication of Diamond Based Sensors for Use in Extreme Environments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gopi K. Samudrala

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Electrical and magnetic sensors can be lithographically fabricated on top of diamond substrates and encapsulated in a protective layer of chemical vapor deposited single crystalline diamond. This process when carried out on single crystal diamond anvils employed in high pressure research is termed as designer diamond anvil fabrication. These designer diamond anvils allow researchers to study electrical and magnetic properties of materials under extreme conditions without any possibility of damaging the sensing elements. We describe a novel method for the fabrication of designer diamond anvils with the use of maskless lithography and chemical vapor deposition in this paper. This method can be utilized to produce diamond based sensors which can function in extreme environments of high pressures, high and low temperatures, corrosive and high radiation conditions. We demonstrate applicability of these diamonds under extreme environments by performing electrical resistance measurements during superconducting transition in rare earth doped iron-based compounds under high pressures to 12 GPa and low temperatures to 10 K.

  16. Cytogenetic study of stable chromosome aberrations in residents of a high background radiation area in China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Wei; Wang Chunyan; Chen Deqing; Wei Lvxin

    2004-01-01

    Objective: To investigate the effect of high background radiation on the induction of stable chromosome aberrations. Methods: By fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) technique chromosome Nos. 1, 2 and 4 were painted using specific biotin-labeled whole chromosome painting probes. Peripheral blood specimens were taken from 31 individuals living in the high background radiation area (HRBA) and 29 individuals in the control area. Results: No significant difference was found in the frequencies of translocations between HBRA and the control (P>0.05, Mann-Whitney U test) for both children and elderly individuals. On the other hand, correlation between age and translocation frequencies was significant at the 1% level (r s =0.388 with 56DF). Conclusion: There are no differences in the frequencies of translocations between HBRA and the control area. The present result indicates that the contribution of an elevated level of natural radiation in HBRA in China to the induction rate of stable type aberrations (translocations) dose not have a significant effect compared with the contributions from all other sources such as chemical mutagens and(or) metabolic factors. (authors)

  17. Footwear traction and lower extremity noncontact injury.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wannop, John W; Luo, Geng; Stefanyshyn, Darren J

    2013-11-01

    Football is the most popular high school sport; however, it has the highest rate of injury. Speculation has been prevalent that foot fixation due to high footwear traction contributes to injury risk. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to determine whether a relationship exists between the athlete's specific footwear traction (measured with their own shoes on the field of play) and lower extremity noncontact injury in high school football. For 3 yr, 555 high school football athletes had their footwear traction measured on the actual field of play at the start of the season, and any injury the athletes suffered during a game was recorded. Lower extremity noncontact injury rates, grouped based on the athlete's specific footwear traction (both translational and rotational), were compared. For translational traction, injury rate reached a peak of 23.3 injuries/1000 game exposures within the midrange of translational traction, before decreasing to 5.0 injuries/1000 game exposures in the high range of traction. For rotational traction, there was a steady increase in injury rate as footwear traction increased, starting at 4.2 injuries/1000 game exposures at low traction and reaching 19.2 injuries/1000 game exposures at high traction. A relationship exists between footwear traction and noncontact lower extremity injury, with increases in rotational traction leading to a greater injury rate and increases in translational traction leading to a decrease in injury. It is recommended that athletes consider selecting footwear with the lowest rotational traction values for which no detriment in performance results.

  18. Further outlooks: extremely uncomfortable; Die weiteren Aussichten: extrem ungemuetlich

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Resenhoeft, T.

    2006-07-01

    Climate is changing extremely in the last decades. Scientists dealing with extreme weather, should not only stare at computer simulations. They have also to turn towards psyche, seriously personal experiences, knowing statistics, relativise supposed sensational reports and last not least collecting more data. (GL)

  19. Attribution of climate extreme events

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trenberth, Kevin E.; Fasullo, John T.; Shepherd, Theodore G.

    2015-08-01

    There is a tremendous desire to attribute causes to weather and climate events that is often challenging from a physical standpoint. Headlines attributing an event solely to either human-induced climate change or natural variability can be misleading when both are invariably in play. The conventional attribution framework struggles with dynamically driven extremes because of the small signal-to-noise ratios and often uncertain nature of the forced changes. Here, we suggest that a different framing is desirable, which asks why such extremes unfold the way they do. Specifically, we suggest that it is more useful to regard the extreme circulation regime or weather event as being largely unaffected by climate change, and question whether known changes in the climate system's thermodynamic state affected the impact of the particular event. Some examples briefly illustrated include 'snowmaggedon' in February 2010, superstorm Sandy in October 2012 and supertyphoon Haiyan in November 2013, and, in more detail, the Boulder floods of September 2013, all of which were influenced by high sea surface temperatures that had a discernible human component.

  20. Tolerance to High Temperature Extremes in an Invasive Lace Bug, Corythucha ciliata (Hemiptera: Tingidae), in Subtropical China

    OpenAIRE

    Ju, Rui-Ting; Gao, Lei; Zhou, Xu-Hui; Li, Bo

    2013-01-01

    Biological invasions are predicted to be more frequent as climate change is increasing its positive impact on the prevalence of invasive exotic species. Success of insect invaders in different temperature zones is closely related to their tolerance to temperature extremes. In this study, we used an exotic lace bug (Corythucha ciliata) as the study organism to address the hypotheses that an insect species invading a subtropical zone from temperate regions has a high capacity to survive and ada...

  1. Acclimation to extremely high ammonia levels in continuous biomethanation process and the associated microbial community dynamics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tian, Hailin; Fotidis, Ioannis; Mancini, Enrico

    2018-01-01

    Acclimatized anaerobic communities to high ammonia levels can offer a solution to the ammonia toxicity problem in biogas reactors. In the current study, a stepwise acclimation strategy up to 10 g NH4+-N L−1, was performed in mesophilic (37 ± 1 °C) continuously stirred tank reactors. The reactors...... change throughout the ammonia acclimation process. Clostridium ultunense, a syntrophic acetate oxidizing bacteria, increased significantly alongside with hydrogenotrophic methanogen Methanoculleus spp., indicating strong hydrogenotrophic methanogenic activity at extreme ammonia levels (>7 g NH4+-N L−1...

  2. Superconductivity induced by extremely high pressures in organic Mott-insulator β'-(BEDT-TTF)2IBrCl

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kano, M; Uchiyama, K; Taniguchi, H; Hedo, M; Matsubayashi, K; Uwatoko, Y

    2009-01-01

    Previous research revealed that, at a pressure of 8.2 GPa, β'-(BEDT-TTF)2ICl2 possesses the highest transition temperature (T C ) among the organic conductors[1]. In the present work, transport studies under extremely high pressure of up to 10.0 GPa, using a cubic anvil press are reported for a related material, β'-(BEDT-TTF)2IBrCl which is an organic Mott-insulator in ambient pressure. Superconductivity with the highest T c (8.5 K, onset) was observed at P = 8.6 GPa.

  3. Extremity doses to interventional radiologists

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wihtby, M.; Martin, C. J.

    2002-01-01

    Radiologists performing interventional procedures are often required to stand close to the patient's side when carrying out manipulations under fluoroscopic control. This can result in their extremities receiving a high radiation dose, due to scattered radiation. These doses are sometimes high enough to warrant that the radiologist in question be designated a classified radiation worker. Classification in the UK is a result of any worker receiving or likely to receive in the course of their duties in excess of 3/10ths of any annual dose limit (500mSv to extremities, skin). The doses to the legs of radiologists have received less attention than those to the hands, however the doses may be high, due to the proximity of the legs and feet to scattered radiation. The legs can be exposed to a relatively high level of scattered radiation as the radiation in produced from scatter of the un attenuated beam from the bottom of the patient couch. The routine monitoring of extremity doses in interventional radiology is difficult due to several factors. Firstly a wide range of interventional procedures in undertaken in every radiology department, and these procedures require many different techniques, equipment and skills. This means that the position the radiologist adopts in relation to scattering medium and therefore their exposure, depends heavily on the type of procedure. As the hands which manipulate the catheters within the patient are often located close to the patients side and to the area under irradiation, the distribution of dose across the hands can be variable, with very high localised doses, making routine monitoring difficult. The purpose of this study was to determine the magnitude and distribution of dose to the hands and legs of interventional radiologists carrying out a wide range of both diagnostic and therapeutic interventional procedures. To ascertain the most effective method of monitoring the highest dose in accordance with the Basic safety standards

  4. Rhabdomyosarcoma of the extremity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rao, Bhaskar N

    1997-01-01

    Rhabdomyosarcoma is the most common soft tissue sarcoma accounting for almost 55%. These tumors arise from unsegmented mesoderm or primitive mesenchyma, which have the capacity to differentiate into muscle. Less than 5% occur in the first year of life. Extremity rhabdomyosarcoma are mainly seen in the adolescent years. The most common histologic subtype is the alveolar variant. Other characteristics of extremity rhabdomyosarcoma include a predilection for lymph node metastasis, a high local failure, and a relatively low survival rate. They often present as slow painless masses; however, lesions in the hand and foot often present as painful masses and imaging studies may show invasion of the bone. Initial diagnostic approaches include needle biopsy or incisional biopsy for larger lesions. Excisional biopsy is indicated preferably for lesions less than 2.5 cm. following this in most instances therapy is initiated with multi agent chemotherapy depending upon response, the next modality may be either surgery with intent to cure or radiation therapy. Amputation of an extremity for local control is not considered in most instances. Prognostic factors that have been determined over the years to be of significance by multi variant analysis have included age, tumor size, invasiveness, presence of either nodal or distant metastasis, and complete excision whenever feasible, with supplemental radiation therapy for local control

  5. Full solar spectrum light driven thermocatalysis with extremely high efficiency on nanostructured Ce ion substituted OMS-2 catalyst for VOCs purification

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hou, Jingtao; Li, Yuanzhi; Mao, Mingyang; Yue, Yuanzheng; Greaves, G. Neville; Zhao, Xiujian

    2015-01-01

    The nanostructured Ce ion substituted cryptomelane-type octahedral molecular sieve (OMS-2) catalyst exhibits strong absorption in the entire solar spectrum region. The Ce ion substituted OMS-2 catalyst can efficiently transform the absorbed solar energy to thermal energy, resulting in a considerable increase of temperature. By combining the efficient photothermal conversion and thermocatalytic activity of the Ce ion substituted OMS-2 catalyst, we carried out full solar spectrum, visible-infrared, and infrared light driven catalysis with extremely high efficiency. Under the irradiation of full solar spectrum, visible-infrared, and infrared light, the Ce ion substituted OMS-2 catalyst exhibits extremely high catalytic activity and excellent durability for the oxidation of volatile organic pollutants such as benzene, toluene, and acetone. Based on the experimental evidence, we propose a novel mechanism of solar light driven thermocatalysis for the Ce ion substituted OMS-2 catalyst. The reason why the Ce ion substituted OMS-2 catalyst exhibits much higher catalytic activity than pure OMS-2 and CeO2/OMS-2 nano composite under the full solar spectrum irradiation is discussed.The nanostructured Ce ion substituted cryptomelane-type octahedral molecular sieve (OMS-2) catalyst exhibits strong absorption in the entire solar spectrum region. The Ce ion substituted OMS-2 catalyst can efficiently transform the absorbed solar energy to thermal energy, resulting in a considerable increase of temperature. By combining the efficient photothermal conversion and thermocatalytic activity of the Ce ion substituted OMS-2 catalyst, we carried out full solar spectrum, visible-infrared, and infrared light driven catalysis with extremely high efficiency. Under the irradiation of full solar spectrum, visible-infrared, and infrared light, the Ce ion substituted OMS-2 catalyst exhibits extremely high catalytic activity and excellent durability for the oxidation of volatile organic pollutants

  6. Spatial extreme value analysis to project extremes of large-scale indicators for severe weather.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gilleland, Eric; Brown, Barbara G; Ammann, Caspar M

    2013-09-01

    Concurrently high values of the maximum potential wind speed of updrafts ( W max ) and 0-6 km wind shear (Shear) have been found to represent conducive environments for severe weather, which subsequently provides a way to study severe weather in future climates. Here, we employ a model for the product of these variables (WmSh) from the National Center for Atmospheric Research/United States National Center for Environmental Prediction reanalysis over North America conditioned on their having extreme energy in the spatial field in order to project the predominant spatial patterns of WmSh. The approach is based on the Heffernan and Tawn conditional extreme value model. Results suggest that this technique estimates the spatial behavior of WmSh well, which allows for exploring possible changes in the patterns over time. While the model enables a method for inferring the uncertainty in the patterns, such analysis is difficult with the currently available inference approach. A variation of the method is also explored to investigate how this type of model might be used to qualitatively understand how the spatial patterns of WmSh correspond to extreme river flow events. A case study for river flows from three rivers in northwestern Tennessee is studied, and it is found that advection of WmSh from the Gulf of Mexico prevails while elsewhere, WmSh is generally very low during such extreme events. © 2013 The Authors. Environmetrics published by JohnWiley & Sons, Ltd.

  7. The role of atherectomy in the treatment of lower extremity peripheral artery disease

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-01

    Background The incidence of lower extremity peripheral artery disease (LE-PAD) continues to increase and associated morbidity remains high. Despite the significant development of percutaneous revascularization strategies, over the past decade, LE-PAD still represents a unique challenge for interventional cardiologists and vascular surgeons. Method Typical features of atherosclerosis that affects peripheral vascular bed (diffuse nature, poor distal runoff, critical limb ischemia, chronic total occlusion) contribute to the disappointing results of traditional percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA). New technologies have been developed in attempt to improve the safety and effectiveness of percutaneous revascularization. Among these, atherectomy, debulking and removing atherosclerotic plaque, offers the potential advantage of eliminating stretch on arterial walls and reducing rates of restenosis. Conclusions This review summarizes the features and the current applications of new debulking devices. PMID:23173800

  8. Long-Term Climate Trends and Extreme Events in Northern Fennoscandia (1914–2013

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sonja Kivinen

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available We studied climate trends and the occurrence of rare and extreme temperature and precipitation events in northern Fennoscandia in 1914–2013. Weather data were derived from nine observation stations located in Finland, Norway, Sweden and Russia. The results showed that spring and autumn temperatures and to a lesser extent summer temperatures increased significantly in the study region, the observed changes being the greatest for daily minimum temperatures. The number of frost days declined both in spring and autumn. Rarely cold winter, spring, summer and autumn seasons had a low occurrence and rarely warm spring and autumn seasons a high occurrence during the last 20-year interval (1994–2013, compared to the other 20-year intervals. That period was also characterized by a low number of days with extremely low temperature in all seasons (4–9% of all extremely cold days and a high number of April and October days with extremely high temperature (36–42% of all extremely warm days. A tendency of exceptionally high daily precipitation sums to grow even higher towards the end of the study period was also observed. To summarize, the results indicate a shortening of the cold season in northern Fennoscandia. Furthermore, the results suggest significant declines in extremely cold climate events in all seasons and increases in extremely warm climate events particularly in spring and autumn seasons.

  9. Evaluation of BICRON NE MCP DXT-RAD passive extremity dosemeter

    CERN Document Server

    Yuen, P S; Frketich, G; Rotunda, J

    1999-01-01

    Passive extremity dosemeters currently used in dosimetry communities worldwide have shortcomings. In general, an extremity dosemeter has too thick a detector element, and the dosemeter response is highly energy dependent for beta rays with energies ranging from 200 keV to 2 MeV. It often does not have dosemeter identification, causing problems in the chain of custody. It is often read manually, rendering reading/packing operations very labour intensive. As a result of collaboration between AECL and BICRON NE, a new extremity dosemeter, incorporating a highly sensitive LiF:Mg,Cu,P TLD and tentatively code named MCP DXT-RAD, was developed. It has been evaluated for radiological performance against an ISO draft standard for extremity dosemeters in twelve categories: homogeneity, detection threshold, beta ray energy response, beta angular response, photon energy response, photon angular response, reproducibility, stability under various climatic conditions, linearity, residue, self irradiation, and effect of ligh...

  10. Numerical modelling of extreme waves by Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. H. Dao

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available The impact of extreme/rogue waves can lead to serious damage of vessels as well as marine and coastal structures. Such extreme waves in deep water are characterized by steep wave fronts and an energetic wave crest. The process of wave breaking is highly complex and, apart from the general knowledge that impact loadings are highly impulsive, the dynamics of the breaking and impact are still poorly understood. Using an advanced numerical method, the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics enhanced with parallel computing is able to reproduce well the extreme waves and their breaking process. Once the waves and their breaking process are modelled successfully, the dynamics of the breaking and the characteristics of their impact on offshore structures could be studied. The computational methodology and numerical results are presented in this paper.

  11. Associations between lower extremity muscle mass and metabolic parameters related to obesity in Japanese obese patients with type 2 diabetes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hidetaka Hamasaki

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Background. Age-related loss of muscle mass (sarcopenia increases the incidence of obesity in the elderly by reducing physical activity. This sarcopenic obesity may become self-perpetuating, increasing the risks for metabolic syndrome, disability, and mortality. We investigated the associations of two sarcopenic indices, the ratio of lower extremity muscle mass to body weight (L/W ratio and the ratio of lower extremity muscle mass to upper extremity muscle mass (L/U ratio, with metabolic parameters related to obesity in patients with type 2 diabetes and obesity.Methods. Of 148 inpatients with type 2 diabetes treated between October 2013 and April 2014, we recruited 26 with obesity but no physical disability. Daily physical activity was measured by a triaxial accelerometer during a period of hospitalization, and which was also evaluated by our previously reported non-exercise activity thermogenesis questionnaire. We measured body composition by bioelectrical impedance and investigated the correlations of L/W and L/U ratios with body weight, body mass index (BMI, waist circumference (WC, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR, visceral fat area, subcutaneous fat area, serum lipid profile, and daily physical activity.Results. The L/W ratio was significantly and negatively correlated with BMI, WC, WHR, body fat mass, body fat percentage, subcutaneous fat area, and serum free fatty acid concentration, was positively correlated with daily physical activity: the locomotive non-exercise activity thermogenesis score, but was not correlated with visceral fat area. The L/U ratio was significantly and positively correlated with serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.Conclusions. High L/W and L/U ratios, indicative of relatively preserved lower extremity muscle mass, were predictive of improved metabolic parameters related to obesity. Preserved muscle fitness in obesity, especially of the lower extremities, may prevent sarcopenic obesity and lower associated risks for

  12. A survey of senile dementia in the high background radiation areas in Yangjiang, China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Jia; Su Gasaki, H.; Yang Yuhua

    1997-01-01

    Objective: To evaluate the effects of long-term low dose and low dose-rate ionizing radiation exposure on the prevalence rate of senile dementia, further assess the effects of low-dose radiation exposure on central nervous system and study the pathogen of senile dementia, and provide direct observational data of human beings. Methods: A cross-sectional study of the prevalence of senile dementia was carried out in high background radiation areas in Yangjiang, Guangdong Province, China. The survey was conducted in two stages. For the initial screening, Hasegawa Dementia Scale (HDS) was used for all subjects. In the second stage, the stage of diagnosis, special questionnaires of healthy state of old people were sued. The final diagnoses were made according to the third revised edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM III-R) of American Psychiatric Association. Results: 1018 inhabitants aged 65 years and over, including 513 persons in HBRA and 505 in CA were observed. According to DSM III-R, 61 cases (31 cases in HBRA and 30 cases in CA) of senile dementia were diagnosed. The prevalence rates of senile dementia are 6.04% in HBRA and 5.94% in CA, the total prevalence rate being 5.99%. Conclusion: No significant statistical difference in the prevalence rate of senile dementia between the two areas was found, suggesting that the prevalence rate of senile dementia in these areas is not associated with the high background radiation exposure

  13. Levels of thoron and progeny in high background radiation area of southeastern coast of Odisha (India))

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ramola, R. C.; Gusain, G. S.; Rautela, B. S.; Sagar, D. V.; Prasad, G.; Shahoo, S. K.; Ishikawa, T.; Omori, Y.; Janik, M.; Sorimachi, A.; Tokonami, S.

    2012-01-01

    Exposure to radon, 222 Rn, is assumed to be the most significant source of natural radiation to human beings in most cases. It is thought that radon and its progeny are major factors that cause cancer. The presence of thoron, 220 Rn, was often neglected because it was considered that the quantity of thoron in the environment is less than that of radon. However, recent studies have shown that a high thoron concentration was found in some regions and the exposure to 220 Rn and its progeny can equal or several time exceed that of 220 Rn and its progeny. The results of thoron and its progeny measurements in the houses of high background radiation area (HBRA) of the southeastern coast of Odisha (India)) presented here. This area is one of the high background radiation areas in India with a large deposit of monazite sand which is the probable source of thoron. Both active and passive methods were employed for the measurement of thoron and its progeny in cement, brick and mud houses in the study area. Thoron concentration was measured using RAD-7 and Raduet. A CR-39 track detector was employed for the measurement of environmental thoron progeny, both in active and passive modes. Thoron and its progeny concentrations were found to be comparatively high in the area. A comparison between the results obtained with various techniques is presented in this paper. (authors)

  14. Levels of thoron and progeny in high background radiation area of southeastern coast of Odisha (India))

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ramola, R C; Gusain, G S; Rautela, B S [Dept. of Physics, H.N.B. Garhwal Univ., Badshahi Thaul Campus, Tehri Garhwal 249199 (India); Sagar, D V [Health Physics Unit EAD, BARC, IRE, OSCOM, Matikhalo, Ganjam, Odisha 761 045 (India); Prasad, G; Shahoo, S K; Ishikawa, T; Omori, Y; Janik, M [National Inst. of Radiological Sciences, Anagawa 4-9-1, Inage-ku, Chiba 263-8555 (Japan); Sorimachi, A; Tokonami, S [Inst. of Radiation Emergency Medicine, Hirosaki Univ., Aomori 036-8564 (Japan)

    2012-07-01

    Exposure to radon, {sup 222}Rn, is assumed to be the most significant source of natural radiation to human beings in most cases. It is thought that radon and its progeny are major factors that cause cancer. The presence of thoron, {sup 220}Rn, was often neglected because it was considered that the quantity of thoron in the environment is less than that of radon. However, recent studies have shown that a high thoron concentration was found in some regions and the exposure to {sup 220}Rn and its progeny can equal or several time exceed that of {sup 220}Rn and its progeny. The results of thoron and its progeny measurements in the houses of high background radiation area (HBRA) of the southeastern coast of Odisha (India)) presented here. This area is one of the high background radiation areas in India with a large deposit of monazite sand which is the probable source of thoron. Both active and passive methods were employed for the measurement of thoron and its progeny in cement, brick and mud houses in the study area. Thoron concentration was measured using RAD-7 and Raduet. A CR-39 track detector was employed for the measurement of environmental thoron progeny, both in active and passive modes. Thoron and its progeny concentrations were found to be comparatively high in the area. A comparison between the results obtained with various techniques is presented in this paper. (authors)

  15. A flat Universe from high-resolution maps of the cosmic microwave background radiation

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Bernardis P; Ade; Bock; Bond; Borrill; Boscaleri; Coble; Crill; De Gasperis G; Farese; Ferreira; Ganga; Giacometti; Hivon; Hristov; Iacoangeli; Jaffe; Lange; Martinis; Masi; Mason; Mauskopf; Melchiorri; Miglio; Montroy; Netterfield

    2000-04-27

    The blackbody radiation left over from the Big Bang has been transformed by the expansion of the Universe into the nearly isotropic 2.73 K cosmic microwave background. Tiny inhomogeneities in the early Universe left their imprint on the microwave background in the form of small anisotropies in its temperature. These anisotropies contain information about basic cosmological parameters, particularly the total energy density and curvature of the Universe. Here we report the first images of resolved structure in the microwave background anisotropies over a significant part of the sky. Maps at four frequencies clearly distinguish the microwave background from foreground emission. We compute the angular power spectrum of the microwave background, and find a peak at Legendre multipole Ipeak = (197 +/- 6), with an amplitude delta T200 = (69 +/- 8) microK. This is consistent with that expected for cold dark matter models in a flat (euclidean) Universe, as favoured by standard inflationary models.

  16. Extremely Randomized Machine Learning Methods for Compound Activity Prediction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wojciech M. Czarnecki

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Speed, a relatively low requirement for computational resources and high effectiveness of the evaluation of the bioactivity of compounds have caused a rapid growth of interest in the application of machine learning methods to virtual screening tasks. However, due to the growth of the amount of data also in cheminformatics and related fields, the aim of research has shifted not only towards the development of algorithms of high predictive power but also towards the simplification of previously existing methods to obtain results more quickly. In the study, we tested two approaches belonging to the group of so-called ‘extremely randomized methods’—Extreme Entropy Machine and Extremely Randomized Trees—for their ability to properly identify compounds that have activity towards particular protein targets. These methods were compared with their ‘non-extreme’ competitors, i.e., Support Vector Machine and Random Forest. The extreme approaches were not only found out to improve the efficiency of the classification of bioactive compounds, but they were also proved to be less computationally complex, requiring fewer steps to perform an optimization procedure.

  17. High Temperature Testing with Sapphire Fiber White-Light Michelson Interferometers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barnes, A.; Pedrazzani, J.; May, R.; Murphy, K.; Tran, T.; Coate, J.

    1996-01-01

    In the design of new aerospace materials, developmental testing is conducted to characterize the behavior of the material under severe environmental conditions of high stress, temperature, and vibration. But to test these materials under extreme conditions requires sensors that can perform in harsh environments. Current sensors can only monitor high temperature test samples using long throw instrumentation, but this is inherently less accurate than a surface mounted sensor, and provides no means for fabrication process monitoring. A promising alternative is the use of sapphire optical fiber sensors. Sapphire is an incredibly rugged material, being extremely hard (9 mhos), chemically inert, and having a melting temperature (over 2000 C). Additionally, there is a extensive background of optical fiber sensors upon which to draw for sapphire sensor configurations.

  18. Novel spin transition between S = 5/2 and S = 3/2 in highly saddled iron(III) porphyrin complexes at extremely low temperatures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ohgo, Yoshiki; Chiba, Yuya; Hashizume, Daisuke; Uekusa, Hidehiro; Ozeki, Tomoji; Nakamura, Mikio

    2006-05-14

    A novel spin transition between S = 5/2 and S = 3/2 has been observed for the first time in five-coordinate, highly saddled iron(III) porphyrinates by EPR and SQUID measurements at extremely low temperatures.

  19. Morphological and transcriptional response of an anhydrobiotic insect to ionizing radiation and desiccation: steps forward in understanding molecular background of extreme radioresistance in higher eukaryotes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gusev, Oleg; Novikova, Nataliya; Sychev, Vladimir; Okuda, Takashi; Kikawada, Takahiro; Sakashita, Tetsuya; Mukae, Kyosuke

    2012-07-01

    Life in extreme or drastically changing environments in many cases leads to evolutionary evolvement of mechanisms of cross-resistance to different abiotic stresses, often never actually faced by the organism in its natural habitat. Larvae of the sleeping chironomidPolypedilum vanderplanki (Diptera) are able to resist complete desiccation and in the dry form survive under excess of various abiotic stresses, including exposure to space environment. One of the most intriguing features of the anhydrobiotic larvae is resistance to extremely high doses of different types of ionizing radiation. To understand the cross-tolerance mechanism, we have analyzed the structural changes in the nuclear DNA using transmission electron microscopy and DNA comet assays in relation to anhydrobiosis and radiation. We find that dehydration causes alterations in chromatin structure and a severe fragmentation of nuclear DNA in the cells of the larvae despite successful anhydrobiosis. The DNA fragmentation level and the recovery of DNA integrity in the rehydrated after anhydrobiosis larvae were similar to those of hydrated larvae irradiated with 70 Gy of high-linear energy transfer (LET) ions (4He+). In comparison, low-LET radiation (gamma rays) of the same dose causes less initial damage to the larvae, and recovery of DNA repair is complete within 24 h. Genome-wide analysis of mRNA expression in the larvae revealed that a large group of genes (including antioxidants, anhydrobiosis-specific biomolecules and protein-reparation enzymes) showed a similar patterns of activity in response to both desiccation and ionizing radiation. We conclude that t one of the factors explaining the relationship between the resistance to ionizing radiation and the ability to undergo anhydrobiosis in the sleeping chironomid would be an adaptation to desiccation-inflicted proteins and nuclear DNA damage.

  20. Gunshot-induced fractures of the extremities: a review of antibiotic and debridement practices

    OpenAIRE

    Sathiyakumar, Vasanth; Thakore, Rachel V.; Stinner, Daniel J.; Obremskey, William T.; Ficke, James R.; Sethi, Manish K.

    2015-01-01

    The use of antibiotic prophylaxis and debridement is controversial when treating low- and high-velocity gunshot-induced fractures, and established treatment guidelines are currently unavailable. The purpose of this review was to evaluate the literature for the prophylactic antibiotic and debridement policies for (1) low-velocity gunshot fractures of the extremities, joints, and pelvis and (2) high-velocity gunshot fractures of the extremities. Low-velocity gunshot fractures of the extremities...

  1. Visual signal detection in structured backgrounds. II. Effects of contrast gain control, background variations, and white noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eckstein, M. P.; Ahumada, A. J. Jr; Watson, A. B.

    1997-01-01

    Studies of visual detection of a signal superimposed on one of two identical backgrounds show performance degradation when the background has high contrast and is similar in spatial frequency and/or orientation to the signal. To account for this finding, models include a contrast gain control mechanism that pools activity across spatial frequency, orientation and space to inhibit (divisively) the response of the receptor sensitive to the signal. In tasks in which the observer has to detect a known signal added to one of M different backgrounds grounds due to added visual noise, the main sources of degradation are the stochastic noise in the image and the suboptimal visual processing. We investigate how these two sources of degradation (contrast gain control and variations in the background) interact in a task in which the signal is embedded in one of M locations in a complex spatially varying background (structured background). We use backgrounds extracted from patient digital medical images. To isolate effects of the fixed deterministic background (the contrast gain control) from the effects of the background variations, we conduct detection experiments with three different background conditions: (1) uniform background, (2) a repeated sample of structured background, and (3) different samples of structured background. Results show that human visual detection degrades from the uniform background condition to the repeated background condition and degrades even further in the different backgrounds condition. These results suggest that both the contrast gain control mechanism and the background random variations degrade human performance in detection of a signal in a complex, spatially varying background. A filter model and added white noise are used to generate estimates of sampling efficiencies, an equivalent internal noise, an equivalent contrast-gain-control-induced noise, and an equivalent noise due to the variations in the structured background.

  2. Production of High-Intensity, Highly Charged Ions

    CERN Document Server

    Gammino, S.

    2013-12-16

    In the past three decades, the development of nuclear physics facilities for fundamental and applied science purposes has required an increasing current of multicharged ion beams. Multiple ionization implies the formation of dense and energetic plasmas, which, in turn, requires specific plasma trapping configurations. Two types of ion source have been able to produce very high charge states in a reliable and reproducible way: electron beam ion sources (EBIS) and electron cyclotron resonance ion sources (ECRIS). Multiple ionization is also obtained in laser-generated plasmas (laser ion sources (LIS)), where the high-energy electrons and the extremely high electron density allow step-by-step ionization, but the reproducibility is poor. This chapter discusses the atomic physics background at the basis of the production of highly charged ions and describes the scientific and technological features of the most advanced ion sources. Particular attention is paid to ECRIS and the latest developments, since they now r...

  3. Measurement of Acceptable Noise Level with Background Music.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahn, Hyun-Jung; Bahng, Junghwa; Lee, Jae Hee

    2015-09-01

    Acceptable noise level (ANL) is a measure of the maximum background noise level (BNL) that a person is willing to tolerate while following a target story. Although researchers have used various sources of target sound in ANL measures, a limited type of background noise has been used. Extending the previous study of Gordon-Hickey & Moore (2007), the current study determined the effect of music genre and tempo on ANLs as possible factors affecting ANLs. We also investigated the relationships between individual ANLs and the familiarity of music samples and between music ANLs and subjective preference. Forty-one participants were seperated into two groups according to their ANLs, 29 low-ANL listeners and 12 high-ANL listeners. Using Korean ANL material, the individual ANLs were measured based on the listeners' most comfortable listening level and BNL. The ANLs were measured in six conditions, with different music tempo (fast, slow) and genre (K-pop, pop, classical) in a counterbalanced order. Overall, ANLs did not differ by the tempo of background music, but music genre significantly affected individual ANLs. We observed relatively higher ANLs with K-pop music and relatively lower ANLs with classical music. This tendency was similar in both low-ANL and high-ANL groups. However, the subjective ratings of music familiarity and preference affected ANLs differently for low-ANL and high-ANL groups. In contrast to the low-ANL listeners, the ANLs of the high-ANL listeners were significantly affected by music familiarity and preference. The genre of background music affected ANLs obtained using background music. The degree of music familiarity and preference appears to be associated with individual susceptibility to background music only for listeners who are greatly annoyed by background noise (high-ANL listeners).

  4. Future changes in hydro-climatic extremes in the Upper Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra River basins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wijngaard, René R; Lutz, Arthur F; Nepal, Santosh; Khanal, Sonu; Pradhananga, Saurav; Shrestha, Arun B; Immerzeel, Walter W

    2017-01-01

    Future hydrological extremes, such as floods and droughts, may pose serious threats for the livelihoods in the upstream domains of the Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra. For this reason, the impacts of climate change on future hydrological extremes is investigated in these river basins. We use a fully-distributed cryospheric-hydrological model to simulate current and future hydrological fluxes and force the model with an ensemble of 8 downscaled General Circulation Models (GCMs) that are selected from the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios. The model is calibrated on observed daily discharge and geodetic mass balances. The climate forcing and the outputs of the hydrological model are used to evaluate future changes in climatic extremes, and hydrological extremes by focusing on high and low flows. The outcomes show an increase in the magnitude of climatic means and extremes towards the end of the 21st century where climatic extremes tend to increase stronger than climatic means. Future mean discharge and high flow conditions will very likely increase. These increases might mainly be the result of increasing precipitation extremes. To some extent temperature extremes might also contribute to increasing discharge extremes, although this is highly dependent on magnitude of change in temperature extremes. Low flow conditions may occur less frequently, although the uncertainties in low flow projections can be high. The results of this study may contribute to improved understanding on the implications of climate change for the occurrence of future hydrological extremes in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region.

  5. Future changes in hydro-climatic extremes in the Upper Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra River basins.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    René R Wijngaard

    Full Text Available Future hydrological extremes, such as floods and droughts, may pose serious threats for the livelihoods in the upstream domains of the Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra. For this reason, the impacts of climate change on future hydrological extremes is investigated in these river basins. We use a fully-distributed cryospheric-hydrological model to simulate current and future hydrological fluxes and force the model with an ensemble of 8 downscaled General Circulation Models (GCMs that are selected from the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios. The model is calibrated on observed daily discharge and geodetic mass balances. The climate forcing and the outputs of the hydrological model are used to evaluate future changes in climatic extremes, and hydrological extremes by focusing on high and low flows. The outcomes show an increase in the magnitude of climatic means and extremes towards the end of the 21st century where climatic extremes tend to increase stronger than climatic means. Future mean discharge and high flow conditions will very likely increase. These increases might mainly be the result of increasing precipitation extremes. To some extent temperature extremes might also contribute to increasing discharge extremes, although this is highly dependent on magnitude of change in temperature extremes. Low flow conditions may occur less frequently, although the uncertainties in low flow projections can be high. The results of this study may contribute to improved understanding on the implications of climate change for the occurrence of future hydrological extremes in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region.

  6. A comparison of observed extreme water levels at the German Bight elaborated through an extreme value analysis (EVA) with extremes derived from a regionally coupled ocean-atmospheric climate model (MPI-OM)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Möller, Jens; Heinrich, Hartmut

    2017-04-01

    As a consequence of climate change atmospheric and oceanographic extremes and their potential impacts on coastal regions are of growing concern for governmental authorities responsible for the transportation infrastructure. Highest risks for shipping as well as for rail and road traffic originate from combined effects of extremes of storm surges and heavy rainfall which sometimes lead to insufficient dewatering of inland waterways. The German Ministry of Transport and digital Infrastructure therefore has tasked its Network of Experts to investigate the possible evolutions of extreme threats for low lands and especially for Kiel Canal, which is an important shortcut for shipping between the North and Baltic Seas. In this study we present results of a comparison of an Extreme Value Analysis (EVA) carried out on gauge observations and values derived from a coupled Regional Ocean-Atmosphere Climate Model (MPI-OM). High water levels at the coasts of the North and Baltic Seas are one of the most important hazards which increase the risk of flooding of the low-lying land and prevents such areas from an adequate dewatering. In this study changes in the intensity (magnitude of the extremes) and duration of extreme water levels (above a selected threshold) are investigated for several gauge stations with data partly reaching back to 1843. Different methods are used for the extreme value statistics, (1) a stationary general Pareto distribution (GPD) model as well as (2) an instationary statistical model for better reproduction of the impact of climate change. Most gauge stations show an increase of the mean water level of about 1-2 mm/year, with a stronger increase of the highest water levels and a decrease (or lower increase) of the lowest water levels. Also, the duration of possible dewatering time intervals for the Kiel-Canal was analysed. The results for the historical gauge station observations are compared to the statistics of modelled water levels from the coupled

  7. Censored rainfall modelling for estimation of fine-scale extremes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cross, David; Onof, Christian; Winter, Hugo; Bernardara, Pietro

    2018-01-01

    Reliable estimation of rainfall extremes is essential for drainage system design, flood mitigation, and risk quantification. However, traditional techniques lack physical realism and extrapolation can be highly uncertain. In this study, we improve the physical basis for short-duration extreme rainfall estimation by simulating the heavy portion of the rainfall record mechanistically using the Bartlett-Lewis rectangular pulse (BLRP) model. Mechanistic rainfall models have had a tendency to underestimate rainfall extremes at fine temporal scales. Despite this, the simple process representation of rectangular pulse models is appealing in the context of extreme rainfall estimation because it emulates the known phenomenology of rainfall generation. A censored approach to Bartlett-Lewis model calibration is proposed and performed for single-site rainfall from two gauges in the UK and Germany. Extreme rainfall estimation is performed for each gauge at the 5, 15, and 60 min resolutions, and considerations for censor selection discussed.

  8. Assessing changes in extreme convective precipitation from a damage perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schroeer, K.; Tye, M. R.

    2016-12-01

    Projected increases in high-intensity short-duration convective precipitation are expected even in regions that are likely to become more arid. Such high intensity precipitation events can trigger hazardous flash floods, debris flows and landslides that put people and local assets at risk. However, the assessment of local scale precipitation extremes is hampered by its high spatial and temporal variability. In addition to which, not only are extreme events rare, but such small scale events are likely to be underreported where they don't coincide with the observation network. Rather than focus solely on the convective precipitation, understanding the characteristics of these extremes which drive damage may be more effective to assess future risks. Two sources of data are used in this study. First, sub-daily precipitation observations over the Southern Alps enable an examination of seasonal and regional patterns in high-intensity convective precipitation and their relationship with weather types. Secondly, reports of private loss and damage on a household scale are used to identify which events are most damaging, or what conditions potentially enhance the vulnerability to these extremes.This study explores the potential added value from including recorded loss and damage data to understand the risks from summertime convective precipitation events. By relating precipitation generating weather types to the severity of damage we hope to develop a mechanism to assess future risks. A further benefit would be to identify from damage reports the likely occurrence of precipitation extremes where no direct observations are available and use this information to validate remotely sensed observations.

  9. Quantum background independence in string theory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Witten, E.

    1994-01-01

    Not only in physical string theories, but also in some highly simplified situations, background independence has been difficult to understand. It is argued that the ''holomorphic anomaly'' of Bershadsky, Cecotti, Ooguri and Vafa gives a fundamental explanation of some of the problems. Moreover, their anomaly equation can be interpreted in terms of a rather peculiar quantum version of background independence: in systems afflicted by the anomaly, background independence does not hold order by order in perturbation theory, but the exact partition function as a function of the coupling constants has a background independent interpretation as a state in an auxiliary quantum Hilbert space. The significance of this auxiliary space is otherwise unknown. (author). 23 refs

  10. Concurrent neuromechanical and functional gains following upper-extremity power training post-stroke

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patten Carolynn

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Repetitive task practice is argued to drive neural plasticity following stroke. However, current evidence reveals that hemiparetic weakness impairs the capacity to perform, and practice, movements appropriately. Here we investigated how power training (i.e., high-intensity, dynamic resistance training affects recovery of upper-extremity motor function post-stroke. We hypothesized that power training, as a component of upper-extremity rehabilitation, would promote greater functional gains than functional task practice without deleterious consequences. Method Nineteen chronic hemiparetic individuals were studied using a crossover design. All participants received both functional task practice (FTP and HYBRID (combined FTP and power training in random order. Blinded evaluations performed at baseline, following each intervention block and 6-months post-intervention included: Wolf Motor Function Test (WMFT-FAS, Primary Outcome, upper-extremity Fugl-Meyer Motor Assessment, Ashworth Scale, and Functional Independence Measure. Neuromechanical function was evaluated using isometric and dynamic joint torques and concurrent agonist EMG. Biceps stretch reflex responses were evaluated using passive elbow stretches ranging from 60 to 180º/s and determining: EMG onset position threshold, burst duration, burst intensity and passive torque at each speed. Results Primary outcome: Improvements in WMFT-FAS were significantly greater following HYBRID vs. FTP (p = .049, regardless of treatment order. These functional improvements were retained 6-months post-intervention (p = .03. Secondary outcomes: A greater proportion of participants achieved minimally important differences (MID following HYBRID vs. FTP (p = .03. MIDs were retained 6-months post-intervention. Ashworth scores were unchanged (p > .05. Increased maximal isometric joint torque, agonist EMG and peak power were significantly greater following HYBRID vs. FTP (p p

  11. Geographic divergence and colour change in response to visual backgrounds and illumination intensity in bearded dragons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cadena, Viviana; Smith, Kathleen R; Endler, John A; Stuart-Fox, Devi

    2017-03-15

    Animals may improve camouflage by both dynamic colour change and local evolutionary adaptation of colour but we have little understanding of their relative importance in colour-changing species. We tested for differences in colour change in response to background colour and light intensity in two populations of central bearded dragon lizards ( Pogona vitticeps ) representing the extremes in body coloration and geographical range. We found that bearded dragons change colour in response to various backgrounds and that colour change is affected by illumination intensity. Within-individual colour change was similar in magnitude in the two populations but varied between backgrounds. However, at the endpoints of colour change, each population showed greater similarity to backgrounds that were representative of the local habitat compared with the other population, indicating local adaptation to visual backgrounds. Our results suggest that even in species that change colour, both phenotypic plasticity and geographic divergence of coloration may contribute to improved camouflage. © 2017. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

  12. Internal background build-up measurements in CaF2:Mn thermoluminescent dosimeters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Balasybrahmanyam, V.; Measures, M.P.

    1977-01-01

    Some problems associated with the internal background build-up (IBB) of CaF 2 :Mn thermoluminescent dosimeters are reported. As a result of an investigation of batches of the EG and G model 15 dosimeter it is considered that measurements using this type of dosimeter are accurate and reproducible once the IBB has been determined. However, the use of the Manufacturer's claimed average of 0.064 mR/day can lead to erroneous results when determining environmental background dose rates. The authors therefore urge a rigid quality control program by the manufacturer and suggest that purchasers should be supplied with IBB information of each batch of dosimeters. Meanwhile each user should be aware of the IBB problem and be extremely cautious when using these dosimeters for environmental monitoring purposes. (U.K.)

  13. Exome sequencing in schizophrenic patients with high levels of homozygosity identifies novel and extremely rare mutations in the GABA/glutamatergic pathways.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edoardo Giacopuzzi

    Full Text Available Inbreeding is a known risk factor for recessive Mendelian diseases and previous studies have suggested that it could also play a role in complex disorders, such as psychiatric diseases. Recent inbreeding results in the presence of long runs of homozygosity (ROHs along the genome, which are also defined as autozygosity regions. Genetic variants in these regions have two alleles that are identical by descent, thus increasing the odds of bearing rare recessive deleterious mutations due to a homozygous state. A recent study showed a suggestive enrichment of long ROHs in schizophrenic patients, suggesting that recent inbreeding could play a role in the disease. To better understand the impact of autozygosity on schizophrenia risk, we selected, from a cohort of 180 Italian patients, seven subjects with extremely high numbers of large ROHs that were likely due to recent inbreeding and characterized the mutational landscape within their ROHs using Whole Exome Sequencing and, gene set enrichment analysis. We identified a significant overlap (17%; empirical p-value = 0.0171 between genes inside ROHs affected by low frequency functional homozygous variants (107 genes and the group of most promising candidate genes mutated in schizophrenia. Moreover, in four patients, we identified novel and extremely rare damaging mutations in the genes involved in neurodevelopment (MEGF8 and in GABA/glutamatergic synaptic transmission (GAD1, FMN1, ANO2. These results provide insights into the contribution of rare recessive mutations and inbreeding as risk factors for schizophrenia. ROHs that are likely due to recent inbreeding harbor a combination of predisposing low-frequency variants and extremely rare variants that have a high impact on pivotal biological pathways implicated in the disease. In addition, this study confirms that focusing on patients with high levels of homozygosity could be a useful prioritization strategy for discovering new high-impact mutations in

  14. Exome sequencing in schizophrenic patients with high levels of homozygosity identifies novel and extremely rare mutations in the GABA/glutamatergic pathways.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giacopuzzi, Edoardo; Gennarelli, Massimo; Minelli, Alessandra; Gardella, Rita; Valsecchi, Paolo; Traversa, Michele; Bonvicini, Cristian; Vita, Antonio; Sacchetti, Emilio; Magri, Chiara

    2017-01-01

    Inbreeding is a known risk factor for recessive Mendelian diseases and previous studies have suggested that it could also play a role in complex disorders, such as psychiatric diseases. Recent inbreeding results in the presence of long runs of homozygosity (ROHs) along the genome, which are also defined as autozygosity regions. Genetic variants in these regions have two alleles that are identical by descent, thus increasing the odds of bearing rare recessive deleterious mutations due to a homozygous state. A recent study showed a suggestive enrichment of long ROHs in schizophrenic patients, suggesting that recent inbreeding could play a role in the disease. To better understand the impact of autozygosity on schizophrenia risk, we selected, from a cohort of 180 Italian patients, seven subjects with extremely high numbers of large ROHs that were likely due to recent inbreeding and characterized the mutational landscape within their ROHs using Whole Exome Sequencing and, gene set enrichment analysis. We identified a significant overlap (17%; empirical p-value = 0.0171) between genes inside ROHs affected by low frequency functional homozygous variants (107 genes) and the group of most promising candidate genes mutated in schizophrenia. Moreover, in four patients, we identified novel and extremely rare damaging mutations in the genes involved in neurodevelopment (MEGF8) and in GABA/glutamatergic synaptic transmission (GAD1, FMN1, ANO2). These results provide insights into the contribution of rare recessive mutations and inbreeding as risk factors for schizophrenia. ROHs that are likely due to recent inbreeding harbor a combination of predisposing low-frequency variants and extremely rare variants that have a high impact on pivotal biological pathways implicated in the disease. In addition, this study confirms that focusing on patients with high levels of homozygosity could be a useful prioritization strategy for discovering new high-impact mutations in genetically

  15. Amputations for extremity soft tissue sarcoma in an era of limb salvage treatment : Local control and survival

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Stevenson, Marc G; Musters, Annelie H; Geertzen, Jan H B; van Leeuwen, Barbara L; Hoekstra, Harald J; Been, Lukas B

    2018-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Despite multimodality limb salvage treatment (LST) for locally advanced extremity soft tissue sarcoma (ESTS), some patients still need an amputation. Indications for amputation and oncological outcome for these patients are described. METHODS: Between 1996 and 2016, all patients who

  16. The Defining Characteristics of ENSO Extremes and the Strong 2015/2016 El Niño

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santoso, Agus; Mcphaden, Michael J.; Cai, Wenju

    2017-12-01

    The year 2015 was special for climate scientists, particularly for the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) research community, as a major El Niño finally materialized after a long pause since the 1997/1998 extreme El Niño. It was scientifically exciting since, due to the short observational record, our knowledge of an extreme El Niño has been based only on the 1982/1983 and 1997/1998 events. The 2015/2016 El Niño was marked by many environmental disasters that are consistent with what is expected for an extreme El Niño. Considering the dramatic impacts of extreme El Niño, and the risk of a potential increase in frequency of ENSO extremes under greenhouse warming, it is timely to evaluate how the recent event fits into our understanding of ENSO extremes. Here we provide a review of ENSO, its nature and dynamics, and through analysis of various observed key variables, we outline the processes that characterize its extremes. The 2015/2016 El Niño brings a useful perspective into the state of understanding of these events and highlights areas for future research. While the 2015/2016 El Niño is characteristically distinct from the 1982/1983 and 1997/1998 events, it still can be considered as the first extreme El Niño of the 21st century. Its extremity can be attributed in part to unusually warm condition in 2014 and to long-term background warming. In effect, this study provides a list of physically meaningful indices that are straightforward to compute for identifying and tracking extreme ENSO events in observations and climate models.

  17. The paradox of extreme high-altitude migration in bar-headed geese Anser indicus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hawkes, L. A.; Balachandran, S.; Batbayar, N.; Butler, P. J.; Chua, B.; Douglas, D. C.; Frappell, P. B.; Hou, Y.; Milsom, W. K.; Newman, S. H.; Prosser, D. J.; Sathiyaselvam, P.; Scott, G. R.; Takekawa, J. Y.; Natsagdorj, T.; Wikelski, M.; Witt, M. J.; Yan, B.; Bishop, C. M.

    2013-01-01

    Bar-headed geese are renowned for migratory flights at extremely high altitudes over the world's tallest mountains, the Himalayas, where partial pressure of oxygen is dramatically reduced while flight costs, in terms of rate of oxygen consumption, are greatly increased. Such a mismatch is paradoxical, and it is not clear why geese might fly higher than is absolutely necessary. In addition, direct empirical measurements of high-altitude flight are lacking. We test whether migrating bar-headed geese actually minimize flight altitude and make use of favourable winds to reduce flight costs. By tracking 91 geese, we show that these birds typically travel through the valleys of the Himalayas and not over the summits. We report maximum flight altitudes of 7290 m and 6540 m for southbound and northbound geese, respectively, but with 95 per cent of locations received from less than 5489 m. Geese travelled along a route that was 112 km longer than the great circle (shortest distance) route, with transit ground speeds suggesting that they rarely profited from tailwinds. Bar-headed geese from these eastern populations generally travel only as high as the terrain beneath them dictates and rarely in profitable winds. Nevertheless, their migration represents an enormous challenge in conditions where humans and other mammals are only able to operate at levels well below their sea-level maxima. PMID:23118436

  18. Extremal black holes in dynamical Chern–Simons gravity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McNees, Robert; Stein, Leo C; Yunes, Nicolás

    2016-01-01

    Rapidly rotating black hole (BH) solutions in theories beyond general relativity (GR) play a key role in experimental gravity, as they allow us to compute observables in extreme spacetimes that deviate from the predictions of GR. Such solutions are often difficult to find in beyond-general-relativity theories due to the inclusion of additional fields that couple to the metric nonlinearly and non-minimally. In this paper, we consider rotating BH solutions in one such theory, dynamical Chern–Simons (dCS) gravity, where the Einstein–Hilbert action is modified by the introduction of a dynamical scalar field that couples to the metric through the Pontryagin density. We treat dCS gravity as an effective field theory and work in the decoupling limit, where corrections are treated as small perturbations from GR. We perturb about the maximally rotating Kerr solution, the so-called extremal limit, and develop mathematical insight into the analysis techniques needed to construct solutions for generic spin. First we find closed-form, analytic expressions for the extremal scalar field, and then determine the trace of the metric perturbation, giving both in terms of Legendre decompositions. Retaining only the first three and four modes in the Legendre representation of the scalar field and the trace, respectively, suffices to ensure a fidelity of over 99% relative to full numerical solutions. The leading-order mode in the Legendre expansion of the trace of the metric perturbation contains a logarithmic divergence at the extremal Kerr horizon, which is likely to be unimportant as it occurs inside the perturbed dCS horizon. The techniques employed here should enable the construction of analytic, closed-form expressions for the scalar field and metric perturbations on a background with arbitrary rotation. (paper)

  19. High-frequency background modulation fringe patterns based on a fringe-wavelength geometry-constraint model for 3D surface-shape measurement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Xinran; Kofman, Jonathan

    2017-07-10

    A new fringe projection method for surface-shape measurement was developed using four high-frequency phase-shifted background modulation fringe patterns. The pattern frequency is determined using a new fringe-wavelength geometry-constraint model that allows only two corresponding-point candidates in the measurement volume. The correct corresponding point is selected with high reliability using a binary pattern computed from intensity background encoded in the fringe patterns. Equations of geometry-constraint parameters permit parameter calculation prior to measurement, thus reducing measurement computational cost. Experiments demonstrated the ability of the method to perform 3D shape measurement for a surface with geometric discontinuity, and for spatially isolated objects.

  20. Opacity calculations for extreme physical systems: code RACHEL

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drska, Ladislav; Sinor, Milan

    1996-08-01

    Computer simulations of physical systems under extreme conditions (high density, temperature, etc.) require the availability of extensive sets of atomic data. This paper presents basic information on a self-consistent approach to calculations of radiative opacity, one of the key characteristics of such systems. After a short explanation of general concepts of the atomic physics of extreme systems, the structure of the opacity code RACHEL is discussed and some of its applications are presented.

  1. High diversity and suggested endemicity of culturable Actinobacteria in an extremely oligotrophic desert oasis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hector Fernando Arocha-Garza

    2017-05-01

    shows that our isolation effort produced 38 unique OTUs in six new monophyletic clades. This high biodiversity and uniqueness of Actinobacteria in an extreme oligotrophic environment, which has previously been reported for its diversity and endemicity, is a suggestive sign of microbial biogeography of Actinobacteria and it also represents an invaluable source of biological material for future ecological and bioprospecting studies.

  2. High diversity and suggested endemicity of culturable Actinobacteria in an extremely oligotrophic desert oasis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arocha-Garza, Hector Fernando; Canales-Del Castillo, Ricardo; Eguiarte, Luis E.; Souza, Valeria

    2017-01-01

    isolation effort produced 38 unique OTUs in six new monophyletic clades. This high biodiversity and uniqueness of Actinobacteria in an extreme oligotrophic environment, which has previously been reported for its diversity and endemicity, is a suggestive sign of microbial biogeography of Actinobacteria and it also represents an invaluable source of biological material for future ecological and bioprospecting studies. PMID:28480140

  3. Nutrition security under extreme events

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martinez, A.

    2017-12-01

    Nutrition security under extreme events. Zero hunger being one of the Sustainable Development Goal from the United Nations, food security has become a trending research topic. However extreme events impact on global food security is not yet 100% understood and there is a lack of comprehension of the underlying mechanisms of global food trade and nutrition security to improve countries resilience to extreme events. In a globalized world, food is still a highly regulated commodity and a strategic resource. A drought happening in a net food-exporter will have little to no effect on its own population but the repercussion on net food-importers can be extreme. In this project, we propose a methodology to describe and quantify the impact of a local drought to human health at a global scale. For this purpose, nutrition supply and global trade data from FAOSTAT have been used with domestic food production from national agencies and FAOSTAT, global precipitation from the Climate Research Unit and health data from the World Health Organization. A modified Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) has been developed to measure the level of resilience of one country to a drought happening in another country. This index describes how a country is dependent of importation and how diverse are its importation. Losses of production and exportation due to extreme events have been calculated using yield data and a simple food balance at country scale. Results show that countries the most affected by global droughts are the one with the highest dependency to one exporting country. Changes induced by droughts also disturbed their domestic proteins, fat and calories supply resulting most of the time in a higher intake of calories or fat over proteins.

  4. Concentration of 210Po in local foodstuffs grown nearby High Background Areas (HBRA)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kamesh Viswanathan, B.; Arunachalam, Kantha D.; Sathesh Kumar, A.; Jayakrishna, K.; Rao, D.D.

    2012-01-01

    210 Po is the decay product of natural radionuclide of 238 U series. The presence of a radionuclide migrates from soil > plant > food and ingested by the humans residing in the areas of syentite rocks nearby the High Background Radiation Area's (HBRA). The food samples were studied by Market Basket Study (MBS). The average concentration of 210 Po in foodstuffs like green leafy vegetables, other vegetables, roots and tubers; fruits, fish, other flesh foods, milk and cereals were 1671 ± 163.3, 28.2 ± 7.3, 320 ± 99, 53 ± 17.5, 251.5 ± 54.5, 37 ± 14.5, 16 ± 6 and 230 ± 75 mBq. Kg -1 fresh weight. (author)

  5. Nature of the Background Ultraviolet Radiation Field at High Redshifts

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    tribpo

    J. Astrophys. Astr. (2000) 21, 19-27 .... to know the shape of the ionizing radiation to determine the ionization parameter from the C II to C IV ratio. ... different shapes of the background radiation spectrum as explained in the text. The solid lines.

  6. Alternative measures of risk of extreme events in decision trees

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Frohwein, H.I.; Lambert, J.H.; Haimes, Y.Y.

    1999-01-01

    A need for a methodology to control the extreme events, defined as low-probability, high-consequence incidents, in sequential decisions is identified. A variety of alternative and complementary measures of the risk of extreme events are examined for their usability as objective functions in sequential decisions, represented as single- or multiple-objective decision trees. Earlier work had addressed difficulties, related to non-separability, with the minimization of some measures of the risk of extreme events in sequential decisions. In an extension of these results, it is shown how some non-separable measures of the risk of extreme events can be interpreted in terms of separable constituents of risk, thereby enabling a wider class of measures of the risk of extreme events to be handled in a straightforward manner in a decision tree. Also for extreme events, results are given to enable minimax- and Hurwicz-criterion analyses in decision trees. An example demonstrates the incorporation of different measures of the risk of extreme events in a multi-objective decision tree. Conceptual formulations for optimizing non-separable measures of the risk of extreme events are identified as an important area for future investigation

  7. Past and future changes in extreme sea levels and waves

    Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

    Lawe, J.A.; Woodworth, P.L.; Knutson, T.; McDonald, R.E.; Mclnnes, K.L.; Woth, K.; Von Storch, H.; Wolf, J.; Swail, V.; Bernier, N.B.; Gulev, S.; Horsburgh, K.J.; Unnikrishnan, A.S.; Hunter, J.R.; Weisse, R.

    of Extreme Sea Level 11.3.1 An Introduction to Storms Both mid-latitude and tropical storms are associated with extremes of sea level. Storm surges are generated by low atmospheric pressure and intense winds over the ocean. The latter also cause high wave... timescales, extremes and mean-sea-level change are both major factors in determining coastal evolution including the development of coastal ecosystems. It will be seen below that, although it is difficult to determine how mean sea level has changed...

  8. Association between frontal plane knee control and lower extremity injuries: a prospective study on young team sport athletes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pasanen, Kati; Krosshaug, Tron; Vasankari, Tommi; Kannus, Pekka; Heinonen, Ari; Kujala, Urho M; Avela, Janne; Perttunen, Jarmo; Parkkari, Jari

    2018-01-01

    Background/aim Poor frontal plane knee control can manifest as increased dynamic knee valgus during athletic tasks. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between frontal plane knee control and the risk of acute lower extremity injuries. In addition, we wanted to study if the single-leg squat (SLS) test can be used as a screening tool to identify athletes with an increased injury risk. Methods A total of 306 basketball and floorball players participated in the baseline SLS test and a 12-month injury registration follow-up. Acute lower extremity time-loss injuries were registered. Frontal plane knee projection angles (FPKPA) during the SLS were calculated using a two-dimensional video analysis. Results Athletes displaying a high FPKPA were 2.7 times more likely to sustain a lower extremity injury (adjusted OR 2.67, 95% CI 1.23 to 5.83) and 2.4 times more likely to sustain an ankle injury (OR 2.37, 95% CI 1.13 to 4.98). There was no statistically significant association between FPKPA and knee injury (OR 1.49, 95% CI 0.56 to 3.98). The receiver operating characteristic curve analyses indicated poor combined sensitivity and specificity when FPKPA was used as a screening test for lower extremity injuries (area under the curve of 0.59) and ankle injuries (area under the curve of 0.58). Conclusions Athletes displaying a large FPKPA in the SLS test had an elevated risk of acute lower extremity and ankle injuries. However, the SLS test is not sensitive and specific enough to be used as a screening tool for future injury risk. PMID:29387448

  9. Epidemiological and radio-biological studies in high background radiation areas of Kerala coast: implications in radiation protection science and human health

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Das, Birajalaxmi

    2018-01-01

    Till date, Linear No Threshold hypothesis (LNT) is well accepted in radiation protection science in spite of its limitations. However, dose response studies using multiple biological end points from high-background radiation areas have challenged the linearity. Radio-biological and epidemiological studies from high level natural radiation areas of Kerala coast showed non-linearity as well as efficient repair of DNA damage in HLNRA indicating that dose limits for public exposure needs to be revisited which may have implications in radiation protection science, human health and low dose radiation biology. However, further studies using high throughput approach is required to identify chronic radiation signatures in human population exposed to elevated level of natural background radiation

  10. Extremely high wall-shear stress events in a turbulent boundary layer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pan, Chong; Kwon, Yongseok

    2018-04-01

    The present work studies the fluctuating characteristics of the streamwise wall-shear stress in a DNS of a turbulent boundary layer at Re τ =1500 from a structural view. The two-dimensional field of the fluctuating friction velocity u‧ τ (x,z) is decomposed into the large- and small-scale components via a recently proposed scale separation algorithm, Quasi-bivariate Variational Mode Decomposition (QB-VMD). Both components are found to be dominated by streak-like structures, which can be regarded as the wall signature of the inner-layer streaks and the outer-layer LSMs, respectively. Extreme positive/negative wall-shear stress fluctuation events are detected in the large-scale component. The former’s occurrence frequency is nearly one order of magnitude higher than the latter; therefore, they contribute a significant portion of the long tail of the wall-shear stress distribution. Both two-point correlations and conditional averages show that these extreme positive wall-shear stress events are embedded in the large-scale positive u‧ τ streaks. They seem to be formed by near-wall ‘splatting’ process, which are related to strong finger-like sweeping (Q4) events originated from the outer-layer positive LSMs.

  11. The effect of extremely high glucose concentrations on 21 routine chemistry and thyroid Abbott assays: interference study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Çuhadar, Serap; Köseoğlu, Mehmet; Çinpolat, Yasemin; Buğdaycı, Güler; Usta, Murat; Semerci, Tuna

    2016-01-01

    Extremely high glucose concentrations have been shown to interfere with creatinine assays especially with Jaffe method in peritoneal dialysate. Because diabetes is the fastest growing chronic disease in the world, laboratories study with varying glucose concentrations. We investigated whether different levels of glucose spiked in serum interfere with 21 routine chemistry and thyroid assays at glucose concentrations between 17-51 mmol/L. Baseline (group I) serum pool with glucose concentration of 5.55 (5.44-5.61) mmol/L was prepared from patient sera. Spiking with 20% dextrose solution, sample groups were obtained with glucose concentrations: 17.09, 34.52, and 50.95 mmol/L (group II, III, IV, respectively). Total of 21 biochemistry analytes and thyroid tests were studied on Abbott c8000 and i2000sr with commercial reagents. Bias from baseline value was checked statistically and clinically. Creatinine increased significantly by 8.74%, 31.66%, 55.31% at groups II, III, IV, respectively with P values of < 0.001. At the median glucose concentration of 50.95 mmol/L, calcium, albumin, chloride and FT4 biased significantly clinically (-0.85%, 1.63%, 0.65%, 7.4% with P values 0.138, 0.214, 0.004, < 0.001, respectively). Remaining assays were free of interference. Among the numerous biochemical parameters studied, only a few parameters are affected by dramatically increased glucose concentration. The creatinine measurements obtained in human sera with the Jaffe alkaline method at high glucose concentrations should be interpreted with caution. Other tests that were affected with extremely high glucose concentrations were calcium, albumin, chloride and FT4, hence results should be taken into consideration in patients with poor diabetic control.

  12. Low Background Micromegas in CAST

    CERN Document Server

    Garza, J.G.; Aznar, F.; Calvet, D.; Castel, J.F.; Christensen, F.E.; Dafni, T.; Davenport, M.; Decker, T.; Ferrer-Ribas, E.; Galán, J.; García, J.A.; Giomataris, I.; Hill, R.M.; Iguaz, F.J.; Irastorza, I.G.; Jakobsen, A.C.; Jourde, D.; Mirallas, H.; Ortega, I.; Papaevangelou, T.; Pivovaroff, M.J.; Ruz, J.; Tomás, A.; Vafeiadis, T.; Vogel, J.K.

    2015-11-16

    Solar axions could be converted into x-rays inside the strong magnetic field of an axion helioscope, triggering the detection of this elusive particle. Low background x-ray detectors are an essential component for the sensitivity of these searches. We report on the latest developments of the Micromegas detectors for the CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST), including technological pathfinder activities for the future International Axion Observatory (IAXO). The use of low background techniques and the application of discrimination algorithms based on the high granularity of the readout have led to background levels below 10$^{-6}$ counts/keV/cm$^2$/s, more than a factor 100 lower than the first generation of Micromegas detectors. The best levels achieved at the Canfranc Underground Laboratory (LSC) are as low as 10$^{-7}$ counts/keV/cm$^2$/s, showing good prospects for the application of this technology in IAXO. The current background model, based on underground and surface measurements, is presented, as well as ...

  13. Insertion sequences enrichment in extreme Red sea brine pool vent

    KAUST Repository

    Elbehery, Ali H. A.

    2016-12-03

    Mobile genetic elements are major agents of genome diversification and evolution. Limited studies addressed their characteristics, including abundance, and role in extreme habitats. One of the rare natural habitats exposed to multiple-extreme conditions, including high temperature, salinity and concentration of heavy metals, are the Red Sea brine pools. We assessed the abundance and distribution of different mobile genetic elements in four Red Sea brine pools including the world’s largest known multiple-extreme deep-sea environment, the Red Sea Atlantis II Deep. We report a gradient in the abundance of mobile genetic elements, dramatically increasing in the harshest environment of the pool. Additionally, we identified a strong association between the abundance of insertion sequences and extreme conditions, being highest in the harshest and deepest layer of the Red Sea Atlantis II Deep. Our comparative analyses of mobile genetic elements in secluded, extreme and relatively non-extreme environments, suggest that insertion sequences predominantly contribute to polyextremophiles genome plasticity.

  14. THE HIGH BACKGROUND RADIATION AREA IN RAMSAR IRAN: GEOLOGY, NORM, BIOLOGY, LNT, AND POSSIBLE REGULATORY FUN

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Karam, P. A.

    2002-02-25

    The city of Ramsar Iran hosts some of the highest natural radiation levels on earth, and over 2000 people are exposed to radiation doses ranging from 1 to 26 rem per year. Curiously, inhabitants of this region seem to have no greater incidence of cancer than those in neighboring areas of normal background radiation levels, and preliminary studies suggest their blood cells experience fewer induced chromosomal abnormalities when exposed to 150 rem ''challenge'' doses of radiation than do the blood cells of their neighbors. This paper will briefly describe the unique geology that gives Ramsar its extraordinarily high background radiation levels. It will then summarize the studies performed to date and will conclude by suggesting ways to incorporate these findings (if they are borne out by further testing) into future radiation protection standards.

  15. Differential gene expression and Hog1 interaction with osmoresponsive genes in the extremely halotolerant black yeast Hortaea werneckii

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Plemenitaš Ana

    2007-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Fluctuations in external salinity force eukaryotic cells to respond by changes in the gene expression of proteins acting in protective biochemical processes, thus counteracting the changing osmotic pressure. The high-osmolarity glycerol (HOG signaling pathway is essential for the efficient up-regulation of the osmoresponsive genes. In this study, the differential gene expression of the extremely halotolerant black yeast Hortaea werneckii was explored. Furthermore, the interaction of mitogen-activated protein kinase HwHog1 and RNA polymerase II with the chromatin in cells adapted to an extremely hypersaline environment was analyzed. Results A cDNA subtraction library was constructed for H. werneckii, adapted to moderate salinity or an extremely hypersaline environment of 4.5 M NaCl. An uncommon osmoresponsive set of 95 differentially expressed genes was identified. The majority of these had not previously been connected with the adaptation of salt-sensitive S. cerevisiae to hypersaline conditions. The transcriptional response in hypersaline-adapted and hypersaline-stressed cells showed that only a subset of the identified genes responded to acute salt-stress, whereas all were differentially expressed in adapted cells. Interaction with HwHog1 was shown for 36 of the 95 differentially expressed genes. The majority of the identified osmoresponsive and HwHog1-dependent genes in H. werneckii have not been previously reported as Hog1-dependent genes in the salt-sensitive S. cerevisiae. The study further demonstrated the co-occupancy of HwHog1 and RNA polymerase II on the chromatin of 17 up-regulated and 2 down-regulated genes in 4.5 M NaCl-adapted H. werneckii cells. Conclusion Extremely halotolerant H. werneckii represents a suitable and highly relevant organism to study cellular responses to environmental salinity. In comparison with the salt-sensitive S. cerevisiae, this yeast shows a different set of genes being expressed at

  16. Early warnings of extreme winds using the ECMWF Extreme Forecast Index

    OpenAIRE

    Petroliagis, Thomas I.; Pinson, Pierre

    2014-01-01

    The European FP7 SafeWind Project aims at developing research towards a European vision of wind power forecasting, which requires advanced meteorological support concerning extreme wind events. This study is focused mainly on early warnings of extreme winds in the early medium-range. Three synoptic stations (airports) of North Germany (Bremen, Hamburg and Hannover) were considered for the construction of time series of daily maximum wind speeds. All daily wind extremes were found to be linked...

  17. Stress fractures in the lower extremity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Berger, Ferco H.; Jonge, Milko C. de; Maas, Mario

    2007-01-01

    Stress fractures are fatigue injuries of bone usually caused by changes in training regimen in the population of military recruits and both professional and recreational athletes. Raised levels of sporting activity in today's population and refined imaging technologies have caused a rise in reported incidence of stress fractures in the past decades, now making up more than 10% of cases in a typical sports medicine practice. Background information (including etiology, epidemiology, clinical presentation and treatment and prevention) as well as state of the art imaging of stress fractures will be discussed to increase awareness amongst radiologists, providing the tools to play an important role in diagnosis and prognosis of stress fractures. Specific fracture sites in the lower extremity will be addressed, covering the far majority of stress fracture incidence. Proper communication between treating physician, physical therapist and radiologist is needed to obtain a high index of suspicion for this easily overlooked entity. Radiographs are not reliable for detection of stress fractures and radiologist should not falsely be comforted by them, which could result in delayed diagnosis and possibly permanent consequences for the patient. Although radiographs are mandatory to rule out differentials, they should be followed through when negative, preferably by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), as this technique has proven to be superior to bone scintigraphy. CT can be beneficial in a limited number of patients, but should not be used routinely

  18. QCD under extreme conditions: an informal discussion

    CERN Document Server

    Fraga, E.S.

    2015-05-22

    We present an informal discussion of some aspects of strong interactions un- der extreme conditions of temperature and density at an elementary level. This summarizes lectures delivered at the 2013 and 2015 CERN – Latin-American Schools of High-Energy Physics and is aimed at students working in experi- mental high-energy physics.

  19. Background Selection in Partially Selfing Populations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roze, Denis

    2016-01-01

    Self-fertilizing species often present lower levels of neutral polymorphism than their outcrossing relatives. Indeed, selfing automatically increases the rate of coalescence per generation, but also enhances the effects of background selection and genetic hitchhiking by reducing the efficiency of recombination. Approximations for the effect of background selection in partially selfing populations have been derived previously, assuming tight linkage between deleterious alleles and neutral loci. However, loosely linked deleterious mutations may have important effects on neutral diversity in highly selfing populations. In this article, I use a general method based on multilocus population genetics theory to express the effect of a deleterious allele on diversity at a linked neutral locus in terms of moments of genetic associations between loci. Expressions for these genetic moments at equilibrium are then computed for arbitrary rates of selfing and recombination. An extrapolation of the results to the case where deleterious alleles segregate at multiple loci is checked using individual-based simulations. At high selfing rates, the tight linkage approximation underestimates the effect of background selection in genomes with moderate to high map length; however, another simple approximation can be obtained for this situation and provides accurate predictions as long as the deleterious mutation rate is not too high. PMID:27075726

  20. EMA beamline at SIRIUS: extreme condition X-ray methods of analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Souza Neto, Narcizo

    2016-01-01

    Full text: The EMA beamline (Extreme condition X-ray Methods of Analysis) is one of the hard x-ray undulator beamlines within the first phase of the new synchrotron source in Brazil (Sirius project). This beamline is thought to make a difference where a high brilliance (high flux of up to 2 x 10 14 photons/sec with beam size down to 0.5 x 0.5 μm 2 ) is essential, which is the case for extreme pressures that require small focus and time-resolved that require high photon flux. With that in mind we propose the beamline to have two experimental hutches to cover most of the extreme condition techniques today employed at synchrotron laboratories worldwide. These two stations are thought to provide the general infrastructure for magnets and lasers experiments, which may evolve as new scientific problems appear. In addition to the hutches, support laboratories will be strongly linked and supportive to the experiments at the beamline, covering high pressure instrumentations using diamond anvil cells and pump-and-probe requirements for ultrafast and high power lasers. Along these lines, we will describe the following techniques covered at this beamline: magnetic spectroscopy (XMCD) and scattering (XRMS) under high pressure and very low temperature in order to fully probe both ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic materials and the dependence with pressure; extreme pressure and temperature XRD and XAS experiments using very small diamond culet anvils and high power lasers. (author)

  1. EMA beamline at SIRIUS: extreme condition X-ray methods of analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Souza Neto, Narcizo, E-mail: narcizo.souza@lnls.br [Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais (CNPEM), Campinas, SP (Brazil)

    2016-07-01

    Full text: The EMA beamline (Extreme condition X-ray Methods of Analysis) is one of the hard x-ray undulator beamlines within the first phase of the new synchrotron source in Brazil (Sirius project). This beamline is thought to make a difference where a high brilliance (high flux of up to 2 x 10{sup 14} photons/sec with beam size down to 0.5 x 0.5 μm{sup 2}) is essential, which is the case for extreme pressures that require small focus and time-resolved that require high photon flux. With that in mind we propose the beamline to have two experimental hutches to cover most of the extreme condition techniques today employed at synchrotron laboratories worldwide. These two stations are thought to provide the general infrastructure for magnets and lasers experiments, which may evolve as new scientific problems appear. In addition to the hutches, support laboratories will be strongly linked and supportive to the experiments at the beamline, covering high pressure instrumentations using diamond anvil cells and pump-and-probe requirements for ultrafast and high power lasers. Along these lines, we will describe the following techniques covered at this beamline: magnetic spectroscopy (XMCD) and scattering (XRMS) under high pressure and very low temperature in order to fully probe both ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic materials and the dependence with pressure; extreme pressure and temperature XRD and XAS experiments using very small diamond culet anvils and high power lasers. (author)

  2. Liquid jet impingement cooling with diamond substrates for extremely high heat flux applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lienhard V, J.H.

    1993-01-01

    The combination of impinging jets and diamond substrates may provide an effective solution to a class of extremely high heat flux problems in which very localized heat loads must be removed. Some potential applications include the cooling of high-heat-load components in synchrotron x-ray, fusion, and semiconductor laser systems. Impinging liquid jets are a very effective vehicle for removing high heat fluxes. The liquid supply arrangement is relatively simple, and low thermal resistances can be routinely achieved. A jet's cooling ability is a strong function of the size of the cooled area relative to the jet diameter. For relatively large area targets, the critical heat fluxes can approach 20 W/mm 2 . In this situation, burnout usually originates at the outer edge of the cooled region as increasing heat flux inhibits the liquid supply. Limitations from liquid supply are minimized when heating is restricted to the jet stagnation zone. The high stagnation pressure and high velocity gradients appear to suppress critical flux phenomena, and fluxes of up to 400 W/mm 2 have been reached without evidence of burnout. Instead, the restrictions on heat flux are closely related to properties of the cooled target. Target properties become an issue owing to the large temperatures and large temperature gradients that accompany heat fluxes over 100 W/mm 2 . These conditions necessitate a target with both high thermal conductivity to prevent excessive temperatures and good mechanical properties to prevent mechanical failures. Recent developments in synthetic diamond technology present a possible solution to some of the solid-side constraints on heat flux. Polycrystalline diamond foils can now be produced by chemical vapor deposition in reasonable quantity and at reasonable cost. Synthetic single crystal diamonds as large as 1 cm 2 are also available

  3. Medical and psychosocial implications of adolescent extreme obesity – acceptance and effects of structured care, short: Youth with Extreme Obesity Study (YES)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-01

    Background Prevalence rates of overweight and obesity have increased in German children and adolescents in the last three decades. Adolescents with extreme obesity represent a distinct risk group. On the basis of data obtained by the German Child and Youth Survey (KiGGS) and the German district military offices we estimate that the group of extremely obese adolescents (BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2) currently encompasses approximately 200.000 adolescents aged 14 to 21 yrs. Conventional approaches focusing on weight reduction have largely proven futile for them. In addition, only a small percentage of adolescents with extreme obesity seek actively treatment for obesity while contributing disproportionately strong to health care costs. Because of somatic and psychiatric co-morbidities and social problems adolescents with extreme obesity require special attention within the medical care system. We have initiated the project “Medical and psychosocial implications of adolescents with extreme obesity - acceptance and effects of structured care, short: ‘Youths with Extreme Obesity Study (YES)’”, which aims at improving the medical care and social support structures for youths with extreme obesity in Germany. Methods/Design We focus on identification of these subjects (baseline examination) and their acceptance of diagnostic and subsequent treatment procedures. In a randomized controlled trial (RCT) we will investigate the effectiveness of a low key group intervention not focusing on weight loss but aimed at the provision of obesity related information, alleviation of social isolation, school and vocational integration and improvement of self-esteem in comparison to a control group treated in a conventional way with focus on weight loss. Interested individuals who fulfill current recommended criteria for weight loss surgery will be provided with a structured preparation and follow-up programs. All subjects will be monitored within a long-term observational study to

  4. Variability of extreme wet events over Malawi

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Libanda Brigadier

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Adverse effects of extreme wet events are well documented by several studies around the world. These effects are exacerbated in developing countries like Malawi that have insufficient risk reduction strategies and capacity to cope with extreme wet weather. Ardent monitoring of the variability of extreme wet events over Malawi is therefore imperative. The use of the Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices (ETCCDI has been recommended by many studies as an effective way of quantifying extreme wet events. In this study, ETCCDI indices were used to examine the number of heavy, very heavy, and extremely heavy rainfall days; daily and five-day maximum rainfall; very wet and extremely wet days; annual wet days and simple daily intensity. The Standard Normal Homogeneity Test (SNHT was employed at 5% significance level before any statistical test was done. Trend analysis was done using the nonparametric Mann-Kendall statistical test. All stations were found to be homogeneous apart from Mimosa. Trend results show high temporal and spatial variability with the only significant results being: increase in daily maximum rainfall (Rx1day over Karonga and Bvumbwe, increase in five-day maximum rainfall (Rx5day over Bvumbwe. Mzimba and Chileka recorded a significant decrease in very wet days (R95p while a significant increase was observed over Thyolo. Chileka was the only station which observed a significant trend (decrease in extremely wet rainfall (R99p. Mzimba was the only station that reported a significant trend (decrease in annual wet-day rainfall total (PRCPTOT and Thyolo was the only station that reported a significant trend (increase in simple daily intensity (SDII. Furthermore, the findings of this study revealed that, during wet years, Malawi is characterised by an anomalous convergence of strong south-easterly and north-easterly winds. This convergence is the main rain bringing mechanism to Malawi.

  5. Improving the limits of detection of low background alpha emission measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    McNally, Brendan D.; Coleman, Stuart; Harris, Jack T.; Warburton, William K.

    2018-01-01

    Alpha particle emission - even at extremely low levels - is a significant issue in the search for rare events (e.g., double beta decay, dark matter detection). Traditional measurement techniques require long counting times to measure low sample rates in the presence of much larger instrumental backgrounds. To address this, a commercially available instrument developed by XIA uses pulse shape analysis to discriminate alpha emissions produced by the sample from those produced by other surfaces of the instrument itself. Experience with this system has uncovered two residual sources of background: cosmogenics and radon emanation from internal components. An R&D program is underway to enhance the system and extend the pulse shape analysis technique further, so that these residual sources can be identified and rejected as well. In this paper, we review the theory of operation and pulse shape analysis techniques used in XIA's alpha counter, and briefly explore data suggesting the origin of the residual background terms. We will then present our approach to enhance the system's ability to identify and reject these terms. Finally, we will describe a prototype system that incorporates our concepts and demonstrates their feasibility.

  6. Extreme fire severity patterns in topographic, convective and wind-driven historical wildfires of Mediterranean pine forests.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Judit Lecina-Diaz

    Full Text Available Crown fires associated with extreme fire severity are extremely difficult to control. We have assessed fire severity using differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR from Landsat imagery in 15 historical wildfires of Pinus halepensis Mill. We have considered a wide range of innovative topographic, fuel and fire behavior variables with the purposes of (1 determining the variables that influence fire severity patterns among fires (considering the 15 wildfires together and (2 ascertaining whether different variables affect extreme fire severity within the three fire types (topographic, convective and wind-driven fires. The among-fires analysis showed that fires in less arid climates and with steeper slopes had more extreme severity. In less arid conditions there was more crown fuel accumulation and closer forest structures, promoting high vertical and horizontal fuel continuity and extreme fire severity. The analyses carried out for each fire separately (within fires showed more extreme fire severity in areas in northern aspects, with steeper slopes, with high crown biomass and in climates with more water availability. In northern aspects solar radiation was lower and fuels had less water limitation to growth which, combined with steeper slopes, produced more extreme severity. In topographic fires there was more extreme severity in northern aspects with steeper slopes and in areas with more water availability and high crown biomass; in convection-dominated fires there was also more extreme fire severity in northern aspects with high biomass; while in wind-driven fires there was only a slight interaction between biomass and water availability. This latter pattern could be related to the fact that wind-driven fires spread with high wind speed, which could have minimized the effect of other variables. In the future, and as a consequence of climate change, new zones with high crown biomass accumulated in non-common drought areas will be available to burn

  7. Extreme fire severity patterns in topographic, convective and wind-driven historical wildfires of Mediterranean pine forests.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lecina-Diaz, Judit; Alvarez, Albert; Retana, Javier

    2014-01-01

    Crown fires associated with extreme fire severity are extremely difficult to control. We have assessed fire severity using differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR) from Landsat imagery in 15 historical wildfires of Pinus halepensis Mill. We have considered a wide range of innovative topographic, fuel and fire behavior variables with the purposes of (1) determining the variables that influence fire severity patterns among fires (considering the 15 wildfires together) and (2) ascertaining whether different variables affect extreme fire severity within the three fire types (topographic, convective and wind-driven fires). The among-fires analysis showed that fires in less arid climates and with steeper slopes had more extreme severity. In less arid conditions there was more crown fuel accumulation and closer forest structures, promoting high vertical and horizontal fuel continuity and extreme fire severity. The analyses carried out for each fire separately (within fires) showed more extreme fire severity in areas in northern aspects, with steeper slopes, with high crown biomass and in climates with more water availability. In northern aspects solar radiation was lower and fuels had less water limitation to growth which, combined with steeper slopes, produced more extreme severity. In topographic fires there was more extreme severity in northern aspects with steeper slopes and in areas with more water availability and high crown biomass; in convection-dominated fires there was also more extreme fire severity in northern aspects with high biomass; while in wind-driven fires there was only a slight interaction between biomass and water availability. This latter pattern could be related to the fact that wind-driven fires spread with high wind speed, which could have minimized the effect of other variables. In the future, and as a consequence of climate change, new zones with high crown biomass accumulated in non-common drought areas will be available to burn as extreme

  8. Compound summer temperature and precipitation extremes over central Europe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sedlmeier, Katrin; Feldmann, H.; Schädler, G.

    2018-02-01

    Reliable knowledge of the near-future climate change signal of extremes is important for adaptation and mitigation strategies. Especially compound extremes, like heat and drought occurring simultaneously, may have a greater impact on society than their univariate counterparts and have recently become an active field of study. In this paper, we use a 12-member ensemble of high-resolution (7 km) regional climate simulations with the regional climate model COSMO-CLM over central Europe to analyze the climate change signal and its uncertainty for compound heat and drought extremes in summer by two different measures: one describing absolute (i.e., number of exceedances of absolute thresholds like hot days), the other relative (i.e., number of exceedances of time series intrinsic thresholds) compound extreme events. Changes are assessed between a reference period (1971-2000) and a projection period (2021-2050). Our findings show an increase in the number of absolute compound events for the whole investigation area. The change signal of relative extremes is more region-dependent, but there is a strong signal change in the southern and eastern parts of Germany and the neighboring countries. Especially the Czech Republic shows strong change in absolute and relative extreme events.

  9. Extreme meteorological conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Altinger de Schwarzkopf, M.L.

    1983-01-01

    Different meteorological variables which may reach significant extreme values, such as the windspeed and, in particular, its occurrence through tornadoes and hurricanes that necesarily incide and wich must be taken into account at the time of nuclear power plants' installation, are analyzed. For this kind of study, it is necessary to determine the basic phenomenum of design. Two criteria are applied to define the basic values of design for extreme meteorological variables. The first one determines the expected extreme value: it is obtained from analyzing the recurence of the phenomenum in a convened period of time, wich may be generally of 50 years. The second one determines the extreme value of low probability, taking into account the nuclear power plant's operating life -f.ex. 25 years- and considering, during said lapse, the occurrence probabilities of extreme meteorological phenomena. The values may be determined either by the deterministic method, which is based on the acknowledgement of the fundamental physical characteristics of the phenomena or by the probabilistic method, that aims to the analysis of historical statistical data. Brief comments are made on the subject in relation to the Argentine Republic area. (R.J.S.) [es

  10. Extreme weather events in developing countries and related injuries and mental health disorders - a systematic review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elisabeth Rataj

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Due to climate change, extreme weather events have an incremental impact on human health. Injuries and mental health disorders are a particular burden of disease, which is broadly investigated in high income countries. Most distressed populations are, however, those in developing countries. Therefore, this study investigates mental and physical health impacts arising from extreme weather events in these populations. Method Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD, injury [primary outcomes], anxiety and depressive disorders [secondary outcomes], caused by weather extremes were systematically analyzed in people of developing countries. A systematic review of observational studies was conducted searching six databases, complemented by hand search, and utilizing two search engines. Review processing was done independently by two reviewers. Prevalence rates were analyzed in a pre/post design; an additional semi-structured search was conducted, to provide reference data for studies not incorporating reference values. Results All 17 identified studies (70,842 individuals indicate a disease increase, compared to the reference data. Increase ranges from 0.7–52.6 % for PTSD, and from 0.3–37.3 % for injury. No studies on droughts and heatwaves were identified. All studies were conducted in South America and Asia. Conclusion There is an increased burden of psychological diseases and injury. This finding needs to be incorporated into activities of prevention, preparedness and general health care of those developing countries increasingly experiencing extreme weather events. There is also a gap in research in Africa (in quantity and quality of studies in this field and a predominant heterogeneity of health assessment tools. PROSPERO registration no.: CRD42014009109

  11. In vitro effect of hemodilution on activated clotting time and high-dose thrombin time during cardiopulmonary bypass

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Huyzen, RJ; vanOeveren, W; Wei, FY; Stellingwerf, P; Boonstra, PW; Gu, YJ

    Background. Extreme dilution of clotting factors, as may occur during pediatric or neonatal cardiopulmonary bypass, often leads to inadequate monitoring of anticoagulation with activated dotting time (ACT). In this study we postulate that the high-dose thrombin time (HiTT) is less influenced by

  12. Climate Change: A New Metric to Measure Changes in the Frequency of Extreme Temperatures using Record Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Munasinghe, L.; Jun, T.; Rind, D. H.

    2012-01-01

    Consensus on global warming is the result of multiple and varying lines of evidence, and one key ramification is the increase in frequency of extreme climate events including record high temperatures. Here we develop a metric- called "record equivalent draws" (RED)-based on record high (low) temperature observations, and show that changes in RED approximate changes in the likelihood of extreme high (low) temperatures. Since we also show that this metric is independent of the specifics of the underlying temperature distributions, RED estimates can be aggregated across different climates to provide a genuinely global assessment of climate change. Using data on monthly average temperatures across the global landmass we find that the frequency of extreme high temperatures increased 10-fold between the first three decades of the last century (1900-1929) and the most recent decade (1999-2008). A more disaggregated analysis shows that the increase in frequency of extreme high temperatures is greater in the tropics than in higher latitudes, a pattern that is not indicated by changes in mean temperature. Our RED estimates also suggest concurrent increases in the frequency of both extreme high and extreme low temperatures during 2002-2008, a period when we observe a plateauing of global mean temperature. Using daily extreme temperature observations, we find that the frequency of extreme high temperatures is greater in the daily minimum temperature time-series compared to the daily maximum temperature time-series. There is no such observable difference in the frequency of extreme low temperatures between the daily minimum and daily maximum.

  13. A model for extremely powerful extragalactic water masers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wu, Ying-Cheng; Alcock, C.

    1988-08-01

    The reasons for the differences between extremely powerful extragalatic water masers (EPEWMs) and strong Galactic H/sub 2/O masers are discussed. This model quite successfully explains many important characteristics of EPEWMs; the rapid time variations, the broad range and random velocity distribution, the extremely high luminosities, the various heights or widths of features in spectra, the strong infrared radiation from the galaxies, how an active nucleus contributes to an EPEWM, how some parts of EPEWMs producing strong features are pumped, why this pump mechanism can work, and why EPEWMs are different from strong Galactic H/sub 2/O masers. Recent observations of extragalactic water masers which have extremely high luminosities raise the possibility that the stimulated emission rate in the maser emission line in these regions is much higher than in Galactic masers. It is possible that the local stimulated emission rate exceeds the local bandwidth for the radiation. In this case the standard expression relating the photon emission rate to the profile averaged mean intensity does not apply. A new expression for the photon emission rate is derived.

  14. A model for extremely powerful extragalactic water masers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu, Ying-Cheng; Alcock, C.

    1988-08-01

    The reasons for the differences between extremely powerful extragalatic water masers (EPEWMs) and strong Galactic H 2 O masers are discussed. This model quite successfully explains many important characteristics of EPEWMs; the rapid time variations, the broad range and random velocity distribution, the extremely high luminosities, the various heights or widths of features in spectra, the strong infrared radiation from the galaxies, how an active nucleus contributes to an EPEWM, how some parts of EPEWMs producing strong features are pumped, why this pump mechanism can work, and why EPEWMs are different from strong Galactic H 2 O masers. Recent observations of extragalactic water masers which have extremely high luminosities raise the possibility that the stimulated emission rate in the maser emission line in these regions is much higher than in Galactic masers. It is possible that the local stimulated emission rate exceeds the local bandwidth for the radiation. In this case the standard expression relating the photon emission rate to the profile averaged mean intensity does not apply. A new expression for the photon emission rate is derived

  15. A novel robust and efficient algorithm for charge particle tracking in high background flux

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fanelli, C; Cisbani, E; Dotto, A Del

    2015-01-01

    The high luminosity that will be reached in the new generation of High Energy Particle and Nuclear physics experiments implies large high background rate and large tracker occupancy, representing therefore a new challenge for particle tracking algorithms. For instance, at Jefferson Laboratory (JLab) (VA,USA), one of the most demanding experiment in this respect, performed with a 12 GeV electron beam, is characterized by a luminosity up to 10 39 cm -2 s -1 . To this scope, Gaseous Electron Multiplier (GEM) based trackers are under development for a new spectrometer that will operate at these high rates in the Hall A of JLab. Within this context, we developed a new tracking algorithm, based on a multistep approach: (i) all hardware - time and charge - information are exploited to minimize the number of hits to associate; (ii) a dedicated Neural Network (NN) has been designed for a fast and efficient association of the hits measured by the GEM detector; (iii) the measurements of the associated hits are further improved in resolution through the application of Kalman filter and Rauch- Tung-Striebel smoother. The algorithm is shortly presented along with a discussion of the promising first results. (paper)

  16. First Measurements of Beam Backgrounds at SuperKEKB

    CERN Document Server

    Vahsen, S.E.; Jaegle, I.; Nakayama, H.; Aloisio, A.; Ameli, F.; Barrett, M.; Beaulieu, A.; Bosisio, L.; Branchini, P.; Browder, T.E.; Budano, A.; Cautero, G.; Cecchi, C.; Chen, Y.-T.; Chu, K.-N.; Cinabro, D.; Cristaudo, P.; de Jong, S.; de Sangro, R.; Finocchiaro, G.; Flanagan, J.; Funakoshi, Y.; Gabriel, M.; Giordano, R.; Giuressi, D.; Hedges, M. T.; Honkanen, N.; Ikeda, H.; Ishibashi, T.; Kaji, H.; Kanazawa, K.; Kiesling, C.; Koirala, S.; Križan, P.; La Licata, C.; Lanceri, L.; Liau, J.-J.; Lin, F.-H.; Lin, J.-C.; Liptak, Z.; Longo, S.; Manoni, E.; Marinas, C.; Miyabayashi, K.; Mulyani, E.; Morita, A.; Nakao, M.; Nayak, M.; Ohnishi, Y.; Passeri, A.; Poffenberger, P.; Ritzert, M.; Roney, J M.; Rossi, A.; Röder, T.; Seddon, R.M.; Seong, I.S.; Shiu, J.-G.; Simon, F.; Soloviev, Y.; Suetsugu, Y.; Szalay, M.; Terui, S.; Tortone, G.; van der Kolk, N.; Vitale, L.; Wang, M.Z.; Windel, H.; Yokoyama, S.

    2018-01-01

    The high design luminosity of the SuperKEKB electron-positron collider is expected to result in challenging levels of beam-induced backgrounds in the interaction region. Properly simulating and mitigating these backgrounds is critical to the success of the Belle~II experiment. We report on measurements performed with a suite of dedicated beam background detectors, collectively known as BEAST II, during the so-called Phase 1 commissioning run of SuperKEKB in 2016, which involved operation of both the high energy ring (HER) of 7 GeV electrons as well as the low energy ring (LER) of 4 GeV positrons. We describe the BEAST II detector systems, the simulation of beam backgrounds, and the measurements performed. The measurements include standard ones of dose rates versus accelerator conditions, and more novel investigations, such as bunch-by-bunch measurements of injection backgrounds and measurements sensitive to the energy spectrum and angular distribution of fast neutrons. We observe beam-gas, Touschek, beam-dust...

  17. Extreme-scale Algorithms and Solver Resilience

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dongarra, Jack [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)

    2016-12-10

    A widening gap exists between the peak performance of high-performance computers and the performance achieved by complex applications running on these platforms. Over the next decade, extreme-scale systems will present major new challenges to algorithm development that could amplify this mismatch in such a way that it prevents the productive use of future DOE Leadership computers due to the following; Extreme levels of parallelism due to multicore processors; An increase in system fault rates requiring algorithms to be resilient beyond just checkpoint/restart; Complex memory hierarchies and costly data movement in both energy and performance; Heterogeneous system architectures (mixing CPUs, GPUs, etc.); and Conflicting goals of performance, resilience, and power requirements.

  18. High rate of virologic suppression with darunavir/ritonavir plus optimized background therapy among highly antiretroviral-experienced HIV-infected patients: results of a prospective cohort study in São Paulo, Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José Ernesto Vidal

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVES: To assess the virologic and immunological response of darunavir/ritonavir plus optimized background therapy in highly antiretroviral-experienced HIV-infected patients in Brazil. METHODS: Prospective cohort study carried out in a tertiary center in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Three-class antiretroviral-experienced patients with confirmed virologic failure began darunavir/ritonavir plus optimized background therapy (nucleoside/tide reverse transcriptase inhibitors ± raltegravir ± enfuvirtide ± maraviroc after performing a genotypic resistance assay. Clinical evaluation and laboratory tests were collected at baseline and at weeks 12, 24, and 48. Multivariate analysis was performed to identify predictors of virologic response at 48 weeks. RESULTS: Ninety-two patients were included. The median of darunavir resistant mutation was 1 (range 0-6. The median genotypic sensitivity score in the optimized background therapy was 2 (interquartile range 1-2. At week 48, 83% (95% CI: 75-90% had an HIV RNA level 100 000 copies/mL was inversely associated with virologic success at week 48 (HR: 0.22, 95% CI: 0.06-0.85, p = 0.028. CONCLUSIONS: Darunavir/ritonavir plus optimized background therapy was a highly effective salvage regimen under clinical routine conditions in a referral center in Brazil, which is similar to the reported in high-income countries.

  19. High rate of virologic suppression with darunavir/ritonavir plus optimized background therapy among highly antiretroviral-experienced HIV-infected patients: results of a prospective cohort study in São Paulo, Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José Ernesto Vidal

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVES: To assess the virologic and immunological response of darunavir/ritonavir plus optimized background therapy in highly antiretroviral-experienced HIV-infected patients in Brazil. METHODS: Prospective cohort study carried out in a tertiary center in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Three-class antiretroviral-experienced patients with confirmed virologic failure began darunavir/ritonavir plus optimized background therapy (nucleoside/tide reverse transcriptase inhibitors ± raltegravir ± enfuvirtide ± maraviroc after performing a genotypic resistance assay. Clinical evaluation and laboratory tests were collected at baseline and at weeks 12, 24, and 48. Multivariate analysis was performed to identify predictors of virologic response at 48 weeks. RESULTS: Ninety-two patients were included. The median of darunavir resistant mutation was 1 (range 0-6. The median genotypic sensitivity score in the optimized background therapy was 2 (interquartile range 1-2. At week 48, 83% (95% CI: 75-90% had an HIV RNA level 100 000 copies/mL was inversely associated with virologic success at week 48 (HR: 0.22, 95% CI: 0.06-0.85, p = 0.028. CONCLUSIONS: Darunavir/ritonavir plus optimized background therapy was a highly effective salvage regimen under clinical routine conditions in a referral center in Brazil, which is similar to the reported in high-income countries.

  20. Ultimate waveform reproducibility of extreme-ultraviolet pulses by high-harmonic generation in quartz

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garg, M.; Kim, H. Y.; Goulielmakis, E.

    2018-05-01

    Optical waveforms of light reproducible with subcycle precision underlie applications of lasers in ultrafast spectroscopies, quantum control of matter and light-based signal processing. Nonlinear upconversion of optical pulses via high-harmonic generation in gas media extends these capabilities to the extreme ultraviolet (EUV). However, the waveform reproducibility of the generated EUV pulses in gases is inherently sensitive to intensity and phase fluctuations of the driving field. We used photoelectron interferometry to study the effects of intensity and carrier-envelope phase of an intense single-cycle optical pulse on the field waveform of EUV pulses generated in quartz nanofilms, and contrasted the results with those obtained in gas argon. The EUV waveforms generated in quartz were found to be virtually immune to the intensity and phase of the driving field, implying a non-recollisional character of the underlying emission mechanism. Waveform-sensitive photonic applications and precision measurements of fundamental processes in optics will benefit from these findings.

  1. Multidecadal oscillations in rainfall and hydrological extremes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Willems, Patrick

    2013-04-01

    Many studies have anticipated a worldwide increase in the frequency and intensity of precipitation extremes and floods since the last decade(s). Natural variability by climate oscillations partly determines the observed evolution of precipitation extremes. Based on a technique for the identification and analysis of changes in extreme quantiles, it is shown that hydrological extremes have oscillatory behaviour at multidecadal time scales. Results are based on nearly independent extremes extracted from long-term historical time series of precipitation intensities and river flows. Study regions include Belgium - The Netherlands (Meuse basin), Ethiopia (Blue Nile basin) and Ecuador (Paute basin). For Belgium - The Netherlands, the past 100 years showed larger and more hydrological extremes around the 1910s, 1950-1960s, and more recently during the 1990-2000s. Interestingly, the oscillations for southwestern Europe are anti-correlated with these of northwestern Europe, thus with oscillation highs in the 1930-1940s and 1970s. The precipitation oscillation peaks are explained by persistence in atmospheric circulation patterns over the North Atlantic during periods of 10 to 15 years. References: Ntegeka V., Willems P. (2008), 'Trends and multidecadal oscillations in rainfall extremes, based on a more than 100 years time series of 10 minutes rainfall intensities at Uccle, Belgium', Water Resources Research, 44, W07402, doi:10.1029/2007WR006471 Mora, D., Willems, P. (2012), 'Decadal oscillations in rainfall and air temperature in the Paute River Basin - Southern Andes of Ecuador', Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 108(1), 267-282, doi:0.1007/s00704-011-0527-4 Taye, M.T., Willems, P. (2011). 'Influence of climate variability on representative QDF predictions of the upper Blue Nile Basin', Journal of Hydrology, 411, 355-365, doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2011.10.019 Taye, M.T., Willems, P. (2012). 'Temporal variability of hydro-climatic extremes in the Blue Nile basin', Water

  2. Extreme triple asymmetric (ETAS) epitaxial designs for increased efficiency at high powers in 9xx-nm diode lasers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaul, T.; Erbert, G.; Maaßdorf, A.; Martin, D.; Crump, P.

    2018-02-01

    Broad area lasers that are tailored to be most efficient at the highest achievable optical output power are sought by industry to decrease operation costs and improve system performance. Devices using Extreme-Double-ASymmetric (EDAS) epitaxial designs are promising candidates for improved efficiency at high optical output powers due to low series resistance, low optical loss and low carrier leakage. However, EDAS designs leverage ultra-thin p-side waveguides, meaning that the optical mode is shifted into the n-side waveguide, resulting in a low optical confinement in the active region, low gain and hence high threshold current, limiting peak performance. We introduce here explicit design considerations that enable EDAS-based devices to be developed with increased optical confinement in the active layer without changing the p-side layer thicknesses. Specifically, this is realized by introducing a third asymmetric component in the vicinity of the quantum well. We call this approach Extreme-Triple-ASymmetric (ETAS) design. A series of ETAS-based vertical designs were fabricated into broad area lasers that deliver up to 63% power conversion efficiency at 14 W CW optical output power from a 100 μm stripe laser, which corresponds to the operation point of a kW optical output power in a laser bar. The design process, the impact of structural changes on power saturation mechanisms and finally devices with improved performance will be presented.

  3. Background {sup 99m}Tc-methoxyisobutylisonitrile uptake of breast-specific gamma imaging in relation to background parenchymal enhancement in magnetic resonance imaging

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yoon, Hai-Jeon; Kim, Bom Sahn [Ewha Womans University, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Yangchun-Ku, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Yemi [Ewha Womans University, Clinical Research Institute and Department of Conservative Dentistry, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Jee Eun [Ewha Womans University, Department of Radiology, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-01-15

    This study investigated factors that could affect background uptake of {sup 99m}Tc- methoxyisobutylisonitrile (MIBI) on normal breast by breast-specific gamma imaging (BSGI). In addition, the impact of background {sup 99m}Tc-MIBI uptake on the diagnostic performance of BSGI was further investigated. One hundred forty-five women with unilateral breast cancer who underwent BSGI, MRI, and mammography were retrospectively enrolled. Background uptake on BSGI was evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively. Patients were classified into non-dense and dense breast groups according to mammographic breast density. Background parenchymal enhancement (BPE) was rated according to BI-RADS classification. The relationship of age, menopausal status, mammographic breast density, and BPE with background {sup 99m}Tc-MIBI uptake was analyzed. Heterogeneous texture and high background uptake ratio on BSGI were significantly correlated with younger age (p < 0.001, respectively), premenopausal status (p < 0.001 and p = 0.003), dense breast (p < 0.001, respectively), and marked BPE (p < 0.001, respectively). On multivariate analysis, only BPE remained a significant factor for background MIBI uptake (p < 0.001).There was a significant reduction in positive predictive value (p = 0.024 and p = 0.002) as background MIBI uptake and BPE grade increased. BPE on MRI was the most important factor for background MIBI uptake on BSGI. High background MIBI uptake or marked BPE can diminish the diagnostic performance of BSGI. (orig.)

  4. Some problems with the interpretation of recent microwave background observations in the direction of galaxy clusters, or, beware of negative antenna temperatures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tarter, J.C.

    1978-01-01

    Recently reported observations of the 3 K microwave background in the direction of rich clusters of galaxies should be viewed as placing stringent limits on the mass of cooler ionized gas within the clusters, rather than as a verification of thermal bremsstrahlung models for cluster X-ray sources. At the high radio frequencies employed in the observations, there is a positive contribution to the observed source brightness distributions from free-free emission by any cooler gas. This can overwhelm the anticipated inverse Compton diminution of the background radiation, even when the total mass in cooler gas is significantly less than the mass of hot plasma required to explain the X-Ray source. Future experiments of this type should be conducted only when atmospheric stability is sufficient to permit lengthy drift scans across the clusters. Extreme care must be taken to remove the contibutions from any discrete sources

  5. In-beam background suppression shield

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Santoro, V.; Cai, Xiao Xiao; DiJulio, D. D.

    2015-01-01

    The long (3 ms) proton pulse of the European Spallation Source (ESS) gives rise to unique and potentially high backgrounds for the instrument suite. In such a source an instrument's capabilities will be limited by its Signal to Noise (S/N) ratio. The instruments with a direct view of the moderator......, which do not use a bender to help mitigate the fast neutron background, are the most challenging. For these beam lines we propose the innovative shielding of placing blocks of material directly into the guide system, which allow a minimum attenuation of the cold and thermal fluxes relative...... to the background suppression. This shielding configuration has been worked into a beam line model using Geant4. We study particularly the advantages of single crystal sapphire and silicon blocks....

  6. Evaluation of precipitation extremes over the Asian domain: observation and modelling studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, In-Won; Oh, Jaiho; Woo, Sumin; Kripalani, R. H.

    2018-04-01

    In this study, a comparison in the precipitation extremes as exhibited by the seven reference datasets is made to ascertain whether the inferences based on these datasets agree or they differ. These seven datasets, roughly grouped in three categories i.e. rain-gauge based (APHRODITE, CPC-UNI), satellite-based (TRMM, GPCP1DD) and reanalysis based (ERA-Interim, MERRA, and JRA55), having a common data period 1998-2007 are considered. Focus is to examine precipitation extremes in the summer monsoon rainfall over South Asia, East Asia and Southeast Asia. Measures of extreme precipitation include the percentile thresholds, frequency of extreme precipitation events and other quantities. Results reveal that the differences in displaying extremes among the datasets are small over South Asia and East Asia but large differences among the datasets are displayed over the Southeast Asian region including the maritime continent. Furthermore, precipitation data appear to be more consistent over East Asia among the seven datasets. Decadal trends in extreme precipitation are consistent with known results over South and East Asia. No trends in extreme precipitation events are exhibited over Southeast Asia. Outputs of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) simulation data are categorized as high, medium and low-resolution models. The regions displaying maximum intensity of extreme precipitation appear to be dependent on model resolution. High-resolution models simulate maximum intensity of extreme precipitation over the Indian sub-continent, medium-resolution models over northeast India and South China and the low-resolution models over Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand. In summary, there are differences in displaying extreme precipitation statistics among the seven datasets considered here and among the 29 CMIP5 model data outputs.

  7. Extreme seismicity and disaster risks: Hazard versus vulnerability (Invited)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ismail-Zadeh, A.

    2013-12-01

    Although the extreme nature of earthquakes has been known for millennia due to the resultant devastation from many of them, the vulnerability of our civilization to extreme seismic events is still growing. It is partly because of the increase in the number of high-risk objects and clustering of populations and infrastructure in the areas prone to seismic hazards. Today an earthquake may affect several hundreds thousand lives and cause significant damage up to hundred billion dollars; it can trigger an ecological catastrophe if occurs in close vicinity to a nuclear power plant. Two types of extreme natural events can be distinguished: (i) large magnitude low probability events, and (ii) the events leading to disasters. Although the first-type events may affect earthquake-prone countries directly or indirectly (as tsunamis, landslides etc.), the second-type events occur mainly in economically less-developed countries where the vulnerability is high and the resilience is low. Although earthquake hazards cannot be reduced, vulnerability to extreme events can be diminished by monitoring human systems and by relevant laws preventing an increase in vulnerability. Significant new knowledge should be gained on extreme seismicity through observations, monitoring, analysis, modeling, comprehensive hazard assessment, prediction, and interpretations to assist in disaster risk analysis. The advanced disaster risk communication skill should be developed to link scientists, emergency management authorities, and the public. Natural, social, economic, and political reasons leading to disasters due to earthquakes will be discussed.

  8. On Symmetries of Extremal Black Holes with One and Two Centers

    CERN Document Server

    Ferrara, Sergio

    2013-01-01

    After a brief introduction to the Attractor Mechanism, we review the appearance of groups of type E7 as generalized electric-magnetic duality symmetries in locally supersymmetric theories of gravity, with particular emphasis on the symplectic structure of fluxes in the background of extremal black hole solutions, with one or two centers. In the latter case, the role of an "horizontal" symmetry SL(2,R) is elucidated by presenting a set of two-centered relations governing the structure of two-centered invariant polynomials.

  9. Pre-Extreme Automotive Anti-Lock Brake Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. G. Ivanov

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available Designing of systems ensuring active safety of automobiles with intellectual functions requires usage of new control principles for wheel and automobile operation. One of such principles is a preextreme control strategy. Its aim is to ensure wheel work in pre-extreme, stable area of «tire grip coefficient wheel slip coefficient» dependence. The simplest realization of pre-extreme control in automotive anti-lock brake systems consists in the threshold and gradient algorithms. A comparative analysis of these algorithms which has been made on simulation results of bus braking with various anti-lock brake systems has revealed their high efficiency.

  10. Early warnings of extreme winds using the ECMWF Extreme Forecast Index

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Petroliagis, Thomas I.; Pinson, Pierre

    2014-01-01

    The European FP7 SafeWind Project aims at developing research towards a European vision of wind power forecasting, which requires advanced meteorological support concerning extreme wind events. This study is focused mainly on early warnings of extreme winds in the early medium-range. Three synoptic...... regimes. Overall, it becomes clear that the first indications of an extreme wind event might come from the ECMWF deterministic and/or probabilistic components capturing very intense weather systems (possible windstorms) in the medium term. For early warnings, all available EPS Extreme Forecast Index (EFI......) formulations were used, by linking daily maximum wind speeds to EFI values for different forecast horizons. From all possible EFI schemes deployed for issuing early warnings, the highest skill was found for the Gust Factor formulation (EFI-10FGI). Using EFI-10FGI, the corresponding 99% threshold could provide...

  11. High dynamic range low-noise focal plane readout for VLWIR applications implemented with current mode background subtraction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Guang; Sun, Chao; Shaw, Timothy; Wrigley, Chris; Peddada, Pavani; Blazejewski, Edward R.; Pain, Bedabrata

    1998-09-01

    Design and operation of a low noise CMOS focal pa;ne readout circuit with ultra-high charge handling capacity is presented. Designed for high-background, VLWIR detector readout, each readout unit cell use an accurate dynamic current memory for automatic subtraction of the dark pedestal in current domain enabling measurement of small signals 85 dB below the dark level. The redout circuit operates with low-power dissipation, high linearity, and is capable of handling pedestal currents up to 300 nA. Measurements indicate an effective charge handling capacity of over 5 X 10(superscript 9) charges/pixel with less than 10(superscript 5) electrons of input referred noise.

  12. Nutrition status in residents in the high background radiation area of Yangjiang, China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lei Shujie; Li Xiaojuan; Sun Quanfu; Wei Lvxin; Gen Jiwu; Wen Cuiju; Tan Huizhen; Zou Jianmin

    2007-01-01

    Objective: To investigate the current status of nutrition and examine the difference between inhabitants in the high background radiation area (HBRA) and the control area (CA). Methods: Sixty and sixty-five male farmers aged 50 and over were randomly selected from HBRA and CA, respectively. Information on dwelling history, history of disease, medical treatment and X-ray examination were collected by interview. Body height and weight were measured, and BMIs were calculated. Serum levels of total protein, albumin and globulin, triacylglycerol (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low- density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), Apo A1 and Apo B were measured. Results: There was difference in BMI distribution between the two groups. Averages of total biochemistry indexes measured were in normal range in the two groups. With adjustment to age distribution, the serum levels of total protein, albumin and triacylglycerol (TG) of residents in CA were higher than those in HBRA; high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level was higher in HBRA than that in CA. Conclusions: This serum assay of nutrients in HBRA and CA residents confirmed the results obtained from previous surveys. Both HBRA and CA residents have similar nutrition status, residents in CA consumed more animal protein and fat compared with those in HBRA. (authors)

  13. On Wind Forces in the Forest-Edge Region During Extreme-Gust Passages and Their Implications for Damage Patterns

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gromke, Christof; Ruck, Bodo

    2018-03-01

    A damage pattern that is occasionally found after a period of strong winds shows an area of damaged trees inside a forest stand behind an intact stripe of trees directly at the windward edge. In an effort to understand the mechanism leading to this damage pattern, wind loading in the forest-edge region during passages of extreme gusts with different characteristics are investigated using a scaled forest model in the wind tunnel. The interaction of a transient extreme gust with the stationary atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) as a background flow at the forest edge leads to the formation of a vortex at the top of the canopy. This vortex intensifies when travelling downstream and subsequently deflects high-momentum air from above the canopy downwards resulting in increased wind loading on the tree crowns. Under such conditions, the decrease in wind loading in the streamwise direction can be relatively weak compared to stationary ABL approach flows. The resistance of trees with streamwise distance from the forest edge, however, is the result of adaptive growth to wind loading under stationary flow conditions and shows a rapid decline within two to three tree heights behind the windward edge. For some of the extreme gusts realized, an exceedance of the wind loading over the resistance of the trees is found at approximately three tree heights behind the forest edge, suggesting that the damage pattern described above can be caused by the interaction of a transient extreme gust with the stationary ABL flow.

  14. Environmental literacy based on educational background

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agfar, A.; Munandar, A.; Surakusumah, W.

    2018-05-01

    This research aims to examine attitude, knowledge and cognitive skill. To collect data we used survey method, was conducted in Pahawang, Lampung. Respondents of this research are coastal society of Pahawang, 114 participants determined using purposive sampling, from two areas in the village, Pahawang and Penggetahan. Data were analyzed using both quantitative and descriptive. Environmental literacy of the society which is primary school graduate is moderate category (85.61), consist of 38.90% in low category and 61.10% in moderate category. Environmental literacy of junior high school graduate is moderate (99.36), consist of 12% in low category, 76% in moderate category and 12% in high category. Environmental literacy of senior high school graduate is moderate (108.85), consist of 84.90% moderate category and 15.10% in high category. But, undergraduate society is high category (118.53). Details 0% low category 52.94% moderate category and 47.06% in high category. This finding research has revelaed that the educational background affects the level of environmental literacy. This finding research has revealed that the educational background affects the level of environmental literacy.

  15. Hanford Site background: Part 1, Soil background for nonradioactive analytes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1993-04-01

    Volume two contains the following appendices: Description of soil sampling sites; sampling narrative; raw data soil background; background data analysis; sitewide background soil sampling plan; and use of soil background data for the detection of contamination at waste management unit on the Hanford Site

  16. WE-AB-207A-01: BEST IN PHYSICS (IMAGING): High-Resolution Cone-Beam CT of the Extremities and Cancellous Bone Architecture with a CMOS Detector

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cao, Q; Brehler, M; Sisniega, A; Marinetto, E; Stayman, J; Siewerdsen, J; Zbijewski, W [Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD (United States); Zyazin, A; Peters, I [Teledyne DALSA, Eindhoven (Netherlands); Yorkston, J [Carestream Health, Inc, Penfield, NY (United States)

    2016-06-15

    Purpose: Extremity cone-beam CT (CBCT) with an amorphous silicon (aSi) flat-panel detector (FPD) provides low-dose volumetric imaging with high spatial resolution. We investigate the performance of the newer complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) detectors to enhance resolution of extremities CBCT to ∼0.1 mm, enabling morphological analysis of trabecular bone. Quantitative in-vivo imaging of bone microarchitecture could present an important advance for osteoporosis and osteoarthritis diagnosis and therapy assessment. Methods: Cascaded systems models of CMOS- and FPD-based extremities CBCT were implemented. Performance was compared for a range of pixel sizes (0.05–0.4 mm), focal spot sizes (0.3–0.6 FS), and x-ray techniques (0.05–0.8 mAs/projection) using detectability of high-, low-, and all-frequency tasks for a nonprewhitening observer. Test-bench implementation of CMOS-based extremity CBCT involved a Teledyne DALSA Xineos3030HR detector with 0.099 mm pixels and a compact rotating anode x-ray source with 0.3 FS (IMD RTM37). Metrics of bone morphology obtained using CMOS-based CBCT were compared in cadaveric specimens to FPD-based system using a Varian PaxScan4030 (0.194 mm pixels). Results: Finer pixel size and reduced electronic noise for CMOS (136 e compared to 2000 e for FPD) resulted in ∼1.9× increase in detectability for high-frequency tasks and ∼1.1× increase for all-frequency tasks. Incorporation of the new x-ray source with reduced focal spot size (0.3 FS vs. 0.5 FS used on current extremities CBCT) improved detectability for CMOS-based CBCT by ∼1.7× for high-frequency tasks. Compared to FPD CBCT, the CMOS detector yielded improved agreement with micro-CT in measurements of trabecular thickness (∼1.7× reduction in relative error), bone volume (∼1.5× reduction), and trabecular spacing (∼3.5× reduction). Conclusion: Imaging performance modelling and experimentation indicate substantial improvements for high

  17. WE-AB-207A-01: BEST IN PHYSICS (IMAGING): High-Resolution Cone-Beam CT of the Extremities and Cancellous Bone Architecture with a CMOS Detector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cao, Q; Brehler, M; Sisniega, A; Marinetto, E; Stayman, J; Siewerdsen, J; Zbijewski, W; Zyazin, A; Peters, I; Yorkston, J

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: Extremity cone-beam CT (CBCT) with an amorphous silicon (aSi) flat-panel detector (FPD) provides low-dose volumetric imaging with high spatial resolution. We investigate the performance of the newer complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) detectors to enhance resolution of extremities CBCT to ∼0.1 mm, enabling morphological analysis of trabecular bone. Quantitative in-vivo imaging of bone microarchitecture could present an important advance for osteoporosis and osteoarthritis diagnosis and therapy assessment. Methods: Cascaded systems models of CMOS- and FPD-based extremities CBCT were implemented. Performance was compared for a range of pixel sizes (0.05–0.4 mm), focal spot sizes (0.3–0.6 FS), and x-ray techniques (0.05–0.8 mAs/projection) using detectability of high-, low-, and all-frequency tasks for a nonprewhitening observer. Test-bench implementation of CMOS-based extremity CBCT involved a Teledyne DALSA Xineos3030HR detector with 0.099 mm pixels and a compact rotating anode x-ray source with 0.3 FS (IMD RTM37). Metrics of bone morphology obtained using CMOS-based CBCT were compared in cadaveric specimens to FPD-based system using a Varian PaxScan4030 (0.194 mm pixels). Results: Finer pixel size and reduced electronic noise for CMOS (136 e compared to 2000 e for FPD) resulted in ∼1.9× increase in detectability for high-frequency tasks and ∼1.1× increase for all-frequency tasks. Incorporation of the new x-ray source with reduced focal spot size (0.3 FS vs. 0.5 FS used on current extremities CBCT) improved detectability for CMOS-based CBCT by ∼1.7× for high-frequency tasks. Compared to FPD CBCT, the CMOS detector yielded improved agreement with micro-CT in measurements of trabecular thickness (∼1.7× reduction in relative error), bone volume (∼1.5× reduction), and trabecular spacing (∼3.5× reduction). Conclusion: Imaging performance modelling and experimentation indicate substantial improvements for high

  18. Moderate and extreme maternal obesity.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Abdelmaboud, M O

    2012-05-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of moderate and extreme obesity among an Irish obstetric population over a 10-year period, and to evaluate the obstetric features of such pregnancies. Of 31,869 women delivered during the years 2000-2009, there were 306 women in the study group, including 173 in the moderate or Class 2 obese category (BMI 35-39.9) and 133 in the extreme or Class 3 obese category (BMI > or = 40).The prevalence of obese women with BMI > or = 35 was 9.6 per 1000 (0.96%), with an upward trend observed from 2.1 per 1000 in the year 2000, to 11.8 per 1000 in the year 2009 (P = 0.001). There was an increase in emergency caesarean section (EMCS) risk for primigravida versus multigravid women, within both obese categories (P < 0.001). However, there was no significant difference in EMCS rates observed between Class 2 and Class 3 obese women, when matched for parity. The prevalence of moderate and extreme obesity reported in this population is high, and appears to be increasing. The increased rates of abdominal delivery, and the levels of associated morbidity observed, have serious implications for such women embarking on pregnancy.

  19. Survey of Gamma Dose and Radon Exhalation Rate from Soil Surface of High Background Natural Radiation Areas in Ramsar, Iran

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rouhollah Dehghani

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Background: Radon is a radioactive gas and the second leading cause of death due to lung cancer after smoking. Ramsar is known for having the highest levels of natural background radiation on earth. Materials and Methods: In this research study, 50 stations of high radioactivity areas of Ramsar were selected in warm season of the year. Then gamma dose and radon exhalation rate were measured.Results: Results showed that gamma dose and radon exhalation rate were in the range of 51-7100 nSv/hr and 9-15370 mBq/m2s, respectively.Conclusion: Compare to the worldwide average 16 mBq/m2s, estimated average annual effective of Radon exhalation rate in the study area is too high.

  20. [Eating Disorders in Female High School Students: Educational and Migration Background, School-Related Stress and Performance-Orientated Classes].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grüttner, M

    2018-02-01

    Many adolescents and young adults, especially young females, suffer from eating disorders or problematic nutrition behavior. Children and adolescents with migration background as well as from a lower social class are more likely to have eating disorders 1. Although schools are an important context in these age groups, there is a lack of scientific inquiry concerning the relationship between schooling and eating disorders. The present study investigates the relationship between performance-related stress at school and eating disorders while controlling for personnel and familial resources. Interview data on the 7 th grade high school students from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS)* starting cohort 3 are used. The dependent variable is based on the SCOFF questionnaire. Logistic regressions are calculated using information from students and parents. Performance-related stress at school is operationalized by the negative deviation of realistic from idealistic educational aspirations (EA) and unfulfilled social expectations (SE), performance-oriented class climate is operationalized by students' perception of the performance-orientation of the teacher (PT) and the expectations of classmates (EC). The results point towards an increased risk of suffering from an eating disorder due to performance-related school stress (EA: AME: 0.18; p<0.001; SE: AME: 0.12; p<0.05) and performance-oriented class climate (PT: AME: 0.05; p<0.1; EC: AME: 0.15, p<0.01). They partly explain the relation between both migration background and educational background and eating disorders. In order to prevent eating disorders in female high school students, attention should be paid to performance-orientation experienced at school and in the social background, and improved individual support for disadvantaged students should be made available. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

  1. On the spatial behavior of background plasma in different background pressure in CPS device

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Samantaray, Subrata; Paikaray, Rita; Sahoo, Gourishankar; Das, Parthasarathi; Ghosh, Joydeep; Sanyasi, Amulya Kumar

    2015-01-01

    Blob formation and transport is a major concern for investigators as it greatly reduces the efficiency of the devices. Initial results from CPS device confirm the role of fast neutrals inside the bulk plasma in the process of blob formation and transport. 2-D simulation of curvature and velocity shear instability in plasma structures suggest that in the presence of background plasma, secondary instability do not grow non-linearly to a high level and stabilizes the flow. Adiabaticity effect also creates a radial barrier for interchange modes. In the absence of background plasma the blob fragments even at the modest level of viscosity. The fast neutrals outside bulk plasma supposed to stabilize the system. The background plasma set up is aimed at creating fast neutrals outside main plasma column, hence; the background plasma set up is done in CPS device. The spatial behavior of plasma column in between electrodes is different for different base pressure in CPS device. The spatial variation of electron temperature of plasma column between electrodes is presented in this communication. Electron temperature is measured from emission spectroscopy data. The maximum electron temperature (line averaged) is ∼ 1.5 eV. (author)

  2. Gamma-Ray Background Variability in Mobile Detectors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aucott, Timothy John

    Gamma-ray background radiation significantly reduces detection sensitivity when searching for radioactive sources in the field, such as in wide-area searches for homeland security applications. Mobile detector systems in particular must contend with a variable background that is not necessarily known or even measurable a priori. This work will present measurements of the spatial and temporal variability of the background, with the goal of merging gamma-ray detection, spectroscopy, and imaging with contextual information--a "nuclear street view" of the ubiquitous background radiation. The gamma-ray background originates from a variety of sources, both natural and anthropogenic. The dominant sources in the field are the primordial isotopes potassium-40, uranium-238, and thorium-232, as well as their decay daughters. In addition to the natural background, many artificially-created isotopes are used for industrial or medical purposes, and contamination from fission products can be found in many environments. Regardless of origin, these backgrounds will reduce detection sensitivity by adding both statistical as well as systematic uncertainty. In particular, large detector arrays will be limited by the systematic uncertainty in the background and will suffer from a high rate of false alarms. The goal of this work is to provide a comprehensive characterization of the gamma-ray background and its variability in order to improve detection sensitivity and evaluate the performance of mobile detectors in the field. Large quantities of data are measured in order to study their performance at very low false alarm rates. Two different approaches, spectroscopy and imaging, are compared in a controlled study in the presence of this measured background. Furthermore, there is additional information that can be gained by correlating the gamma-ray data with contextual data streams (such as cameras and global positioning systems) in order to reduce the variability in the background

  3. Analysis of extreme drinking in patients with alcohol dependence using Pareto regression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Das, Sourish; Harel, Ofer; Dey, Dipak K; Covault, Jonathan; Kranzler, Henry R

    2010-05-20

    We developed a novel Pareto regression model with an unknown shape parameter to analyze extreme drinking in patients with Alcohol Dependence (AD). We used the generalized linear model (GLM) framework and the log-link to include the covariate information through the scale parameter of the generalized Pareto distribution. We proposed a Bayesian method based on Ridge prior and Zellner's g-prior for the regression coefficients. Simulation study indicated that the proposed Bayesian method performs better than the existing likelihood-based inference for the Pareto regression.We examined two issues of importance in the study of AD. First, we tested whether a single nucleotide polymorphism within GABRA2 gene, which encodes a subunit of the GABA(A) receptor, and that has been associated with AD, influences 'extreme' alcohol intake and second, the efficacy of three psychotherapies for alcoholism in treating extreme drinking behavior. We found an association between extreme drinking behavior and GABRA2. We also found that, at baseline, men with a high-risk GABRA2 allele had a significantly higher probability of extreme drinking than men with no high-risk allele. However, men with a high-risk allele responded to the therapy better than those with two copies of the low-risk allele. Women with high-risk alleles also responded to the therapy better than those with two copies of the low-risk allele, while women who received the cognitive behavioral therapy had better outcomes than those receiving either of the other two therapies. Among men, motivational enhancement therapy was the best for the treatment of the extreme drinking behavior. Copyright 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  4. The Extremely Luminous Quasar Survey (ELQS) in SDSS and the high-z bright-end Quasar Luminosity Function

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schindler, Jan-Torge; Fan, Xiaohui; McGreer, Ian

    2018-01-01

    Studies of the most luminous quasars at high redshift directly probe the evolution of the most massive black holes in the early Universe and their connection to massive galaxy formation. Unfortunately, extremely luminous quasars at high redshift are very rare objects. Only wide area surveys have a chance to constrain their population. The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) nd the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) have so far provided the most widely adopted measurements of the type I quasar luminosity function (QLF) at z>3. However, a careful re-examination of the SDSS quasar sample revealed that the SDSS quasar selection is in fact missing a significant fraction of $z~3$ quasars at the brightest end.We have identified the purely optical color selection of SDSS, where quasars at these redshifts are strongly contaminated by late-type dwarfs, and the spectroscopic incompleteness of the SDSS footprint as the main reasons. Therefore we have designed the Extremely Luminous Quasar Survey (ELQS), based on a novel near-infrared JKW2 color cut using WISE AllWISE and 2MASS all-sky photometry, to yield high completeness for very bright (i < 18.0) quasars in the redshift range of 2.8<= z<=5.0. It effectively uses Random Forest machine-learning algorithms on SDSS and WISE photometry for quasar-star classification and photometric redshift estimation.The ELQS is spectroscopically following up ~230 new quasar candidates in an area of ~12000 deg2 in the SDSS footprint, to obtain a well-defined and complete quasar sample for an accurate measurement of the bright-end quasar luminosity function (QLF) at 2.8<= z<=5.0. So far the ELQS has identified 75 bright new quasars in this redshift range and observations of the fall sky will continue until the end of the year. At the AAS winter meeting we will present the full spectroscopic results of the survey, including a re-estimation and extension of the high-z QLF toward higher luminosities.

  5. Adolescent gynecomastia is associated with a high incidence of obesity, dysglycemia, and family background of diabetes mellitus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bindu Kulshreshtha

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Gynecomastia during adolescence is common though etiology is not clear. We studied the clinical and hormonal profile of adolescent patients with gynecomastia. Methodology: Patients who had onset of breast development between age 10 and 20 years were included in this study. Their clinical profile, biochemical, and hormonal parameters were studied. Results: Of 94 patients with gynecomastia, 4 had hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, 4 had hypergonadotropic hypogonadism, and 1 had fibroadenosis, but in majority (90.4%, no apparent cause for breast enlargement was evident. In the idiopathic group, majority were obese (63%. Fourteen (16% patients had impaired fasting glucose or impaired glucose tolerance. Another twenty patients had subtle abnormalities (high 1 h glucose or glucose peak at 2 h. Twenty-nine percent of lean and 38% of obese patients had mild abnormalities in glucose profile. Sixty percent of patients had family background of diabetes. Obese patients had lower testosterone as compared to lean patients; however, estradiol, luteinizing hormone, and follicle-stimulating hormone levels were similar in the two groups. Conclusion: Gynecomastia during adolescence is associated with obesity, dysglycemia, and family background of diabetes mellitus.

  6. Towards a High Temporal Frequency Grass Canopy Thermal IR Model for Background Signatures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ballard, Jerrell R., Jr.; Smith, James A.; Koenig, George G.

    2004-01-01

    In this paper, we present our first results towards understanding high temporal frequency thermal infrared response from a dense plant canopy and compare the application of our model, driven both by slowly varying, time-averaged meteorological conditions and by high frequency measurements of local and within canopy profiles of relative humidity and wind speed, to high frequency thermal infrared observations. Previously, we have employed three-dimensional ray tracing to compute the intercepted and scattered radiation fluxes and for final scene rendering. For the turbulent fluxes, we employed simple resistance models for latent and sensible heat with one-dimensional profiles of relative humidity and wind speed. Our modeling approach has proven successful in capturing the directional and diurnal variation in background thermal infrared signatures. We hypothesize that at these scales, where the model is typically driven by time-averaged, local meteorological conditions, the primary source of thermal variance arises from the spatial distribution of sunlit and shaded foliage elements within the canopy and the associated radiative interactions. In recent experiments, we have begun to focus on the high temporal frequency response of plant canopies in the thermal infrared at 1 second to 5 minute intervals. At these scales, we hypothesize turbulent mixing plays a more dominant role. Our results indicate that in the high frequency domain, the vertical profile of temperature change is tightly coupled to the within canopy wind speed In the results reported here, the canopy cools from the top down with increased wind velocities and heats from the bottom up at low wind velocities. .

  7. Simulation of Beam-Beam Background at CLIC

    CERN Document Server

    Sailer, Andre

    2010-01-01

    The dense beams used at CLIC to achieve a high luminosity will cause a large amount of background particles through beam-beam interactions. Generator level studies with GuineaPig and full detector simulation studies with an ILD based CLIC detector have been performed to evaluate the amount of beam-beam background hitting the vertex detector.

  8. Investigation of the Effects of Facility Background Pressure on the Performance and Voltage-Current Characteristics of the High Voltage Hall Accelerator

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamhawi, Hani; Huang, Wensheng; Haag, Thomas; Spektor, Rostislav

    2014-01-01

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Science Mission Directorate In-Space Propulsion Technology office is sponsoring NASA Glenn Research Center to develop a 4 kW-class Hall thruster propulsion system for implementation in NASA science missions. A study was conducted to assess the impact of varying the facility background pressure on the High Voltage Hall Accelerator (HiVHAc) thruster performance and voltage-current characteristics. This present study evaluated the HiVHAc thruster performance in the lowest attainable background pressure condition at NASA GRC Vacuum Facility 5 to best simulate space-like conditions. Additional tests were performed at selected thruster operating conditions to investigate and elucidate the underlying physics that change during thruster operation at elevated facility background pressure. Tests were performed at background pressure conditions that are three and ten times higher than the lowest realized background pressure. Results indicated that the thruster discharge specific impulse and efficiency increased with elevated facility background pressure. The voltage-current profiles indicated a narrower stable operating region with increased background pressure. Experimental observations of the thruster operation indicated that increasing the facility background pressure shifted the ionization and acceleration zones upstream towards the thruster's anode. Future tests of the HiVHAc thruster are planned at background pressure conditions that are expected to be two to three times lower than what was achieved during this test campaign. These tests will not only assess the impact of reduced facility background pressure on thruster performance, voltage-current characteristics, and plume properties; but will also attempt to quantify the magnitude of the ionization and acceleration zones upstream shifting as a function of increased background pressure.

  9. Bio-Inspired Extreme Wetting Surfaces for Biomedical Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shin, Sera; Seo, Jungmok; Han, Heetak; Kang, Subin; Kim, Hyunchul; Lee, Taeyoon

    2016-01-01

    Biological creatures with unique surface wettability have long served as a source of inspiration for scientists and engineers. More specifically, materials exhibiting extreme wetting properties, such as superhydrophilic and superhydrophobic surfaces, have attracted considerable attention because of their potential use in various applications, such as self-cleaning fabrics, anti-fog windows, anti-corrosive coatings, drag-reduction systems, and efficient water transportation. In particular, the engineering of surface wettability by manipulating chemical properties and structure opens emerging biomedical applications ranging from high-throughput cell culture platforms to biomedical devices. This review describes design and fabrication methods for artificial extreme wetting surfaces. Next, we introduce some of the newer and emerging biomedical applications using extreme wetting surfaces. Current challenges and future prospects of the surfaces for potential biomedical applications are also addressed. PMID:28787916

  10. Risk Factors for Lower-Extremity Injuries Among Contemporary Dance Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Seters, Christine; van Rijn, Rogier M; van Middelkoop, Marienke; Stubbe, Janine H

    2017-10-10

    To determine whether student characteristics, lower-extremity kinematics, and strength are risk factors for sustaining lower-extremity injuries in preprofessional contemporary dancers. Prospective cohort study. Codarts University of the Arts. Forty-five first-year students of Bachelor Dance and Bachelor Dance Teacher. At the beginning of the academic year, the injury history (only lower-extremity) and student characteristics (age, sex, educational program) were assessed using a questionnaire. Besides, lower-extremity kinematics [single-leg squat (SLS)], strength (countermovement jump) and height and weight (body mass index) were measured during a physical performance test. Substantial lower-extremity injuries during the academic year were defined as any problems leading to moderate or severe reductions in training volume or in performance, or complete inability to participate in dance at least once during follow-up as measured with the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center (OSTRC) Questionnaire on Health Problems. Injuries were recorded on a monthly basis using a questionnaire. Analyses on leg-level were performed using generalized estimating equations to test the associations between substantial lower-extremity injuries and potential risk factors. The 1-year incidence of lower-extremity injuries was 82.2%. Of these, 51.4% was a substantial lower-extremity injury. Multivariate analyses identified that ankle dorsiflexion during the SLS (OR 1.25; 95% confidence interval, 1.03-1.52) was a risk factor for a substantial lower-extremity injury. The findings indicate that contemporary dance students are at high risk for lower-extremity injuries. Therefore, the identified risk factor (ankle dorsiflexion) should be considered for prevention purposes.

  11. An ultralow background germanium gamma-ray spectrometer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reeves, R.H.; Brodzinski, R.L.; Hensley, W.K.; Ryge, P.

    1984-01-01

    The monitoring of minimum detectable activity is becoming increasingly important as environmental concerns and regulations require more sensitive measurement of the radioactivity levels in the workplace and the home. In measuring this activity, however, the background becomes one of the limiting factors. Anticoincidence systems utilizing both NaI(T1) and plastic scintillators have proven effective in reducing some components of the background, but radiocontaminants in the various regions of these systems have limited their effectiveness, and their cost is often prohibitive. In order to obtain a genuinely low background detector system, all components must be free of detectable radioactivity, and the cosmic ray produced contribution must be significantly reduced. Current efforts by the authors to measure the double beta decay of Germanium 76 as predicted by Grand Unified Theories have resulted in the development of a high resolution germanium diode gamma spectrometer with an exceptionally low background. This paper describes the development of this system, outlines the configuration and operation of its preamplifier, linear amplifier, analog-to-digital converter, 4096-channel analyzer, shielding consisting of lead-sandwiched plastic scintillators wrapped in cadmium foil, photomultiplier, and its pulse generator and discriminator, and then discusses how the system can be utilized to significantly reduce the background in high resolution photon spectrometers at only moderate cost

  12. Lepton-photon interactions in external background fields

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Akal, Ibrahim [Theory Group, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Notkestrasse 85, D-22607 Hamburg (Germany); Moortgat-Pick, Gudrid [II. Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, D-22761 Hamburg (Germany)

    2016-07-01

    We investigate lepton-photon interactions in a class of generalized external background fields with periodic plane-wave character. Considering the full interaction with the background, S-matrix elements are calculated exactly. We apply those general expressions to interaction schemes like Compton scattering in specific field configurations, as for instance provided in modern laser facilities, or in high intense regions of future linear colliders. Results are extended to the case of frontal colliding high-energy field photons with leptons such that new insights beyond the usual soft terms become accessible.

  13. Comparison of past and future Mediterranean high and low extremes of precipitation and river flow projected using different statistical downscaling methods

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. Quintana-Seguí

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available The extremes of precipitation and river flow obtained using three different statistical downscaling methods applied to the same regional climate simulation have been compared. The methods compared are the anomaly method, quantile mapping and a weather typing. The hydrological model used in the study is distributed and it is applied to the Mediterranean basins of France. The study shows that both quantile mapping and weather typing methods are able to reproduce the high and low precipitation extremes in the region of interest. The study also shows that when the hydrological model is forced with these downscaled data, there are important differences in the outputs. This shows that the model amplifies the differences and that the downscaling of other atmospheric variables might be very relevant when simulating river discharges. In terms of river flow, the method of the anomalies, which is very simple, performs better than expected. The methods produce qualitatively similar future scenarios of the extremes of river flow. However, quantitatively, there are still significant differences between them for each individual gauging station. According to these scenarios, it is expected that in the middle of the 21st century (2035–2064, the monthly low flows will have diminished almost everywhere in the region of our study by as much as 20 %. Regarding high flows, there will be important increases in the area of the Cévennes, which is already seriously affected by flash-floods. For some gauging stations in this area, the frequency of what was a 10-yr return flood at the end of the 20th century is expected to increase, with such return floods then occurring every two years in the middle of the 21st century. Similarly, the 10-yr return floods at that time are expected to carry 100 % more water than the 10-yr return floods experienced at the end of the 20th century. In the northern part of the Rhône basin, these extremes will be reduced.

  14. The waviness of the extratropical jet and daily weather extremes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Röthlisberger, Matthias; Martius, Olivia; Pfahl, Stephan

    2016-04-01

    In recent years the Northern Hemisphere mid-latitudes have experienced a large number of weather extremes with substantial socio-economic impact, such as the European and Russian heat waves in 2003 and 2010, severe winter floods in the United Kingdom in 2013/2014 and devastating winter storms such as Lothar (1999) and Xynthia (2010) in Central Europe. These have triggered an engaged debate within the scientific community on the role of human induced climate change in the occurrence of such extremes. A key element of this debate is the hypothesis that the waviness of the extratropical jet is linked to the occurrence of weather extremes, with a wavier jet stream favouring more extremes. Previous work on this topic is expanded in this study by analyzing the linkage between a regional measure of jet waviness and daily temperature, precipitation and wind gust extremes. We show that indeed such a linkage exists in many regions of the world, however this waviness-extremes linkage varies spatially in strength and sign. Locally, it is strong only where the relevant weather systems, in which the extremes occur, are affected by the jet waviness. Its sign depends on how the frequency of occurrence of the relevant weather systems is correlated with the occurrence of high and low jet waviness. These results go beyond previous studies by noting that also a decrease in waviness could be associated with an enhanced number of some weather extremes, especially wind gust and precipitation extremes over western Europe.

  15. Radioactivity in the groundwater of a high background radiation area.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shabana, E I; Kinsara, A A

    2014-11-01

    Natural radioactivity was measured in groundwater samples collected from 37 wells scattered in an inhabited area of high natural background radiation, in a purpose of radiation protection. The study area is adjacent to Aja heights of granitic composition in Hail province, Saudi Arabia. Initial screening for gross α and gross β activities showed levels exceeded the national regulation limits set out for gross α and gross β activities in drinking water. The gross α activity ranged from 0.17 to 5.41 Bq L(-)(1) with an average value of 2.15 Bq L(-)(1), whereas gross β activity ranged from 0.48 to 5.16 Bq L(-)(1), with an average value of 2.60 Bq L(-)(1). The detail analyses indicated that the groundwater of this province is contaminated with uranium and radium ((226)Ra and (228)Ra). The average activity concentrations of (238)U, (234)U, (226)Ra and (228)Ra were 0.40, 0.77, 0.29 and 0.46 Bq L(-)(1), respectively. The higher uranium content was found in the samples of granitic aquifers, whereas the higher radium content was found in the samples of sandstone aquifers. Based on the obtained results, mechanism of leaching of the predominant radionuclides has been discussed in detail. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Ingestion of polonium ((210)Po) via dietary sources in high background radiation areas of south India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arunachalam, Kantha Deivi; Baskaran, Kamesh Viswanathan; Rao, D D; Sathyapriya, R; Annamalai, Sathesh Kumar; Kuruva, Jaya Krishna; Hari, Shanmugamsundaram

    2014-10-01

    To study the distribution of Polonium ((210)Po) activity in dietary sources in the high background radiation zone of Puttetti in southern Tamil Nadu. (210)Po was analyzed in the food materials consumed by the male and female individual representatives living in the high background areas by 24-h Duplicate Diet Study (DDS) and Market Basket Study (MBS). The MBS was performed by collecting the food samples such as, cereals, fruits, leafy vegetables, roots and tubers, other vegetables, fish, meat and milk grown in the high background radiation zone of southern Tamil Nadu as a part of baseline study in this region. The DDS was done by collecting the food materials consumed including the beverages in 24 h from different age groups of male and female individuals living in the village of Puttetti. The intake and ingestion dose of the radionuclide (210)Po was estimated. The average concentration of (210)Po in DDS (n = 33) was found to be 74 mBq.kg(- 1) of fresh weight. The MBS was collected based on food consumption representing more than 85-95% of annual supply, and were divided into eight food groups. The average concentration of (210)Po in the eight food groups namely leafy vegetables was 2176 mBq.kg(- 1) (n = 3), vegetables 55 mBq.kg(- 1) (n = 10), roots and tubers 251 mBq.kg(- 1) (n = 4), fruits 65 mBq.kg(- 1) (n = 5), fish 345 mBq.kg(- 1) (n = 2), meat food 117 mBq.kg(- 1) (n = 3), milk 20 mBq.kg(- 1) (n = 1) and cereal 290 (n = 1) mBq.kg(- 1) of fresh weight, respectively. The annual intake and ingestion dose due to (210)Po was estimated by DDS and MBS in adults, adolescents and children. The overall results showed that the MBS was moderately higher than the DDS in all age groups. Moreover, a DDS approach may even be more realistic, as cooked foodstuffs are used for dietary exposure assessment. The study confirms that the current levels of (210)Po do not pose a significant radiological risk to the local inhabitants.

  17. Partition function for a singular background

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McKenzie-Smith, J.J.; Naylor, W.

    2005-01-01

    We present a method for evaluating the partition function in a varying external field. Specifically, we look at the case of a non-interacting, charged, massive scalar field at finite temperature with an associated chemical potential in the background of a delta-function potential. Whilst we present a general method, valid at all temperatures, we only give the result for the leading order term in the high temperature limit. Although the derivative expansion breaks down for inhomogeneous backgrounds we are able to obtain the high temperature expansion, as well as an analytic expression for the zero point energy, by way of a different approximation scheme, which we call the local Born approximation (LBA)

  18. Partition function for a singular background

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McKenzie-Smith, J.J. [Financial Risk Management Ltd, 15 Adam Street, London WC2N 6AH (United Kingdom)]. E-mail: julian.mckenzie-smith@frmhedge.com; Naylor, W. [Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502 (Japan)]. E-mail: naylor@yukawa.kyoto-u.ac.jp

    2005-03-17

    We present a method for evaluating the partition function in a varying external field. Specifically, we look at the case of a non-interacting, charged, massive scalar field at finite temperature with an associated chemical potential in the background of a delta-function potential. Whilst we present a general method, valid at all temperatures, we only give the result for the leading order term in the high temperature limit. Although the derivative expansion breaks down for inhomogeneous backgrounds we are able to obtain the high temperature expansion, as well as an analytic expression for the zero point energy, by way of a different approximation scheme, which we call the local Born approximation (LBA)

  19. Australia's Unprecedented Future Temperature Extremes Under Paris Limits to Warming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewis, Sophie C.; King, Andrew D.; Mitchell, Daniel M.

    2017-10-01

    Record-breaking temperatures can detrimentally impact ecosystems, infrastructure, and human health. Previous studies show that climate change has influenced some observed extremes, which are expected to become more frequent under enhanced future warming. Understanding the magnitude, as a well as frequency, of such future extremes is critical for limiting detrimental impacts. We focus on temperature changes in Australian regions, including over a major coral reef-building area, and assess the potential magnitude of future extreme temperatures under Paris Agreement global warming targets (1.5°C and 2°C). Under these limits to global mean warming, we determine a set of projected high-magnitude unprecedented Australian temperature extremes. These include extremes unexpected based on observational temperatures, including current record-breaking events. For example, while the difference in global-average warming during the hottest Australian summer and the 2°C Paris target is 1.1°C, extremes of 2.4°C above the observed summer record are simulated. This example represents a more than doubling of the magnitude of extremes, compared with global mean change, and such temperatures are unexpected based on the observed record alone. Projected extremes do not necessarily scale linearly with mean global warming, and this effect demonstrates the significant potential benefits of limiting warming to 1.5°C, compared to 2°C or warmer.

  20. Measurement of high natural background radiation levels by TLD at Cox's Bazar coastal areas in Bangladesh

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mollah, A.S.; Rahman, M.M.; Koddus, M.A.; Husain, S.R.; Malek, M.A.

    1987-01-01

    High natural background radiation levels at the Cox's Bazar coastal areas in Bangladesh were measured by LiF (TLD-100) dosemeters. The dose rates varied from 2621 to 35391 μGy.y -1 with a mean of 11968 μGy.y -1 . The average dose rate is found to significantly higher than the world average value. In order to formulate appropriate guidelines for radiation protection of the population in this area, the necessary recommendations are described. (author)

  1. Extremely confined gap surface-plasmon modes excited by electrons

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Raza, Søren; Stenger, Nicolas; Pors, Anders Lambertus

    2014-01-01

    High-spatial and energy resolution electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) can be used for detailed characterization of localized and propagating surface-plasmon excitations in metal nanostructures, giving insight into fundamental physical phenomena and various plasmonic effects. Here, applying...... EELS to ultra-sharp convex grooves in gold, we directly probe extremely confined gap surface-plasmon (GSP) modes excited by swift electrons in nanometre-wide gaps. We reveal the resonance behaviour associated with the excitation of the antisymmetric GSP mode for extremely small gap widths, down to ~5...... mode exploited in plasmonic waveguides with extreme light confinement is a very important factor that should be taken into account in the design of nanoplasmonic circuits and devices....

  2. Ideologies and Discourses: Extreme Narratives in Extreme Metal Music

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bojana Radovanović

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Historically speaking, metal music has always been about provoking a strong reaction. Depending on the characteristics of different sub-genres, one can focus on the sound, technique, visual appearance, and furthermore, the ideologies and ideas that are the foundation for each of the sub-genres. Although the majority of the metal community rejects accusations of being racially intolerant, some ideologies of extreme sub-genres (such as black metal are in fact formed around the ideas of self-conscious elitism expressed through interest in pagan mythology, racism, Nazism and fascism. There has been much interest in the Nazi era within the extreme metal scene thus influencing other sub-genres and artists. The aim of this paper is to examine various appearances of extreme narratives such as Nazism and racism in  different sub-genres of metal, bearing in mind variations dependent on geographical, political, and other factors.

  3. Identification of extreme motor phenotypes in Huntington's disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Braisch, Ulrike; Hay, Birgit; Muche, Rainer; Rothenbacher, Dietrich; Landwehrmeyer, G Bernhard; Long, Jeffrey D; Orth, Michael

    2017-04-01

    The manifestation of motor signs in Huntington's disease (HD) has a well-known inverse relationship with HTT CAG repeat length, but the prediction is far from perfect. The probability of finding disease modifiers is enhanced in individuals with extreme HD phenotypes. We aimed to identify extreme HD motor phenotypes conditional on CAG and age, such as patients with very early or very late onset of motor manifestation. Retrospective data were available from 1,218 healthy controls and 9,743 HD participants with CAG repeats ≥40, and a total of about 30,000 visits. Boundaries (2.5% and 97.5% quantiles) for extreme motor phenotypes (UHDRS total motor score (TMS) and motor age-at-onset) were estimated using quantile regression for longitudinal data. More than 15% of HD participants had an extreme TMS phenotype for at least one visit. In contrast, only about 4% of participants were consistent TMS extremes at two or more visits. Data from healthy controls revealed an upper cut-off of 13 for the TMS representing the extreme of motor ratings for a normal aging population. In HD, boundaries of motor age-at-onset based on diagnostic confidence or derived from the TMS data cut-off in controls were similar. In summary, a UHDRS TMS of more than 13 in an individual carrying the HD mutation indicates a high likelihood of motor manifestations of HD irrespective of CAG repeat length or age. The identification of motor phenotype extremes can be useful in the search for disease modifiers, for example, genetic or environmental such as medication. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  4. Extremal surface barriers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Engelhardt, Netta; Wall, Aron C.

    2014-01-01

    We present a generic condition for Lorentzian manifolds to have a barrier that limits the reach of boundary-anchored extremal surfaces of arbitrary dimension. We show that any surface with nonpositive extrinsic curvature is a barrier, in the sense that extremal surfaces cannot be continuously deformed past it. Furthermore, the outermost barrier surface has nonnegative extrinsic curvature. Under certain conditions, we show that the existence of trapped surfaces implies a barrier, and conversely. In the context of AdS/CFT, these barriers imply that it is impossible to reconstruct the entire bulk using extremal surfaces. We comment on the implications for the firewall controversy

  5. The attitudes of neonatal nurses towards extremely preterm infants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gallagher, Katie; Marlow, Neil; Edgley, Alison; Porock, Davina

    2012-08-01

    The paper is a report of a study of the attitudes of neonatal nurses towards extremely preterm infants. Alongside advancing survival at extremely preterm gestational ages, ethical debates concerning the provision of invasive care have proliferated in light of the high morbidity. Despite nurses being the healthcare professionals who work closest with the infant and their family, their potential influence is usually ignored when determining how parents come to decisions about future care for their extremely premature infant. A Q methodology was employed to explore the attitudes of neonatal nurses towards caring for extremely preterm infants. Data were collected between 2007 and 2008 and analysed using PQMethod and Card Content Analysis. Thirty-six nurses from six neonatal units in the United Kingdom participated. Although there was consensus around the professional role of the nurse, when faced with the complexities of neonatal nursing three distinguishing factors emerged: the importance of parental choice in decision-making, the belief that technology should be used to assess response to treatment, and the belief that healthcare professionals should undertake difficult decisions. Neonatal nurses report unexpected difficulties in upholding their professionally defined role through highly complex and ever varied decision-making processes. Recognition of individual attitudes to the care of extremely preterm infants and the role of the family in the face of difficult decisions should facilitate more open communication between the nurse and the parents and improve the experience of both the nurse and the family during these emotional situations. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  6. Injuries in an Extreme Conditioning Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aune, Kyle T.; Powers, Joseph M.

    2016-01-01

    Background: Extreme conditioning programs (ECPs) are fitness training regimens relying on aerobic, plyometric, and resistance training exercises, often with high levels of intensity for a short duration of time. These programs have grown rapidly in popularity in recent years, but science describing the safety profile of these programs is lacking. Hypothesis: The rate of injury in the extreme conditioning program is greater than the injury rate of weightlifting and the majority of injuries occur to the shoulder and back. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Level of Evidence: Level 4. Methods: This is a retrospective survey of injuries reported by athletes participating in an ECP. An injury survey was sent to 1100 members of Iron Tribe Fitness, a gym franchise with 5 locations across Birmingham, Alabama, that employs exercises consistent with an ECP in this study. An injury was defined as a physical condition resulting from ECP participation that caused the athlete to either seek medical treatment, take time off from exercising, or make modifications to his or her technique to continue. Results: A total of 247 athletes (22%) completed the survey. The majority (57%) of athletes were male (n = 139), and 94% of athletes were white (n = 227). The mean age of athletes was 38.9 years (±8.9 years). Athletes reported participation in the ECP for, on average, 3.6 hours per week (± 1.2 hours). Eighty-five athletes (34%) reported that they had sustained an injury while participating in the ECP. A total of 132 injuries were recorded, yielding an estimated incidence of 2.71 per 1000 hours. The shoulder or upper arm was the most commonly injured body site, accounting for 38 injuries (15% of athletes). Athletes with a previous shoulder injury were 8.1 times as likely to injure their shoulder in the ECP compared with athletes with healthy shoulders. The trunk, back, head, or neck (n = 29, 12%) and the leg or knee (n = 29, 12%) were the second most commonly injured sites. The

  7. Elastic modulus of Extreme Ultraviolet exposed single-layer graphene

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mund, Baibhav Kumar; Gao, An; Sturm, Jacobus Marinus; Lee, Christopher James; Bijkerk, Frederik

    2015-01-01

    Highly transparent membranes are required for a number of applications, such as protective coatings for components in Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, beam splitters (EUV pump-probe experiments), transmission gratings, and reticles. Graphene is an excellent candidate due to its high tensile

  8. Atmospheric and Fog Effects on Ultra-Wide Band Radar Operating at Extremely High Frequencies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balal, Nezah; Pinhasi, Gad A; Pinhasi, Yosef

    2016-05-23

    The wide band at extremely high frequencies (EHF) above 30 GHz is applicable for high resolution directive radars, resolving the lack of free frequency bands within the lower part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Utilization of ultra-wideband signals in this EHF band is of interest, since it covers a relatively large spectrum, which is free of users, resulting in better resolution in both the longitudinal and transverse dimensions. Noting that frequencies in the millimeter band are subjected to high atmospheric attenuation and dispersion effects, a study of the degradation in the accuracy and resolution is presented. The fact that solid-state millimeter and sub-millimeter radiation sources are producing low power, the method of continuous-wave wideband frequency modulation becomes the natural technique for remote sensing and detection. Millimeter wave radars are used as complementary sensors for the detection of small radar cross-section objects under bad weather conditions, when small objects cannot be seen by optical cameras and infrared detectors. Theoretical analysis for the propagation of a wide "chirped" Frequency-Modulated Continuous-Wave (FMCW) radar signal in a dielectric medium is presented. It is shown that the frequency-dependent (complex) refractivity of the atmospheric medium causes distortions in the phase of the reflected signal, introducing noticeable errors in the longitudinal distance estimations, and at some frequencies may also degrade the resolution.

  9. Extreme hypoxia tolerance of naked mole-rat brain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larson, John; Park, Thomas J

    2009-12-09

    Mammalian brains have extremely high levels of aerobic metabolism and typically suffer irreversible damage after brief periods of oxygen deprivation such as occur during stroke or cardiac arrest. Here we report that brain tissue from naked mole-rats, rodents that live in a chronically low-oxygen environment, is remarkably resistant to hypoxia: naked mole-rat neurons maintain synaptic transmission much longer than mouse neurons and can recover from periods of anoxia exceeding 30 min. We suggest that brain tolerance to hypoxia may result from slowed or arrested brain development in these extremely long-lived animals.

  10. Rapid adaptation of microalgae to bodies of water with extreme pollution from uranium mining: an explanation of how mesophilic organisms can rapidly colonise extremely toxic environments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    García-Balboa, C; Baselga-Cervera, B; García-Sanchez, A; Igual, J M; Lopez-Rodas, V; Costas, E

    2013-11-15

    Extreme environments may support communities of microalgae living at the limits of their tolerance. It is usually assumed that these extreme environments are inhabited by extremophile species. However, global anthropogenic environmental changes are generating new extreme environments, such as mining-effluent pools of residual waters from uranium mining with high U levels, acidity and radioactivity in Salamanca (Spain). Certain microalgal species have rapidly adapted to these extreme waters (uranium mining in this area began in 1960). Experiments have demonstrated that physiological acclimatisation would be unable to achieve adaptation. In contrast, rapid genetic adaptation was observed in waters ostensibly lethal to microalgae by means of rare spontaneous mutations that occurred prior to the exposure to effluent waters from uranium mining. However, adaptation to the most extreme conditions was only possible after recombination through sexual mating because adaptation requires more than one mutation. Microalgae living in extreme environments could be the descendants of pre-selective mutants that confer significant adaptive value to extreme contamination. These "lucky mutants" could allow for the evolutionary rescue of populations faced with rapid environmental change. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Clinical Implications of Diffuse Excessive High Signal Intensity (DEHSI on Neonatal MRI in School Age Children Born Extremely Preterm.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lina Broström

    Full Text Available Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI of the brain carried out during the neonatal period shows that 55-80% of extremely preterm infants display white matter diffuse excessive high signal intensity (DEHSI. Our aim was to study differences in developmental outcome at the age of 6.5 years in children born extremely preterm with and without DEHSI.This was a prospective cohort study of 83 children who were born in Stockholm, Sweden, between 2004 and 2007, born at gestational age of < 27 weeks + 0 days and who underwent an MRI scan of their brain at term equivalent age. The outcome measures at 6.5 years included testing 66 children with the modified Touwen neurology examination, the Movement Assessment Battery for Children 2, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition, Beery Visual-motor Integration test-Sixth Edition, and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Group-wise comparisons were done between children with and without DEHSI using Student t-test, Mann Whitney U test, Chi square test and regression analysis.DEHSI was detected in 39 (59% of the 66 children who were assessed at 6.5 years. The presence of DEHSI was not associated with mild neurological dysfunction, scores on M-ABC assessment, cognition, visual-motor integration, or behavior at 6.5 years.The presence of qualitatively defined DEHSI on neonatal MRI did not prove to be a useful predictor of long-term impairment in children born extremely preterm.

  12. Demonstration of Cosmic Microwave Background Delensing Using the Cosmic Infrared Background.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larsen, Patricia; Challinor, Anthony; Sherwin, Blake D; Mak, Daisy

    2016-10-07

    Delensing is an increasingly important technique to reverse the gravitational lensing of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and thus reveal primordial signals the lensing may obscure. We present a first demonstration of delensing on Planck temperature maps using the cosmic infrared background (CIB). Reversing the lensing deflections in Planck CMB temperature maps using a linear combination of the 545 and 857 GHz maps as a lensing tracer, we find that the lensing effects in the temperature power spectrum are reduced in a manner consistent with theoretical expectations. In particular, the characteristic sharpening of the acoustic peaks of the temperature power spectrum resulting from successful delensing is detected at a significance of 16σ, with an amplitude of A_{delens}=1.12±0.07 relative to the expected value of unity. This first demonstration on data of CIB delensing, and of delensing techniques in general, is significant because lensing removal will soon be essential for achieving high-precision constraints on inflationary B-mode polarization.

  13. Long-Term Outcomes of Catheter-Directed Thrombolysis for Acute Lower Extremity Occlusions of Native Arteries and Prosthetic Bypass Grafts

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schrijver, A. Marjolein; de Vries, Jean Paul P M; van den Heuvel, Daniel A F; Moll, Frans L.

    2016-01-01

    Background Catheter-directed thrombolysis is a well-accepted treatment for acute lower extremity occlusions of native arteries and bypass grafts. Several variables that affect outcomes of thrombolysis have been identified. The hypothesis of this study was that the long-term outcome after

  14. Background-Modeling-Based Adaptive Prediction for Surveillance Video Coding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Xianguo; Huang, Tiejun; Tian, Yonghong; Gao, Wen

    2014-02-01

    The exponential growth of surveillance videos presents an unprecedented challenge for high-efficiency surveillance video coding technology. Compared with the existing coding standards that were basically developed for generic videos, surveillance video coding should be designed to make the best use of the special characteristics of surveillance videos (e.g., relative static background). To do so, this paper first conducts two analyses on how to improve the background and foreground prediction efficiencies in surveillance video coding. Following the analysis results, we propose a background-modeling-based adaptive prediction (BMAP) method. In this method, all blocks to be encoded are firstly classified into three categories. Then, according to the category of each block, two novel inter predictions are selectively utilized, namely, the background reference prediction (BRP) that uses the background modeled from the original input frames as the long-term reference and the background difference prediction (BDP) that predicts the current data in the background difference domain. For background blocks, the BRP can effectively improve the prediction efficiency using the higher quality background as the reference; whereas for foreground-background-hybrid blocks, the BDP can provide a better reference after subtracting its background pixels. Experimental results show that the BMAP can achieve at least twice the compression ratio on surveillance videos as AVC (MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding) high profile, yet with a slightly additional encoding complexity. Moreover, for the foreground coding performance, which is crucial to the subjective quality of moving objects in surveillance videos, BMAP also obtains remarkable gains over several state-of-the-art methods.

  15. Northern peatland Collembola communities unaffected by three summers of simulated extreme precipitation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Krab, E.J.; Aerts, R.; Berg, M.P.; van Hal, J.R.; Keuper, F.

    2014-01-01

    Extreme climate events are observed and predicted to increase in frequency and duration in high-latitude ecosystems as a result of global climate change. This includes extreme precipitation events, which may directly impact on belowground food webs and ecosystem functioning by their physical impacts

  16. Impact of promoting longer-lasting insecticide treatment of bed nets upon malaria transmission in a rural Tanzanian setting with pre-existing high coverage of untreated nets

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Russell, T.L.; Lwetoijera, D.W.; Maliti, D.; Chipwaza, B.; Kihonda, J.; Charlwood, J.D.; Smith, T.A.; Lengeler, C.; Mwanyangala, M.A.; Nathan, R.; Knols, B.G.J.; Takken, W.; Killeen, G.F.

    2010-01-01

    Background The communities of Namawala and Idete villages in southern Tanzania experienced extremely high malaria transmission in the 1990s. By 2001-03, following high usage rates (75% of all age groups) of untreated bed nets, a 4.2-fold reduction in malaria transmission intensity was achieved.

  17. Status of the Simbol-X Background Simulation Activities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tenzer, C.; Briel, U.; Bulgarelli, A.; Chipaux, R.; Claret, A.; Cusumano, G.; Dell'Orto, E.; Fioretti, V.; Foschini, L.; Hauf, S.; Kendziorra, E.; Kuster, M.; Laurent, P.; Tiengo, A.

    2009-05-01

    The Simbol-X background simulation group is working towards a simulation based background and mass model which can be used before and during the mission. Using the Geant4 toolkit, a Monte-Carlo code to simulate the detector background of the Simbol-X focal plane instrument has been developed with the aim to optimize the design of the instrument. Achieving an overall low instrument background has direct impact on the sensitivity of Simbol-X and thus will be crucial for the success of the mission. We present results of recent simulation studies concerning the shielding of the detectors with respect to the diffuse cosmic hard X-ray background and to the cosmic-ray proton induced background. Besides estimates of the level and spectral shape of the remaining background expected in the low and high energy detector, also anti-coincidence rates and resulting detector dead time predictions are discussed.

  18. Analysis of the wake field effects in the PEP-II storage rings with extremely high currents

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Novokhatski, A., E-mail: novo@slac.stanford.edu; Seeman, J.; Sullivan, M.

    2014-01-21

    We present the history and analysis of different wake field effects throughout the operational life of the PEP-II SLAC B-factory. Although the impedance of the high and low energy rings is small, the intense high-current beams generated a lot of power. The effects from these wake fields are: heating and damage of vacuum beam chamber elements like RF seals, vacuum valves, shielded bellows, BPM buttons and ceramic tiles; vacuum spikes, vacuum instabilities and high detector background; and beam longitudinal and transverse instabilities. We also discuss the methods used to eliminate these effects. Results of this analysis and the PEP-II experience may be very useful in the design of new storage rings and light sources.

  19. Hypoxia-inducible factor 1α predicts recurrence in high-grade soft tissue sarcoma of extremities and trunk wall

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nyström, H; Jönsson, M; Werner-Hartman, L

    2017-01-01

    BACKGROUND AND AIM: Sarcomas are of mesenchymal origin and typically show abundant tumour stroma and presence of necrosis. In search for novel biomarkers for personalised therapy, we determined the prognostic impact of stromal markers, hypoxia and neovascularity in high-grade soft tissue leiomyos...

  20. Long term variations of extreme rainfall in Denmark and southern Sweden

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gregersen, Ida Bülow; Madsen, Henrik; Rosbjerg, Dan

    2015-01-01

    A high number of studies have detected changes in the observed heavy rainfall in Northern and Central Europe, all adding to the debate on anthropogenic climate change and its potential impact on rainfall extremes. However, it is equally relevant to understand natural variations on which...... the anthropogenic changes are imposed. This study identifies multi-decadal variations in daily rainfall extremes from Denmark and southern Sweden, with a recurrence level relevant for flood hazard analysis. Based on smoothed series it is concluded that the frequency of the extreme events shows both a general...