WorldWideScience

Sample records for high regional rates

  1. Homicide and mental disorder in a region with a high homicide rate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Golenkov, Andrei; Large, Matthew; Nielssen, Olav; Tsymbalova, Alla

    2016-10-01

    There are few studies of the relationship between mental disorder and homicide offences from regions with high rates of homicide. We examined the characteristics and psychiatric diagnoses of homicide offenders from the Chuvash Republic of the Russian Federation, a region of Russia with a high total homicide rate. In the 30 years between 1981 and 2010, 3414 homicide offenders were the subjected to pre-trial evaluations by experienced psychiatrists, almost half of whom (1596, 46.7%) met the international classification of diseases (ICD) 10 criteria for at least one mental disorder. The six most common individual diagnoses were alcohol dependence (15.9%), acquired organic mental disorder (7.3%), personality disorder (7.1%), schizophrenia (4.4%) and intellectual disability (3.6%). More than one disorder was found in 7.4% of offenders and alcohol dependence was the most frequently diagnosed co-morbid disorder. One in ten offenders were found to be not criminally responsible for their actions. Few homicides involved the use of substances other than alcohol, and firearms were used in 1.6% of homicides. The finding that people with mental disorders other than psychosis committed a high proportion of homicides in a region with a high rate of homicide, suggests that people with mental disorders are vulnerable to similar sociological factors to those that contribute to homicide offences by people who do not have mental disorder. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. Regional geographic variations in kidney cancer incidence rates in European countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Peng; Znaor, Ariana; Holcatova, Ivana; Fabianova, Eleonora; Mates, Dana; Wozniak, Magdalena B; Ferlay, Jacques; Scelo, Ghislaine

    2015-06-01

    Marked unexplained national variations in incidence rates of kidney cancer have been observed for decades in Europe. To investigate geographic variations at the regional level and identify European regions with high incidence rates of kidney cancer. Regional- and national-level incidence data were extracted from the Cancer Incidence in Five Continents databases, local cancer registry databases, and local published reports. World population age-standardised rates (ASRs) were calculated for the periods 2003-2007 and 1988-1992. Rates by period and sex were compared using map visualisation. During 2003-2007, the highest ASR was found in the Plzen region, Czech Republic (31.4/100,000 person-years in men). Other regions of the Czech Republic had ASRs of 18.6-27.5/100,000 in men, with a tendency for higher rates in regions south of Prague. Surrounding regions, including eastern Germany and regions of Slovakia and Austria, had medium-to-high incidence rates (13.0-16.8/100,000 in men). Three other areas in Europe showed higher incidence rates in men compared with the rest of the continent: Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, and Belarus (15.0-17.6/100,000); Iceland (13.5/100,000), and northern Italy (up to 16.0/100,000). Similar regional differences were observed among women, with rates approximately half of those observed in men in the same region. In general, these regional geographic variations remained stable over the periods 1988-1992 and 2003-2007, although higher incidence rates were detected in the Baltic countries in 2003-2007. Several European regions show particularly high rates of kidney cancer incidence. Large variations were observed within countries covered by national health-care systems, implying that overdetection is not the major factor. We present regional geographic variations in kidney cancer incidence rates in Europe. We highlight several regions with high incidence rates where further studies should be conducted for cancer control and prevention. Copyright

  3. University Knowledge Spillovers & Regional Start-up Rates

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hellerstedt, Karin; Wennberg, Karl; Frederiksen, Lars

    2014-01-01

    how characteristics of the economic and political milieu within each region influence the ratio of firm births. We find that knowledge spillovers from universities and firm-based R&D strongly affect the start-up rates for both high-tech firms and knowledge-intensive services firms. Further, the start......This chapter investigates how regional start-up rates in the knowledge-intensive services and high-tech industries are influenced by knowledge spillovers from both universities and firm-based R&D activities. Integrating insights from economic geography and organizational ecology into the literature......-up rate of knowledge-intensive service firms is tied more strongly to the supply of university educated individuals and the political regulatory regime within the municipality than start-ups in high-tech industries. This suggests that knowledge-intensive service-start-ups are more susceptible to both...

  4. High seasonal variation in entomologic inoculation rates in Eritrea, a semi-arid region of unstable malaria in Africa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shililu, Josephat; Ghebremeskel, Tewolde; Mengistu, Solomon; Fekadu, Helen; Zerom, Mehari; Mbogo, Charles; Githure, John; Novak, Robert; Brantly, Eugene; Beier, John C

    2003-12-01

    Entomologic studies were conducted in eight villages to investigate the patterns of malaria transmission in different ecologic zones in Eritrea. Mosquito collections were conducted for 24 months between September 1999 and January 2002. The biting rates of Anopheles arabiensis were highly seasonal, with activity concentrated in the wet season between June and October in the highlands and western lowlands, and between December and March in the coastal region. The biting rates in the western lowlands were twice as high as in the western escarpment and 20 times higher than in the coastal region. Sporozoite rates were not significantly different among villages. The risk of infection ranged from zero on the coast to 70.6 infective bites per year in the western lowlands. The number of days it would take for an individual to receive an infective bite from an infected An. arabiensis was variable among villages (range = 2.8-203.1 days). The data revealed the presence of only one main malaria transmission period between July and October for the highlands and western lowlands. Peak inoculation rates were recorded in August and September (range = 0.29-43.6 infective bits/person/month) at all sites over the two-year period. The annual entomologic inoculation rates (EIRs) varied greatly depending on year. The EIR profiles indicated that the risk of exposure to infected mosquitoes is highly heterogeneous and seasonal, with high inoculation rates during the rainy season, and with little or no transmission during the dry season. This study demonstrates the need to generate spatial and temporal data on transmission intensity on smaller scales to guide targeted control of malaria operations in semi-arid regions. Furthermore, EIR estimates derived in the present study provide a means of quantifying levels of exposure to infected mosquitoes in different regions of the country and could be important for evaluating the efficacy of vector control measures, since Eritrea has made

  5. Regions of High Out-Of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Incidence and Low Bystander CPR Rates in Victoria, Australia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Straney, Lahn D; Bray, Janet E; Beck, Ben; Finn, Judith; Bernard, Stephen; Dyson, Kylie; Lijovic, Marijana; Smith, Karen

    2015-01-01

    Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) remains a major public health issue and research has shown that large regional variation in outcomes exists. Of the interventions associated with survival, the provision of bystander CPR is one of the most important modifiable factors. The aim of this study is to identify census areas with high incidence of OHCA and low rates of bystander CPR in Victoria, Australia. We conducted an observational study using prospectively collected population-based OHCA data from the state of Victoria in Australia. Using ArcGIS (ArcMap 10.0), we linked the location of the arrest using the dispatch coordinates (longitude and latitude) to Victorian Local Government Areas (LGAs). We used Bayesian hierarchical models with random effects on each LGA to provide shrunken estimates of the rates of bystander CPR and the incidence rates. Over the study period there were 31,019 adult OHCA attended, of which 21,436 (69.1%) cases were of presumed cardiac etiology. Significant variation in the incidence of OHCA among LGAs was observed. There was a 3 fold difference in the incidence rate between the lowest and highest LGAs, ranging from 38.5 to 115.1 cases per 100,000 person-years. The overall rate of bystander CPR for bystander witnessed OHCAs was 62.4%, with the rate increasing from 56.4% in 2008-2010 to 68.6% in 2010-2013. There was a 25.1% absolute difference in bystander CPR rates between the highest and lowest LGAs. Significant regional variation in OHCA incidence and bystander CPR rates exists throughout Victoria. Regions with high incidence and low bystander CPR participation can be identified and would make suitable targets for interventions to improve CPR participation rates.

  6. Regions With Low Rates of Bystander Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Have Lower Rates of CPR Training in Victoria, Australia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bray, Janet E; Straney, Lahn; Smith, Karen; Cartledge, Susie; Case, Rosalind; Bernard, Stephen; Finn, Judith

    2017-06-05

    Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) more than doubles the chance of surviving an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Recent data have shown considerable regional variation in bystander CPR rates across the Australian state of Victoria. This study aims to determine whether there is associated regional variation in rates of CPR training and willingness to perform CPR in these communities. We categorized each Victorian postcode as either a low or high bystander CPR region using data on adult, bystander-witnessed, out-of-hospital cardiac arrests of presumed cardiac etiology (n=7175) from the Victorian Ambulance Cardiac Arrest Registry. We then surveyed adult Victorians (n=404) and compared CPR training data of the respondents from low and high bystander CPR regions. Of the 404 adults surveyed, 223 (55%) resided in regions with low bystander CPR. Compared with respondents from high bystander CPR regions, respondents residing in regions with low bystander CPR had lower rates of CPR training (62% versus 75%, P =0.009) and lower self-ratings for their overall knowledge of CPR (76% versus 84%, P =0.04). There were no differences between the regions in their reasons for not having undergone CPR training or in their willingness to perform CPR. Rates of survival for bystander-witnessed, out-of-hospital cardiac arrests were significantly lower in low bystander CPR regions (15.7% versus 17.0%, P CPR training and lower survival in regions with lower rates of bystander CPR in Victoria, Australia. Targeting these regions with CPR training programs may improve bystander CPR rates and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest outcomes. © 2017 The Authors. Published on behalf of the American Heart Association, Inc., by Wiley.

  7. Perinatal market penetration rate. A tool to evaluate regional perinatal programs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Powers, W F; McGill, L

    1987-01-01

    Very small babies born in tertiary centers fare better than outborn babies referred for tertiary care after birth. Viewing the 1001-1500 gm regional cohort of fetuses as a potential "market" for center delivery, and measuring a center's penetration into this market, quantitates how well a center draws to itself these small, high-risk fetuses for delivery. An Illinois center's annual penetration rate into its regional market for the years 1973-1983 is presented and significant increases are found. The penetration rates of nine Illinois perinatal centers are calculated and wide discrepancies are found. Defining a high-risk regional cohort as a market stresses a perinatal center's obligation to its region. The penetration rate into a defined market measures how well a center fulfills this obligation.

  8. 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.

  9. A multi-region assessment of population rates of cardiac catheterization and yield of high-risk coronary artery disease

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Clement Fiona M

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background There is variation in cardiac catheterization utilization across jurisdictions. Previous work from Alberta, Canada, showed no evidence of a plateau in the yield of high-risk disease at cardiac catheterization rates as high as 600 per 100,000 population suggesting that the optimal rate is higher. This work aims 1 To determine if a previously demonstrated linear relationship between the yield of high-risk coronary disease and cardiac catheterization rates persists with contemporary data and 2 to explore whether the linear relationship exists in other jurisdictions. Methods Detailed clinical information on all patients undergoing cardiac catheterization in 3 Canadian provinces was available through the Alberta Provincial Project for Outcomes Assessment in Coronary Heart (APPROACH disease and partner initiatives in British Columbia and Nova Scotia. Population rates of catheterization and high-risk coronary disease detection for each health region in these three provinces, and age-adjusted rates produced using direct standardization. A mixed effects regression analysis was performed to assess the relationship between catheterization rate and high-risk coronary disease detection. Results In the contemporary Alberta data, we found a linear relationship between the population catheterization rate and the high-risk yield. Although the yield was slightly less in time period 2 (2002-2006 than in time period 1(1995-2001, there was no statistical evidence of a plateau. The linear relationship between catheterization rate and high-risk yield was similarly demonstrated in British Columbia and Nova Scotia and appears to extend, without a plateau in yield, to rates over 800 procedures per 100,000 population. Conclusions Our study demonstrates a consistent finding, over time and across jurisdictions, of linearly increasing detection of high-risk CAD as population rates of cardiac catheterization increase. This internationally-relevant finding

  10. Regional variation in rates of pediatric perforated appendicitis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarda, Samir; Short, Heather L; Hockenberry, Jason M; McCarthy, Ian; Raval, Mehul V

    2017-09-01

    While trends in perforated appendicitis (PA) rates have been studied, regional variability in pediatric admissions for PA remains unknown. A retrospective, cross-sectional analysis of the 2006-2012 Kids' Inpatient Database was conducted to examine variation in PA admission rates by region of the United States and insurance status. PA rates were calculated and reported as per 1000 admissions in accordance with national quality measure specifications. National PA rates per 1000 admissions for 2006, 2009, and 2012 were 313.9, 279.2, and 309.1, respectively. Similarly, all regions demonstrated a statistically significant decrease in PA rates between 2006 and 2009 (pappendicitis, geographic region and insurance status appear to be associated with perforation upon presentation. Understanding regional variation in pediatric PA rates may inform health policymakers in the constantly evolving insurance coverage landscape. Level III Treatment Study - Retrospective comparative study of appendicitis presentation in children by region of the country. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. The case for regional exchange rate arrangement in East Asia

    OpenAIRE

    Takuji Kinkyo

    2004-01-01

    The Asian crisis highlighted the difficulties for developing countries to actively manage exchange rates in an environment of high capital mobility. Now it became fashionable to argue that the exchange rate should be either allowed to float freely or irrevocably fixed. This paper examines the case for regional exchange rate arrangements as an instrument to enhance the manageability of exchange rates and discusses the options in East Asia. It critically assess the existing proposal of common b...

  12. Rating Evaluation of the Quality of Life in Russian Regions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sergey Valentinovich Kuznetsov

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available In the article, the authors consider the quality of life as an objective and its indicators as the criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of balanced spatial development. The problem of measuring the quality of life has a complex and integrated nature, therefore, we should develop the practice of ratings in its spatial comparisons. The article demonstrates the possibility of using the rating lists of the quality of life of Russian regions by the rating agency “RIA Rating” for 2013–2015 as an information tool for the analysis of the efficiency and effectiveness of the public development of the regional administration. The authors have concluded that with a consecutive growth of an average value of the integrated rating index of quality of life, the different ways of assessing the degree of differentiation of the regions according to the quality of life provide conflicting results. It is necessary to pay attention not so much to ranging and grading of regions as to their classification depending on to the nature of typical problems. Therefore, the rating scale is structured on the basis of the “problematic principle of regional grouping”. The authors have proposed the method of the gradation of the rating scale, allowing to take into account the direction of change of the region’s position in the ranking. The relevance of the rating as a key information tool to reduce the regional differentiation of the life quality of the population among the regulatory bodies and civil society will increase if: it is also used for other subnational entities of the Russian Federation; there is the use of econometric and computational capabilities of high-tech software systems for a posteriori analysis and models for strategic forecasting of the rankings; there is the search of a synergistic effect from a variety of estimates of the degree of spatial development.

  13. Regional labour market research on participation rates

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Elhorst, J.P.

    1996-01-01

    This article reviews the methodology of 17 empirical studies in which the participation rate has been estimated with the help of regional data. After defining and pointing our the orientation of regional labour market research on participation rates, three methodological issues dominate the

  14. Determining long-term regional erosion rates using impact craters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hergarten, Stefan; Kenkmann, Thomas

    2015-04-01

    More than 300,000 impact craters have been found on Mars, while the surface of Moon's highlands is even saturated with craters. In contrast, only 184 impact craters have been confirmed on Earth so far with only 125 of them exposed at the surface. The spatial distribution of these impact craters is highly inhomogeneous. Beside the large variation in the age of the crust, consumption of craters by erosion and burial by sediments are the main actors being responsible for the quite small and inhomogeneous crater record. In this study we present a novel approach to infer long-term average erosion rates at regional scales from the terrestrial crater inventory. The basic idea behind this approach is a dynamic equilibrium between the production of new craters and their consumption by erosion. It is assumed that each crater remains detectable until the total erosion after the impact exceeds a characteristic depth depending on the crater's diameter. Combining this model with the terrestrial crater production rate, i.e., the number of craters per unit area and time as a function of their diameter, allows for a prediction of the expected number of craters in a given region as a function of the erosion rate. Using the real crater inventory, this relationship can be inverted to determine the regional long-term erosion rate and its statistical uncertainty. A limitation by the finite age of the crust can also be taken into account. Applying the method to the Colorado Plateau and the Deccan Traps, both being regions with a distinct geological history, yields erosion rates in excellent agreement with those obtained by other, more laborious methods. However, these rates are formally exposed to large statistical uncertainties due to the small number of impact craters. As higher crater densities are related to lower erosion rates, smaller statistical errors can be expected when large regions in old parts of the crust are considered. Very low long-term erosion rates of less than 4

  15. Chronostratigraphy and deposition rates in the Okinawa Trough region

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    李培英; 王永吉; 刘振夏

    1999-01-01

    Six representative cores from Okinawa Trough have been dated using AMS 14C, Standard 14C and ESR methods, and comparatively analysed. Systematic measurements of the oriented samples taken from the cores were conducted for obtaining their remnant magnetic polarity. With the aid of the dates obtained, particularly the AMS 14C ages of planktonic foraminiferal tests, two polarity events and two polar wanderings of the earth magnetic field have been defined. Calculations of the deposition rates for all the six core sites indicate rather high values in the trough plain, at least equivalent to those rates reported for the region of the East China Sea. They commonly range from 10 to 30 cm/ka, and even greater than 40 cm/ka in some localities. The deposition rate varied widely with topography and periods of time. In general, it is greater during the postglacial period than during the last glaciation. The chronostratigraphy in the Okinawa Trough region established through this study argues against the pr

  16. High HPV vaccination uptake rates for adolescent girls after regional governmental funding in Shiki City, Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hayashi, Y; Shimizu, Y; Netsu, S; Hanley, S; Konno, R

    2012-08-10

    In Japan, the bivalent HPV vaccine was approved in October, 2009 and became available as a non-routine vaccine from December, 2009. While routine vaccinations are free, the cost and responsibility for non-routine vaccinations are left to the individual. In exceptional circumstances regional governments fund non-routine vaccinations. This was the case in Shiki City, Saitama Prefecture, where a high uptake rate for individual (non-school based) HPV vaccination was obtained. On January 20, 2010, the mayor of Shiki City announced to the media his decision to vaccinate adolescent girls in Shiki City against HPV. A project team for HPV vaccination was set up in the city's Health Promotion Center. To gain mutual consent for HPV vaccination, senior health professionals, city officials, the head of the board of education, school principals and health-care teachers met several times. The cohort to be vaccinated was 1254 girls aged 12-15 years. Individual notifications were mailed to each girl on April 23, 2010, along with information about the HPV vaccine. As of April 10th, 2011, the uptake rate for girls aged 15 years old was 90.7% for the 1st dose. The vaccine registry is managed by the health care system of the city. The success of the HPV vaccination program and high uptake rates in Shiki City is a good model for the nationwide HPV vaccination program that started in February, 2011. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. [National and regional market penetration rates of generic's high dosage buprenorphine: its evolution from 2006 to 2008, using reimbursed drug database].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boczek, Christelle; Frauger, Elisabeth; Micallef, Joëlle; Allaria-Lapierre, Véronique; Reggio, Patrick; Sciortino, Vincent

    2012-01-01

    To assess the national market penetration rate (PR) of generic high-dosage buprenorphine (HDB) in 2008 and its evolution since their marketing (2006), and making a point for each dosage and at regional level. Retrospective study over data using national and regional health reimbursement database over three years (2006-2008). In 2008, the generic HDB's national MPR was 31%. The PR for each dosage were 45% for 0.4 mg, 36% for 2 mg and 19% for 8 mg. The (PR) based on Defined Daily Dose (DDD) was 23% in 2008, 15% in 2007 and 4% in 2006. In 2008, at the regional level, disparities were observed in the adjusted penetration rate from 15% in Île de France to 39% in Champagne Ardennes Lorraine. The national PR of generic HDB has increased. There are differences in MPR in terms of dosage and area. However, this PR is still low (in 2008, 82% of the delivered drugs are generics). © 2012 Société Française de Pharmacologie et de Thérapeutique.

  18. Rates of firearm homicide by Chicago region, age, sex, and race/ethnicity, 2005-2010.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walker, Garth Nyambi; McLone, Suzanne; Mason, Maryann; Sheehan, Karen

    2016-10-01

    The United States reports the highest levels of firearm homicide incidences compared to other high income countries, and the focus and causes of these incidences within the US differ by demographic characteristics and location such as urban versus rural environment. Despite these findings, few studies have published on rates varied by region within a city. This study aims to provide descriptive analysis of the rates of firearm homicide by age, sex, and race/ethnicity in each of the seven City of Chicago regions, and to determine if the rates of firearm homicide differ by demographics among the seven City of Chicago regions. The Illinois Violent Death Reporting System conducts routine surveillance of violent deaths. Decedents were selected according to the following criteria: manner of death was homicide, weapon type was firearm, and location of injury that led to death was the City of Chicago. Location of injury was broken down by regions: North, Northwest, Center, West, South, Southwest, and Far South. Multiyear rates per 100,000 and corresponding 95% confidence intervals were calculated. There were 2,254 victims of homicide by firearm in the City of Chicago. The overall rate across Chicago for all demographics was 12.9 (12.1-13.5 per 100,000) with an average age of 27.4. The highest age group (20-24) for firearm homicide rates was 43.2 (39.7-46.7) per 100,000. For the youngest age group (10-14), only the Southwest (3.3-10.4) region reported any firearm incidence. The 20 to 24 age group reported the highest rates of all age groups within the South (107.9-151.7), West (80.3-108.2), and Far South (69.6-105.3) regions, whereas the North and Northwest reported the lowest rates for all regions by age. Black firearm homicide rates were 33.5 (31.9-35.1) per 100,000 versus Hispanic and non-Hispanic white firearm homicide rates of 8.5 (7.7-9.3) and 1.2 (1-1.5) per 100,000, respectively. Lastly, the West reported the highest firearm rates at 29.1 (657). In conclusion

  19. On the Regional Birth Rate Differences in Uzbekistan

    OpenAIRE

    Shukurov, Sobir

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to investigate, theoretically and empirically, regional variation in crude birthrates in Uzbekistan at a provincial (viloyat) level for the period 1991-2010. Also, it offers maps showing the provincial crude birth rates for this period, and probe the ways in which regional fertility differences have arisen. A panel data analysis is also carried out to explain determinants of birth rates. The findings of this study underline that increased women’s particip...

  20. Beam test results of CMS RPCs at high eta region under high-radiation environment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, S.; Ahn, S.H.; Bahk, S.Y.; Hong, B.; Hong, S.J.; Kang, D.H.; Kang, T.I.; Kim, T.J.; Kim, Y.J.; Kim, Y.U.; Koo, D.G.; Lee, H.W.; Lee, K.S.; Lee, S.J.; Lim, J.K.; Moon, D.H.; Nam, S.K.; Oh, J.K.; Park, W.J.; Rhee, J.T.; Ryu, M.S.; Shim, H.H.; Sim, K.S.

    2004-01-01

    The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) forward resistivity plate chambers (RPCs) at the high eta region must be operated in presence of a radiation-induced rate as high as 1kHz/cm2. It is still unknown if the RPCs coated with linseed oil can be operated under such a high-radiation environment over the lifetime of CMS. Non-oiled RPCs may be one of the options since phenolic or melamine-coated bakelite is chemically stabler than linseed oil. We have constructed oiled and non-oiled RPCs at the high eta region of CMS using phenolic bakelite and tested them in the Gamma Irradiation Facility at CERN. While both RPCs show the same characteristics in the efficiency and the strip multiplicity, the non-oiled RPC generates an intrinsic noise rate of 50Hz/cm2, compared to only 5Hz/cm2 for the oiled RPC, both at 10.0kV which is about 100V above the 95% knee of the efficiency curve

  1. Beam test results of CMS RPCs at high eta region under high-radiation environment

    CERN Document Server

    Park, S; Bahk, S Y; Hong, B; Hong, S J; Kang, D H; Kang, T I; Kim, T J; Kim, Y J; Kim, Y U; Koo, D G; Lee, H W; Lee, K S; Lee, S J; Lim, J K; Moon, D H; Nam, S K; Oh, J K; Park, W J; Rhee, J T; Ryu, M S; Shim, H H; Sim, K S

    2004-01-01

    The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) forward resistivity plate chambers (RPCs) at the high eta region must be operated in presence of a radiation-induced rate as high as 1 kHz/cm**2. It is still unknown if the RPCs coated with linseed oil can be operated under such a high- radiation environment over the lifetime of CMS. Non-oiled RPCs may be one of the options since phenolic or melamine-coated bakelite is chemically stabler than linseed oil. We have constructed oiled and non-oiled RPCs at the high eta region of CMS using phenolic bakelite and tested them in the Gamma Irradiation Facility at CERN. While both RPCs show the same characteristics in the efficiency and the strip multiplicity, the non-oiled RPC generates an intrinsic noise rate of 50 Hz/cm**2, compared to only 5 Hz/cm**2 for the oiled RPC, both at 10.0kV which is about 100 V above the 95% knee of the efficiency curve.

  2. READOUT ELECTRONICS FOR A HIGH-RATE CSC DETECTOR

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    OCONNOR, P.; GRATCHEV, V.; KANDASAMY, A.; POLYCHRONAKOS, V.; TCHERNIATINE, V.; PARSONS, J.; SIPPACH, W.

    1999-01-01

    A readout system for a high-rate muon Cathode Strip Chamber (CSC) is described. The system, planned for use in the forward region of the ATLAS muon spectrometer, uses two custom CMOS integrated circuits to achieve good position resolution at a flux of up to 2,500 tracks/cm 2 /s

  3. Effects of emitter junction and passive base region on low dose rate effect in bipolar devices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pershenkov, V.S.; Cherepko, S.V.; Maslov, V.B.; Belyakov, V.V.; Sogoyan, A.V.; Ulimov, N.; Emelianov, V.V.

    1999-01-01

    Low dose rate effect in bipolar devices consists in the increase of peripheral surface recombination current with dose rate decrease. This is due to the more rapid positive oxide charge and interface trap density build-up as the dose rate becomes lower. High dose rate elevated temperature irradiation is proposed for simulation if the low dose rate effect. In the present we tried to separate the effect of radiation-induced charge in the thick passivation oxide over the emitter junction and passive base regions of npn bipolar transistor. Its goal is to improve bipolar device design for use in space environments and nuclear installations. Three experiments were made during this work. 1. Experiment on radiation-induced charge neutralization (RICN) effect under elevated temperature was performed to show transistor degradation dependence on emitter-base bias. 2. High dose rate elevated and room temperature irradiation of bipolar transistors were performed to separate effects of emitter-junction and passive base regions. 3. Pre- and post- irradiation hydrogen ambient storage was used to investigate its effect on radiation-induced charge build-up over the passive base region. All experiments were performed with npn and pnp transistors. (authors)

  4. Operation of a RPC with low resistivity bakelite for the endcap region of CMS in a high-rate environment

    CERN Document Server

    Ahn, S H; Hong, B; Hong, S J; Kang, D H; Kim, T J; Lee, K S; Park, S; Park, W J; Ryu, M S; Shim, H H; Sim, K S; Youn, S W; Kim, Y J; Kim, Y U; Nam, S K; Jung, S R; Lee, Y L; Rhee, J T; Lee, S J; Koo, D G; Bahk, S Y

    2002-01-01

    We present the beam-test results for a real-size prototype resistive plate chamber (RPC) for the endcap region of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The chamber built with relatively low resistivity bakelite was tested at the Gamma Irradiation Facility (GIF) at CERN under a high photon-flux environment with an effective cluster rate up to about 1.2 kHz/cm/sup 2/. The characteristics of the present chamber are compatible with the previous results for the muon detection efficiency, time resolution, mean travel time, and rate capability, which were obtained using a higher resistivity bakelite. The present beam-test results ensure that the RPC made of relatively low resistivity bakelite is also suitable for the CMS muon trigger detector. In addition, we study the position resolution of the endcap RPC of the CMS. By using the median position of the cluster strips, the position resolution can be reduced to only half of the strip width. (15 refs).

  5. Ethnic, socioeconomic and geographical inequalities in road traffic injury rates in the Auckland region.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hosking, Jamie; Ameratunga, Shanthi; Exeter, Daniel; Stewart, Joanna; Bell, Andrew

    2013-04-01

    To describe ethnic, socioeconomic and geographical differences in road traffic injury (RTI) within Auckland, New Zealand's largest city. We analysed rates of RTI deaths and non-fatal hospital admissions using the New Zealand Mortality Collection and the National Minimum Data Set 2000-08. Poisson regression examined the association of age, gender, prioritised ethnicity and small area deprivation (New Zealand Index of Deprivation) with RTI rates, and RTI rates were mapped for 21 local board areas within the Auckland region. While RTI rates increased with levels of deprivation in all age groups, the gradient was steepest among children (9% increase/decile) and adults aged 25-64 years (11% increase/decile). In all age groups, RTI risk was highest among Māori. Pacific children had an elevated risk of RTI compared with the NZ European/Other group, but Pacific youth (15-24 years) and adults (25-64 years) had a lower risk. While RTI rates were generally higher for those living in rural local board areas, all but one local board in the southern Auckland urban area had among the highest rates. There are substantial ethnic, socioeconomic and geographic inequalities in RTI risk in the Auckland region, with high rates among Māori (all ages), Pacific children, people living in socioeconomically deprived neighbourhoods, the urban south and rural regions. To meet the vision of regional plans, road safety efforts must prioritise vulnerable communities at greatest risk of RTI, and implement and monitor the effectiveness of strategies that specifically include a focus on reducing inequalities in RTI rates. © 2013 The Authors. ANZJPH © 2013 Public Health Association of Australia.

  6. Exome sequencing generates high quality data in non-target regions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guo Yan

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Exome sequencing using next-generation sequencing technologies is a cost efficient approach to selectively sequencing coding regions of human genome for detection of disease variants. A significant amount of DNA fragments from the capture process fall outside target regions, and sequence data for positions outside target regions have been mostly ignored after alignment. Result We performed whole exome sequencing on 22 subjects using Agilent SureSelect capture reagent and 6 subjects using Illumina TrueSeq capture reagent. We also downloaded sequencing data for 6 subjects from the 1000 Genomes Project Pilot 3 study. Using these data, we examined the quality of SNPs detected outside target regions by computing consistency rate with genotypes obtained from SNP chips or the Hapmap database, transition-transversion (Ti/Tv ratio, and percentage of SNPs inside dbSNP. For all three platforms, we obtained high-quality SNPs outside target regions, and some far from target regions. In our Agilent SureSelect data, we obtained 84,049 high-quality SNPs outside target regions compared to 65,231 SNPs inside target regions (a 129% increase. For our Illumina TrueSeq data, we obtained 222,171 high-quality SNPs outside target regions compared to 95,818 SNPs inside target regions (a 232% increase. For the data from the 1000 Genomes Project, we obtained 7,139 high-quality SNPs outside target regions compared to 1,548 SNPs inside target regions (a 461% increase. Conclusions These results demonstrate that a significant amount of high quality genotypes outside target regions can be obtained from exome sequencing data. These data should not be ignored in genetic epidemiology studies.

  7. Regional analysis of big five personality factors and suicide rates in Russia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Voracek, Martin

    2013-08-01

    Extending cross-national and intranational studies on possible aggregate-level associations between personality dimensions and suicide prevalence, this study examined the associations of the Big Five personality factors and suicide rates across 32 regions of the Russian Federation. Failing to replicate one key finding of similar geographic studies, namely, a correspondence of higher suicide rates with lower Agreeableness and Conscientiousness (i.e., higher Psychoticism) scores, higher suicide rates corresponded to higher Agreeableness scores. This effect was obtained with one available data source (regional-level Big Five ratings based on the National Character Survey), but not with another (based on the NEO-PI-R measure). All in all, regional suicide rates across Russia were dissociated from regional variation in personality dimensions.

  8. High-Rate Glass Resistive Plate Chambers For LHC Muon Detectors Upgrade

    CERN Document Server

    Laktineh, I; Cauwenbergh, S; Combret, C; Crotty, I; Haddad, Y; Grenier, G; Guida, R; Kieffer, R; Lumb, N; Mirabito, L; Schirra, F; Seguin, N; Tytgat, M; Van der Donckt, M; Wang, Y; Zaganidis, N

    2012-01-01

    The limitation of the detection rate of standard bakelite resistive plate chambers (RPC) used as muon detector in LHC experiments is behind the absence of such detectors in the high TJ regions in both CMS and ATLAS detectors. RPCs made with low resistivity glass plates (10ID O.cm) could be an adequate solution to equip the high TJ regions extending thus both the trigger efficiency and the physics performance. Different beam tests with single and multi-gap configurations using the new glass have shown that such detectors can operate at few thousands Hzlcm2 with high efficiency( > 90%).

  9. Regional scales of fire danger rating in the forest: improved technique

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. V. Volokitina

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Wildland fires distribute unevenly in time and over area under the influence of weather and other factors. It is unfeasible to air patrol the whole forest area daily during a fire season as well as to keep all fire suppression forces constantly alert. Daily work and preparedness of forest fire protection services is regulated by the level of fire danger according to weather conditions (Nesterov’s index. PV-1 index, fire hazard class (Melekhov’s scale, regional scales (earlier called local scales. Unfortunately, there is still no unified comparable technique of making regional scales. As a result, it is difficult to maneuver forest fire protection resources, since the techniques currently used are not approved and not tested for their performance. They give fire danger rating incomparable even for neighboring regions. The paper analyzes the state-of-the-art in Russia and abroad. It is stated the irony is that with factors of fire danger measured quantitatively, the fire danger itself as a function has no quantitative expression. Thus, selection of an absolute criteria is of high importance for improvement of daily fire danger rating. On the example of the Chunsky forest ranger station (Krasnoyarsk Krai, an improved technique is suggested of making comparable local scales of forest fire danger rating based on an absolute criterion of fire danger rating – a probable density of active fires per million ha. A method and an algorithm are described of automatized local scales of fire danger that should facilitate effective creation of similar scales for any forest ranger station or aviation regional office using a database on forest fires and weather conditions. The information system of distant monitoring by Federal Forestry Agency of Russia is analyzed for its application in making local scales. To supplement the existing weather station net it is suggested that automatic compact weather stations or, if the latter is not possible, simple

  10. Subarachnoid haemorrhage in Sweden 1987-2002 : regional incidence and case fatality rates

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Koffijberg, H.; Buskens, E.; Granath, F.; Adami, J.; Ekbom, A.; Rinkel, G. J. E.; Blomqvist, P.

    Background: Incidence estimates of subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) in Sweden vary, which may be caused by regional variations. Reliable estimates of age-specific case fatality rates are lacking. We analysed regional incidence rates and case fatality rates of SAH in Sweden. Methods: The Swedish

  11. Attitudes and stigma in relation to help-seeking intentions for psychological problems in low and high suicide rate regions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reynders, A; Kerkhof, A J F M; Molenberghs, G; Van Audenhove, C

    2014-02-01

    Accessibility and availability of mental health care services are necessary but not sufficient for people to seek help for psychological problems. Attitudes and stigma related to help seeking also determine help seeking intentions. The aim of this study is to investigate how cross-national differences in attitudes and stigma within the general population are related to professional and informal help seeking intentions in low and high suicide rate regions. By means of a postal structured questionnaire, data of 2999 Dutch and Flemish respondents between 18 and 65 years were gathered. Attitudes toward help seeking, perceived stigma, self-stigma, shame and intention to seek help were assessed. People in the Netherlands, where suicide rates are low, have more positive attitudes toward help seeking and experience less self stigma and shame compared to the people in Flanders, where suicide rates are relatively high. These attitudinal factors predicted professional as well as informal help seeking intentions. Perceived stigma was negatively associated with informal help seeking. Shame was positively associated with higher intention to use psychotropic drugs and perceived stigma was negatively associated with the intention to seek help from a psychotherapist in Flanders but not in the Netherlands. Help seeking for psychological problems prevent these problems to aggravate and it is assumed to be a protective factor for suicide. Our results stress the importance of the promotion of positive attitudes and the reduction of stigma within the general population to facilitate help seeking from professional providers and informal networks. Focusing on these attitudinal factors is believed to be a key aspect of universal mental health and suicide prevention policies.

  12. Region Templates: Data Representation and Management for High-Throughput Image Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teodoro, George; Pan, Tony; Kurc, Tahsin; Kong, Jun; Cooper, Lee; Klasky, Scott; Saltz, Joel

    2014-12-01

    We introduce a region template abstraction and framework for the efficient storage, management and processing of common data types in analysis of large datasets of high resolution images on clusters of hybrid computing nodes. The region template abstraction provides a generic container template for common data structures, such as points, arrays, regions, and object sets, within a spatial and temporal bounding box. It allows for different data management strategies and I/O implementations, while providing a homogeneous, unified interface to applications for data storage and retrieval. A region template application is represented as a hierarchical dataflow in which each computing stage may be represented as another dataflow of finer-grain tasks. The execution of the application is coordinated by a runtime system that implements optimizations for hybrid machines, including performance-aware scheduling for maximizing the utilization of computing devices and techniques to reduce the impact of data transfers between CPUs and GPUs. An experimental evaluation on a state-of-the-art hybrid cluster using a microscopy imaging application shows that the abstraction adds negligible overhead (about 3%) and achieves good scalability and high data transfer rates. Optimizations in a high speed disk based storage implementation of the abstraction to support asynchronous data transfers and computation result in an application performance gain of about 1.13×. Finally, a processing rate of 11,730 4K×4K tiles per minute was achieved for the microscopy imaging application on a cluster with 100 nodes (300 GPUs and 1,200 CPU cores). This computation rate enables studies with very large datasets.

  13. Development of an MRI rating scale for multiple brain regions: comparison with volumetrics and with voxel-based morphometry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Davies, R.R.; Williams, Guy B.; Scahill, Victoria L.; Graham, Kim S.; Graham, Andrew; Hodges, John R.

    2009-01-01

    We aimed to devise a rating method for key frontal and temporal brain regions validated against quantitative volumetric methods and applicable to a range of dementia syndromes. Four standardised coronal MR images from 36 subjects encompassing controls and cases with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) were used. After initial pilot studies, 15 regions produced good intra- and inter-rater reliability. We then validated the ratings against manual volumetry and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and compared ratings across the subject groups. Validation against both manual volumetry (for both frontal and temporal lobes), and against whole brain VBM, showed good correlation with visual ratings for the majority of the brain regions. Comparison of rating scores across disease groups showed involvement of the anterior fusiform gyrus, anterior hippocampus and temporal pole in semantic dementia, while anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal regions were involved in behavioural variant FTD. This simple visual rating can be used as an alternative to highly technical methods of quantification, and may be superior when dealing with single cases or small groups. (orig.)

  14. Development of an MRI rating scale for multiple brain regions: comparison with volumetrics and with voxel-based morphometry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Davies, R.R.; Williams, Guy B. [University of Cambridge, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Cambridge (United Kingdom); Scahill, Victoria L.; Graham, Kim S. [Cardiff University, MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge and Wales Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Cardiff (United Kingdom); Graham, Andrew [University of Cambridge, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Cambridge (United Kingdom); Cardiff University, MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge and Wales Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Cardiff (United Kingdom); Hodges, John R. [University of Cambridge, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Cambridge (United Kingdom); Cardiff University, MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge and Wales Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Cardiff (United Kingdom); Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute, Cognitive Neurology, Sydney, NSW (Australia)

    2009-08-15

    We aimed to devise a rating method for key frontal and temporal brain regions validated against quantitative volumetric methods and applicable to a range of dementia syndromes. Four standardised coronal MR images from 36 subjects encompassing controls and cases with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) were used. After initial pilot studies, 15 regions produced good intra- and inter-rater reliability. We then validated the ratings against manual volumetry and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and compared ratings across the subject groups. Validation against both manual volumetry (for both frontal and temporal lobes), and against whole brain VBM, showed good correlation with visual ratings for the majority of the brain regions. Comparison of rating scores across disease groups showed involvement of the anterior fusiform gyrus, anterior hippocampus and temporal pole in semantic dementia, while anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal regions were involved in behavioural variant FTD. This simple visual rating can be used as an alternative to highly technical methods of quantification, and may be superior when dealing with single cases or small groups. (orig.)

  15. High population increase rates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1991-09-01

    In addition to its economic and ethnic difficulties, the USSR faces several pressing demographic problems, including high population increase rates in several of its constituent republics. It has now become clear that although the country's rigid centralized planning succeeded in covering the basic needs of people, it did not lead to welfare growth. Since the 1970s, the Soviet economy has remained sluggish, which as led to increase in the death and birth rates. Furthermore, the ideology that held that demography could be entirely controlled by the country's political and economic system is contradicted by current Soviet reality, which shows that religion and ethnicity also play a significant role in demographic dynamics. Currently, Soviet republics fall under 2 categories--areas with high or low natural population increase rates. Republics with low rates consist of Christian populations (Armenia, Moldavia, Georgia, Byelorussia, Russia, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine), while republics with high rates are Muslim (Tadzhikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kirgizia, Azerbaijan Kazakhstan). The later group has natural increase rates as high as 3.3%. Although the USSR as a whole is not considered a developing country, the later group of republics fit the description of the UNFPA's priority list. Another serious demographic issue facing the USSR is its extremely high rate of abortion. This is especially true in the republics of low birth rates, where up to 60% of all pregnancies are terminated by induced abortions. Up to 1/5 of the USSR's annual health care budget is spent on clinical abortions -- money which could be better spent on the production of contraceptives. Along with the recent political and economic changes, the USSR is now eager to deal with its demographic problems.

  16. Scaling of black silicon processing time by high repetition rate femtosecond lasers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nava Giorgio

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available Surface texturing of silicon substrates is performed by femtosecond laser irradiation at high repetition rates. Various fabrication parameters are optimized in order to achieve very high absorptance in the visible region from the micro-structured silicon wafer as compared to the unstructured one. A 70-fold reduction of the processing time is demonstrated by increasing the laser repetition rate from 1 kHz to 200 kHz. Further scaling up to 1 MHz can be foreseen.

  17. High freight rates hinder oil markets' return to equilibrium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon

    2005-01-01

    Hurricane damage to refineries in the US has created shortages of refined products there, boosting imports and sending freight rates across the Atlantic to record levels. The situation was made worse for a time by a strike at France's main oil terminals in the Mediterranean, which prevented some oil tankers from being rapidly redeployed to routes across the Atlantic. Worldscale (WS) rates for routes from the UK and Europe to the US Atlantic and Gulf Coasts rose well above WS500 for clean tonnage during October. High rates were nevertheless not simply confined to product tankers crossing the Atlantic. Rates for crude tankers to the US have also risen, and tightness has begun to appear in some other markets as well. The net result has been to slow down the movement of oil from regions of surplus to those of scarcity, depressing prices in the former and keeping them at high levels in the latter. Atlantic tanker markets look like remaining tight for the rest of the year and perhaps beyond. (author)

  18. 76 FR 8730 - Desert Southwest Customer Service Region-Rate Order No. WAPA-151

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-02-15

    ... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Western Area Power Administration Desert Southwest Customer Service Region.... Jack Murray, Rates Manager, Desert Southwest Customer Service Region, Western Area Power Administration... ancillary service rates for the Desert Southwest Customer Service Region in accordance with section 302 of...

  19. High resolution radio observations of nuclear and circumnuclear regions of luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Alberdi, A; Perez-Torres, M A [Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (IAA, CSIC), PO Box 3004, 18080-Granada (Spain); Colina, L [Instituto de Estructura de la Materia - IEM, CSIC, C, Serrano 115, 28005 Madrid (Spain); Torrelles, J M [Instituto de Ciencias del Espacio (ICE, CSIC) and IEEC, Gran Capita 2-4, 08034 Barcelona (Spain)], E-mail: antxon@iaa.es, E-mail: torres@iaa.es, E-mail: colina@damir.iem.csic.es, E-mail: torrelle@ieec.fcr.es

    2008-10-15

    High-resolution radio observations of the nuclear region of Luminous and Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies (ULIRGs) have shown that its radio structure consists of a compact high surface-brightness central radio source immersed in a diffuse low brightness circumnuclear halo. While the central component could be associated with an AGN or compact star-forming regions where radio supernovae are exploding, it is well known that the circumnuclear regions host bursts of star-formation. The studies of radio supernovae can provide essential information about stellar evolution and CSM/ISM properties in regions hidden by dust at optical and IR wavelengths. In this contribution, we show results from radio interferometric observations from NGC 7469, IRAS 18293-3413 and IRAS 17138-1017 where three extremely bright radio supernovae have been found. High-resolution radio observations of these and other LIRGs would allow us to determine the core-collapse supernova rate in them as well as their star-formation rate.

  20. High Rate Digital Demodulator ASIC

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghuman, Parminder; Sheikh, Salman; Koubek, Steve; Hoy, Scott; Gray, Andrew

    1998-01-01

    The architecture of High Rate (600 Mega-bits per second) Digital Demodulator (HRDD) ASIC capable of demodulating BPSK and QPSK modulated data is presented in this paper. The advantages of all-digital processing include increased flexibility and reliability with reduced reproduction costs. Conventional serial digital processing would require high processing rates necessitating a hardware implementation in other than CMOS technology such as Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) which has high cost and power requirements. It is more desirable to use CMOS technology with its lower power requirements and higher gate density. However, digital demodulation of high data rates in CMOS requires parallel algorithms to process the sampled data at a rate lower than the data rate. The parallel processing algorithms described here were developed jointly by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The resulting all-digital receiver has the capability to demodulate BPSK, QPSK, OQPSK, and DQPSK at data rates in excess of 300 Mega-bits per second (Mbps) per channel. This paper will provide an overview of the parallel architecture and features of the HRDR ASIC. In addition, this paper will provide an over-view of the implementation of the hardware architectures used to create flexibility over conventional high rate analog or hybrid receivers. This flexibility includes a wide range of data rates, modulation schemes, and operating environments. In conclusion it will be shown how this high rate digital demodulator can be used with an off-the-shelf A/D and a flexible analog front end, both of which are numerically computer controlled, to produce a very flexible, low cost high rate digital receiver.

  1. Quantitative regional validation of the visual rating scale for posterior cortical atrophy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moeller, Christiane; Benedictus, Marije R.; Koedam, Esther L.G.M.; Scheltens, Philip; Flier, Wiesje M. van der; Versteeg, Adriaan; Wattjes, Mike P.; Barkhof, Frederik; Vrenken, Hugo

    2014-01-01

    Validate the four-point visual rating scale for posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) on magnetic resonance images (MRI) through quantitative grey matter (GM) volumetry and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to justify its use in clinical practice. Two hundred twenty-nine patients with probable Alzheimer's disease and 128 with subjective memory complaints underwent 3T MRI. PCA was rated according to the visual rating scale. GM volumes of six posterior structures and the total posterior region were extracted using IBASPM and compared among PCA groups. To determine which anatomical regions contributed most to the visual scores, we used binary logistic regression. VBM compared local GM density among groups. Patients were categorised according to their PCA scores: PCA-0 (n = 122), PCA-1 (n = 143), PCA-2 (n = 79), and PCA-3 (n = 13). All structures except the posterior cingulate differed significantly among groups. The inferior parietal gyrus volume discriminated the most between rating scale levels. VBM showed that PCA-1 had a lower GM volume than PCA-0 in the parietal region and other brain regions, whereas between PCA-1 and PCA-2/3 GM atrophy was mostly restricted to posterior regions. The visual PCA rating scale is quantitatively validated and reliably reflects GM atrophy in parietal regions, making it a valuable tool for the daily radiological assessment of dementia. (orig.)

  2. Quantitative regional validation of the visual rating scale for posterior cortical atrophy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Moeller, Christiane; Benedictus, Marije R.; Koedam, Esther L.G.M.; Scheltens, Philip [VU University Medical Center, Alzheimer Center and Department of Neurology, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, P.O. Box 7057, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Flier, Wiesje M. van der [VU University Medical Center, Alzheimer Center and Department of Neurology, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, P.O. Box 7057, Amsterdam (Netherlands); VU University Medical Center, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, P.O. Box 7057, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Versteeg, Adriaan; Wattjes, Mike P.; Barkhof, Frederik [VU University Medical Center, Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, P.O. Box 7057, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Vrenken, Hugo [VU University Medical Center, Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, P.O. Box 7057, Amsterdam (Netherlands); VU University Medical Center, Department of Physics and Medical Technology, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, P.O. Box 7057, Amsterdam (Netherlands)

    2014-02-15

    Validate the four-point visual rating scale for posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) on magnetic resonance images (MRI) through quantitative grey matter (GM) volumetry and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to justify its use in clinical practice. Two hundred twenty-nine patients with probable Alzheimer's disease and 128 with subjective memory complaints underwent 3T MRI. PCA was rated according to the visual rating scale. GM volumes of six posterior structures and the total posterior region were extracted using IBASPM and compared among PCA groups. To determine which anatomical regions contributed most to the visual scores, we used binary logistic regression. VBM compared local GM density among groups. Patients were categorised according to their PCA scores: PCA-0 (n = 122), PCA-1 (n = 143), PCA-2 (n = 79), and PCA-3 (n = 13). All structures except the posterior cingulate differed significantly among groups. The inferior parietal gyrus volume discriminated the most between rating scale levels. VBM showed that PCA-1 had a lower GM volume than PCA-0 in the parietal region and other brain regions, whereas between PCA-1 and PCA-2/3 GM atrophy was mostly restricted to posterior regions. The visual PCA rating scale is quantitatively validated and reliably reflects GM atrophy in parietal regions, making it a valuable tool for the daily radiological assessment of dementia. (orig.)

  3. High Dose-Rate Versus Low Dose-Rate Brachytherapy for Lip Cancer

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ghadjar, Pirus, E-mail: pirus.ghadjar@insel.ch [Department of Radiation Oncology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, and University of Bern (Switzerland); Bojaxhiu, Beat [Department of Radiation Oncology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, and University of Bern (Switzerland); Simcock, Mathew [Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research Coordinating Center, Bern (Switzerland); Terribilini, Dario; Isaak, Bernhard [Division of Medical Radiation Physics, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, and University of Bern, Bern (Switzerland); Gut, Philipp; Wolfensberger, Patrick; Broemme, Jens O.; Geretschlaeger, Andreas; Behrensmeier, Frank; Pica, Alessia; Aebersold, Daniel M. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, and University of Bern (Switzerland)

    2012-07-15

    Purpose: To analyze the outcome after low-dose-rate (LDR) or high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy for lip cancer. Methods and Materials: One hundred and three patients with newly diagnosed squamous cell carcinoma of the lip were treated between March 1985 and June 2009 either by HDR (n = 33) or LDR brachytherapy (n = 70). Sixty-eight patients received brachytherapy alone, and 35 received tumor excision followed by brachytherapy because of positive resection margins. Acute and late toxicity was assessed according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events 3.0. Results: Median follow-up was 3.1 years (range, 0.3-23 years). Clinical and pathological variables did not differ significantly between groups. At 5 years, local recurrence-free survival, regional recurrence-free survival, and overall survival rates were 93%, 90%, and 77%. There was no significant difference for these endpoints when HDR was compared with LDR brachytherapy. Forty-two of 103 patients (41%) experienced acute Grade 2 and 57 of 103 patients (55%) experienced acute Grade 3 toxicity. Late Grade 1 toxicity was experienced by 34 of 103 patients (33%), and 5 of 103 patients (5%) experienced late Grade 2 toxicity; no Grade 3 late toxicity was observed. Acute and late toxicity rates were not significantly different between HDR and LDR brachytherapy. Conclusions: As treatment for lip cancer, HDR and LDR brachytherapy have comparable locoregional control and acute and late toxicity rates. HDR brachytherapy for lip cancer seems to be an effective treatment with acceptable toxicity.

  4. Notwithstanding High Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity, Smoking Remains the Most Important Factor in Poor Self-rated Health and Hospital Use in an Australian Regional Community

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Helen Mary Haines

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Objective: To classify a rural community sample by their modifiable health behaviours and identify the prevalence of chronic conditions, poor self-rated health, obesity and hospital use. Method: Secondary analysis of a cross- sectional self-report questionnaire in the Hume region of Victoria, Australia. Cluster analysis using the two-step method was applied to responses to health behaviour items. Results: 1,259 questionnaires were completed. Overall 63% were overweight or obese. Three groups were identified: ‘Healthy Lifestyle’ (63%, ‘Non Smoking, Unhealthy Lifestyle’ (25% and ‘Smokers’ (12%. ‘Healthy lifestyle’ were older and more highly educated than the other two groups while ‘Non Smoking, Unhealthy Lifestyle’ were more likely to be obese. ‘Smokers’ had the highest rate of poor self-rated health. Prevalence of chronic conditions was similar in each group (>20%. ‘Smokers’ were twice as likely to have had two or more visits to hospital in the preceding year even after adjustment for age, gender and education. Conclusion: High rates of overweight and obesity were identified but ‘Smokers’ were at the greatest risk for poor self-rated health and hospitalisation. Implications for Public Health: Within an environment of high rates of chronic ill health and obesity, primary care clinicians and public health policy makers must maintain their vigilance in encouraging people to quit smoking.

  5. In-line high-rate evaporation of aluminum for the metallization of silicon solar cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mader, Christoph Paul

    2012-07-11

    This work focuses on the in-line high-rate evaporation of aluminum for contacting rear sides of silicon solar cells. The substrate temperature during the deposition process, the wafer bow after deposition, and the electrical properties of evaporated contacts are investigated. Furthermore, this work demonstrates for the first time the formation of aluminum-doped silicon regions by the in-line high-rate evaporation of aluminum without any further temperature treatment. The temperature of silicon wafers during in-line high-rate evaporation of aluminum is investigated in this work. The temperatures are found to depend on the wafer thickness W, the aluminum layer thickness d, and on the wafer emissivity {epsilon}. Two-dimensional finite-element simulations reproduce the measured peak temperatures with an accuracy of 97%. This work also investigates the wafer bow after in-line high-rate evaporation and shows that the elastic theory overestimates the wafer bow of planar Si wafers. The lower bow is explained with plastic deformation in the Al layer. Due to the plastic deformation only the first 79 K in temperature decrease result in a bow formation. Furthermore the electrical properties of evaporated point contacts are examined in this work. Parameterizations for the measured saturation currents of contacted p-type Si wafers and of contacted boron-diffused p{sup +}-type layers are presented. The contact resistivity of the deposited Al layers to silicon for various deposition processes and silicon surface concentrations are presented and the activation energy of the contact formation is determined. The measured saturation current densities and contact resistivities of the evaporated contacts are used in one-dimensional numerical Simulations and the impact on energy conversion efficiency of replacing a screen-printed rear side by an evaporated rear side is presented. For the first time the formation of aluminum-doped p{sup +}-type (Al-p{sup +}) silicon regions by the in

  6. High Strain Rate Tensile Testing of Silver Nanowires: Rate-Dependent Brittle-to-Ductile Transition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramachandramoorthy, Rajaprakash; Gao, Wei; Bernal, Rodrigo; Espinosa, Horacio

    2016-01-13

    The characterization of nanomaterials under high strain rates is critical to understand their suitability for dynamic applications such as nanoresonators and nanoswitches. It is also of great theoretical importance to explore nanomechanics with dynamic and rate effects. Here, we report in situ scanning electron microscope (SEM) tensile testing of bicrystalline silver nanowires at strain rates up to 2/s, which is 2 orders of magnitude higher than previously reported in the literature. The experiments are enabled by a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) with fast response time. It was identified that the nanowire plastic deformation has a small activation volume (ductile failure mode transition was observed at a threshold strain rate of 0.2/s. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that along the nanowire, dislocation density and spatial distribution of plastic regions increase with increasing strain rate. Furthermore, molecular dynamic (MD) simulations show that deformation mechanisms such as grain boundary migration and dislocation interactions are responsible for such ductility. Finally, the MD and experimental results were interpreted using dislocation nucleation theory. The predicted yield stress values are in agreement with the experimental results for strain rates above 0.2/s when ductility is pronounced. At low strain rates, random imperfections on the nanowire surface trigger localized plasticity, leading to a brittle-like failure.

  7. Elevated congenital anomaly rates and incorporated cesium-137 in the Polissia region of Ukraine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wertelecki, Wladimir; Koerblein, Alfred; Ievtushok, Bogdana; Zymak-Zakutnia, Nataliya; Komov, Oleksandr; Kuznietsov, Illia; Lapchenko, Serhiy; Sosyniuk, Zoriana

    2016-03-01

    Investigations soon after the 1986 Chornobyl (Chernobyl in Russian) accident of exposed populations residing elsewhere in Europe led government and international agencies to conclude that exposures to cesium-137 (Cs-137) were not teratogenic. Our observations of elevated population rates of neural tube defects (NTDs) and microcephaly and microphthalmia (M/M) in the Rivne Province in Ukraine, which were among the highest in Europe, prompted this follow-up investigation inclusive of whole-body counts (WBCs) of Cs-137 among ambulatory patients and pregnant women residing in Polissia, the most polluted region in Rivne. Yearly (2000-2012) population rates of NTDs and M/M and WBC patterns of ambulatory patients (2001-2010) and pregnant women (2011-2013) in Polissia and non-Polissia regions of Rivne were analyzed. The NTD and M/M population rates in Rivne remain elevated and are statistically significantly higher in Polissia than in non-Polissia. The WBCs among residents in Polissia are statistically significantly higher than among those from non-Polissia. NTD and M/M rates are highest in the Polissia region of Rivne and are among the highest in Europe. In Polissia, the WBCs of Cs-137 are above officially set permissible upper limits. The results are based on aggregate data of NTDs and M/Ms and average WBC values. Further investigations of causality of the high rates of NTDs and M/Ms are needed and urgent strengthening policies and implementations to reduce exposures to teratogens, in particular radioactive nuclides and alcohol, and consumption of folic acid supplements are indicated. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  8. High Dose-Rate Versus Low Dose-Rate Brachytherapy for Lip Cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ghadjar, Pirus; Bojaxhiu, Beat; Simcock, Mathew; Terribilini, Dario; Isaak, Bernhard; Gut, Philipp; Wolfensberger, Patrick; Brömme, Jens O.; Geretschläger, Andreas; Behrensmeier, Frank; Pica, Alessia; Aebersold, Daniel M.

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: To analyze the outcome after low-dose-rate (LDR) or high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy for lip cancer. Methods and Materials: One hundred and three patients with newly diagnosed squamous cell carcinoma of the lip were treated between March 1985 and June 2009 either by HDR (n = 33) or LDR brachytherapy (n = 70). Sixty-eight patients received brachytherapy alone, and 35 received tumor excision followed by brachytherapy because of positive resection margins. Acute and late toxicity was assessed according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events 3.0. Results: Median follow-up was 3.1 years (range, 0.3–23 years). Clinical and pathological variables did not differ significantly between groups. At 5 years, local recurrence-free survival, regional recurrence-free survival, and overall survival rates were 93%, 90%, and 77%. There was no significant difference for these endpoints when HDR was compared with LDR brachytherapy. Forty-two of 103 patients (41%) experienced acute Grade 2 and 57 of 103 patients (55%) experienced acute Grade 3 toxicity. Late Grade 1 toxicity was experienced by 34 of 103 patients (33%), and 5 of 103 patients (5%) experienced late Grade 2 toxicity; no Grade 3 late toxicity was observed. Acute and late toxicity rates were not significantly different between HDR and LDR brachytherapy. Conclusions: As treatment for lip cancer, HDR and LDR brachytherapy have comparable locoregional control and acute and late toxicity rates. HDR brachytherapy for lip cancer seems to be an effective treatment with acceptable toxicity.

  9. Evaluation of Dynamic Deformation Behaviors in Metallic Materials under High Strain-Rates Using Taylor Bar Impact Test

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bae, Kyung Oh; Shin, Hyung Seop [Andong National Univ., Andong (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-09-15

    To ensure the reliability and safety of various mechanical systems in accordance with their high-speed usage, it is necessary to evaluate the dynamic deformation behavior of structural materials under impact load. However, it is not easy to understand the dynamic deformation behavior of the structural materials using experimental methods in the high strain-rate range exceeding 10{sup 4} s{sup -1}. In this study, the Taylor bar impact test was conducted to investigate the dynamic deformation behavior of metallic materials in the high strain-rate region, using a high-speed photography system. Numerical analysis of the Taylor bar impact test was performed using AUTODYN S/W. The results of the analysis were compared with the experimental results, and the material behavior in the high strain-rate region was discussed.

  10. Elevated rates of gold mining in the Amazon revealed through high-resolution monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asner, Gregory P; Llactayo, William; Tupayachi, Raul; Luna, Ernesto Ráez

    2013-11-12

    Gold mining has rapidly increased in western Amazonia, but the rates and ecological impacts of mining remain poorly known and potentially underestimated. We combined field surveys, airborne mapping, and high-resolution satellite imaging to assess road- and river-based gold mining in the Madre de Dios region of the Peruvian Amazon from 1999 to 2012. In this period, the geographic extent of gold mining increased 400%. The average annual rate of forest loss as a result of gold mining tripled in 2008 following the global economic recession, closely associated with increased gold prices. Small clandestine operations now comprise more than half of all gold mining activities throughout the region. These rates of gold mining are far higher than previous estimates that were based on traditional satellite mapping techniques. Our results prove that gold mining is growing more rapidly than previously thought, and that high-resolution monitoring approaches are required to accurately quantify human impacts on tropical forests.

  11. Labour Market Flexibility and Regional Unemployment Rate Dynamics: Spain (1980-1995)

    OpenAIRE

    Roberto Bande; Marika Karanassou

    2006-01-01

    This paper aims to shed light in the dynamics of Spanish regional unemployment rates and determine the driving forces of their disparities. The Spanish economy has one of the highest unemployment rates in the EU and is characterised by severe regional disparities. We apply the chain reaction theory of unemployment according to which the evolution of unemployment is driven by the interplay of lagged adjustment processes and the spillover effects within the labour market system. Our model inclu...

  12. High rate, fast timing Glass RPC for the high $\\eta$ CMS muon detectors

    CERN Document Server

    INSPIRE-00185093; Lagarde, François; Laktineh, Imad; Buridon, Victor; Chen, Xiushan; Combaret, Christophe; Eynard, Alexis; Germani, Lionel; Grenier, Gerald; Mathez, Hervé; Mirabito, Laurent; Petrukhin, Alexei; Steen, Arnaud; Tromeur, William; Wang, Yi; Gong, A.; Moreau, Nathalie; de la Taille, Christophe; Dulucq, Fréderic

    2017-02-11

    The HL-LHC phase is designed to increase by an order of magnitude the amount of data to be collected by the LHC experiments. To achieve this goal in a reasonable time scale the instantaneous luminosity would also increase by an order of magnitude up to $6 \\cdot 10^{34}$ cm$^{-2}$s$^{-1}$. The region of the forward muon spectrometer ($|\\eta| > 1.6$) is not equipped with RPC stations. The increase of the expected particles rate up to 2 kHz/cm$^2$ ( including a safety factor 3 ) motivates the installation of RPC chambers to guarantee redundancy with the CSC chambers already present. The actual RPC technology of CMS cannot sustain the expected background level. A new generation Glass-RPC (GRPC) using low resistivity glass (LR) is proposed to equip at least the two most far away of the four high eta muon stations of CMS. The design of small size prototypes and the studies of their performances under high rate particles flux is presented.

  13. Mutations of different molecular origins exhibit contrasting patterns of regional substitution rate variation.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Navin Elango

    2008-02-01

    Full Text Available Transitions at CpG dinucleotides, referred to as "CpG substitutions", are a major mutational input into vertebrate genomes and a leading cause of human genetic disease. The prevalence of CpG substitutions is due to their mutational origin, which is dependent on DNA methylation. In comparison, other single nucleotide substitutions (for example those occurring at GpC dinucleotides mainly arise from errors during DNA replication. Here we analyzed high quality BAC-based data from human, chimpanzee, and baboon to investigate regional variation of CpG substitution rates. We show that CpG substitutions occur approximately 15 times more frequently than other single nucleotide substitutions in primate genomes, and that they exhibit substantial regional variation. Patterns of CpG rate variation are consistent with differences in methylation level and susceptibility to subsequent deamination. In particular, we propose a "distance-decaying" hypothesis, positing that due to the molecular mechanism of a CpG substitution, rates are correlated with the stability of double-stranded DNA surrounding each CpG dinucleotide, and the effect of local DNA stability may decrease with distance from the CpG dinucleotide.Consistent with our "distance-decaying" hypothesis, rates of CpG substitution are strongly (negatively correlated with regional G+C content. The influence of G+C content decays as the distance from the target CpG site increases. We estimate that the influence of local G+C content extends up to 1,500 approximately 2,000 bps centered on each CpG site. We also show that the distance-decaying relationship persisted when we controlled for the effect of long-range homogeneity of nucleotide composition. GpC sites, in contrast, do not exhibit such "distance-decaying" relationship. Our results highlight an example of the distinctive properties of methylation-dependent substitutions versus substitutions mostly arising from errors during DNA replication. Furthermore

  14. Highly variable rates of genome rearrangements between hemiascomycetous yeast lineages.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    2006-03-01

    Full Text Available Hemiascomycete yeasts cover an evolutionary span comparable to that of the entire phylum of chordates. Since this group currently contains the largest number of complete genome sequences it presents unique opportunities to understand the evolution of genome organization in eukaryotes. We inferred rates of genome instability on all branches of a phylogenetic tree for 11 species and calculated species-specific rates of genome rearrangements. We characterized all inversion events that occurred within synteny blocks between six representatives of the different lineages. We show that the rates of macro- and microrearrangements of gene order are correlated within individual lineages but are highly variable across different lineages. The most unstable genomes correspond to the pathogenic yeasts Candida albicans and Candida glabrata. Chromosomal maps have been intensively shuffled by numerous interchromosomal rearrangements, even between species that have retained a very high physical fraction of their genomes within small synteny blocks. Despite this intensive reshuffling of gene positions, essential genes, which cluster in low recombination regions in the genome of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, tend to remain syntenic during evolution. This work reveals that the high plasticity of eukaryotic genomes results from rearrangement rates that vary between lineages but also at different evolutionary times of a given lineage.

  15. Soft Skills in Health Careers Programs: A Case Study of A Regional Vocational Technical High School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Chong Myung

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to develop an understanding of the ways in which educational experiences might differ between a regional vocational technical high school (RVTH) and short-term career-training programs. A particular regional vocational technical high school was selected for its outstanding academic records and placement rates, and a…

  16. A Comparison of Moment Rates for the Eastern Mediterranean Region from Competitive Kinematic Models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klein, E. C.; Ozeren, M. S.; Shen-Tu, B.; Galgana, G. A.

    2017-12-01

    Relatively continuous, complex, and long-lived episodes of tectonic deformation gradually shaped the lithosphere of the eastern Mediterranean region into its present state. This large geodynamically interconnected and seismically active region absorbs, accumulates and transmits strains arising from stresses associated with: (1) steady northward convergence of the Arabian and African plates; (2) differences in lithospheric gravitational potential energy; and (3) basal tractions exerted by subduction along the Hellenic and Cyprus Arcs. Over the last twenty years, numerous kinematic models have been built using a variety of assumptions to take advantage of the extensive and dense GPS observations made across the entire region resulting in a far better characterization of the neotectonic deformation field than ever previously achieved. In this study, three separate horizontal strain rate field solutions obtained from three, region-wide, GPS only based kinematic models (i.e., a regional block model, a regional continuum model, and global continuum model) are utilized to estimate the distribution and uncertainty of geodetic moment rates within the eastern Mediterranean region. The geodetic moment rates from each model are also compared with seismic moment release rates gleaned from historic earthquake data. Moreover, kinematic styles of deformation derived from each of the modeled horizontal strain rate fields are examined for their degree of correlation with earthquake rupture styles defined by proximal centroid moment tensor solutions. This study suggests that significant differences in geodetically obtained moment rates from competitive kinematic models may introduce unforeseen bias into regularly updated, geodetically constrained, regional seismic hazard assessments.

  17. Understanding High Rate Behavior Through Low Rate Analog

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-04-28

    challenges in high rate character- isation of polymers. The most important is that, owing to their low stress wavespeed, the structural response of...box’ tool, to provide supporting date for the rate dependent mechanical character- isation . Experiments were performed on a TA instruments Q800

  18. Limitations to very high rate wire chambers in fixed target geometries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Spiegel, L.

    1989-11-01

    The task is to explore physical limitations to the operation of wire chambers in fixed target geometries at an interaction rate of 52 MHz (chosen as it corresponds to the FNAL accelerator rf rate.) That is, to see if there are physical limitations to the operation of gaseous wire chambers at such a high operating rate. A primary proton beam energy of 800 GeV has been assumed although modest increases in the primary energy should not affect the basic conclusion as secondary multiplicity increases logarithmically with center-of-momentum energy. By sustaining a 52 MHz interaction rate it is meant that results from a given interaction are electronically isolated from preceding and subsequent rf buckets, good wire plane efficiency is maintained throughout the active region of the chamber, and the chamber operates in a stable manner throughout the course of a typical fixed target run -- six months to a full year. Other working assumptions include the understanding that chamber electronics -- amplifiers, discriminators, delay elements, encoders -- will not suffer degradation at 52 MHz and that the intensely populated beam regions have been somehow excluded from the chambers. 7 refs., 2 figs

  19. High burn rate solid composite propellants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manship, Timothy D.

    High burn rate propellants help maintain high levels of thrust without requiring complex, high surface area grain geometries. Utilizing high burn rate propellants allows for simplified grain geometries that not only make production of the grains easier, but the simplified grains tend to have better mechanical strength, which is important in missiles undergoing high-g accelerations. Additionally, high burn rate propellants allow for a higher volumetric loading which reduces the overall missile's size and weight. The purpose of this study is to present methods of achieving a high burn rate propellant and to develop a composite propellant formulation that burns at 1.5 inches per second at 1000 psia. In this study, several means of achieving a high burn rate propellant were presented. In addition, several candidate approaches were evaluated using the Kepner-Tregoe method with hydroxyl terminated polybutadiene (HTPB)-based propellants using burn rate modifiers and dicyclopentadiene (DCPD)-based propellants being selected for further evaluation. Propellants with varying levels of nano-aluminum, nano-iron oxide, FeBTA, and overall solids loading were produced using the HTPB binder and evaluated in order to determine the effect the various ingredients have on the burn rate and to find a formulation that provides the burn rate desired. Experiments were conducted to compare the burn rates of propellants using the binders HTPB and DCPD. The DCPD formulation matched that of the baseline HTPB mix. Finally, GAP-plasticized DCPD gumstock dogbones were attempted to be made for mechanical evaluation. Results from the study show that nano-additives have a substantial effect on propellant burn rate with nano-iron oxide having the largest influence. Of the formulations tested, the highest burn rate was a 84% solids loading mix using nano-aluminum nano-iron oxide, and ammonium perchlorate in a 3:1(20 micron: 200 micron) ratio which achieved a burn rate of 1.2 inches per second at 1000

  20. High tech in the Öresund region

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Povl Adler; Serin, Göran Folke

    This book discusses the development conditions in the high tech sector for both high tech manufacturing and services. A central issue in the book is the differences in externalities which exist between various industries in the high tech sector. In this connection the confusion of externalities...... related to different parts of the high tech sector will be addressed. The location of the high tech sector in the Öresund region will be analysed and the region will also be related to other high tech regions in Europe....

  1. High rate, fast timing Glass RPC for the high ${\\eta}$ CMS muon detectors

    CERN Document Server

    Lagarde, F.; Laktineh, I.; Buridon, V.; Chen, X.; Combaret, C.; Eynard, A.; Germani, L.; Grenier, G.; Mathez, H.; Mirabito, L.; Petrukhin, A.; Steen, A.; Tromeur, W.; Wang, Y.; Gong, A.; Moreau, N.; de la Taille, C.; Dulucq, F.; Cimmino, A.; Crucy, S.; Fagot, A.; Gul, M.; Rios, A.A.O.; Tytgat, M.; Zaganidis, N.; Aly, S.; Assran, Y.; Radi, A.; Sayed, A.; Singh, G.; Abbrescia, M.; Iaselli, G.; Maggi, M.; Pugliese, G.; Verwilligen, P.; Van Doninck, W.F.; Colafranceschi, S.; Sharmag, A.; Benussi, L.; Bianco, S.; Piccolo, D.; Primavera, F.; Bhatnagar, V.; Kumari, R.; Mehta, A.; Singh, J.; Ahmad, A.; Ahmed, W.; Asghar, M.I.; Awan, I.M.; Hoorani, R.; Muhammad, S.; Shahzad, H.; Shah, M.A.; Cho, S.W.; Choi, S.Y.; Hong, B.; Kang, M.H.; Lee, K.S.; Lim, J.H.; Park, S.K.; Kim, M.S.; Carpinteyro Bernardino, S.; Pedraza, I.; Uribe Estradam, C.; Carrillo Moreno, S.; Vazquez Valencia, F.; Pant, L.M.; Buontempo, S.; Cavallo, N.; Esposito, M.; Fabozzi, F.; Lanza, G.; Orso, I.; Lista, L.; Meola, S.; Merola, M.; Paolucci, P.; Thyssen, F.; Braghieri, A.; Magnani, A.; Montagna, P.; Riccardi, C.; Salvini, P.; Vai, I.; Vitulo, P.; Ban, Y.; Qian, S.J.; Choi, M.; Choi, Y.; Goh, J.; Kim, D.; Aleksandrov, A.; Hadjiiska, R.; Iaydjiev, P.; Rodozov, M.; Stoykova, S.; Sultanov, G.; Vutova, M.; Dimitrov, A.; Litov, L.; Pavlov, B.; Petkov, P.; Bagaturia, I.; Lomidze, D.; Avila, C.; Cabrera, A.; Sanabria, J.C.; Crotty, I.; Vaitkus, J.

    2016-09-09

    The HL-LHC phase is designed to increase by an order of magnitude the amount of data to be collected by the LHC experiments. To achieve this goal in a reasonable time scale the instantaneous luminosity would also increase by an order of magnitude up to $6.10^{34} cm^{-2} s^{-1}$ . The region of the forward muon spectrometer ($|{\\eta}| > 1.6$) is not equipped with RPC stations. The increase of the expected particles rate up to $2 kHz/cm^{2}$ (including a safety factor 3) motivates the installation of RPC chambers to guarantee redundancy with the CSC chambers already present. The actual RPC technology of CMS cannot sustain the expected background level. The new technology that will be chosen should have a high rate capability and provides a good spatial and timing resolution. A new generation of Glass-RPC (GRPC) using low-resistivity (LR) glass is proposed to equip at least the two most far away of the four high ${\\eta}$ muon stations of CMS. First the design of small size prototypes and studies of their perfor...

  2. Regional rates of myocardial fatty acid metabolism: comparison with coronary angiography and ventriculography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schad, N; Wagner, R K; Hallermeier, J; Daus, H J; Vattimo, A; Bertelli, P

    1990-01-01

    In 50 patients, 1 mCi 123I phenylpentadecanoic acid (IPPA) was injected at peak ergometric stress and 1500 frames were acquired (1 frame/s) with a high count rate gamma camera. Parametric images of rates of decrease and increase for different time intervals after stress were compared with coronary angiography and LV ventriculography, separately evaluating the 3 main coronary territories: 18/150 territories supplied by normal coronaries presented rather homogeneous regional clearing rates, whereas a gradual decrease in clearing rates towards the end of the territory (frequently with peripheral defects) was seen in all 87/150 territories with significant coronary narrowing. In local correspondence to clearing defects, initial IPPA accumulations could be observed with later onset of clearing between 10 and 25 min. 44/150 territories presented abnormal clearing rates, mostly with a patchy pattern, with normal coronary anatomy, but all except one had LV dysfunction and a clinical diagnosis of cardiomyopathy, diabetes mellitus or hypertensive disease. Twenty four of the 41 patients with CAD had, in correspondence to a prior myocardial infarction, minimum or missing metabolic activity frequently in circumscribed zones, partly separated by bridges of still viable tissue with preserved but reduced clearing rates.

  3. Construction and Test of Muon Drift Tube Chambers for High Counting Rates

    CERN Document Server

    Schwegler, Philipp; Dubbert, Jörg

    2010-01-01

    Since the start of operation of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN on 20 November 2009, the instantaneous luminosity is steadily increasing. The muon spectrometer of the ATLAS detector at the LHC is instrumented with trigger and precision tracking chambers in a toroidal magnetic field. Monitored Drift-Tube (MDT) chambers are employed as precision tracking chambers, complemented by Cathode Strip Chambers (CSC) in the very forward region where the background counting rate due to neutrons and γ's produced in shielding material and detector components is too high for the MDT chambers. After several upgrades of the CERN accelerator system over the coming decade, the instantaneous luminosity is expected to be raised to about five times the LHC design luminosity. This necessitates replacement of the muon chambers in the regions with the highest background radiation rates in the so-called Small Wheels, which constitute the innermost layers of the muon spectrometer end-caps, by new detectors with higher rate cap...

  4. Regional development via high-speed rail : A study of the Stockholm-Mälaren region and possibilities for Melbourne-regional Victoria

    OpenAIRE

    Bayley, Michael

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this thesis is to examine, based on a study of the regional high-speed corridors in the Stockholm-Mälaren Region, the possibilities for regional high-speed rail in Melbourne-regional Victoria (Australia) to improve accessibility, and achieve regional development and balanced growth between the capital and its surrounding regions. It deals with the concept of 'regional' high-speed rail, a variant of classic high-speed rail that serves centres along regional corridors stemming fr...

  5. 76 FR 59682 - Desert Southwest Customer Service Region-Western Area Lower Colorado Balancing Authority-Rate...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-09-27

    ... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Western Area Power Administration Desert Southwest Customer Service Region... CONTACT: Mr. Jack Murray, Rates Manager, Desert Southwest Customer Service Region, Western Area Power... Customer Service Region Network Integration Transmission Service Rate Schedules PD-NTS3 and INT-NTS3 for P...

  6. High-Rate Strong-Signal Quantum Cryptography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuen, Horace P.

    1996-01-01

    Several quantum cryptosystems utilizing different kinds of nonclassical lights, which can accommodate high intensity fields and high data rate, are described. However, they are all sensitive to loss and both the high rate and the strong-signal character rapidly disappear. A squeezed light homodyne detection scheme is proposed which, with present-day technology, leads to more than two orders of magnitude data rate improvement over other current experimental systems for moderate loss.

  7. High spatial variability in biogeochemical rates and microbial communities across Louisiana salt marsh landscapes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roberts, B. J.; Chelsky, A.; Bernhard, A. E.; Giblin, A. E.

    2017-12-01

    Salt marshes are important sites for retention and transformation of carbon and nutrients. Much of our current marsh biogeochemistry knowledge is based on sampling at times and in locations that are convenient, most often vegetated marsh platforms during low tide. Wetland loss rates are high in many coastal regions including Louisiana which has the highest loss rates in the US. This loss not only reduces total marsh area but also changes the relative allocation of subhabitats in the remaining marsh. Climate and other anthropogenic changes lead to further changes including inundation patterns, redox conditions, salinity regimes, and shifts in vegetation patterns across marsh landscapes. We present results from a series of studies examining biogeochemical rates, microbial communities, and soil properties along multiple edge to interior transects within Spartina alterniflora across the Louisiana coast; between expanding patches of Avicennia germinans and adjacent S. alterniflora marshes; in soils associated with the four most common Louisiana salt marsh plants species; and across six different marsh subhabitats. Spartina alterniflora marsh biogeochemistry and microbial populations display high spatial variability related to variability in soil properties which appear to be, at least in part, regulated by differences in elevation, hydrology, and redox conditions. Differences in rates between soils associated with different vegetation types were also related to soil properties with S. alterniflora soils often yielding the lowest rates. Biogeochemical process rates vary significantly across marsh subhabitats with individual process rates differing in their hotspot habitat(s) across the marsh. Distinct spatial patterns may influence the roles that marshes play in retaining and transforming nutrients in coastal regions and highlight the importance of incorporating spatial sampling when scaling up plot level measurements to landscape or regional scales.

  8. Characteristics of radon and thoron exhalation rates in Okinawa, subtropical region of Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shiroma, Y.; Kina, S.; Fujitani, T.; Hosoda, M.; Sorimachi, A.; Ishikawa, T.; Sahoo, S. K.; Tokonami, S.; Furukawa, M.

    2012-01-01

    Radon and thoron exhalation rates from the ground surface were estimated in three islands of Okinawa Prefecture, a subtropical region of Japan. In situ measurements of the exhalation rates were conducted at a total of 88 points using an accumulation technique with a ZnS(Ag) scintillation detector. The radon and thoron exhalation rates were calculated to be 1-137(arithmetic mean: 21) mBq m -2 s -1 and 32-6244 (1801) mBq m -2 s -1 , respectively. In the surface soil samples collected at 53 measurement points, 238 U and 232 Th series concentrations were estimated to be 17.9-254.0 (64.0) Bq kg -1 dry and 17.8-136.1 (58.8) Bq kg -1 dry, respectively. The maximum rates and concentrations were observed in the dark red soil area. Recent studies strongly suggest that the base material of the soils may be the eolian dust derived from the southeastern part of China, a high background radiation area. The eolian dust is, therefore, considered to be an enhancer for the radon and thoron exhalations in Okinawa. (authors)

  9. 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 ...

  10. Regional rates of myocardial fatty acid metabolism: Comparison with coronary angiography and ventriculography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schad, N.; Vattimo, A.; Bertelli, P.

    1990-01-01

    In 50 patients, 1 mCi 123 I phenylpentadecanoic acid (IPPA) was injected at peak ergometric stress and 1500 frames were acquired (1 frame/s) with a high count rate gamma camera. Parametric images of rates of decrease and increase for different time intervals after stress were compared with coronary angiography and LV ventriculography, separately evaluating the 3 main coronary territories: 18/150 territories supplied by normal coronaries presented rather homogeneous regional clearing rates, whereas a gradual decrease in clearing rates towards the end of the territory (frequently with peripheral defects) was seen in all 87/150 territories with significant coronary narrowing. In local correspondence to clearing defects, initial IPPA accumulations could be observed with later onset of clearing between 10 and 25 min. In all 44/150 territories presented abnormal clearing rates, mostly with a patchy pattern, with normal coronary anatomy, but all except one had LV dysfunction and a clinical diagnosis of cardiomyopathy, diabetes mellitus or hypertensive disease. Twenty four of the 41 patients with CAD had, in correspondence to a prior myocardial infarction, minimum or missing metabolic activity frequently in circumscribed zones, partly separated by bridges of still viable tissue with preserved but reduced clearing rates. (orig.)

  11. Age differences in intercorrelations between regional cerebral metabolic rates for glucose

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Horwitz, B.; Duara, R.; Rapoport, S.I.

    1986-01-01

    Patterns of cerebral metabolic intercorrelations were compared in the resting state in 15 healthy young men (ages 20 to 32 years) and 15 healthy elderly men (ages 64 to 83 years). Controlling for whole-brain glucose metabolism, partial correlation coefficients were determined between pairs of regional cerebral metabolic rates for glucose determined by positron emission tomography using [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose and obtained in 59 brain regions. Compared with the young men, the elderly men had fewer statistically significant correlations, with the most notable reductions observed between the parietal lobe regions, and between the parietal and frontal lobe regions. These results suggest that cerebral functional interactions are reduced in healthy elderly men

  12. Neurodevelopmental Delay Diagnosis Rates Are Increased in a Region with Aerial Pesticide Application

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Steven D. Hicks

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available A number of studies have implicated pesticides in childhood developmental delay (DD and autism spectrum disorder (ASD. The influence of the route of pesticide exposure on neurodevelopmental delay is not well defined. To study this factor, we examined ASD/DD diagnoses rates in an area near our regional medical center that employs yearly aerial pyrethroid pesticide applications to combat mosquito-borne encephalitis. The aim of this study was to determine if areas with aerial pesticide exposure had higher rates of ASD/DD diagnoses. This regional study identified higher rates of ASD/DD diagnoses in an area with aerial pesticides application. Zip codes with aerial pyrethroid exposure were 37% more likely to have higher rates of ASD/DD (adjusted RR = 1.37, 95% CI = 1.06–1.78, p = 0.02. A Poisson regression model controlling for regional characteristics (poverty, pesticide use, population density, and distance to medical center, subject characteristics (race and sex, and local birth characteristics (prematurity, low birthweight, and birth rates identified a significant relationship between aerial pesticide use and ASD/DD rates. The relationship between pesticide application and human neurodevelopment deserves additional study to develop safe and effective methods of mosquito prevention, particularly as communities develop plans for Zika virus control.

  13. Neurodevelopmental Delay Diagnosis Rates Are Increased in a Region with Aerial Pesticide Application.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hicks, Steven D; Wang, Ming; Fry, Katherine; Doraiswamy, Vignesh; Wohlford, Eric M

    2017-01-01

    A number of studies have implicated pesticides in childhood developmental delay (DD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The influence of the route of pesticide exposure on neurodevelopmental delay is not well defined. To study this factor, we examined ASD/DD diagnoses rates in an area near our regional medical center that employs yearly aerial pyrethroid pesticide applications to combat mosquito-borne encephalitis. The aim of this study was to determine if areas with aerial pesticide exposure had higher rates of ASD/DD diagnoses. This regional study identified higher rates of ASD/DD diagnoses in an area with aerial pesticides application. Zip codes with aerial pyrethroid exposure were 37% more likely to have higher rates of ASD/DD (adjusted RR = 1.37, 95% CI = 1.06-1.78, p  = 0.02). A Poisson regression model controlling for regional characteristics (poverty, pesticide use, population density, and distance to medical center), subject characteristics (race and sex), and local birth characteristics (prematurity, low birthweight, and birth rates) identified a significant relationship between aerial pesticide use and ASD/DD rates. The relationship between pesticide application and human neurodevelopment deserves additional study to develop safe and effective methods of mosquito prevention, particularly as communities develop plans for Zika virus control.

  14. [Regional differences of ADHD diagnosis rates in health insurance data from 2005 to 2015 : Methodological considerations and results].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grobe, Thomas G

    2017-12-01

    Attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD) are among the most common mental disorders in children and adolescents. For a number of years there has been evidence of regional differences in Germany. This article provides current results on the frequency of diagnosis and treatment and also discusses methodological aspects. The analysis is based on routine data of a statutory health insurance company including annual diagnoses and drug prescriptions from 2005 to 2015 of at least 1.34 million children and adolescents between 0 and 19 years of age. Small-area results of ADHD diagnosis rates and methylphenidate prescriptions are presented with a standardized differentiation according to 413 districts pursuant to territorial status from the end of 2008. From 2005 to 2014, ADHD diagnoses were documented for an increasing proportion of 0 to 19-year-olds in Germany. In 2015 the proportion was 4.2%; boys aged 10 were affected most frequently with a proportion of 11.1%. Regional diagnosis rates vary considerably. Two counties showed diagnosis and prescription rates that were more than twice as high as regionally expected for all years in question; other districts showed rates that were continually lower than expected by at least a third. Analyses on the level of administratively defined districts have some advantages but alternative regional structuring would be desirable due to very heterogeneous population figures. Regarding ADHD diagnoses and documented methylphenidate prescriptions on an outpatient basis, significant regional differences in Germany were detected, for which plausible medical justifications do not yet exist. Specialist discussions seem urgently needed.

  15. Review: Recharge rates and chemistry beneath playas of the High Plains aquifer, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gurdak, Jason J.; Roe, Cassia D.

    2010-12-01

    Playas are ephemeral, closed-basin wetlands that are hypothesized as an important source of recharge to the High Plains aquifer in central USA. The ephemeral nature of playas, low regional recharge rates, and a strong reliance on groundwater from the High Plains aquifer has prompted many questions regarding the contribution and quality of recharge from playas to the High Plains aquifer. As a result, there has been considerable scientific debate about the potential for water to infiltrate the relatively impermeable playa floors, travel through the unsaturated zone sediments that are tens of meters thick, and subsequently recharge the High Plains aquifer. This critical review examines previously published studies on the processes that control recharge rates and chemistry beneath playas. Reported recharge rates beneath playas range from less than 1.0 to more than 500 mm/yr and are generally 1-2 orders of magnitude higher than recharge rates beneath interplaya settings. Most studies support the conceptual model that playas are important zones of recharge to the High Plains aquifer and are not strictly evaporative pans. The major findings of this review provide science-based implications for management of playas and groundwater resources of the High Plains aquifer and directions for future research.

  16. Accelerating regional atrophy rates in the progression from normal aging to Alzheimer's disease

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sluimer, Jasper D.; Flier, Wiesje M. van der; Scheltens, Philip; Karas, Giorgos B.; Barkhof, Frederik; Schijndel, Ronald van; Barnes, Josephine; Boyes, Richard G.; Cover, Keith S.; Olabarriaga, Silvia D.; Fox, Nick C.; Vrenken, Hugo

    2009-01-01

    We investigated progression of atrophy in vivo, in Alzheimer's disease (AD), and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). We included 64 patients with AD, 44 with MCI and 34 controls with serial MRI examinations (interval 1.8 ± 0.7 years). A nonlinear registration algorithm (fluid) was used to calculate atrophy rates in six regions: frontal, medial temporal, temporal (extramedial), parietal, occipital lobes and insular cortex. In MCI, the highest atrophy rate was observed in the medial temporal lobe, comparable with AD. AD patients showed even higher atrophy rates in the extramedial temporal lobe. Additionally, atrophy rates in frontal, parietal and occipital lobes were increased. Cox proportional hazard models showed that all regional atrophy rates predicted conversion to AD. Hazard ratios varied between 2.6 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.1-6.2) for occipital atrophy and 15.8 (95% CI = 3.5-71.8) for medial temporal lobe atrophy. In conclusion, atrophy spreads through the brain with development of AD. MCI is marked by temporal lobe atrophy. In AD, atrophy rate in the extramedial temporal lobe was even higher. Moreover, atrophy rates also accelerated in parietal, frontal, insular and occipital lobes. Finally, in nondemented elderly, medial temporal lobe atrophy was most predictive of progression to AD, demonstrating the involvement of this region in the development of AD. (orig.)

  17. Fast rate of evolution in alternatively spliced coding regions of mammalian genes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nurtdinov Ramil N

    2006-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background At least half of mammalian genes are alternatively spliced. Alternative isoforms are often genome-specific and it has been suggested that alternative splicing is one of the major mechanisms for generating protein diversity in the course of evolution. Another way of looking at alternative splicing is to consider sequence evolution of constitutive and alternative regions of protein-coding genes. Indeed, it turns out that constitutive and alternative regions evolve in different ways. Results A set of 3029 orthologous pairs of human and mouse alternatively spliced genes was considered. The rate of nonsynonymous substitutions (dN, the rate of synonymous substitutions (dS, and their ratio (ω = dN/dS appear to be significantly higher in alternatively spliced coding regions compared to constitutive regions. When N-terminal, internal and C-terminal alternatives are analysed separately, C-terminal alternatives appear to make the main contribution to the observed difference. The effects become even more pronounced in a subset of fast evolving genes. Conclusion These results provide evidence of weaker purifying selection and/or stronger positive selection in alternative regions and thus one more confirmation of accelerated evolution in alternative regions. This study corroborates the theory that alternative splicing serves as a testing ground for molecular evolution.

  18. Mortality and recurrence rates among systemically untreated high risk breast cancer patients included in the DBCG 77 trials

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Maj Britt; Nielsen, Torsten O.; Knoop, Ann S.

    2018-01-01

    Background: Following loco-regional treatment for early breast cancer accurate prognostication is essential for communicating benefits of systemic treatment. The aim of this study was to determine time to recurrence and long-term mortality rates in high risk patients according to patient characte......Background: Following loco-regional treatment for early breast cancer accurate prognostication is essential for communicating benefits of systemic treatment. The aim of this study was to determine time to recurrence and long-term mortality rates in high risk patients according to patient...... and EGFR positive. Multivariate categorical and fractional polynomials (MFP) models were used to construct prognostic subsets by clinicopathologic characteristics. Results: In a multivariate model, mortality rate was significantly associated with age, tumor size, nodal status, invasion, histological type...

  19. Stigma, attitudes and help-seeking intentions for psychological problems in relation to regional suicide rates.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Reynders, A.; Kerkhof, A.J.F.M.; Molenberghs, G.; Van Audenhove, C.

    2016-01-01

    In this ecological study, we investigated whether help-seeking related to stigma, intentions, and attitudes toward suicide are associated with the suicide rates of 20 regions within the Netherlands and Belgium. Significant associations were found between regional suicide rates and the intention to

  20. Effect of Cooling Rate on Phase Transformations in a High-Strength Low-Alloy Steel Studied from the Liquid Phase

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dorin, Thomas; Stanford, Nicole; Taylor, Adam; Hodgson, Peter

    2015-12-01

    The phase transformation and precipitation in a high-strength low-alloy steel have been studied over a large range of cooling rates, and a continuous cooling transformation (CCT) diagram has been produced. These experiments are unique because the measurements were made from samples cooled directly from the melt, rather than in homogenized and re-heated billets. The purpose of this experimental design was to examine conditions pertinent to direct strip casting. At the highest cooling rates which simulate strip casting, the microstructure was fully bainitic with small regions of pearlite. At lower cooling rates, the fraction of polygonal ferrite increased and the pearlite regions became larger. The CCT diagram and the microstructural analysis showed that the precipitation of NbC is suppressed at high cooling rates, and is likely to be incomplete at intermediate cooling rates.

  1. Heart rate reveals torpor at high body temperatures in lowland tropical free-tailed bats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Mara, M Teague; Rikker, Sebastian; Wikelski, Martin; Ter Maat, Andries; Pollock, Henry S; Dechmann, Dina K N

    2017-12-01

    Reduction in metabolic rate and body temperature is a common strategy for small endotherms to save energy. The daily reduction in metabolic rate and heterothermy, or torpor, is particularly pronounced in regions with a large variation in daily ambient temperature. This applies most strongly in temperate bat species (order Chiroptera), but it is less clear how tropical bats save energy if ambient temperatures remain high. However, many subtropical and tropical species use some daily heterothermy on cool days. We recorded the heart rate and the body temperature of free-ranging Pallas' mastiff bats ( Molossus molossus ) in Gamboa, Panamá, and showed that these individuals have low field metabolic rates across a wide range of body temperatures that conform to high ambient temperature. Importantly, low metabolic rates in controlled respirometry trials were best predicted by heart rate, and not body temperature . Molossus molossus enter torpor-like states characterized by low metabolic rate and heart rates at body temperatures of 32°C, and thermoconform across a range of temperatures. Flexible metabolic strategies may be far more common in tropical endotherms than currently known.

  2. The analysis of a case rate a skin melanoma in the Samara region for 1999-2009

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kozlov S.V.

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available In article one of oncology problems — a skin melanoma is surveyed. The theme urgency proves to be true that annually the case rate of patients with an oncologic pathology is constantly enlarged. One of oncology problems still has a skin melanoma. The work purpose is studying of a case rate by a skin melanoma in large industrial area on an example of the Samara region over the last 10 years. In article one of oncology problems — a skin melanoma is surveyed. For the task in view decision following materials and methods were used: primary registration documentation for 11 years (1999-2009 About for the first time taped disease a skin melanoma, annual reports of the Samara regional clinical oncologic dispensary, annual statistical reports of the State statistical committee, bureau MSE annual reports. At processing and the forecast of results of research following statistical methods — an extrapolation method, model of linear regress were used. Reliability of the taped pattern of dynamics was defined by means of an error of regress with the subsequent definition t and p. The received results testify to growth of a case rate of all population of the Samara region at the expense of the senior age groups. According to the analysis the invalid population is more often is ill. Conclusions are drawn on appreciable influence on occurrence of this pathology occurring in an organism involutes processes, necessity of carrying out of sanitary-educational work, carrying out of additional profound inspection among the population with high level of a case rate

  3. Statistical properties of Joule heating rate, electric field and conductances at high latitudes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. T. Aikio

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available Statistical properties of Joule heating rate, electric field and conductances in the high latitude ionosphere are studied by a unique one-month measurement made by the EISCAT incoherent scatter radar in Tromsø (66.6 cgmlat from 6 March to 6 April 2006. The data are from the same season (close to vernal equinox and from similar sunspot conditions (about 1.5 years before the sunspot minimum providing an excellent set of data to study the MLT and Kp dependence of parameters with high temporal and spatial resolution. All the parameters show a clear MLT variation, which is different for low and high Kp conditions. Our results indicate that the response of morning sector conductances and conductance ratios to increased magnetic activity is stronger than that of the evening sector. The co-location of Pedersen conductance maximum and electric field maximum in the morning sector produces the largest Joule heating rates 03–05 MLT for Kp≥3. In the evening sector, a smaller maximum occurs at 18 MLT. Minimum Joule heating rates in the nightside are statistically observed at 23 MLT, which is the location of the electric Harang discontinuity. An important outcome of the paper are the fitted functions for the Joule heating rate as a function of electric field magnitude, separately for four MLT sectors and two activity levels (Kp<3 and Kp≥3. In addition to the squared electric field, the fit includes a linear term to study the possible anticorrelation or correlation between electric field and conductance. In the midday sector, positive correlation is found as well as in the morning sector for the high activity case. In the midnight and evening sectors, anticorrelation between electric field and conductance is obtained, i.e. high electric fields are associated with low conductances. This is expected to occur in the return current regions adjacent to auroral arcs as a result of ionosphere-magnetosphere coupling, as discussed by Aikio et al. (2004 In

  4. 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

  5. Car-borne survey of natural background gamma dose rate in Canakkale region (Turkey)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Turhan, S.; Arikan, I. H.; Oquz, F.; Aezdemir, T.; Yuecel, B.; Varinlioqlu, A.; Koese, A.

    2012-01-01

    Natural background gamma radiation was measured along roads in the environs of Canakkale region by using a car-borne spectrometer system with a plastic gamma radiation detector. In addition, activity concentrations of 238 U, 226 Ra, 232 Th and 40 K in soil samples from the Canakkale region were determined by using a gamma spectrometer with an HPGe detector. A total of 92 856 data of the background gamma dose rate were collected for the Canakkale region. The background gamma dose rate of the Canakkale region was mapped using ArcGIS software, applying the geostatistical inverse distance-weighted method. The average and population-weighted average of the gamma dose are 55.4 and 40.6 nGy h -1 , respectively. The corresponding average annual effective dose to the public ranged from 26.6 to 96.8 μSv. (authors)

  6. Decay rates of resonance states at high level density

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Persson, E.; Technische Univ. Dresden; Gorin, T.; Technische Univ. Dresden; Rotter, I.; Technische Univ. Dresden

    1996-05-01

    The time dependent Schroedinger equation of an open quantum mechanical system is solved by using the stationary bi-orthogonal eigenfunctions of the non-Hermitean time independent Hamilton operator. We calculate the decay rates at low and high level density in two different formalism. The rates are, generally, time dependent and oscillate around an average value due to the non-orthogonality of the wavefunctions. The decay law is studied disregarding the oscillations. In the one-channel case, it is proportional to t -b with b∼3/2 in all cases considered, including the critical region of overlapping where the non-orthogonality of the wavefunctions is large. Starting from the shell model, we get b∼2 for 2 and 4 open decay channels and all coupling strengths to the continuum. When the closed system is described by a random matrix, b∼1+K/2 for K=2 and 4 channels. This law holds in a limited time interval. The distribution of the widths is different in the two models when more than one channel are open. This leads to the different exponents b in the power law. Our calculations are performed with 190 and 130 states, respectively, most of them in the critical region. The theoretical results should be proven experimentally by measuring the time behaviour of de-excitation of a realistic quantum system. (orig.)

  7. Primary drug resistance in a region with high burden of tuberculosis. A critical problem.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Villa-Rosas, Cecilia; Laniado-Laborín, Rafael; Oceguera-Palao, Lorena

    2015-01-01

    To determine rates of drug resistance in new cases of pulmonary tuberculosis in a region with a high burden of the disease. New case suspects were referred for drug susceptibility testing. 28.9% of new cases were resistant to at least one first line drug; 3.9% had a multidrug-resistant strain, 15.6% a monoresistant strain and 9.4% a polyresistant strain. Our rate of drug resistant tuberculosis in new cases is very high; this has important clinical implications, since even monoresistance can have a negative impact on the outcome of new cases treated empirically with a six month regimen.

  8. Time and position resolution of high granularity, high counting rate MRPC for the inner zone of the CBM-TOF wall

    CERN Document Server

    Petriş, M.

    2016-09-13

    Multi-gap RPC prototypes with readout on a multi-strip electrode were developed for the small polar angle region of the CBM-TOF subdetector, the most demanding zone in terms of granularity and counting rate. The prototypes are based on low resistivity ($\\sim$10$^{10}$ $\\Omega$cm) glass electrodes for performing in high counting rate environment. The strip width/pitch size was chosen such to fulfill the impedance matching with the front-end electronics and the granularity requirements of the innermost zone of the CBM-TOF wall. The in-beam tests using secondary particles produced in heavy ion collisions on a Pb target at SIS18 - GSI Darmstadt and SPS - CERN were focused on the performance of the prototype in conditions similar to the ones expected at SIS100/FAIR. An efficiency larger than 98\\% and a system time resolution in the order of 70~-~80~ps were obtained in high counting rate and high multiplicity environment.

  9. Culture’s Influence: Regionally Differing Social Milieus and Variations in Fertility Rates

    OpenAIRE

    Fulda, B.

    2015-01-01

    How can we understand subnational differences in fertility rates? The most common explanations see the key to these differences in the socio-structural composition of a region’s population and its structural conditions. However, such explanations fail to account for fertility rate differences in regions with similar populations and structures. This paper analyzes two social milieus in southern Germany and argues that variations in their fertility rates can only be understood through their cul...

  10. Evidence for gene-specific rather than transcription rate-dependent histone H3 exchange in yeast coding regions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gat-Viks, Irit; Vingron, Martin

    2009-02-01

    In eukaryotic organisms, histones are dynamically exchanged independently of DNA replication. Recent reports show that different coding regions differ in their amount of replication-independent histone H3 exchange. The current paradigm is that this histone exchange variability among coding regions is a consequence of transcription rate. Here we put forward the idea that this variability might be also modulated in a gene-specific manner independently of transcription rate. To that end, we study transcription rate-independent replication-independent coding region histone H3 exchange. We term such events relative exchange. Our genome-wide analysis shows conclusively that in yeast, relative exchange is a novel consistent feature of coding regions. Outside of replication, each coding region has a characteristic pattern of histone H3 exchange that is either higher or lower than what was expected by its RNAPII transcription rate alone. Histone H3 exchange in coding regions might be a way to add or remove certain histone modifications that are important for transcription elongation. Therefore, our results that gene-specific coding region histone H3 exchange is decoupled from transcription rate might hint at a new epigenetic mechanism of transcription regulation.

  11. Cancer incidence rates in the Kurdistan region/Iraq from 2007-2009.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Othman, Ramadhan T; Abdulljabar, Rezvan; Saeed, Abdullah; Kittani, Sarwar Sadiq; Sulaiman, Hushyar M; Mohammed, Sami A; Rashid, Rekawt M; Hussein, Nawfal R

    2011-01-01

    Cancer is a disease of gradual increase in incidence overall the world. Kurdistan Region in Iraq has been exposed to several carcinogenic hazards. There are few reports about the increased risk of cancer in different cities in Iraq. These reports did not cover Kurdistan region. The aim of this paper was to study cancer incidence and to identify possible risks of cancer in this region. Cancer registries from 9 hospitals in three cities of Kurdistan were used as a source of data. Information on these cases was subjected to careful verification regarding repetition, place of residence and other possible errors. Overall registered cases in 2007, 2008 and 2009 were 1444, 2081, 2356 respectively. 49% of registered cases were males and 51% were female. The Age Standardized Rate of cancer was 89.83/100 000 among male and 83.93/100 000 among female. The results showed major variation in incidence rates of different types of cancer in the three governorates of Kurdistan. Furthermore, there was evidence of increased risks of cancer in Kurdistan Region in Iraq. Hematological malignancies were the most common cancer among male (21.13% of all cancer in males) and second most common in female (18.8% of all cancer in female), only exceeded by breast cancer. To reach sound conclusions about extent and determinants of cancer in Kurdistan, enormous multi-spectrum efforts are now needed.

  12. High rates of intestinal bicarbonate secretion in seawater tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruiz-Jarabo, I; Gregório, S F; Gaetano, P; Trischitta, F; Fuentes, J

    2017-05-01

    Osmoregulation in fish is a complex process that requires the orchestrated cooperation of many tissues. In fish facing hyperosmotic environments, the intestinal absorption of some monovalent ions and the secretion of bicarbonate are key processes to favor water absorption. In the present study, we showed that bicarbonate levels in the intestinal fluid are several fold higher in seawater than in freshwater acclimated tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus). In addition, we analyzed gene expression of the main molecular mechanisms involved in HCO 3 - movements i.e. slc26a6, slc26a3, slc4a4 and v-type H-ATPase sub C in the intestine of tilapia acclimated to both seawater and freshwater. Our results show an anterior/posterior functional regionalization of the intestine in tilapia in terms of expression patterns, which is affected by environmental salinity mostly in the anterior and mid intestine. Analysis of bicarbonate secretion using pH-Stat in tissues mounted in Ussing chambers reveals high rates of bicarbonate secretion in tilapia acclimated to seawater from anterior intestine to rectum ranging between ~900 and ~1700nmolHCO 3 - cm -2 h -1 . However, a relationship between the expression of slc26a6, slc26a3, slc4a4 and the rate of bicarbonate secretion seems to be compromised in the rectum. In this region, the low expression of the bicarbonate transporters could not explain the high bicarbonate secretion rates here described. However, we postulate that the elevated v-type H-ATPase mRNA expression in the rectum could be involved in this process. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Regional stressing rate appears to control duration and decay of off-fault aftershocks in the 2011 M=9.0 Tohoku-oki, Japan, earthquake

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toda, S.; Stein, R. S.

    2013-12-01

    The 11 March 2001 M=9.0 Tohoku-oki, Japan, earthquake brought the unprecedented broad increase in seismicity over inland Japan and far offshore. The seismicity rate increase was observed at distances of up to 425 km from the locus of high seismic slip on the megathrust, which roughly corresponds to the areas over 0.1 bar Coulomb stress increase (e.g., Toda et al., 2011). Such stress perturbation in the entire eastern Honshu island gives us a great opportunity to test one of the hypotheses in rate and state friction of Dieterich (1994): aftershock duration (ta) is inversely proportional to fault stressing rate. The Tohoku-oki mainshock indeed started a stopwatch simultaneously for all the off-fault and on-fault aftershocks in various tectonic situations. We have carefully examined the aftershock decays fitting the Omori-Utsu formula in several activated regions, including on the 2011 source fault, several inland areas of Tohoku (Akita, Iwaki, northern Sendai, and Fukushima), Tokyo metropolitan area, Choshi (east of Tokyo), Izu Peninsula, and areas along the most active Itoigawa-Shizuoka Tectonic Line (ISTL) central Honshu. Comparing the regional aftershock decays with the background rates of seismicity estimated from the JMA catalog from 2000 to 2010, we measured ta. One of the extreme short duration was measured at the Izu Peninsula where the heightened seismicity was rapidly toned down to the normal in one month. Overall seismicity in the Tohoku mainshock zone has been mostly closing to normal in 2 - 3 years. Both regions are characterized by high loading rate due to plate collision and subduction. Seismicity beneath Tokyo, also characterized by complex plate interfaces and brought average 1 bar closer to failure, has not followed the simple Omori decay but being settled a new higher rate after a rapid decay. In contrast to these highly deformed regions, current seismicity in slowly loading Tohoku inland regions are still much higher than background rate, which

  14. Variations in breastfeeding rates for very preterm infants between regions and neonatal units in Europe

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bonet, Mercedes; Blondel, Béatrice; Agostino, Rocco

    2011-01-01

    To compare breastfeeding rates at discharge for very preterm infants between European regions and neonatal units, and to identify characteristics associated with breast feeding using multilevel models.......To compare breastfeeding rates at discharge for very preterm infants between European regions and neonatal units, and to identify characteristics associated with breast feeding using multilevel models....

  15. Stigma, Attitudes, and Help-Seeking Intentions for Psychological Problems in Relation to Regional Suicide Rates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reynders, Alexandre; Kerkhof, Ad J F M; Molenberghs, Geert; Van Audenhove, Chantal

    2016-02-01

    In this ecological study, we investigated whether help-seeking related to stigma, intentions, and attitudes toward suicide are associated with the suicide rates of 20 regions within the Netherlands and Belgium. Significant associations were found between regional suicide rates and the intention to seek informal help (β = -1.47, p = .001), self-stigma (β = 1.33, p = .038), and shame (β = .71, p = .030). The association between self-stigma and suicide rate was mediated by intentions to seek informal help. These results suggest that to promote suicide prevention at the level of the regional population, stigma, shame, and intentions to seek help should be targeted in the public domain. © 2015 The American Association of Suicidology.

  16. Innovation, regional development and relations between high- and low-tech industries

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Teis; Winther, Lars

    2011-01-01

    The current European policy agenda strongly accentuates the importance of research and development (R&D) as a driver of economic growth. The basic assumption is that high European wage levels make it unlikely that less research-intensive parts of the economy can withstand competition from low......-wage countries with increasingly skilled labour forces. Thus, the inferior growth of the European Union (EU) in the 1990s compared with the USA has been explained by the latter’s higher rate of R&D investments. The paper challenges this rather simplistic view of innovation and examines the regional consequences...... of such policies. EU growth has caught up with that of the USA during recent years and low-tech industries continue to have considerable economic importance in Europe in terms of jobs and value added, especially outside the main growth regions, but also in the major urban regions. Empirical evidence from Denmark...

  17. Regional inequalities in self-rated health in Russia: What is the role of social and economic capital?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lyytikäinen, Laura; Kemppainen, Teemu

    2016-07-01

    Using the data from the European Social Survey (round 6, 2012), this article studies regional inequalities in self-rated health in Russia and examines the role that socio-demographic factors and economic and social capital play in these differences. Also, the regional variation in the determinants of self-rated health is analysed. The article argues that there are considerable and statistically significant unadjusted differences in self-rated health across Russian Federal Districts. We elaborated these differences by regression adjustments, with the result that some of the differences were explained by our predictors and some were amplified. The odds for good self-rated health were lower in the Volga than in Central Russia due to age and socio-economic composition. In contrast, the regression adjustments amplified the differences of the Northwest and the South in comparison to the Central District. The odds for good self-rated health were considerably lower in the Far Eastern part of the country than in the Central District, independently of the adjustments. While social and economic capital predicted good self-rated health at the individual level, they did not explain regional differences. Interaction analyses revealed regional variation in some of the determinants of self-rated health. Most notably, the effects of age, trade union membership and volunteering depended on the regional context. This article argues that the healthcare reforms that transfer funding responsibilities to regional administration may be dangerous for the already less affluent and less healthy rural regions. Thus, regional governance has a growing importance in preventing increases in health inequalities. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. High School Graduation Rates:Alternative Methods and Implications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jing Miao

    2004-10-01

    Full Text Available The No Child Left Behind Act has brought great attention to the high school graduation rate as one of the mandatory accountability measures for public school systems. However, there is no consensus on how to calculate the high school graduation rate given the lack of longitudinal databases that track individual students. This study reviews literature on and practices in reporting high school graduation rates, compares graduation rate estimates yielded from alternative methods, and estimates discrepancies between alternative results at national, state, and state ethnic group levels. Despite the graduation rate method used, results indicate that high school graduation rates in the U.S. have been declining in recent years and that graduation rates for black and Hispanic students lag substantially behind those of white students. As to graduation rate method preferred, this study found no evidence that the conceptually more complex methods yield more accurate or valid graduation rate estimates than the simpler methods.

  19. Rating the Efficiency of Regional Health Systems and Compulsory Health Insurance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tatyana Nikolayevna Russkikh

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available In the face of increasing of the regional differentiation of the health systems and compulsory health insurance, the comparative analysis and efficiency assessment of their performance in the context of the subjects of the Russian Federation becomes particularly relevant. Therefore, the research is focused on the regional health systems and compulsory health insurance (CHI, and the subject matter of the study is the analysis of the system performance. In the article, the comparative analysis of the authors’ approaches to the formation of efficiency criteria of the performance of regional health systems and CHI, as well as to the development of a typology of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation based on these criteria is conducted. The authors propose a system of indicators to measure the economic, medical and social efficiency of the systems under consideration. Moreover, a set of indicators of economic efficiency forms two groups of indicators. The first group of indicators reflects the financial performance, and the second — the structural efficiency. A methodological approach to the formation of the rating for subjects of the Russian Federation according to the levels of efficiency, based on the procedures of cluster analysis and fuzzy mathematics are developed. A feature of the proposed approach to the construction of a typology of the subjects in terms of efficiency is the introduction of a reference subject with the national average performance indicators system that allows to qualitatively assess the effectiveness of regional health systems and CHI by comparing them with the «reference subject». The results of the empirical research have indicated a high differentiation of the subjects of the Russian Federation in terms of economic efficiency, have allowed to identify the subjects-outsiders. The theoretical and practical results can be used for the rational choice of priorities of the state policy in the field of the

  20. High-dose regions versus likelihood of cure after prostate brachytherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wallner, Kent; Merrick, Gregory; Sutlief, Steven; True, Laurence; Butler, Wayne

    2005-01-01

    Purpose: To analyze the effect of high-dose regions on biochemical cancer control rates after prostate brachytherapy. Methods and Materials: Patients with 1997 American Joint Committee on Cancer clinical Stage T1c-T2a prostate carcinoma (Gleason grade 5-6, prostate-specific antigen level 4-10 ng/mL) were randomized to implantation with 125 I (144 Gy) vs. 103 Pd (125 Gy, National Institute of Standards and Technology 1999). Isotope implantation was performed by standard techniques, using a modified peripheral loading pattern. Of the 313 patients entered in the protocol, 270 were included in this analysis. The 125 I source strength ranged from 0.4 to 0.89 mCi (median, 0.55 mCi), and the 103 Pd source strength ranged from 1.3 to 1.6 mCi (median, 1.5 mCi). CT was performed within 4 h after implantation. The dosimetric parameters analyzed included the percentage of the postimplant prostate volume covered by the 100%, 150%, 200%, and 300% prescription dose (V 100 , V 150 , V 200 , and V 300 , respectively). The median time to the last follow-up for patients without failure was 2.7 years. Freedom from biochemical failure was defined as a serum prostate-specific antigen level of ≤0.5 ng/mL at last follow-up. Patients were censored at last follow-up if their serum prostate-specific antigen level was still decreasing. Results: The mean V 100 , V 150 , V 200 , and V 300 value was 90% (±8%), 63% (±14), 35% (±13%), and 14% (±7%), respectively. Patients with a V 100 of ≥90% had a 3-year freedom from biochemical failure rate of 96% vs. 87% for those with a V 100 of 100 of ≥90% were analyzed, no relationship was found between higher dose regions and the likelihood of cancer control. This lack of effect on biochemical control was apparent for both isotopes. Conclusion: High-dose regions do not appear to affect cancer control rates, as long as >90% of the prostate volume is covered by the prescription dose

  1. Effect of high sedimentation rates on surface sediment dynamics and mangrove growth in the Porong River, Indonesia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sidik, Frida; Neil, David; Lovelock, Catherine E

    2016-06-15

    Large quantities of mud from the LUSI (Lumpur Sidoarjo) volcano in northeastern Java have been channeled to the sea causing high rates of sediment delivery to the mouth of the Porong River, which has a cover of natural and planted mangroves. This study investigated how the high rates of sediment delivery affected vertical accretion, surface elevation change and the growth of Avicennia sp., the dominant mangrove species in the region. During our observations in 2010-2011 (4-5years after the initial volcanic eruption), very high rates of sedimentation in the forests at the mouth of the river gave rise to high vertical accretion of over 10cmy(-1). The high sedimentation rates not only resulted in reduced growth of Avicennia sp. mangrove trees at the two study sites at the Porong River mouth, but also gave rise to high soil surface elevation gains. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. On the Achievable Rate-Regions for the Gaussian Two-way Diamond Channels

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    F. Askarian

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available In this channel,we study rate region of a Gaussian two-way diamond channel which operates in half-duplex mode. In this channel, two transceiver (TR nodes exchange their messages with the help of two relay nodes. We consider a special case of the Gaussian two-way diamond channels which is called Compute-and-Forward Multiple Access Channel (CF-MAC. In the CF-MAC, the TR nodes transmit their messages to the relay nodes which are followed by a simultaneous communication from the relay nodes to the TRs. Adopting rate splitting method in the terminal encoders and then using Compute-and-Forward (CF relaying and decoding the sum of messages at the relay nodes, an achievable rate region for this channel is obtained. To this end, we use a superposition coding based on lattice codes. Using numerical results, we show that our proposed scheme has better performance than other similar methods and achieves a tighter gap to the outer bound.

  3. Statistical properties of Joule heating rate, electric field and conductances at high latitudes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. T. Aikio

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available Statistical properties of Joule heating rate, electric field and conductances in the high latitude ionosphere are studied by a unique one-month measurement made by the EISCAT incoherent scatter radar in Tromsø (66.6 cgmlat from 6 March to 6 April 2006. The data are from the same season (close to vernal equinox and from similar sunspot conditions (about 1.5 years before the sunspot minimum providing an excellent set of data to study the MLT and Kp dependence of parameters with high temporal and spatial resolution.

    All the parameters show a clear MLT variation, which is different for low and high Kp conditions. Our results indicate that the response of morning sector conductances and conductance ratios to increased magnetic activity is stronger than that of the evening sector. The co-location of Pedersen conductance maximum and electric field maximum in the morning sector produces the largest Joule heating rates 03–05 MLT for Kp≥3. In the evening sector, a smaller maximum occurs at 18 MLT. Minimum Joule heating rates in the nightside are statistically observed at 23 MLT, which is the location of the electric Harang discontinuity.

    An important outcome of the paper are the fitted functions for the Joule heating rate as a function of electric field magnitude, separately for four MLT sectors and two activity levels (Kp<3 and Kp≥3. In addition to the squared electric field, the fit includes a linear term to study the possible anticorrelation or correlation between electric field and conductance. In the midday sector, positive correlation is found as well as in the morning sector for the high activity case. In the midnight and evening sectors, anticorrelation between electric field and conductance is obtained, i.e. high electric fields are associated with low conductances. This is expected to occur in the return current regions adjacent to

  4. Primary drug resistance in a region with high burden of tuberculosis. A critical problem

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cecilia Villa-Rosas

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Objective. To determine rates of drug resistance in new cases of pulmonary tuberculosis in a region with a high burden of the disease. Materials and methods. New case suspects were referred for drug susceptibility testing. Results. 28.9% of new cases were resistant to at least one first line drug; 3.9% had a multidrug-resistant strain, 15.6% a monoresistant strain and 9.4% a polyresistant strain. Conclusion. Our rate of drug resistant tuberculosis in new cases is very high; this has important clinical implications, since even monoresistance can have a negative impact on the outcome of new cases treated empirically with a six month regimen.

  5. Nonsyndromic retinitis pigmentosa is highly prevalent in the Jerusalem region with a high frequency of founder mutations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharon, Dror; Banin, Eyal

    2015-01-01

    Nonsyndromic retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is the most common inherited retinal degeneration, and prevalence of the disease has been reported in populations of American and European origin with a relatively low consanguinity rate. Our aim was to determine the prevalence of nonsyndromic RP in the Jerusalem region, which has a population of about 1 million individuals with a high rate of consanguinity. The patients' clinical data included eye exam findings (visual acuity, anterior segment, and funduscopy) as well as electroretinographic (ERG) testing results under scotopic and photopic conditions. Mutation analysis on a subgroup of patients was performed mainly with candidate gene analysis and homozygosity mapping. We evaluated the medical records of patients with degenerative retinal diseases residing in the Jerusalem region who were examined over the past 20 years in a large tertiary medical center. A total of 453 individuals affected with nonsyndromic RP were diagnosed at our center, according to funduscopic findings and ERG testing. Based on the estimated population size of 945,000 individuals who reside in the vicinity of Jerusalem, the prevalence of nonsyndromic RP in this region is 1:2,086. The prevalence of RP was higher among Arab Muslims (1:1,798) compared to Jews (1:2,230), mainly due to consanguineous marriages that are more common in the Arab Muslim population. To identify the genetic causes of RP in our cohort, we recruited 383 patients from 183 different families for genetic analysis: 70 with autosomal recessive (AR) inheritance, 15 with autosomal dominant, 86 isolate cases, and 12 with an X-linked inheritance pattern. In 64 (35%) of the families, we identified the genetic cause of the disease, and we revised the inheritance pattern of 20 isolate cases to the AR pattern; 49% of the families in our cohort had AR inheritance. Interestingly, in 42 (66%) of the genetically identified families, the cause of disease was a founder mutation. Previous studies

  6. Measurement and analysis of reaction rate distributions of cores with spectrum shifter region

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matsuura, Shigekazu; Shiroya, Seiji; Unesaki, Hironobu; Takeda, Toshikazu; Aizawa, Otohiko; Kanda, Keiji.

    1995-01-01

    A study for the neutronic characteristics of the spectrum-controlled neutron irradiation fields using various reflector materials was performed. Spectrum shifter regions were constructed in the upper reflector region of the solid moderated core (B-Core) of the Kyoto University Critical Assembly (KUCA). Beryllium, graphite and aluminum were selected as the loading materials for the spectrum shifter. Two tight-pitch lattice cores with different moderator-to-fuel volume ratio (V m /V f ) of 0.97 and 0.65 have been used. Axial reaction rate distributions of gold, nickel and indium wires were measured, and the spectrum index was defined as the Cd ratio of the gold wire and the ratio of gold reaction rate to nickel reaction rate. Using the conventional design calculation procedure, the experimental and calculated reaction rate and spectrum index show several disagreements. Detailed treatment of the neutron streaming effect, heterogeneous cell structure and depression factor are shown to be necessary for improving the agreement between experimental and calculated values. (author)

  7. Postoperative radiotherapy appeared to improve the disease free survival rate of patients with extrahepatic bile duct cancer at high risk of loco-regional recurrence

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Mi Young; Kim, Jin Hee; Kim, Yong Hoon [Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center, Keimyung University School of Medicine, Daegu (Korea, Republic of); Byun, Sang Jun [Dept. of Radiation Oncology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-12-15

    To investigate the outcomes of postoperative radiotherapy (RT), in patients with extrahepatic bile duct (EHBD) cancer by comparing the survival rate between patients undergoing surgery alone or surgery plus postoperative RT, and to identify the prognostic factors affecting survival. Between 2000 and 2013, 52 patients with EHBD cancer underwent surgical resection. Of these, 33 patients did not receive postoperative RT (group I), and 19 patients did (group II). R1 resection was significantly more frequent in group II. The median radiation dose was 5,040 cGy. The 3-year overall survival (OS) rate for group I and group II was 38% and 56%, respectively (p = 0.274). The 3-year disease free survival (DFS) rate for group I and group II was 20% and 31%, respectively (p = 0.049), and the 3-year loco-regional recurrence free survival (LRFS) rates were 19% and 58%, respectively (p = 0.002). Multivariate analyses showed that postoperative RT and lymphovascular invasion were independent prognostic factors for DFS and LRFS. Overall, 42 patients (80%) experienced treatment failure. Distant metastasis was the predominant pattern of failure in group II. Postoperative RT after surgical resection appeared to improve the loco-regional control and DFS rate. More effort is needed to reduce distant metastasis, the major pattern of failure, in patients who receive postoperative RT.

  8. High School Graduation Rates:Alternative Methods and Implications

    OpenAIRE

    Jing Miao; Walt Haney

    2004-01-01

    The No Child Left Behind Act has brought great attention to the high school graduation rate as one of the mandatory accountability measures for public school systems. However, there is no consensus on how to calculate the high school graduation rate given the lack of longitudinal databases that track individual students. This study reviews literature on and practices in reporting high school graduation rates, compares graduation rate estimates yielded from alternative methods, and estimates d...

  9. High-risk regions and outbreak modelling of tularemia in humans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Desvars-Larrive, A; Liu, X; Hjertqvist, M; Sjöstedt, A; Johansson, A; Rydén, P

    2017-02-01

    Sweden reports large and variable numbers of human tularemia cases, but the high-risk regions are anecdotally defined and factors explaining annual variations are poorly understood. Here, high-risk regions were identified by spatial cluster analysis on disease surveillance data for 1984-2012. Negative binomial regression with five previously validated predictors (including predicted mosquito abundance and predictors based on local weather data) was used to model the annual number of tularemia cases within the high-risk regions. Seven high-risk regions were identified with annual incidences of 3·8-44 cases/100 000 inhabitants, accounting for 56·4% of the tularemia cases but only 9·3% of Sweden's population. For all high-risk regions, most cases occurred between July and September. The regression models explained the annual variation of tularemia cases within most high-risk regions and discriminated between years with and without outbreaks. In conclusion, tularemia in Sweden is concentrated in a few high-risk regions and shows high annual and seasonal variations. We present reproducible methods for identifying tularemia high-risk regions and modelling tularemia cases within these regions. The results may help health authorities to target populations at risk and lay the foundation for developing an early warning system for outbreaks.

  10. High rate response of ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concretes under direct tension

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tran, Ngoc Thanh [Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Sejong University, 98 Gunja-Dong, Gwangjin-Gu, Seoul 143-747 (Korea, Republic of); Tran, Tuan Kiet [Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Sejong University, 98 Gunja-Dong, Gwangjin-Gu, Seoul 143-747 (Korea, Republic of); Department of Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education, 01 Vo Van Ngan, Thu Duc District, Ho Chi Minh City (Viet Nam); Kim, Dong Joo, E-mail: djkim75@sejong.ac.kr [Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Sejong University, 98 Gunja-Dong, Gwangjin-Gu, Seoul 143-747 (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-03-15

    The tensile response of ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concretes (UHPFRCs) at high strain rates (5–24 s{sup −} {sup 1}) was investigated. Three types of steel fibers, including twisted, long and short smooth steel fibers, were added by 1.5% volume content in an ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) with a compressive strength of 180 MPa. Two different cross sections, 25 × 25 and 25 × 50 mm{sup 2}, of tensile specimens were used to investigate the effect of the cross section area on the measured tensile response of UHPFRCs. Although all the three fibers generated strain hardening behavior even at high strain rates, long smooth fibers produced the highest tensile resistance at high rates whereas twisted fiber did at static rate. The breakages of twisted fibers were observed from the specimens tested at high strain rates unlike smooth steel fibers. The tensile behavior of UHPFRCs at high strain rates was clearly influenced by the specimen size, especially in post-cracking strength.

  11. A high-resolution regional reanalysis for the European CORDEX region

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bollmeyer, Christoph; Keller, Jan; Ohlwein, Christian; Wahl, Sabrina

    2015-04-01

    Within the Hans-Ertel-Centre for Weather Research (HErZ), the climate monitoring branch concentrates efforts on the assessment and analysis of regional climate in Germany and Europe. In joint cooperation with DWD (German Weather Service), a high-resolution reanalysis system based on the COSMO model has been developed. Reanalyses gain more and more importance as a source of meteorological information for many purposes and applications. Several global reanalyses projects (e.g., ERA, MERRA, CSFR, JMA9) produce and verify these data sets to provide time series as long as possible combined with a high data quality. Due to a spatial resolution down to 50-70km and 3-hourly temporal output, they are not suitable for small scale problems (e.g., regional climate assessment, meso-scale NWP verification, input for subsequent models such as river runoff simulations, renewable energy applications). The implementation of regional reanalyses based on a limited area model along with a data assimilation scheme is able to generate reanalysis data sets with high spatio-temporal resolution. The work presented here focuses on two regional reanalyses for Europe and Germany. The European reanalysis COSMO-REA6 matches the CORDEX EURO-11 specifications, albeit at a higher spatial resolution, i.e., 0.055° (6km) instead of 0.11° (12km). Nested into COSMO-REA6 is COSMO-REA2, a convective-scale reanalysis with 2km resolution for Germany. COSMO-REA6 comprises the assimilation of observational data using the existing nudging scheme of COSMO and is complemented by a special soil moisture analysis and boundary conditions given by ERA-Interim data. COSMO-REA2 also uses the nudging scheme complemented by a latent heat nudging of radar information. The reanalysis data set currently covers 17 years (1997-2013) for COSMO-REA6 and 4 years (2010-2013) for COSMO-REA2 with a very large set of output variables and a high temporal output step of hourly 3D-fields and quarter-hourly 2D-fields. The evaluation

  12. Gynecological brachytherapy - from low-dose-rate to high-tech. Gynaekologische Brachytherapie - von Low-dose-rate zu High-tech

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Herrmann, T. (Abt. Strahlenthgerapie, Klinik und Poliklinik fuer Radiologie, Medizinische Akademie ' Carl Gustav Carus' , Dresden (Germany)); Christen, N. (Abt. Strahlenthgerapie, Klinik und Poliklinik fuer Radiologie, Medizinische Akademie ' Carl Gustav Carus' , Dresden (Germany)); Alheit, H.D. (Abt. Strahlenthgerapie, Klinik und Poliklinik fuer Radiologie, Medizinische Akademie ' Carl Gustav Carus' , Dresden (Germany))

    1993-03-01

    The transition from low-dose-rate (LDR) brachytherapy to high-dose-rate (HDR) afterloading treatment is in progress in most centres of radiation therapy. First reports of studies comparing HDR and LDR treatment in cervix cancer demonstrate nearly equal local control. In our own investigations on 319 patients with primary irradiated carcinoma of the cervix (125 HDR/194 LDR) we found the following control rates: Stage FIGO I 95.4%/82.9% (HDR versus LDR), stage FIGO II 71.4%/73.7%, stage FIGO III 57.9%/38.5%. The results are not significant. The side effects - scored after EORT/RTOG criteria - showed no significant differences between both therapies for serious radiogenic late effects on intestine, bladder and vagina. The study and findings from the literature confirm the advantage of the HDR-procedure for patient and radiooncologist and for radiation protection showing at least the same results as in the LDR-area. As for radiobiolgical point of view it is important to consider that the use of fractionation in the HDR-treatment is essential for the sparing of normal tissues and therefore a greater number of small fractionation doses in the brachytherapy should be desirable too. On the other hand the rules, which are true for fractionated percutaneous irradiation therapy (overall treatment time as short as possible to avoid reppopulation of tumor cells) should be taken into consideration in combined brachy-teletherapy regime in gynecologic tumors. The first step in this direction may be accelerated regime with a daily application of both treatment procedures. The central blocking of the brachytherapy region from the whole percutaneous treatment target volume should be critically reflected, especially in the case of advanced tumors. (orig.)

  13. Influence of Climate Variability on US Regional Homicide Rates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harp, R. D.; Karnauskas, K. B.

    2017-12-01

    Recent studies have found consistent evidence of a relationship between temperature and criminal behavior. However, despite agreement in the overall relationship, little progress has been made in distinguishing between two proposed explanatory theories. The General Affective Aggression Model (GAAM) suggests that high temperatures create periods of higher heat stress that enhance individual aggressiveness, whereas the Routine Activities Theory (RAT) theorizes that individuals are more likely to be outdoors interacting with others during periods of pleasant weather with a resulting increase in both interpersonal interactions and victim availability. Further, few studies have considered this relationship within the context of climate change in a quantitative manner. In an effort to distinguish between the two theories, and to examine the statistical relationships on a broader spatial scale than previously, we combined data from the Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR—compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation) and the North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR—compiled by the National Centers for Environmental Protection, a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). US homicide data described by the SHR was compared with seven relevant observed climate variables (temperature, dew point, relative humidity, accumulated precipitation, accumulated snowfall, snow cover, and snow depth) provided by the NARR atmospheric reanalysis. Relationships between homicide rates and climate variables, as well as reveal regional spatial patterns will be presented and discussed, along with the implications due to future climate change. This research lays the groundwork for the refinement of estimates of an oft-overlooked climate change impact, which has previously been estimated to cause an additional 22,000 murders between 2010 and 2099, including providing important constraints for empirical models of future violent crime incidences in the face of global

  14. Electron beam induced graft-polymerization of methyl methacrylate onto polyethylene films at high dose rates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mori, Koji; Koshiishi, Kenji; Masuhara, Ken-ichi

    1991-01-01

    Electron beam induced graft-polymerization by the mutual irradiation technique of methyl methacrylate on the surface of low density polyethylene films (LD) and high density polyethylene films (HD) was investigated at high dose rates over 10 Mrad per second. Graft-polymerization mechanisms were discussed on the basis of O 2 permeability, tensile strength, elongation at break, and surface tension of the grafted films. As the degree of grafting increased, the O 2 permeability of LD decreased, while that of HD little changed at the grafting up to 4 ∼ 5 %. This indicates that the grafting occurred in the amorphous regions for LD and occurred in the amorphous regions in the neighborhood of crystalline regions for HD. For HD, when the degree of the grafting surpassed 4 ∼ 5 %, the O 2 permeability, tensile strength, elongation at break, and surface tension decreased with an increase in the degree of grafting. It was assumed that rapid grafting in the amorphous regions in the neighborhood of crystalline regions caused the increase in local temperature by the heat of polymerization, and the viscosity of polyethylene in the amorphous regions decreased with an increase in temperature. As a result, the graft chains, which formed micro domain structure, condensed in the amorphous regions and the domain increased in size. (author)

  15. Probability-based classifications for spatially characterizing the water temperatures and discharge rates of hot springs in the Tatun Volcanic Region, Taiwan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jang, Cheng-Shin

    2015-05-01

    Accurately classifying the spatial features of the water temperatures and discharge rates of hot springs is crucial for environmental resources use and management. This study spatially characterized classifications of the water temperatures and discharge rates of hot springs in the Tatun Volcanic Region of Northern Taiwan by using indicator kriging (IK). The water temperatures and discharge rates of the springs were first assigned to high, moderate, and low categories according to the two thresholds of the proposed spring classification criteria. IK was then used to model the occurrence probabilities of the water temperatures and discharge rates of the springs and probabilistically determine their categories. Finally, nine combinations were acquired from the probability-based classifications for the spatial features of the water temperatures and discharge rates of the springs. Moreover, various combinations of spring water features were examined according to seven subzones of spring use in the study region. The research results reveal that probability-based classifications using IK provide practicable insights related to propagating the uncertainty of classifications according to the spatial features of the water temperatures and discharge rates of the springs. The springs in the Beitou (BT), Xingyi Road (XYR), Zhongshanlou (ZSL), and Lengshuikeng (LSK) subzones are suitable for supplying tourism hotels with a sufficient quantity of spring water because they have high or moderate discharge rates. Furthermore, natural hot springs in riverbeds and valleys should be developed in the Dingbeitou (DBT), ZSL, Xiayoukeng (XYK), and Macao (MC) subzones because of low discharge rates and low or moderate water temperatures.

  16. Accelerating regional atrophy rates in the progression from normal aging to Alzheimer's disease

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sluimer, Jasper D. [VU University Medical Centre, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Amsterdam (Netherlands); VU University Medical Centre, Alzheimer Centre, Amsterdam (Netherlands); VU University Medical Centre, Image Analysis Centre, Amsterdam (Netherlands); VU University Medical Centre, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Alzheimer Centre, PO Box 7057, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Flier, Wiesje M. van der; Scheltens, Philip [VU University Medical Centre, Alzheimer Centre, Amsterdam (Netherlands); VU University Medical Centre, Department of Neurology, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Karas, Giorgos B.; Barkhof, Frederik [VU University Medical Centre, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Amsterdam (Netherlands); VU University Medical Centre, Alzheimer Centre, Amsterdam (Netherlands); VU University Medical Centre, Image Analysis Centre, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Schijndel, Ronald van [VU University Medical Centre, Image Analysis Centre, Amsterdam (Netherlands); VU University Medical Centre, Department of Informatics, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Barnes, Josephine; Boyes, Richard G. [UCL, Institute of Neurology, Dementia Research Centre, London (United Kingdom); Cover, Keith S. [VU University Medical Centre, Department of Physics and Medical Technology, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Olabarriaga, Silvia D. [University of Amsterdam, Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Fox, Nick C. [VU University Medical Centre, Department of Neurology, Amsterdam (Netherlands); UCL, Institute of Neurology, Dementia Research Centre, London (United Kingdom); Vrenken, Hugo [VU University Medical Centre, Alzheimer Centre, Amsterdam (Netherlands); VU University Medical Centre, Image Analysis Centre, Amsterdam (Netherlands); VU University Medical Centre, Department of Physics and Medical Technology, Amsterdam (Netherlands)

    2009-12-15

    We investigated progression of atrophy in vivo, in Alzheimer's disease (AD), and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). We included 64 patients with AD, 44 with MCI and 34 controls with serial MRI examinations (interval 1.8 {+-} 0.7 years). A nonlinear registration algorithm (fluid) was used to calculate atrophy rates in six regions: frontal, medial temporal, temporal (extramedial), parietal, occipital lobes and insular cortex. In MCI, the highest atrophy rate was observed in the medial temporal lobe, comparable with AD. AD patients showed even higher atrophy rates in the extramedial temporal lobe. Additionally, atrophy rates in frontal, parietal and occipital lobes were increased. Cox proportional hazard models showed that all regional atrophy rates predicted conversion to AD. Hazard ratios varied between 2.6 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.1-6.2) for occipital atrophy and 15.8 (95% CI = 3.5-71.8) for medial temporal lobe atrophy. In conclusion, atrophy spreads through the brain with development of AD. MCI is marked by temporal lobe atrophy. In AD, atrophy rate in the extramedial temporal lobe was even higher. Moreover, atrophy rates also accelerated in parietal, frontal, insular and occipital lobes. Finally, in nondemented elderly, medial temporal lobe atrophy was most predictive of progression to AD, demonstrating the involvement of this region in the development of AD. (orig.)

  17. High-rate reactive magnetron sputtering of zirconia films for laser optics applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Juskevicius, K.; Subacius, A.; Drazdys, R.; Juskenas, R.; Audronis, M.; Matthews, A.; Leyland, A.

    2014-01-01

    ZrO 2 exhibits low optical absorption in the near-UV range and is one of the highest laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) materials; it is, therefore, very attractive for laser optics applications. This paper reports explorations of reactive sputtering technology for deposition of ZrO 2 films with low extinction coefficient k values in the UV spectrum region at low substrate temperature. A high deposition rate (64 % of the pure metal rate) process is obtained by employing active feedback reactive gas control which creates a stable and repeatable deposition processes in the transition region. Substrate heating at 200 C was found to have no significant effect on the optical ZrO 2 film properties. The addition of nitrogen to a closed-loop controlled process was found to have mostly negative effects in terms of deposition rate and optical properties. Open-loop O 2 gas-regulated ZrO 2 film deposition is slow and requires elevated (200 C) substrate temperature or post-deposition annealing to reduce absorption losses. Refractive indices of the films were distributed in the range n = 2.05-2.20 at 1,000 nm and extinction coefficients were in the range k = 0.6 x 10 -4 and 4.8 x 10 -3 at 350 nm. X-ray diffraction analysis showed crystalline ZrO 2 films consisted of monoclinic + tetragonal phases when produced in Ar/O 2 atmosphere and monoclinic + rhombohedral or a single rhombohedral phase when produced in Ar/O 2 + N 2 . Optical and physical properties of the ZrO 2 layers produced in this study are suitable for high-power laser applications in the near-UV range. (orig.)

  18. HIGH STAR FORMATION RATES IN TURBULENT ATOMIC-DOMINATED GAS IN THE INTERACTING GALAXIES IC 2163 AND NGC 2207

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Elmegreen, Bruce G.; Kaufman, Michele; Bournaud, Frédéric; Juneau, Stéphanie; Elmegreen, Debra Meloy; Struck, Curtis; Brinks, Elias

    2016-01-01

    CO observations of the interacting galaxies IC 2163 and NGC 2207 are combined with HI, H α , and 24 μ m observations to study the star formation rate (SFR) surface density as a function of the gas surface density. More than half of the high-SFR regions are HI dominated. When compared to other galaxies, these HI-dominated regions have excess SFRs relative to their molecular gas surface densities but normal SFRs relative to their total gas surface densities. The HI-dominated regions are mostly located in the outer part of NGC 2207 where the HI velocity dispersion is high, 40–50 km s −1 . We suggest that the star-forming clouds in these regions have envelopes at lower densities than normal, making them predominantly atomic, and cores at higher densities than normal because of the high turbulent Mach numbers. This is consistent with theoretical predictions of a flattening in the density probability distribution function for compressive, high Mach number turbulence.

  19. HIGH STAR FORMATION RATES IN TURBULENT ATOMIC-DOMINATED GAS IN THE INTERACTING GALAXIES IC 2163 AND NGC 2207

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Elmegreen, Bruce G. [IBM Research Division, T.J. Watson Research Center, 1101 Kitchawan Road, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598 (United States); Kaufman, Michele [110 Westchester Rd, Newton, MA 02458 (United States); Bournaud, Frédéric; Juneau, Stéphanie [Laboratoire AIM-Paris-Saclay, CEA/DSM-CNRS-Université Paris Diderot, Irfu/Service d’Astrophysique, CEA Saclay, Orme des Merisiers, F-91191 Gif sur Yvette (France); Elmegreen, Debra Meloy [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY 12604 (United States); Struck, Curtis [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011 (United States); Brinks, Elias, E-mail: bge@us.ibm.com, E-mail: kaufmanrallis@icloud.com, E-mail: frederic.bournaud@gmail.com, E-mail: stephanie.juneau@cea.fr, E-mail: elmegreen@vassar.edu, E-mail: struck@iastate.edu, E-mail: e.brinks@herts.ac.uk [University of Hertfordshire, Centre for Astrophysics Research, College Lane, Hatfield AL10 9AB (United Kingdom)

    2016-05-20

    CO observations of the interacting galaxies IC 2163 and NGC 2207 are combined with HI, H α , and 24 μ m observations to study the star formation rate (SFR) surface density as a function of the gas surface density. More than half of the high-SFR regions are HI dominated. When compared to other galaxies, these HI-dominated regions have excess SFRs relative to their molecular gas surface densities but normal SFRs relative to their total gas surface densities. The HI-dominated regions are mostly located in the outer part of NGC 2207 where the HI velocity dispersion is high, 40–50 km s{sup −1}. We suggest that the star-forming clouds in these regions have envelopes at lower densities than normal, making them predominantly atomic, and cores at higher densities than normal because of the high turbulent Mach numbers. This is consistent with theoretical predictions of a flattening in the density probability distribution function for compressive, high Mach number turbulence.

  20. A high-resolution regional reanalysis for Europe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ohlwein, C.

    2015-12-01

    Reanalyses gain more and more importance as a source of meteorological information for many purposes and applications. Several global reanalyses projects (e.g., ERA, MERRA, CSFR, JMA9) produce and verify these data sets to provide time series as long as possible combined with a high data quality. Due to a spatial resolution down to 50-70km and 3-hourly temporal output, they are not suitable for small scale problems (e.g., regional climate assessment, meso-scale NWP verification, input for subsequent models such as river runoff simulations). The implementation of regional reanalyses based on a limited area model along with a data assimilation scheme is able to generate reanalysis data sets with high spatio-temporal resolution. Within the Hans-Ertel-Centre for Weather Research (HErZ), the climate monitoring branch concentrates efforts on the assessment and analysis of regional climate in Germany and Europe. In joint cooperation with DWD (German Meteorological Service), a high-resolution reanalysis system based on the COSMO model has been developed. The regional reanalysis for Europe matches the domain of the CORDEX EURO-11 specifications, albeit at a higher spatial resolution, i.e., 0.055° (6km) instead of 0.11° (12km) and comprises the assimilation of observational data using the existing nudging scheme of COSMO complemented by a special soil moisture analysis with boundary conditions provided by ERA-Interim data. The reanalysis data set covers the past 20 years. Extensive evaluation of the reanalysis is performed using independent observations with special emphasis on precipitation and high-impact weather situations indicating a better representation of small scale variability. Further, the evaluation shows an added value of the regional reanalysis with respect to the forcing ERA Interim reanalysis and compared to a pure high-resolution dynamical downscaling approach without data assimilation.

  1. Labour force participation rates at the regional and national levels of the European Union : An integrated analysis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Elhorst, J. Paul; Zeilstra, Annette S.

    This study investigates the causes of variation in regional labour force participation rates in a cross-country perspective. A microeconomic framework of the tabour force participation decision is aggregated across individuals to obtain an explanatory rnodel of regional participation rates in which

  2. High rate composting of herbal pharmaceutical industry solid waste.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ali, M; Duba, K S; Kalamdhad, A S; Bhatia, A; Khursheed, A; Kazmi, A A; Ahmed, N

    2012-01-01

    High rate composting studies of hard to degrade herbal wastes were conducted in a 3.5 m(3) capacity rotary drum composter. Studies were spread out in four trials: In trial 1 and 2, one and two turns per day rotation was observed, respectively, by mixing of herbal industry waste with cattle (buffalo) manure at a ratio of 3:1 on wet weight basis. In trial 3 inocula was added in raw waste to enhance the degradation and in trial 4 composting of a mixture of vegetable market waste and herbal waste was conducted at one turn per day. Results demonstrated that the operation of the rotary drum at one turn a day (trial 1) could provide the most conducive composting conditions and co-composting (trial 4) gave better quality compost in terms of temperature, moisture, nitrogen, and Solvita maturity index. In addition a FT-IR study also revealed that trial 1 and trial 4 gave quality compost in terms of stability and maturity due to the presence of more intense peaks in the aromatic region and less intense peaks were found in the aliphatic region compared with trial 2 and trial 3.

  3. Evolution of cultural traits occurs at similar relative rates in different world regions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Currie, Thomas E; Mace, Ruth

    2014-11-22

    A fundamental issue in understanding human diversity is whether or not there are regular patterns and processes involved in cultural change. Theoretical and mathematical models of cultural evolution have been developed and are increasingly being used and assessed in empirical analyses. Here, we test the hypothesis that the rates of change of features of human socio-cultural organization are governed by general rules. One prediction of this hypothesis is that different cultural traits will tend to evolve at similar relative rates in different world regions, despite the unique historical backgrounds of groups inhabiting these regions. We used phylogenetic comparative methods and systematic cross-cultural data to assess how different socio-cultural traits changed in (i) island southeast Asia and the Pacific, and (ii) sub-Saharan Africa. The relative rates of change in these two regions are significantly correlated. Furthermore, cultural traits that are more directly related to external environmental conditions evolve more slowly than traits related to social structures. This is consistent with the idea that a form of purifying selection is acting with greater strength on these more environmentally linked traits. These results suggest that despite contingent historical events and the role of humans as active agents in the historical process, culture does indeed evolve in ways that can be predicted from general principles.

  4. X-ray absorption intensity at high-energy region

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fujikawa, Takashi; Kaneko, Katsumi

    2012-01-01

    We theoretically discuss X-ray absorption intensity in high-energy region far from the deepest core threshold to explain the morphology-dependent mass attenuation coefficient of some carbon systems, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) and fullerenes (C 60 ). The present theoretical approach is based on the many-body X-ray absorption theory including the intrinsic losses (shake-up losses). In the high-energy region the absorption coefficient has correction term dependent on the solid state effects given in terms of the polarization part of the screened Coulomb interaction W p . We also discuss the tail of the valence band X-ray absorption intensity. In the carbon systems C 2s contribution has some influence on the attenuation coefficient even in the high energy region at 20 keV.

  5. High-rate lithium thionyl chloride cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goebel, F.

    1982-03-01

    A high-rate C cell with disc electrodes was developed to demonstrate current rates which are comparable to other primary systems. The tests performed established the limits of abuse beyond which the cell becomes hazardous. Tests include: impact, shock, and vibration tests; temperature cycling; and salt water immersion of fresh cells.

  6. Quantum data locking for high-rate private communication

    OpenAIRE

    Lupo, Cosmo; Lloyd, Seth

    2015-01-01

    We show that, if the accessible information is used as a security quantifier, quantum channels with a certain symmetry can convey private messages at a tremendously high rate, as high as less than one bit below the rate of non-private classical communication. This result is obtained by exploiting the quantum data locking effect. The price to pay to achieve such a high private communication rate is that accessible information security is in general not composable. However, composable security ...

  7. High rates of advanced gastric cancer in community of Flushing, New York.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dinani, Amreen; Desai, Amit; Kohn, Nina; Gutkin, Ellen; Nussbaum, Michel; Somnay, Kaumudi

    2012-03-01

    Gastric cancer remains a major public health issue and is a leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for 600,000 deaths annually. Over the last decades, there has been a steady decline in the incidence rates of gastric cancer. Furthermore, the incidence rates of gastric cancer in different parts of the country vary due to epidemiological and migration trends. Despite these trends, several studies that have continued to observe high rates of gastric cancer in populations that come from high-risk regions. The aim of the study was to describe the gastric cancer patients presenting NYHQ with an emphasis on those presenting at a young age and advanced disease. A subanalysis of the Asian population was also done, which is considered a high-risk group. Consecutive chart review of patients admitted with gastric cancer from January 2000 to August 2008 was extracted from the Oncology registry at NYHQ. Parameters that were evaluated were age, sex, race, type of gastric cancer, and stage of gastric cancer at initial presentation. The SAS/PC software package (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC) was employed for statistical analyses. Four hundred fifty-seven patients were diagnosed with gastric cancer. Approximately one third of the total patients were younger than 60 years of age. Of the Asian patients, almost half the patients (48.8%) had advanced disease of which two thirds were under the age of 60 years. The rates of advanced gastric cancer observed at NYHQ are significant and comparable to recent epidemiology literature on rates in Asian populations in Asia. Communities, like Flushing, NY, may benefit from early detection of gastric cancers, similar to those instituted in Japan and Taiwan.

  8. Thrombus Formation at High Shear Rates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Casa, Lauren D C; Ku, David N

    2017-06-21

    The final common pathway in myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke is occlusion of blood flow from a thrombus forming under high shear rates in arteries. A high-shear thrombus forms rapidly and is distinct from the slow formation of coagulation that occurs in stagnant blood. Thrombosis at high shear rates depends primarily on the long protein von Willebrand factor (vWF) and platelets, with hemodynamics playing an important role in each stage of thrombus formation, including vWF binding, platelet adhesion, platelet activation, and rapid thrombus growth. The prediction of high-shear thrombosis is a major area of biofluid mechanics in which point-of-care testing and computational modeling are promising future directions for clinically relevant research. Further research in this area will enable identification of patients at high risk for arterial thrombosis, improve prevention and treatment based on shear-dependent biological mechanisms, and improve blood-contacting device design to reduce thrombosis risk.

  9. Behavior of fiber reinforced metal laminates at high strain rate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Newaz, Golam; Sasso, Marco; Amodio, Dario; Mancini, Edoardo

    2018-05-01

    Carbon Fiber Reinforced Aluminum Laminate (CARALL) is a good system for energy absorption through plastic deformation in aluminum and micro-cracking in the composite layers. Moreover, CARALL FMLs also provide excellent impact resistance due to the presence of aluminum layer. The focus of this research is to characterize the CARALL behavior under dynamic conditions. High strain rate tests on sheet laminate samples have been carried out by means of direct Split Hopkinson Tension Bar. The sample geometry and the clamping system were optimized by FEM simulations. The clamping system has been designed and optimized in order reduce impedance disturbance due to the fasteners and to avoid the excessive plastic strain outside the gauge region of the samples.

  10. High Heating Rates Affect Greatly the Inactivation Rate of Escherichia coli

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huertas, Juan-Pablo; Aznar, Arantxa; Esnoz, Arturo; Fernández, Pablo S.; Iguaz, Asunción; Periago, Paula M.; Palop, Alfredo

    2016-01-01

    Heat resistance of microorganisms can be affected by different influencing factors. Although, the effect of heating rates has been scarcely explored by the scientific community, recent researches have unraveled its important effect on the thermal resistance of different species of vegetative bacteria. Typically heating rates described in the literature ranged from 1 to 20°C/min but the impact of much higher heating rates is unclear. The aim of this research was to explore the effect of different heating rates, such as those currently achieved in the heat exchangers used in the food industry, on the heat resistance of Escherichia coli. A pilot plant tubular heat exchanger and a thermoresistometer Mastia were used for this purpose. Results showed that fast heating rates had a deep impact on the thermal resistance of E. coli. Heating rates between 20 and 50°C/min were achieved in the heat exchanger, which were much slower than those around 20°C/s achieved in the thermoresistometer. In all cases, these high heating rates led to higher inactivation than expected: in the heat exchanger, for all the experiments performed, when the observed inactivation had reached about seven log cycles, the predictions estimated about 1 log cycle of inactivation; in the thermoresistometer these differences between observed and predicted values were even more than 10 times higher, from 4.07 log cycles observed to 0.34 predicted at a flow rate of 70 mL/min and a maximum heating rate of 14.7°C/s. A quantification of the impact of the heating rates on the level of inactivation achieved was established. These results point out the important effect that the heating rate has on the thermal resistance of E. coli, with high heating rates resulting in an additional sensitization to heat and therefore an effective food safety strategy in terms of food processing. PMID:27563300

  11. Semi-solid electrodes having high rate capability

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chiang, Yet-Ming; Duduta, Mihai; Holman, Richard; Limthongkul, Pimpa; Tan, Taison

    2017-11-28

    Embodiments described herein relate generally to electrochemical cells having high rate capability, and more particularly to devices, systems and methods of producing high capacity and high rate capability batteries having relatively thick semi-solid electrodes. In some embodiments, an electrochemical cell includes an anode, a semi-solid cathode that includes a suspension of an active material and a conductive material in a liquid electrolyte, and an ion permeable membrane disposed between the anode and the cathode. The semi-solid cathode has a thickness in the range of about 250 .mu.m-2,500 .mu.m, and the electrochemical cell has an area specific capacity of at least 5 mAh/cm.sup.2 at a C-rate of C/2.

  12. Trends in the oncological incidence and mortality rates in Buhovo, Dolni Bogrov, Gorni Bogrov - regions with radio ecological problems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yagova, A.; Chobanova, N.; Bajrakova, A.

    2001-01-01

    A retrospective study is carried out to analyze the incidence and mortality trends of some malignant neoplasms in regions at relatively high radioecological risk near former uranium sites (Buhovo, Dolni Bogrov, Gorni Bogrov). Information sources are official medical statistics data, original records and database of the Oncological Dispensary in Sofia. A package of statistical programs SPSS, version 7.5, is used for the statistical analysis. The analysis didn't confirm the increase of incidence /mortality rate trends of radiation-related diseases in these regions in comparison with the same indices for the country within that period. (author)

  13. Governance and Regional Variation of Homicide Rates: Evidence From Cross-National Data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cao, Liqun; Zhang, Yan

    2017-01-01

    Criminological theories of cross-national studies of homicide have underestimated the effects of quality governance of liberal democracy and region. Data sets from several sources are combined and a comprehensive model of homicide is proposed. Results of the spatial regression model, which controls for the effect of spatial autocorrelation, show that quality governance, human development, economic inequality, and ethnic heterogeneity are statistically significant in predicting homicide. In addition, regions of Latin America and non-Muslim Sub-Saharan Africa have significantly higher rates of homicides ceteris paribus while the effects of East Asian countries and Islamic societies are not statistically significant. These findings are consistent with the expectation of the new modernization and regional theories. © The Author(s) 2015.

  14. Morphology and mycelial growth rate of Pleurotus spp. strains from the Mexican mixtec region

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guadarrama-Mendoza, P.C.; del Toro, G. Valencia; Ramírez-Carrillo, R.; Robles-Martínez, F.; Yáñez-Fernández, J.; Garín-Aguilar, M.E.; Hernández, C.G.; Bravo-Villa, G.

    2014-01-01

    Two native Pleurotus spp. strains (white LB-050 and pale pink LB-051) were isolated from rotten tree trunks of cazahuate (Ipomoea murucoides) from the Mexican Mixtec Region. Both strains were chemically dedikaryotized to obtain their symmetrical monokaryotic components (neohaplonts). This was achieved employing homogenization time periods from 60 to 65 s, and 3 day incubation at 28 °C in a peptone-glucose solution (PGS). Pairing of compatible neohaplonts resulted in 56 hybrid strains which were classified into the four following hybrid types: (R1-nxB1-n, R1-nxB2-1, R2-nxB1-n and R2-nxB2-1). The mycelial growth of Pleurotus spp. monokaryotic and dikaryotic strains showed differences in texture (cottony or floccose), growth (scarce, regular or abundant), density (high, regular or low), and pigmentation (off-white, white or pale pink). To determine the rate and the amount of mycelium growth in malt extract agar at 28 °C, the diameter of the colony was measured every 24 h until the Petri dish was completely colonized. A linear model had the best fit to the mycelial growth kinetics. A direct relationship between mycelial morphology and growth rate was observed. Cottony mycelium presented significantly higher growth rates (p < 0.01) in comparison with floccose mycelium. Thus, mycelial morphology can be used as criterion to select which pairs must be used for optimizing compatible-mating studies. Hybrids resulting from cottony neohaplonts maintained the characteristically high growth rates of their parental strains with the hybrid R1-nxB1-n being faster than the latter. PMID:25477920

  15. 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

  16. Dynamic High-Temperature Characterization of an Iridium Alloy in Compression at High Strain Rates

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Song, Bo [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Experimental Environment Simulation Dept.; Nelson, Kevin [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States). Mechanics of Materials Dept.; Lipinski, Ronald J. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Advanced Nuclear Fuel Cycle Technology Dept.; Bignell, John L. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Structural and Thermal Analysis Dept.; Ulrich, G. B. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Radioisotope Power Systems Program; George, E. P. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Radioisotope Power Systems Program

    2014-06-01

    Iridium alloys have superior strength and ductility at elevated temperatures, making them useful as structural materials for certain high-temperature applications. However, experimental data on their high-temperature high-strain-rate performance are needed for understanding high-speed impacts in severe elevated-temperature environments. Kolsky bars (also called split Hopkinson bars) have been extensively employed for high-strain-rate characterization of materials at room temperature, but it has been challenging to adapt them for the measurement of dynamic properties at high temperatures. Current high-temperature Kolsky compression bar techniques are not capable of obtaining satisfactory high-temperature high-strain-rate stress-strain response of thin iridium specimens investigated in this study. We analyzed the difficulties encountered in high-temperature Kolsky compression bar testing of thin iridium alloy specimens. Appropriate modifications were made to the current high-temperature Kolsky compression bar technique to obtain reliable compressive stress-strain response of an iridium alloy at high strain rates (300 – 10000 s-1) and temperatures (750°C and 1030°C). Uncertainties in such high-temperature high-strain-rate experiments on thin iridium specimens were also analyzed. The compressive stress-strain response of the iridium alloy showed significant sensitivity to strain rate and temperature.

  17. High Strain Rate Characterisation of Composite Materials

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Eriksen, Rasmus Normann Wilken

    -reinforced polymers, were considered, and it was first shown that the loading history controls equilibrium process. Then the High-speed servo-hydraulic test machine was analysed in terms its ability to create a state of constant strain rate in the specimen. The invertible inertial forces in the load train prevented...... from designing and constructing a high-speed servo-hydraulic test machine and by performing a comprehensive test series. The difficulties encountered in the test work could be addressed with the developed analysis. The conclusion was that the High-speed servo-hydraulic test machine is less suited...... for testing fibre-reinforced polymers due to their elastic behaviour and low strain to failure. This is problematic as the High-speed servo-hydraulic test machine closes the gap between quasi-static tests rates and lower strain rates, which are achievable with the Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar. The Split...

  18. Variation in heterozygosity predicts variation in human substitution rates between populations, individuals and genomic regions.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    William Amos

    Full Text Available The "heterozygote instability" (HI hypothesis suggests that gene conversion events focused on heterozygous sites during meiosis locally increase the mutation rate, but this hypothesis remains largely untested. As humans left Africa they lost variability, which, if HI operates, should have reduced the mutation rate in non-Africans. Relative substitution rates were quantified in diverse humans using aligned whole genome sequences from the 1,000 genomes project. Substitution rate is consistently greater in Africans than in non-Africans, but only in diploid regions of the genome, consistent with a role for heterozygosity. Analysing the same data partitioned into a series of non-overlapping 2 Mb windows reveals a strong, non-linear correlation between the amount of heterozygosity lost "out of Africa" and the difference in substitution rate between Africans and non-Africans. Putative recent mutations, derived variants that occur only once among the 80 human chromosomes sampled, occur preferentially at the centre of 2 Kb windows that have elevated heterozygosity compared both with the same region in a closely related population and with an immediately adjacent region in the same population. More than half of all substitutions appear attributable to variation in heterozygosity. This observation provides strong support for HI with implications for many branches of evolutionary biology.

  19. High rate of destruction of molecular clouds by hot stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heydari-Malayeri, M.; Lortet, M.C.; Deharveng, L.

    1980-01-01

    Tenorio-Tagle (1979) first proposed the idea of a third dynamical phase, the champagne phase, following the formation and expansion phases of an HII region. The champagne phase begins when the high pressure gas of an HII region formed inside a molecular cloud reaches the edge of the cloud and bursts into the lower pressure, low density, intercloud medium. One important implication of the model is the prediction of an enormous enhancement of the rate of erosion of the molecular cloud by the ionising radiation of hot stars, which begins as soon as the process of the decrease of the gas density between the star and the cloud is started. The proportion of hydrogen molecules eroded by ionising photons may reach about 10 -2 . The mass eroded may exceed the mass of the ionised gas in the case where the ionisation front reaching the edge of the cloud is of D-type. Additional mechanisms (for instance stellar winds), if at work, may even increase the efficiency of the mechanism. (Auth.)

  20. Regional wall thickening in gated myocardial perfusion SPECT in a Japanese population: effect of sex, radiotracer, rotation angles and frame rates

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Akhter, Nasima; Nakajima, Kenichi; Okuda, Koichi; Matsuo, Shinro; Yoneyama, Tatsuya; Taki, Junichi; Kinuya, Seigo [Kanazawa University Hospital, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Kanazawa, Ishikawa (Japan)

    2008-09-15

    Gated single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging of myocardium by {sup 99m}Tc and {sup 201}Tl is used extensively to measure quantitative cardiac functional parameters. However, factors affecting normal values for myocardial functional parameters and population-specific standards have not yet been established. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of sex, radiotracer, rotation angles and frame rates on resting myocardial wall thickening (WT) and to develop a Japanese standard of normal values for WT. Data from a total of 202 patients with low possibility of having cardiac problems were collected from nine hospitals throughout Japan. Patients were divided into five groups according to study protocol, and WT was evaluated according to the 17-segment and four-region (basal, mid and apical regions and the apex) polar map distribution. WT was generally higher in women than in men irrespective of the use of radiotracers, rotation angles or frame rates, and the difference was highly significant in the mid and apical regions. In any protocol used, resting myocardial thickening in the apex was higher than in the mid and apical regions, and thickening was lowest in the basal region, suggesting heterogeneous regional myocardial thickening (%) in normal subjects. Different rotation angles showed no significant change on WT, but different frame rates and tracers showed significant WT change in both sexes. Percent thickening of the myocardium was significantly higher in imaging by {sup 99m}Tc-labelled tracers than in {sup 201}Tl. Sex, radiotracers and frame rates had a significant effect on myocardial thickening, and the importance of population-specific standards should be emphasized. A normal database can serve as a standard for gated SPECT evaluation of myocardial thickening in a Japanese population and might be applicable to Asian populations having a similar physique. (orig.)

  1. Insights from Synthetic Star-forming Regions. III. Calibration of Measurement and Techniques of Star Formation Rates

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Koepferl, Christine M.; Robitaille, Thomas P. [Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg (Germany); Dale, James E., E-mail: koepferl@usm.lmu.de [University Observatory Munich, Scheinerstr. 1, D-81679 Munich (Germany)

    2017-11-01

    Through an extensive set of realistic synthetic observations (produced in Paper I), we assess in this part of the paper series (Paper III) how the choice of observational techniques affects the measurement of star formation rates (SFRs) in star-forming regions. We test the accuracy of commonly used techniques and construct new methods to extract the SFR, so that these findings can be applied to measure the SFR in real regions throughout the Milky Way. We investigate diffuse infrared SFR tracers such as those using 24 μ m, 70 μ m and total infrared emission, which have been previously calibrated for global galaxy scales. We set up a toy model of a galaxy and show that the infrared emission is consistent with the intrinsic SFR using extra-galactic calibrated laws (although the consistency does not prove their reliability). For local scales, we show that these techniques produce completely unreliable results for single star-forming regions, which are governed by different characteristic timescales. We show how calibration of these techniques can be improved for single star-forming regions by adjusting the characteristic timescale and the scaling factor and give suggestions of new calibrations of the diffuse star formation tracers. We show that star-forming regions that are dominated by high-mass stellar feedback experience a rapid drop in infrared emission once high-mass stellar feedback is turned on, which implies different characteristic timescales. Moreover, we explore the measured SFRs calculated directly from the observed young stellar population. We find that the measured point sources follow the evolutionary pace of star formation more directly than diffuse star formation tracers.

  2. Highlighting High Performance: Whitman Hanson Regional High School; Whitman, Massachusetts

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    2006-06-01

    This brochure describes the key high-performance building features of the Whitman-Hanson Regional High School. The brochure was paid for by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative as part of their Green Schools Initiative. High-performance features described are daylighting and energy-efficient lighting, indoor air quality, solar and wind energy, building envelope, heating and cooling systems, water conservation, and acoustics. Energy cost savings are also discussed.

  3. Authoritative school climate and high school dropout rates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jia, Yuane; Konold, Timothy R; Cornell, Dewey

    2016-06-01

    This study tested the association between school-wide measures of an authoritative school climate and high school dropout rates in a statewide sample of 315 high schools. Regression models at the school level of analysis used teacher and student measures of disciplinary structure, student support, and academic expectations to predict overall high school dropout rates. Analyses controlled for school demographics of school enrollment size, percentage of low-income students, percentage of minority students, and urbanicity. Consistent with authoritative school climate theory, moderation analyses found that when students perceive their teachers as supportive, high academic expectations are associated with lower dropout rates. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  4. High-repetition-rate short-pulse gas discharge.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tulip, J; Seguin, H; Mace, P N

    1979-09-01

    A high-average-power short-pulse gas discharge is described. This consists of a volume-preionized transverse discharge of the type used in gas lasers driven by a Blumlein energy storage circuit. The Blumlein circuit is fabricated from coaxial cable, is pulse-charged from a high-repetition-rate Marx-bank generator, and is switched by a high-repetition-rate segmented rail gap. The operation of this discharge under conditions typical of rare-gas halide lasers is described. A maximum of 900 pps was obtained, giving a power flow into the discharge of 30 kW.

  5. Are High-Severity Fires Burning at Much Higher Rates Recently than Historically in Dry-Forest Landscapes of the Western USA?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker, William L

    2015-01-01

    Dry forests at low elevations in temperate-zone mountains are commonly hypothesized to be at risk of exceptional rates of severe fire from climatic change and land-use effects. Their setting is fire-prone, they have been altered by land-uses, and fire severity may be increasing. However, where fires were excluded, increased fire could also be hypothesized as restorative of historical fire. These competing hypotheses are not well tested, as reference data prior to widespread land-use expansion were insufficient. Moreover, fire-climate projections were lacking for these forests. Here, I used new reference data and records of high-severity fire from 1984-2012 across all dry forests (25.5 million ha) of the western USA to test these hypotheses. I also approximated projected effects of climatic change on high-severity fire in dry forests by applying existing projections. This analysis showed the rate of recent high-severity fire in dry forests is within the range of historical rates, or is too low, overall across dry forests and individually in 42 of 43 analysis regions. Significant upward trends were lacking overall from 1984-2012 for area burned and fraction burned at high severity. Upward trends in area burned at high severity were found in only 4 of 43 analysis regions. Projections for A.D. 2046-2065 showed high-severity fire would generally be still operating at, or have been restored to historical rates, although high projections suggest high-severity fire rotations that are too short could ensue in 6 of 43 regions. Programs to generally reduce fire severity in dry forests are not supported and have significant adverse ecological impacts, including reducing habitat for native species dependent on early-successional burned patches and decreasing landscape heterogeneity that confers resilience to climatic change. Some adverse ecological effects of high-severity fires are concerns. Managers and communities can improve our ability to live with high-severity fire in

  6. HIGH-RATE DISINFECTION TECHNIQUES FOR COMBIND SEWER OVERFLOW

    Science.gov (United States)

    This paper presents high-rate disinfection technologies for combined sewer overflow (CSO). The high-rate disinfection technologies of interest are: chlorination/dechlorination, ultraviolet light irradiation (UV), chlorine dioxide (ClO2 ), ozone (O3), peracetic acid (CH3COOOH )...

  7. Titan's hydrodynamically escaping atmosphere: Escape rates and the structure of the exobase region

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strobel, Darrell F.

    2009-08-01

    In Strobel [Strobel, D.F., 2008. Icarus, 193, 588-594] a mass loss rate from Titan's upper atmosphere, ˜4.5×10 amus, was calculated for a single constituent, N 2 atmosphere by hydrodynamic escape as a high density, slow outward expansion driven principally by solar UV heating due to CH 4 absorption. It was estimated, but not proven, that the hydrodynamic mass loss is essentially CH 4 and H 2 escape. Here the individual conservation of momentum equations for the three major components of the upper atmosphere (N 2, CH 4, H 2) are solved in the low Mach number limit and compared with Cassini Ion Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS) measurements to demonstrate that light gases (CH 4, H 2) preferentially escape over the heavy gas (N 2). The lightest gas (H 2) escapes with a flux 99% of its limiting flux, whereas CH 4 is restricted to ⩾75% of its limiting flux because there is insufficient solar power to support escape at the limiting rate. The respective calculated H 2 and CH 4 escape rates are 9.2×10 and 1.7×10 s, for a total of ˜4.6×10 amus. From the calculated densities, mean free paths of N 2, CH 4, H 2, and macroscopic length scales, an extended region above the classic exobase is inferred where frequent collisions are still occurring and thermal heat conduction can deliver power to lift the escaping gas out of the gravitational potential well. In this region rapid acceleration of CH 4 outflow occurs. With the thermal structure of Titan's thermosphere inferred from INMS data by Müller-Wodarg et al. [Müller-Wodarg, I.C.F., Yelle, R.V., Cui, J., Waite Jr., J.H., 2008. J. Geophys. Res. 113, doi:10.1029/2007JE003033. E10005], in combination with calculated temperature profiles that include sputter induced plasma heating at the exobase, it is concluded that on average that the integrated, globally average, orbit-averaged, plasma heating rate during the Cassini epoch does not exceed ˜5×10 eVcms ( ˜0.0008 ergcms).

  8. Introduction to State Estimation of High-Rate System Dynamics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hong, Jonathan; Laflamme, Simon; Dodson, Jacob; Joyce, Bryan

    2018-01-13

    Engineering systems experiencing high-rate dynamic events, including airbags, debris detection, and active blast protection systems, could benefit from real-time observability for enhanced performance. However, the task of high-rate state estimation is challenging, in particular for real-time applications where the rate of the observer's convergence needs to be in the microsecond range. This paper identifies the challenges of state estimation of high-rate systems and discusses the fundamental characteristics of high-rate systems. A survey of applications and methods for estimators that have the potential to produce accurate estimations for a complex system experiencing highly dynamic events is presented. It is argued that adaptive observers are important to this research. In particular, adaptive data-driven observers are advantageous due to their adaptability and lack of dependence on the system model.

  9. Improving Magnet Designs With High and Low Field Regions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bjørk, Rasmus; Bahl, Christian Robert Haffenden; Smith, Anders

    2011-01-01

    A general scheme for increasing the difference in magnetic flux density between a high and a low magnetic field region by removing unnecessary magnet material is presented. This is important in, e.g., magnetic refrigeration where magnet arrays have to deliver high field regions in close proximity...... to low field regions. Also, a general way to replace magnet material with a high permeability soft magnetic material where appropriate is discussed. As an example, these schemes are applied to a two dimensional concentric Halbach cylinder design resulting in a reduction of the amount of magnet material...

  10. Description, evaluation and clinical decision making according to various fetal heart rate patterns. Inter-observer and regional variability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lidegaard, O; Bøttcher, L M; Weber, Tom

    1992-01-01

    departments, especially between departments far apart. It is concluded that we still need a scientific clarification of which specific heart rate changes are the best predictors of fetal stress. Artificial intelligence programs for interpreting fetal cardiotocograms and ECG signals constitute one promising......At 10 Danish obstetrical departments, 116 residents (42 senior and 74 junior) participated in a study to assess inter-observer and regional variability in the description and evaluation of and clinical decision regarding 11 fetal heart rate patterns. The 11 traces included normal as well...... as pathological patterns, and normal as well as clinically asphyxiated babies. Five antepartum and six intrapartum patterns were included. A total of 1,276 descriptions and evaluations were obtained. The degree of agreement in description of fetal heart rate changes was high regarding the baseline...

  11. Аrctic tourism: the rating of regions, the оpportunities and threats

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yury F. Lukin

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Arctic and northern tourism as operational definitions are used in scientific publications more infrequently and irregularly. In practice, the tourism has become an inalienable sector of the economy; it has a multiplying effect for the development of social services, infrastructure and other sectors. The first National Tourist Rating of the 85 subjects of the Russian Federation (2015, the first rating of tourist attractiveness of the regions of the Russian Arctic contributes to the analyzes of the opportunities and threats to tourism.

  12. Integrated Studies of a Regional Ozone Pollution Synthetically Affected by Subtropical High and Typhoon System in the Yangtze River Delta Region, China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xie, M.; Shu, L.

    2017-12-01

    Severe high ozone (O3) episodes usually have close relations to synoptic systems. A regional continuous O3 pollution episode was detected over the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region in China during August 7-12, 2013, in which the O3 concentrations in more than half of the cities exceeded the national air quality standard. By means of the observational analysis and the WRF/CMAQ numerical simulation, the characteristics and the essential impact factors of the typical regional O3 pollution are investigated. The observational analysis shows that the atmospheric subsidence dominated by Western Pacific subtropical high plays a crucial role in the formation of high-level O3. In addition, when the YRD cities at the front of Typhoon Utor, the periphery circulation of typhoon system can enhance the downward airflows and cause more serious air pollution. But when the typhoon system weakens the subtropical high, the prevailing southeasterly surface wind leads to the mitigation of the O3 pollution. The Integrated Process Rate (IPR) analysis incorporated in CMAQ is applied to further illustrate the combined influence of subtropical high and typhoon system in this O3 episode. The results show that the vertical diffusion (VDIF) and the gas-phase chemistry (CHEM) are two major contributors to O3 formation. On August 10-11, the cities close to the sea are apparently affected by the typhoon system, with the contribution of VDIF increasing to 28.45 ppb/h in Shanghai and 19.76 ppb/h in Hangzhou. When the YRD region is under the control of the typhoon system, the contribution values of all individual processes decrease to a low level in all cities. These results provide an insight for the O3 pollution synthetically impacted by the Western Pacific subtropical high and the tropical cyclone system.

  13. The heating rate in the tropical tropopause region; Die Erwaermungsrate in der tropischen Tropopausenregion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hamann, Ulrich

    2010-07-01

    The major part of the movement of air masses from the troposphere to the stratosphere takes place in the tropics. The conveyed air mass is transported with the Brewer-Dobson circulation poleward and therefore influences the global stratospheric composition. An important cause variable for the transport of air through the tropical tropopause layer (TTL) is the radiative heating, which is investigated in this work. The influence of trace gases, temperature, and cloudiness on the heating rate is quantified, especially the effect of the overlap of several cloud layers is discussed. The heating rate in the tropics is simulated for one year. Regional differences of the heating rate profile appear between convective and stably stratified regions. By means of trace gas concentrations, temperature, and heating rates it is determined that an enhanced transport of air through the TTL took place between January and April 2007. The comparison with previous works shows that accurate input data sets of trace gases, temperature, and cloudiness and exact methods for the simulation of the radiative transfer are indispensable for modeling of the heating rate with the required accuracy. (orig.)

  14. Development of ultra high speed photographic system using high repetition rate visible laser

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Jong Min; Cha, Byung Hun; Kim, Sung Ho; Kim, Jung Bog; Lim, Chang Hwan; Cha, Hyung Ki; Song, Kyu Seok; Lee, Byung Deok; Rhi, Jong Hoon; Baik, Dae Hyun; Han, Jae Min; Rho, Si Pyo; Lee, Byung Cheol; Jeong, Do Yung; Choi, An Seong; Jeong, Chan Ik; Park, Dae Ung; Jeong, Sung Min; Lee, Sang Kil; Kim, Heon Jun; Jang, Rae gak; Jo, Do Hun; Park, Min Young

    1992-12-01

    The goal of this project is to develop and commercialize a high speed photographic system equipped with a high repetition rate visible laser. The developed system provides the characteristics of high time resolution and large number of frames. The system consists of 10 W air cooled CVL or a 30 W water cooled CVL, a rotating drum-type high speed camera with the framing rate of 35,000 fps, and a automatic control device. The system has the performance of 10 nsec time resolution, 35,000 fps framing rate, and 250 picture frames. The high speed photographic systems are widely applied to the fields such as high-efficient engine development, high-speed vibration analysis, shock wave propagation study, flow visualization analysis, weapon development, etc. (Author)

  15. Study of long-term sustained operation of gaseous detectors for the high rate environment in CMS

    CERN Document Server

    AUTHOR|(INSPIRE)INSPIRE-00366989; Sharma, Archana

    The muon system of CMS aims to provide an efficient and fast identification of the muons produced in the proton-proton collisions. However, the forward region of the end-caps is only instrumented with Cathode Strip Chambers. This lack of redundancy will be problematic after the high-luminosity upgrade of the LHC (HL-LHC), for which the increase of the background rate would degrade the Level-1 trigger performance and thus the selection of interesting physics channels. The goal of the CMS muon upgrade is to maintain the L1 trigger rate with maximum selection efficiency in order to fully exploit the HL-LHC. The CMS GEM Collaboration has proposed to instrument the vacant high-eta region of the muon end-caps with Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) detectors, called GE1/1 chambers. The Ph.D. subject proposed by the CMS GEM Collaboration aims to demonstrate that the GE1/1 technology is the most suitable choice for the upgrade of the muon end-caps. Three main research projects were conducted in this context. The first pro...

  16. Quantum data locking for high-rate private communication

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lupo, Cosmo; Lloyd, Seth

    2015-01-01

    We show that, if the accessible information is used as a security quantifier, quantum channels with a certain symmetry can convey private messages at a tremendously high rate, as high as less than one bit below the rate of non-private classical communication. This result is obtained by exploiting the quantum data locking effect. The price to pay to achieve such a high private communication rate is that accessible information security is in general not composable. However, composable security holds against an eavesdropper who is forced to measure her share of the quantum system within a finite time after she gets it. (paper)

  17. Sporadic-E and spread-F in high latitude region

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tao, Kazuhiko

    1974-01-01

    The heretofore made morphological studies of sporadic-E and spread-F as the typical irregularities of electron density are reviewed. These phenomena have close correlation with other geophysical phenomena which occur in the atmosphere of superhigh altitude in high latitude region. Many of these phenomena occur from same causes. Although the quantitative data are insufficient, the sporadic-E and spread-F in high latitude region are supposed to be caused by the precipitating charged particles falling from magnetosphere. A system, which can observe such phenomena simultaneously using the measuring instruments carried by satellites in the atmosphere of high altitude over high latitude region, is desirable to solve such problems. In detail, the morphological study on sporadic-E obtained from the observation of vertically projected ionosphere and the morphological study on sporadic-E from the observation of forward scattering and slanting entrance are reviewed. The correlation of the occurrence frequency of sporadic-E with solar activity, geomagnetic activity and other phenomena was studied. The morphological study on spread-F occurrence is reviewed. The observation of the spread-F in high latitude region by the application of top side sounding is reviewed. The correlation of the sporadic-E and spread-F in high latitude region with other geophysical phenomena is discussed. Finally, the discrete phenomenon and the diffuse phenomenon are discussed too. (Iwakiri, K.)

  18. Modeling of transient ionizing radiation effects in bipolar devices at high dose-rates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    FJELDLY, T.A.; DENG, Y.; SHUR, M.S.; HJALMARSON, HAROLD P.; MUYSHONDT, ARNOLDO

    2000-01-01

    To optimally design circuits for operation at high intensities of ionizing radiation, and to accurately predict their a behavior under radiation, precise device models are needed that include both stationary and dynamic effects of such radiation. Depending on the type and intensity of the ionizing radiation, different degradation mechanisms, such as photoelectric effect, total dose effect, or single even upset might be dominant. In this paper, the authors consider the photoelectric effect associated with the generation of electron-hole pairs in the semiconductor. The effects of low radiation intensity on p-II diodes and bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) were described by low-injection theory in the classical paper by Wirth and Rogers. However, in BJTs compatible with modem integrated circuit technology, high-resistivity regions are often used to enhance device performance, either as a substrate or as an epitaxial layer such as the low-doped n-type collector region of the device. Using low-injection theory, the transient response of epitaxial BJTs was discussed by Florian et al., who mainly concentrated on the effects of the Hi-Lo (high doping - low doping) epilayer/substrate junction of the collector, and on geometrical effects of realistic devices. For devices with highly resistive regions, the assumption of low-level injection is often inappropriate, even at moderate radiation intensities, and a more complete theory for high-injection levels was needed. In the dynamic photocurrent model by Enlow and Alexander. p-n junctions exposed to high-intensity radiation were considered. In their work, the variation of the minority carrier lifetime with excess carrier density, and the effects of the ohmic electric field in the quasi-neutral (q-n) regions were included in a simplified manner. Later, Wunsch and Axness presented a more comprehensive model for the transient radiation response of p-n and p-i-n diode geometries. A stationary model for high-level injection in p

  19. High Graduate Unemployment Rate and Taiwanese Undergraduate Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Chih-Chun

    2011-01-01

    An expansion in higher education in combination with the recent global economic recession has resulted in a high college graduate unemployment rate in Taiwan. This study investigates how the high unemployment rate and financial constraints caused by economic cutbacks have shaped undergraduates' class choices, job needs, and future income…

  20. Turbine component casting core with high resolution region

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamel, Ahmed; Merrill, Gary B.

    2014-08-26

    A hollow turbine engine component with complex internal features can include a first region and a second, high resolution region. The first region can be defined by a first ceramic core piece formed by any conventional process, such as by injection molding or transfer molding. The second region can be defined by a second ceramic core piece formed separately by a method effective to produce high resolution features, such as tomo lithographic molding. The first core piece and the second core piece can be joined by interlocking engagement that once subjected to an intermediate thermal heat treatment process thermally deform to form a three dimensional interlocking joint between the first and second core pieces by allowing thermal creep to irreversibly interlock the first and second core pieces together such that the joint becomes physically locked together providing joint stability through thermal processing.

  1. Evaluating Alzheimer's disease progression using rate of regional hippocampal atrophy.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edit Frankó

    Full Text Available Alzheimer's disease (AD is characterized by neurofibrillary tangle and neuropil thread deposition, which ultimately results in neuronal loss. A large number of magnetic resonance imaging studies have reported a smaller hippocampus in AD patients as compared to healthy elderlies. Even though this difference is often interpreted as atrophy, it is only an indirect measurement. A more direct way of measuring the atrophy is to use repeated MRIs within the same individual. Even though several groups have used this appropriate approach, the pattern of hippocampal atrophy still remains unclear and difficult to relate to underlying pathophysiology. Here, in this longitudinal study, we aimed to map hippocampal atrophy rates in patients with AD, mild cognitive impairment (MCI and elderly controls. Data consisted of two MRI scans for each subject. The symmetric deformation field between the first and the second MRI was computed and mapped onto the three-dimensional hippocampal surface. The pattern of atrophy rate was similar in all three groups, but the rate was significantly higher in patients with AD than in control subjects. We also found higher atrophy rates in progressive MCI patients as compared to stable MCI, particularly in the antero-lateral portion of the right hippocampus. Importantly, the regions showing the highest atrophy rate correspond to those that were described to have the highest burden of tau deposition. Our results show that local hippocampal atrophy rate is a reliable biomarker of disease stage and progression and could also be considered as a method to objectively evaluate treatment effects.

  2. Interstitial high-dose rate brachytherapy as boost for anal canal cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Falk, Alexander Tuan; Claren, Audrey; Benezery, Karen; François, Eric; Gautier, Mathieu; Gerard, Jean-Pierre; Hannoun-Levi, Jean-Michel

    2014-01-01

    To assess clinical outcomes of patients treated with a high-dose rate brachytherapy boost for anal canal cancer (ACC). From August 2005 to February 2013, 28 patients presenting an ACC treated by split-course external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) and HDR brachytherapy with or without chemotherapy in a French regional cancer center in Nice were retrospectively analyzed. Median age was 60.6 years [34 – 83], 25 patients presented a squamous cell carcinoma and 3 an adenocarcinoma; 21 received chemotherapy. Median dose of EBRT was 45 Gy [43.2 – 52]. Median dose of HDR brachytherapy was 12 Gy [10 - 15] with a median duration of 2 days. Median overall treatment time was 63 days and median delay between EBRT and brachytherapy was 20 days. Two-year local relapse free, metastatic free, disease free and overall survivals were 83%, 81.9%, 71.8% and 87.7% respectively. Acute toxicities were frequent but not severe with mostly grade 1 toxicities: 37% of genito-urinary, 40.7% of gastro-intestinal and 3.7% of cutaneous toxicities. Late toxicities were mainly G1 (43.1%) and G2 (22%). Two-year colostomy-free survival was 75.1%, one patient had a definitive sphincter amputation. High-dose rate brachytherapy for anal canal carcinoma as boost represents a feasible technique compared to low or pulsed-dose rate brachytherapy. This technique remains an excellent approach to precisely boost the tumor in reducing the overall treatment time

  3. High strain rate behaviour of polypropylene microfoams

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gómez-del Río, T.; Garrido, M. A.; Rodríguez, J.; Arencón, D.; Martínez, A. B.

    2012-08-01

    Microcellular materials such as polypropylene foams are often used in protective applications and passive safety for packaging (electronic components, aeronautical structures, food, etc.) or personal safety (helmets, knee-pads, etc.). In such applications the foams which are used are often designed to absorb the maximum energy and are generally subjected to severe loadings involving high strain rates. The manufacture process to obtain polymeric microcellular foams is based on the polymer saturation with a supercritical gas, at high temperature and pressure. This method presents several advantages over the conventional injection moulding techniques which make it industrially feasible. However, the effect of processing conditions such as blowing agent, concentration and microfoaming time and/or temperature on the microstructure of the resulting microcellular polymer (density, cell size and geometry) is not yet set up. The compressive mechanical behaviour of several microcellular polypropylene foams has been investigated over a wide range of strain rates (0.001 to 3000 s-1) in order to show the effects of the processing parameters and strain rate on the mechanical properties. High strain rate tests were performed using a Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar apparatus (SHPB). Polypropylene and polyethylene-ethylene block copolymer foams of various densities were considered.

  4. Regional variation in hospital admission rates in the Netherlands, Belgium, Northern France and Nordrhein-Westfalen.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Noordt, M. van; Zee, J. van der; Groenewegen, P.P.

    1992-01-01

    For the analysis of regional variations in hospital admission rates a model was set up, including both supply and demand indicators. Data were gathered for regions in four health care systems (the Dutch, Belgian, French and German), for 1982, 1979, 1974 (France 1982 only). Hospital bed supply proved

  5. Temporal dynamics of high repetition rate pulsed single longitudinal ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    ing (GIG) cavity, single-mode dye laser pumped by high repetition rate ... in a high loss cavity, a detailed theoretical study and optimization of cavity ..... rate for high conversion efficiency and longer pulse width of the single-mode dye laser.

  6. Toward a better understanding of the comparatively high prostate cancer incidence rates in Utah.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Merrill, Ray M; Hilton, Sterling C; Wiggins, Charles L; Sturgeon, Jared D

    2003-04-29

    This study assesses whether comparatively high prostate cancer incidence rates among white men in Utah represent higher rates among members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormons), who comprise about 70% of the state's male population, and considers the potential influence screening has on these rates. Analyses are based on 14,693 histologically confirmed invasive prostate cancer cases among men aged 50 years and older identified through the Utah Cancer Registry between 1985 and 1999. Cancer records were linked to LDS Church membership records to determine LDS status. Poisson regression was used to derive rate ratios of LDS to nonLDS prostate cancer incidence, adjusted for age, disease stage, calendar time, and incidental detection. LDS men had a 31% (95% confidence interval, 26%-36%) higher incidence rate of prostate cancer than nonLDS men during the study period. Rates were consistently higher among LDS men over time (118% in 1985-88, 20% in 1989-92, 15% in 1993-1996, and 13% in 1997-99); age (13% in ages 50-59, 48% in ages 60-69, 28% in ages 70-79, and 16% in ages 80 and older); and stage (36% in local/regional and 17% in unstaged). An age- and stage-shift was observed for both LDS and nonLDS men, although more pronounced among LDS men. Comparatively high prostate cancer incidence rates among LDS men in Utah are explained, at least in part, by more aggressive screening among these men.

  7. Effect of Strain Rate on Microscopic Deformation Behavior of High-density Polyethylene under Uniaxial Stretching

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kida Takumitsu

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The microscopic deformation behaviors such as the load sharing and the molecular orientation of high-density polyethylene under uniaxial stretching at various strain rates were investigated by using in-situ Raman spectroscopy. The chains within crystalline phase began to orient toward the stretching direction beyond the yielding region and the orientation behavior was not affected by the strain rate. While the stretching stress along the crystalline chains was also not affected by the strain rate, the peak shifts of the Raman bands at 1130, 1418, 1440 and 1460 cm-1, which are sensitive to the interchain interactions obviously, depended on the strain rate; the higher strain rates lead to the stronger stretching stress or negative pressure on the crystalline and amorphous chains. These effects of the strain rate on the microscopic deformation was associated with the cavitation and the void formation leading to the release of the internal pressure.

  8. A digital approach for real time high-rate high-resolution radiation measurements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gerardi, G.; Abbene, L.

    2014-01-01

    Modern spectrometers are currently developed by using digital pulse processing (DPP) systems, showing several advantages over traditional analog electronics. The aim of this work is to present digital strategies, in a time domain, for the development of real time high-rate high-resolution spectrometers. We propose a digital method, based on the single delay line (SDL) shaping technique, able to perform multi-parameter analysis with high performance even at high photon counting rates. A robust pulse shape and height analysis (PSHA), applied on single isolated time windows of the detector output waveforms, is presented. The potentialities of the proposed strategy are highlighted through both theoretical and experimental approaches. To strengthen our approach, the implementation of the method on a real-time system together with some experimental results are presented. X-ray spectra measurements with a semiconductor detector are performed both at low and high photon counting rates (up to 1.1 Mcps)

  9. A digital approach for real time high-rate high-resolution radiation measurements

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gerardi, G.; Abbene, L., E-mail: leonardo.abbene@unipa.it

    2014-12-21

    Modern spectrometers are currently developed by using digital pulse processing (DPP) systems, showing several advantages over traditional analog electronics. The aim of this work is to present digital strategies, in a time domain, for the development of real time high-rate high-resolution spectrometers. We propose a digital method, based on the single delay line (SDL) shaping technique, able to perform multi-parameter analysis with high performance even at high photon counting rates. A robust pulse shape and height analysis (PSHA), applied on single isolated time windows of the detector output waveforms, is presented. The potentialities of the proposed strategy are highlighted through both theoretical and experimental approaches. To strengthen our approach, the implementation of the method on a real-time system together with some experimental results are presented. X-ray spectra measurements with a semiconductor detector are performed both at low and high photon counting rates (up to 1.1 Mcps)

  10. High-rate performance of muon drift tube detectors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schwegler, Philipp

    2014-01-01

    The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the European Centre for Particle Physics, CERN, collides protons with an unprecedentedly high centre-of-mass energy and luminosity. The collision products are recorded and analysed by four big experiments, one of which is the ATLAS detector. In parallel with the first LHC run from 2009 to 2012, which culminated in the discovery of the last missing particle of the Standard Model of particle physics, the Higgs boson, planning of upgrades of the LHC for higher instantaneous luminosities (HL-LHC) is already progressing. The high instantaneous luminosity of the LHC puts high demands on the detectors with respect to radiation hardness and rate capability which are further increased with the luminosity upgrade. In this thesis, the limitations of the Muon Drift Tube (MDT) chambers of the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer at the high background counting rates at the LHC and performance of new small diameter muon drift tube (sMDT) detectors at the even higher background rates at HL-LHC are studied. The resolution and efficiency of sMDT chambers at high γ-ray and proton irradiation rates well beyond the ones expected at HL-LHC have been measured and the irradiation effects understood using detailed simulations. The sMDT chambers offer an about an order of magnitude better rate capability and are an ideal replacement for the MDT chambers because of compatibility of services and read-out. The limitations of the sMDT chambers are now in the read-out electronics, taken from the MDT chambers, to which improvements for even higher rate capability are proposed.

  11. Three-Axis Attitude Estimation With a High-Bandwidth Angular Rate Sensor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bayard, David S.; Green, Joseph J.

    2013-01-01

    A continuing challenge for modern instrument pointing control systems is to meet the increasingly stringent pointing performance requirements imposed by emerging advanced scientific, defense, and civilian payloads. Instruments such as adaptive optics telescopes, space interferometers, and optical communications make unprecedented demands on precision pointing capabilities. A cost-effective method was developed for increasing the pointing performance for this class of NASA applications. The solution was to develop an attitude estimator that fuses star tracker and gyro measurements with a high-bandwidth angular rotation sensor (ARS). An ARS is a rate sensor whose bandwidth extends well beyond that of the gyro, typically up to 1,000 Hz or higher. The most promising ARS sensor technology is based on a magnetohydrodynamic concept, and has recently become available commercially. The key idea is that the sensor fusion of the star tracker, gyro, and ARS provides a high-bandwidth attitude estimate suitable for supporting pointing control with a fast-steering mirror or other type of tip/tilt correction for increased performance. The ARS is relatively inexpensive and can be bolted directly next to the gyro and star tracker on the spacecraft bus. The high-bandwidth attitude estimator fuses an ARS sensor with a standard three-axis suite comprised of a gyro and star tracker. The estimation architecture is based on a dual-complementary filter (DCF) structure. The DCF takes a frequency- weighted combination of the sensors such that each sensor is most heavily weighted in a frequency region where it has the lowest noise. An important property of the DCF is that it avoids the need to model disturbance torques in the filter mechanization. This is important because the disturbance torques are generally not known in applications. This property represents an advantage over the prior art because it overcomes a weakness of the Kalman filter that arises when fusing more than one rate

  12. Solid state pump lasers with high power and high repetition rate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oba, Masaki; Kato, Masaaki; Arisawa, Takashi

    1995-01-01

    We built a laser diode pumped solid state green laser (LDPSSGL) rated at high repetition rate. Two laser heads are placed in one cavity with a rotator in between to design to avoid thermal lensing and thermal birefringence effect. Although average green laser power higher than 10 W was obtained at 1 kHz repetition rate with pulse width of 20-30 nsec, the beam quality was so much deteriorated that energy efficiency was as low as 2 %. Learning from this experience that high power oscillator causes a lot of thermal distortion not only in the laser rod but also in the Q-switch device, we proceeded to built a oscillator/amplifier system. A low power oscillator has a slab type crystal in the cavity. As a result spatial distribution of laser power was extremely improved. As we expect that the high repetition rate solid state laser should be CW operated Q-switch type laser from the view point of lifetime of diode lasers, a conventional arc lamp pumped CW Q-switch green YAG laser of which the repetition rate is changeable from 1 kHz to 5 kHz and the pulse width is 250-570 nsec was also tested to obtain pumping characteristics of a dye laser as a function of power, pulse width etc., and dye laser pulse width of 100-130 nsec were obtained. (author)

  13. Semi-solid electrodes having high rate capability

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chiang, Yet-Ming; Duduta, Mihai; Holman, Richard; Limthongkul, Pimpa; Tan, Taison

    2017-11-28

    Embodiments described herein relate generally to electrochemical cells having high rate capability, and more particularly to devices, systems and methods of producing high capacity and high rate capability batteries having relatively thick semi-solid electrodes. In some embodiments, an electrochemical cell includes an anode and a semi-solid cathode. The semi-solid cathode includes a suspension of an active material of about 35% to about 75% by volume of an active material and about 0.5% to about 8% by volume of a conductive material in a non-aqueous liquid electrolyte. An ion-permeable membrane is disposed between the anode and the semi-solid cathode. The semi-solid cathode has a thickness of about 250 .mu.m to about 2,000 .mu.m, and the electrochemical cell has an area specific capacity of at least about 7 mAh/cm.sup.2 at a C-rate of C/4. In some embodiments, the semi-solid cathode slurry has a mixing index of at least about 0.9.

  14. Volatile organic compounds from vegetation in southern Yunnan Province, China: Emission rates and some potential regional implications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geron, Chris; Owen, Sue; Guenther, Alex; Greenberg, Jim; Rasmussen, Rei; Hui Bai, Jian; Li, Qing-Jun; Baker, Brad

    Little information is currently available regarding emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) in southern Asia. To address the need for BVOC emission estimates in regional atmospheric chemistry simulations, 95 common plant species were screened for emissions of BVOC in and near the Xishuangbanna Tropical Biological Gardens in southern Yunnan Province, Peoples' Republic of China in February 2003. In situ measurements with leaf cuvettes and branch bag enclosures were used in combination with portable gas chromatography, flame ionization, photoionization, and mass spectral detection to identify and quantify BVOC emissions. Forty-four of the species examined emitted isoprene at rates exceeding 20 μg C g -1 (leaf dry weight) h -1. An emphasis was placed on the genus Ficus, which is important in the region and occupies a wide range of ecological niches. Several species in the footprint of a nearby flux tower were also examined. Several palm species and an abundant fern ( Cyclosorus parasiticus) emitted substantial amounts of isoprene, and probably accounted for observed daytime mean isoprene fluxes from the understory of a Hevea brasiliensis plantation of 1.0 and 0.15 mg C m -2 h -1 during the wet and dry seasons, respectively. These measurements verify that both the forest floor and canopy in this region can be sources of isoprene. Monoterpene emissions exceeded 1.0 μg-C g -1 (leaf dry weight) h -1 from only 4 of 38 species surveyed, including some Ficus species and H. brasiliensis. However most of the trees of the latter species were sparsely foliated due to dry season senescence, and emission factors are approximately an order of magnitude lower than those reported during the wet season. BVOC emission rates and physiology of many species are impacted by reduced moisture availability, especially Mangifera indica. South Asia is a region undergoing rapid landuse change and forest plantation establishment, with large increases in area of high BVOC

  15. Regional variation in the predictive validity of self-rated health for mortality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edward R. Berchick

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Self-rated health (SRH is a commonly used measure for assessing general health in surveys in the United States. However, individuals from different parts of the United States may vary in how they assess their health. Geographic differences in health care access and in the prevalence of illnesses may make it difficult to discern true regional differences in health when using SRH as a health measure. In this article, we use data from the 1986 and 1989–2006 National Health Interview Survey Linked Mortality Files and estimate Cox regression models to examine whether the relationship between SRH and five-year all-cause mortality differs by Census region. Contrary to hypotheses, there is no evidence of regional variation in the predictive validity of SRH for mortality. At all levels of SRH, and for both non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black respondents, SRH is equally and strongly associated with five-year mortality across regions. Our results suggest that differences in SRH across regions are not solely due to differences in how respondents assess their health across regions, but reflect true differences in health. Future research can, therefore, employ this common measure to investigate the geographic patterning of health in the United States.

  16. The high-resolution regional reanalysis COSMO-REA6

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ohlwein, C.

    2016-12-01

    Reanalyses gain more and more importance as a source of meteorological information for many purposes and applications. Several global reanalyses projects (e.g., ERA, MERRA, CSFR, JMA9) produce and verify these data sets to provide time series as long as possible combined with a high data quality. Due to a spatial resolution down to 50-70km and 3-hourly temporal output, they are not suitable for small scale problems (e.g., regional climate assessment, meso-scale NWP verification, input for subsequent models such as river runoff simulations). The implementation of regional reanalyses based on a limited area model along with a data assimilation scheme is able to generate reanalysis data sets with high spatio-temporal resolution. Within the Hans-Ertel-Centre for Weather Research (HErZ), the climate monitoring branch concentrates efforts on the assessment and analysis of regional climate in Germany and Europe. In joint cooperation with DWD (German Meteorological Service), a high-resolution reanalysis system based on the COSMO model has been developed. The regional reanalysis for Europe matches the domain of the CORDEX EURO-11 specifications, albeit at a higher spatial resolution, i.e., 0.055° (6km) instead of 0.11° (12km) and comprises the assimilation of observational data using the existing nudging scheme of COSMO complemented by a special soil moisture analysis with boundary conditions provided by ERA-Interim data. The reanalysis data set covers the past 20 years. Extensive evaluation of the reanalysis is performed using independent observations with special emphasis on precipitation and high-impact weather situations indicating a better representation of small scale variability. Further, the evaluation shows an added value of the regional reanalysis with respect to the forcing ERA Interim reanalysis and compared to a pure high-resolution dynamical downscaling approach without data assimilation.

  17. High resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy at high count rates with a prototype High Purity Germanium detector

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cooper, R. J.; Amman, M.; Vetter, K.

    2018-04-01

    High-resolution gamma-ray spectrometers are required for applications in nuclear safeguards, emergency response, and fundamental nuclear physics. To overcome one of the shortcomings of conventional High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detectors, we have developed a prototype device capable of achieving high event throughput and high energy resolution at very high count rates. This device, the design of which we have previously reported on, features a planar HPGe crystal with a reduced-capacitance strip electrode geometry. This design is intended to provide good energy resolution at the short shaping or digital filter times that are required for high rate operation and which are enabled by the fast charge collection afforded by the planar geometry crystal. In this work, we report on the initial performance of the system at count rates up to and including two million counts per second.

  18. Relict Mountain Permafrost Area (Loess Plateau, China) Exhibits High Ecosystem Respiration Rates and Accelerating Rates in Response to Warming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mu, Cuicui; Wu, Xiaodong; Zhao, Qian; Smoak, Joseph M.; Yang, Yulong; Hu, Lian; Zhong, Wen; Liu, Guimin; Xu, Haiyan; Zhang, Tingjun

    2017-10-01

    Relict permafrost regions are characterized by thin permafrost and relatively high temperatures. Understanding the ecosystem respiration rate (ERR) and its relationship with soil hydrothermal conditions in these areas can provide knowledge regarding the permafrost carbon cycle in a warming world. In this study, we examined a permafrost area, a boundary area, and a seasonally frozen ground area within a relict permafrost region on the east edge of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China. Measurements from July 2015 to September 2016 showed that the mean annual ecosystem CO2 emissions for the boundary area were greater than the permafrost area. The Q10 value of the ERRs in the seasonally frozen ground area was greater than the permafrost area, indicating that the carbon emissions in the nonpermafrost areas were more sensitive to warming. The 1 year open-top chamber (OTC) warming increased soil temperatures in both the permafrost and seasonally frozen ground areas throughout the year, and the warming increased the ERRs by 1.18 (0.99-1.38, with interquartile range) and 1.13 (0.75-1.54, with interquartile range) μmol CO2 m-2 s-1 in permafrost and seasonally frozen ground areas, respectively. The OTC warming increased annual ERRs by approximately 50% for both permafrost and seasonally frozen ground areas with half the increase occurring during the nongrowing seasons. These results suggest that the ERRs in relict permafrost are high in comparison with arctic regions, and the carbon balance in relict permafrost areas could be greatly changed by climate warming.

  19. UNAVCO GPS High-Rate and Real-Time Products and Services: Building a next generation geodetic network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mencin, David; Meertens, Charles; Mattioli, Glen; Feaux, Karl; Looney, Sara; Sievers, Charles; Austin, Ken

    2013-04-01

    Recent advances in GPS technology and data processing are providing position estimates with centimeter-level precision at high-rate (1-5 Hz) and low latency (transforming rapid event characterization, early warning, as well as hazard mitigation and response. Other scientific and operational applications for high-rate GPS also include glacier and ice sheet motions, tropospheric modeling, and better constraints on the dynamics of space weather. UNAVCO, through community input and the recent Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) NSF-ARRA Cascadia initiative, has nearly completed the process of upgrading a total of 373 PBO GPS sites to real-time high-rate capability and these streams are now being archived in the UNAVCO data center. Further, through the UNAVCO core proposal (GAGE), currently under review at NSF, UNAVCO has proposed upgrading a significant portion of the ~1100 GPS stations that PBO currently operates to real-time high-rate capability to address community science and operational needs. In addition, in collaboration with NOAA, 74 of these stations will provide meteorological data in real-time, primarily to support watershed and flood analyses for regional early-warning systems related to NOAA's work with California Department of Water Resources. In preparation for this increased emphasis on high-rate GPS data, UNAVCO hosted an NSF funded workshop in Boulder, CO on March 26-28, 2012, which brought together 70 participants representing a spectrum of research fields with a goal to develop a community plan for the use of real-time GPS data products within the UNAVCO and EarthScope communities. These data products are expected to improve and expand the use of real-time, high-rate GPS data over the next decade.

  20. Observations of white-light flares in NOAA active region 11515: high occurrence rate and relationship with magnetic transients

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Y. L.; Tian, H.; Zhang, M.; Ding, M. D.

    2018-06-01

    Aims: There are two goals in this study. One is to investigate how frequently white-light flares (WLFs) occur in a flare-productive active region (NOAA active region 11515). The other is to investigate the relationship between WLFs and magnetic transients (MTs). Methods: We used the high-cadence (45 s) full-disk continuum filtergrams and line-of-sight magnetograms taken by the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) to identify WLFs and MTs, respectively. Images taken by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on board SDO were also used to show the flare morphology in the upper atmosphere. Results: We found at least 20 WLFs out of a total of 70 flares above C class (28.6%) in NOAA active region 11515 during its passage across the solar disk (E45°-W45°). Each of these WLFs occurred in a small region, with a short duration of about 5 min. The enhancement of the white-light continuum intensity is usually small, with an average enhancement of 8.1%. The 20 WLFs we observed were found along an unusual configuration of the magnetic field that was characterized by a narrow ribbon of negative field. Furthermore, the WLFs were found to be accompanied by MTs, with radical changes in magnetic field strength (or even a sign reversal) observed during the flare. In contrast, there is no obvious signature of MTs in the 50 flares without white-light enhancements. Conclusions: Our results suggest that WLFs occur much more frequently than previously thought, with most WLFs being fairly weak enhancements. This may explain why WLFs are reported rarely. Our observations also suggest that MTs and WLFs are closely related and appear cospatial and cotemporal, when considering HMI data. A greater enhancement of WL emission is often accompanied by a greater change in the line-of-sight component of the unsigned magnetic field. Considering the close relationship between MTs and WLFs, many previously reported flares with MTs may be WLFs. The movie

  1. High strain rate behaviour of polypropylene microfoams

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Martínez A.B.

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Microcellular materials such as polypropylene foams are often used in protective applications and passive safety for packaging (electronic components, aeronautical structures, food, etc. or personal safety (helmets, knee-pads, etc.. In such applications the foams which are used are often designed to absorb the maximum energy and are generally subjected to severe loadings involving high strain rates. The manufacture process to obtain polymeric microcellular foams is based on the polymer saturation with a supercritical gas, at high temperature and pressure. This method presents several advantages over the conventional injection moulding techniques which make it industrially feasible. However, the effect of processing conditions such as blowing agent, concentration and microfoaming time and/or temperature on the microstructure of the resulting microcellular polymer (density, cell size and geometry is not yet set up. The compressive mechanical behaviour of several microcellular polypropylene foams has been investigated over a wide range of strain rates (0.001 to 3000 s−1 in order to show the effects of the processing parameters and strain rate on the mechanical properties. High strain rate tests were performed using a Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar apparatus (SHPB. Polypropylene and polyethylene-ethylene block copolymer foams of various densities were considered.

  2. High mitochondrial mutation rates estimated from deep-rooting Costa Rican pedigrees

    Science.gov (United States)

    Madrigal, Lorena; Melendez-Obando, Mauricio; Villegas-Palma, Ramon; Barrantes, Ramiro; Raventos, Henrieta; Pereira, Reynaldo; Luiselli, Donata; Pettener, Davide; Barbujani, Guido

    2012-01-01

    Estimates of mutation rates for the noncoding hypervariable Region I (HVR-I) of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) vary widely, depending on whether they are inferred from phylogenies (assuming that molecular evolution is clock-like) or directly from pedigrees. All pedigree-based studies so far were conducted on populations of European origin. In this paper we analyzed 19 deep-rooting pedigrees in a population of mixed origin in Costa Rica. We calculated two estimates of the HVR-I mutation rate, one considering all apparent mutations, and one disregarding changes at sites known to be mutational hot spots and eliminating genealogy branches which might be suspected to include errors, or unrecognized adoptions along the female lines. At the end of this procedure, we still observed a mutation rate equal to 1.24 × 10−6, per site per year, i.e., at least three-fold as high as estimates derived from phylogenies. Our results confirm that mutation rates observed in pedigrees are much higher than estimated assuming a neutral model of long-term HVRI evolution. We argue that, until the cause of these discrepancies will be fully understood, both lower estimates (i.e., those derived from phylogenetic comparisons) and higher, direct estimates such as those obtained in this study, should be considered when modeling evolutionary and demographic processes. PMID:22460349

  3. The american high school graduation rate : trends and levels

    OpenAIRE

    Heckman, James J.; LaFontaine, Paul A.

    2008-01-01

    This paper uses multiple data sources and a unified methodology to estimate the trends and levels of the U.S. high school graduation rate. Correcting for important biases that plague previous calculations, we establish that (a) the true high school graduation rate is substantially lower than the official rate issued by the National Center for Educational Statistics; (b) it has been declining over the past 40 years; (c) majority/minority graduation rate differentials are substantial and have n...

  4. Rapid sequence divergence rates in the 5 prime regulatory regions of young Drosophila melanogaster duplicate gene pairs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael H. Kohn

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available While it remains a matter of some debate, rapid sequence evolution of the coding sequences of duplicate genes is characteristic for early phases past duplication, but long established duplicates generally evolve under constraint, much like the rest of the coding genome. As for coding sequences, it may be possible to infer evolutionary rate, selection, and constraint via contrasts between duplicate gene divergence in the 5 prime regions and in the corresponding synonymous site divergence in the coding regions. Finding elevated rates for the 5 prime regions of duplicated genes, in addition to the coding regions, would enable statements regarding the early processes of duplicate gene evolution. Here, 1 kb of each of the 5 prime regulatory regions of Drosophila melanogaster duplicate gene pairs were mapped onto one another to isolate shared sequence blocks. Genetic distances within shared sequence blocks (d5’ were found to increase as a function of synonymous (dS, and to a lesser extend, amino-acid (dA site divergence between duplicates. The rate d5’/dS was found to rapidly decay from values > 1 in young duplicate pairs (dS 0.8. Such rapid rates of 5 prime evolution exceeding 1 (~neutral predominantly were found to occur in duplicate pairs with low amino-acid site divergence and that tended to be co-regulated when assayed on microarrays. Conceivably, functional redundancy and relaxation of selective constraint facilitates subsequent positive selection on the 5 prime regions of young duplicate genes. This might promote the evolution of new functions (neofunctionalization or division of labor among duplicate genes (subfunctionalization. In contrast, similar to the vast portion of the non-coding genome, the 5 prime regions of long-established gene duplicates appear to evolve under selective constraint, indicating that these long-established gene duplicates have assumed critical functions.

  5. Low dose rate and high dose rate intracavitary treatment for cervical cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hareyama, Masato; Oouchi, Atsushi; Shidou, Mitsuo

    1997-01-01

    From 1984 through 1993, 144 previous untreated patients with carcinoma of uterine cervix were treated with either low dose rate 137 Cs therapy (LDR) or high dose rate 60 Co therapy (HDR). The local failure rates for more than 2-years for the primary lesions were 11.8% (8 of 63 patients) for LDR and 18.0% (11 of 61 patients). Rectal complication rates were significantly lower for HDR versus LDR (14.3% VS. 32.8%. p<0.01). Also, bladder complication rates were significantly lower for HDR versus LDR (0% VS. 10.4%, p<0.005). Treatment results in term of local control were equivalent for HDR and LDR treatment. However, the incidence of complications was higher for the LDR group than for the HDR group. (author)

  6. Transistor reset preamplifier for high-rate high-resolution spectroscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Landis, D.A.; Cork, C.P.; Madden, N.W.; Goulding, F.S.

    1981-10-01

    Pulsed transistor reset of high resolution charge sensitive preamplifiers used in cooled semiconductor spectrometers can sometimes have an advantage over pulsed light reset systems. Several versions of transistor reset spectrometers using both silicon and germanium detectors have been built. This paper discusses the advantages of the transistor reset system and illustrates several configurations of the packages used for the FET and reset transistor. It also describes the preamplifer circuit and shows the performance of the spectrometer at high rates

  7. Pre-installation empirical testing of room shielding for high dose rate remote afterloaders

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Klein, E.E.; Grigsby, P.W.; Williamson, J.F.; Meigooni, A.S.

    1993-01-01

    PURPOSE: Many facilities are acquiring high dose rate remote afterloading units. It is economical that these units be placed in existing shielded teletherapy rooms. Scatter-radiation barriers marginally protect uncontrolled areas from a high dose rate source especially in a room that houses a non-dynamic Cobalt-60 unit. In addition the exact thickness and material composition of the barriers are unknown and therefore, a calculation technique may give misleading results. Also, it would be impossible to evaluate an entire wall barrier by taking isolated core samples in order to assist in the calculations. A quick and inexpensive measurement of dose equivalent using a rented high activity 192Ir source evaluates the barriers and locates shielding deficiencies. METHODS AND MATERIALS: We performed transmission calculations for primary and scattered radiation based on National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements Reports 49 and 51, respectively. We then rented a high activity 21.7 Ci (8.03 x 10(11) Bq) Ir-192 source to assess our existing teletherapy room shielding for adequacy and voids. This source was placed at the proposed location for clinical high dose rate treatment and measurements were performed. RESULTS: No deficiencies were found in controlled areas surrounding the room, but large differences were found between the calculated and measured values. Our survey located a region in the uncontrolled area above the room requiring augmented shielding which was not predicted by the calculations. A canopy shield was designed to potentially augment the shielding in the ceiling direction. CONCLUSION: Pre-installation testing by measurement is an invaluable method for locating shielding deficiencies and avoiding unnecessary enhancement of shielding particularly when there is lack of information of the inherent shielding

  8. Measuring the prevalence of regional mutation rates: an analysis of silent substitutions in mammals, fungi, and insects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tuch Brian B

    2008-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The patterns of mutation vary both within and across genomes. It has been shown for a few mammals that mutation rates vary within the genome, while for unknown reasons, the sensu stricto yeasts have uniform rates instead. The generality of these observations has been unknown. Here we examine silent site substitutions in a more expansive set (20 mammals, 27 fungi, 4 insects to determine why some genomes demonstrate this mosaic distribution and why others are uniform. Results We applied several intragene and intergene correlation tests to measure regional substitution patterns. Assuming that silent sites are a reasonable approximation to neutrally mutating sequence, our results show that all multicellular eukaryotes exhibit mutational heterogeneity. In striking contrast, all fungi are mutationally uniform – with the exception of three Candida species: C. albicans, C. dubliniensis, and C. tropicalis. We speculate that aspects of replication timing may be responsible for distinguishing these species. Our analysis also reveals classes of genes whose silent sites behave anomalously with respect to the mutational background in many species, indicating prevalent selective pressures. Genes associated with nucleotide binding or gene regulation have consistently low silent substitution rates in every mammalian species, as well as multiple fungi. On the other hand, receptor genes repeatedly exhibit high silent substitution rates, suggesting they have been influenced by diversifying selection. Conclusion Our findings provide a framework for understanding the regional mutational properties of eukaryotes, revealing a sharp difference between fungi and multicellular species. They also elucidate common selective pressures acting on eukaryotic silent sites, with frequent evidence for both purifying and diversifying selection.

  9. Lithium thionyl chloride high rate discharge

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klinedinst, K. A.

    1980-04-01

    Improvements in high rate lithium thionyl chloride power technology achieved by varying the electrolyte composition, operating temperature, cathode design, and cathode composition are discussed. Discharge capacities are plotted as a function of current density, cell voltage, and temperature.

  10. High frame rate synthetic aperture duplex imaging

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stuart, Matthias Bo; Tomov, Borislav Gueorguiev; Pihl, Michael Johannes

    2013-01-01

    aperture flow imaging as demonstrated in this paper. Synthetic aperture, directional beamforming, and cross-correlation are used to produce B-mode and vector velocity images at high frame rates. The frame rate equals the effective pulse repetition frequency of each imaging mode. Emissions for making the B...... estimation is −1.8% and the relative standard deviation 5.4%. The approach can thus estimate both high and low velocities with equal accuracy and thereby makes it possible to present vector flow images with a high dynamic range. Measurements are made using the SARUS research scanner, a linear array......Conventional color flow images are limited in velocity range and can either show the high velocities in systole or be optimized for the lower diastolic velocities. The full dynamics of the flow is, thus, hard to visualize. The dynamic range can be significantly increased by employing synthetic...

  11. High-Rate Performance of Muon Drift Tube Detectors

    CERN Document Server

    Schwegler, Philipp

    The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the European Centre for Particle Physics, CERN, collides protons with an unprecedentedly high centre-of-mass energy and luminosity. The collision products are recorded and analysed by four big experiments, one of which is the ATLAS detector. In parallel with the first LHC run from 2009 to 2012, which culminated in the discovery of the last missing particle of the Standard Model of particle physics, the Higgs boson, planning of upgrades of the LHC for higher instantaneous luminosities (HL-LHC) is already progressing. The high instantaneous luminosity of the LHC puts high demands on the detectors with respect to radiation hardness and rate capability which are further increased with the luminosity upgrade. In this thesis, the limitations of the Muon Drift Tube (MDT) chambers of the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer at the high background counting rates at the LHC and performance of new small diameter muon drift tube (sMDT) detectors at the even higher background rates at HL-LHC are stud...

  12. HCV infection among Saudi population: high prevalence of genotype 4 and increased viral clearance rate.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmed S Abdel-Moneim

    Full Text Available HCV is a major etiological agent of liver disease with a high rate of chronic evolution. The virus possesses 6 genotypes with many subtypes. The rate of spontaneous clearance among HCV infected individuals denotes a genetic determinant factor. The current study was designed in order to estimate the rate of HCV infection and ratio of virus clearance among a group of infected patients in Saudi Arabia from 2008 to 2011. It was additionally designed to determine the genotypes of the HCV in persistently infected patients. HCV seroprevalence was conducted on a total of 15,323 individuals. Seropositive individuals were tested by Cobas AmpliPrep/Cobas TaqMan HCV assay to determine the ratio of persistently infected patients to those who showed spontaneous viral clearance. HCV genotyping on random samples from persistently infected patients were conducted based on the differences in the 5'untranslated region (5'UTR. Anti-HCV antibodies were detected in 7.3% of the totally examined sera. A high percentage of the HCV infected individuals experienced virus clearance (48.4%. HCV genotyping revealed the presence of genotypes 1 and 4, the latter represented 97.6% of the tested strains. Evidences of the widespread of the HCV genotype 4 and a high rate of HCV virus clearance were found in Saudi Arabia.

  13. Low average blister-rust infection rates may mean high control costs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robert Marty

    1965-01-01

    The Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, in cooperation with Federal and State forest-pest-control agencies, undertook a survey of blister-rust infection rates in the white pine region of the East during 1962 and 1963. Those engaged in blister-rust-control activities will not be surprised at the survey's results. We found that infection rates were significantly...

  14. High energy high repetition-rate thin-disk amplifier for OPCPA pumping

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schulz, Michael

    2013-08-15

    The development of a pump laser system for a high power and high repetition rate optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA) is presented in this thesis. The OPCPA system requires pump pulse energies in the range of tens of millijoules at high repetition rates with sub-picosecond pulse durations. This can be achieved to some extend with Innoslab amplifier technology. However, scaling to higher pulse energies at high repetition rates may be problematic. With the thin-disk amplifier presented in this thesis, output energies of 140 mJ at 100 kHz repetition rate could be achieved in burst-mode operation, which is a world record for this type of laser amplifier. Due to its material and spectral properties, ytterbium doped YAG (Yb:YAG) is used as a gain medium for the high power amplifier stages. The low quantum defect and the comparatively large emission bandwidth makes this material the choice for high power operation and sub-picosecond compressed pulse durations. The output beam profile as well as the shape of the output bursts is ideal to pump an OPCPA system. An OPCPA output energy in the millijoule range with repetition rates of 100 kHz to 1 MHz is needed to generate seed pulses for the FEL and for the application as pump-probe laser at the FEL facility. Since the development of this laser system needs to meet requirements set by the Free-Electron Laser in Hamburg (FLASH), the amplifier is conceived for burst-mode operation. The main requirement is a high intra-burst pulse repetition rate of more than 100 kHz and a uniform pulse train (burst) with equal properties for every pulse. The burst-mode is an operation mode where the laser never reaches a lasing equilibrium, which means that the behavior of the amplifier is similar to a switch-on of the laser system for every burst. This makes the development of the amplifier system difficult. Therefore, an analytical model has been developed to study the amplification process during the burst. This includes the

  15. High energy high repetition-rate thin-disk amplifier for OPCPA pumping

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schulz, Michael

    2013-08-01

    The development of a pump laser system for a high power and high repetition rate optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA) is presented in this thesis. The OPCPA system requires pump pulse energies in the range of tens of millijoules at high repetition rates with sub-picosecond pulse durations. This can be achieved to some extend with Innoslab amplifier technology. However, scaling to higher pulse energies at high repetition rates may be problematic. With the thin-disk amplifier presented in this thesis, output energies of 140 mJ at 100 kHz repetition rate could be achieved in burst-mode operation, which is a world record for this type of laser amplifier. Due to its material and spectral properties, ytterbium doped YAG (Yb:YAG) is used as a gain medium for the high power amplifier stages. The low quantum defect and the comparatively large emission bandwidth makes this material the choice for high power operation and sub-picosecond compressed pulse durations. The output beam profile as well as the shape of the output bursts is ideal to pump an OPCPA system. An OPCPA output energy in the millijoule range with repetition rates of 100 kHz to 1 MHz is needed to generate seed pulses for the FEL and for the application as pump-probe laser at the FEL facility. Since the development of this laser system needs to meet requirements set by the Free-Electron Laser in Hamburg (FLASH), the amplifier is conceived for burst-mode operation. The main requirement is a high intra-burst pulse repetition rate of more than 100 kHz and a uniform pulse train (burst) with equal properties for every pulse. The burst-mode is an operation mode where the laser never reaches a lasing equilibrium, which means that the behavior of the amplifier is similar to a switch-on of the laser system for every burst. This makes the development of the amplifier system difficult. Therefore, an analytical model has been developed to study the amplification process during the burst. This includes the

  16. The Value Chains of High-Technology Products as Factor of formation the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Irina A. Safronova

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available This article analyzes the value chain of high-tech products in Asia and the role of this phenomenon in the further consolidation of trade blocs and alliances in the region. The presence of these chains and their gradual transition from a vertically integrated model to a system of horizontal linkages and interdependence leads to the formation of mechanisms of economic de-facto integration (so-called regionalization process. The East Asian region has demonstrated unprecedented high rates of economic growth in recent decades. The countries are actively developing mechanisms of multilateral cooperation, involving partners from across the Asia-Pacific region. Particular features of a new regional architecture of economic relations are becoming more tangible, and the essential element of this architecture is the intra-regional integration. The author presents an assessment of further developments of the Regional comprehensive economic partnership (RCEP using the structural-functional approach and analytical instruments of the international political economy, The creation of this trade block will help less advanced countries of ASEAN to accelerate economic growth and improve the conditions for integration into global value chains. For advanced economies, participation in the RCEP seems controversial, because production chains have well-established formats within the framework of ASEAN +. The political standoff between Washington and Beijing has an impact on dynamics of regional integration. The split among the East Asian countries was galvanized by the Trans-Pacific Partnership Project (TTP, because TPP has objectives that are very similar to those of RCEP (trade liberalization and economic integration. The author concludes that the extension of this partnership in the ASEAN countries can seriously complicate the operation RVEP and enhance the impact of political factors on economic cooperation. In this case, the value of production and supply chains

  17. Crack Growth Behavior in the Threshold Region for High Cycle Fatigue Loading

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forman, R. G.; Zanganeh, M.

    2014-01-01

    This paper describes the results of a research program conducted to improve the understanding of fatigue crack growth rate behavior in the threshold growth rate region and to answer a question on the validity of threshold region test data. The validity question relates to the view held by some experimentalists that using the ASTM load shedding test method does not produce valid threshold test results and material properties. The question involves the fanning behavior observed in threshold region of da/dN plots for some materials in which the low R-ratio data fans out from the high R-ratio data. This fanning behavior or elevation of threshold values in the low R-ratio tests is generally assumed to be caused by an increase in crack closure in the low R-ratio tests. Also, the increase in crack closure is assumed by some experimentalists to result from using the ASTM load shedding test procedure. The belief is that this procedure induces load history effects which cause remote closure from plasticity and/or roughness changes in the surface morphology. However, experimental studies performed by the authors have shown that the increase in crack closure is a result of extensive crack tip bifurcations that can occur in some materials, particularly in aluminum alloys, when the crack tip cyclic yield zone size becomes less than the grain size of the alloy. This behavior is related to the high stacking fault energy (SFE) property of aluminum alloys which results in easier slip characteristics. Therefore, the fanning behavior which occurs in aluminum alloys is a function of intrinsic dislocation property of the alloy, and therefore, the fanned data does represent the true threshold properties of the material. However, for the corrosion sensitive steel alloys tested in laboratory air, the occurrence of fanning results from fretting corrosion at the crack tips, and these results should not be considered to be representative of valid threshold properties because the fanning is

  18. Main factors controlling the sedimentation of high-quality shale in the Wufeng–Longmaxi Fm, Upper Yangtze region

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuman Wang

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, the shale of Upper Ordovician Wufeng Fm–Lower Silurian Longmaxi Fm was taken as an example to reveal the distribution patterns and the main sedimentation controlling factors of high-quality shale in the Upper Yangtze region. This study was made from the aspects of plate movement, fluctuation of sea level, palaeo-productivity, deposition rate and paleogeographic environment, based on the field outcrop sections and drilling data of the southern Sichuan Basin, together with geochemical element testing and biostratigraphical analysis results. The following findings were obtained. First, the collision and joint of Yangtze Plate and its periphery plates and the intra-plate deformation were gentle in the early stage, strong in the late stage, gentle in northwest and strong in southeast, so the sedimentation center in the Upper Yangtze region migrated to the northwest and the closure of sea area in the southern Sichuan Basin changed from weak in early stages to strong in late stages. Second, at the turning period from Ordovician to Silurian, sea levels presented the cycle change of deep–shallow–deep–shallow. Due to the combination of high sea levels and a stable ocean basin in early stages, an extensive anoxic tectonic sedimentary space favorable for organic matters preservation was formed in the sea floor. Third, due to the effect of tectonic movements and sea closure, palaeo-productivity of sea areas in the southern Sichuan Basin presented a trend of being high in the early stage and low in the late stage, and the deposition rate was also low in the early stage and high in the late stage. And fourth, extensive deposition and distribution of shale rich in organic matters and silica was mainly controlled by a stable sea basin with a low subsidence rate, a relatively high sea level, semi-closed waters and low deposition rates. To sum up, the high-quality shale in the Upper Yangtze region is characterized by multiphase

  19. Circuit and interconnect design for high bit-rate applications

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Veenstra, H.

    2006-01-01

    This thesis presents circuit and interconnect design techniques and design flows that address the most difficult and ill-defined aspects of the design of ICs for high bit-rate applications. Bottlenecks in interconnect design, circuit design and on-chip signal distribution for high bit-rate

  20. Versatile high-repetition-rate phase-locked chopper system for fast timing experiments in the vacuum ultraviolet and x-ray spectral region

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Plogmaker, Stefan; Johansson, Erik M. J.; Rensmo, Haakan; Feifel, Raimund; Siegbahn, Hans [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, SE-751 20 Uppsala (Sweden); Linusson, Per [Department of Physics, Stockholm University, AlbaNova University Center, SE-106 91 Stockholm (Sweden); Eland, John H. D. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, SE-751 20 Uppsala (Sweden); Department of Chemistry, Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, Oxford University, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QZ (United Kingdom); Baker, Neville [Department of Chemistry, Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, Oxford University, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QZ (United Kingdom)

    2012-01-15

    A novel light chopper system for fast timing experiments in the vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) and x-ray spectral region has been developed. It can be phase-locked and synchronized with a synchrotron radiation storage ring, accommodating repetition rates in the range of {approx}8 to {approx}120 kHz by choosing different sets of apertures and subharmonics of the ring frequency (MHz range). Also the opening time of the system can be varied from some nanoseconds to several microseconds to meet the needs of a broad range of applications. Adjusting these parameters, the device can be used either for the generation of single light pulses or pulse packages from a microwave driven, continuous He gas discharge lamp or from storage rings which are otherwise often considered as quasi-continuous light sources. This chopper can be utilized for many different kinds of experiments enabling, for example, unambiguous time-of-flight (TOF) multi-electron coincidence studies of atoms and molecules excited by a single light pulse as well as time-resolved visible laser pump x-ray probe electron spectroscopy of condensed matter in the valence and core level region.

  1. High rate tests of the LHCb RICH Upgrade system

    CERN Multimedia

    Blago, Michele Piero

    2016-01-01

    One of the biggest challenges for the upgrade of the LHCb RICH detectors from 2020 is to readout the photon detectors at the full 40 MHz rate of the LHC proton-proton collisions. A test facility has been setup at CERN with the purpose to investigate the behaviour of the Multi Anode PMTs, which have been proposed for the upgrade, and their readout electronics at high trigger rates. The MaPMTs are illuminated with a monochromatic laser that can be triggered independently of the readout electronics. A first series of tests, including threshold scans, is performed at low trigger rates (20 kHz) for both the readout and the laser with the purpose to characterise the behaviour of the system under test. Then the trigger rate is increased in two separate steps. First the MaPMTs are exposed to high illumination by triggering the pulsed laser at a high (20 MHz) repetition rate while the DAQ is readout at the same low rate as before. In this way the performance of the MaPMTs and the attached electronics can be evaluated ...

  2. Regional Distribution of Epifascial Swelling and Epifascial Lymph Drainage Rate Constants in Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema

    OpenAIRE

    MODI, STEPHANIE; STANTON, ANTHONY W. B.; MELLOR, RUSSELL H.; MICHAEL PETERS, A.; RODNEY LEVICK, J.; MORTIMER, PETER S.

    2005-01-01

    Background: The view that breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) is a simple, direct mechanical result of axillary lymphatic obstruction (‘stopcock’ mechanism) appears incomplete, because parts of the swollen limb (e.g., hand) can remain nonswollen. The lymph drainage rate constant (k) falls in the swollen forearm but not in the spared hand, indicating regional differences in lymphatic function. Here the generality of the hypothesis that regional epifascial lymphatic failure underlies region...

  3. Impact of life expectancy, literacy rate, opened unemployment rate and gross domestic regional income per capita on poverty in the districts/city in Central Sulawesi Province

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tombolotutu, A. D.; Djirimu, M. A.; Lutfi, M.; Anggadini, F.

    2018-05-01

    Research was conducted in several districts/city in Central Sulawesi Province in order to determine the effect of life expectancy, literacy rate, opened unemployment rate, and gross domestic regional income per capita on poverty at the districts/city in the province. The analysis used is Panel Data Regression. The results show that first, life expectancy and gross domestic regional income have a negative and significant impact on the poverty level in the districts/city in the Province. Second, the opened unemployment rate has a positive and significant effect on the poverty level in the districts/city in the province. Third, literacy rates show a positive effect and insignificant effect on the poverty level in the districts/city in the Province of Central Sulawesi. Fourth, these four variables simultaneously affect the poverty in the districts/city in Central Sulawesi

  4. High incidence of diseases endemic to the Amazon region of Brazil, 2001-2006.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Penna, Gerson; Pinto, Luiz Felipe; Soranz, Daniel; Glatt, Ruth

    2009-04-01

    In Brazil, reportable diseases are the responsibility of the Secretariat of Health Surveillance of the Brazilian Federal Ministry of Health. During 2001-2006, to determine incidence and hospitalization rates, we analyzed 5 diseases (malaria, leishmaniasis [cutaneous and visceral], dengue fever, leprosy, and tuberculosis) that are endemic to the Amazon region of Brazil. Data were obtained from 773 municipalities in 3 regions. Although incidence rates of malaria, leishmaniasis, tuberculosis, and leprosy are decreasing, persons in lower socioeconomic classes with insufficient formal education are affected more by these diseases and other health inequalities than are other population groups in the region.

  5. Elevated rates of organic carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus accumulation in a highly impacted mangrove wetland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sanders, Christian J.; Eyre, Bradley D.; Santos, Isaac R.; Machado, Wilson; Luiz-Silva, Wanilson; Smoak, Joseph M.; Breithaupt, Joshua L.; Ketterer, Michael E.; Sanders, Luciana; Marotta, Humberto; Silva-Filho, Emmanoel

    2014-04-01

    The effect of nutrient enrichment on mangrove sediment accretion and carbon accumulation rates is poorly understood. Here we quantify sediment accretion through radionuclide tracers to determine organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) accumulation rates during the previous 60 years in both a nutrient-enriched and a pristine mangrove forest within the same geomorphological region of southeastern Brazil. The forest receiving high nutrient loads has accumulated OC, TN, and TP at rates that are fourfold, twofold, and eightfold respectively, higher than those from the undisturbed mangrove. Organic carbon and TN stable isotopes (δ13C and δ15N) reflect an increased presence of organic matter (OM) originating with either phytoplankton, benthic algae, or another allochthonous source within the more rapidly accumulated sediments of the impacted mangrove. This suggests that the accumulation rate of OM in eutrophic mangrove systems may be enhanced through the addition of autochthonous and allochthonous nonmangrove material.

  6. [Do online ratings reflect structural differences in healthcare? The example of German physician-rating websites].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meszmer, Nina; Jaegers, Lena; Schöffski, Oliver; Emmert, Martin

    2018-04-01

    Previous surveys have shown that patient satisfaction varies with the regional supply of physicians. Online ratings on physician-rating websites represent a relatively new instrument to display patient satisfaction results. The aim of this study was (1) to assess the current state of online ratings for two medical disciplines (dermatologists and ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialists), and (2) to analyze online derived patient satisfaction results according to the physician density in Germany. We collected online ratings for 420 dermatologists and 450 ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialists on twelve German physician-rating websites. We analyzed the online ratings according to the physician density (low, medium, high physician density). For this purpose, we collected secondary data from both physician-rating websites and the regional associations of statutory health insurance physicians. Data analysis was performed using Median tests and Chi-square tests. In total, 10,239 online ratings for dermatologists and 8,168 online ratings for ENT specialists were analyzed. Almost all dermatologists (99.3 %) and ENT specialists (98.9 %) were listed on one of the physician-rating websites. A total of 93.5 % of all listed dermatologists and 96.9 % of ENT-specialists were rated on at least one of the physician-rating websites. Significant differences were found in the distribution (i.e., percentage of listed or rated physicians) of the ratings according to the regional physician density on only one physician-rating website (pexample, dermatologist ratings were better in regions with a higher physician density compared to regions with a lower number of physicians (average rating: 2.16 vs. 2.67; p<0.001). Online ratings of dermatologists and ENT specialists hardly differ in terms of regional physician density. Physician-rating websites thus do not appear to be appropriate to mirror differences in the health service delivery structure. Our findings thus do not confirm the

  7. Characterizing and modelling river channel migration rates at a regional scale: Case study of south-east France.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alber, Adrien; Piégay, Hervé

    2017-11-01

    An increased awareness by river managers of the importance of river channel migration to sediment dynamics, habitat complexity and other ecosystem functions has led to an advance in the science and practice of identifying, protecting or restoring specific erodible corridors across which rivers are free to migrate. One current challenge is the application of these watershed-specific goals at the regional planning scales (e.g., the European Water Framework Directive). This study provides a GIS-based spatial analysis of the channel migration rates at the regional-scale. As a case study, 99 reaches were sampled in the French part of the Rhône Basin and nearby tributaries of the Mediterranean Sea (111,300 km 2 ). We explored the spatial correlation between the channel migration rate and a set of simple variables (e.g., watershed area, channel slope, stream power, active channel width). We found that the spatial variability of the channel migration rates was primary explained by the gross stream power (R 2  = 0.48) and more surprisingly by the active channel width scaled by the watershed area. The relationship between the absolute migration rate and the gross stream power is generally consistent with the published empirical models for freely meandering rivers, whereas it is less significant for the multi-thread reaches. The discussion focused on methodological constraints for a regional-scale modelling of the migration rates, and the interpretation of the empirical models. We hypothesize that the active channel width scaled by the watershed area is a surrogate for the sediment supply which may be a more critical factor than the bank resistance for explaining the regional-scale variability of the migration rates. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Integrated studies of a regional ozone pollution synthetically affected by subtropical high and typhoon system in the Yangtze River Delta region, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. Shu

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Severe high ozone (O3 episodes usually have close relations to synoptic systems. A regional continuous O3 pollution episode was detected over the Yangtze River Delta (YRD region in China during 7–12 August 2013, in which the O3 concentrations in more than half of the cities exceeded the national air quality standard. The maximum hourly concentration of O3 reached 167.1 ppb. By means of the observational analysis and the numerical simulation, the characteristics and the essential impact factors of the typical regional O3 pollution are comprehensively investigated. The observational analysis shows that the atmospheric subsidence dominated by the western Pacific subtropical high plays a crucial role in the formation of high-level O3. The favorable weather conditions, such as extremely high temperature, low relative humidity and weak wind speed, caused by the abnormally strong subtropical high are responsible for the trapping and the chemical production of O3 in the boundary layer. In addition, when the YRD cities are at the front of Typhoon Utor, the periphery circulation of typhoon system can enhance the downward airflows and cause worse air quality. However, when the typhoon system weakens the subtropical high, the prevailing southeasterly surface wind leads to the mitigation of the O3 pollution. The integrated process rate (IPR analysis incorporated in the Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ model is applied to further illustrate the combined influence of subtropical high and typhoon system in this O3 episode. The results show that the vertical diffusion (VDIF and the gas-phase chemistry (CHEM are two major contributors to O3 formation. During the episode, the contributions of VDIF and CHEM to O3 maintain the high values over the YRD region. On 10–12 August, the cities close to the sea are apparently affected by the typhoon system, with the contribution of VDIF increasing to 28.45 ppb h−1 in Shanghai and 19.76 ppb h−1 in

  9. Properties of Highly Rotationally Excited H2 in Photodissociation Regions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cummings, Sally Jane; Wan, Yier; Stancil, Phillip C.; Yang, Benhui H.; Zhang, Ziwei

    2018-06-01

    H2 is the dominant molecular species in the vast majority of interstellar environments and it plays a crucial role as a radiative coolant. In photodissociation regions, it is one of the primary emitters in the near to mid-infrared which are due to lines originating from highly excited rotational levels. However, collisional data for rotational levels j>10 are sparse, particularly for H2-H2 collisions. Utilizing new calculations for para-H2 and ortho-H2 collisional rate coefficients with H2 for j as high as 30, we investigate the effects of the new results in standard PDR models with the spectral simulation package Cloudy. We also perform Cloudy models of the Orion Bar and use Radex to explore rotational line ratio diagnostics. The resulting dataset of H2 collisional data should find wide application to other molecular environments. This work was support by Hubble Space Telescope grant HST-AR-13899.001-A and NASA grants NNX15AI61G and NNX16AF09G.

  10. Investigating the variations in survival rates for very preterm infants in ten European regions: the MOSAIC birth cohort

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Draper, Elizabeth S; Zeitlin, Jennifer; Fenton, Alan C

    2008-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To investigate the variation in the survival rate and the mortality rates for very preterm infants across Europe. DESIGN: A prospective birth cohort of very preterm infants for ten geographically defined European regions during 2003 followed to discharge home from hospital. PARTICIPANTS...... to directly compare international statistics for mortality in very preterm infants, data collection needs to be standardised. We believe that the standard point of comparison should be using all those infants alive at the onset of labour as the denominator for comparisons of mortality rates for very preterm...... for NIC. For babies rates to discharge from NIC for very preterm deliveries and in the timing of death across the MOSAIC regions. In order...

  11. Ultra Fast, High Rep Rate, High Voltage Spark Gap Pulser

    Science.gov (United States)

    1995-07-01

    current rise time. The spark gap was designed to have a coaxial geometry reducing its inductance. Provisions were made to pass flowing gas between the...ULTRA FAST, HIGH REP RATE, HIGH VOLTAGE SPARK GAP PULSER Robert A. Pastore Jr., Lawrence E. Kingsley, Kevin Fonda, Erik Lenzing Electrophysics and...Modeling Branch AMSRL-PS-EA Tel.: (908)-532-0271 FAX: (908)-542-3348 U.S. Army Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Directorate Ft. Monmouth

  12. A High-resolution Reanalysis for the European CORDEX Region

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bentzien, Sabrina; Bollmeyer, Christoph; Crewell, Susanne; Friederichs, Petra; Hense, Andreas; Keller, Jan; Keune, Jessica; Kneifel, Stefan; Ohlwein, Christian; Pscheidt, Ieda; Redl, Stephanie; Steinke, Sandra

    2014-05-01

    A High-resolution Reanalysis for the European CORDEX Region Within the Hans-Ertel-Centre for Weather Research (HErZ), the climate monitoring branch concentrates efforts on the assessment and analysis of regional climate in Germany and Europe. In joint cooperation with DWD (German Meteorological Service), a high-resolution reanalysis system based on the COSMO model has been developed. Reanalyses gain more and more importance as a source of meteorological information for many purposes and applications. Several global reanalyses projects (e.g., ERA, MERRA, CSFR, JMA9) produce and verify these data sets to provide time series as long as possible combined with a high data quality. Due to a spatial resolution down to 50-70km and 3-hourly temporal output, they are not suitable for small scale problems (e.g., regional climate assessment, meso-scale NWP verification, input for subsequent models such as river runoff simulations). The implementation of regional reanalyses based on a limited area model along with a data assimilation scheme is able to generate reanalysis data sets with high spatio-temporal resolution. The work presented here focuses on the regional reanalysis for Europe with a domain matching the CORDEX-EURO-11 specifications, albeit at a higher spatial resolution, i.e., 0.055° (6km) instead of 0.11° (12km). The COSMO reanalysis system comprises the assimilation of observational data using the existing nudging scheme of COSMO and is complemented by a special soil moisture analysis and boundary conditions given by ERA-interim data. The reanalysis data set currently covers 6 years (2007-2012). The evaluation of the reanalyses is done using independent observations with special emphasis on precipitation and high-impact weather situations. The development and evaluation of the COSMO-based reanalysis for the CORDEX-Euro domain can be seen as a preparation for joint European activities on the development of an ensemble system of regional reanalyses for Europe.

  13. Assessment of cardiac performance with quantitative radionuclide angiocardiography: sequential left ventricular ejection fraction, normalized left ventricular ejection rate, and regional wall motion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marshall, R.C.; Berger, H.J.; Costin, J.C.; Freedman, G.S.; Wolberg, J.; Cohen, L.S.; Gotischalk, A.; Zaret, B.L.

    1977-01-01

    Sequential quantitative first pass radionuclide angiocardiograms (RA) were used to measure left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and left ventricular ejection rate (LVER), and to assess regional wall motion (RWM) in the anterior (ANT) and left anterior oblique (LAO) positions. Studies were obtained with a computerized multicrystal scintillation camera suitable for acquiring high count-rate data. Background was determined in a new fashion by selecting frames temporally from the left ventricular region of interest time-activity curve. A ''representative'' cardiac cycle was formed by summing together counts over three to six cardiac cycles. From this background corrected, high count-rate ''representative''cardiac cycle, LVEF, LVER, and RWM were determined. In 22 patients with normal sinus rhythm in the absence of significant valvular regurgitation, RA LVEF correlated well with that measured by contrast angiography (r = 0.95). LVER correlated well with LVEF measured at contrast angiography (r = 0.90) and allowed complete separation of those with normal (LVER = 3.4 +- 0.17 sec -1 ) and abnormal (LVER = 1.22 +- 0.11 sec -1 ) (P < 0.001) left ventricular performance. This separation was independent of background. Isoproterenol infusion in five normal subjects caused LVER to increase by 81 +- 17% while LVEF increased by 10 +- 2.0%. RWM was correctly defined in 21/22 patients and 89% of left ventricular segments with abnormal wall motion

  14. Brachytherapy optimization using radiobiological-based planning for high dose rate and permanent implants for prostate cancer treatment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seeley, Kaelyn; Cunha, J. Adam; Hong, Tae Min

    2017-01-01

    We discuss an improvement in brachytherapy--a prostate cancer treatment method that directly places radioactive seeds inside target cancerous regions--by optimizing the current standard for delivering dose. Currently, the seeds' spatiotemporal placement is determined by optimizing the dose based on a set of physical, user-defined constraints. One particular approach is the ``inverse planning'' algorithms that allow for tightly fit isodose lines around the target volumes in order to reduce dose to the patient's organs at risk. However, these dose distributions are typically computed assuming the same biological response to radiation for different types of tissues. In our work, we consider radiobiological parameters to account for the differences in the individual sensitivities and responses to radiation for tissues surrounding the target. Among the benefits are a more accurate toxicity rate and more coverage to target regions for planning high-dose-rate treatments as well as permanent implants.

  15. Spallation model for the high strain rates range

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dekel, E.; Eliezer, S.; Henis, Z.; Moshe, E.; Ludmirsky, A.; Goldberg, I. B.

    1998-11-01

    Measurements of the dynamic spall strength in aluminum and copper shocked by a high power laser to pressures of hundreds of kbars show a rapid increase in the spall strength with the strain rate at values of about 107 s-1. We suggest that this behavior is a result of a change in the spall mechanism. At low strain rates the spall is caused by the motion and coalescence of material's initial flaws. At high strain rates there is not enough time for the flaws to move and the spall is produced by the formation and coalescence of additional cavities where the interatomic forces become dominant. Material under tensile stress is in a metastable condition and cavities of a critical radius are formed in it due to thermal fluctuations. These cavities grow due to the tension. The total volume of the voids grow until the material disintegrates at the spall plane. Simplified calculations based on this model, describing the metal as a viscous liquid, give results in fairly good agreement with the experimental data and predict the increase in spall strength at high strain rates.

  16. The Effect of Minimum Wage Rates on High School Completion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warren, John Robert; Hamrock, Caitlin

    2010-01-01

    Does increasing the minimum wage reduce the high school completion rate? Previous research has suffered from (1. narrow time horizons, (2. potentially inadequate measures of states' high school completion rates, and (3. potentially inadequate measures of minimum wage rates. Overcoming each of these limitations, we analyze the impact of changes in…

  17. Animal Fascioliasis: Perspectives from high altitudinal regions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lyngdoh, Damanbha; Sharma, Sunil; Roy, Bishnupada; Tandon, Veena

    2016-12-15

    The parasitic flukes of the genus Fasciola (Platyhelminthes: Trematoda: Digenea) cause fascioliasis or liver-rot disease in ruminant livestock in tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. Classically, two species of Fasciola- F. hepatica and F. gigantica, are universally recognized as taxonomically valid species. Our survey studies on ovid and bovid animals including yak and mithun from high altitudinal mountainous regions in Northeast India revealed the occurrence of Fasciola gigantica and also Fasciola sp.- an intermediate form, at altitudes between 5000 and 14,085 feet above sea level (asl). Two morphotypes- F. hepatica - like and F. gigantica - like, of Fasciola species were reported from the high altitudinal areas of Northeast India; most of these locales constitute new-locality and first records for the occurrence of these liver flukes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Evaluation of a High-Resolution Regional Reanalysis for Europe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ohlwein, C.; Wahl, S.; Keller, J. D.; Bollmeyer, C.

    2014-12-01

    Reanalyses gain more and more importance as a source of meteorological information for many purposes and applications. Several global reanalyses projects (e.g., ERA, MERRA, CSFR, JMA9) produce and verify these data sets to provide time series as long as possible combined with a high data quality. Due to a spatial resolution down to 50-70km and 3-hourly temporal output, they are not suitable for small scale problems (e.g., regional climate assessment, meso-scale NWP verification, input for subsequent models such as river runoff simulations). The implementation of regional reanalyses based on a limited area model along with a data assimilation scheme is able to generate reanalysis data sets with high spatio-temporal resolution. Within the Hans-Ertel-Centre for Weather Research (HErZ), the climate monitoring branch concentrates efforts on the assessment and analysis of regional climate in Germany and Europe. In joint cooperation with DWD (German Meteorological Service), a high-resolution reanalysis system based on the COSMO model has been developed. The regional reanalysis for Europe matches the domain of the CORDEX EURO-11 specifications, albeit at a higher spatial resolution, i.e., 0.055° (6km) instead of 0.11° (12km) and comprises the assimilation of observational data using the existing nudging scheme of COSMO complemented by a special soil moisture analysis with boundary conditions provided by ERA-Interim data. The reanalysis data set covers 6 years (2007-2012) and is currently extended to 16 years. Extensive evaluation of the reanalysis is performed using independent observations with special emphasis on precipitation and high-impact weather situations indicating a better representation of small scale variability. Further, the evaluation shows an added value of the regional reanalysis with respect to the forcing ERA Interim reanalysis and compared to a pure high-resolution dynamical downscaling approach without data assimilation.

  19. Stimulus rate dependence of regional cerebral blood flow in human striate cortex, demonstrated by positron emission tomography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fox, P.T.; Raichle, M.E.

    1984-01-01

    The purpose of this investigation was to determine the relationship between the repetition rate of a simple sensory stimulus and regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in the human brain. Positron emission tomography (PET), using intravenously administered H 2 ( 15 )O as the diffusible blood-flow tracer, was employed for all CBF measurements. The use of H 2 ( 15 )O with PET allowed eight CBF measurements to be made in rapid sequence under multiple stimulation conditions without removing the subject from the tomograph. Nine normal volunteers each underwent a series of eight H2( 15 )O PET measurements of CBF. Initial and final scans were made during visual deprivation. The six intervening scans were made during visual activation with patterned-flash stimuli given in random order at 1.0-, 3.9-, 7.8-, 15.5-, 33.1-, and 61-Hz repetition rates. The region of greatest rCBF increase was determined. Within this region the rCBF was determined for every test condition and then expressed as the percentage change from the value of the initial unstimulated scan (rCBF% delta). In every subject, striate cortex rCBF% delta varied systematically with stimulus rate. Between 0 and 7.8 Hz, rCBF% delta was a linear function of stimulus repetition rate. The rCBF response peaked at 7.8 Hz and then declined. The rCBF% delta during visual stimulation was significantly greater than that during visual deprivation for every stimulus rate except 1.0 Hz. The anatomical localization of the region of peak rCBF response was determined for every subject to be the mesial occipital lobes along the calcarine fissure, primary visual cortex. Stimulus rate is a significant determinant of rCBF response in the visual cortex. Investigators of brain responses to selective activation procedures should be aware of the potential effects of stimulus rate on rCBF and other measurements of cerebral metabolism

  20. HIGH-RATE ANAEROBIC TREATMENT OF ALCOHOLIC WASTEWATERS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Florencio L.

    1997-01-01

    Full Text Available Modern high-rate anaerobic wastewater treatment processes are rapidly becoming popular for industrial wastewater treatment. However, until recently stable process conditions could not be guaranteed for alcoholic wastewaters containing higher concentrations of methanol. Although methanol can be directly converted into methane by methanogens, under specific conditions it can also be converted into acetate and butyrate by acetogens. The accumulation of volatile fatty acids can lead to reactor instability in a weakly buffered reactor. Since this process was insufficiently understood, the application of high-rate anaerobic reactors was highly questionable. This research investigated the environmental factors that are of importance in the predominance of methylotrophic methanogens over acetogens in a natural mixed culture during anaerobic wastewater treatment in upflow anaerobic sludge bed reactors. Technological and microbiological aspects were investigated. Additionally, the route by which methanol is converted into methane is also presented

  1. Baltimore District Tackles High Suspension Rates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maxwell, Lesli A.

    2007-01-01

    This article reports on how the Baltimore District tackles its high suspension rates. Driven by an increasing belief that zero-tolerance disciplinary policies are ineffective, more educators are embracing strategies that do not exclude misbehaving students from school for offenses such as insubordination, disrespect, cutting class, tardiness, and…

  2. Cosmological Evolution of the Central Engine in High-Luminosity, High-Accretion Rate AGN

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matteo Guainazzi

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available In this paper I discuss the status of observational studies aiming at probing the cosmological evolution of the central engine in high-luminosity, high-accretion rate Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN. X-ray spectroscopic surveys, supported by extensive multi-wavelength coverage, indicate a remarkable invariance of the accretion disk plus corona system, and of their coupling up to redshifts z≈6. Furthermore, hard X-ray (E >10 keV surveys show that nearby Seyfert Galaxies share the same central engine notwithstanding their optical classication. These results suggest that the high-luminosity, high accretion rate quasar phase of AGN evolution is homogeneous over cosmological times.

  3. Ductile fracture mechanism of low-temperature In-48Sn alloy joint under high strain rate loading.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Jong-Woong; Jung, Seung-Boo

    2012-04-01

    The failure behaviors of In-48Sn solder ball joints under various strain rate loadings were investigated with both experimental and finite element modeling study. The bonding force of In-48Sn solder on an Ni plated Cu pad increased with increasing shear speed, mainly due to the high strain-rate sensitivity of the solder alloy. In contrast to the cases of Sn-based Pb-free solder joints, the transition of the fracture mode from a ductile mode to a brittle mode was not observed in this solder joint system due to the soft nature of the In-48Sn alloy. This result is discussed in terms of the relationship between the strain-rate of the solder alloy, the work-hardening effect and the resulting stress concentration at the interfacial regions.

  4. High Frequency Backscatter from the Polar and Auroral E-Region Ionosphere

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forsythe, Victoriya V.

    The Earth's ionosphere contains collisional and partially-ionized plasma. The electric field, produced by the interaction between the Earth's magnetosphere and the solar wind, drives the plasma bulk motion, also known as convection, in the F-region of the ionosphere. It can also destabilize the plasma in the E-region, producing irregularities or waves. Intermediate-scale waves with wavelengths of hundreds of meters can cause scintillation and fading of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals, whereas the small-scale waves (lambda Network (SuperDARN). The theoretical part of this work focuses on symmetry properties of the general dispersion relation that describes wave propagation in the collisional plasma in the two-stream and gradient-drift instability regimes. The instability growth rate and phase velocity are examined under the presence of a background parallel electric field, whose influence is demonstrated to break the spatial symmetry of the wave propagation patterns. In the observational part of this thesis, a novel dual radar setup is used to examine E-region irregularities in the magnetic polar cap by probing the E-region along the same line from opposite directions. The phase velocity analysis together with raytracing simulations demonstrated that, in the polar cap, the radar backscatter is primarily controlled by the plasma density conditions. In particular, when the E-region layer is strong and stratified, the radar backscatter properties are controlled by the convection velocity, whereas for a tilted E-layer, the height and aspect angle conditions are more important. Finally, the fundamental dependence of the E-region irregularity phase velocity on the component of the plasma convection is investigated using two new SuperDARN radars at high southern latitudes where plasma convection estimates are accurately deduced from all SuperDARN radars in the southern hemisphere. Statistical analysis is presented showing that the predominance of the

  5. High strain rate studies in rock

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grady, D.

    1977-01-01

    Dynamic compression studies using high velocity impact are usually considered to involve a catastrophic process of indeterminate loading rate by which a material is brough to a shock compressed state. Although this is frequently the case, methods are also available to control the rate of strain during the shock compression process. One of the most accurate of these methods makes use of the anomalous nonlinear elastic property of glass to transform an initial shock or step wave input into a ramp wave of known amplitude and duration. Fused silica is the most carefully calibrated material for this purpose and, when placed between the test specimen and the impact projectile, can provide loading strain rates in the range of 10 4 /s to 10 6 /s for final stress states of approximately 3.9 GPa or less.Ramp wave compression experiments have been conducted on dolomite at strain rates of 3 x 10 4 /s. Both initial yielding and subsequent deformation at this strain rate agrees well with previous shock wave studies (epsilon-dotapprox.10 6 /s) and differs substantially from quasi-static measurements (epsilon-dotapprox.10 -4 /s). The ramp wave studies have also uncovered a pressure-induced phase transition in dolomite initiating at 4.0 GPa

  6. A new high background radiation area in the Geothermal region of Eastern Ghats Mobile Belt (EGMB) of Orissa, India

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baranwal, V.C.; Sharma, S.P.; Sengupta, D.; Sandilya, M.K.; Bhaumik, B.K.; Guin, R.; Saha, S.K.

    2006-01-01

    A high natural radiation zone is investigated for the first time in a geothermal region of Eastern Ghats Mobile Belt (EGMB) of Orissa state in India. The surrounding area comprises a geothermal region which has surveyed using a portable pulsed Geiger-Muller counter. On the basis of findings of GM counter, an area was marked as a high radiation zone. Soil and rock samples collected from the high radiation zone were analyzed by γ-ray spectrometry (GRS) using NaI(Tl) detector. The radioactivity is found to be contributed mainly by thorium. Concentration of thorium is reported to be very high compared to their normal abundance in crustal rocks. Further, concentrations of 238 U and 40 K are also high compared to normal abundance in crustal rocks but their magnitude is comparatively less than that of thorium. The average concentrations of 238 U (i.e. U(β-γ)), 232 Th and 40 K are found to be 33, 459ppm and 3%, respectively, in soils and 312, 1723ppm and 5%, respectively, in the granitic rocks. Maximum concentrations of 238 U, 232 Th and 40 K are found to be 95, 1194ppm and 4%, respectively, in soils and 1434, 10,590ppm and 8%, respectively, in the granitic rocks. Radioactive element emits various energies in its decay chain. High energies are utilized to estimate the concentration of actual 238 U, 232 Th and 40 K using a NaI(Tl) detector, however, low energies are used for the same in an HPGe detector. Some of the rock samples (eight in number) were also analyzed using HPGe detector for studying the behavior of low energies emitted in the decay series of uranium and thorium. The absorbed gamma dose rate in air and external annual dose rate of the high radiation zone are calculated to be 2431nGy/h and 3.0mSv/y, respectively. It is approximately 10 times greater than the dose rates obtained outside the high radiation zone. The high concentration of uranium and thorium may be one of the possible heat sources together with the normal geothermal gradient for hot springs

  7. Simulation of electron density disturbances of the ionospheric D region produced by high-energy particle fluxes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Martynenko, S.I.

    1989-01-01

    Using the large-scale tim expansion analytical solutions of electron concentration balance equation in D-region of the ionosphere for pulsed and periodic changes in the rate of ion formatin under the effect of fluxes of precipitating high-energy particles are obtained. Possible effect of disturbances of temperature of nutrals is taken into account. On the basis of model representations the space-time structure of emerging ionospheric disturbances is discussed

  8. Non-contact Real-time heart rate measurements based on high speed circuit technology research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Jizhe; Liu, Xiaohua; Kong, Lingqin; Shi, Cong; Liu, Ming; Hui, Mei; Dong, Liquan; Zhao, Yuejin

    2015-08-01

    In recent years, morbidity and mortality of the cardiovascular or cerebrovascular disease, which threaten human health greatly, increased year by year. Heart rate is an important index of these diseases. To address this status, the paper puts forward a kind of simple structure, easy operation, suitable for large populations of daily monitoring non-contact heart rate measurement. In the method we use imaging equipment video sensitive areas. The changes of light intensity reflected through the image grayscale average. The light change is caused by changes in blood volume. We video the people face which include the sensitive areas (ROI), and use high-speed processing circuit to save the video as AVI format into memory. After processing the whole video of a period of time, we draw curve of each color channel with frame number as horizontal axis. Then get heart rate from the curve. We use independent component analysis (ICA) to restrain noise of sports interference, realized the accurate extraction of heart rate signal under the motion state. We design an algorithm, based on high-speed processing circuit, for face recognition and tracking to automatically get face region. We do grayscale average processing to the recognized image, get RGB three grayscale curves, and extract a clearer pulse wave curves through independent component analysis, and then we get the heart rate under the motion state. At last, by means of compare our system with Fingertip Pulse Oximeter, result show the system can realize a more accurate measurement, the error is less than 3 pats per minute.

  9. Vodka and violence: alcohol consumption and homicide rates in Russia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pridemore, William Alex

    2002-12-01

    In Russia, rates of alcohol consumption and homicide are among the highest in the world, and already-high levels increased dramatically after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Rates of both, however, vary greatly among Russia's 89 regions. We took advantage of newly available vital statistics and socioeconomic data to examine the regional covariation of drinking and lethal violence. Log-log models were employed to estimate the impact of alcohol consumption on regional homicide rates, controlling for structural factors thought to influence the spatial distribution of homicide rates. Results revealed a positive and significant relationship between alcohol consumption and homicide, with a 1% increase in regional consumption of alcohol associated with an approximately 0.25% increase in homicide rates. In Russia, higher regional rates of alcohol consumption are associated with higher rates of homicide.

  10. Thiamine content and turnover rates of some rat nervous regions, using labeled thiamine as a tracer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rindi, G.; Patrini, C.; Comincioli, V.; Reggiani, C.

    1980-01-01

    The content of total thiamine radioactivity in some nervous structures and liver of the rat was determined in a steady state condition, using [thiazole-2- 14 C]thiamine as a tracer. The contents were analyzed by a mamillary type compartmental model which enabled the authors to calculate the influx and efflux fractional rate constants, turnover times, turnover rates and relative accuracy. The results show in general a good agreement between turnover rate values and brain regional sensitivity to thiamine deficiency, the most vunerable areas to thiamine depletion being those with the highest turnover rates. (Auth.)

  11. Stretching of red blood cells at high strain rates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mancuso, J. E.; Ristenpart, W. D.

    2017-10-01

    Most work on the mechanical behavior of red blood cells (RBCs) in flow has focused on simple shear flows. Relatively little work has examined RBC deformations in the physiologically important extensional flow that occurs at the entrance to a constriction. In particular, previous work suggests that RBCs rapidly stretch out and then retract upon entering the constriction, but to date no model predicts this behavior for the extremely high strain rates typically experienced there. In this Rapid Communication, we use high speed video to perform systematic measurements of the dynamic stretching behavior of RBCs as they enter a microfluidic constriction. We demonstrate that both the Kelvin-Voigt and Skalak viscoelastic models capture the observed stretching dynamics, up to strain rates as high as 2000 s-1. The results indicate that the effective elastic modulus of the RBC membrane at these strain rates is an order of magnitude larger than moduli measured by micropipette aspiration or other low strain rate techniques.

  12. High-power pre-chirp managed amplification of femtosecond pulses at high repetition rates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Yang; Li, Wenxue; Zhao, Jian; Bai, Dongbi; Luo, Daping; Zeng, Heping

    2015-01-01

    Femtosecond pulses at 250 MHz repetition rate from a mode-locked fiber laser are amplified to high power in a pre-chirp managed amplifier. The experimental strategy offers a potential towards high-power ultrashort laser pulses at high repetition rates. By investigating the laser pulse evolution in the amplification processes, we show that self-similar evolution, finite gain bandwidth and mode instabilities determine pulse characteristics in different regimes. Further average power scaling is limited by the mode instabilities. Nevertheless, this laser system enables us to achieve sub-50 fs pulses with an average power of 93 W. (letter)

  13. High-frame-rate digital radiographic videography

    Science.gov (United States)

    King, Nicholas S. P.; Cverna, Frank H.; Albright, Kevin L.; Jaramillo, Steven A.; Yates, George J.; McDonald, Thomas E.; Flynn, Michael J.; Tashman, Scott

    1994-10-01

    High speed x-ray imaging can be an important tool for observing internal processes in a wide range of applications. In this paper we describe preliminary implementation of a system having the eventual goal of observing the internal dynamics of bone and joint reactions during loading. Two Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) gated and image intensified camera systems were used to record images from an x-ray image convertor tube to demonstrate the potential of high frame-rate digital radiographic videography in the analysis of bone and joint dynamics of the human body. Preliminary experiments were done at LANL to test the systems. Initial high frame-rate imaging (from 500 to 1000 frames/s) of a swinging pendulum mounted to the face of an X-ray image convertor tube demonstrated high contrast response and baseline sensitivity. The systems were then evaluated at the Motion Analysis Laboratory of Henry Ford Health Systems Bone and Joint Center. Imaging of a 9 inch acrylic disk with embedded lead markers rotating at approximately 1000 RPM, demonstrated the system response to a high velocity/high contrast target. By gating the P-20 phosphor image from the X-ray image convertor with a second image intensifier (II) and using a 100 microsecond wide optical gate through the second II, enough prompt light decay from the x-ray image convertor phosphor had taken place to achieve reduction of most of the motion blurring. Measurement of the marker velocity was made by using video frames acquired at 500 frames/s. The data obtained from both experiments successfully demonstrated the feasibility of the technique. Several key areas for improvement are discussed along with salient test results and experiment details.

  14. Scintillator performance at low dose rates and low temperatures for the CMS High Granularity Calorimeter for HL-LHC

    CERN Document Server

    Ricci-Tam, Francesca

    2018-01-01

    The High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) will integrate 10 times more luminosity than the LHC, posing significant challenges for radiation tolerance, especially for forward calorimetry, and highlights the issue for future colliders. As part of its HL-LHC upgrade program, the CMS collaboration is designing a High Granularity Calorimeter to replace the existing endcap calorimeters. The upgrade includes both electromagnetic and hadronic components, with the latter using a mixture of silicon sensors (in the highest radiation regions at high pseudorapidity) and scintillator as its active components. The scintillator will nevertheless receive large doses accumulated at low dose rates, and will have to operate at low temperature - around -30 degrees Celsius. We discuss measurements of scintillator radiation tolerance, from in-situ measurements from the current CMS endcap calorimeters, and from measurements at low temperature and low dose-rate at gamma sources in the laboratory.

  15. Sedimentation rates in eastern North America reveal strong links between regional climate, depositional environments, and sediment accumulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goring, S. J.; McLachlan, J. S.; Jackson, S. T.; Blaauw, M.; Christen, J.; Marlon, J.; Blois, J.; Williams, J. W.

    2011-12-01

    PalEON is a multidisciplinary project that combines paleo and modern ecological data with state-of-the-art statistical and modelling tools to examine the interactions between climate, fire and vegetation during the past two millennia in the northeastern United States. A fundamental challenge for PalEON (and paleo research more broadly) is to improve age modelling to yield more accurate sediment-core chronologies. To address this challenge, we assessed sedimentation rates and their controls for 218 lakes and mires in the northeastern U.S. Sedimentation rates (yr/cm) were calculated from age-depth models, which were obtained from the Neotoma database (www.neotomadb.org) and other contributed pollen records. The age models were recalibrated to IntCal09 and augmented in some cases using biostratigraphic markers (Picea decline, 16 kcal BP - 10.5 kcal BP; Quercus rise, 12 - 9.1 kcal BP; and Alnus decline, 11.5 - 10.6 kcal BP) as described in Blois et al. (2011). Relationships between sedimentation rates and sediment age, site longitude, and depositional environment (lacustrine or mire) are significant but weak. There are clear and significant links between variations in the NGRIP record of δ18O and sedimentation in mires across the PalEON region, but no links to lacustrine sedimentation rates. This result indicates that super-regional climatic control of primary productivity, and thus autochthonic sediment deposition, dominates in mires while deposition in lacustrine basins may be driven primarily by local and regional factors including watershed size, surficial materials,and regional vegetation. The shape of the gamma probability functions that best describe sedimentation rate distributions are calculated and presented here for use as priors in Bayesian age modelling applications such as BACON (Blaauw and Christen, in press). Future applications of this research are also discussed.

  16. UNAVCO Geodetic HIgh-Rate and Real-Time Products and Services: A next generation geodetic network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mattioli, G. S.; Mencin, D.; Meertens, C. M.; Feaux, K.; Looney, S.

    2012-12-01

    Recent advances in GPS technology and data processing are providing position estimates with centimeter-level precision at high-rate (1 Hz) and low latency (transforming rapid event characterization, early warning, as well as hazard mitigation and response. Other scientific and operational applications for high-rate GPS also include glacier and ice sheet motions, tropospheric modeling, and better constraints on the dynamics of space weather. UNAVCO, through community input and the recent Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) NSF-ARRA Cascadia initiative, has nearly completed the process of upgrading a total of 373 PBO GPS sites to real-time high-rate capability and these streams are now being archived in our data center. In addition, UNAVCO hosted an NSF funded workshop in Boulder, CO on March 26-28, which brought together 70 participants representing a spectrum of research fields with a goal to develop a community plan for the use of real-time GPS data products within the UNAVCO and EarthScope communities. These data products are expected to improve and expand the use of real-time GPS data over the next decade. Additionally, in collaboration with NOAA, 74 of these stations will provide meteorological data in real-time, primarily to support watershed and flood analyses for regional early-warning systems related to NOAA's work with California Department of Water Resources. As part of this upgrade UNAVCO is also exploring making the 75 PBO borehole strainmeter sites, whose data are now collected with a latency of 24 hours, available in SEED format in real-time in the near future, providing an opportunity to combine high-rate surface positioning and strain data together.

  17. Performance of Drift-Tube Detectors at High Counting Rates for High-Luminosity LHC Upgrades

    CERN Document Server

    Bittner, Bernhard; Kortner, Oliver; Kroha, Hubert; Manfredini, Alessandro; Nowak, Sebastian; Ott, Sebastian; Richter, Robert; Schwegler, Philipp; Zanzi, Daniele; Biebel, Otmar; Hertenberger, Ralf; Ruschke, Alexander; Zibell, Andre

    2016-01-01

    The performance of pressurized drift-tube detectors at very high background rates has been studied at the Gamma Irradiation Facility (GIF) at CERN and in an intense 20 MeV proton beam at the Munich Van-der-Graaf tandem accelerator for applications in large-area precision muon tracking at high-luminosity upgrades of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The ATLAS muon drifttube (MDT) chambers with 30 mm tube diameter have been designed to cope with and neutron background hit rates of up to 500 Hz/square cm. Background rates of up to 14 kHz/square cm are expected at LHC upgrades. The test results with standard MDT readout electronics show that the reduction of the drift-tube diameter to 15 mm, while leaving the operating parameters unchanged, vastly increases the rate capability well beyond the requirements. The development of new small-diameter muon drift-tube (sMDT) chambers for LHC upgrades is completed. Further improvements of tracking e?ciency and spatial resolution at high counting rates will be achieved with ...

  18. Cheetah: A high frame rate, high resolution SWIR image camera

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neys, Joel; Bentell, Jonas; O'Grady, Matt; Vermeiren, Jan; Colin, Thierry; Hooylaerts, Peter; Grietens, Bob

    2008-10-01

    A high resolution, high frame rate InGaAs based image sensor and associated camera has been developed. The sensor and the camera are capable of recording and delivering more than 1700 full 640x512pixel frames per second. The FPA utilizes a low lag CTIA current integrator in each pixel, enabling integration times shorter than one microsecond. On-chip logics allows for four different sub windows to be read out simultaneously at even higher rates. The spectral sensitivity of the FPA is situated in the SWIR range [0.9-1.7 μm] and can be further extended into the Visible and NIR range. The Cheetah camera has max 16 GB of on-board memory to store the acquired images and transfer the data over a Gigabit Ethernet connection to the PC. The camera is also equipped with a full CameralinkTM interface to directly stream the data to a frame grabber or dedicated image processing unit. The Cheetah camera is completely under software control.

  19. Concomitant chemoradiotherapy with high dose rate brachytherapy ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Concomitant chemoradiotherapy with high dose rate brachytherapy as a definitive treatment modality for locally advanced cervical cancer. T Refaat, A Elsaid, N Lotfy, K Kiel, W Small Jr, P Nickers, E Lartigau ...

  20. A Modified Constitutive Model for Tensile Flow Behaviors of BR1500HS Ultra-High-Strength Steel at Medium and Low Temperature Regions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Jun; Quan, Guo-Zheng; Pan, Jia; Wang, Xuan; Wu, Dong-Sen; Xia, Yu-Feng

    2018-01-01

    Constitutive model of materials is one of the most requisite mathematical model in the finite element analysis, which describes the relationships of flow behaviors with strain, strain rate and temperature. In order to construct such constitutive relationships of ultra-high-strength BR1500HS steel at medium and low temperature regions, the true stress-strain data over a wide temperature range of 293-873 K and strain rate range of 0.01-10 s-1 were collected from a series of isothermal uniaxial tensile tests. The experimental results show that stress-strain relationships are highly non-linear and susceptible to three parameters involving temperature, strain and strain rate. By considering the impacts of strain rate and temperature on strain hardening, a modified constitutive model based on Johnson-Cook model was proposed to characterize flow behaviors in medium and low temperature ranges. The predictability of the improved model was also evaluated by the relative error (W(%)), correlation coefficient (R) and average absolute relative error (AARE). The R-value and AARE-value for modified constitutive model at medium and low temperature regions are 0.9915 & 1.56 % and 0.9570 & 5.39 %, respectively, which indicates that the modified constitutive model can precisely estimate the flow behaviors for BR1500HS steel in the medium and low temperature regions.

  1. Development of Fast High-Resolution Muon Drift-Tube Detectors for High Counting Rates

    CERN Document Server

    INSPIRE-00287945; Dubbert, J.; Horvat, S.; Kortner, O.; Kroha, H.; Legger, F.; Richter, R.; Adomeit, S.; Biebel, O.; Engl, A.; Hertenberger, R.; Rauscher, F.; Zibell, A.

    2011-01-01

    Pressurized drift-tube chambers are e?cient detectors for high-precision tracking over large areas. The Monitored Drift-Tube (MDT) chambers of the muon spectrometer of the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) reach a spatial resolution of 35 micons and almost 100% tracking e?ciency with 6 layers of 30 mm diameter drift tubes operated with Ar:CO2 (93:7) gas mixture at 3 bar and a gas gain of 20000. The ATLAS MDT chambers are designed to cope with background counting rates due to neutrons and gamma-rays of up to about 300 kHz per tube which will be exceeded for LHC luminosities larger than the design value of 10-34 per square cm and second. Decreasing the drift-tube diameter to 15 mm while keeping the other parameters, including the gas gain, unchanged reduces the maximum drift time from about 700 ns to 200 ns and the drift-tube occupancy by a factor of 7. New drift-tube chambers for the endcap regions of the ATLAS muon spectrometer have been designed. A prototype chamber consisting of 12 times 8 l...

  2. High-Rate Disinfection Techniques for Combined Sewer Overflow (Proceedings Paper)

    Science.gov (United States)

    This paper presents high-rate disinfection technologies for combined sewer overflow (CSO). The high-rate disinfection technologies of interest are: chlorination/dechlorination, ultraviolet light irradiation (UV), chlorine dioxide (ClO2 ), ozone (O3), peracetic acid (CH3COOOH ), a...

  3. Assessment of surge arrester failure rate and application studies in Hellenic high voltage transmission lines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Christodoulou, C.A.; Fotis, G.P.; Gonos, I.F.; Stathopulos, I.A. [National Technical University of Athens, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, High Voltage Laboratory, 9 Iroon Politechniou St., Zografou Campus, 157 80 Athens (Greece); Ekonomou, L. [A.S.PE.T.E. - School of Pedagogical and Technological Education, Department of Electrical Engineering Educators, N. Heraklion, 141 21 Athens (Greece)

    2010-02-15

    The use of transmission line surge arresters to improve the lightning performance of transmission lines is becoming more common. Especially in areas with high soil resistivity and ground flash density, surge arresters constitute the most effective protection mean. In this paper a methodology for assessing the surge arrester failure rate based on the electrogeometrical model is presented. Critical currents that exceed arresters rated energy stress were estimated by the use of a simulation tool. The methodology is applied on operating Hellenic transmission lines of 150 kV. Several case studies are analyzed by installing surge arresters on different intervals, in relation to the region's tower footing resistance and the ground flash density. The obtained results are compared with real records of outage rate showing the effectiveness of the surge arresters in the reduction of the recorded failure rate. The presented methodology can be proved valuable to the studies of electric power systems designers intending in a more effective lightning protection, reducing the operational costs and providing continuity of service. (author)

  4. Physical nature of strain rate sensitivity of metals and alloys at high strain rates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borodin, E. N.; Gruzdkov, A. A.; Mayer, A. E.; Selyutina, N. S.

    2018-04-01

    The role of instabilities of plastic flow at plastic deformation of various materials is one of the important cross-disciplinary problems which is equally important in physics, mechanics and material science. The strain rate sensitivities under slow and high strain rate conditions of loading have different physical nature. In the case of low strain rate, the sensitivity arising from the inertness of the defect structures evolution can be expressed by a single parameter characterizing the plasticity mechanism. In our approach, this is the value of the characteristic relaxation time. In the dynamic case, there are additional effects of “high-speed sensitivity” associated with the micro-localization of the plastic flow near the stress concentrators. In the frames of mechanical description, this requires to introduce additional strain rate sensitivity parameters, which is realized in numerous modifications of Johnson–Cook and Zerilli–Armstrong models. The consideration of both these factors is fundamental for an adequate description of the problems of dynamic deformation of highly inhomogeneous metallic materials such as steels and alloys. The measurement of the dispersion of particle velocities on the free surface of a shock-loaded material can be regarded as an experimental expression of the effect of micro-localization. This is also confirmed by our results of numerical simulation of the propagation of shock waves in a two-dimensional formulation and analytical estimations.

  5. Two-Way Multiple Relays Channel: Achievable Rate Region and Optimal Resources

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zouhair Al-Qudah

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper considers a communication model containing two users that exchange their information with the help of multiple parallel relay nodes. To avoid interference at these common nodes, two users are required to transmit over the different frequency bands. Based on this scenario, the achievable rate region is initially derived. Next, an optimization scheme is described to choose the best relays that can be used by each user. Then, two power allocation optimization schemes are investigated to allocate the proper average power value to each node. Finally, comparisons between these two optimization schemes are carried out through some numerical examples.

  6. Radiobiological aspects of continuous low dose-rate irradiation and fractionated high dose-rate irradiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Turesson, I.

    1990-01-01

    The biological effects of continuous low dose-rate irradiation and fractionated high dose-rate irradiation in interstitial and intracavitary radiotherapy and total body irradiation are discussed in terms of dose-rate fractionation sensitivity for various tissues. A scaling between dose-rate and fraction size was established for acute and late normal-tissue effects which can serve as a guideline for local treatment in the range of dose rates between 0.02 and 0.005 Gy/min and fraction sizes between 8.5 and 2.5 Gy. This is valid provided cell-cycle progression and proliferation can be ignored. Assuming that the acute and late tissue responses are characterized by α/β values of about 10 and 3 Gy and a mono-exponential repair half-time of about 3 h, the same total doses given with either of the two methods are approximately equivalent. The equivalence for acute and late non-hemopoietic normal tissue damage is 0.02 Gy/min and 8.5 Gy per fraction; 0.01 Gy/min and 5.5 Gy per fraction; and 0.005 Gy/min and 2.5Gy per fraction. A very low dose rate, below 0.005 Gy/min, is thus necessary to simulate high dose-rate radiotherapy with fraction sizes of about 2Gy. The scaling factor is, however, dependent on the repair half-time of the tissue. A review of published data on dose-rate effects for normal tissue response showed a significantly stronger dose-rate dependence for late than for acute effects below 0.02 Gy/min. There was no significant difference in dose-rate dependence between various acute non-hemopoietic effects or between various late effects. The consistent dose-rate dependence, which justifies the use of a general scaling factor between fraction size and dose rate, contrasts with the wide range of values for repair half-time calculated for various normal-tissue effects. This indicates that the model currently used for repair kinetics is not satisfactory. There are also few experimental data in the clinical dose-rate range, below 0.02 Gy/min. It is therefore

  7. High Incidence of Diseases Endemic to the Amazon Region of Brazil, 2001–2006

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pinto, Luiz Felipe; Soranz, Daniel; Glatt, Ruth

    2009-01-01

    In Brazil, reportable diseases are the responsibility of the Secretariat of Health Surveillance of the Brazilian Federal Ministry of Health. During 2001–2006, to determine incidence and hospitalization rates, we analyzed 5 diseases (malaria, leishmaniasis [cutaneous and visceral], dengue fever, leprosy, and tuberculosis) that are endemic to the Amazon region of Brazil. Data were obtained from 773 municipalities in 3 regions. Although incidence rates of malaria, leishmaniasis, tuberculosis, and leprosy are decreasing, persons in lower socioeconomic classes with insufficient formal education are affected more by these diseases and other health inequalities than are other population groups in the region. PMID:19331758

  8. Investigation of high-rate lithium-thionyl chloride cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hayes, Catherine A.; Gust, Steven; Farrington, Michael D.; Lockwood, Judith A.; Donaldson, George J.

    Chemical analysis of a commercially produced high-rate D-size lithium-thionyl cell was carried out, as a function of rate of discharge (1 ohm and 5 ohms), depth of discharge, and temperature (25 C and -40 C), using specially developed methods for identifying suspected minor cell products or impurities which may effect cell performance. These methods include a product-retrieval system which involves solvent extraction to enhance the recovery of suspected semivolatile minor chemicals, and methods of quantitative GC analysis of volatile and semivolatile products. The nonvolatile products were analyzed by wet chemical methods. The results of the analyses indicate that the predominant discharge reaction in this cell is 4Li + 2SOCl2 going to 4LiCl + S + SO2, with SO2 formation decreasing towards the end of cell life (7 to 12 Ah). The rate of discharge had no effect on the product distribution. Upon discharge of the high-rate cell at -40 C, one cell exploded, and all others exhibited overheating and rapid internal pressure rise when allowed to warm up to room temperature.

  9. An alternative method for the estimation of sedimentation rates using radiometric measurements in an intertidal region (sw of spain)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ligero, Rufino; Casas-Ruiz, Melquiades; Barrera, Manuel; Barbero, Luis

    2010-05-01

    The techniques for the direct measurement of the sedimentation rate are reliable but slow and imprecise, given that the time intervals of measurement cannot be very long. Consequently it is an extremely laborious task to obtain a representative map of the sedimentation rates and such maps are available for very few zones. However, for most environmental studies, it is very important to know the sedimentation rates. The high degree of accuracy of the gamma spectrometric techniques together with the application of the model describes in this work, has allowed the determination of the sedimentation rates in a wide spatial area such of the Bay of Cadiz to be obtained with precision and consuming considerably less time in comparison to the traditional techniques. Even so, the experimental conditions required for the sample cores are fairly restrictive, and although the radiological method provides a quantitative advance in measurement, the experimental difficulty in the execution of the study is not greatly diminished. For this reason, a second model has been derived based on the measurement of the inventory, which offers economies in time and financial cost, and which allows the sedimentation rate in a region to be determined with satisfactory accuracy. Furthermore, it has been shown that the application of this model requires a precise determination of 137Cs inventories. The sedimentation rates estimated by the 137Cs inventory method ranged from 0.26 cm/year to 1.72 cm/year. The average value of the sedimentation rate obtained is 0.59 cm/year, and this rate has been compared with those resulting from the application of the 210Pb dating technique. A good agreement between the two procedures has been found. From the study carried out, it has been possible for the first time, to draw a map of sedimentation rates for this zone where numerous physical-chemical, oceanographic and ecological studies converge, since it is situated in a region of great environmental interest

  10. High throughput route selection in multi-rate wireless mesh networks

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    WEI Yi-fei; GUO Xiang-li; SONG Mei; SONG Jun-de

    2008-01-01

    Most existing Ad-hoc routing protocols use the shortest path algorithm with a hop count metric to select paths. It is appropriate in single-rate wireless networks, but has a tendency to select paths containing long-distance links that have low data rates and reduced reliability in multi-rate networks. This article introduces a high throughput routing algorithm utilizing the multi-rate capability and some mesh characteristics in wireless fidelity (WiFi) mesh networks. It uses the medium access control (MAC) transmission time as the routing metric, which is estimated by the information passed up from the physical layer. When the proposed algorithm is adopted, the Ad-hoc on-demand distance vector (AODV) routing can be improved as high throughput AODV (HT-AODV). Simulation results show that HT-AODV is capable of establishing a route that has high data-rate, short end-to-end delay and great network throughput.

  11. Quantum Communication with a High-Rate Entangled Photon Source

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, Nathaniel C.; Chaffee, Dalton W.; Lekki, John D.; Wilson, Jeffrey D.

    2016-01-01

    A high generation rate photon-pair source using a dual element periodically-poled potassium titanyl phosphate (PP KTP) waveguide is described. The photon-pair source features a high pair generation rate, a compact power-efficient package, and continuous wave (CW) or pulsed operation. Characterization and test results are presented. Details and preliminary results of a laboratory free-space QKD experiment with the B92 protocol are also presented.

  12. High-Rate Data-Capture for an Airborne Lidar System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valett, Susan; Hicks, Edward; Dabney, Philip; Harding, David

    2012-01-01

    A high-rate data system was required to capture the data for an airborne lidar system. A data system was developed that achieved up to 22 million (64-bit) events per second sustained data rate (1408 million bits per second), as well as short bursts (less than 4 s) at higher rates. All hardware used for the system was off the shelf, but carefully selected to achieve these rates. The system was used to capture laser fire, single-photon detection, and GPS data for the Slope Imaging Multi-polarization Photo-counting Lidar (SIMPL). However, the system has applications for other laser altimeter systems (waveform-recording), mass spectroscopy, xray radiometry imaging, high-background- rate ranging lidar, and other similar areas where very high-speed data capture is needed. The data capture software was used for the SIMPL instrument that employs a micropulse, single-photon ranging measurement approach and has 16 data channels. The detected single photons are from two sources those reflected from the target and solar background photons. The instrument is non-gated, so background photons are acquired for a range window of 13 km and can comprise many times the number of target photons. The highest background rate occurs when the atmosphere is clear, the Sun is high, and the target is a highly reflective surface such as snow. Under these conditions, the total data rate for the 16 channels combined is expected to be approximately 22 million events per second. For each photon detection event, the data capture software reads the relative time of receipt, with respect to a one-per-second absolute time pulse from a GPS receiver, from an event timer card with 0.1-ns precision, and records that information to a RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) storage device. The relative time of laser pulse firings must also be read and recorded with the same precision. Each of the four event timer cards handles the throughput from four of the channels. For each detection event, a flag is

  13. High rates of carbon storage in old deciduous forests: Emerging mechanisms from the Forest Accelerated Succession ExperimenT (FASET)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gough, C. M.; Nave, L. E.; Hardiman, B. S.; Bohrer, G.; Halperin, A.; Maurer, K.; Le Moine, J.; Nadelhoffer, K.; Vogel, C. S.; Curtis, P.; University Of Michigan Biological Station Forest Ecosystem Study (Umbs-Fest) Team

    2010-12-01

    Deciduous forests of the eastern US are broadly approaching an ecological threshold in which early successional dominant trees are senescing and giving way to later successional species, with unknown consequences for regional carbon (C) cycling. Though recent research demonstrates that forests may accumulate C for centuries, the mechanisms behind sustained rates of C storage in old, particularly deciduous, forests have not been identified. In a regionally representative forest at the University of Michigan Biological Station, we are combining observational and experimental C cycling studies to forecast how forest C storage responds to climate variation, disturbance, and succession. The Forest Accelerated Succession ExperimenT (FASET), in which >6,700 aspen and birch trees (~35 % LAI) were stem girdled within a 39 ha area, is testing the hypothesis that forest production will increase rather than decline with age, due to increases in nitrogen (N) availability, N allocation to the canopy, and the concurrent development of a more biologically and structurally complex canopy. Results thus far support our hypothesis that aging forests in the region may sustain high rates of C storage through shifts in N cycling and increased canopy complexity. Girdling-induced mortality of early successional species reduced soil respiration, accelerated fine root turnover, and prompted the redistribution of N from the foliage of early to later successional species. Nitrogen redistribution increased leaf area index (LAI) production by later successional species, offsetting declines in LAI from senescing early successional species. High rates of net primary production (NPP) were sustained in stands comprising a diverse assemblage of early and later successional species because later successional species, when already present in the canopy, rapidly compensated for declining growth of early successional species. Canopy structural complexity, which increased with forest age, was positively

  14. Yield strength of molybdenum, tantalum and tungsten at high strain rates and very high temperatures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Škoro, G.P.; Bennett, J.R.J.; Edgecock, T.R.; Booth, C.N.

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► New experimental data on the yield strength of molybdenum, tantalum and tungsten. ► High strain rate effects at record high temperatures (up to 2700 K). ► Test of the consistency of the Zerilli–Armstrong model at very high temperatures. - Abstract: Recently reported results of the high strain rate, high temperature measurements of the yield strength of tantalum and tungsten have been analyzed along with new experimental results on the yield strength of molybdenum. Thin wires are subjected to high stress by passing a short, fast, high current pulse through a thin wire; the amplitude of the current governs the stress and the repetition rate of the pulses determines the temperature of the wire. The highest temperatures reached in the experiments were 2100 °C (for molybdenum), 2250 °C (for tantalum) and 2450 °C (for tungsten). The strain-rates in the tests were in the range from 500 to 1500 s −1 . The parameters for the constitutive equation developed by Zerilli and Armstrong have been determined from the experimental data and the results have been compared with the data obtained at lower temperatures. An exceptionally good fit is obtained for the deformation of tungsten.

  15. High production rate of IBAD-MgO buffered substrate

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yoshizumi, M., E-mail: myoshizumi@istec.or.j [Superconductivity Research Laboratory, ISTEC, Shinonome 1-10-13, Koto-ku, Tokyo 135-0062 (Japan); Miyata, S.; Ibi, A.; Fukushima, H.; Yamada, Y.; Izumi, T.; Shiohara, Y. [Superconductivity Research Laboratory, ISTEC, Shinonome 1-10-13, Koto-ku, Tokyo 135-0062 (Japan)

    2009-10-15

    The conventional IBAD (Ion Beam Assisted Deposition) process using fluorite materials yields low production rates, resulting in high production cost, which reduces the motivation for practical application in spite of its high quality. The IBAD process using rock salt materials, e.g. MgO, is well known as a strong candidate of practical application due to its potential of high production rate and high in-plane grain alignment. In this work, the IBAD-MgO process was investigated for a newly developed architecture of PLD (Pulsed Laser Deposition)-CeO{sub 2}/sputter-LMO (LaMnO{sub 3})/IBAD-MgO/sputter-GZO (Gd{sub 2}Zr{sub 2}O{sub 7})/Hastelloy{sup TM} to make long buffered metal tapes with high properties and a high production rate. The 50 m-long IBAD-MgO substrates with about 4 deg. of DELTAphiCeO{sub 2} in an XRD phi scan could be fabricated repeatedly. A GdBCO (GdBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub x}) layer deposited on the buffered substrate showed the minimum I{sub c} value of 325 A/cm-w in a 41 m-long tape. Almost of the tape showed 500-600 A/cm-w of I{sub c} value. The deposition time for the IBAD-MgO layer was 60 s which was about 2 orders of magnitude shorter than the conventional IBAD process. The production rate of 24 m/h was realized at the IBAD-MgO process to fabricate the GdBCO coated conductor with high J{sub c} and I{sub c} properties.

  16. Regional economic impacts of changes in electricity rates resulting from Western Area Power Administration`s power marketing alternatives

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Allison, T.; Griffes, P.; Edwards, B.K.

    1995-03-01

    This technical memorandum describes an analysis of regional economic impacts resulting from changes in retail electricity rates due to six power marketing programs proposed by Western Area Power Administration (Western). Regional economic impacts of changes in rates are estimated in terms of five key regional economic variables: population, gross regional product, disposable income, employment, and household income. The REMI (Regional Impact Models, Inc.) and IMPLAN (Impact Analysis for Planning) models simulate economic impacts in nine subregions in the area in which Western power is sold for the years 1993, 2000, and 2008. Estimates show that impacts on aggregate economic activity in any of the subregions or years would be minimal for three reasons. First, the utilities that buy power from Western sell only a relatively small proportion of the total electricity sold in any of the subregions. Second, reliance of Western customers on Western power is fairly low in each subregion. Finally, electricity is not a significant input cost for any industry or for households in any subregion.

  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. Electrophoretic Deposition of Gallium with High Deposition Rate

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hanfei Zhang

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available In this work, electrophoretic deposition (EPD is reported to form gallium thin film with high deposition rate and low cost while avoiding the highly toxic chemicals typically used in electroplating. A maximum deposition rate of ~0.6 μm/min, almost one order of magnitude higher than the typical value reported for electroplating, is obtained when employing a set of proper deposition parameters. The thickness of the film is shown to increase with deposition time when sequential deposition is employed. The concentration of Mg(NO32, the charging salt, is also found to be a critical factor to control the deposition rate. Various gallium micropatterns are obtained by masking the substrate during the process, demonstrating process compatibility with microfabrication. The reported novel approach can potentially be employed in a broad range of applications with Ga as a raw material, including microelectronics, photovoltaic cells, and flexible liquid metal microelectrodes.

  19. Regional approaches in high-rise construction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iconopisceva, O. G.; Proskurin, G. A.

    2018-03-01

    The evolutionary process of high-rise construction is in the article focus. The aim of the study was to create a retrospective matrix reflecting the tasks of the study such as: structuring the most iconic high-rise objects within historic boundaries. The study is based on contemporary experience of high-rise construction in different countries. The main directions and regional specifics in the field of high-rise construction as well as factors influencing the further evolution process are analyzed. The main changes in architectural stylistics, form-building, constructive solutions that focus on the principles of energy efficiency and bio positivity of "sustainable buildings", as well as the search for a new typology are noted. The most universal constructive methods and solutions that turned out to be particularly popular are generalized. The new typology of high-rises and individual approach to urban context are noted. The results of the study as a graphical scheme made it possible to represent the whole high-rise evolution. The new spatial forms of high-rises lead them to new role within the urban environments. Futuristic hyperscalable concepts take the autonomous urban space functions itself and demonstrate us how high-rises can replace multifunctional urban fabric, developing it inside their shells.

  20. High strain-rate soft material characterization via inertial cavitation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Estrada, Jonathan B.; Barajas, Carlos; Henann, David L.; Johnsen, Eric; Franck, Christian

    2018-03-01

    Mechanical characterization of soft materials at high strain-rates is challenging due to their high compliance, slow wave speeds, and non-linear viscoelasticity. Yet, knowledge of their material behavior is paramount across a spectrum of biological and engineering applications from minimizing tissue damage in ultrasound and laser surgeries to diagnosing and mitigating impact injuries. To address this significant experimental hurdle and the need to accurately measure the viscoelastic properties of soft materials at high strain-rates (103-108 s-1), we present a minimally invasive, local 3D microrheology technique based on inertial microcavitation. By combining high-speed time-lapse imaging with an appropriate theoretical cavitation framework, we demonstrate that this technique has the capability to accurately determine the general viscoelastic material properties of soft matter as compliant as a few kilopascals. Similar to commercial characterization algorithms, we provide the user with significant flexibility in evaluating several constitutive laws to determine the most appropriate physical model for the material under investigation. Given its straightforward implementation into most current microscopy setups, we anticipate that this technique can be easily adopted by anyone interested in characterizing soft material properties at high loading rates including hydrogels, tissues and various polymeric specimens.

  1. Forecasting high-priority infectious disease surveillance regions: a socioeconomic model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chan, Emily H; Scales, David A; Brewer, Timothy F; Madoff, Lawrence C; Pollack, Marjorie P; Hoen, Anne G; Choden, Tenzin; Brownstein, John S

    2013-02-01

    Few researchers have assessed the relationships between socioeconomic inequality and infectious disease outbreaks at the population level globally. We use a socioeconomic model to forecast national annual rates of infectious disease outbreaks. We constructed a multivariate mixed-effects Poisson model of the number of times a given country was the origin of an outbreak in a given year. The dataset included 389 outbreaks of international concern reported in the World Health Organization's Disease Outbreak News from 1996 to 2008. The initial full model included 9 socioeconomic variables related to education, poverty, population health, urbanization, health infrastructure, gender equality, communication, transportation, and democracy, and 1 composite index. Population, latitude, and elevation were included as potential confounders. The initial model was pared down to a final model by a backwards elimination procedure. The dependent and independent variables were lagged by 2 years to allow for forecasting future rates. Among the socioeconomic variables tested, the final model included child measles immunization rate and telephone line density. The Democratic Republic of Congo, China, and Brazil were predicted to be at the highest risk for outbreaks in 2010, and Colombia and Indonesia were predicted to have the highest percentage of increase in their risk compared to their average over 1996-2008. Understanding socioeconomic factors could help improve the understanding of outbreak risk. The inclusion of the measles immunization variable suggests that there is a fundamental basis in ensuring adequate public health capacity. Increased vigilance and expanding public health capacity should be prioritized in the projected high-risk regions.

  2. Inverse Planned High-Dose-Rate Brachytherapy for Locoregionally Advanced Cervical Cancer: 4-Year Outcomes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tinkle, Christopher L.; Weinberg, Vivian [Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California, San Francisco, California (United States); Chen, Lee-May [Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, California (United States); Littell, Ramey [Gynecologic Oncology, The Permanente Medical Group, San Francisco, California (United States); Cunha, J. Adam M.; Sethi, Rajni A. [Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California, San Francisco, California (United States); Chan, John K. [Gynecologic Oncology, California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco, California (United States); Hsu, I-Chow, E-mail: ichow.hsu@ucsf.edu [Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California, San Francisco, California (United States)

    2015-08-01

    Purpose: Evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of image guided brachytherapy using inverse planning simulated annealing (IPSA) high-dose-rate brachytherapy (HDRB) boost for locoregionally advanced cervical cancer. Methods and Materials: From December 2003 through September 2009, 111 patients with primary cervical cancer were treated definitively with IPSA-planned HDRB boost (28 Gy in 4 fractions) after external radiation at our institution. We performed a retrospective review of our experience using image guided brachytherapy. Of the patients, 70% had a tumor size >4 cm, 38% had regional nodal disease, and 15% had clinically evident distant metastasis, including nonregional nodal disease, at the time of diagnosis. Surgical staging involving pelvic lymph node dissection was performed in 15% of patients, and 93% received concurrent cisplatin-based chemotherapy. Toxicities are reported according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 4.0 guidelines. Results: With a median follow-up time of 42 months (range, 3-84 months), no acute or late toxicities of grade 4 or higher were observed, and grade 3 toxicities (both acute and late) developed in 8 patients (1 constitutional, 1 hematologic, 2 genitourinary, 4 gastrointestinal). The 4-year Kaplan-Meier estimate of late grade 3 toxicity was 8%. Local recurrence developed in 5 patients (4 to 9 months after HDRB), regional recurrence in 3 (6, 16, and 72 months after HDRB), and locoregional recurrence in 1 (4 months after HDR boost). The 4-year estimates of local, locoregional, and distant control of disease were 94.0%, 91.9%, and 69.1%, respectively. The overall and disease-free survival rates at 4 years were 64.3% (95% confidence interval [CI] of 54%-73%) and 61.0% (95% CI, 51%-70%), respectively. Conclusions: Definitive radiation by use of inverse planned HDRB boost for locoregionally advanced cervical cancer is well tolerated and achieves excellent local control of disease. However, overall

  3. Reactions and reaction rates in the regional aquifer beneath the Pajarito Plateau, north-central New Mexico, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hereford, Anne G.; Keating, Elizabeth H.; Guthrie, George D.; Zhu, Chen

    2007-05-01

    Reactions and reaction rates within aquifers are fundamental components of critical hydrological processes. However, reactions simulated in laboratory experiments typically demonstrate rates that are much faster than those observed in the field. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct more reaction rate analyses in natural settings. This study of geochemical reactions in the regional aquifer in the Pajarito Plateau near Los Alamos, New Mexico combines modeling with petrographic assessment to further knowledge and understanding of complex natural hydrologic systems. Groundwater geochemistry shows marked evolution along assumed flow paths. The flow path chosen for this study was evaluated using inverse mass balance modeling to calculate the mass transfer. X-ray diffraction and field emission gun scanning electron microscopy were used to identify possible reactants and products. Considering the mineralogy of the aquifer and saturation indices for the regional water refined initial interpretations. Calculations yielded dissolution rates for plagioclase on the order of 10-15 mol s-1 m-2 and for K-feldspar on the order of 10-17 mol s-1 m-2, orders of magnitude slower than laboratory rates. While these rates agree with other aquifer studies, they must be considered in the light of the uncertainty associated with geometric surface area estimates, 14C ages, and aquifer properties.

  4. Electronics for very high rate tracking detectors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Williams, H.H.; Dressnandt, N.; Ekenberg, T.; Gerds, E.J.; Newcomer, F.M.; Tedja, S.; Van Berg, R.; Van der Speigel, J.

    1995-01-01

    Results are presented on a system of electronics designed for very high rate tracking detectors at the SSC and LHC. The primary goal was a system for signal detection, time measurement, and readout for the straw tracker for SDC. An integrated circuit incorporating eight channels of amplifier-shaper-discriminator (including detector tail cancellation), and two different integrated circuits for time measurement are described. The performance of tracking measurements up to counting rates of 8 MHz per wire is reported, as well as preliminary results from a baseline restoration circuit. (orig.)

  5. An alternative radiometric method for calculating the sedimentation rates: Application to an intertidal region (SW of Spain)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ligero, R.A., E-mail: rufino.ligero@uca.e [Departamento de Fisica Aplicada, Universidad de Cadiz, 11510 Puerto Real, Cadiz (Spain); Casas-Ruiz, M. [Departamento de Fisica Aplicada, Universidad de Cadiz, 11510 Puerto Real, Cadiz (Spain); Barrera, M. [Departamento de Medio Ambiente, CIEMAT, Madrid 28040 (Spain); Barbero, L. [Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad de Cadiz, 11510 Puerto Real (Spain); Melendez, M.J. [Departamento de Fisica Aplicada, Universidad de Cadiz, 11510 Puerto Real, Cadiz (Spain)

    2010-09-15

    A new method using the inventory determined for the activity of the radionuclide {sup 137}Cs, coming from global radioactive fallout has been utilised to calculate the sedimentation rates. The method has been applied in a wide intertidal region in the Bay of Cadiz Natural Park (SW Spain). The sedimentation rates estimated by the {sup 137}Cs inventory method ranged from 0.26 cm/year to 1.72 cm/year. The average value of the sedimentation rate obtained is 0.59 cm/year, and this rate has been compared with those resulting from the application of the {sup 210}Pb dating technique. A good agreement between the two procedures has been found. From the study carried out, it has been possible for the first time, to draw a map of sedimentation rates for this zone where numerous physico-chemical, oceanographic and ecological studies converge, since it is situated in a region of great environmental interest. This area, which is representative of common environmental coastal scenarios, is particularly sensitive to perturbations related to climate change, and the results of the study will allow to make short and medium term evaluations of this change.

  6. High rate spectroscopy for on-line nuclear coal analyzer (Nucoalyzer)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McQuaid, J.H.; Brown, D.R.; Gozani, T.; Bozorgmanesh, H.

    1980-01-01

    A high count rate, time-variant Ge(Li) spectrometer has been developed for on-line coal analysis. The analyzer is being fabricated for use in a power generating station. Prompt neutron activation of coal samples is the basis of analysis, with 252 Cf as the source for irradiation. The spectroscopy system allows counting rates up to 150 k counts per second without significant loss in energy resolution or peak shape. The high data throughput allows the coal analyzer to be used for on-line process control. The coal analyzer will be discussed, with emphasis on the high-rate signal processing system. Results of analysis of coal samples will be presented

  7. High counting rate resistive-plate chamber

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peskov, V.; Anderson, D.F.; Kwan, S.

    1993-05-01

    Parallel-plate avalanche chambers (PPAC) are widely used in physics experiments because they are fast ( 5 counts/mm 2 . A resistive-plate chamber (RPC) is similar to the PPAC in construction except that one or both of the electrodes are made from high resistivity (≥10 10 Ω·cm) materials. In practice RPCs are usually used in the spark mode. Resistive electrodes are charged by sparks, locally reducing the actual electric field in the gap. The size of the charged surface is about 10 mm 2 , leaving the rest of the detector unaffected. Therefore, the rate capability of such detectors in the spark mode is considerably higher than conventional spark counters. Among the different glasses tested the best results were obtained with electron type conductive glasses, which obey Ohm's law. Most of the work with such glasses was done with high pressure parallel-plate chambers (10 atm) for time-of-flight measurements. Resistive glasses have been expensive and produced only in small quantities. Now resistive glasses are commercially available, although they are still expensive in small scale production. From the positive experience of different groups working with the resistive glasses, it was decided to review the old idea to use this glass for the RPC. This work has investigated the possibility of using the RPC at 1 atm and in the avalanche mode. This has several advantages: simplicity of construction, high rate capability, low voltage operation, and the ability to work with non-flammable gases

  8. High-resolution inventory of NO emissions from agricultural soils over the Ile-de-France region

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rolland, M.-N. [INRA, AgroParisTech, UMR 1091 Environnement et Grandes Cultures, F-78850 Grignon (France); Gabrielle, B., E-mail: Benoit.Gabrielle@agroparistech.f [INRA, AgroParisTech, UMR 1091 Environnement et Grandes Cultures, F-78850 Grignon (France); Laville, P.; Cellier, P. [INRA, AgroParisTech, UMR 1091 Environnement et Grandes Cultures, F-78850 Grignon (France); Beekmann, M. [Laboratoire Inter-universitaire des Systemes Atmospheriques - CNRS, Universites Paris-Est and Paris 7, F-94 010 Creteil (France); Gilliot, J.-M.; Michelin, J.; Hadjar, D. [INRA, AgroParisTech, UMR 1091 Environnement et Grandes Cultures, F-78850 Grignon (France); Curci, G. [Dipartimento di Fisica - CETEMPS, Universita' degli Studi dell' Aquila, 67010 Coppito, L' Aquila (Italy)

    2010-03-15

    Arable soils are a significant source of nitric oxide (NO), a precursor of tropospheric ozone, and thereby contribute to ozone pollution. However, their actual impact on ozone formation is strongly related to their spatial and temporal emission patterns, which warrant high-resolution estimates. Here, we combined an agro-ecosystem model and geo-referenced databases to map these sources over the 12 000 km{sup 2} administrative region surrounding Paris, France, with a kilometric level resolution. The six most frequent arable crop species were simulated, with emission rates ranging from 1.4 kg N-NO ha{sup -1} yr{sup -1} to 11.1 kg N-NO ha{sup -1} yr{sup -1}. The overall emission factor for fertilizer-derived NO emissions was 1.7%, while background emissions contributed half of the total NO efflux. Emissions were strongly seasonal, being highest in spring due to fertilizer inputs. They were mostly sensitive to soil type, crops' growing season and fertilizer N rates. - The use of an agro-ecosystem model at regional scale makes it possible to map the emissions of nitric oxide from arable soils at a resolution compatible with tropospheric ozone models.

  9. Investigating the variations in survival rates for very preterm infants in 10 European regions : the MOSAIC birth cohort

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Draper, E. S.; Zeitlin, J.; Fenton, A. C.; Weber, T.; Gerrits, J.; Martens, G.; Misselwitz, B.; Breart, G.

    Objective: To investigate the variation in the survival rate and the mortality rates for very preterm infants across Europe. Design: A prospective birth cohort of very preterm infants for 10 geographically defined European regions during 2003, followed to discharge home from hospital. Participants:

  10. Performance of high-rate TRD prototypes for the CBM experiment in test beam and simulation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Klein-Boesing, Melanie [Institut fuer Kernphysik, Muenster (Germany)

    2008-07-01

    The goal of the future Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment is to explore the QCD phase diagram in the region of high baryon densities not covered by other experiments. Among other detectors, it will employ a Transition Radiation Detector (TRD) for tracking of charged particles and electron identification. To meet the demands for tracking and for electron identification at large particle densities and very high interaction rates, high efficiency TRD prototypes have been developed. These prototypes with double-sided pad plane electrodes based on Multiwire Proportional Chambers (MWPC) have been tested at GSI and implemented in the simulation framework of CBM. Results of the performance in a test beam and in simulations are shown. In addition, we present a study of the performance of CBM for electron identification and dilepton reconstruction with this new detector layout.

  11. Regional changes over time in initial virologic response rates to combination antiretroviral therapy across Europe

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bannister, Wendy P; Kirk, Ole; Gatell, Jose M

    2006-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Changes in virologic response to initial combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) over calendar time may indicate improvements in cART or emergence of primary resistance. Regional variations may identify differences in available antiretroviral drugs or patient management. METHODS: Vi...... rates Udgivelsesdato: 2006/6...

  12. Developments of regional gross domestic product and the unemployment rate in Romania during 2000 - 2012

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Schonauer (Sacală Corina

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Economic development of territorial units can be characterized by measuring the ability of producing goods and services and by measuring labor force in the area. The capacity of producing goods and services is measured by calculating the gross domestic product indicator. This article presents a comparative analysis of the evolution of regional GDP and the ILO unemployment rate at the level of the eight regions in Romania for a period of 13 years. The presented data come from the National Institute of Statistics of Romania.

  13. High Rate Micromechanical Behavior of Grafted Polymer Nanoparticle Films

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, Edwin

    We report the ultra high strain rate behavior of films comprised of polymer grafted nanoparticles (NPs) and compare the results to homopolymer films. The films are formed by flow coating a suspension of polystyrene (PS) chains of 230 kg/mol grafted to 16nm diameter SiO2\\ at a graft density of 0.6 chains/nm2 resulting a film with 1 vol % SiO2. Films of 267 kg/mol PS were also flow coated and both films were impacted at velocities 350-700 ms-1 using 3.7 micron SiO2\\ projectiles to achieve increments in kinetic energy (KE) of 1:2:4. The KE of the projectiles before and after penetration was measured to determine the penetration energy. TEM and SEM suggest the projectile initially induces plastic flow due to the adiabatic temperature rise from impact. As the projectile deforms the film, the lower magnitude, biaxial stress state in the peripherial regions causes material microvoid formation and initiation of craze growth in the radial and tangential directions. The anchoring of the grafted polymer chains to the NPs increases the penetration energy relative to the pure homopolymer by 50% and the films capacity to delocalize the impact by 200%. These results suggest that highly grafted NP films may be useful in lightweight protection systems. In collaboration with Omri Fried, Olawale Lawal, Yang Jiao, Victor Hsaio, Thevamaran Ramathasan, Mujin Zhou, Richard Vaia.

  14. No variation and low synonymous substitution rates in coral mtDNA despite high nuclear variation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hellberg Michael E

    2006-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA of most animals evolves more rapidly than nuclear DNA, and often shows higher levels of intraspecific polymorphism and population subdivision. The mtDNA of anthozoans (corals, sea fans, and their kin, by contrast, appears to evolve slowly. Slow mtDNA evolution has been reported for several anthozoans, however this slow pace has been difficult to put in phylogenetic context without parallel surveys of nuclear variation or calibrated rates of synonymous substitution that could permit quantitative rate comparisons across taxa. Here, I survey variation in the coding region of a mitochondrial gene from a coral species (Balanophyllia elegans known to possess high levels of nuclear gene variation, and estimate synonymous rates of mtDNA substitution by comparison to another coral (Tubastrea coccinea. Results The mtDNA surveyed (630 bp of cytochrome oxidase subunit I was invariant among individuals sampled from 18 populations spanning 3000 km of the range of B. elegans, despite high levels of variation and population subdivision for allozymes over these same populations. The synonymous substitution rate between B. elegans and T. coccinea (0.05%/site/106 years is similar to that in most plants, but 50–100 times lower than rates typical for most animals. In addition, while substitutions to mtDNA in most animals exhibit a strong bias toward transitions, mtDNA from these corals does not. Conclusion Slow rates of mitochondrial nucleotide substitution result in low levels of intraspecific mtDNA variation in corals, even when nuclear loci vary. Slow mtDNA evolution appears to be the basal condition among eukaryotes. mtDNA substitution rates switch from slow to fast abruptly and unidirectionally. This switch may stem from the loss of just one or a few mitochondrion-specific DNA repair or replication genes.

  15. Microstructural evolution at high strain rates in solution-hardened interstitial free steels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Uenishi, A.; Teodosiu, C.; Nesterova, E.V.

    2005-01-01

    Comprehensive transmission electron microscopical studies have been conducted for solution-hardened steels deformed at high (1000 s -1 ) and low (0.001 s -1 ) strain rates, in order to clarify the effects of strain rate and a jump in strain rate on the evolution of the microstructure and its connection with the mechanical response. It was revealed that the various types of microstructure, observed even within the same specimen, depend on the corresponding grain orientations and their evolution with progressive deformation depends on these microstructure types. At high strain rates, the dislocation density increases especially at low strains and the onset of dislocation organization is delayed. A jump in strain rate causes an increase of the dislocation density inside an organized structure. These results corroborated the mechanical behaviour at high strain rates after compensation for the cross-sectional reduction and temperature increase. The higher work-hardening rate at high strain rates could be connected to a delay in the dislocation organization. The high work-hardening rate just after a jump could be due to an increase of the density of dislocations distributed uniformly inside an organized structure

  16. Delayed high school start times later than 8:30am and impact on graduation rates and attendance rates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McKeever, Pamela Malaspina; Clark, Linda

    2017-04-01

    The first purpose of this study was to investigate changes in high school graduation rates with a delayed school start time of later than 8:30am. The second aim of the study was to analyze the association between a delayed high school start time later than 8:30am and attendance rates. In the current study, a pre-post design using a repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to examine changes in attendance and graduation rates 2 years after a delayed start was implemented. Public high schools from 8 school districts (n=29 high schools) located throughout 7 different states. Schools were identified using previous research from the Children's National Medical Center's Division of Sleep Medicine Research Team. A total membership of more than 30,000 high school students enrolled in the 29 schools identified by the Children's National Medical Center's Research Team. A pre-post design was used for a within-subject design, controlling for any school-to-school difference in the calculation of the response variable. This is the recommended technique for a study that may include data with potential measurement error. Findings from this study linked a start time of later than 8:30am to improved attendance rates and graduation rates. Attendance rates and graduation rates significantly improved in schools with delayed start times of 8:30am or later. School officials need to take special notice that this investigation also raises questions about whether later start times are a mechanism for closing the achievement gap due to improved graduation rates. Copyright © 2017 National Sleep Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Biological effective doses in the intracavitary high dose rate brachytherapy of cervical cancer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Y. Sobita Devi

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: The aim of this study is to evaluate the decrease of biological equivalent dose and its correlation withlocal/loco-regional control of tumour in the treatment of cervical cancer when the strength of the Ir-192 high dose rate(HDR brachytherapy (BT source is reduced to single, double and triple half life in relation to original strength of10 Ci (~ 4.081 cGy x m2 x h–1. Material and methods: A retrospective study was carried out on 52 cervical cancer patients with stage II and IIItreated with fractionated HDR-BT following external beam radiation therapy (EBRT. International Commission onRadiation Units and Measurement (ICRU points were defined according to ICRU Report 38, using two orthogonal radiographimages taken by Simulator (Simulix HQ. Biologically effective dose (BED was calculated at point A for diffe -rent Ir-192 source strength and its possible correlation with local/loco-regional tumour control was discussed. Result: The increase of treatment time per fraction of dose due to the fall of dose rate especially in HDR-BT of cervicalcancer results in reduction in BED of 2.59%, 7.02% and 13.68% with single, double and triple half life reduction ofsource strength, respectively. The probabilities of disease recurrence (local/loco-regional within 26 months are expectedas 0.12, 0.12, 0.16, 0.39 and 0.80 for source strength of 4.081, 2.041, 1.020, 0.510 and 0.347 cGy x m2 x h–1, respectively.The percentages of dose increase required to maintain the same BED with respect to initial BED were estimated as1.71, 5.00, 11.00 and 15.86 for the dose rate of 24.7, 12.4, 6.2 and 4.2 Gy/hr at point A, respectively. Conclusions: This retrospective study of cervical cancer patients treated with HDR-BT at different Ir-192 sourcestrength shows reduction in disease free survival according to the increase in treatment time duration per fraction.The probable result could be associated with the decrease of biological equivalent dose to point A. Clinical

  18. Gynecologic cancer mortality in Trinidad and Tobago and comparisons of mortality-to-incidence rate ratios across global regions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Llanos, Adana A. M.; Warner, Wayne A.; Luciani, Silvana; Lee, Tammy Y.; Bajracharya, Smriti; Slovacek, Simeon; Roach, Veronica; Lamont-Greene, Marjorie

    2018-01-01

    Purpose To examine the factors associated with gynecologic cancer mortality risks, to estimate the mortality-to-incidence rate ratios (MIR) in Trinidad and Tobago (TT), and to compare the MIRs to those of select countries. Methods Data on 3,915 incident gynecologic cancers reported to the National Cancer Registry of TT from 1 January 1995 to 31 December 2009 were analyzed using proportional hazards models to determine factors associated with mortality. MIRs for cervical, endometrial, and ovarian cancers were calculated using cancer registry data (TT), GLOBOCAN 2012 incidence data, and WHO Mortality Database 2012 data (WHO regions and select countries). Results Among the 3,915 incident gynecologic cancers diagnosed in TT during the study period, 1,795 (45.8%) were cervical, 1,259 (32.2%) were endometrial, and 861 (22.0%) were ovarian cancers. Older age, African ancestry, geographic residence, tumor stage, and treatment non-receipt were associated with increased gynecologic cancer mortality in TT. Compared to GLOBOCAN 2012 data, TT MIR estimates for cervical (0.49 vs. 0.53), endometrial (0.61 vs. 0.65), and ovarian cancers (0.32 vs. 0.48) were elevated. While the Caribbean region had intermediate gynecologic cancer MIRs, MIRs in TT were among the highest of the countries examined in the Caribbean region. Conclusions Given its status as a high-income economy, the relatively high gynecologic cancer MIRs observed in TT are striking. These findings highlight the urgent need for improved cancer surveillance, screening, and treatment for these (and other) cancers in this Caribbean nation. PMID:28917021

  19. Increased strength of concrete subject to high loading rates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Curbach, M.

    1987-01-01

    Within the scope of this work various problems are discussed which occur in connection with concrete under high tensile loading rates (e.g. when a plane crashes on a nuclear power plant very high loads occur which act only for a very short time). Particularly the causes for the already frequently noticed increases in strength with increasing loading rates are investigated and also the question whether this increased strength can be taken into account when dimensioning a construction. (MM) [de

  20. Authoritative School Climate and High School Dropout Rates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jia, Yuane; Konold, Timothy R.; Cornell, Dewey

    2016-01-01

    This study tested the association between school-wide measures of an authoritative school climate and high school dropout rates in a statewide sample of 315 high schools. Regression models at the school level of analysis used teacher and student measures of disciplinary structure, student support, and academic expectations to predict overall high…

  1. Consistent high clinical pregnancy rates and low ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome rates in high-risk patients after GnRH agonist triggering and modified luteal support

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Iliodromiti, Stamatina; Blockeel, Christophe; Tremellen, Kelton P

    2013-01-01

    Are clinical pregnancy rates satisfactory and the incidence of OHSS low after GnRH agonist trigger and modified intensive luteal support in patients with a high risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS)?......Are clinical pregnancy rates satisfactory and the incidence of OHSS low after GnRH agonist trigger and modified intensive luteal support in patients with a high risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS)?...

  2. Video-rate or high-precision: a flexible range imaging camera

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dorrington, Adrian A.; Cree, Michael J.; Carnegie, Dale A.; Payne, Andrew D.; Conroy, Richard M.; Godbaz, John P.; Jongenelen, Adrian P. P.

    2008-02-01

    A range imaging camera produces an output similar to a digital photograph, but every pixel in the image contains distance information as well as intensity. This is useful for measuring the shape, size and location of objects in a scene, hence is well suited to certain machine vision applications. Previously we demonstrated a heterodyne range imaging system operating in a relatively high resolution (512-by-512) pixels and high precision (0.4 mm best case) configuration, but with a slow measurement rate (one every 10 s). Although this high precision range imaging is useful for some applications, the low acquisition speed is limiting in many situations. The system's frame rate and length of acquisition is fully configurable in software, which means the measurement rate can be increased by compromising precision and image resolution. In this paper we demonstrate the flexibility of our range imaging system by showing examples of high precision ranging at slow acquisition speeds and video-rate ranging with reduced ranging precision and image resolution. We also show that the heterodyne approach and the use of more than four samples per beat cycle provides better linearity than the traditional homodyne quadrature detection approach. Finally, we comment on practical issues of frame rate and beat signal frequency selection.

  3. A regional-scale, high resolution dynamical malaria model that accounts for population density, climate and surface hydrology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tompkins, Adrian M; Ermert, Volker

    2013-02-18

    The relative roles of climate variability and population related effects in malaria transmission could be better understood if regional-scale dynamical malaria models could account for these factors. A new dynamical community malaria model is introduced that accounts for the temperature and rainfall influences on the parasite and vector life cycles which are finely resolved in order to correctly represent the delay between the rains and the malaria season. The rainfall drives a simple but physically based representation of the surface hydrology. The model accounts for the population density in the calculation of daily biting rates. Model simulations of entomological inoculation rate and circumsporozoite protein rate compare well to data from field studies from a wide range of locations in West Africa that encompass both seasonal endemic and epidemic fringe areas. A focus on Bobo-Dioulasso shows the ability of the model to represent the differences in transmission rates between rural and peri-urban areas in addition to the seasonality of malaria. Fine spatial resolution regional integrations for Eastern Africa reproduce the malaria atlas project (MAP) spatial distribution of the parasite ratio, and integrations for West and Eastern Africa show that the model grossly reproduces the reduction in parasite ratio as a function of population density observed in a large number of field surveys, although it underestimates malaria prevalence at high densities probably due to the neglect of population migration. A new dynamical community malaria model is publicly available that accounts for climate and population density to simulate malaria transmission on a regional scale. The model structure facilitates future development to incorporate migration, immunity and interventions.

  4. High-rate operant behavior in two mouse strains: a response-bout analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Joshua E; Pesek, Erin F; Newland, M Christopher

    2009-06-01

    Operant behavior sometimes occurs in bouts characterized by an initiation rate, within-bout response rate, and bout length. The generality of this structure was tested using high-rate nose-poking in mice. Reinforcement of short interresponse times produced high response rates while a random-interval schedule held reinforcement rates constant. BALB/c mice produced bouts that were more frequent, longer, and contained a higher within-bout rate of responding (nine nose-pokes/s) than did the C57BL/6 mice (five nose-pokes/s). Adding a running wheel decreased total nose-pokes and bout length, and increased bout-initiation rate. Free-feeding reduced nose-poking by decreasing bout-initiation rate. Photoperiod reversal decreased bout-initiation rate but not total nose-poke rate. Despite strain differences in bout structure, both strains responded similarly to the interventions. The three bout measures were correlated with overall rate but not with each other. Log-survival analyses provided independent descriptors of the structure of high-rate responding in these two strains.

  5. High-rate, High Temperature Acetotrophic Methanogenesis Governed by a Three Population Consortium in Anaerobic Bioreactors

    OpenAIRE

    Ho, Dang; Jensen, Paul; Gutierrez-Zamora, Maria-Luisa; Beckmann, Sabrina; Manefield, Mike; Batstone, Damien

    2016-01-01

    A combination of acetate oxidation and acetoclastic methanogenesis has been previously identified to enable high-rate methanogenesis at high temperatures (55 to 65°C), but this capability had not been linked to any key organisms. This study combined RNA-stable isotope probing on 13C-labelled acetate and 16S amplicon sequencing to identify the active micro-organisms involved in high-rate methanogenesis. Active biomass was harvested from three bench-scale thermophilic bioreactors treating waste...

  6. Generation of µW level plateau harmonics at high repetition rate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hädrich, S; Krebs, M; Rothhardt, J; Carstens, H; Demmler, S; Limpert, J; Tünnermann, A

    2011-09-26

    The process of high harmonic generation allows for coherent transfer of infrared laser light to the extreme ultraviolet spectral range opening a variety of applications. The low conversion efficiency of this process calls for optimization or higher repetition rate intense ultrashort pulse lasers. Here we present state-of-the-art fiber laser systems for the generation of high harmonics up to 1 MHz repetition rate. We perform measurements of the average power with a calibrated spectrometer and achieved µW harmonics between 45 nm and 61 nm (H23-H17) at a repetition rate of 50 kHz. Additionally, we show the potential for few-cycle pulses at high average power and repetition rate that may enable water-window harmonics at unprecedented repetition rate. © 2011 Optical Society of America

  7. An investigation of tropical Atlantic bias in a high-resolution coupled regional climate model

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Patricola, Christina M.; Saravanan, R.; Hsieh, Jen-Shan [Texas A and M University, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, College Station, TX (United States); Li, Mingkui; Xu, Zhao [Texas A and M University, Department of Oceanography, College Station, TX (United States); Ocean University of China, Key Laboratory of Physical Oceanography of Ministry of Education, Qingdao (China); Chang, Ping [Texas A and M University, Department of Oceanography, College Station, TX (United States); Ocean University of China, Key Laboratory of Physical Oceanography of Ministry of Education, Qingdao (China); Second Institute of Oceanography, State Key Laboratory of Satellite Ocean Environment Dynamics, Hangzhou, Zhejiang (China)

    2012-11-15

    Coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation models (AOGCMs) commonly fail to simulate the eastern equatorial Atlantic boreal summer cold tongue and produce a westerly equatorial trade wind bias. This tropical Atlantic bias problem is investigated with a high-resolution (27-km atmosphere represented by the Weather Research and Forecasting Model, 9-km ocean represented by the Regional Ocean Modeling System) coupled regional climate model. Uncoupled atmospheric simulations test climate sensitivity to cumulus, land-surface, planetary boundary layer, microphysics, and radiation parameterizations and reveal that the radiation scheme has a pronounced impact in the tropical Atlantic. The CAM radiation simulates a dry precipitation (up to -90%) and cold land-surface temperature (up to -8 K) bias over the Amazon related to an over-representation of low-level clouds and almost basin-wide westerly trade wind bias. The Rapid Radiative Transfer Model and Goddard radiation simulates doubled Amazon and Congo Basin precipitation rates and a weak eastern Atlantic trade wind bias. Season-long high-resolution coupled regional model experiments indicate that the initiation of the warm eastern equatorial Atlantic sea surface temperature (SST) bias is more sensitive to the local rather than basin-wide trade wind bias and to a wet Congo Basin instead of dry Amazon - which differs from AOGCM simulations. Comparisons between coupled and uncoupled simulations suggest a regional Bjerknes feedback confined to the eastern equatorial Atlantic amplifies the initial SST, wind, and deepened thermocline bias, while barrier layer feedbacks are relatively unimportant. The SST bias in some CRCM simulations resembles the typical AOGCM bias indicating that increasing resolution is unlikely a simple solution to this problem. (orig.)

  8. Effectiveness of high interest rate policy on exchange rates: A reexamination of the Asian financial crisis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chin Diew Lai

    2006-09-01

    Full Text Available One of the most controversial issues in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis has been the appropriate response of monetary policy to a sharp decline in the value of some currencies. In this paper, we empirically examine the effects on Asian exchange rates of sharply higher interest rates during the Asian financial crisis. Taking account of the currency contagion effect, our results indicate that sharply higher interest rates helped to support the exchange rates of South Korea, the Philippines, and Thailand. For Malaysia, no significant causal relation is found from the rate of interest to exchange rates, as the authorities in Malaysia did not actively adopt a high interest rate policy to defend the currency.

  9. High repetition rate, high energy, actively Q-switched all-in-fiber laser

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lecourt, J. B.; Bertrand, A.; Guillemet, S.; Hernandez, Y.; Giannone, D.

    2010-05-01

    We report an actively Q-switched Ytterbium-doped all-in-fibre laser delivering 10ns pulses with high repetition rate (from 100kHz to 1MHz). The laser operation has been validated at three different wavelengths (1040, 1050 and 1064nm). The laser can deliver up to 20Watts average power with an high beam quality (M2 = 1).

  10. High Risk Human Papilloma Virus Genotypes in Kurdistan Region in Patients with Vaginal Discharge.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hussein, Nawfal R; Balatay, Amer A; Assafi, Mahde S; AlMufty, Tamara Abdulezel

    2016-01-01

    The human papilloma virus (HPV) is considered as the major risk factor for the development of cervical cancer. This virus is of different genotypes and generally can be classified into high and low risk types. To determine the rate of high risk HPV genotypes in women with vaginal discharge and lower abdominal pain in Kurdistan region, Iraq. Cervical swabs were taken from 104 women. DNA was extracted and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique was used to determine the presence of high risk genotypes. It was found that 13/104 (12.5%) of the samples were positive for high risk HPV genotypes. Amongst those who were positive, 4/13 (30.7%) were typed as genotype 16 and 7/13 (53.8%) showed mixed genotyping. On the other hand, genotypes 53 and 56 were found in only one sample each. High risk HPV genotypes are not uncommon and further community based study is needed to determine the prevalence of HPV and its genotypes and plan for prevention of infection.

  11. Stability region of closed-loop pilot-vehicle system for fly-by-wire aircraft with limited actuator rate

    OpenAIRE

    Ying-hui, Li; Liang, Qu; Hao-jun, Xu; Qi-meng, Cao

    2017-01-01

    The category-II PIO (Pilot Induced Oscillations) caused by actuator rate limitation of fly-by-wire airplanes will badly threaten the flight safety. The stability regions of closed-loop pilot-vehicle (CLPV) system with rate limited actuator were studied in this paper to assess stability of such CLPV system. The augmented state  variables were introduced to segregate the rate limited element from the primary  system in order to build the saturation nonlinear model of CLPV system. To get the max...

  12. Radiative recombination of highly charged ions: Enhanced rates at low energies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Frank, A.; Mueller, A.; Haselbauer, J.; Schennach, S.; Spies, W.; Uwira, O.; Wagner, M.

    1992-01-01

    In a single-pass merged-beams experiment employing a dense cold electron target recombination of highly charged ions is studied. Unexpected high recombination rates are observed at low energies E cm in the electron-ion center-of-mass frame. In particular, theoretical estimates for radiative recombination are dramatically exceeded by the experimental recombination rates at E cm =0 eV for U 28+ and for Au 25+ ions. Considerable rate enhancement is also observed for Ar 15+ . This points to a general phenomenon which has to be interpreted as a consequence of high electron densities, low electron beam temperatures, high ion charge states and presence of strong magnetic fields. (orig.)

  13. Miniaturized Stretchable and High-Rate Linear Supercapacitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Wenjun; Zhang, Yang; Zhou, Xiaoshuang; Xu, Jiang; Liu, Zunfeng; Yuan, Ningyi; Ding, Jianning

    2017-07-01

    Linear stretchable supercapacitors have attracted much attention because they are well suited to applications in the rapidly expanding field of wearable electronics. However, poor conductivity of the electrode material, which limits the transfer of electrons in the axial direction of the linear supercapacitors, leads to a serious loss of capacity at high rates. To solve this problem, we use gold nanoparticles to decorate aligned multiwall carbon nanotube to fabricate stretchable linear electrodes. Furthermore, we have developed fine stretchable linear supercapacitors, which exhibited an extremely high elasticity up to 400% strain with a high capacitance of about 8.7 F g-1 at the discharge current of 1 A g-1.

  14. How Did Successful High Schools Improve Their Graduation Rates?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robertson, Janna Siegel; Smith, Robert W.; Rinka, Jason

    2016-01-01

    The researchers surveyed 23 North Carolina high schools that had markedly improved their graduation rates over the past five years. The administrators reported on the dropout prevention practices and programs to which they attributed their improved graduation rates. The majority of schools reported policy changes, especially with suspension. The…

  15. Climate Change Impacts on Sediment Yield in Headwaters of a High-latitude Region in China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Y.; Xu, Y. J.; Wang, J., , Dr; Weihua, X.; Huang, Y.

    2017-12-01

    Climate change is expected to have strongest effects in higher latitude regions. Despite intensive research on possible hydrological responses to global warming in these regions, our knowledge of climate change on surface erosion and sediment yield in high-latitude headwaters is limited. In this study, we used the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to predict future runoff and sediment yield from the headwaters of a high-latitude river basin in China's far northeast. The SWAT model was first calibrated with historical discharge records and the model parameterization achieved satisfactory validation. The calibrated model was then applied to two greenhouse gas concentration trajectories, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, for the period from 2020 to 2050 to estimate future runoff. Sediment yields for this period were predicted using a discharge-sediment load rating curve developed from field measurements in the past nine years. Our preliminary results show an increasing trend of sediment yield under both climate change scenarios, and that the increase is more pronounced in the summer and autumn months. Changes in precipitation and temperature seem to exert variable impacts on runoff and sediment yield at interannual and seasonal scales in these headwaters. These findings imply that the current river basin management in the region needs to be reviewed and improved in order to be effective under a changing climate.

  16. Effects of a conducting E layer on classical F region cross-field plasma diffusion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vickrey, J.F.; Kelley, M.C.

    1982-01-01

    The rate of cross-field plasma diffusion in the F region ionosphere is significantly increased when the magnetic field lines thread a highly conducting E region below. This reduces the lifetime of small-scale F region electron density irregularities in the polar ionosphere where the presence of a highly conducting E region is comonplace. A simple mmodel is developed to describe the effects of a conducting E layer on classical F region plasma diffusion. In the absence of an E region, the difference in ion and electron diffusion rates leads to a charge separation and, hence, to an electrostatic field that retards ion diffusion. When the highly conducting magnetic field lines are tied to a conducting E region, however, electrons can flow along B to reduce the ambipolar diffusion electric field, and ions can proceed perpendicular to B at a rate approaching their own (higher) diffusion velocity. It is shown that the enhanced total diffusion rate that results depends strongly on the height of the F layer and on the ratio of the E to F region Pedersen conductivities

  17. Carbon storage and long-term rate of accumulation in high-altitude Andean peatlands of Bolivia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J.A. Hribljan

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available (1 The high-altitude (4,500+ m Andean mountain range of north-western Bolivia contains many peatlands. Despite heavy grazing pressure and potential damage from climate change, little is known about these peatlands. Our objective was to quantify carbon pools, basal ages and long-term peat accumulation rates in peatlands in two areas of the arid puna ecoregion of Bolivia: near the village of Manasaya in the Sajama National Park (Cordillera Occidentale, and in the Tuni Condoriri National Park (Cordillera Real. (2 We cored to 5 m depth in the Manasaya peatland, whose age at 5 m was ca. 3,675 yr. BP with a LARCA of 47 g m-2 yr-1. However, probing indicated that the maximum depth was 7–10 m with a total estimated (by extrapolation carbon stock of 1,040 Mg ha-1. The Tuni peat body was 5.5 m thick and initiated ca. 2,560 cal. yr. BP. The peatland carbon stock was 572 Mg ha-1 with a long-term rate of carbon accumulation (LARCA of 37 g m-2 yr-1. (3 Despite the dry environment of the Bolivian puna, the region contains numerous peatlands with high carbon stocks and rapid carbon accumulation rates. These peatlands are heavily used for llama and alpaca grazing.

  18. High beta and second stability region transport and stability analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1990-01-01

    This document summarizes progress made on the research of high beta and second region transport and stability. In the area second stability region studies we report on an investigation of the possibility of second region access in the center of TFTR ''supershots.'' The instabilities found may coincide with experimental observation. Significant progress has been made on the resistive stability properties of high beta poloidal ''supershot'' discharges. For these studies profiles were taken from the TRANSP transport analysis code which analyzes experimental data. Invoking flattening of the pressure profile on mode rational surfaces causes tearing modes to persist into the experimental range of interest. Further, the experimental observation of the modes seems to be consistent with the predictions of the MHD model. In addition, code development in several areas has proceeded

  19. Achieving high mobility ZnO : Al at very high growth rates by dc filtered cathodic arc deposition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mendelsberg, R J; Lim, S H N; Wallig, J; Anders, A; Zhu, Y K; Milliron, D J

    2011-01-01

    Achieving a high growth rate is paramount for making large-area transparent conducting oxide coatings at a low cost. Unfortunately, the quality of thin films grown by most techniques degrades as the growth rate increases. Filtered dc cathodic arc is a lesser known technique which produces a stream of highly ionized plasma, in stark contrast to the neutral atoms produced by standard sputter sources. Ions bring a large amount of potential energy to the growing surface which is in the form of heat, not momentum. By minimizing the distance from cathode to substrate, the high ion flux gives a very high effective growth temperature near the film surface without causing damage from bombardment. The high surface temperature is a direct consequence of the high growth rate and allows for high-quality crystal growth. Using this technique, 500-1300 nm thick and highly transparent ZnO : Al films were grown on glass at rates exceeding 250 nm min -1 while maintaining resistivity below 5 x 10 -4 Ω cm with electron mobility as high as 60 cm 2 V -1 s -1 . (fast track communication)

  20. High dose rate endobronchial brachytherapy - treatment technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carvalho, Heloisa de Andrade; Aisen, Salim; Haddad, Cecilia Maria Kalil; Nadalin, Wladimir; Pedreira Junior, Wilson Leite; Chavantes, Maria Cristina

    1998-01-01

    High dose rate endobronchial brachytherapy is efficient in symptom relief due to obstructive endobronchial malignancies. However, it's role in survival improvement for patients with lung cancer is not yet established. The use of this treatment in increasing, specially in the developing countries. The purpose of this paper is to present the treatment technique used in the Radiotherapy Department of the Hospital da Clinicas, University of Sao Paulo, based on an experience of 60 cases treated with 180 procedures. Some practical suggestions and rules adopted in the Department are described. The severe complications rate is 6.7%, demonstrating an adequate patient selection associated with the technique utilized. (author)

  1. Analysis of a high-resolution regional climate simulation for Alpine temperature. Validation and influence of the NAO

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Proemmel, K. [GKSS-Forschungszentrum Geesthacht GmbH (Germany). Inst. fuer Kuestenforschung

    2008-11-06

    To determine whether the increase in resolution of climate models improves the representation of climate is a crucial topic in regional climate modelling. An improvement over coarser-scale models is expected especially in areas with complex orography or along coastlines. However, some studies have shown no clear added value for regional climate models. In this study a high-resolution regional climate model simulation performed with REMO over the period 1958-1998 is analysed for 2m temperature over the orographically complex European Alps and their surroundings called the Greater Alpine Region (GAR). The model setup is in hindcast mode meaning that the simulation is driven with perfect boundary conditions by the ERA40 reanalysis through prescribing the values at the lateral boundaries and spectral nudging of the large-scale wind field inside the model domain. The added value is analysed between the regional climate simulation with a resolution of 1/6 and the driving reanalysis with a resolution of 1.125 . Before analysing the added value both the REMO simulation and the ERA40 reanalysis are validated against different station datasets of monthly and daily mean 2m temperature. The largest dataset is the dense, homogenised and quality controlled HISTALP dataset covering the whole GAR, which gave the opportunity for the validation undertaken in this study. The temporal variability of temperature, as quantified by correlation, is well represented by both REMO and ERA40. However, both show considerable biases. The REMO bias reaches 3 K in summer in regions known to experience a problem with summer drying in a number of regional models. In winter the bias is strongly influenced by the choice of the temperature lapse rate, which is applied to compare grid box and station data at different altitudes, and has the strongest influence on inner Alpine subregions where the altitude differences are largest. By applying a constant lapse rate the REMO bias in winter in the high

  2. Inverse methods for the mechanical characterization of materials at high strain rates

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Casas-Rodriguez J.P.

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Mechanical material characterization represents a research challenge. Furthermore, special attention is directed to material characterization at high strain rates as the mechanical properties of some materials are influenced by the rate of loading. Diverse experimental techniques at high strain rates are available, such as the drop-test, the Taylor impact test or the Split Hopkinson pressure bar among others. However, the determination of the material parameters associated to a given mathematical constitutive model from the experimental data is a complex and indirect problem. This paper presents a material characterization methodology to determine the material parameters of a given material constitutive model from a given high strain rate experiment. The characterization methodology is based on an inverse technique in which an inverse problem is formulated and solved as an optimization procedure. The input of the optimization procedure is the characteristic signal from the high strain rate experiment. The output of the procedure is the optimum set of material parameters determined by fitting a numerical simulation to the high strain rate experimental signal.

  3. NASA's High Mountain Asia Team (HiMAT): collaborative research to study changes of the High Asia region

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arendt, A. A.; Houser, P.; Kapnick, S. B.; Kargel, J. S.; Kirschbaum, D.; Kumar, S.; Margulis, S. A.; McDonald, K. C.; Osmanoglu, B.; Painter, T. H.; Raup, B. H.; Rupper, S.; Tsay, S. C.; Velicogna, I.

    2017-12-01

    The High Mountain Asia Team (HiMAT) is an assembly of 13 research groups funded by NASA to improve understanding of cryospheric and hydrological changes in High Mountain Asia (HMA). Our project goals are to quantify historical and future variability in weather and climate over the HMA, partition the components of the water budget across HMA watersheds, explore physical processes driving changes, and predict couplings and feedbacks between physical and human systems through assessment of hazards and downstream impacts. These objectives are being addressed through analysis of remote sensing datasets combined with modeling and assimilation methods to enable data integration across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Our work to date has focused on developing improved high resolution precipitation, snow cover and snow water equivalence products through a variety of statistical uncertainty analysis, dynamical downscaling and assimilation techniques. These and other high resolution climate products are being used as input and validation for an assembly of land surface and General Circulation Models. To quantify glacier change in the region we have calculated multidecadal mass balances of a subset of HMA glaciers by comparing commercial satellite imagery with earlier elevation datasets. HiMAT is using these tools and datasets to explore the impact of atmospheric aerosols and surface impurities on surface energy exchanges, to determine drivers of glacier and snowpack melt rates, and to improve our capacity to predict future hydrological variability. Outputs from the climate and land surface assessments are being combined with landslide and glacier lake inventories to refine our ability to predict hazards in the region. Economic valuation models are also being used to assess impacts on water resources and hydropower. Field data of atmospheric aerosol, radiative flux and glacier lake conditions are being collected to provide ground validation for models and remote sensing

  4. High Plasmodium malariae Prevalence in an Endemic Area of the Colombian Amazon Region.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Camargo-Ayala, Paola Andrea; Cubides, Juan Ricardo; Niño, Carlos Hernando; Camargo, Milena; Rodríguez-Celis, Carlos Arturo; Quiñones, Teódulo; Sánchez-Suárez, Lizeth; Patarroyo, Manuel Elkin; Patarroyo, Manuel Alfonso

    2016-01-01

    Malaria is a worldwide public health problem; parasites from the genus Plasmodium are the aetiological agent for this disease. The parasites are mostly diagnosed by conventional microscopy-based techniques; however, their limitations have led to under-registering the reported prevalence of Plasmodium species. This study has thus been aimed at evaluating the infection and coinfection prevalence of 3 species of Plasmodium spp., in an area of the Colombian Amazon region. Blood samples were taken from 671 symptomatic patients by skin puncture; a nested PCR amplifying the 18S ssRNA region was used on all samples to determine the presence of P. vivax, P. malariae and P. falciparum. Statistical analysis determined infection and coinfection frequency; the association between infection and different factors was established. The results showed that P. vivax was the species having the greatest frequency in the study population (61.4%), followed by P. malariae (43.8%) and P. falciparum (11.8%). The study revealed that 35.8% of the population had coinfection, the P. vivax/P. malariae combination occurring most frequently (28.3%); factors such as age, geographical origin and clinical manifestations were found to be associated with triple-infection. The prevalence reported in this study differed from previous studies in Colombia; the results suggest that diagnosis using conventional techniques could be giving rise to underestimating some Plasmodium spp. species having high circulation rates in Colombia (particularly in the Colombian Amazon region). The present study's results revealed a high prevalence of P. malariae and mixed infections in the population being studied. The results provide relevant information which should facilitate updating the epidemiological panorama and species' distribution so as to include control, prevention and follow-up measures.

  5. Dynamic tensile fracture of mortar at ultra-high strain-rates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Erzar, B.; Buzaud, E.; Chanal, P.-Y.

    2013-01-01

    During the lifetime of a structure, concrete and mortar may be exposed to highly dynamic loadings, such as impact or explosion. The dynamic fracture at high loading rates needs to be well understood to allow an accurate modeling of this kind of event. In this work, a pulsed-power generator has been employed to conduct spalling tests on mortar samples at strain-rates ranging from 2 × 10 4 to 4 × 10 4  s −1 . The ramp loading allowed identifying the strain-rate anytime during the test. A power law has been proposed to fit properly the rate-sensitivity of tensile strength of this cementitious material over a wide range of strain-rate. Moreover, a specimen has been recovered damaged but unbroken. Micro-computed tomography has been employed to study the characteristics of the damage pattern provoked by the dynamic tensile loading

  6. Clay sediment accumulation rates on the monsoon-dominated western continental shelf and slope region of India

    Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

    Borole, D.V.

    Clay accumulation rates shown in sediment cores from the nearshore to outer continental shelf and slope regions in water depths of 10-1246 m on the western continental margins of India were determined by the 210Pb dating technique. The 210Pb excess...

  7. Standardized deceased donor kidney donation rates in the UK reveal marked regional variation and highlight the potential for increasing kidney donation: a prospective cohort study†

    Science.gov (United States)

    Summers, D. M.; Johnson, R. J.; Hudson, A. J.; Collett, D.; Murphy, P.; Watson, C. J. E.; Neuberger, J. M.; Bradley, J. A.

    2014-01-01

    Background The UK has implemented a national strategy for organ donation that includes a centrally coordinated network of specialist nurses in organ donation embedded in all intensive care units and a national organ retrieval service for deceased organ donors. We aimed to determine whether despite the national approach to donation there is significant regional variation in deceased donor kidney donation rates. Methods The UK prospective audit of deaths in critical care was analysed for a cohort of patients who died in critical care between April 2010 and December 2011. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify the factors associated with kidney donation. The logistic regression model was then used to produce risk-adjusted funnel plots describing the regional variation in donation rates. Results Of the 27 482 patients who died in a critical care setting, 1528 (5.5%) became kidney donors. Factors found to influence donation rates significantly were: type of critical care [e.g. neurointensive vs general intensive care: OR 1.53, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.34–1.75, P69 vs age 18–39 yr: OR 0.2, 0.15–0.25, Pdonation rates for the 20 UK kidney donor regions showed marked variation. The overall standardized donation rate ranged from 3.2 to 7.5%. Four regions had donation rates of >2 standard deviations (sd) from the mean (two below and two above). Regional variation was most marked for donation after circulatory death (DCD) kidney donors with 9 of the 20 regions demonstrating donation rates of >2 sd from the mean (5 below and 4 above). Conclusions The marked regional variation in kidney donation rates observed in this cohort after adjustment for factors strongly associated with donation rates suggests that there is considerable scope for further increasing kidney donation rates in the UK, particularly DCD. PMID:24335581

  8. Endorectal high dose rate brachytherapy quality assurance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Devic, S.; Vuong, T.; Evans, M.; Podgorsak, E.

    2008-01-01

    We describe our quality assurance method for preoperative high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy of endorectal tumours. Reproduction of the treatment planning dose distribution on a daily basis is crucial for treatment success. Due to the cylindrical symmetry, two types of adjustments are necessary: applicator rotation and dose distribution shift along the applicator axis. (author)

  9. Miniaturized Stretchable and High-Rate Linear Supercapacitors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Wenjun; Zhang, Yang; Zhou, Xiaoshuang; Xu, Jiang; Liu, Zunfeng; Yuan, Ningyi; Ding, Jianning

    2017-12-01

    Linear stretchable supercapacitors have attracted much attention because they are well suited to applications in the rapidly expanding field of wearable electronics. However, poor conductivity of the electrode material, which limits the transfer of electrons in the axial direction of the linear supercapacitors, leads to a serious loss of capacity at high rates. To solve this problem, we use gold nanoparticles to decorate aligned multiwall carbon nanotube to fabricate stretchable linear electrodes. Furthermore, we have developed fine stretchable linear supercapacitors, which exhibited an extremely high elasticity up to 400% strain with a high capacitance of about 8.7 F g -1 at the discharge current of 1 A g -1 .

  10. High-Strain Rate Failure Modeling Incorporating Shear Banding and Fracture

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-11-22

    High Strain Rate Failure Modeling Incorporating Shear Banding and Fracture The views, opinions and/or findings contained in this report are those of...SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 1. REPORT DATE (DD-MM-YYYY) 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 12. DISTRIBUTION AVAILIBILITY STATEMENT 6. AUTHORS...Report as of 05-Dec-2017 Agreement Number: W911NF-13-1-0238 Organization: Columbia University Title: High Strain Rate Failure Modeling Incorporating

  11. Dynamic behavior and microstructural evolution during moderate to high strain rate hot deformation of a Fe–Ni–Cr alloy (alloy 800H)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cao, Yu; Di, Hongshuang; Zhang, Jiecen; Yang, Yaohua

    2015-01-01

    The objective of the study is to fundamentally understand the dynamic behavior of alloy 800H at moderate to high strain rate using hot compression tests and propose nucleation mechanism associated with dynamic crystallization (DRX). We firstly investigated the dynamic behavior of alloy 800H with industrial scale strain rates using hot compression tests and adiabatic correction was performed to correct as-measured flow curves. Secondly, a Johnson–Cook model was established by using the corrected data and could give a precise prediction of elevated temperature flow stress for the studied alloy. Finally, the nucleation mechanism of DRX grains at high strain rates was studied. The results showed that the predominant nucleation mechanism for DRX is the formation of “bulge” at parent grain boundary. Additionally, the fragmentation of original grain at low deformation temperatures and the twinning near the bulged regions at high deformation temperatures also accelerate the DRX process

  12. Dynamic behavior and microstructural evolution during moderate to high strain rate hot deformation of a Fe-Ni-Cr alloy (alloy 800H)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cao, Yu; Di, Hongshuang; Zhang, Jiecen; Yang, Yaohua

    2015-01-01

    The objective of the study is to fundamentally understand the dynamic behavior of alloy 800H at moderate to high strain rate using hot compression tests and propose nucleation mechanism associated with dynamic crystallization (DRX). We firstly investigated the dynamic behavior of alloy 800H with industrial scale strain rates using hot compression tests and adiabatic correction was performed to correct as-measured flow curves. Secondly, a Johnson-Cook model was established by using the corrected data and could give a precise prediction of elevated temperature flow stress for the studied alloy. Finally, the nucleation mechanism of DRX grains at high strain rates was studied. The results showed that the predominant nucleation mechanism for DRX is the formation of "bulge" at parent grain boundary. Additionally, the fragmentation of original grain at low deformation temperatures and the twinning near the bulged regions at high deformation temperatures also accelerate the DRX process.

  13. The calculation of absorbed dose rate in freshwater fish from high background natural radioactivity areas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pereira, W.S.; Moraes, S.R.; Cavalcante, J.J.V.; Pinto, C.E.C.; Kelecom, A.

    2017-01-01

    Areas of increased radiation may expose biota to radiation doses greater than the world averages, and depending on the magnitude of the exposure causing biota damage. The region of the municipality of Caldas, MG, BR is considered a region of increased natural radioactivity. The present work aims to evaluate the exposure of biota to natural radionuclides in the region of Caldas, MG. In order to evaluate the biota exposure in the region, the concentrations of the natural radionuclides U nat , 226 Ra, 210 Pb and 232 Th and 228 Ra were evaluated in two species of fishes: lambari (Astymax spp.) And traíra (Hoplias spp.). The dose rates of the analyzed fish were: for Astymax spp of 0.08 μGy d -1 and for Hoplias spp of 0.12 μGy∙d -1 . With these dose rate values no measurable deleterious effects are expected in the species studied

  14. Rates and causes of accidents for general aviation aircraft operating in a mountainous and high elevation terrain environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aguiar, Marisa; Stolzer, Alan; Boyd, Douglas D

    2017-10-01

    Flying over mountainous and/or high elevation terrain is challenging due to rapidly changeable visibility, gusty/rotor winds and downdrafts and the necessity of terrain avoidance. Herein, general aviation accident rates and mishap cause/factors were determined (2001-2014) for a geographical region characterized by such terrain. Accidents in single piston engine-powered aircraft for states west of the US continental divide characterized by mountainous terrain and/or high elevation (MEHET) were identified from the NTSB database. MEHET-related-mishaps were defined as satisfying any one, or more, criteria (controlled flight into terrain/obstacles (CFIT), downdrafts, mountain obscuration, wind-shear, gusting winds, whiteout, instrument meteorological conditions; density altitude, dust-devil) cited as factors/causal in the NTSB report. Statistics employed Poisson distribution and contingency tables. Although the MEHET-related accident rate declined (pairplanes and flying under IFR to assure terrain clearance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Brittle materials at high-loading rates: an open area of research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forquin, Pascal

    2017-01-01

    Brittle materials are extensively used in many civil and military applications involving high-strain-rate loadings such as: blasting or percussive drilling of rocks, ballistic impact against ceramic armour or transparent windshields, plastic explosives used to damage or destroy concrete structures, soft or hard impacts against concrete structures and so on. With all of these applications, brittle materials are subjected to intense loadings characterized by medium to extremely high strain rates (few tens to several tens of thousands per second) leading to extreme and/or specific damage modes such as multiple fragmentation, dynamic cracking, pore collapse, shearing, mode II fracturing and/or microplasticity mechanisms in the material. Additionally, brittle materials exhibit complex features such as a strong strain-rate sensitivity and confining pressure sensitivity that justify expending greater research efforts to understand these complex features. Currently, the most popular dynamic testing techniques used for this are based on the use of split Hopkinson pressure bar methodologies and/or plate-impact testing methods. However, these methods do have some critical limitations and drawbacks when used to investigate the behaviour of brittle materials at high loading rates. The present theme issue of Philosophical Transactions A provides an overview of the latest experimental methods and numerical tools that are currently being developed to investigate the behaviour of brittle materials at high loading rates. This article is part of the themed issue 'Experimental testing and modelling of brittle materials at high strain rates'.

  16. Correlation between the pionization region and the fragmentation region in high energy proton-proton collisions

    CERN Document Server

    Albrow, M G; Barber, D P; Bogaerts, A; Bosnjakovic, B; Brooks, J R; Clegg, A B; Erné, F C; Gee, C N P; Locke, D H; Loebinger, F K; Murphy, P G; Rudge, A; Sens, Johannes C

    1973-01-01

    Measurements are reported of two-particle correlations in high energy proton-proton collisions with one particle in the pionization region and the other a proton in the fragmentation region. The correlation function is independent of x of the fragmentation proton for 0.55

  17. Distribution of Helicobacter pylori virulence markers in patients with gastroduodenal diseases in a region at high risk of gastric cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Ming-yi; Chen, Cheng; Gao, Xiao-zhong; Li, Jie; Yue, Jing; Ling, Feng; Wang, Xiao-chun; Shao, Shi-he

    2013-01-01

    Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a major human pathogen that is responsible for various gastroduodenal diseases. We investigated the prevalence of H. pylori virulence markers in a region at high risk of gastric cancer. One hundred and sixteen H. pylori strains were isolated from patients with gastroduodenal diseases. cagA, the cagA 3' variable region, cagPAI genes, vacA, and dupA genotypes were determined by PCR, and some amplicons of the cagA 3' variable region, cagPAI genes and dupA were sequenced. cagA was detected in all strains. The cagA 3' variable region of 85 strains (73.3%) was amplified, and the sequences of 24 strains were obtained including 22 strains possessing the East Asian-type. The partial cagPAI presented at a higher frequency in chronic gastritis (44.4%) than that of the severe clinical outcomes (9.7%, p dupA and sequencing of dupA revealed an ORF of 2449-bp. The prevalence of dupA was significantly higher in strains from patients with the severe clinical outcomes (40.3%) than that from chronic gastritis (20.4%, p = 0.02). The high rate of East Asian-type cagA, intact cagPAI, virulent vacA genotypes, and the intact long-type dupA may underlie the high risk of gastric cancer in the region. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Flashing motor at high transition rate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ai Baoquan; Wang Liqiu; Liu Lianggang

    2007-01-01

    The movement of a Brownian particle in a fluctuating two-state periodic potential is investigated. At high transition rate, we use a perturbation method to obtain the analytical solution of the model. It is found that the net current is a peaked function of thermal noise, barrier height and the fluctuation ratio between the two states. The thermal noise may facilitate the directed motion at a finite intensity. The asymmetry parameter of the potential is sensitive to the direction of the net current

  19. Mechanical characterization of rocks at high strain rate

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Konstantinov A.

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents the dynamic characterization in tension and compression of three rocks, Carrara marble, Onsernone gneiss and Peccia Marble, at high strain-rates. Two versions of a Split Hopkinson Bar have been used. The version for direct tension tests is installed at the DynaMat Laboratory of the University of Applied Sciences of Southern Switzerland, while the traditional version in compression is installed at the Laboratory of Dynamic Investigation of Materials of Lobachevsky State University. Results of the tests show a significantly strain-rate sensitive behaviour, exhibiting dynamic strength increasing with strain-rate. The experimental research has been developed in the frame of the Swiss-Russian Joint Research Program.

  20. Detection of genomic variation by selection of a 9 mb DNA region and high throughput sequencing.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sergey I Nikolaev

    Full Text Available Detection of the rare polymorphisms and causative mutations of genetic diseases in a targeted genomic area has become a major goal in order to understand genomic and phenotypic variability. We have interrogated repeat-masked regions of 8.9 Mb on human chromosomes 21 (7.8 Mb and 7 (1.1 Mb from an individual from the International HapMap Project (NA12872. We have optimized a method of genomic selection for high throughput sequencing. Microarray-based selection and sequencing resulted in 260-fold enrichment, with 41% of reads mapping to the target region. 83% of SNPs in the targeted region had at least 4-fold sequence coverage and 54% at least 15-fold. When assaying HapMap SNPs in NA12872, our sequence genotypes are 91.3% concordant in regions with coverage > or = 4-fold, and 97.9% concordant in regions with coverage > or = 15-fold. About 81% of the SNPs recovered with both thresholds are listed in dbSNP. We observed that regions with low sequence coverage occur in close proximity to low-complexity DNA. Validation experiments using Sanger sequencing were performed for 46 SNPs with 15-20 fold coverage, with a confirmation rate of 96%, suggesting that DNA selection provides an accurate and cost-effective method for identifying rare genomic variants.

  1. ANALYSIS OF PREVALENCE, HOSPITALIZATION RATE AND MORTALITY LEVELS RELATED TO GASTROINTESTINAL DISORDERS IN THE MOSCOW REGION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. N. Gurov

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Rationale: According to prognosis made by World Health Organization experts, by mid-21st century gastrointestinal disorders will be among the leaders, partially due to lifestyle of a modern man (stress, unhealthy diet, lack of physical exercise, unhealthy habits, environmental pollution, genetically modified and low quality foods.Aim: To provide informational support of activities aimed at improvement of organization of medical care to patients with gastrointestinal disorders and at further development of specialized gastroenterological care to the population of the Moscow Region, its better availability and higher efficacy and quality.Materials and methods: We calculated and analyzed gastrointestinal morbidity in 2014 (according to referrals among the main age categories (children, adolescents, adults of the population of the Moscow Region, as well as hospitalization rates and in-hospital mortality. The information was taken from the Federal Statistical Surveillance report forms # 12 and # 14.Results: In 2014, the highest prevalence of gastrointestinal disorders was registered in adolescents, being by 42.7% higher than that in adults and by 11.7% higher than that in children. The leading causes of referrals in all age categories were gastritis and duodenitis, as well as gall bladder and bile tract disorders. The structure of morbidity was characterized by a high proportion of pancreatic disorders, stomach and duodenal ulcers in adults. The rate of hospitalizations due to gastrointestinal disorders was 17.8 cases per 1000 patients, being 17.4‰ in adults and 19.8‰ in children and adolescents. The main reasons for hospitalization in adults were diseases of pancreas (23.9% of all hospitalization due to gastrointestinal disorders, gall bladder and bile tract disorders (16.3%. In children and adolescents, the main reasons for hospitalizations were intestinal disorders (36.4%, gastritis and duodenitis (17.9%. In-hospital mortality from

  2. Regional inequalities in self-rated health and disability in younger and older generations in Turkey: the contribution of wealth and education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ergin, Isil; Kunst, Anton E

    2015-09-29

    In Turkey, large regional inequalities were found in maternal and child health. Yet, evidence on regional inequalities in adult health in Turkey remains fragmentary. This study aims to assess regional and rural/urban inequalities in the prevalence of poor self-rated health and in disability among adult populations in Turkey, and to measure the contribution of education and wealth of individual residents. The central hypothesis was that geographical inequalities in adult health exist even when the effect of education and wealth were taken into account. We analyzed data of the 2002 World Health Survey for Turkey on 10791 adults aged 20 years and over. We measured respondents' rating of their own general health and the prevalence of five types of physical disability. Logistic regression was used to estimate how much these two health outcomes varied according to urban/rural place of residence, region, education level and household wealth. We stratified the analyses by gender and age (‹50 and ≥50 years). Both health outcomes were strongly associated with educational level (especially for older age group) and with household wealth (especially for younger age group). Both health outcomes also varied according to region and rural/urban place of residence. Higher prevalence rates were observed in the East region (compared to West) with odd ratios varying between 1.40-2.76. After controlling for education and wealth, urban/rural differences in health disappeared, while regional differences were observed only among older women. The prevalence of poor self-rated health was higher for older women in the Middle (OR = 1.69), Black Sea (OR = 1.53) and East (OR = 2.06) regions. In Turkey, substantial geographical inequalities in self-reported adult health do exist, but can mostly be explained by differences in socioeconomic characteristics of residents. The regional disadvantage of older women in the East, Middle and Black Sea may have resulted from life

  3. High rate loading tests and impact tests of concrete and reinforcement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takeda, J.I.; Tachikawa, H.; Fujimoto, K.

    1982-01-01

    The responses of reinforced concrete structural members and structures subjected to impact or impulsive loadings are affected by the behavior of constituent concrete and reinforcement which are the synthesis of the rate effects and the contribution of propagating stress waves of them. The rate effects and the contribution of stress waves do not have the same tendency in the variation of magnitude of them with speed of impact or impulsive loadings. Therefore the rate effects, mentioned above, should be obtained by the tests minimized the effect of stress waves (high rate loading test). This paper deals with the testing techniques with high rate loadings and impact, and also reports the main results of these tests. (orig.) [de

  4. Activated carbon derived from melaleuca barks for outstanding high-rate supercapacitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luo, Qiu-Ping; Huang, Liang; Gao, Xiang; Cheng, Yongliang; Yao, Bin; Hu, Zhimi; Wan, Jun; Xiao, Xu; Zhou, Jun

    2015-07-01

    Activated carbon (AC) was prepared via carbonizing melaleuca bark in an argon atmosphere at 600 °C followed with KOH activation for high-rate supercapacitors. This AC electrode has a high capacitance of 233 F g-1 at a scan rate of 2 mV s-1 and an excellent rate capability of ˜80% when increasing the sweep rate from 2 to 500 mV s-1. The symmetric supercapacitor assembled by the above electrode can deliver a high energy density of 4.2 Wh kg-1 with a power density of 1500 W kg-1 when operated in the voltage range of 0-1 V in 1 M H2SO4 aqueous electrolyte while maintaining great cycling stability (less than 5% capacitance loss after 10 000 cycles at sweep rate of 100 mV s-1). All the outstanding electrochemical performances make this AC electrode a promising candidate for potential energy storage application.

  5. High repetition rate intense ion beam source

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hammer, D.A.; Glidden, S.C.; Noonan, B.

    1992-01-01

    This final report describes a ≤ 150kV, 40kA, 100ns high repetition rate pulsed power system and intense ion beam source which is now in operation at Cornell University. Operation of the Magnetically-controlled Anode Plasma (MAP) ion diode at > 100Hz (burst mode for up to 10 pulse bursts) provides an initial look at repetition rate limitations of both the ion diode and beam diagnostics. The pulsed power systems are capable of ≥ 1kHz operation (up to 10 pulse bursts), but ion diode operation was limited to ∼100Hz because of diagnostic limitations. By varying MAP diode operating parameters, ion beams can be extracted at a few 10s of keV or at up to 150keV, the corresponding accelerating gap impedance ranging from about 1Ω to about 10Ω. The ability to make hundreds of test pulses per day at an average repetition rate of about 2 pulses per minute permits statistical analysis of diode operation as a function of various parameters. Most diode components have now survived more than 10 4 pulses, and the design and construction of the various pulsed power components of the MAP diode which have enabled us to reach this point are discussed. A high speed data acquisition system and companion analysis software capable of acquiring pulse data at 1ms intervals (in bursts of up to 10 pulses) and processing it in ≤ min is described

  6. Nesting success and survival rates of suburban Olive Thrushes ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Reproductive rate, clutch size, nesting success and survival rate of dependent fledglings were estimated from breeding records in the Eastern Cape. These data were used to estimate survival rate of independent fledglings. The estimated adult survival rate in this region was high and the clutch size was small, compared to ...

  7. Calculation of photonuclear process in the region of several tens MeV. Formulation of exact transition rate for high energy γ-ray

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wada, Hiroaki; Harada, Hideo

    1999-01-01

    The electromagnetic field approximated by using long wave-length limit is not valid for heavy nuclear mass or high energy γ-ray transition. To examine the contribution of the electric multipole field that is neglected in long wave-length limit, we formulize the El transition rate for the strict electric multipole field and compare quantitatively this result with Weisskopf estimate. (author)

  8. The recycling rate of atmospheric moisture over the past two decades (1988-2009)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Liming; Jiang Xun; Chahine, Moustafa T; Olsen, Edward T; Fetzer, Eric J; Chen, Luke; Yung, Yuk L

    2011-01-01

    Numerical models predict that the recycling rate of atmospheric moisture decreases with time at the global scale, in response to global warming. A recent observational study (Wentz et al 2007 Science 317 233-5) did not agree with the results from numerical models. Here, we examine the recycling rate by using the latest data sets for precipitation and water vapor, and suggest a consistent view of the global recycling rate of atmospheric moisture between numerical models and observations. Our analyses show that the recycling rate of atmospheric moisture has also decreased over the global oceans during the past two decades. In addition, we find different temporal variations of the recycling rate in different regions when exploring the spatial pattern of the recycling rate. In particular, the recycling rate has increased in the high-precipitation region around the equator (i.e., the intertropical convergence zone) and decreased in the low-precipitation region located either side of the equator over the past two decades. Further exploration suggests that the temporal variation of precipitation is stronger than that of water vapor, which results in the positive trend of the recycling rate in the high-precipitation region and the negative trend of the recycling rate in the low-precipitation region.

  9. Regional inequalities in self-rated health and disability in younger and older generations in Turkey: the contribution of wealth and education

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ergin, Isil; Kunst, Anton E.

    2015-01-01

    In Turkey, large regional inequalities were found in maternal and child health. Yet, evidence on regional inequalities in adult health in Turkey remains fragmentary. This study aims to assess regional and rural/urban inequalities in the prevalence of poor self-rated health and in disability among

  10. Effect of regional anesthesia on the success rate of external cephalic version: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goetzinger, Katherine R; Harper, Lorie M; Tuuli, Methodius G; Macones, George A; Colditz, Graham A

    2011-11-01

    To estimate whether the use of regional anesthesia is associated with increased success of external cephalic version. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, and clinical trial registries. Electronic databases were searched from 1966 through April 2011 for published, randomized controlled trials in the English language comparing regional anesthesia with no regional anesthesia for external cephalic version. The primary outcome was external cephalic version success. Secondary outcomes included cesarean delivery, maternal discomfort, and adverse events. Pooled risk ratios (relative risk) were calculated using a random-effects model. Heterogeneity was assessed using the Cochran's Q statistic and quantified using the I Z method. Six randomized controlled trials met criteria for study inclusion. Regional anesthesia was associated with a higher external cephalic version success rate compared with intravenous or no analgesia (59.7% compared with 37.6%; pooled relative risk 1.58; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.29-1.93). This significant association persisted when the data were stratified by type of regional anesthesia (spinal compared with epidural). The number needed to treat with regional anesthesia to achieve one additional successful external cephalic version was five. There was no evidence of statistical heterogeneity (P=.32, I Z=14.9%) or publication bias (Harbord test P=.78). There was no statistically significant difference in the risk of cesarean delivery comparing regional anesthesia with intravenous or no analgesia (48.4% compared with 59.3%; pooled relative risk 0.80; 95% CI 0.55-1.17). Adverse events were rare and not significantly different between the two groups. Regional anesthesia is associated with a higher success rate of external cephalic version.

  11. U.S. High School Graduation Rates: Patterns and Explanations

    OpenAIRE

    Richard J. Murnane

    2013-01-01

    I survey the evidence on patterns in U.S. high school graduation rates over the period 1970–2010 and report the results of new research conducted to fill in holes in the evidence. I begin by pointing out the strengths and limitations of existing data sources. I then describe six striking patterns in graduation rates. They include stagnation over the last three decades of the twentieth century, significant race-, income-, and gender-based gaps, and significant increases in graduation rates o...

  12. Automated breast tissue density assessment using high order regional texture descriptors in mammography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Law, Yan Nei; Lieng, Monica Keiko; Li, Jingmei; Khoo, David Aik-Aun

    2014-03-01

    Breast cancer is the most common cancer and second leading cause of cancer death among women in the US. The relative survival rate is lower among women with a more advanced stage at diagnosis. Early detection through screening is vital. Mammography is the most widely used and only proven screening method for reliably and effectively detecting abnormal breast tissues. In particular, mammographic density is one of the strongest breast cancer risk factors, after age and gender, and can be used to assess the future risk of disease before individuals become symptomatic. A reliable method for automatic density assessment would be beneficial and could assist radiologists in the evaluation of mammograms. To address this problem, we propose a density classification method which uses statistical features from different parts of the breast. Our method is composed of three parts: breast region identification, feature extraction and building ensemble classifiers for density assessment. It explores the potential of the features extracted from second and higher order statistical information for mammographic density classification. We further investigate the registration of bilateral pairs and time-series of mammograms. The experimental results on 322 mammograms demonstrate that (1) a classifier using features from dense regions has higher discriminative power than a classifier using only features from the whole breast region; (2) these high-order features can be effectively combined to boost the classification accuracy; (3) a classifier using these statistical features from dense regions achieves 75% accuracy, which is a significant improvement from 70% accuracy obtained by the existing approaches.

  13. The National and Regional Prevalence Rates of Disability, Type, of Disability and Severity in Saudi Arabia-Analysis of 2016 Demographic Survey Data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bindawas, Saad M; Vennu, Vishal

    2018-02-28

    The prevalence of disability varies between countries ranging from less than 1% to up to 30% in some countries, thus, the estimated global disability prevalence is about 15%. However, it is unknown what the current estimate of disability and its types and severity are in Saudi Arabia. Thus, the objective of this study is to estimate national and regional prevalence rates of any disability, types of disability, and their severity among Saudi populations. Data on disability status were extracted from the national demographic survey conducted in 2016 as reported by the General Authority for Statistics, Saudi Arabia (N = 20,064,970). Prevalence rates per a population of 100,000 of any disability, type of disability, and its severity were calculated at the national level and in all 13 regions. Out of 20,064,970 Saudi citizens surveyed, 667,280 citizens reported disabilities, accounting for a prevalence rate of 3326 per a population of 100,000 (3.3%). Individuals aged 60 years and above (11,014) and males (3818) had a higher prevalence rate of disability compared with females (2813). The Tabuk region has the highest rate of reported disability, at 4.3%. The prevalence rates of extreme disabilities in mobility and sight were higher in Madinah (57,343) and Northern border (41,236) regions, respectively. In Saudi Arabia, more than half a million Saudi citizens (1 out of every 30 individuals) reported the presence of disability during the year 2016. A higher prevalence rate of disability was seen among those aged 60 years and above, and males. Targeted efforts are required at the national and regional levels to expand and improve rehabilitation and social services for all people with disabilities.

  14. First regional CSM program planned.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1982-09-01

    6 countries in the English-speaking Caribbean (Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, St. Kitts/Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent) are scheduled to form the 1st regional contraceptive social marketing program. The program will be under the auspices of the Barbados Family Planning Association. By combining resources, contraceptive social marketing should be able to effectively augment family planning activities in smaller countries where individual programs wuld be too costly. The regional program will also determine whether program elements from 1 country in a region are relevant in other countries. The Caribbean region as a whole has experienced a general decline in both crude birth rates and fertility rates during the past 15 years; however, adolescent fertility rates remain high and an average of 46% of the populations of Caribbean countries are under 15 years of age. Although heavy emigration has traditionally curbed population increases, new restrictive immigration laws are expected. Further increases in the working age population will contribute to already high unemployment rates and hinder economic development. The 6 countries selected for the social marketing program are receptive to innovative family planning approaches and have the basic marketing infrastructure required. Community-based distribution programs already in operation in these countries distribute condoms, oral contraceptives, and barrier methods. The success of these programs has plateaued, and there is a need for delivery systems capable of reaching broader segments of the population. The social marketing program will be phased in to ensure local acceptance among national leaders and consumers. The regional program hopes to borrow elements from Jamaica's contraceptive social marketing program to avoid the costs involved in starting a program from scratch. A major innovation will be the use of mass media advertising for contraceptives.

  15. Predicting High Frequency Exchange Rates using Machine Learning

    OpenAIRE

    Palikuca, Aleksandar; Seidl,, Timo

    2016-01-01

    This thesis applies a committee of Artificial Neural Networks and Support Vector Machines on high-dimensional, high-frequency EUR/USD exchange rate data in an effort to predict directional market movements on up to a 60 second prediction horizon. The study shows that combining multiple classifiers into a committee produces improved precision relative to the best individual committee members and outperforms previously reported results. A trading simulation implementing the committee classifier...

  16. High-intensification regions of gravitational lenses

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Benson, J.R.; Cooke, J.H.

    1979-01-01

    We examine the intensification, I, near the singular points in the object plane of an extended spherical gravitational lens. Geometrical optics predicts an infinite I for a point object located on a singularity. The function I, however, turns out to be integrable over the object plane. We make a detailed physical optics calculation for I. No singularities appear, and there are some interesting, marginally detectable diffraction phenomena. The two types of bright regions, the ''halo'' and the ''spike,'' behave very differently. Simple order-of-magnitude expressions give estimates for the brightness and duration of a high-intensification event

  17. A copper bromide vapour laser with a high pulse repetition rate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shiyanov, D V; Evtushenko, Gennadii S; Sukhanov, V B; Fedorov, V F

    2002-01-01

    The results of an experimental study of a copper bromide vapour laser with a discharge-channel diameter above 2.5 cm and a high pump-pulse repetition rate are presented. A TGU1-1000/25 high-power tacitron used as a switch made it possible to obtain for the first time a fairly high output radiation power for pump-pulse repetition rates exceeding 200 kHz. At a maximum pump-pulse repetition rate of 250 kHz achieved in a laser tube 2.6 cm in diameter and 76 cm long, the output power was 1.5 W. The output powers of 3 and 10.5 W were reached for pump-pulse repetition rates of 200 and 100 kHz, respectively. These characteristics were obtained without circulating a buffer gas and (or) low-concentration active impurities through the active volume. (active media. lasers)

  18. Split-Hopkinson Pressure Bar: an experimental technique for high strain rate tests

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sharma, S.; Chavan, V.M.; Agrawal, R.G.; Patel, R.J.; Kapoor, R.; Chakravartty, J.K.

    2011-06-01

    Mechanical properties of materials are, in general, strain rate dependent, i.e. they respond differently at quasi-static and higher strain rate condition. The Split-Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB), also referred to as Kolsky bar is a commonly used setup for high strain rate testing. SHPB is suitable for high strain rate test in strain rate range of 10 2 to 10 4 s -1 . These high strain rate data are required for safety and structural integrity assessment of structures subjected to dynamic loading. As high strain rate data are not easily available in open literature need was felt for setting up such high strain rate testing machine. SHPB at BARC was designed and set-up inhouse jointly by Refuelling Technology Division and Mechanical Metallurgy Division, at Hall no. 3, BARC. A number of conceptual designs for SHPB were thought of and the optimized design was worked out. The challenges of precision tolerance, straightness in bars and design and proper functioning of pneumatic gun were met. This setup has been used extensively to study the high strain rate material behavior. This report introduces the SHPB in general and the setup at BARC in particular. The history of development of SHPB, the basic formulations of one dimensional wave propagation, the relations between the wave velocity, particle velocity and elastic strain in a one dimensional bar, and the equations used to obtain the final stress vs. strain curves are described. The calibration of the present setup, the pre-test calculations and the posttest analysis of data are described. Finally some of the experimental results on different materials such as Cu, SS305, SA516 and Zr, at room temperature and elevated temperatures are presented. (author)

  19. Seasonal variations of the high-latitude F region for

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sojka, J.J.; Schunk, R.W.; Raitt, W.J.

    1982-01-01

    We combined a plasma convection model with an inosphere-atmospheric composition model in order to study the seasonal variations of the high-latitude F region for strong convection. Our numerical study produced time-dependent, three-dimensional, ion density distributions for the ions NO + , O 2 + , N 2 + , O + , N + , and He + . We covered the high-latitude ionosphere above 42 0 N magnetic latitude and at altitudes between 160 and 800 km for a time period of one complete day. From our study we found the following: (1) For strong convection, the high-altitude ionosphere exhibits a significant UT variation both during winter and summer. (2) In general, the electron density is lower in winter than in summer. However, at certain universal times the electron density in the dayside polar cap is larger in winter than in summer owing to the effect of the mid-latitude 'winter anomaly' in combination with strong antisunward convection. (3) In both summer and winter, the major region of low electron density is associated with the main or mid-latitudde trough. The trough is deeper and its local time extend is much greater in winter than in summer. (4) Typically, the electron density exhibits a much larger variation with altitude in winter than in summer. (5) The ion composition and molecular/atomic ion transition altitude are highly UT dependent in both summer and winter. (6) The ion composition also displays a significant seasonal variation. However, at a given location the seasonal variation can be opposite at different universal times. (7) High-speed convection cells should display a marked seasonal variation, with a much larger concentration of molecular ions near the F region peak in summer than in winter

  20. Modeling aquifer behaviour under climate change and high consumption: Case study of the Sfax region, southeast Tunisia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boughariou, Emna; Allouche, Nabila; Jmal, Ikram; Mokadem, Naziha; Ayed, Bachaer; Hajji, Soumaya; Khanfir, Hafedh; Bouri, Salem

    2018-05-01

    The water resources are exhausted by the increasing demand related to the population growth. They are also affected by climate circumstances, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. These areas are already undergoing noticeable shortages and low annual precipitation rate. This paper presents a numerical model of the Sfax shallow aquifer system that was developed by coupling the geographical information system tool ArcGIS 9.3 and ground water modeling system GMS6.5's interface, ground water flow modeling MODFLOW 2000. Being in coastal city and having an arid climate with high consumption rates, this aquifer is undergoing a hydraulic stress situation. Therefore, the groundwater piezometric variations were calibrated for the period 2003-2013 and simulated based on two scenarios; first the constant and growing consumption and second the rainfall forecast as a result of climate change scenario released by the Tunisian Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources and the German International Cooperation Agency "GIZ" using HadCM3 as a general circulation model. The piezometric simulations globally forecast a decrease that is about 0.5 m in 2020 and 1 m in 2050 locally the decrease is more pronounced in "Chaffar" and "Djbeniana" regions and that is more evident for the increasing consumption scenario. The two scenarios announce a quantitative degradation of the groundwater by the year 2050 with an alarming marine intrusion in "Djbeniana" region.

  1. Dynamic Behavior of AA2519-T8 Aluminum Alloy Under High Strain Rate Loading in Compression

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olasumboye, A. T.; Owolabi, G. M.; Odeshi, A. G.; Yilmaz, N.; Zeytinci, A.

    2018-02-01

    In this study, the effects of strain rate on the dynamic behavior, microstructure evolution and hence, failure of the AA2519-T8 aluminum alloy were investigated under compression at strain rates ranging from 1000 to 3500 s-1. Cylindrical specimens of dimensions 3.3 mm × 3.3 mm (L/D = 1) were tested using the split-Hopkinson pressure bar integrated with a digital image correlation system. The microstructure of the alloy was assessed using optical and scanning electron microscopes. Results showed that the dynamic yield strength of the alloy is strain rate dependent, with the maximum yield strength attained by the material being 500 MPa. The peak flow stress of 562 MPa was attained by the material at 3500 s-1. The alloy also showed a significant rate of strain hardening that is typical of other Al-Cu alloys; the rate of strain hardening, however, decreased with increase in strain rate. It was determined that the strain rate sensitivity coefficient of the alloy within the range of high strain rates used in this study is approximately 0.05 at 0.12 plastic strain; a more significant value than what was reported in literature under quasi-static loading. Micrographs obtained showed potential sites for the evolution of adiabatic shear band at 3500 s-1, with a characteristic circular-shaped surface profile comprising partially dissolved second phase particles in the continuous phase across the incident plane of the deformed specimen. The regions surrounding the site showed little or no change in the size of particles. However, the constituent coarse particles were observed as agglomerations of fractured pieces, thus having a shape factor different from those contained in the as-received alloy. Since the investigated alloy is a choice material for military application where it can be exposed to massive deformation at high strain rates, this study provides information on its microstructural and mechanical responses to such extreme loading condition.

  2. Synchronous fire activity in the tropical high Andes: an indication of regional climate forcing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Román-Cuesta, R M; Carmona-Moreno, C; Lizcano, G; New, M; Silman, M; Knoke, T; Malhi, Y; Oliveras, I; Asbjornsen, H; Vuille, M

    2014-06-01

    Global climate models suggest enhanced warming of the tropical mid and upper troposphere, with larger temperature rise rates at higher elevations. Changes in fire activity are amongst the most significant ecological consequences of rising temperatures and changing hydrological properties in mountainous ecosystems, and there is a global evidence of increased fire activity with elevation. Whilst fire research has become popular in the tropical lowlands, much less is known of the tropical high Andean region (>2000 masl, from Colombia to Bolivia). This study examines fire trends in the high Andes for three ecosystems, the Puna, the Paramo and the Yungas, for the period 1982-2006. We pose three questions: (i) is there an increased fire response with elevation? (ii) does the El Niño- Southern Oscillation control fire activity in this region? (iii) are the observed fire trends human driven (e.g., human practices and their effects on fuel build-up) or climate driven? We did not find evidence of increased fire activity with elevation but, instead, a quasicyclic and synchronous fire response in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, suggesting the influence of high-frequency climate forcing on fire responses on a subcontinental scale, in the high Andes. ENSO variability did not show a significant relation to fire activity for these three countries, partly because ENSO variability did not significantly relate to precipitation extremes, although it strongly did to temperature extremes. Whilst ENSO did not individually lead the observed regional fire trends, our results suggest a climate influence on fire activity, mainly through a sawtooth pattern of precipitation (increased rainfall before fire-peak seasons (t-1) followed by drought spells and unusual low temperatures (t0), which is particularly common where fire is carried by low fuel loads (e.g., grasslands and fine fuel). This climatic sawtooth appeared as the main driver of fire trends, above local human influences and fuel build

  3. Relaxed impact craters on Ganymede: Regional variation and high heat flows

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singer, Kelsi N.; Bland, Michael T.; Schenk, Paul M.; McKinnon, William B.

    2018-05-01

    Viscously relaxed craters provide a window into the thermal history of Ganymede, a satellite with copious geologic signs of past high heat flows. Here we present measurements of relaxed craters in four regions for which suitable imaging exists: near Anshar Sulcus, Tiamat Sulcus, northern Marius Regio, and Ganymede's south pole. We describe a technique to measure apparent depth, or depth of the crater with respect to the surrounding terrain elevation. Measured relaxation states are compared with results from finite element modeling to constrain heat flow scenarios [see companion paper: Bland et al. (2017)]. The presence of numerous, substantially relaxed craters indicates high heat flows-in excess of 30-40 mW m-2 over 2 Gyr, with many small (heat flows. Crater relaxation states are bimodal for some equatorial regions but not in the region studied near the south pole, which suggests regional variations in Ganymede's thermal history.

  4. Decay rate of the false vacuum at high temperatures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eboli, O.J.P.; Marques, G.C.

    1986-01-01

    We investigate, within the semiclassical approach, the high temperature behaviour of the decay rate (Γ) of the metastable vacuum in Field Theory. We exhibit some exactly soluble (1+1) and (3+1) dimensional examples and develop a formal expression for γ in the high temperature limit. (Author) [pt

  5. Study of magnetorheological fluids at high shear rates

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, Xiaojie; Gordaninejad, Faramarz [University of Nevada, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Reno, NV (United States)

    2006-08-15

    The tunable rheological properties of magnetorheological (MR) materials at high shear rates are studied using a piston-driven flow-mode-type rheometer. The proposed method provides measurement of the apparent viscosity and yield stress of MR fluids for a shear rate range of 50 to 40,000 s{sup -1}. The rheological properties of a commercial MR fluid, as well as a newly developed MR polymeric gel, and a ferrofluid-based MR fluid are investigated. The results for apparent viscosity and dynamic and static shear stresses under different applied magnetic fields are reported. (orig.)

  6. Suicide and general elections in Austria: do preceding regional suicide rate differentials foreshadow subsequent voting behavior swings?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Voracek, Martin; Formann, Anton K; Fülöp, Gerhard; Sonneck, Gernot

    2003-05-01

    Suicide-epidemiological research on short-term effects of elections on national/regional suicide and parasuicide incidence has yielded contradictory evidence. Reversing the cause-effect relationship of this line of research we investigated whether preceding regional suicide rates are related to subsequent election results. For Austria's 121 districts, we regressed averaged standardized suicide rates for the preceding period (1988-1994) on political parties' subsequent electoral gains/losses (1999-to-1995) while controlling for a set of 12 domain-relevant psychosocial/economic indices. Stepwise weighted multiple regression led to a significant model. The 1999-to-1995 electoral gains/losses of two opposition parties, together with the population variation caused by migration balance and by births/deaths balance, accounted for a substantial part (30%) of the variability in preceding district-level suicide rates. Various other social indices failed to contribute further substantial increments to this model. This finding suggests that variations in preceding regional suicide incidence might be mirrored in subsequent changes in voting behavior. A speculative post hoc explanation for the finding is offered: on a community level, suicide's aftermath might produce socially and politically alienated survivors of suicide who co-shape swings towards opposition parties in subsequent general elections. The finding calls for more research on suicide's long-term aftermath. Within-country replicability and cross-national generalizability await further investigation. At present, the factor/mechanism accounting for this finding is neither well-established nor has been directly tested.

  7. On high interest rates in Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francisco Lafaiete Lopes

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available This article examines the question of why interest rates are so high in Brazil as compared to the international average. It looks at theoretical arguments based on excessive government deficits, structural lack of private savings, inflation bias, excessive investment demand and fear of floating. An informal look at the evidence does not strongly corroborate any of these arguments. Hence a wise central bank should consider "testing" the market to make sure it is not dealing with an extreme equilibrium configuration or a long standing disequilibrium.

  8. High intensity region segmentation in MR imaging of multiple sclerosis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rodrigo, F; Filipuzzi, M; Graffigna, J P; Isoardi, R; Noceti, M

    2013-01-01

    Numerous pathologies are often manifest in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as hyperintense or bright regions as compared to normal tissue. It is of particular interest to develop an algorithm to detect, identify and define those Regions of Interest (ROI) when analyzing MRI studies, particularly for lesions of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). The objective of this study is to analyze those parameters which optimize segmentation of the areas of interest. To establish which areas should be considered as hyperintense regions, we developed a database (DB), with studies of patients diagnosed with MS. This disease causes axonal demyelination and it is expressed as bright regions in PD, T2 and FLAIR MRI sequences. Thus, with more than 4300 hyperintense regions validated by an expert physician, an algorithm was developed to detect such spots, approximating the results the expert obtained. Alongside these hyperintense lesion regions, it also detected bone regions with high intensity levels, similar to the intensity of the lesions, but with other features that allow a good differentiation.The algorithm will then detect ROIs with similar intensity levels and performs classification through data mining techniques

  9. The evolutionary rates of HCV estimated with subtype 1a and 1b sequences over the ORF length and in different genomic regions.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manqiong Yuan

    Full Text Available Considerable progress has been made in the HCV evolutionary analysis, since the software BEAST was released. However, prior information, especially the prior evolutionary rate, which plays a critical role in BEAST analysis, is always difficult to ascertain due to various uncertainties. Providing a proper prior HCV evolutionary rate is thus of great importance.176 full-length sequences of HCV subtype 1a and 144 of 1b were assembled by taking into consideration the balance of the sampling dates and the even dispersion in phylogenetic trees. According to the HCV genomic organization and biological functions, each dataset was partitioned into nine genomic regions and two routinely amplified regions. A uniform prior rate was applied to the BEAST analysis for each region and also the entire ORF. All the obtained posterior rates for 1a are of a magnitude of 10(-3 substitutions/site/year and in a bell-shaped distribution. Significantly lower rates were estimated for 1b and some of the rate distribution curves resulted in a one-sided truncation, particularly under the exponential model. This indicates that some of the rates for subtype 1b are less accurate, so they were adjusted by including more sequences to improve the temporal structure.Among the various HCV subtypes and genomic regions, the evolutionary patterns are dissimilar. Therefore, an applied estimation of the HCV epidemic history requires the proper selection of the rate priors, which should match the actual dataset so that they can fit for the subtype, the genomic region and even the length. By referencing the findings here, future evolutionary analysis of the HCV subtype 1a and 1b datasets may become more accurate and hence prove useful for tracing their patterns.

  10. Study of tourists exposure rate in Mahallat hot Spring Region

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tavakoli, H. M.B. [Isfahan Univ. of Medical Sciences, Isfahan (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Fallah, M.G. [Isfahan University of Medical Sciences (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Ghiasinejad, M. [Iran Atomic Energy Organization, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

    2006-07-01

    Introduction: High level radiation areas have been recognized on various parts of the earth. Some of these areas include: Brasilia, India, and Iran. Mahallat hot spring region in the central part of Iran is also one of these areas. Study of exposure in these areas could be helpful in investigating the effects of ionizing radiation. Materials and Methods: In addition to several seasonal springs, Mahallat hot spring region contains five permanent springs named: Soleimani, Shafa, Dombe, Romatism and Sauda. Internal exposure (due to inhalation of radon gas and drinking water) and external exposure (due to cosmic rays and radioactive elements in the ground) to the tourists was studied. Used materials and apparatus include: RSS -112 ionizing chamber for environmental gamma rays exposure measurement, highly pure germanium detector for measuring radioactive elements in the ground, liquid scintillation counter for measuring {sup 222}Rn gas concentration in water samples, Bubbler chamber and Locus cells for Rn concentration measurements (Emanation method) and Alfa guard detector for {sup 226}Ra concentration measurements. Conclusions and Discussion: A total of 270 visitors are included in this study. Considering residual durations of the studied group in open and closed environment of bathrooms, hotel and inn rooms, obtained annual external effective dose is 75.4{+-}8.7{mu}Sv and 138.3{+-}11.8{mu}Sv for natives and travelers respectively. EEC coefficients has been used for calculating annual internal effective dose due to radon gas inhalation. Annual internal effective dose, in this path, is 0.9 and 2.1 mSv in open and closed environment for native and visitors respectively. Annual internal effective dose due to drinking water, is 0.43 and 0.09{mu}Sv for natives people and travelers, respectively. Measurements show that more than 90% of the received dose in the studied groups is due to radon gas inhalation. External and internal dose summation is 0.98 mSv for natives and 2

  11. Study of tourists exposure rate in Mahallat hot Spring Region

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tavakoli, H. M.B.; Fallah, M.G.; Ghiasinejad, M.

    2006-01-01

    Introduction: High level radiation areas have been recognized on various parts of the earth. Some of these areas include: Brasilia, India, and Iran. Mahallat hot spring region in the central part of Iran is also one of these areas. Study of exposure in these areas could be helpful in investigating the effects of ionizing radiation. Materials and Methods: In addition to several seasonal springs, Mahallat hot spring region contains five permanent springs named: Soleimani, Shafa, Dombe, Romatism and Sauda. Internal exposure (due to inhalation of radon gas and drinking water) and external exposure (due to cosmic rays and radioactive elements in the ground) to the tourists was studied. Used materials and apparatus include: RSS -112 ionizing chamber for environmental gamma rays exposure measurement, highly pure germanium detector for measuring radioactive elements in the ground, liquid scintillation counter for measuring 222 Rn gas concentration in water samples, Bubbler chamber and Locus cells for Rn concentration measurements (Emanation method) and Alfa guard detector for 226 Ra concentration measurements. Conclusions and Discussion: A total of 270 visitors are included in this study. Considering residual durations of the studied group in open and closed environment of bathrooms, hotel and inn rooms, obtained annual external effective dose is 75.4±8.7μSv and 138.3±11.8μSv for natives and travelers respectively. EEC coefficients has been used for calculating annual internal effective dose due to radon gas inhalation. Annual internal effective dose, in this path, is 0.9 and 2.1 mSv in open and closed environment for native and visitors respectively. Annual internal effective dose due to drinking water, is 0.43 and 0.09μSv for natives people and travelers, respectively. Measurements show that more than 90% of the received dose in the studied groups is due to radon gas inhalation. External and internal dose summation is 0.98 mSv for natives and 2.2 mSv for for

  12. High resolution of black carbon and organic carbon emissions in the Pearl River Delta region, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Junyu; He, Min; Shen, Xingling; Yin, Shasha; Yuan, Zibing

    2012-11-01

    A high-resolution regional black carbon (BC) and organic carbon (OC) emission inventory for the year 2009 was developed for the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region, China, based on the collected activity data and the latest emission factors. PM(2.5), BC and OC emissions were estimated to be 303 kt, 39 kt and 31 kt, respectively. Industrial processes were major contributing sources to PM(2.5) emissions. BC emissions were mainly from mobile sources, accounting for 65.0%, while 34.1% of OC emissions were from residential combustion. The primary OC/BC ratios for individual cities in the PRD region were dependent on the levels of economic development due to differences in source characteristics, with high ratios in the less developed cities and low ratios in the central and southern developed areas. The preliminary temporal profiles were established, showing the highest OC emissions in winter and relatively constant BC emissions throughout the year. The emissions were spatially allocated into grid cells with a resolution of 3 km × 3 km. Large amounts of BC emissions were distributed over the central-southern PRD city clusters, while OC emissions exhibited a relatively even spatial distribution due to the significant biomass burning emissions from the outlying area of the PRD region. Uncertainties in carbonaceous aerosol emissions were usually higher than in other primary pollutants like SO(2), NO(x), and PM(10). One of the key uncertainty sources was the emission factor, due to the absence of direct measurements of BC and OC emission rates. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. The prediction of late rectal complications in patients treated with high dose-rate brachytherapy for carcinoma of the cervix

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Clark, Brenda G.; Souhami, Luis; Roman, Ted N.; Chappell, Rick; Evans, Michael D.C.; Fowler, Jack F.

    1997-01-01

    Purpose: The aim of this work is to investigate an unusually high rate of late rectal complications in a group of 43 patients treated with concomitant irradiation and chemotherapy for carcinoma of the cervix between December 1988 and April 1991, with a view to identifying predictive factors. Methods and Materials: The biologically effective dose received by each patient to the rectal reference point defined by the International Commission of Radiation Units and Measurements, Report 38, were calculated. Radiotherapy consisted of 46 Gy external beam irradiation plus three high dose-rate intracavitary treatments of 10 Gy each prescribed to point A. Cisplatin 30 mg/m 2 was given weekly throughout the duration of the irradiation. The results have been compared to data from 119 patients treated with irradiation alone to assess the confounding effect of the cisplatin. Results: The relationship between the biologically effective dose delivered to the rectal reference point and the development of late complications shows a strong dose-response with a threshold for complications occurring at approximately 125 Gy 3 corresponding to a brachytherapy dose of approximately 8 Gy per fraction. This value is approximately the same biologically effective dose threshold as that found for external beam irradiation in the head and neck region. The data from the group of patients treated without cisplatin is comparable to the data from the first group of patients in the lower dose ranges; the higher doses were not used and thus are not available for comparison. Conclusion: Using the linear quadratic model applied to our clinical results, we have established a threshold for late rectal complications for patients treated with external beam irradiation and high dose-rate brachytherapy for carcinoma of the cervix. This threshold is consistent with similar data for external beam irradiation in the head and neck region

  14. Research on the development efficiency of regional high-end talent in China: A complex network approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Zhen; Wang, Minggang; Tian, Lixin; Zhang, Wenbin

    2017-01-01

    In this paper, based on the panel data of 31 provinces and cities in China from 1991 to 2016, the regional development efficiency matrix of high-end talent is obtained by DEA method, and the matrix is converted into a continuous change of complex networks through the construction of sliding window. Using a series of continuous changes in the complex network topology statistics, the characteristics of regional high-end talent development efficiency system are analyzed. And the results show that the average development efficiency of high-end talent in the western region is at a low level. After 2005, the national regional high-end talent development efficiency network has both short-range relevance and long-range relevance in the evolution process. The central region plays an important intermediary role in the national regional high-end talent development system. And the western region has high clustering characteristics. With the implementation of the high-end talent policies with regional characteristics by different provinces and cities, the relevance of high-end talent development efficiency in various provinces and cities presents a weakening trend, and the geographical characteristics of high-end talent are more and more obvious.

  15. Highly active antiretroviral therapy adherence and its determinants in selected regions in Indonesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Felix F. Widjaja

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available Background: Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART can reduce morbidity and mortality of HIV-infected patients. However, it depends upon adherence to medication. The objective of this study was to examine the adherence to HAART and to evaluate individual patient characteristics i.e. self-efficacy, depression level, and social support and to finally determine HAART adherence in selected regions in Indonesia.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Jakarta, Malang, Bandung, Makasar and Banda Aceh. The subject of the study was HIV-infected patients who were older than 13 years old and had taken HAART for at least a month. They were recruited consecutively then asked how many pills they had missed during the previous month. Poor adherence can be stated if the percentage of adherence rate is below 95%. HIV treatment adherence self-efficacy scale  (HIVASES, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II and Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL was adapted to assess self-efficacy, depression level and social support, respectively.Results: We found that 96% (n=53 of the subjects adhered to HAART. There were no associations between adherence with self-efficacy, depression level, and social support. The main cause of non-adherence in this study was ‘simply  forget’.Conclusion: Adherence to HAART was found to be high and not associated with self-efficacy, depression level and social support in some central regions in Indonesia. (Med J Indones 2011; 20:50-5Keywords: adherence, depression, HAART, HIV, self-efficacy, social support

  16. High repetition rate burst-mode spark gap

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Faltens, A.; Reginato, L.; Hester, R.; Chesterman, A.; Cook, E.; Yokota, T.; Dexter, W.

    1978-01-01

    Results are presented on the design and testing of a pressurized gas blown spark gap switch capable of high repetition rates in a burst mode of operation. The switch parameters which have been achieved are as follows: 220-kV, 42-kA, a five pulse burst at 1-kHz, 12-ns risetime, 2-ns jitter at a pulse width of 50-ns

  17. Brittle materials at high-loading rates: an open area of research

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-01-01

    Brittle materials are extensively used in many civil and military applications involving high-strain-rate loadings such as: blasting or percussive drilling of rocks, ballistic impact against ceramic armour or transparent windshields, plastic explosives used to damage or destroy concrete structures, soft or hard impacts against concrete structures and so on. With all of these applications, brittle materials are subjected to intense loadings characterized by medium to extremely high strain rates (few tens to several tens of thousands per second) leading to extreme and/or specific damage modes such as multiple fragmentation, dynamic cracking, pore collapse, shearing, mode II fracturing and/or microplasticity mechanisms in the material. Additionally, brittle materials exhibit complex features such as a strong strain-rate sensitivity and confining pressure sensitivity that justify expending greater research efforts to understand these complex features. Currently, the most popular dynamic testing techniques used for this are based on the use of split Hopkinson pressure bar methodologies and/or plate-impact testing methods. However, these methods do have some critical limitations and drawbacks when used to investigate the behaviour of brittle materials at high loading rates. The present theme issue of Philosophical Transactions A provides an overview of the latest experimental methods and numerical tools that are currently being developed to investigate the behaviour of brittle materials at high loading rates. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Experimental testing and modelling of brittle materials at high strain rates’. PMID:27956517

  18. Relaxed impact craters on Ganymede: Regional variation and high heat flows

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singer, Kelsi N.; Bland, Michael T.; Schenk, Paul M.; McKinnon, William B.

    2018-01-01

    Viscously relaxed craters provide a window into the thermal history of Ganymede, a satellite with copious geologic signs of past high heat flows. Here we present measurements of relaxed craters in four regions for which suitable imaging exists: near Anshar Sulcus, Tiamat Sulcus, northern Marius Regio, and Ganymede's south pole. We describe a technique to measure apparent depth, or depth of the crater with respect to the surrounding terrain elevation. Measured relaxation states are compared with results from finite element modeling to constrain heat flow scenarios [see companion paper: Bland et al. (2017)]. The presence of numerous, substantially relaxed craters indicates high heat flows—in excess of 30–40 mW m−2 over 2 Gyr, with many small (heat flows. Crater relaxation states are bimodal for some equatorial regions but not in the region studied near the south pole, which suggests regional variations in Ganymede's thermal history.

  19. High frame rate retrospectively triggered Cine MRI for assessment of murine diastolic function.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coolen, Bram F; Abdurrachim, Desiree; Motaal, Abdallah G; Nicolay, Klaas; Prompers, Jeanine J; Strijkers, Gustav J

    2013-03-01

    To assess left ventricular (LV) diastolic function in mice with Cine MRI, a high frame rate (>60 frames per cardiac cycle) is required. For conventional electrocardiography-triggered Cine MRI, the frame rate is inversely proportional to the pulse repetition time (TR). However, TR cannot be lowered at will to increase the frame rate because of gradient hardware, spatial resolution, and signal-to-noise limitations. To overcome these limitations associated with electrocardiography-triggered Cine MRI, in this paper, we introduce a retrospectively triggered Cine MRI protocol capable of producing high-resolution high frame rate Cine MRI of the mouse heart for addressing left ventricular diastolic function. Simulations were performed to investigate the influence of MRI sequence parameters and the k-space filling trajectory in relation to the desired number of frames per cardiac cycle. An optimized protocol was applied in vivo and compared with electrocardiography-triggered Cine for which a high-frame rate could only be achieved by several interleaved acquisitions. Retrospective high frame rate Cine MRI proved superior to the interleaved electrocardiography-triggered protocols. High spatial-resolution Cine movies with frames rates up to 80 frames per cardiac cycle were obtained in 25 min. Analysis of left ventricular filling rate curves allowed accurate determination of early and late filling rates and revealed subtle impairments in left ventricular diastolic function of diabetic mice in comparison with nondiabetic mice. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  20. A new high rate positron lifetime measurement system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bedwell, M.O.; Paulus, T.J.

    1979-01-01

    Positron lifetime measuring system, a technique to perform non-destructive studies on the internal structure of materials, has many components common to those used for nuclear time spectroscopy systems. In each case, a timing coincidence curve is measured for the energy range of interest, and this is accomplished in a typical timing coincidence system. The paper first describes the conventional timing coincidence system, then a new fast timing system is introduced. Comparing to the conventional fast/slow timing system, the fast timing technique offers reduced complexity, lower system cost, and improved high data rate capability. Experimental results show that the FWHM timing resolution ranges from 190 ps for a 1.1 : 1 dynamic range to 337 ps for a 100 : 1 dynamic range of signals with 60 Co. As for the timing resolution as a function of energy, the FWHM resolution for each channel ranges from 124 ps at 1 MeV to 400 ps at 100 keV. Since the excellent timing performance is maintained even at very high input rate, the experimenters can use much more active sources to increase the true coincidence rate and reduce data accumulation time. This method has the added advantage of minimizing long term drift effects since the experiments can be conducted in less time. (Wakatsuki, Y.)

  1. Twinning in copper deformed at high strain rates

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Abstract. Copper samples having varying microstructures were deformed at high strain rates using a split-. Hopkinson pressure bar. Transmission electron microscopy results show deformation twins present in samples that were both annealed and strained, whereas samples that were annealed and left unstrained, as well ...

  2. Digital approach to high rate gamma-ray spectrometry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Korolczuk, Stefan; Mianowski, Slawomir; Rzadkiewicz, Jacek; Sibczynski, Pawel; Swiderski, Lukasz; Szewinski, Jaroslaw; Zychor, Izabella [Narodowe Centrum Badan Jadrowych (NCBJ), 05-400 Otwock, (Poland)

    2015-07-01

    Basic concepts and preliminary results of creating high rate digital spectrometry system using efficient ADCs and latest FPGA are presented as well as a comparison with commercially available devices. The possibility to use such systems, coupled to scintillators, in plasma experiments is discussed. (authors)

  3. Pedalling rate affects endurance performance during high-intensity cycling

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Jens Steen; Hansen, Ernst Albin; Sjøgaard, Gisela

    2004-01-01

    The purpose of this study into high-intensity cycling was to: (1) test the hypothesis that endurance time is longest at a freely chosen pedalling rate (FCPR), compared to pedalling rates 25% lower (FCPR-25) and higher (FCPR+25) than FCPR, and (2) investigate how physiological variables......, and endurance time at W90 with FCPR-25, FCPR, and FCPR+25. Power reserve was calculated as the difference between applied power output at a given pedalling rate and peak crank power at this same pedalling rate. W90 was 325 (47) W. FCPR at W90 was 78 (11) rpm, resulting in FCPR-25 being 59 (8) rpm and FCPR+25...... time was negatively related to VO(2max), W90 and % MHC I, while positively related to power reserve. In conclusion, at group level, endurance time was longer at FCPR and at a pedalling rate 25% lower compared to a pedalling rate 25% higher than FCPR. Further, inter-individual physiological variables...

  4. Transperineal high-dose-rate interstitial radiation therapy in the management of gynecologic malignancies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Itami, Jun; Hara, Ryuseke; Kozuka, Takuyou; Yamashita, Hideomi; Nakajima, Kaori; Shibata, Kouji; Abe, Yoshihisa; Fuse, Masashi; Ito, Masashi [International Medical Center of Japan, Tokyo (Japan). Dept. of Radiation Therapy and Oncology

    2003-11-01

    Background: High-dose-rate interstitial radiation therapy is a newly introduced modality, and its role in the management of gynecologic malignancies remains to be studied. Clinical experience in high-dose-rate interstitial radiation therapy was retrospectively investigated. Patients and Methods: Eight patients with primary and nine with recurrent gynecologic malignancies underwent high-dose-rate interstitial radiation therapy with/without external-beam irradiation. Fractional dose of the high-dose-rate interstitial radiation therapy ranged between 4 and 6 Gy with total doses of 15-54 Gy. Interstitial irradiation was performed twice daily with an interval of > 6 h. Results: 2-year local control rate was 75% for primary treatment and 47% for treatment of recurrence (p = 0.46). Maximum tumor size had a statistically significant impact on local control (p < 0.002). Grade 2 and 4 late complications were seen in five patients, and the incidence was significantly higher in patients with a larger volume enclosed by the prescribed fractional dose of high-dose-rate interstitial radiation therapy. The incidence of grade 2 and 4 complications at 18 months was 78% and 0% with a volume > 100 cm{sup 3} and {<=} 100 cm{sup 3}, respectively (p < 0.04). Conclusion: Although high-dose-rate interstitial radiation therapy is a promising modality, it must be applied cautiously to patients with bulky tumors because of the high incidence of serious complications. (orig.)

  5. Spectral classification of medium-scale high-latitude F region plasma density irregularities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Singh, M.; Rodriguez, P.; Szuszczewicz, E.P.; Sachs Freeman Associates, Bowie, MD)

    1985-01-01

    The high-latitude ionosphere represents a highly structured plasma. Rodriguez and Szuszczewicz (1984) reported a wide range of plasma density irregularities (150 km to 75 m) at high latitudes near 200 km. They have shown that the small-scale irregularities (7.5 km to 75 m) populated the dayside oval more often than the other phenomenological regions. It was suggested that in the lower F region the chemical recombination is fast enough to remove small-scale irregularities before convection can transport them large distances, leaving structured particle precipitation as the dominant source term for irregularities. The present paper provides the results of spectral analyses of pulsed plasma probe data collected in situ aboard the STP/S3-4 satellite during the period March-September 1978. A quantitative description of irregularity spectra in the high-latitude lower F region plasma density is given. 22 references

  6. Experimental and Numerical Study of Windage Losses in the Narrow Gap Region of a High-Speed Electric Motor

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kevin R. Anderson

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Windage (drag losses have been found to be a key design factor for high power density and high-speed electric motor development. Inducing axial flow between rotor and stator is a common method in cooling the rotor. Hence, it is necessary to understand the effect on windage while forced axial airflow is in present in the air gap. The current paper presents results from experimental testing and modeling of a high-speed motor designed to operate at 30,000 revolutions per minute (RPM and utilize axial air cooling of 200 Liters per minute (LPM to cool the motor. Details of the experimental apparatus and computational fluid dynamics (CFD modeling of the small gap narrow region of the stator/rotor are outlined in the paper. The experimental results are used to calibrate the CFD model. Results for windage losses, flow rate of cooling air, power and torque of the motor versus mass flow rate are given in the paper. Trade studies of CFD on the effect of inlet cooling flow rate, and parasitic heat transfer losses on the Taylor–Couette flow coherent flow structure breakdown are presented. Windage losses on the order of 20 W are found to be present in the configuration tested and simulated.

  7. High-rate synthesis of microcrystalline silicon films using high-density SiH4/H2 microwave plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jia, Haijun; Saha, Jhantu K.; Ohse, Naoyuki; Shirai, Hajime

    2007-01-01

    A high electron density (> 10 11 cm -3 ) and low electron temperature (1-2 eV) plasma is produced by using a microwave plasma source utilizing a spoke antenna, and is applied for the high-rate synthesis of high quality microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si) films. A very fast deposition rate of ∼ 65 A/s is achieved at a substrate temperature of 150 deg. C with a high Raman crystallinity and a low defect density of (1-2) x 10 16 cm -3 . Optical emission spectroscopy measurements reveal that emission intensity of SiH and intensity ratio of H α /SiH are good monitors for film deposition rate and film crystallinity, respectively. A high flux of film deposition precursor and atomic hydrogen under a moderate substrate temperature condition is effective for the fast deposition of highly crystallized μc-Si films without creating additional defects as well as for the improvement of film homogeneity

  8. TEM sample preparation by femtosecond laser machining and ion milling for high-rate TEM straining experiments

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Voisin, Thomas; Grapes, Michael D. [Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Zhang, Yong [Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Lorenzo, Nicholas; Ligda, Jonathan; Schuster, Brian [US Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Aberdeen, MD 21005 (United States); Weihs, Timothy P. [Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)

    2017-04-15

    To model mechanical properties of metals at high strain rates, it is important to visualize and understand their deformation at the nanoscale. Unlike post mortem Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), which allows one to analyze defects within samples before or after deformation, in situ TEM is a powerful tool that enables imaging and recording of deformation and the associated defect motion during mechanical loading. Unfortunately, all current in situ TEM mechanical testing techniques are limited to quasi-static strain rates. In this context, we are developing a new test technique that utilizes a rapid straining stage and the Dynamic TEM (DTEM) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The new straining stage can load samples in tension at strain rates as high as 4×10{sup 3}/s using two piezoelectric actuators operating in bending while the DTEM at LLNL can image in movie mode with a time resolution as short as 70 ns. Given the piezoelectric actuators are limited in force, speed, and displacement, we have developed a method for fabricating TEM samples with small cross-sectional areas to increase the applied stresses and short gage lengths to raise the applied strain rates and to limit the areas of deformation. In this paper, we present our effort to fabricate such samples from bulk materials. The new sample preparation procedure combines femtosecond laser machining and ion milling to obtain 300 µm wide samples with control of both the size and location of the electron transparent area, as well as the gage cross-section and length. - Highlights: • Tensile straining TEM specimens made by femtosecond laser machining and ion milling. • Accurate positioning of the electron transparent area within a controlled gauge region. • Optimization of femtosecond laser and ion milling parameters. • Fast production of numerous samples with a highly repeatable geometry.

  9. Rates and factors associated with major modifications to first-line combination antiretroviral therapy: results from the Asia-Pacific region.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stephen Wright

    Full Text Available In the Asia-Pacific region many countries have adopted the WHO's public health approach to HIV care and treatment. We performed exploratory analyses of the factors associated with first major modification to first-line combination antiretroviral therapy (ART in resource-rich and resource-limited countries in the region.We selected treatment naive HIV-positive adults from the Australian HIV Observational Database (AHOD and the TREAT Asia HIV Observational Database (TAHOD. We dichotomised each country's per capita income into high/upper-middle (T-H and lower-middle/low (T-L. Survival methods stratified by income were used to explore time to first major modification of first-line ART and associated factors. We defined a treatment modification as either initiation of a new class of antiretroviral (ARV or a substitution of two or more ARV agents from within the same ARV class.A total of 4250 patients had 961 major modifications to first-line ART in the first five years of therapy. The cumulative incidence (95% CI of treatment modification was 0.48 (0.44-0.52, 0.33 (0.30-0.36 and 0.21 (0.18-0.23 for AHOD, T-H and T-L respectively. We found no strong associations between typical patient characteristic factors and rates of treatment modification. In AHOD, relative to sites that monitor twice-yearly (both CD4 and HIV RNA-VL, quarterly monitoring corresponded with a doubling of the rate of treatment modifications. In T-H, relative to sites that monitor once-yearly (both CD4 and HIV RNA-VL, monitoring twice-yearly corresponded to a 1.8 factor increase in treatment modifications. In T-L, no sites on average monitored both CD4 & HIV RNA-VL concurrently once-yearly. We found no differences in rates of modifications for once- or twice-yearly CD4 count monitoring.Low-income countries tended to have lower rates of major modifications made to first-line ART compared to higher-income countries. In higher-income countries, an increased rate of RNA-VL monitoring was

  10. Dosimetric Considerations to Determine the Optimal Technique for Localized Prostate Cancer Among External Photon, Proton, or Carbon-Ion Therapy and High-Dose-Rate or Low-Dose-Rate Brachytherapy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Georg, Dietmar, E-mail: Dietmar.Georg@akhwien.at [Department of Radiation Oncology, Medical University of Vienna/Allgemeines Krankenhaus der Stadt Wien, Vienna (Austria); Christian Doppler Laboratory for Medical Radiation Research for Radiation Oncology, Medical University of Vienna/Allgemeines Krankenhaus der Stadt Wien, Vienna (Austria); Hopfgartner, Johannes [Department of Radiation Oncology, Medical University of Vienna/Allgemeines Krankenhaus der Stadt Wien, Vienna (Austria); Christian Doppler Laboratory for Medical Radiation Research for Radiation Oncology, Medical University of Vienna/Allgemeines Krankenhaus der Stadt Wien, Vienna (Austria); Gòra, Joanna [Department of Radiation Oncology, Medical University of Vienna/Allgemeines Krankenhaus der Stadt Wien, Vienna (Austria); Kuess, Peter [Department of Radiation Oncology, Medical University of Vienna/Allgemeines Krankenhaus der Stadt Wien, Vienna (Austria); Christian Doppler Laboratory for Medical Radiation Research for Radiation Oncology, Medical University of Vienna/Allgemeines Krankenhaus der Stadt Wien, Vienna (Austria); Kragl, Gabriele [Department of Radiation Oncology, Medical University of Vienna/Allgemeines Krankenhaus der Stadt Wien, Vienna (Austria); Berger, Daniel [Department of Radiation Oncology, Medical University of Vienna/Allgemeines Krankenhaus der Stadt Wien, Vienna (Austria); Christian Doppler Laboratory for Medical Radiation Research for Radiation Oncology, Medical University of Vienna/Allgemeines Krankenhaus der Stadt Wien, Vienna (Austria); Hegazy, Neamat [Department of Radiation Oncology, Medical University of Vienna/Allgemeines Krankenhaus der Stadt Wien, Vienna (Austria); Goldner, Gregor; Georg, Petra [Department of Radiation Oncology, Medical University of Vienna/Allgemeines Krankenhaus der Stadt Wien, Vienna (Austria); Christian Doppler Laboratory for Medical Radiation Research for Radiation Oncology, Medical University of Vienna/Allgemeines Krankenhaus der Stadt Wien, Vienna (Austria)

    2014-03-01

    Purpose: To assess the dosimetric differences among volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT), scanned proton therapy (intensity-modulated proton therapy, IMPT), scanned carbon-ion therapy (intensity-modulated carbon-ion therapy, IMIT), and low-dose-rate (LDR) and high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy (BT) treatment of localized prostate cancer. Methods and Materials: Ten patients were considered for this planning study. For external beam radiation therapy (EBRT), planning target volume was created by adding a margin of 5 mm (lateral/anterior–posterior) and 8 mm (superior–inferior) to the clinical target volume. Bladder wall (BW), rectal wall (RW), femoral heads, urethra, and pelvic tissue were considered as organs at risk. For VMAT and IMPT, 78 Gy(relative biological effectiveness, RBE)/2 Gy were prescribed. The IMIT was based on 66 Gy(RBE)/20 fractions. The clinical target volume planning aims for HDR-BT ({sup 192}Ir) and LDR-BT ({sup 125}I) were D{sub 90%} ≥34 Gy in 8.5 Gy per fraction and D{sub 90%} ≥145 Gy. Both physical and RBE-weighted dose distributions for protons and carbon-ions were converted to dose distributions based on 2-Gy(IsoE) fractions. From these dose distributions various dose and dose–volume parameters were extracted. Results: Rectal wall exposure 30-70 Gy(IsoE) was reduced for IMIT, LDR-BT, and HDR-BT when compared with VMAT and IMPT. The high-dose region of the BW dose–volume histogram above 50 Gy(IsoE) of IMPT resembled the VMAT shape, whereas all other techniques showed a significantly lower high-dose region. For all 3 EBRT techniques similar urethra D{sub mean} around 74 Gy(IsoE) were obtained. The LDR-BT results were approximately 30 Gy(IsoE) higher, HDR-BT 10 Gy(IsoE) lower. Normal tissue and femoral head sparing was best with BT. Conclusion: Despite the different EBRT prescription and fractionation schemes, the high-dose regions of BW and RW expressed in Gy(IsoE) were on the same order of magnitude. Brachytherapy techniques

  11. Dosimetric Considerations to Determine the Optimal Technique for Localized Prostate Cancer Among External Photon, Proton, or Carbon-Ion Therapy and High-Dose-Rate or Low-Dose-Rate Brachytherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Georg, Dietmar; Hopfgartner, Johannes; Gòra, Joanna; Kuess, Peter; Kragl, Gabriele; Berger, Daniel; Hegazy, Neamat; Goldner, Gregor; Georg, Petra

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: To assess the dosimetric differences among volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT), scanned proton therapy (intensity-modulated proton therapy, IMPT), scanned carbon-ion therapy (intensity-modulated carbon-ion therapy, IMIT), and low-dose-rate (LDR) and high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy (BT) treatment of localized prostate cancer. Methods and Materials: Ten patients were considered for this planning study. For external beam radiation therapy (EBRT), planning target volume was created by adding a margin of 5 mm (lateral/anterior–posterior) and 8 mm (superior–inferior) to the clinical target volume. Bladder wall (BW), rectal wall (RW), femoral heads, urethra, and pelvic tissue were considered as organs at risk. For VMAT and IMPT, 78 Gy(relative biological effectiveness, RBE)/2 Gy were prescribed. The IMIT was based on 66 Gy(RBE)/20 fractions. The clinical target volume planning aims for HDR-BT ( 192 Ir) and LDR-BT ( 125 I) were D 90% ≥34 Gy in 8.5 Gy per fraction and D 90% ≥145 Gy. Both physical and RBE-weighted dose distributions for protons and carbon-ions were converted to dose distributions based on 2-Gy(IsoE) fractions. From these dose distributions various dose and dose–volume parameters were extracted. Results: Rectal wall exposure 30-70 Gy(IsoE) was reduced for IMIT, LDR-BT, and HDR-BT when compared with VMAT and IMPT. The high-dose region of the BW dose–volume histogram above 50 Gy(IsoE) of IMPT resembled the VMAT shape, whereas all other techniques showed a significantly lower high-dose region. For all 3 EBRT techniques similar urethra D mean around 74 Gy(IsoE) were obtained. The LDR-BT results were approximately 30 Gy(IsoE) higher, HDR-BT 10 Gy(IsoE) lower. Normal tissue and femoral head sparing was best with BT. Conclusion: Despite the different EBRT prescription and fractionation schemes, the high-dose regions of BW and RW expressed in Gy(IsoE) were on the same order of magnitude. Brachytherapy techniques were clearly superior in

  12. Control of algal production in a high rate algal pond: investigation through batch and continuous experiments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Derabe Maobe, H; Onodera, M; Takahashi, M; Satoh, H; Fukazawa, T

    2014-01-01

    For decades, arid and semi-arid regions in Africa have faced issues related to water availability for drinking, irrigation and livestock purposes. To tackle these issues, a laboratory scale greywater treatment system based on high rate algal pond (HRAP) technology was investigated in order to guide the operation of the pilot plant implemented in the 2iE campus in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso). Because of the high suspended solids concentration generally found in effluents of this system, the aim of this study is to improve the performance of HRAPs in term of algal productivity and removal. To determine the selection mechanism of self-flocculated algae, three sets of sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) and three sets of continuous flow reactors (CFRs) were operated. Despite operation with the same solids retention time and the similarity of the algal growth rate found in these reactors, the algal productivity was higher in the SBRs owing to the short hydraulic retention time of 10 days in these reactors. By using a volume of CFR with twice the volume of our experimental CFRs, the algal concentration can be controlled during operation under similar physical conditions in both reactors.

  13. The Optical/Near-infrared Extinction Law in Highly Reddened Regions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hosek, Matthew W., Jr.; Lu, Jessica R.; Anderson, Jay; Do, Tuan; Schlafly, Edward F.; Ghez, Andrea M.; Clarkson, William I.; Morris, Mark R.; Albers, Saundra M.

    2018-03-01

    A precise extinction law is a critical input when interpreting observations of highly reddened sources such as young star clusters and the Galactic Center (GC). We use Hubble Space Telescope observations of a region of moderate extinction and a region of high extinction to measure the optical and near-infrared extinction law (0.8–2.2 μm). The moderate-extinction region is the young massive cluster Westerlund 1 (Wd1; A Ks ∼ 0.6 mag), where 453 proper-motion selected main-sequence stars are used to measure the shape of the extinction law. To quantify the shape, we define the parameter {{ \\mathcal S }}1/λ , which behaves similarly to a color-excess ratio, but is continuous as a function of wavelength. The high-extinction region is the GC (A Ks ∼ 2.5 mag), where 819 red clump stars are used to determine the normalization of the law. The best-fit extinction law is able to reproduce the Wd1 main-sequence colors, which previous laws misestimate by 10%–30%. The law is inconsistent with a single power law, even when only the near-infrared filters are considered, and has A F125W/A Ks and A F814W/A Ks values that are 18% and 24% higher than the commonly used Nishiyama et al. law, respectively. Using this law, we recalculate the Wd1 distance to be 3905 ± 422 pc from published observations of the eclipsing binary W13. This new extinction law should be used for highly reddened populations in the Milky Way, such as the Quintuplet cluster and Young Nuclear Cluster. A python code is provided to generate the law for future use.

  14. High Data Rate Optical Wireless Communications Based on Ultraviolet Band

    KAUST Repository

    Sun, Xiaobin

    2017-10-01

    Optical wireless communication systems based on ultraviolet (UV)-band has a lot inherent advantages, such as low background solar radiation, low device dark noise. Besides, it also has small restrictive requirements for PAT (pointing, acquisition, and tracking) because of its high atmospheric scattering with molecules and aerosols. And these advantages are driving people to explore and utilize UV band for constructing and implementing a high-data-rate, less PAT communication links, such as diffuse-line-of-sight links (diffuse-LOS) and non-line-of-sight (NLOS). The responsivity of the photodetector at UV range is far lower than that of visible range, high power UV transmitters which can be easily modulated are under investigation. These factors make it is hard to realize a high-data-rate diffuse-LOS or NLOS UV communication links. To achieve a UV link mentioned above with current devices and modulation schemes, this thesis presents some efficient modulation schemes and available devices for the time being. Besides, a demonstration of ultraviolet-B (UVB) communication link is implemented utilizing quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM). The demonstration is based on a 294-nm UVB-light-emitting-diode (UVB-LED) with a full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of 9 nm, and according to the measured L-I-V curve, we set the bias voltage as 7V for maximum the ac amplitude and thus get a high signal-noise-ratio (SNR) channel, and the light output power is 190 μW with such bias voltage. Besides, there is a unique silica gel lens on top of the LED to concentrate the beam. A -3-dB bandwidth of 29 MHz was measured and a high-speed near-solar-blind communication link with a data rate of 71 Mbit/s was achieved using 8-QAM-OFDM at perfect alignment, and 23.6 Mbit/s using 2-QAM-OFDM when the angle subtended by the pointing direction of the UVB-LED and photodetector (PD) is 12 degrees, thus establishing a diffuse-line-of-sight (LOS) link

  15. Accelerated partial-breast irradiation using high-dose-rate interstitial brachytherapy: 12-year update of a prospective clinical study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Polgar, Csaba; Major, Tibor; Fodor, Janos; Sulyok, Zoltan; Somogyi, Andras; Loevey, Katalin; Nemeth, Gyoergy; Kasler, Miklos

    2010-01-01

    Background and purpose: To report the 12-year updated results of accelerated partial-breast irradiation (APBI) using multicatheter interstitial high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy (BT). Patients and methods: Forty-five prospectively selected patients with T1N0-N1mi, nonlobular breast cancer without the presence of an extensive intraductal component and with negative surgical margins were treated with APBI after breast-conserving surgery (BCS) using interstitial HDR BT. A total dose of 30.3 Gy (n = 8) and 36.4 Gy (n = 37) in seven fractions within 4 days was delivered to the tumour bed plus a 1-2 cm margin. The median follow-up time was 133 months for surviving patients. Local and regional control, disease-free (DFS), cancer-specific (CSS), and overall survival (OS), as well as late side effects, and cosmetic results were assessed. Results: Four (8.9%) ipsilateral breast tumour recurrences were observed, for a 5-, 10-, and 12-year actuarial rate of 4.4%, 9.3%, and 9.3%, respectively. A total of two regional nodal failures were observed for a 12-year actuarial rate of 4.4%. The 12-year DFS, CSS, and OS was 75.3%, 91.1%, and 88.9%, respectively. Grade 3 fibrosis was observed in one patient (2.2%). No patient developed grade 3 teleangiectasia. Fat necrosis requiring surgical intervention occurred in one woman (2.2%). Cosmetic results were rated excellent or good in 35 patients (77.8%). Conclusions: Twelve-year results with APBI using HDR multicatheter interstitial implants continue to demonstrate excellent long-term local tumour control, survival, and cosmetic results with a low-rate of late side effects.

  16. Regional differences in treatment rates for patients with chronic hepatitis C infection: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Philip Vutien

    Full Text Available Treatment rates with interferon-based therapies for chronic hepatitis C have been low. Our aim was to perform a systematic review of available data to estimate the rates and barriers for antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis C.We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis searching MEDLINE, SCOPUS through March 2016 and abstracts from recent major liver meetings for primary literature with available hepatitis C treatment rates. Random-effects models were used to estimate effect sizes and meta-regression to test for potential sources of heterogeneity.We included 39 studies with 476,443 chronic hepatitis C patients. The overall treatment rate was 25.5% (CI: 21.1-30.5% and by region 34% for Europe, 28.3% for Asia/Pacific, and 18.7% for North America (p = 0.008. On multivariable meta-regression, practice setting (tertiary vs. population-based, p = 0.04, region (Europe vs. North America p = 0.004, and data source (clinical chart review vs. administrative database, p = 0.025 remained significant predictors of heterogeneity. The overall treatment eligibility rate was 52.5%, and 60% of these received therapy. Of the patients who refused treatment, 16.2% cited side effects, 13.8% cited cost as reasons for treatment refusal, and 30% lacked access to specialist care.Only one-quarter of chronic hepatitis C patients received antiviral therapy in the pre-direct acting antiviral era. Treatment rates should improve in the new interferon-free era but, cost, co-morbidities, and lack of specialist care will likely remain and need to be addressed. Linkage to care should even be of higher priority now that well-tolerated cure is available.

  17. High-resolution DEMs for High-mountain Asia: A systematic, region-wide assessment of geodetic glacier mass balance and dynamics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shean, D. E.; Arendt, A. A.; Osmanoglu, B.; Montesano, P.

    2017-12-01

    High Mountain Asia (HMA) constitutes the largest glacierized region outside of the Earth's polar regions. Although available observations are limited, long-term records indicate sustained regional glacier mass loss since 1850, with increased loss in recent decades. Recent satellite data (e.g., GRACE, ICESat-1) show spatially variable glacier mass balance, with significant mass loss in the Himalaya and Hindu Kush and slight mass gain in the Karakoram. We generated 4000 high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) from sub-meter commercial stereo imagery (DigitalGlobe WorldView/GeoEye) acquired over glaciers in High-mountain Asia from 2002-present (mostly 2013-present). We produced a regional 8-m DEM mosaic for 2015 and estimated 15-year geodetic mass balance for 40000 glaciers larger than 0.1 km2. We are combining with other regional DEM sources to systematically document the spatiotemporal evolution of glacier mass balance for the entire HMA region. We also generated monthly to interannual DEM and velocity time series for high-priority sites distributed across the region, with >15-20 DEMs available for some locations from 2010-present. These records document glacier dynamics, seasonal snow accumulation/redistribution, and processes that affect glacier mass balance (e.g., ice-cliff retreat, debris cover evolution). These efforts will provide basin-scale assessments of snow/ice melt runoff contributions for model cal/val and downstream water resources applications. We will continue processing all archived and newly available commercial stereo imagery for HMA, and will release all DEMs through the HiMAT DAAC.

  18. Estimate of regional groundwater recharge rate in the Central Haouz Plain, Morocco, using the chloride mass balance method and a geographical information system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ait El Mekki, Ouassil; Laftouhi, Nour-Eddine; Hanich, Lahoucine

    2017-07-01

    Located in the extreme northwest of Africa, the Kingdom of Morocco is increasingly affected by drought. Much of the country is characterised by an arid to semi-arid climate and the demand for water is considerably higher than the supply, particularly on the Haouz Plain in the centre of the country. The expansion of agriculture and tourism, in addition to industrial development and mining, have exacerbated the stress on water supplies resulting in drought. It is therefore necessary to adopt careful management practices to preserve the sustainability of the water resources in this region. The aquifer recharge rate in the piedmont region that links the High Atlas and the Central Haouz Plain was estimated using the chloride mass balance hydrochemical method, which is based on the relationship between the chloride concentrations in groundwater and rainwater. The addition of a geographical information system made it possible to estimate the recharge rate over the whole 400 km2 of the study area. The results are presented in the form of a map showing the spatialized recharge rate, which ranges from 13 to 100 mm/year and the recharge percentage of the total rainfall varies from 3 to 25 % for the hydrological year 2011-2012. This approach will enable the validation of empirical models covering areas >6200 km2, such as the Haouz nappe.

  19. The High Strain Rate Deformation Behavior of High Purity Magnesium and AZ31B Magnesium Alloy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Livescu, Veronica; Cady, Carl M.; Cerreta, Ellen K.; Henrie, Benjamin L.; Gray, George T.

    The deformation in compression of pure magnesium and AZ31B magnesium alloy, both with a strong basal pole texture, has been investigated as a function of temperature, strain rate, and specimen orientation. The mechanical response of both metals is highly dependent upon the orientation of loading direction with respect to the basal pole. Specimens compressed along the basal pole direction have a high sensitivity to strain rate and temperature and display a concave down work hardening behavior. Specimens loaded perpendicularly to the basal pole have a yield stress that is relatively insensitive to strain rate and temperature and a work hardening behavior that is parabolic and then linearly upwards. Both specimen orientations display a mechanical response that is sensitive to temperature and strain rate. Post mortem characterization of the pure magnesium was conducted on a subset of specimens to determine the microstructural and textural evolution during deformation and these results are correlated with the observed work hardening behavior and strain rate sensitivities were calculated.

  20. High-energy, high-repetition-rate picosecond pulses from a quasi-CW diode-pumped Nd:YAG system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noom, Daniel W E; Witte, Stefan; Morgenweg, Jonas; Altmann, Robert K; Eikema, Kjeld S E

    2013-08-15

    We report on a high-power quasi-CW pumped Nd:YAG laser system, producing 130 mJ, 64 ps pulses at 1064 nm wavelength with a repetition rate of 300 Hz. Pulses from a Nd:YVO(4) oscillator are first amplified by a regenerative amplifier to the millijoule level and then further amplified in quasi-CW diode-pumped Nd:YAG modules. Pulsed diode pumping enables a high gain at repetition rates of several hundred hertz, while keeping thermal effects manageable. Birefringence compensation and multiple thermal-lensing-compensated relay-imaging stages are used to maintain a top-hat beam profile. After frequency doubling, 75 mJ pulses are obtained at 532 nm. The intensity stability is better than 1.1%, which makes this laser an attractive pump source for a high-repetition-rate optical parametric amplification system.

  1. A Model for High-Strain-Rate Deformation of Uranium-Niobium Alloys

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    F.L.Addessio; Q.H.Zuo; T.A.Mason; L.C.Brinson

    2003-05-01

    A thermodynamic approach is used to develop a framework for modeling uranium-niobium alloys under the conditions of high strain rate. Using this framework, a three-dimensional phenomenological model, which includes nonlinear elasticity (equation of state), phase transformation, crystal reorientation, rate-dependent plasticity, and porosity growth is presented. An implicit numerical technique is used to solve the evolution equations for the material state. Comparisons are made between the model and data for low-strain-rate loading and unloading as well as for heating and cooling experiments. Comparisons of the model and data also are made for low- and high-strain-rate uniaxial stress and uniaxial strain experiments. A uranium-6 weight percent niobium alloy is used in the comparisons of model and experiment.

  2. A pulse shape discriminator with high precision of neutron and gamma ray selection at high counting rate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bialkowski, J.; Moszynski, M.; Wolski, D.

    1989-01-01

    A pulse shape discriminator based on the zero-crossing principle is described. Due to dc negative feedback loops stabilizing the shaping amplifier and the zero-crossing discriminator, the working of the circuit is not affected by the high counting rate and the temperature variations. The pileup rejection circuit built into the discriminator improves the quality of the n-γ separation at high counting rates. A full γ-ray rejection is obtained for a recoil energy of electrons down to 25 keV. At high counting rates the remaining γ-ray contribution is evidently due to the pileup effect which is equal to about 2% at 4x10 5 counts/s. (orig.)

  3. Transverse Chemotactic Migration of Bacteria from High to Low Permeability Regions in a Dual Permeability Porous Microfluidic Device

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, R.; Olson, M. S.

    2011-12-01

    Low permeability regions sandwiched between high permeability regions such as clay lenses are difficult to treat using conventional treatment methods. Trace concentrations of contaminants such as non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) remain trapped in these regions and over the time diffuse out into surrounding water thereby acting as a long term source of groundwater contamination. Bacterial chemotaxis (directed migration toward a contaminant source), may be helpful in enhancing bioremediation of such contaminated sites. This study is focused on simulating a two-dimensional dual-permeability groundwater contamination scenario using microfluidic devices and evaluating transverse chemotactic migration of bacteria from high to low permeability regions. A novel bi-layer polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic device was fabricated using photolithography and soft lithography techniques to simulate contamination of a dual- permeability region due to leakage from an underground storage tank into a low permeability region. This device consists of a porous channel through which a bacterial suspension (Escherchia Coli HCB33) is flown and another channel for injecting contaminant/chemo-attractant (DL-aspertic acid) into the porous channel. The pore arrangement in the porous channel contains a 2-D low permeability region surrounded by high permeability regions on both sides. Experiments were performed under chemotactic and non-chemotactic (replacing attractant with buffer solution in the non porous channel) conditions. Images were captured in transverse pore throats at cross-sections 4.9, 9.8, and 19.6 mm downstream from the attractant injection point and bacteria were enumerated in the middle of each pore throat. Bacterial chemotaxis was quantified in terms of the change in relative bacterial counts in each pore throat at cross-sections 9.8 and 19.6 mm with respect to counts at the cross-section at 4.9 mm. Under non-chemotactic conditions, relative bacterial count was observed

  4. Spatio-Spectral Method for Estimating Classified Regions with High Confidence using MODIS Data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Katiyal, Anuj; Rajan, Dr K S

    2014-01-01

    In studies like change analysis, the availability of very high resolution (VHR)/high resolution (HR) imagery for a particular period and region is a challenge due to the sensor revisit times and high cost of acquisition. Therefore, most studies prefer lower resolution (LR) sensor imagery with frequent revisit times, in addition to their cost and computational advantages. Further, the classification techniques provide us a global estimate of the class accuracy, which limits its utility if the accuracy is low. In this work, we focus on the sub-classification problem of LR images and estimate regions of higher confidence than the global classification accuracy within its classified region. The spectrally classified data was mined into spatially clustered regions and further refined and processed using statistical measures to arrive at local high confidence regions (LHCRs), for every class. Rabi season MODIS data of January 2006 and 2007 was used for this study and the evaluation of LHCR was done using the APLULC 2005 classified data. For Jan-2007, the global class accuracies for water bodies (WB), forested regions (FR) and Kharif crops and barren lands (KB) were 89%, 71.7% and 71.23% respectively, while the respective LHCRs had accuracies of 96.67%, 89.4% and 80.9% covering an area of 46%, 29% and 14.5% of the initially classified areas. Though areas are reduced, LHCRs with higher accuracies help in extracting more representative class regions. Identification of such regions can facilitate in improving the classification time and processing for HR images when combined with the more frequently acquired LR imagery, isolate pure vs. mixed/impure pixels and as training samples locations for HR imagery

  5. On the convergence in female participation rates

    OpenAIRE

    Abe, Yukiko

    2016-01-01

    Large regional differences exist in female participation across regions within Japan. This paper uses two datasets to show that a significant convergence in female participation took place from 1940 to 2010. Historically, urban areas have had low participation, whereas non-urban areas have had high participation. The participation rate rose steadily and significantly in urban areas and, to a lesser extent in non-urban areas, and as a result, regional differences shrank over time. The microdat...

  6. Predictive Finite Rate Model for Oxygen-Carbon Interactions at High Temperature

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poovathingal, Savio

    An oxidation model for carbon surfaces is developed to predict ablation rates for carbon heat shields used in hypersonic vehicles. Unlike existing empirical models, the approach used here was to probe gas-surface interactions individually and then based on an understanding of the relevant fundamental processes, build a predictive model that would be accurate over a wide range of pressures and temperatures, and even microstructures. Initially, molecular dynamics was used to understand the oxidation processes on the surface. The molecular dynamics simulations were compared to molecular beam experiments and good qualitative agreement was observed. The simulations reproduced cylindrical pitting observed in the experiments where oxidation was rapid and primarily occurred around a defect. However, the studies were limited to small systems at low temperatures and could simulate time scales only of the order of nanoseconds. Molecular beam experiments at high surface temperature indicated that a majority of surface reaction products were produced through thermal mechanisms. Since the reactions were thermal, they occurred over long time scales which were computationally prohibitive for molecular dynamics to simulate. The experiments provided detailed dynamical data on the scattering of O, O2, CO, and CO2 and it was found that the data from molecular beam experiments could be used directly to build a model. The data was initially used to deduce surface reaction probabilities at 800 K. The reaction probabilities were then incorporated into the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method. Simulations were performed where the microstructure was resolved and dissociated oxygen convected and diffused towards it. For a gas-surface temperature of 800 K, it was found that despite CO being the dominant surface reaction product, a gas-phase reaction forms significant CO2 within the microstructure region. It was also found that surface area did not play any role in concentration of

  7. Optimal regional biases in ECB interest rate setting

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Arnold, I.J.M.

    2005-01-01

    This paper uses a simple model of optimal monetary policy to consider whether the influence of national output and inflation rates on ECB interest rate setting should equal a country’s weight in the eurozone economy. The findings depend on assumptions regarding interest rate elasticities, exchange

  8. Development of a cryogenic hydrogen microjet for high-intensity, high-repetition rate experiments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, J. B.; Göde, S.; Glenzer, S. H.

    2016-11-01

    The advent of high-intensity, high-repetition-rate lasers has led to the need for replenishing targets of interest for high energy density sciences. We describe the design and characterization of a cryogenic microjet source, which can deliver a continuous stream of liquid hydrogen with a diameter of a few microns. The jet has been imaged at 1 μm resolution by shadowgraphy with a short pulse laser. The pointing stability has been measured at well below a mrad, for a stable free-standing filament of solid-density hydrogen.

  9. Obstetrician perceptions of the causes of high cesarean delivery rates in Turkey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Küçük, Mert

    2017-07-01

    To assess obstetricians' perceptions surrounding cesarean delivery rates in Turkey. The present cross-sectional descriptive study was performed between May 1 and June 30, 2016. Practicing obstetricians with contact details known by the researchers and those attending a conference in Turkey were asked to complete a self-administered questionnaire that collected demographic data and information on participants' opinions, beliefs, knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to cesarean delivery. There were 100 obstetricians who responded to the survey. Awareness of high cesarean delivery rates was reported by 96 (96%) participants and 95 (95%) respondents said they were supportive of efforts to reduce it. There were 60 (60%), 83 (83%), and 100 (100%) participants aware of associations between high cesarean delivery rates and increased maternal and infant mortality; increased risk of uterine rupture; and increased risk of placenta previa, placenta accreta, and emergency cesarean hysterectomy, respectively. The most commonly reported reason for high cesarean delivery rates was high compensation costs during medical litigation legal proceedings, reported by all 100 (100%) participants. Participants were generally aware of the risks associated with high cesarean delivery rates. The results suggest that the greatest concern among obstetricians who perform cesarean deliveries was malpractice litigation. © 2017 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics.

  10. THE AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION RATE: TRENDS AND LEVELS*

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heckman, James J.; LaFontaine, Paul A.

    2009-01-01

    This paper applies a unified methodology to multiple data sets to estimate both the levels and trends in U.S. high school graduation rates. We establish that (a) the true rate is substantially lower than widely used measures; (b) it peaked in the early 1970s; (c) majority/minority differentials are substantial and have not converged for 35 years; (d) lower post-1970 rates are not solely due to increasing immigrant and minority populations; (e) our findings explain part of the slowdown in college attendance and rising college wage premiums; and (f) widening graduation differentials by gender help explain increasing male-female college attendance gaps. PMID:20625528

  11. THE AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION RATE: TRENDS AND LEVELS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heckman, James J; Lafontaine, Paul A

    2010-05-01

    This paper applies a unified methodology to multiple data sets to estimate both the levels and trends in U.S. high school graduation rates. We establish that (a) the true rate is substantially lower than widely used measures; (b) it peaked in the early 1970s; (c) majority/minority differentials are substantial and have not converged for 35 years; (d) lower post-1970 rates are not solely due to increasing immigrant and minority populations; (e) our findings explain part of the slowdown in college attendance and rising college wage premiums; and (f) widening graduation differentials by gender help explain increasing male-female college attendance gaps.

  12. 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 ...

  13. State-level high school completion rates: Concepts, measures, and trends.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John Robert Warren

    2005-12-01

    Full Text Available Since the mid 1970s the national rate at which incoming 9th graders have completed high school has fallen slowly but steadily; this is also true in 41 states. In 2002, about three in every four students who might have completed high school actually did so; in some states this figure is substantially lower. In this paper I review state-level measures of high school completion rates and describe and validate a new measure that reports these rates for 1975 through 2002. Existing measures based on the Current Population Survey are conceptually imperfect and statistically unreliable. Measures based on Common Core Data (CCD dropout information are unavailable for many states and have different conceptual weaknesses. Existing measures based on CCD enrollment and completion data are systematically biased by migration, changes in cohort size, and/or grade retention. The new CCD-based measure described here is considerably less biased, performs differently in empirical analyses, and gives a different picture of the dropout situation across states and over time.

  14. Star formations rates in the Galaxy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smith, L.F.; Mezger, P.G.; Biermann, P.

    1978-01-01

    Data relevant to giant HII regions in the Galaxy are collected. The production rate for Lyman continuum photons by O stars in giant HII regions is 4.7 10 52 s -1 in the whole Galaxy. The corresponding present rate of star formation is M (sun)/yr, of which 74% occurs in main spiral arms, 13% in the interarm region and 13% in the galactic center. The star formation rates, the observed heavy element and deuterium abundances in the solar neighbourhood are compared to model predictions based on star formation proportional to a power (k) of the gas surface density. The mass function is terminated at Msub(u)=100 M (sun) above and M 1 below. Msub(u)=50 M (sun) is also considered. Comparing with data derived from observations a) the star formation rate, b) metal abundances, c) deuterium abundances, and d) colors of the stellar population, we find that models of k=1/2 to 1, and M 1 1 M (sun) are formed together with O and B stars, but under rather special conditions of the interstellar gas, while lower mass stars form wherever dense molecular clouds exist. The high rate of star formation in the galactic center may represent a burst. (orig.) [de

  15. High genetic diversity in the coat protein and 3' untranslated regions

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    The 3′ terminal region consisting of the coat protein (CP) coding sequence and 3′ untranslated region (3′UTR) was cloned and sequenced from seven isolates. Sequence comparisons revealed considerable genetic diversity among the isolates in their CP and 3′UTR, making CdMV one of the highly variable members ...

  16. High temperature triggers latent variation among individuals: oviposition rate and probability for outbreaks.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christer Björkman

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available It is anticipated that extreme population events, such as extinctions and outbreaks, will become more frequent as a consequence of climate change. To evaluate the increased probability of such events, it is crucial to understand the mechanisms involved. Variation between individuals in their response to climatic factors is an important consideration, especially if microevolution is expected to change the composition of populations.Here we present data of a willow leaf beetle species, showing high variation among individuals in oviposition rate at a high temperature (20 °C. It is particularly noteworthy that not all individuals responded to changes in temperature; individuals laying few eggs at 20 °C continued to do so when transferred to 12 °C, whereas individuals that laid many eggs at 20 °C reduced their oviposition and laid the same number of eggs as the others when transferred to 12 °C. When transferred back to 20 °C most individuals reverted to their original oviposition rate. Thus, high variation among individuals was only observed at the higher temperature. Using a simple population model and based on regional climate change scenarios we show that the probability of outbreaks increases if there is a realistic increase in the number of warm summers. The probability of outbreaks also increased with increasing heritability of the ability to respond to increased temperature.If climate becomes warmer and there is latent variation among individuals in their temperature response, the probability for outbreaks may increase. However, the likelihood for microevolution to play a role may be low. This conclusion is based on the fact that it has been difficult to show that microevolution affect the probability for extinctions. Our results highlight the urge for cautiousness when predicting the future concerning probabilities for extreme population events.

  17. Miniaturized Stretchable and High-Rate Linear Supercapacitors

    OpenAIRE

    Zhu, Wenjun; Zhang, Yang; Zhou, Xiaoshuang; Xu, Jiang; Liu, Zunfeng; Yuan, Ningyi; Ding, Jianning

    2017-01-01

    Linear stretchable supercapacitors have attracted much attention because they are well suited to applications in the rapidly expanding field of wearable electronics. However, poor conductivity of the electrode material, which limits the transfer of electrons in the axial direction of the linear supercapacitors, leads to a serious loss of capacity at high rates. To solve this problem, we use gold nanoparticles to decorate aligned multiwall carbon nanotube to fabricate stretchable linear electr...

  18. Mathematical modeling of high-rate Anammox UASB reactor based on granular packing patterns

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tang, Chong-Jian; He, Rui; Zheng, Ping; Chai, Li-Yuan; Min, Xiao-Bo

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: ► A novel model was conducted to estimate volumetric nitrogen conversion rates. ► The packing patterns of the granules in Anammox reactor are investigated. ► The simple cubic packing pattern was simulated in high-rate Anammox UASB reactor. ► Operational strategies concerning sludge concentration were proposed by the modeling. -- Abstract: A novel mathematical model was developed to estimate the volumetric nitrogen conversion rates of a high-rate Anammox UASB reactor based on the packing patterns of granular sludge. A series of relationships among granular packing density, sludge concentration, hydraulic retention time and volumetric conversion rate were constructed to correlate Anammox reactor performance with granular packing patterns. It was suggested that the Anammox granules packed as the equivalent simple cubic pattern in high-rate UASB reactor with packing density of 50–55%, which not only accommodated a high concentration of sludge inside the reactor, but also provided large pore volume, thus prolonging the actual substrate conversion time. Results also indicated that it was necessary to improve Anammox reactor performance by enhancing substrate loading when sludge concentration was higher than 37.8 gVSS/L. The established model was carefully calibrated and verified, and it well simulated the performance of granule-based high-rate Anammox UASB reactor

  19. Mathematical modeling of high-rate Anammox UASB reactor based on granular packing patterns

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tang, Chong-Jian, E-mail: chjtangzju@yahoo.com.cn [Department of Environmental Engineering, School of Metallurgical Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083 (China); National Engineering Research Center for Control and Treatment of Heavy Metal Pollution, Changsha 410083 (China); He, Rui; Zheng, Ping [Department of Environmental Engineering, Zhejiang University, Zijingang Campus, Hangzhou 310058 (China); Chai, Li-Yuan; Min, Xiao-Bo [Department of Environmental Engineering, School of Metallurgical Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083 (China); National Engineering Research Center for Control and Treatment of Heavy Metal Pollution, Changsha 410083 (China)

    2013-04-15

    Highlights: ► A novel model was conducted to estimate volumetric nitrogen conversion rates. ► The packing patterns of the granules in Anammox reactor are investigated. ► The simple cubic packing pattern was simulated in high-rate Anammox UASB reactor. ► Operational strategies concerning sludge concentration were proposed by the modeling. -- Abstract: A novel mathematical model was developed to estimate the volumetric nitrogen conversion rates of a high-rate Anammox UASB reactor based on the packing patterns of granular sludge. A series of relationships among granular packing density, sludge concentration, hydraulic retention time and volumetric conversion rate were constructed to correlate Anammox reactor performance with granular packing patterns. It was suggested that the Anammox granules packed as the equivalent simple cubic pattern in high-rate UASB reactor with packing density of 50–55%, which not only accommodated a high concentration of sludge inside the reactor, but also provided large pore volume, thus prolonging the actual substrate conversion time. Results also indicated that it was necessary to improve Anammox reactor performance by enhancing substrate loading when sludge concentration was higher than 37.8 gVSS/L. The established model was carefully calibrated and verified, and it well simulated the performance of granule-based high-rate Anammox UASB reactor.

  20. Abuse resistant high rate lithium/thionyl chloride cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Surprenant, J.; Snuggerud, D.

    A compact, disk shaped lithium/thionyl chloride cell has been developed. The cell has a 6 Amphr capacity and is capable of high rate discharge at high voltage. Discharge data are presented over the range of 0.07 to 1.1 amperes. The cell is operable over the temperature range of -40 C to +70 C, and has a 10 year shelf life at 20 C. Safety features allow the cells to withstand fire, puncture, shock, spin, forced discharge or forced charge without dangerous reactions.

  1. High-Pressure Limit Rate Rules for α-H Isomerization of Hydroperoxyalkylperoxy Radicals

    KAUST Repository

    Mohamed, Samah Y; Davis, Alexander Cory; Al Rashidi, Mariam J; Sarathy, Mani

    2018-01-01

    group. In this work, a combination of high level composite methods - CBS-QB3, G3 and G4 - is used to determine the high-pressure-limit rate parameters for the title reaction. Rate rules for H-migration reactions proceeding through 5-, 6-, 7- and 8

  2. Hg in snow cover and snowmelt waters in high-sulfide tailing regions (Ursk tailing dump site, Kemerovo region, Russia).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gustaytis, M A; Myagkaya, I N; Chumbaev, A S

    2018-07-01

    Gold-bearing polymetallic Cu-Zn deposits of sulphur-pyrite ores were discovered in the Novo-Ursk region in the 1930s. The average content of mercury (Hg) was approximately 120 μg/g at the time. A comprehensive study of Hg distribution in waste of metal ore enrichment industry was carried out in the cold season on the tailing dump site and in adjacent areas. Mercury concentration in among snow particulate, dissolved and colloid fractions was determined. The maximal Hg content in particulate fraction from the waste tailing site ranged 230-573 μg/g. Such indices as the frequency of aerosol dust deposition events per units of time and area, enrichment factor and the total load allowed to establish that the territory of the tailing waste dump site had a snow cover highly contaminated with dust deposited at a rate of 247-480 mg/(m 2 ∙day). Adjacent areas could be considered as area with low Hg contamination rate with average deposition rate of 30 mg/(m 2 ∙day). The elemental composition of the aerosol dust depositions was determined as well, which allowed to reveal the extent of enrichment waste dispersion throughout adjacent areas. The amount of Hg entering environment with snowmelt water discharge was estimated. As a result of snowmelting, in 2014 the nearest to the dump site hydrographic network got Hg as 7.1 g with colloids and as 5880 g as particles. The results obtained allowed to assess the degree of Hg contamination of areas under the impact of metal enrichment industry. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. High speed surface cleaning by a high repetition rated TEA-CO2 laser

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tsunemi, Akira; Hirai, Ryo; Hagiwara, Kouji; Nagasaka, Keigo; Tashiro, Hideo

    1994-01-01

    We demonstrated the feasibility of high speed cleaning of solid surfaces by the laser ablation technique using a TEA-CO 2 laser. The laser pulses with the repetition rate of 1 kHz were applied to paint, rust, moss and dirt attached on the surfaces. The attachments were effectively removed without the damage of bulk surfaces by the irradiation of line-focused sequential pulses with an energy of 300 mJ/pulse. A cleaning rate reached to 17 m 2 /hour for the case of paint removal from iron surfaces. (author)

  4. Measurement of viscosity of slush at high shear rates

    OpenAIRE

    小林, 俊一; 川村, 公之; 津川, 圭一; 和泉, 薫; Kobayashi, Shun'ichi; Kawamura, Kimiyuki; Tugawa, Keiichi; Izumi, Kaoru

    1988-01-01

    Measurements of viscosity of slush were carried out using a method of flow along an inclined smooth surface in a 0℃cold room. The method was used to get the values of viscosity under high shear rates (25 and 75s^). From our experiments two important results were obtained: 1) the viscosity of slush decreases with increasing shear rates; 2) The fluid behavior is pseudoplastic that the values of non-Newtonian index of viscosity were less than unity.

  5. Foreshock occurrence rates before large earthquakes worldwide

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reasenberg, P.A.

    1999-01-01

    Global rates of foreshock occurrence involving shallow M ??? 6 and M ??? 7 mainshocks and M ??? 5 foreshocks were measured, using earthquakes listed in the Harvard CMT catalog for the period 1978-1996. These rates are similar to rates ones measured in previous worldwide and regional studies when they are normalized for the ranges of magnitude difference they each span. The observed worldwide rates were compared to a generic model of earthquake clustering, which is based on patterns of small and moderate aftershocks in California, and were found to exceed the California model by a factor of approximately 2. Significant differences in foreshock rate were found among subsets of earthquakes defined by their focal mechanism and tectonic region, with the rate before thrust events higher and the rate before strike-slip events lower than the worldwide average. Among the thrust events a large majority, composed of events located in shallow subduction zones, registered a high foreshock rate, while a minority, located in continental thrust belts, measured a low rate. These differences may explain why previous surveys have revealed low foreshock rates among thrust events in California (especially southern California), while the worldwide observations suggest the opposite: California, lacking an active subduction zone in most of its territory, and including a region of mountain-building thrusts in the south, reflects the low rate apparently typical for continental thrusts, while the worldwide observations, dominated by shallow subduction zone events, are foreshock-rich.

  6. Design and Development of High-Repetition-Rate Satellite Laser Ranging System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Eun-Jung; Bang, Seong-Cheol; Sung, Ki-Pyoung; Lim, Hyung-Chul; Jung, Chan-Gyu; Kim, In-Yeung; Choi, Jae-Seung

    2015-09-01

    The Accurate Ranging System for Geodetic Observation ? Mobile (ARGO-M) was successfully developed as the first Korean mobile Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) system in 2012, and has joined in the International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS) tracking network, DAEdeoK (DAEK) station. The DAEK SLR station was approved as a validated station in April 2014, through the ILRS station ¡°data validation¡± process. The ARGO-M system is designed to enable 2 kHz laser ranging with millimeter-level precision for geodetic, remote sensing, navigation, and experimental satellites equipped with Laser Retroreflector Arrays (LRAs). In this paper, we present the design and development of a next generation high-repetition-rate SLR system for ARGO-M. The laser ranging rate up to 10 kHz is becoming an important issue in the SLR community to improve ranging precision. To implement high-repetition-rate SLR system, the High-repetition-rate SLR operation system (HSLR-10) was designed and developed using ARGO-M Range Gate Generator (A-RGG), so as to enable laser ranging from 50 Hz to 10 kHz. HSLR-10 includes both hardware controlling software and data post-processing software. This paper shows the design and development of key technologies of high-repetition-rate SLR system. The developed system was tested successfully at DAEK station and then moved to Sejong station, a new Korean SLR station, on July 1, 2015. HSLR-10 will begin normal operations at Sejong station in the near future.

  7. Regulation and drive system for high rep-rate magnetic-pulse compressors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Birx, D.L.; Cook, E.G.; Hawkins, S.; Meyers, A.; Reginato, L.L.; Schmidt, J.A.; Smith, M.W.

    1982-01-01

    The essentially unlimited rep-rate capability of non-linear magnetic systems has imposed strict requirements on the drive system which initiates the pulse compression. An order of magnitude increase in the rep-rates achieved by the Advanced Test Accelerator (ATA) gas blown system is not difficult to achieve in the magnetic compressor. The added requirement of having a high degree of regulation at the higher rep-rates places strict requirements on the triggerable switch for charging and de-Queing. A novel feedback technique which applies the proper bias to a magnetic core by comparing a reference voltage to the charging voltage eases considerably the regulation required to achieve low jitter in magnetic compression. The performance of the high rep-rate charging and regulation systems will be described in the following pages

  8. ATLAS Transition Region Upgrade at Phase-1

    CERN Document Server

    Song, H; The ATLAS collaboration

    2014-01-01

    This report presents the L1 Muon trigger transition region (1.0<|ƞ|<1.3) upgrade of ATLAS Detector at phase-1. The high fake trigger rate in the Endcap region 1.0<|ƞ|<2.4 would become a serious problem for the ATLAS L1 Muon trigger system at high luminosity. For the region 1.3<|ƞ|<2.4, covered by the Small Wheel, ATLAS is enhancing the present muon trigger by adding local fake rejection and track angle measurement capabilities. To reduce the rate in the remaining ƞ interval it has been proposed a similar enhancement by adding at the edge of the inner barrel a structure of 3-layers RPCs of a new generation. These RPCs will be based on a thinner gas gap and electrodes with respect to the ATLAS standards, a new high performance Front End, integrating fast TDC capabilities, and a new low profile and light mechanical structure allowing the installation in the tiny space available.This design effectively suppresses fake triggers by making the coincidence with both end-cap and interaction point...

  9. High-rate capability of lithium-ion batteries after storing at elevated temperature

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu, Mao-Sung; Chiang, Pin-Chi Julia

    2007-01-01

    High-rate performances of a lithium-ion battery after storage at elevated temperature are investigated electrochemically by means of three-electrode system. The high-rate capability is decreased significantly after high-temperature storage. A 3 C discharge capacities after room-temperature storage and 60 o C storage are 650 and 20 mAh, respectively. Lithium-ion diffusion in lithium cobalt oxide cathode limits the battery's capacity and the results show that storage temperature changes this diffusion behavior. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images show that many defects are directly observed in the cathode after storage compared with the fresh cathode; the structural defects block the diffusion within the particles. Electrochemical impedance and polarization curve indicate that mass-transfer (diffusion) dominates the discharge capacity during high-rate discharge

  10. High strain rate deformation of layered nanocomposites

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Jae-Hwang; Veysset, David; Singer, Jonathan P.; Retsch, Markus; Saini, Gagan; Pezeril, Thomas; Nelson, Keith A.; Thomas, Edwin L.

    2012-11-01

    Insight into the mechanical behaviour of nanomaterials under the extreme condition of very high deformation rates and to very large strains is needed to provide improved understanding for the development of new protective materials. Applications include protection against bullets for body armour, micrometeorites for satellites, and high-speed particle impact for jet engine turbine blades. Here we use a microscopic ballistic test to report the responses of periodic glassy-rubbery layered block-copolymer nanostructures to impact from hypervelocity micron-sized silica spheres. Entire deformation fields are experimentally visualized at an exceptionally high resolution (below 10 nm) and we discover how the microstructure dissipates the impact energy via layer kinking, layer compression, extreme chain conformational flattening, domain fragmentation and segmental mixing to form a liquid phase. Orientation-dependent experiments show that the dissipation can be enhanced by 30% by proper orientation of the layers.

  11. High strain rate deformation of layered nanocomposites.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Jae-Hwang; Veysset, David; Singer, Jonathan P; Retsch, Markus; Saini, Gagan; Pezeril, Thomas; Nelson, Keith A; Thomas, Edwin L

    2012-01-01

    Insight into the mechanical behaviour of nanomaterials under the extreme condition of very high deformation rates and to very large strains is needed to provide improved understanding for the development of new protective materials. Applications include protection against bullets for body armour, micrometeorites for satellites, and high-speed particle impact for jet engine turbine blades. Here we use a microscopic ballistic test to report the responses of periodic glassy-rubbery layered block-copolymer nanostructures to impact from hypervelocity micron-sized silica spheres. Entire deformation fields are experimentally visualized at an exceptionally high resolution (below 10 nm) and we discover how the microstructure dissipates the impact energy via layer kinking, layer compression, extreme chain conformational flattening, domain fragmentation and segmental mixing to form a liquid phase. Orientation-dependent experiments show that the dissipation can be enhanced by 30% by proper orientation of the layers.

  12. Radiation shielding and dose rate distribution for the building of the high dose rate accelerator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matsuda, Koji; Takagaki, Torao; Nakase, Yoshiaki; Nakai, Yohta.

    1984-03-01

    A high dose rate electron accelerator was established at Osaka Laboratory for Radiation Chemistry, Takasaki Establishment, JAERI in the fiscal year of 1975. This report shows the fundamental concept for the radiation shielding of the accelerator building and the results of their calculations which were evaluated through the model experiments. After the construction of the building, the leak radiation was measured in order to evaluate the calculating method of radiation shielding. Dose rate distribution of X-rays was also measured in the whole area of the irradiation room as a data base. (author)

  13. MORBIDITY RATE OF RETARDEDNESS AND CNS ORGANIC DISEASES AMONG THE POPULATION OF THE BRYANSK REGION BORN AFTER CHERNOBYL NPP ACCIDENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G. M. Rumyantseva

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The article analyses dynamics of morbidity rate of oligophrenia and CNS organic diseases for the population born in the Bryansk region after the Chernobyl accident. Two regions were taken for the detailed analysis: contaminated - Novozybkov and not contaminated - Zhukov. 518 patient medical records were analyzed in the contaminated region and 359 ones in not contaminated. It is revealed that morbidity indicators for the radioactive contaminated territories are significantly higher than for the not contaminated territories.

  14. High beta and second stability region transport and stability analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1991-01-01

    This document describes ideal and resistive MHD studies of high-beta plasmas and of the second stability region. Significant progress is reported on the resistive stability properties of high beta poloidal ''supershot'' discharges. For these studies initial profiles were taken from the TRANSP code which is used extensively to analyze experimental data. When an ad hoc method of removing the finite pressure stabilization of tearing modes is implemented it is shown that there is substantial agreement between MHD stability computation and experiment. In particular, the mode structures observed experimentally are consistent with the predictions of the resistive MHD model. We also report on resistive stability near the transition to the second region in TFTR. Tearing modes associated with a nearby infernal mode may explain the increase in MHD activity seen in high beta supershots and which impede the realization of Q∼1. We also report on a collaborative study with PPPL involving sawtooth stabilization with ICRF

  15. High-rate tensile behavior of steel fiber-reinforced concrete for nuclear power plants

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Jung Jin; Park, Gi-Joon [Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Sejong University, 98 Gunja-Dong, Gwangjin-Gu, Seoul 143-747 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Dong Joo, E-mail: djkim75@sejong.ac.kr [Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Sejong University, 98 Gunja-Dong, Gwangjin-Gu, Seoul 143-747 (Korea, Republic of); Moon, Jae Heum; Lee, Jang Hwa [Korea Institute of Construction Technology, 2311 Daewha-Dong, Ilsan-Gu, Goyang-Si, Gyeonggi-Do 411-712 (Korea, Republic of)

    2014-01-15

    Highlights: • The final goal is to develop a fiber reinforced concrete for containment buildings. • High rate tensile behavior of FRC was investigated. • Strain energy frame impact machine was used for tensile impact tests. • Different rate sensitivity of FRC was found according to the type fiber. • Adding more fibers by increasing S/a is positive for higher impact resistance of FRC. -- Abstract: The direct tensile behavior of fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC) at high strain rates were investigated for their potential to enhance the resistance of the containment building of nuclear power plants (NPPs) against aircraft impact. Two types of deformed steel, hooked (H) and twisted (T) fibers were employed. To improve the tensile resistance of FRCs even at higher rates by adding more fibers, the mixture of concrete was modified by either increasing the sand-to-coarse aggregate ratio or decreasing the maximum size of coarse aggregate. All FRC specimens produced two to six times greater tensile strength and one to five times higher toughness at high strain rates (4–53 s{sup −1}) than those at a static rate (0.000167 s{sup −1}). T-fiber generally produced higher tensile strength and toughness than H-fiber at both static and high rates. Although both fibers showed favorable rate sensitivity, T-fiber produced much greater enhancement, at higher strain rates, in tensile strength and slightly lower enhancement in toughness than H-fiber. As the maximum size of coarse aggregate decreased from 19 to 5 mm, the tensile strength and toughness of FRCs with T-fibers noticeably increased at both static and high strain rates.

  16. Abuse resistant high rate lithium/thionyl chloride cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Surprenant, J.; Snuggerud, D.

    1982-08-01

    A compact, disc shaped lithium/thionyl chloride cell has been developed by Altus Corporation. The cell has a 6 Amphr capacity and is capable of high rate discharge at high voltage. Discharge data is presented over the range of 0.07 to 1.1 Amperes. The cell is operable over the temperature range of -40/sup 0/C to +70/sup 0/C, and has a 10 year shelf life at 20/sup 0/C. Safety features allow the cells to withstand fire, puncture, shock, spin, forced discharge or forced charge without dangerous reactions.

  17. Entrepreneurial Regions: Do Macro-Psychological Cultural Characteristics of Regions Help Solve the "Knowledge Paradox" of Economics?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Martin Obschonka

    Full Text Available In recent years, modern economies have shifted away from being based on physical capital and towards being based on new knowledge (e.g., new ideas and inventions. Consequently, contemporary economic theorizing and key public policies have been based on the assumption that resources for generating knowledge (e.g., education, diversity of industries are essential for regional economic vitality. However, policy makers and scholars have discovered that, contrary to expectations, the mere presence of, and investments in, new knowledge does not guarantee a high level of regional economic performance (e.g., high entrepreneurship rates. To date, this "knowledge paradox" has resisted resolution. We take an interdisciplinary perspective to offer a new explanation, hypothesizing that "hidden" regional culture differences serve as a crucial factor that is missing from conventional economic analyses and public policy strategies. Focusing on entrepreneurial activity, we hypothesize that the statistical relation between knowledge resources and entrepreneurial vitality (i.e., high entrepreneurship rates in a region will depend on "hidden" regional differences in entrepreneurial culture. To capture such "hidden" regional differences, we derive measures of entrepreneurship-prone culture from two large personality datasets from the United States (N = 935,858 and Great Britain (N = 417,217. In both countries, the findings were consistent with the knowledge-culture-interaction hypothesis. A series of nine additional robustness checks underscored the robustness of these results. Naturally, these purely correlational findings cannot provide direct evidence for causal processes, but the results nonetheless yield a remarkably consistent and robust picture in the two countries. In doing so, the findings raise the idea of regional culture serving as a new causal candidate, potentially driving the knowledge paradox; such an explanation would be consistent with research on

  18. Entrepreneurial Regions: Do Macro-Psychological Cultural Characteristics of Regions Help Solve the "Knowledge Paradox" of Economics?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Obschonka, Martin; Stuetzer, Michael; Gosling, Samuel D; Rentfrow, Peter J; Lamb, Michael E; Potter, Jeff; Audretsch, David B

    2015-01-01

    In recent years, modern economies have shifted away from being based on physical capital and towards being based on new knowledge (e.g., new ideas and inventions). Consequently, contemporary economic theorizing and key public policies have been based on the assumption that resources for generating knowledge (e.g., education, diversity of industries) are essential for regional economic vitality. However, policy makers and scholars have discovered that, contrary to expectations, the mere presence of, and investments in, new knowledge does not guarantee a high level of regional economic performance (e.g., high entrepreneurship rates). To date, this "knowledge paradox" has resisted resolution. We take an interdisciplinary perspective to offer a new explanation, hypothesizing that "hidden" regional culture differences serve as a crucial factor that is missing from conventional economic analyses and public policy strategies. Focusing on entrepreneurial activity, we hypothesize that the statistical relation between knowledge resources and entrepreneurial vitality (i.e., high entrepreneurship rates) in a region will depend on "hidden" regional differences in entrepreneurial culture. To capture such "hidden" regional differences, we derive measures of entrepreneurship-prone culture from two large personality datasets from the United States (N = 935,858) and Great Britain (N = 417,217). In both countries, the findings were consistent with the knowledge-culture-interaction hypothesis. A series of nine additional robustness checks underscored the robustness of these results. Naturally, these purely correlational findings cannot provide direct evidence for causal processes, but the results nonetheless yield a remarkably consistent and robust picture in the two countries. In doing so, the findings raise the idea of regional culture serving as a new causal candidate, potentially driving the knowledge paradox; such an explanation would be consistent with research on the

  19. Positive predictive value of device-detected atrial high-rate episodes at different rates and durations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kaufman, Elizabeth S; Israel, Carsten W; Nair, Girish M

    2012-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Pacemakers can automatically identify and catalog atrial high-rate episodes (AHREs). While most AHREs represent true atrial tachyarrhythmia/atrial fibrillation (AT/AF), a review of stored electrograms suggests that a substantial proportion do not. As AHREs may lead to the initiation o...

  20. Carbon nanotubes/cobalt sulfide composites as potential high-rate and high-efficiency supercapacitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Chia-Ying; Shih, Zih-Yu; Yang, Zusing; Chang, Huan-Tsung

    2012-10-01

    We have prepared carbon nanotube (CNT)/cobalt sulfide (CoS) composites from cobalt nitrate, thioacetamide, and CNTs in the presence of poly(vinylpyrrolidone). CNT/CoS composites are deposited onto fluorine-doped tin oxide glass substrates and then subjected to simple annealing at 300 °C for 0.5 h to fabricate CNT/CoS electrodes. Data collected from Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and d-spacing reveal the changes in the CoS structures and crystalline lattices after annealing. Cyclic voltammetry results reveal that the annealed CNT/CoS composite electrodes yield values of 2140 ± 90 and 1370 ± 50 F g-1 for specific capacitance at scan rates of 10 and 100 mV s-1, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, the annealed CNT/CoS composite electrodes provide higher specific capacitance relative to other reported ones at a scan rate of 100 mV s-1. CNT/CoS composite electrodes yield a power density of 62.4 kW kg-1 at a constant discharge current density of 217.4 A g-1. With such a high-rate capacity and power density, CNT/CoS composite supercapacitors demonstrate great potential as efficient energy storage devices.

  1. A review of reaction rates in high temperature air

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Chul

    1989-01-01

    The existing experimental data on the rate coefficients for the chemical reactions in nonequilibrium high temperature air are reviewed and collated, and a selected set of such values is recommended for use in hypersonic flow calculations. For the reactions of neutral species, the recommended values are chosen from the experimental data that existed mostly prior to 1970, and are slightly different from those used previously. For the reactions involving ions, the recommended rate coefficients are newly chosen from the experimental data obtained more recently. The reacting environment is assumed to lack thermal equilibrium, and the rate coefficients are expressed as a function of the controlling temperature, incorporating the recent multitemperature reaction concept.

  2. The implementation of sea ice model on a regional high-resolution scale

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prasad, Siva; Zakharov, Igor; Bobby, Pradeep; McGuire, Peter

    2015-09-01

    The availability of high-resolution atmospheric/ocean forecast models, satellite data and access to high-performance computing clusters have provided capability to build high-resolution models for regional ice condition simulation. The paper describes the implementation of the Los Alamos sea ice model (CICE) on a regional scale at high resolution. The advantage of the model is its ability to include oceanographic parameters (e.g., currents) to provide accurate results. The sea ice simulation was performed over Baffin Bay and the Labrador Sea to retrieve important parameters such as ice concentration, thickness, ridging, and drift. Two different forcing models, one with low resolution and another with a high resolution, were used for the estimation of sensitivity of model results. Sea ice behavior over 7 years was simulated to analyze ice formation, melting, and conditions in the region. Validation was based on comparing model results with remote sensing data. The simulated ice concentration correlated well with Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E) and Ocean and Sea Ice Satellite Application Facility (OSI-SAF) data. Visual comparison of ice thickness trends estimated from the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity satellite (SMOS) agreed with the simulation for year 2010-2011.

  3. A change in coral extension rates and stable isotopes after El Niño-induced coral bleaching and regional stress events

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hetzinger, S.; Pfeiffer, M.; Dullo, W.-Chr.; Zinke, J.; Garbe-Schönberg, D.

    2016-09-01

    Coral reefs are biologically diverse ecosystems threatened with effective collapse under rapid climate change, in particular by recent increases in ocean temperatures. Coral bleaching has occurred during major El Niño warming events, at times leading to the die-off of entire coral reefs. Here we present records of stable isotopic composition, Sr/Ca ratios and extension rate (1940-2004) in coral aragonite from a northern Venezuelan site, where reefs were strongly impacted by bleaching following the 1997-98 El Niño. We assess the impact of past warming events on coral extension rates and geochemical proxies. A marked decrease in coral (Pseudodiploria strigosa) extension rates coincides with a baseline shift to more negative values in oxygen and carbon isotopic composition after 1997-98, while a neighboring coral (Siderastrea siderea) recovered to pre-bleaching extension rates simultaneously. However, other stressors, besides high temperature, might also have influenced coral physiology and geochemistry. Coastal Venezuelan reefs were exposed to a series of extreme environmental fluctuations since the mid-1990s, i.e. upwelling, extreme rainfall and sediment input from landslides. This work provides important new data on the potential impacts of multiple regional stress events on coral isotopic compositions and raises questions about the long-term influence on coral-based paleoclimate reconstructions.

  4. Rapid ice unloading in the Fleming Glacier region, southern Antarctic Peninsula, and its effect on bedrock uplift rates

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zhao, Chen; King, Matt A.; Watson, Christopher S.

    2017-01-01

    deformation. We subtract modeled elastic deformation rates, and a suite of modeled viscous rates, from GPS-derived three-dimensional bedrock velocities at sites to the south of Fleming Glacier to infer properties of Earth rheology. Assuming the pre-breakup bedrock uplift was positive due to post-Last Glacial...... Maximum (LGM) ice retreat, our viscoelastic-corrected GPS uplift rates suggest upper mantle viscosities are >2×1019 Pas and likely >1×1020 Pas in this region, 1–2 orders of magnitude greater than previously found for the northern Antarctic Peninsula. Horizontal velocities at the GPS site nearest...

  5. Solid State Track Recorder fission rate measurements at high neutron fluence and high temperature

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ruddy, F.H.; Roberts, J.H.; Gold, R.

    1985-01-01

    Solid State Track Recorder (SSTR) techniques have been used to measure 239-Pu, 235-U, and 237-Np fission rates for total neutron fluences approaching 5 x 10 17 n/cm 2 at temperatures in the range 680 to 830 0 F. Natural quartz crystal SSTRs were used to withstand the high temperature environment and ultra low-mass fissionable deposits of the three isotopes were required to yield scannable track densities at the high neutron fluences. The results of these high temperature, high neutron fluence measurements are reported

  6. Optimization and phase matching of fiber-laser-driven high-order harmonic generation at high repetition rate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cabasse, Amélie; Machinet, Guillaume; Dubrouil, Antoine; Cormier, Eric; Constant, Eric

    2012-11-15

    High-repetition-rate sources are very attractive for high-order harmonic generation (HHG). However, due to their pulse characteristics (low energy, long duration), those systems require a tight focusing geometry to achieve the necessary intensity to generate harmonics. In this Letter, we investigate theoretically and experimentally the optimization of HHG in this geometry, to maximize the extreme UV (XUV) photon flux and improve the conversion efficiency. We analyze the influence of atomic gas media (Ar, Kr, or Xe), gas pressure, and interaction geometries (a gas jet and a finite and a semi-infinite gas cell). Numerical simulations allow us to define optimal conditions for HHG in this tight focusing regime and to observe the signature of on-axis phase matching. These conditions are implemented experimentally using a high-repetition-rate Yb-doped fiber laser system. We achieve optimization of emission with a recorded XUV photon flux of 4.5×10(12) photons/s generated in Xe at 100 kHz repetition rate.

  7. Behavior of quenched and tempered steels under high strain rate compression loading

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Meyer, L.W.; Seifert, K.; Abdel-Malek, S.

    1997-01-01

    Two quenched and tempered steels were tested under compression loading at strain rates of ε = 2.10 2 s -1 and ε = 2.10 3 s -1 . By applying the thermal activation theory, the flow stress at very high strain rates of 10 5 to 10 6 s -1 is derived from low temperature and high strain rate tests. Dynamic true stress - true strain behaviour presents, that stress increases with increasing strain until a maximum, then it decreases. Because of the adiabatic process under dynamic loading the maximum flow stress will occur at a lower strain if the strain rate is increased. Considering strain rate, strain hardening, strain rate hardening and strain softening, a constitutive equation with different additive terms is successfully used to describe the behaviour of material under dynamic compression loading. Results are compared with other models of constitutive equations. (orig.)

  8. Angular dependence of SiO2 etch rate at various bias voltages in a high density CHF3 plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Gyeo-Re; Hwang, Sung-Wook; Min, Jae-Ho; Moon, Sang Heup

    2002-01-01

    The dependence of the SiO 2 etch rate on the angle of ions incident on the substrate surface was studied over a bias voltage range from -20 to -600 V in a high-density CHF 3 plasma using a Faraday cage to control the ion incident angle. The effect of the bottom plane on the sidewall etching was also examined. Differences in the characteristics of the etch rate as a function of the ion angle were observed for different bias voltage regions. When the absolute value of the bias voltage was smaller than 200 V, the normalized etch rate (NER) defined as the etch rate normalized by the rate on the horizontal surface, changed following a cosine curve with respect to the ion incident angle, defined as the angle between the ion direction and the normal of the substrate surface. When the magnitude of the bias voltage was larger than 200 V, the NER was deviated to higher values from those given by a cosine curve at ion angles between 30 deg. and 70 deg. , and then drastically decreased at angles higher than 70 deg. until a net deposition was observed at angles near 90 deg. . The characteristic etch-rate patterns at ion angles below 70 deg. were determined by the ion energy transferred to the surface, which affected the SiO 2 etch rate and, simultaneously, the rate of removal of a fluorocarbon polymer film formed on the substrate surface. At high ion angles, particles emitted from the bottom plane contributed to polymer formation on and affected the etching characteristics of the substrate

  9. Liquid Argon Calorimeter performance at High Rates

    CERN Document Server

    Seifert, F; The ATLAS collaboration

    2013-01-01

    The expected increase of luminosity at HL-LHC by a factor of ten with respect to LHC luminosities has serious consequences for the signal reconstruction, radiation hardness requirements and operations of the ATLAS liquid argon calorimeters in the endcap, respectively forward region. Small modules of each type of calorimeter have been built and exposed to a high intensity proton beam of 50 GeV at IHEP/Protvino. The beam is extracted via the bent crystal technique, offering the unique opportunity to cover intensities ranging from $10^6$ p/s up to $3\\cdot10^{11}$ p/s. This exceeds the deposited energy per time expected at HL-LHC by more than a factor of 100. The correlation between beam intensity and the read-out signal has been studied. The data show clear indications of pulse shape distortion due to the high ionization build-up, in agreement with MC expectations. This is also confirmed from the dependence of the HV currents on beam intensity.

  10. High Strain Rate and Shock-Induced Deformation in Metals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ravelo, Ramon

    2012-02-01

    Large-scale non-equilibrium molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations are now commonly used to study material deformation at high strain rates (10^9-10^12 s-1). They can provide detailed information-- such as defect morphology, dislocation densities, and temperature and stress profiles, unavailable or hard to measure experimentally. Computational studies of shock-induced plasticity and melting in fcc and bcc single, mono-crystal metals, exhibit generic characteristics: high elastic limits, large directional anisotropies in the yield stress and pre-melting much below the equilibrium melt temperature for shock wave propagation along specific crystallographic directions. These generic features in the response of single crystals subjected to high strain rates of deformation can be explained from the changes in the energy landscape of the uniaxially compressed crystal lattice. For time scales relevant to dynamic shock loading, the directional-dependence of the yield strength in single crystals is shown to be due to the onset of instabilities in elastic-wave propagation velocities. The elastic-plastic transition threshold can accurately be predicted by a wave-propagation stability analysis. These strain-induced instabilities create incipient defect structures, which can be quite different from the ones, which characterize the long-time, asymptotic state of the compressed solid. With increase compression and strain rate, plastic deformation via extended defects gives way to amorphization associated with the loss in shear rigidity along specific deformation paths. The hot amorphous or (super-cooled liquid) metal re-crystallizes at rates, which depend on the temperature difference between the amorphous solid and the equilibrium melt line. This plastic-amorphous transition threshold can be computed from shear-waves stability analyses. Examples from selected fcc and bcc metals will be presented employing semi-empirical potentials of the embedded atom method (EAM) type as well as

  11. Increased effects of machining damage in beryllium observed at high strain rates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beitscher, S.; Brewer, A.W.; Corle, R.R.

    1980-01-01

    Tensile tests at both low and high strain rates, and also impact shear tests, were performed on a weldable grade powder-source beryllium. Impact energies increased by a factor of 2 to 3 from the as-machined level after etching or annealing. Similar increases in the ductility from machining damage removal were observed from the tensile data at the higher strain rate (10 s -1 ) while an insignificant increase in elongation was measured at the lower strain rate (10 -4 s -1 ). High strain-rate tests appear to be more sensitive and reliable for evaluating machining practice and damage removal methods for beryllium components subjected to sudden loads. 2 tables

  12. Operation of high rate microstrip gas chambers

    CERN Document Server

    Barr, A J; Bouclier, Roger; Capéans-Garrido, M; Dominik, Wojciech; Manzin, G; Million, Gilbert; Hoch, M; Ropelewski, Leszek; Sauli, Fabio; Sharma, A

    1996-01-01

    We describe recent measurements carried out in well controlled and reproducible conditions to help understanding the factors affecting the short and long term behaviour of Microstrip Gas Chambers. Special care has been taken concerning the gas purity and choice of materials used in the system and for the detectors construction. Detectors built on glasses with surface resistivity in the range $10^{13}-10^{15} \\Omega/\\Box$ have shown satisfactory performance as they do not show charging-up process at high rate and stand the large doses required for the future high luminosity experiments (~10 mC·cm-1·yr-1). Concerning the lifetime measurements, it has been observed that chambers manufactured on high-resistivity glass are far more susceptible of suffering ageing than detectors made on low resistivity, electron-conducting supports, independently of the metal used for the artwork (chromium or gold) at least in clean gas conditions. The successfully operation in the laboratory of detectors manufactured on diamond-...

  13. Biotic turnover rates during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stivrins, Normunds; Soininen, Janne; Amon, Leeli; Fontana, Sonia L.; Gryguc, Gražyna; Heikkilä, Maija; Heiri, Oliver; Kisielienė, Dalia; Reitalu, Triin; Stančikaitė, Miglė; Veski, Siim; Seppä, Heikki

    2016-11-01

    The Northern Hemisphere is currently warming at the rate which is unprecedented during the Holocene. Quantitative palaeoclimatic records show that the most recent time in the geological history with comparable warming rates was during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition (PHT) about 14,000 to 11,000 years ago. To better understand the biotic response to rapid temperature change, we explore the community turnover rates during the PHT by focusing on the Baltic region in the southeastern sector of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet, where an exceptionally dense network on microfossil and macrofossil data that reflect the biotic community history are available. We further use a composite chironomid-based summer temperature reconstruction compiled specifically for our study region to calculate the rate of temperature change during the PHT. The fastest biotic turnover in the terrestrial and aquatic communities occurred during the Younger Dryas-Holocene shift at 11,700 years ago. This general shift in species composition was accompanied by regional extinctions, including disappearance of mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and many arctic-alpine plant taxa, such as Dryas octopetala, Salix polaris and Saxifraga aizoides, from the region. This rapid biotic turnover rate occurred when the rate of warming was 0.17 °C/decade, thus slightly lower than the current Northern Hemisphere warming of 0.2 °C/decade. We therefore conclude that the Younger Dryas-Holocene shift with its rapid turnover rates and associated regional extinctions represents an important palaeoanalogue to the current high latitude warming and gives insights about the probable future turnover rates and patterns of the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem change.

  14. Selective suppression of high-order harmonics within phase-matched spectral regions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lerner, Gavriel; Diskin, Tzvi; Neufeld, Ofer; Kfir, Ofer; Cohen, Oren

    2017-04-01

    Phase matching in high-harmonic generation leads to enhancement of multiple harmonics. It is sometimes desired to control the spectral structure within the phase-matched spectral region. We propose a scheme for selective suppression of high-order harmonics within the phase-matched spectral region while weakly influencing the other harmonics. The method is based on addition of phase-mismatched segments within a phase-matched medium. We demonstrate the method numerically in two examples. First, we show that one phase-mismatched segment can significantly suppress harmonic orders 9, 15, and 21. Second, we show that two phase-mismatched segments can efficiently suppress circularly polarized harmonics with one helicity over the other when driven by a bi-circular field. The new method may be useful for various applications, including the generation of highly helical bright attosecond pulses.

  15. Problems and solutions in high-rate multichannel hybrid photodiode design The CMS experience

    CERN Document Server

    Cushman, P B

    2002-01-01

    The unique conditions of the CMS experiment (4 T magnetic field, restricted access, high neutron radiation, and 25-ns bunch-crossings) necessitated the development of a new type of high-rate multichannel hybrid photodiode for the tile/fiber hadronic calorimeter. New complexities arose in the push toward high-rate operation, necessitating design changes in the diode structure and surface treatment. The product is now capable of high-rate operation with low crosstalk and leakage current. Lifetime studies of high-voltage behavior, total charge, and irradiation have shown that the tubes will survive the ten years of CMS running with only a few percent change in gain and manageable leakage current rise. (13 refs).

  16. Time-Efficient High-Rate Data Flooding in One-Dimensional Acoustic Underwater Sensor Networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jae Kyun Kwon

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Because underwater communication environments have poor characteristics, such as severe attenuation, large propagation delays and narrow bandwidths, data is normally transmitted at low rates through acoustic waves. On the other hand, as high traffic has recently been required in diverse areas, high rate transmission has become necessary. In this paper, transmission/reception timing schemes that maximize the time axis use efficiency to improve the resource efficiency for high rate transmission are proposed. The excellence of the proposed scheme is identified by examining the power distributions by node, rate bounds, power levels depending on the rates and number of nodes, and network split gains through mathematical analysis and numerical results. In addition, the simulation results show that the proposed scheme outperforms the existing packet train method.

  17. Elementary reaction rate measurements at high temperatures by tunable-laser flash-absorption

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hessler, J.P. [Argonne National Laboratory, IL (United States)

    1993-12-01

    The major objective of this program is to measure thermal rate coefficients and branching ratios of elementary reactions. To perform these measurements, the authors constructed an ultrahigh-purity shock tube to generate temperatures between 1000 and 5500 K. The tunable-laser flash-absorption technique is used to measure the rate of change of the concentration of species which absorb below 50,000 cm{sup {minus}1} e.g.: OH, CH, and CH{sub 3}. This technique is being extended into the vacuum-ultraviolet spectral region where one can measure atomic species e.g.: H, D, C, O, and N; and diatomic species e.g.: O{sub 2}, CO, and OH.

  18. Evolution of high tooth replacement rates in sauropod dinosaurs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    D'Emic, Michael D; Whitlock, John A; Smith, Kathlyn M; Fisher, Daniel C; Wilson, Jeffrey A

    2013-01-01

    Tooth replacement rate can be calculated in extinct animals by counting incremental lines of deposition in tooth dentin. Calculating this rate in several taxa allows for the study of the evolution of tooth replacement rate. Sauropod dinosaurs, the largest terrestrial animals that ever evolved, exhibited a diversity of tooth sizes and shapes, but little is known about their tooth replacement rates. We present tooth replacement rate, formation time, crown volume, total dentition volume, and enamel thickness for two coexisting but distantly related and morphologically disparate sauropod dinosaurs Camarasaurus and Diplodocus. Individual tooth formation time was determined by counting daily incremental lines in dentin. Tooth replacement rate is calculated as the difference between the number of days recorded in successive replacement teeth. Each tooth family in Camarasaurus has a maximum of three replacement teeth, whereas each Diplodocus tooth family has up to five. Tooth formation times are about 1.7 times longer in Camarasaurus than in Diplodocus (315 vs. 185 days). Average tooth replacement rate in Camarasaurus is about one tooth every 62 days versus about one tooth every 35 days in Diplodocus. Despite slower tooth replacement rates in Camarasaurus, the volumetric rate of Camarasaurus tooth replacement is 10 times faster than in Diplodocus because of its substantially greater tooth volumes. A novel method to estimate replacement rate was developed and applied to several other sauropodomorphs that we were not able to thin section. Differences in tooth replacement rate among sauropodomorphs likely reflect disparate feeding strategies and/or food choices, which would have facilitated the coexistence of these gigantic herbivores in one ecosystem. Early neosauropods are characterized by high tooth replacement rates (despite their large tooth size), and derived titanosaurs and diplodocoids independently evolved the highest known tooth replacement rates among archosaurs.

  19. Evolution of high tooth replacement rates in sauropod dinosaurs.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael D D'Emic

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Tooth replacement rate can be calculated in extinct animals by counting incremental lines of deposition in tooth dentin. Calculating this rate in several taxa allows for the study of the evolution of tooth replacement rate. Sauropod dinosaurs, the largest terrestrial animals that ever evolved, exhibited a diversity of tooth sizes and shapes, but little is known about their tooth replacement rates. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We present tooth replacement rate, formation time, crown volume, total dentition volume, and enamel thickness for two coexisting but distantly related and morphologically disparate sauropod dinosaurs Camarasaurus and Diplodocus. Individual tooth formation time was determined by counting daily incremental lines in dentin. Tooth replacement rate is calculated as the difference between the number of days recorded in successive replacement teeth. Each tooth family in Camarasaurus has a maximum of three replacement teeth, whereas each Diplodocus tooth family has up to five. Tooth formation times are about 1.7 times longer in Camarasaurus than in Diplodocus (315 vs. 185 days. Average tooth replacement rate in Camarasaurus is about one tooth every 62 days versus about one tooth every 35 days in Diplodocus. Despite slower tooth replacement rates in Camarasaurus, the volumetric rate of Camarasaurus tooth replacement is 10 times faster than in Diplodocus because of its substantially greater tooth volumes. A novel method to estimate replacement rate was developed and applied to several other sauropodomorphs that we were not able to thin section. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Differences in tooth replacement rate among sauropodomorphs likely reflect disparate feeding strategies and/or food choices, which would have facilitated the coexistence of these gigantic herbivores in one ecosystem. Early neosauropods are characterized by high tooth replacement rates (despite their large tooth size, and derived titanosaurs and

  20. Brachytherapy for early oral tongue cancer. Low dose rate to high dose rate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamazaki, Hideya; Inoue, Takehiro; Yoshida, Ken; Yoshioka, Yasuo; Shimizutani, Kimishige; Inoue, Toshihiko; Furukawa, Souhei; Kakimoto, Naoya

    2003-01-01

    To examine the compatibility of low dose rate (LDR) with high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy, we reviewed 399 patients with early oral tongue cancer (T1-2N0M0) treated solely by brachytherapy at Osaka University Hospital between 1967 and 1999. For patients in the LDR group (n=341), the treatment sources consisted of Ir-192 pin for 227 patients (1973-1996; irradiated dose, 61-85 Gy; median, 70 Gy), Ra-226 needle for 113 patients (1967-1986; 55-93 Gy; median, 70 Gy). Ra-226 and Ir-192 were combined for one patient. Ir-192 HDR (microSelectron-HDR) was used for 58 patients in the HDR group (1991-present; 48-60 Gy; median, 60 Gy). LDR implantations were performed via oral and HDR via a submental/submandibular approach. The dose rates at the reference point for the LDR group were 0.30 to 0.8 Gy/h, and for the HDR group 1.0 to 3.4 Gy/min. The patients in the HDR group received a total dose of 48-60 Gy (8-10 fractions) during one week. Two fractions were administered per day (at least a 6-h interval). The 3- and 5-year local control rates for patients in the LDR group were 85% and 80%, respectively, and those in the HDR group were both 84%. HDR brachytherapy showed the same lymph-node control rate as did LDR brachytherapy (67% at 5 years). HDR brachytherapy achieved the same locoregional result as did LDR brachytherapy. A converting factor of 0.86 is applicable for HDR in the treatment of early oral tongue cancer. (author)

  1. Rate of new HIV diagnoses among Latinos living in Florida: disparities by country/region of birth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sheehan, Diana M; Trepka, Mary Jo; Fennie, Kristopher P; Maddox, Lorene M

    2015-01-01

    HIV incidence in the USA is three times higher for Latinos than for non-Latino whites. Latinos differ in educational attainment, poverty, insurance coverage, and health-care access, factors that affect HIV knowledge, risk behaviors, and testing. The purpose of this study was to identify differences in demographics, risk factors, and rate of new HIV diagnoses by birth country/region among Latinos in Florida to guide the targeting of primary and secondary prevention programs. Using Florida HIV/AIDS surveillance data from 2007 to 2011 and the American Community Survey, we compared demographic and risk factors, and calculated annual and five-year age-adjusted rates of new HIV diagnoses for 5801 Latinos by birth country/region. Compared to US-born Latinos, those born in Cuba and South America were significantly more likely to report the HIV transmission mode of MSM; those born in the Dominican Republic (DR) heterosexual transmission; and those born in Puerto Rico injection drug use. Mexican- and Central American-born Latinos were more likely to be diagnosed with AIDS within a month of HIV diagnosis. The rate of new HIV diagnoses among Latinos declined 33% from 2007 to 2011. HIV diagnoses over time decreased significantly for Latinos born in Mexico and increased nonsignificantly for those born in the DR. Although this study was limited to Latinos living in Florida, results suggest that tailoring HIV primary prevention and testing initiatives to specific Latino groups may be warranted.

  2. Sedimentation rates and depositional processes in Lake Superior from 210Pb geochronology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Evans, J.E.; Johnson, T.C.; Alexander, E.C. Jr.; Lively, R.S.; Eisenreich, S.J.

    1981-01-01

    Sedimentation rates range from 0.01 to 0.32 cm/yr in 17 sediment box cores from Lake Superior, as determined by 210 Pb geochronology. Shoreline erosion and resuspension of nearshore sediments causes moderate to high (0.05-0.11 cm/yr) sedimentation rates in the western arm of Lake Superior. Sedimentation rates are very high (> 0.15 cm/yr) in marginal bays adjoining Lake Superior; and moderate to very high (0.07-0.19 cm/yr) in open lake regions adjacent to marginal bays. Resuspension of nearshore and shoal top sediments in southern and southeastern Lake Superior by storms is responsible for depositional anomalies in 210 Pb profiles corresponding to 1905, 1916-1918, and 1940 storms. Sedimentation rates are very low (0.01-0.03 cm/yr) in the central basins due to isolation from sediment sources. These data indicate that sedimentation rates and processes vary significantly in different regions of Lake Superior. The sedimentation rates provided by this study, in conjunction with previously-reported sedimentation rates, yield a better understanding of the Lake Superior depositional environment

  3. Programmable High-Rate Multi-Mission Receiver for Space Communications, Phase II

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Current and upcoming NASA space links require both highly reliable low-rate communications links supporting critical TT&C, ranging and voice services and highly...

  4. Programmable High-Rate Multi-Mission Receiver for Space Communications, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Current and upcoming NASA space links require both highly reliable low-rate communications links supporting critical TT&C, ranging and voice services and highly...

  5. High sedimentation rates in the Early Triassic after latest Permian mass extinction: Carbonate production is main factor in non-Arctic regions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horacek, Micha; Brandner, Rainer

    2016-04-01

    A substantial change in sedimentation rates towards higher values has been documented from the Late Permian to the Lower Triassic. Although it is assumed and also has been shown that the deposition of siliciclastic material increased in the Lower Triassic due to stronger erosion because of loss of land cover and increased chemical and physical weathering with extreme climate warming, the main sediment production occurred by marine carbonate production. Still, carbonate production might have been significantly influenced by weathering and erosion in the hinterland, as the transport of dust by storms into the ocean water probably was a main nutrient source for microbial carbonate producers, because "normal" nutrient supply by ocean circulation, i. e. upwelling was strongly reduced due to the elevated temperatures resulting in water-column stratification . Sediment accumulation was also clearly influenced by the paleo-geographic and latitudinal position, with lower carbonate production and sedimentation rates in moderate latitudes. The existence of a "boundary clay" and microbial carbonate mounds and layers in the immediate aftermath of the latest Permian mass extinction points towards a development from a short-timed acid ocean water - resulting in a carbonate production gap and the deposition of the boundary clay towards the deposition of the microbial mounds and layers due to the microbial production of micro-environments with higher alkalinity allowing the production of carbonate. After the return of the ocean water to normal alkalinity planktic production of carbonate resulted in a very high sedimentation rate, especially taking into account the absence of carbonate producing eukaryotic algae and animals.

  6. A novel VLSI processor for high-rate, high resolution spectroscopy

    CERN Document Server

    Pullia, Antonio; Gatti, E; Longoni, A; Buttler, W

    2000-01-01

    A novel time-variant VLSI shaper amplifier, suitable for multi-anode Silicon Drift Detectors or other multi-element solid-state X-ray detection systems, is proposed. The new read-out scheme has been conceived for demanding applications with synchrotron light sources, such as X-ray holography or EXAFS, where both high count-rates and high-energy resolutions are required. The circuit is of the linear time-variant class, accepts randomly distributed events and features: a finite-width (1-10 mu s) quasi-optimal weight function, an ultra-low-level energy discrimination (approx 150 eV), and a full compatibility for monolithic integration in CMOS technology. Its impulse response has a staircase-like shape, but the weight function (which is in general different from the impulse response in time-variant systems) is quasi trapezoidal. The operation principles of the new scheme as well as the first experimental results obtained with a prototype of the circuit are presented and discussed in the work.

  7. Polonium-210 and Lead-210 in marine biota from a coastal region with high natural radioactivity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zafrul Kabir, M.; Deeba, Farah; Hossain, Sushmita; Fharim, Massoud; Md Moniruzzaman; Carvalho, Fernando P.; Oliveira, João M.; Malta, M.; Silva, L.

    2013-01-01

    Coastal sediments and marine fish from a region with high natural radioactivity in Cox Bazar Bangladesh, were analyzed in order to investigate the levels of naturally occurring radionuclides. Sediment from the sea shore in high ambient radiation dose rate areas contained naturally occurring radionuclides at high concentrations. These sediments displayed 226 Ra, 232 Th and 235 U activity concentrations of 2184 ± 88 Bq kg -1 dry weight (d.w.), 3808 ± 200 Bq kg -1 (d.w.) and 123 ± 15 Bq kg -1 (d.w.), respectively. In contrast with these high values, radionuclide concentrations in sand from other areas of the Cox's Bazar coast were as low as 42 ± 3, 70 ± 4 and < 8 Bq kg -1 (d.w.) for the same radionuclides, respectively, which are comparable to concentrations determined in many coastal areas elsewhere. The presence of sand deposits with high concentration of uranium series radionuclides could potentially originate high accumulation of alpha emitting radionuclides such as 210 Po in marine biota, and food chain transfer to man. 210 Po is a major contributor to the radiation dose both in marine organisms and sea food consumers. Determination of 210 Po in marine fish and shrimp from the area lead to concentration values ranging from 4.5±0.3 to 124±3 Bq kg -1 (d.w.) in fish and 82.9±1.6 Bq kg -1 (d.w.) in shrimp. Similar concentrations are commonly reported in marine biota from several regions. Therefore, in spite of the deposits of heavy mineral sands containing high concentrations of radionuclides such as 210 Pb and 210 Po no significant raise in the accumulation of these radionuclides in biota seems to occur, which suggests that radionuclides are tightly bound in sediment grains and are not significantly bioavailable. (author)

  8. Current situation of high-dose-rate brachytherapy for cervical cancer in Brazil

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Silva, Rogerio Matias Vidal da; Souza, Divanizia do Nascimento, E-mail: rmv.fisica@gmail.com [Universidade Federal de Sergipe (UFS), Sao Cristovao, SE (Brazil); Pinezi, Juliana Castro Dourado [Pontificia Universidade Catolica de Goias (PUC-Goias), Goiania, GO (Brazil); Macedo, Luiz Eduardo Andrade [Hospital Chama, Arapiraca, AL (Brazil)

    2014-05-15

    To assess the current situation of high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy for cancer of the cervix in Brazil, regarding apparatuses, planning methods, prescription, fractionation schedule and evaluation of dose in organs at risk. Materials and methods: in the period between March/2012 and May/2013, a multiple choice questionnaire was developed and sent to 89 Brazilian hospitals which perform HDR brachytherapy. Results: sixty-one services answered the questionnaire. All regions of the country experienced a sharp increase in the number of HDR brachytherapy services in the period from 2001 to 2013. As regards planning, although a three-dimensional planning software was available in 91% of the centers, conventional radiography was mentioned by 92% of the respondents as their routine imaging method for such a purpose. Approximately 35% of respondents said that brachytherapy sessions are performed after teletherapy. The scheme of four 7 Gy intracavitary insertions was mentioned as the most frequently practiced. Conclusion: the authors observed that professionals have difficulty accessing adjuvant three-dimensional planning tools such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. (author)

  9. Matching of experimental and statistical-model thermonuclear reaction rates at high temperatures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Newton, J. R.; Longland, R.; Iliadis, C.

    2008-01-01

    We address the problem of extrapolating experimental thermonuclear reaction rates toward high stellar temperatures (T>1 GK) by using statistical model (Hauser-Feshbach) results. Reliable reaction rates at such temperatures are required for studies of advanced stellar burning stages, supernovae, and x-ray bursts. Generally accepted methods are based on the concept of a Gamow peak. We follow recent ideas that emphasized the fundamental shortcomings of the Gamow peak concept for narrow resonances at high stellar temperatures. Our new method defines the effective thermonuclear energy range (ETER) by using the 8th, 50th, and 92nd percentiles of the cumulative distribution of fractional resonant reaction rate contributions. This definition is unambiguous and has a straightforward probability interpretation. The ETER is used to define a temperature at which Hauser-Feshbach rates can be matched to experimental rates. This matching temperature is usually much higher compared to previous estimates that employed the Gamow peak concept. We suggest that an increased matching temperature provides more reliable extrapolated reaction rates since Hauser-Feshbach results are more trustwhorthy the higher the temperature. Our ideas are applied to 21 (p,γ), (p,α), and (α,γ) reactions on A=20-40 target nuclei. For many of the cases studied here, our extrapolated reaction rates at high temperatures differ significantly from those obtained using the Gamow peak concept

  10. High-resolution regional climate model evaluation using variable-resolution CESM over California

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, X.; Rhoades, A.; Ullrich, P. A.; Zarzycki, C. M.

    2015-12-01

    Understanding the effect of climate change at regional scales remains a topic of intensive research. Though computational constraints remain a problem, high horizontal resolution is needed to represent topographic forcing, which is a significant driver of local climate variability. Although regional climate models (RCMs) have traditionally been used at these scales, variable-resolution global climate models (VRGCMs) have recently arisen as an alternative for studying regional weather and climate allowing two-way interaction between these domains without the need for nudging. In this study, the recently developed variable-resolution option within the Community Earth System Model (CESM) is assessed for long-term regional climate modeling over California. Our variable-resolution simulations will focus on relatively high resolutions for climate assessment, namely 28km and 14km regional resolution, which are much more typical for dynamically downscaled studies. For comparison with the more widely used RCM method, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model will be used for simulations at 27km and 9km. All simulations use the AMIP (Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project) protocols. The time period is from 1979-01-01 to 2005-12-31 (UTC), and year 1979 was discarded as spin up time. The mean climatology across California's diverse climate zones, including temperature and precipitation, is analyzed and contrasted with the Weather Research and Forcasting (WRF) model (as a traditional RCM), regional reanalysis, gridded observational datasets and uniform high-resolution CESM at 0.25 degree with the finite volume (FV) dynamical core. The results show that variable-resolution CESM is competitive in representing regional climatology on both annual and seasonal time scales. This assessment adds value to the use of VRGCMs for projecting climate change over the coming century and improve our understanding of both past and future regional climate related to fine

  11. Modelization of highly nonlinear waves in coastal regions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gouin, Maïté; Ducrozet, Guillaume; Ferrant, Pierre

    2015-04-01

    The proposed work deals with the development of a highly non-linear model for water wave propagation in coastal regions. The accurate modelization of surface gravity waves is of major interest in ocean engineering, especially in the field of marine renewable energy. These marine structures are intended to be settled in coastal regions where the effect of variable bathymetry may be significant on local wave conditions. This study presents a numerical model for the wave propagation with complex bathymetry. It is based on High-Order Spectral (HOS) method, initially limited to the propagation of non-linear wave fields over flat bottom. Such a model has been developed and validated at the LHEEA Lab. (Ecole Centrale Nantes) over the past few years and the current developments will enlarge its application range. This new numerical model will keep the interesting numerical properties of the original pseudo-spectral approach (convergence, efficiency with the use of FFTs, …) and enable the possibility to propagate highly non-linear wave fields over long time and large distance. Different validations will be provided in addition to the presentation of the method. At first, Bragg reflection will be studied with the proposed approach. If the Bragg condition is satisfied, the reflected wave generated by a sinusoidal bottom patch should be amplified as a result of resonant quadratic interactions between incident wave and bottom. Comparisons will be provided with experiments and reference solutions. Then, the method will be used to consider the transformation of a non-linear monochromatic wave as it propagates up and over a submerged bar. As the waves travel up the front slope of the bar, it steepens and high harmonics are generated due to non-linear interactions. Comparisons with experimental data will be provided. The different test cases will assess the accuracy and efficiency of the method proposed.

  12. Entrepreneurial Regions: Do Macro-Psychological Cultural Characteristics of Regions Help Solve the “Knowledge Paradox” of Economics?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Obschonka, Martin; Stuetzer, Michael; Gosling, Samuel D.; Rentfrow, Peter J.; Lamb, Michael E.; Potter, Jeff; Audretsch, David B.

    2015-01-01

    In recent years, modern economies have shifted away from being based on physical capital and towards being based on new knowledge (e.g., new ideas and inventions). Consequently, contemporary economic theorizing and key public policies have been based on the assumption that resources for generating knowledge (e.g., education, diversity of industries) are essential for regional economic vitality. However, policy makers and scholars have discovered that, contrary to expectations, the mere presence of, and investments in, new knowledge does not guarantee a high level of regional economic performance (e.g., high entrepreneurship rates). To date, this “knowledge paradox” has resisted resolution. We take an interdisciplinary perspective to offer a new explanation, hypothesizing that “hidden” regional culture differences serve as a crucial factor that is missing from conventional economic analyses and public policy strategies. Focusing on entrepreneurial activity, we hypothesize that the statistical relation between knowledge resources and entrepreneurial vitality (i.e., high entrepreneurship rates) in a region will depend on “hidden” regional differences in entrepreneurial culture. To capture such “hidden” regional differences, we derive measures of entrepreneurship-prone culture from two large personality datasets from the United States (N = 935,858) and Great Britain (N = 417,217). In both countries, the findings were consistent with the knowledge-culture-interaction hypothesis. A series of nine additional robustness checks underscored the robustness of these results. Naturally, these purely correlational findings cannot provide direct evidence for causal processes, but the results nonetheless yield a remarkably consistent and robust picture in the two countries. In doing so, the findings raise the idea of regional culture serving as a new causal candidate, potentially driving the knowledge paradox; such an explanation would be consistent with research

  13. Iodine laser of high efficiency and fast repetition rate

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hohla, K; Witte, K J

    1976-07-01

    The scaling laws of an iodine laser of high efficiency and fast repetition rate are reported. The laser is pumped with a new kind of low pressure Hg-UV-lamps which convert 32% of the electrical input in UV-light in the absorption band of the iodine laser and which can be fired up to 100 Hz. Details of a 10 kJ/1 nsec system as dimensions, energy density, repetition rate, flow velocity, gas composition and gas pressure and the overall efficiency are given which is expected to be about 2%.

  14. Medical Image Compression Based on Region of Interest, With Application to Colon CT Images

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Gokturk, Salih

    2001-01-01

    ...., in diagnostically important regions. This paper discusses a hybrid model of lossless compression in the region of interest, with high-rate, motion-compensated, lossy compression in other regions...

  15. WO{sub 3-x} rate at Au rate at MnO{sub 2} core-shell nanowires on carbon fabric for high-performance flexible supercapacitors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lu, Xihong; Zhai, Teng [Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics (WNLO), College of Optoelectronic Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Wuhan (China); School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou (China); Zhang, Xianghui; Shen, Yongqi; Yuan, Longyan; Hu, Bin; Gao, Yihua; Zhou, Jun [Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics (WNLO), College of Optoelectronic Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Wuhan (China); Gong, Li; Chen, Jian [Instrumental Analysis and Research Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou (China); Tong, Yexiang [School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou (China); Wang, Zhong Lin [Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics (WNLO), College of Optoelectronic Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Wuhan (China); School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia (United States)

    2012-02-14

    WO{sub 3-x} rate at Au rate at MnO{sub 2} core-shell nanowires (NWs) are synthesized on a flexible carbon fabric and show outstanding electrochemical performance in supercapacitors such as high specific capacitance, good cyclic stability, high energy density, and high power density. These results suggest that the WO{sub 3-x} rate at Au rate at MnO{sub 2} NWs have promising potential for use in high-performance flexible supercapacitors. (Copyright copyright 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

  16. The Identification of Technology Platforms and Innovation Areas with High Regional Impact

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nataša Urbančíková

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available The paper is focused on the process of identification of the technological platforms and innovation areas with high regional impact. The aim is to discover future fields of technological innovation which are having a high qualitative and quantitative demand of high potentials. The research has been undertaken within project Innovative Development of European Areas by fostering transnational Knowledge Development – IDEA/ 2CE1175P1 funded by Central Europe Programme. The aim of IDEA project is the development of an adequate strategy which enables the small and medium sized enterprises in the regions of Central Europe to face the increasing demand of high potentials with tested methods and instruments. The target group of IDEA project are so called “high potentials” in the engineering and scientific sector where future-oriented technologies are one of the main sources of innovation.

  17. An integrated tool to study MHC region: accurate SNV detection and HLA genes typing in human MHC region using targeted high-throughput sequencing.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hongzhi Cao

    Full Text Available The major histocompatibility complex (MHC is one of the most variable and gene-dense regions of the human genome. Most studies of the MHC, and associated regions, focus on minor variants and HLA typing, many of which have been demonstrated to be associated with human disease susceptibility and metabolic pathways. However, the detection of variants in the MHC region, and diagnostic HLA typing, still lacks a coherent, standardized, cost effective and high coverage protocol of clinical quality and reliability. In this paper, we presented such a method for the accurate detection of minor variants and HLA types in the human MHC region, using high-throughput, high-coverage sequencing of target regions. A probe set was designed to template upon the 8 annotated human MHC haplotypes, and to encompass the 5 megabases (Mb of the extended MHC region. We deployed our probes upon three, genetically diverse human samples for probe set evaluation, and sequencing data show that ∼97% of the MHC region, and over 99% of the genes in MHC region, are covered with sufficient depth and good evenness. 98% of genotypes called by this capture sequencing prove consistent with established HapMap genotypes. We have concurrently developed a one-step pipeline for calling any HLA type referenced in the IMGT/HLA database from this target capture sequencing data, which shows over 96% typing accuracy when deployed at 4 digital resolution. This cost-effective and highly accurate approach for variant detection and HLA typing in the MHC region may lend further insight into immune-mediated diseases studies, and may find clinical utility in transplantation medicine research. This one-step pipeline is released for general evaluation and use by the scientific community.

  18. Knowledge Organisations and High-Tech Regional Innovation Systems in Developing Countries: Evidence from Argentina

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carolina Pasciaroni

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available In the globally and knowledge based economy, the universities and other knowledge organisations are valued for their ability to contribute to the regional innovation processes. This is particularly relevant for the developing countries in South America since their R&D spending is highly concentrated on the public knowledge infrastructure. However, there are few studies examining the role of knowledge organizations at regional level in Latin America. The proposed study aims to analyse the role played by knowledge organisations in the formation of a high-tech Regional Innovation Systems in Argentina. This country has a number of attractive features relative to the positive evolution of its R&D spending and the recent implementation of a policy that promotes cooperation between firms and knowledge organisations among high-tech sectors. As evidenced in developed regions, the organisations under study play a key role in the promotion of a high-tech Regional Innovation Systems. However, this prominent role is not based on those local factors identified in the literature, such as organisational and institutional local assets, but on national science and technology policies and individual initiatives conducted by the faculties involved.

  19. Laryngeal High-Speed Videoendoscopy: Sensitivity of Objective Parameters towards Recording Frame Rate

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anne Schützenberger

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The current use of laryngeal high-speed videoendoscopy in clinic settings involves subjective visual assessment of vocal fold vibratory characteristics. However, objective quantification of vocal fold vibrations for evidence-based diagnosis and therapy is desired, and objective parameters assessing laryngeal dynamics have therefore been suggested. This study investigated the sensitivity of the objective parameters and their dependence on recording frame rate. A total of 300 endoscopic high-speed videos with recording frame rates between 1000 and 15 000 fps were analyzed for a vocally healthy female subject during sustained phonation. Twenty parameters, representing laryngeal dynamics, were computed. Four different parameter characteristics were found: parameters showing no change with increasing frame rate; parameters changing up to a certain frame rate, but then remaining constant; parameters remaining constant within a particular range of recording frame rates; and parameters changing with nearly every frame rate. The results suggest that (1 parameter values are influenced by recording frame rates and different parameters have varying sensitivities to recording frame rate; (2 normative values should be determined based on recording frame rates; and (3 the typically used recording frame rate of 4000 fps seems to be too low to distinguish accurately certain characteristics of the human phonation process in detail.

  20. Rates of Very Preterm Birth in Europe and Neonatal Mortality Rates

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Field, David John; Draper, Elizabeth S; Fenton, Alan

    2008-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To estimate the influence of variation in the rate of very preterm delivery on the reported rate of neonatal death in ten European regions. DESIGN: Comparison of 10 separate geographically defined European populations, from nine European countries, over a one year period (seven months......) a standardised rate of very preterm delivery and b) the existing death rate for babies born at this gestation in the individual region. This produced much greater homogeneity in terms of neonatal mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Variation in the rate of very preterm delivery has a major influence on reported neonatal...

  1. Development of a 300 Amp-hr high rate lithium thionyl chloride cell

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boyle, Gerard H.

    1991-01-01

    The development of a high-rate lithium thionyl chloride cylindrical cell with parallel plate electrodes is discussed. The development was divided into three phases: phase 1, a 150 Amp/hour low rate (1 mA/sq cm) design; phase 2, a 25 Amp/hour high rate (5 mA/sq cm) design; and phase 3, a 300 Amp/hour high rate (5 mA/sq cm) design. The basic design is the same for all three cells. The electrodes are perpendicular to the axis of the cylinder. Multiple electrodes are bussed up the side of the cylinder, 180 deg apart allowing excellent anode and cathode utilization. It is a lithium limited design with excess electrolyte. The cathode is Shawinigan or Gulf Acetylene black with no catalyst. The electrolyte is 1.8 Molar lithium tetrachloroaluminate (LiAlCl4) in thionyl chloride. All cell cases are 304L Stainless Steel with a BS&B burst disc.

  2. Development of a 300 Amp-hr high rate lithium thionyl chloride cell

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boyle, Gerard H.

    1991-05-01

    The development of a high-rate lithium thionyl chloride cylindrical cell with parallel plate electrodes is discussed. The development was divided into three phases: phase 1, a 150 Amp/hour low rate (1 mA/sq cm) design; phase 2, a 25 Amp/hour high rate (5 mA/sq cm) design; and phase 3, a 300 Amp/hour high rate (5 mA/sq cm) design. The basic design is the same for all three cells. The electrodes are perpendicular to the axis of the cylinder. Multiple electrodes are bussed up the side of the cylinder, 180 deg apart allowing excellent anode and cathode utilization. It is a lithium limited design with excess electrolyte. The cathode is Shawinigan or Gulf Acetylene black with no catalyst. The electrolyte is 1.8 Molar lithium tetrachloroaluminate (LiAlCl4) in thionyl chloride. All cell cases are 304L Stainless Steel with a BS&B burst disc.

  3. Phase-Separated Polyaniline/Graphene Composite Electrodes for High-Rate Electrochemical Supercapacitors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Jifeng; Zhang, Qin'e; Zhou, An'an; Huang, Zhifeng; Bai, Hua; Li, Lei

    2016-12-01

    Polyaniline/graphene hydrogel composites with a macroscopically phase-separated structure are prepared. The composites show high specific capacitance and excellent rate performance. Further investigation demonstrates that polyaniline inside the graphene hydrogel has low rate performance, thus a phase-separated structure, in which polyaniline is mainly outside the graphene hydrogel matrix, can enhance the rate performance of the composites. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  4. Predictions and Experimental Microstructural Characterization of High Strain Rate Failure Modes in Layered Aluminum Composites

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khanikar, Prasenjit

    applications. The second major objective of this investigation was the use of recently developed dynamic fracture formulations to model and analyze the crack nucleation and propagation of aluminum layered composites subjected to high strain rate loading conditions and how microstructural effects, such as precipitates, dispersed particles, and GB orientations affect failure evolution. This dynamic fracture approach is used to investigate crack nucleation and crack growth as a function of the different microstructural characteristics of each alloy in layered composites with and without pre-existing cracks. The zigzag nature of the crack paths were mainly due to the microstructural features, such as precipitates and dispersed particles distributions and orientations ahead of the crack front, and it underscored the capabilities of the fracture methodology. The evolution of dislocation density and the formation of localized shear slip contributed to the blunting of the propagating crack. Extensive geometrical and thermal softening due to the localized plastic slip also affected crack path orientations and directions. These softening mechanisms resulted in the switching of cleavage planes, which affected crack path orientations. Interface delamination can also have an important role in the failure and toughening of the layered composites. Different scenarios of delamination were investigated, such as planar crack growth and crack penetration into the layers. The presence of brittle surface oxide platelets in the interface region also significantly influenced the interface delamination process. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Optical Microscopy (OM) characterization provided further physical insights and validation of the predictive capabilities. The inherent microstructural features of each alloy play a significant role in the dynamic fracture, shear strain localization, and interface delamination of the layered metallic composite

  5. Game-Theoretic Rate-Distortion-Complexity Optimization of High Efficiency Video Coding

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ukhanova, Ann; Milani, Simone; Forchhammer, Søren

    2013-01-01

    profiles in order to tailor the computational load to the different hardware and power-supply resources of devices. In this work, we focus on optimizing the quantization parameter and partition depth in HEVC via a game-theoretic approach. The proposed rate control strategy alone provides 0.2 dB improvement......This paper presents an algorithm for rate-distortioncomplexity optimization for the emerging High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard, whose high computational requirements urge the need for low-complexity optimization algorithms. Optimization approaches need to specify different complexity...

  6. Low-timing-jitter, stretched-pulse passively mode-locked fiber laser with tunable repetition rate and high operation stability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Yuanshan; Zhang, Jian-Guo; Chen, Guofu; Zhao, Wei; Bai, Jing

    2010-01-01

    We design a low-timing-jitter, repetition-rate-tunable, stretched-pulse passively mode-locked fiber laser by using a nonlinear amplifying loop mirror (NALM), a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM), and a tunable optical delay line in the laser configuration. Low-timing-jitter optical pulses are stably produced when a SESAM and a 0.16 m dispersion compensation fiber are employed in the laser cavity. By inserting a tunable optical delay line between NALM and SESAM, the variable repetition-rate operation of a self-starting, passively mode-locked fiber laser is successfully demonstrated over a range from 49.65 to 50.47 MHz. The experimental results show that the newly designed fiber laser can maintain the mode locking at the pumping power of 160 mW to stably generate periodic optical pulses with width less than 170 fs and timing jitter lower than 75 fs in the 1.55 µm wavelength region, when the fundamental repetition rate of the laser is continuously tuned between 49.65 and 50.47 MHz. Moreover, this fiber laser has a feature of turn-key operation with high repeatability of its fundamental repetition rate in practice

  7. Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma of unknown primary: Outcomes of a pre-defined institutional treatment policy in a region with a high prevalence of skin cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huo, Michael; Panizza, Benedict; Bernard, Anne; Porceddu, Sandro V

    2018-02-01

    To determine the rate of subsequent primary site failure in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma of unknown primary (UKP HNSCC) in a region with a high prevalence of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, according to a pre-determined institutional policy. Secondary aims included regional and distant control, and overall survival. Patients presenting between April 2005 and June 2016 to the Princess Alexandra Hospital Head and Neck Multidisciplinary Meeting with UKP HNSCC from either presumed mucosal or cutaneous sites treated with curative intent were eligible. Patients with presumed mucosal origin were treated with radiation therapy (RT) with or without chemotherapy, while patients with presumed cutaneous SCC were treated with surgery and post-operative RT with or without chemotherapy. A total of 63 patients met the inclusion criteria. Median follow up duration was 3.9 years (IQR 2.07-5.14). There were no subsequent primary site failures. The rate of nodal failure among presumed mucosal patients was 11.5%, and 8.1% among presumed cutaneous patients. The rate of distant metastatic failure was 11.1% among all patients. The estimated 5 year overall survival was 71.2% (95% CI 59.2-85.7%). Treatment according to our pre-defined institutional policy for UKP HNSCC in a region with a high prevalence of cutaneous SCC appears to be safe and effective with low rates of mucosal primary emergence and nodal failure. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Development of amplifier and shaper for high-rate MWPC

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kamiji, Ichinori; Nanjo, Hajime; Kawasaki, Naoki; Maeda, Yosuke; Naito, Daichi; Seki, Shigeto; Nakagiri, Kota; Sasao, Noboru; Nomura, Tadashi

    2015-01-01

    A multi-wire proportional chamber (MWPC) will be used as an in-beam charged particle detector for the J-PARC E14 (KOTO) experiment. The maximum counting rate of the MWPC is expected to be up to 1 MHz per channel due to the high neutron and photon flux, expected to be 1 GHz for the 30 x 30 cm"2 area. An amplifier to cope with such high counting-rate is required. We developed a prototype of such amplifier, which has a charge preamplifier with the integration time of 3 ns and a pulse shaping part with three pole-zero cancellation networks. The shaper reduced the characteristic long tail lasting tens of microseconds in the signal of MWPC to 150 ns. Its performance has been tested by using a single-channel MWPC which has almost the same geometrical parameters as the MWPC to be installed in the KOTO experiment. (author)

  9. Trends in the incidence and mortality rates of malignant neoplasms in regions with radio ecological problems (Seslavtsi, Eleshnitsa, Yana) during the period 1995-1999

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chobanova, N.; Yagova, A.; Bajrakova, A.

    2001-01-01

    A retrospective study is carried out to examine incidence and mortality trends of some malignant neoplasms in regions at high radioecological risk (Seslavtsi, Eleshnitsa, Yana) during the period 1995-1999. The analysis is made according to sex and age groups. Information sources are official medical statistics data, original records and database of the Oncological Dispensary in Sofia. The analysis of incidence and mortality dynamics doesn't show an increase in the incidence/mortality rate of the selected radiation-related oncological diseases compared with the same indices for the country within that period. (author)

  10. Regional disparities in the intimate partner sexual violence rate against women in Paraná State, Brazil, 2009-2014: an ecological study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fontes, Kátia Biagio; Jacinto Alarcão, Ana Carolina; Nihei, Oscar Kenji; Pelloso, Sandra Marisa; Andrade, Luciano; Barros Carvalho, Maria Dalva de

    2018-02-20

    Evaluate disparities in a Brazilian state by conducting an analysis to determine whether socioeconomic status was associated with the reported intimate partner sexual violence (IPSV) rates against women. A retrospective, ecological study. Data retrieved from the Notifiable Diseases Information System database of the Ministry of Health of Brazil. All cases of IPSV (n=516) against women aged 15-49 years reported in the Notifiable Diseases Information System between 2009 and 2014. The data were evaluated through an exploratory analysis of spatial data. We identified a positive spatial self-correlation in the IPSV rate (0.7105, P≤0.001). Five high-high-type clusters were identified, predominantly in the Metropolitan, West, South Central, Southwest, Southeast and North Central mesoregions, with only one cluster identified in the North Pioneer mesoregion. Our findings also indicated that the associations between the IPSV rate and socioeconomic predictors (women with higher education, civil registry of legal separations, economically active women, demographic density and average female income) were significantly spatially non-stationary; thus, the regression coefficients verified that certain variables in the model were associated with the IPSV rate in some regions of the state. In addition, the geographically weighted regression (GWR) model improved the understanding of the associations between socioeconomic indicators and the IPSV notification rate, showing a better adjustment than the ordinary least square (OLS) model (OLS vs GWR model: R 2 : 0.95 vs 0.99; Akaike information criterion: 4117.90 vs 3550.61; Moran's I: 0.0905 vs -0.0273, respectively). IPSV against women was heterogeneous in the state of Paraná. The GWR model showed a better fit and enabled the analysis of the distribution of each indicator in the state, which demonstrated the utility of this model for the study of IPSV dynamics and the indication of local determinants of IPSV notification rates.

  11. High-rep-rate Thomson scattering for LHD

    Science.gov (United States)

    den Hartog, D. J.; Borchardt, M. T.; Holly, D. J.; Schmitz, O.; Yasuhara, R.; Yamada, I.; Funaba, H.; Osakabe, M.; Morisaki, T.

    2017-10-01

    A high-rep-rate pulse-burst laser system is being built for the LHD Thomson scattering (TS) diagnostic. This laser will have two operating scenarios, a fast-burst sequence of 15 kHz rep rate for at least 15 ms, and a slow-burst sequence of 1 kHz for at least 50 ms. There will be substantial flexibility in burst sequences for tailoring to experimental requirements. This new laser system will operate alongside the existing lasers in the LHD TS diagnostic, and will use the same beamline. This increase in temporal resolution capability complements the high spatial resolution (144 points) of the LHD TS diagnostic, providing unique measurement capability unmatched on any other fusion experiment. The new pulse-burst laser is a straightforward application of technology developed at UW-Madison, consisting of a Nd:YAG laser head with modular flashlamp drive units and a customized control system. Variable pulse-width drive of the flashlamps is accomplished by IGBT (insulated gate bipolar transistor) switching of electrolytic capacitor banks. Direct control of the laser Pockels cell drive enables optimal pulse energy extraction, producing >1.5 J q-switched pulses with 20 ns FWHM. Burst operation of this laser system will be used to capture fast time evolution of the electron temperature and density profiles during events such as ELMs, RMP perturbations, and various MHD modes. This work is supported by the U. S. Department of Energy and the National Institute for Fusion Science (Japan).

  12. Community-based control of the brown dog tick in a region with high rates of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, 2012-2013.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drexler, Naomi; Miller, Mark; Gerding, Justin; Todd, Suzanne; Adams, Laura; Dahlgren, F Scott; Bryant, Nelva; Weis, Erica; Herrick, Kristen; Francies, Jessica; Komatsu, Kenneth; Piontkowski, Stephen; Velascosoltero, Jose; Shelhamer, Timothy; Hamilton, Brian; Eribes, Carmen; Brock, Anita; Sneezy, Patsy; Goseyun, Cye; Bendle, Harty; Hovet, Regina; Williams, Velda; Massung, Robert; McQuiston, Jennifer H

    2014-01-01

    Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) transmitted by the brown dog tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato) has emerged as a significant public health risk on American Indian reservations in eastern Arizona. During 2003-2012, more than 250 RMSF cases and 19 deaths were documented among Arizona's American Indian population. The high case fatality rate makes community-level interventions aimed at rapid and sustained reduction of ticks urgent. Beginning in 2012, a two year pilot integrated tick prevention campaign called the RMSF Rodeo was launched in a ∼ 600-home tribal community with high rates of RMSF. During year one, long-acting tick collars were placed on all dogs in the community, environmental acaricides were applied to yards monthly, and animal care practices such as spay and neuter and proper tethering procedures were encouraged. Tick levels, indicated by visible inspection of dogs, tick traps and homeowner reports were used to monitor tick presence and evaluate the efficacy of interventions throughout the project. By the end of year one, <1% of dogs in the RMSF Rodeo community had visible tick infestations five months after the project was started, compared to 64% of dogs in Non-Rodeo communities, and environmental tick levels were reduced below detectable levels. The second year of the project focused on use of the long-acting collar alone and achieved sustained tick control with fewer than 3% of dogs in the RMSF Rodeo community with visible tick infestations by the end of the second year. Homeowner reports of tick activity in the domestic and peridomestic setting showed similar decreases in tick activity compared to the non-project communities. Expansion of this successful project to other areas with Rhipicephalus-transmitted RMSF has the potential to reduce brown dog tick infestations and save human lives.

  13. Community-based control of the brown dog tick in a region with high rates of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, 2012-2013.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Naomi Drexler

    Full Text Available Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF transmitted by the brown dog tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato has emerged as a significant public health risk on American Indian reservations in eastern Arizona. During 2003-2012, more than 250 RMSF cases and 19 deaths were documented among Arizona's American Indian population. The high case fatality rate makes community-level interventions aimed at rapid and sustained reduction of ticks urgent. Beginning in 2012, a two year pilot integrated tick prevention campaign called the RMSF Rodeo was launched in a ∼ 600-home tribal community with high rates of RMSF. During year one, long-acting tick collars were placed on all dogs in the community, environmental acaricides were applied to yards monthly, and animal care practices such as spay and neuter and proper tethering procedures were encouraged. Tick levels, indicated by visible inspection of dogs, tick traps and homeowner reports were used to monitor tick presence and evaluate the efficacy of interventions throughout the project. By the end of year one, <1% of dogs in the RMSF Rodeo community had visible tick infestations five months after the project was started, compared to 64% of dogs in Non-Rodeo communities, and environmental tick levels were reduced below detectable levels. The second year of the project focused on use of the long-acting collar alone and achieved sustained tick control with fewer than 3% of dogs in the RMSF Rodeo community with visible tick infestations by the end of the second year. Homeowner reports of tick activity in the domestic and peridomestic setting showed similar decreases in tick activity compared to the non-project communities. Expansion of this successful project to other areas with Rhipicephalus-transmitted RMSF has the potential to reduce brown dog tick infestations and save human lives.

  14. High-Strain-Rate Material Behavior and Adiabatic Material Instability in Impact of Micron-Scale Al-6061 Particles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Qiyong; Alizadeh, Arash; Xie, Wanting; Wang, Xuemei; Champagne, Victor; Gouldstone, Andrew; Lee, Jae-Hwang; Müftü, Sinan

    2018-04-01

    Impact of spherical particles onto a flat sapphire surface was investigated in 50-950 m/s impact speed range experimentally and theoretically. Material parameters of the bilinear Johnson-Cook model were determined based on comparison of deformed particle shapes from experiment and simulation. Effects of high-strain-rate plastic flow, heat generation due to plasticity, material damage, interfacial friction and heat transfer were modeled. Four distinct regions were identified inside the particle by analyzing temporal variation of material flow. A relatively small volume of material near the impact zone becomes unstable due to plasticity-induced heating, accompanied by severe drop in the flow stress for impact velocity that exceeds 500 m/s. Outside of this region, flow stress is reduced due to temperature effects without the instability. Load carrying capacity of the material degrades and the material expands horizontally leading to jetting. The increase in overall plastic and frictional dissipation with impact velocity was found to be inherently lower than the increase in the kinetic energy at high speeds, leading to the instability. This work introduces a novel method to characterize HSR (109 s-1) material properties and also explains coupling between HSR material behavior and mechanics that lead to extreme deformation.

  15. High-Rate Field Demonstration of Large-Alphabet Quantum Key Distribution

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-10-12

    count rate of Bob’s detectors. In this detector-limited regime , it is advantageous to increase M to encode as much information as possible in each...High- rate field demonstration of large-alphabet quantum key distribution Catherine Lee,1, 2 Darius Bunandar,1 Zheshen Zhang,1 Gregory R. Steinbrecher...October 12, 2016) 2 Quantum key distribution (QKD) enables secure symmetric key exchange for information-theoretically secure com- munication via one-time

  16. High-rate deposition of high-quality Sn-doped In2O3 films by reactive magnetron sputtering using alloy targets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oka, Nobuto; Kawase, Yukari; Shigesato, Yuzo

    2012-01-01

    Sn-doped In 2 O 3 (ITO) films were deposited on heated (200 °C) fused silica glass substrates by reactive DC sputtering with mid-frequency pulsing (50 kHz) and a plasma control unit combined with a feedback system of the optical emission intensity for the atomic O* line at 777 nm. A planar In–Sn alloy target was connected to the switching unit, which was operated in the unipolar pulse mode. The power density on the target was maintained at 4.4 W cm −2 during deposition. The feedback system precisely controlled the oxidation of the target surface in “the transition region.” The ITO film with lowest resistivity (3.1 × 10 −4 Ω cm) was obtained with a deposition rate of 310 nm min −1 and transmittance in the visible region of approximately 80%. The deposition rate was about 6 times higher than that of ITO films deposited by conventional sputtering using an oxide target.

  17. Design study of a low-emittance high-repetition rate thermionic rf gun

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Opanasenko

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available We propose a novel gridless continuous-wave radiofrequency (rf thermionic gun capable of generating nC ns electron bunches with a rms normalized slice emittance close to the thermal level of 0.3 mm mrad. In order to gate the electron emission, an externally heated thermionic cathode is installed into a stripline-loop conductor. Two high-voltage pulses propagating towards each other in the stripline-loop overlap in the cathode region and create a quasielectrostatic field gating the electron emission. The repetition rate of pulses is variable and can reach up to one MHz with modern solid-state pulsers. The stripline attached to a rf gun cavity wall has with the wall a common aperture that allows the electrons to be injected into the rf cavity for further acceleration. Thanks to this innovative gridless design, simulations suggest that the bunch emittance is approximately at the thermal level after the bunch injection into the cavity provided that the geometry of the cathode and aperture are properly designed. Specifically, a concave cathode is adopted to imprint an Ƨ-shaped distribution onto the beam transverse phase-space to compensate for an S-shaped beam distribution created by the spherical aberration of the aperture-cavity region. In order to compensate for the energy spread caused by rf fields of the rf gun cavity, a 3rd harmonic cavity is used. A detailed study of the electrodynamics of the stripline and rf gun cavity as well as the beam optics and bunch dynamics are presented.

  18. Potassium vapor assisted preparation of highly graphitized hierarchical porous carbon for high rate performance supercapacitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Zheng; Zeng, Ying; Tang, Qunli; Hu, Aiping; Xiao, Kuikui; Zhang, Shiying; Deng, Weina; Fan, Binbin; Zhu, Yanfei; Chen, Xiaohua

    2017-09-01

    Ultrahigh graphitized carbon microspheres with rich hierarchical pores (AGHPCM-1) have been successfully synthesized through the one-step activation-carbonization strategy (OACS) with porous sulfonated poly-divinylbenzene as the carbon precursor, iron as the hard template and catalyst, and potassium hydroxide (KOH) as activation agent. Through the XRD, TEM, Raman and BET analysis, AGHPCM-1 shows very high graphitization degree and rich micro-, meso- and macro-pores. More importantly, the mechanism for KOH to improve the graphitization degree of carbon materials in OACS has been illustrated by the thermodynamical theory. The tremendous heat releasing from the reaction between the catalyst precursor of Fe2O3 and potassium vapor plays a key role in the formation of graphitized carbon. It may provide a general direction to prepare highly graphitized porous carbon at a moderate temperature. Integrating the advantages of high graphitization degree and rich hierarchical porous structure, the AGHPCM-1 exhibits an excellent rate performance with a response to up to the high current density of 150 A g-1 and high scan rate of 2000 mV s-1. No obvious capacitance decay can be observed after 10000 charge/discharge cycles even at the high current density of 20 A g-1.

  19. Exploring Potential Foreshocks on Highly Compressed Patches in a Rate-and-State Fault Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Higgins, N.; Lapusta, N.

    2015-12-01

    On both natural and laboratory faults, some mainshocks are preceded by foreshocks. Such foreshocks may be triggered by aseismic processes of the mainshock nucleation at fault heterogeneities such as bumps, as inferred in some laboratory experiments. We explore a rate-and-state fault model in which potential foreshocks occur on patches of elevated normal compression (by a factor of 5 to 10) within a larger velocity-weakening (VW) region, using 3D numerical simulations of long-term earthquake sequences and aseismic slip. We find that this model produces isolated microseismicity during the nucleation of a larger-scale seismic event, under the following conditions: (i) Patch diameter D is comparable to or larger than the patch nucleation size h*patch; (ii) D is much smaller than the nucleation size h*main for the larger-scale VW region; otherwise, a patch-hosted event simply starts the larger-scale event; (iii) the patches are sufficiently separated to prevent them triggering each other nearly instantaneously. Hence the nucleation sizes h*main and h*patch need to be substantially different, by a factor of around 10 in our simulations so far, and potentially much more. The aforementioned separation of scales can be achieved by assigning high levels of compression on the patches. However, one would expect unrealistically large stress drops for events on such patches. Remarkably, in this model, we find that the stress drops of the patch-hosted events are reasonable and roughly constant, despite a wide variation in the patch compression, due to patch ruptures extending into the surrounding VW region. Furthermore, for D close to h*patch, a substantial part of the stress change on the patch occurs aseismically. Our current work is directed towards quantifying and explaining these trends, as well as exploring whether the microseismicity occurring on highly compressed patches due to nucleation-induced creep has any observable differences from other events.

  20. High rate of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    There is increased in teenage pregnancy despite the presence of dual protection practice and health care awareness programmes related to health and sexuality education in South Africa. The present study explores the underlying causes of high teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases rates, including HIV ...

  1. Decay rate of the false vacuum at high tempratures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eboli, O.J.P.; Marques, G.C.

    1984-01-01

    Within the semiclassical approach, the high temperaure behaviour of the decay rate of the metastable vacuum in Field Theory is investigated. It is shown that, contrarily to what has been proposed in the literature, the pre-exponential factor exhibits a nontrivial dependence on the temperature. Furthermore, this dependence is such that at very high temperatures it is as important as the exponential factor and consequently it spoils many conclusions drawn up to now on Cosmological Phase Transitions. (Author) [pt

  2. Femtosecond Ti:sapphire cryogenic amplifier with high gain and MHz repetition rate

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dantan, Aurelien Romain; Laurat, Julien; Ourjoumtsev, Alexei

    2007-01-01

    We demonstrate high gain amplification of 160-femtosecond pulses in a compact double-pass cryogenic Ti:sapphire amplifier. The setup involves a negative GVD mirrors recompression stage, and operates with a repetition rate between 0.2 and 4 MHz with a continuous pump laser. Amplification factors a...... as high as 17 and 320 nJ Fourier-limited pulses are obtained at a 800 kHz repetition rate....

  3. Demo : an embedded vision system for high frame rate visual servoing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ye, Z.; He, Y.; Pieters, R.S.; Mesman, B.; Corporaal, H.; Jonker, P.P.

    2011-01-01

    The frame rate of commercial off-the-shelf industrial cameras is breaking the threshold of 1000 frames-per-second, the sample rate required in high performance motion control systems. On the one hand, it enables computer vision as a cost-effective feedback source; On the other hand, it imposes

  4. High dose rate brachytherapy for oral cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamazaki, Hideya; Yoshida, Ken; Yoshioka, Yasuo; Shimizutani, Kimishige; Furukawa, Souhei; Koizumi, Masahiko; Ogawa, Kazuhiko

    2013-01-01

    Brachytherapy results in better dose distribution compared with other treatments because of steep dose reduction in the surrounding normal tissues. Excellent local control rates and acceptable side effects have been demonstrated with brachytherapy as a sole treatment modality, a postoperative method, and a method of reirradiation. Low-dose-rate (LDR) brachytherapy has been employed worldwide for its superior outcome. With the advent of technology, high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy has enabled health care providers to avoid radiation exposure. This therapy has been used for treating many types of cancer such as gynecological cancer, breast cancer, and prostate cancer. However, LDR and pulsed-dose-rate interstitial brachytherapies have been mainstays for head and neck cancer. HDR brachytherapy has not become widely used in the radiotherapy community for treating head and neck cancer because of lack of experience and biological concerns. On the other hand, because HDR brachytherapy is less time-consuming, treatment can occasionally be administered on an outpatient basis. For the convenience and safety of patients and medical staff, HDR brachytherapy should be explored. To enhance the role of this therapy in treatment of head and neck lesions, we have reviewed its outcomes with oral cancer, including Phase I/II to Phase III studies, evaluating this technique in terms of safety and efficacy. In particular, our studies have shown that superficial tumors can be treated using a non-invasive mold technique on an outpatient basis without adverse reactions. The next generation of image-guided brachytherapy using HDR has been discussed. In conclusion, although concrete evidence is yet to be produced with a sophisticated study in a reproducible manner, HDR brachytherapy remains an important option for treatment of oral cancer.

  5. High Rate Plastic Deformation and Failure of Tungsten-Sintered Metals

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Bjerke, Todd

    2004-01-01

    The competition between plastic deformation and brittle fracture during high rate loading of a tungsten-sintered metal is examined through impact experiments, post-experiment microscopy, and numerical simulation...

  6. Energy absorption at high strain rate of glass fiber reinforced mortars

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fenu Luigi

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, the dynamic behaviour of cement mortars reinforced with glass fibers was studied. The influence of the addition of glass fibers on energy absorption and tensile strength at high strain-rate was investigated. Static tests in compression, in tension and in bending were first performed. Dynamic tests by means of a Modified Hopkinson Bar were then carried out in order to investigate how glass fibers affected energy absorption and tensile strength at high strain-rate of the fiber reinforced mortar. The Dynamic Increase Factor (DIF was finally evaluated.

  7. Characteristics of highly rated leadership in nursing homes using item response theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Backman, Annica; Sjögren, Karin; Lindkvist, Marie; Lövheim, Hugo; Edvardsson, David

    2017-12-01

    To identify characteristics of highly rated leadership in nursing homes. An ageing population entails fundamental social, economic and organizational challenges for future aged care. Knowledge is limited of both specific leadership behaviours and organizational and managerial characteristics which have an impact on the leadership of contemporary nursing home care. Cross-sectional. From 290 municipalities, 60 were randomly selected and 35 agreed to participate, providing a sample of 3605 direct-care staff employed in 169 Swedish nursing homes. The staff assessed their managers' (n = 191) leadership behaviours using the Leadership Behaviour Questionnaire. Data were collected from November 2013 - September 2014, and the study was completed in November 2016. A two-parameter item response theory approach and regression analyses were used to identify specific characteristics of highly rated leadership. Five specific behaviours of highly rated nursing home leadership were identified; that the manager: experiments with new ideas; controls work closely; relies on subordinates; coaches and gives direct feedback; and handles conflicts constructively. The regression analyses revealed that managers with social work backgrounds and privately run homes were significantly associated with higher leadership ratings. This study highlights the five most important leadership behaviours that characterize those nursing home managers rated highest in terms of leadership. Managers in privately run nursing homes and managers with social work backgrounds were associated with higher leadership ratings. Further work is needed to explore these behaviours and factors predictive of higher leadership ratings. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  8. Efficient high-peak-power and high-repetition-rate eye-safe laser using an intracavity KTP OPO

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guo, J; Jiao, Z X; Wang, B; He, G Y

    2015-01-01

    An efficient high-peak-power and high-repetition-rate intracavity KTP optical parametric oscillator pumped by a Q-switched Nd:YVO 4 laser is demonstrated. We achieved 1.5 W output power of 1.5 μm at 10 kHz repetition rate with the pulse duration of 6 ns. The maximum peak power of 25 kW and the maximum pulse energy of 150 μJ have been obtained. The maximum conversion efficiency of 9.5% is achieved with respect to a laser diode power of 10.5 W. (paper)

  9. Investigating the variations in survival rates for very preterm infants in ten European regions: the MOSAIC birth cohort

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Draper, Elizabeth S; Zeitlin, Jennifer; Fenton, Alan C

    2008-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To investigate the variation in the survival rate and the mortality rates for very preterm infants across Europe. DESIGN: A prospective birth cohort of very preterm infants for ten geographically defined European regions during 2003 followed to discharge home from hospital. PARTICIPANTS......: All deliveries from 22+0 to 31+6 weeks gestation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: All outcomes of pregnancy by gestational age group, including termination of pregnancy for congenital anomalies and other reasons, ante-partum stillbirth, intra-partum stillbirth, labour ward death, death after admission...

  10. Novel high dose rate lip brachytherapy technique to improve dose homogeneity and reduce toxicity by customized mold

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Feldman, Jon; Appelbaum, Limor; Sela, Mordechay; Voskoboinik, Ninel; Kadouri, Sarit; Weinberger, Jeffrey; Orion, Itzhak; Meirovitz, Amichay

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to describe a novel brachytherapy technique for lip Squamous Cell Carcinoma, utilizing a customized mold with embedded brachytherapy sleeves, which separates the lip from the mandible, and improves dose homogeneity. Seven patients with T2 lip cancer treated with a “sandwich” technique of High Dose Rate (HDR) brachytherapy to the lip, consisting of interstitial catheters and a customized mold with embedded catheters, were reviewed for dosimetry and outcome using 3D planning. Dosimetric comparison was made between the “sandwich” technique to “classic” – interstitial catheters only plan. We compared dose volume histograms for Clinical Tumor Volume (CTV), normal tissue “hot spots” and mandible dose. We are reporting according to the ICRU 58 and calculated the Conformal Index (COIN) to show the advantage of our technique. The seven patients (ages 36–81 years, male) had median follow-up of 47 months. Four patients received Brachytherapy and External Beam Radiation Therapy, 3 patients received brachytherapy alone. All achieved local control, with excellent esthetic and functional results. All patients are disease free. The Customized Mold Sandwich technique (CMS) reduced the high dose region receiving 150% (V150) by an average of 20% (range 1–47%), The low dose region (les then 90% of the prescribed dose) improved by 73% in average by using the CMS technique. The COIN value for the CMS was in average 0.92 as opposed to 0.88 for the interstitial catheter only. All differences (excluding the low dose region) were statistically significant. The CMS technique significantly reduces the high dose volume and increases treatment homogeneity. This may reduce the potential toxicity to the lip and adjacent mandible, and results in excellent tumor control, cosmetic and functionality

  11. Complication rates of ostomy surgery are high and vary significantly between hospitals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sheetz, Kyle H; Waits, Seth A; Krell, Robert W; Morris, Arden M; Englesbe, Michael J; Mullard, Andrew; Campbell, Darrell A; Hendren, Samantha

    2014-05-01

    Ostomy surgery is common and has traditionally been associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality, suggesting an important target for quality improvement. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the variation in outcomes after ostomy creation surgery within Michigan to identify targets for quality improvement. This was a retrospective cohort study. The study took place within the 34-hospital Michigan Surgical Quality Collaborative. Patients included were those undergoing ostomy creation surgery between 2006 and 2011. We evaluated hospital morbidity and mortality rates after risk adjustment (age, comorbidities, emergency vs elective, and procedure type). A total of 4250 patients underwent ostomy creation surgery; 3866 procedures (91.0%) were open and 384 (9.0%) were laparoscopic. Unadjusted morbidity and mortality rates were 43.9% and 10.7%. Unadjusted morbidity rates for specific procedures ranged from 32.7% for ostomy-creation-only procedures to 47.8% for Hartmann procedures. Risk-adjusted morbidity rates varied significantly between hospitals, ranging from 31.2% (95% CI, 18.4-43.9) to 60.8% (95% CI, 48.9-72.6). There were 5 statistically significant high-outlier hospitals and 3 statistically significant low-outlier hospitals for risk-adjusted morbidity. The pattern of complication types was similar between high- and low-outlier hospitals. Case volume, operative duration, and use of laparoscopic surgery did not explain the variation in morbidity rates across hospitals. This work was limited by its retrospective study design, by unmeasured variation in case severity, and by our inability to differentiate between colostomies and ileostomies because of the use of Current Procedural Terminology codes. Morbidity and mortality rates for modern ostomy surgery are high. Although this type of surgery has received little attention in healthcare policy, these data reveal that it is both common and uncommonly morbid. Variation in hospital performance provides an

  12. High-rate multi-GNSS: what does it mean to seismology?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geng, J.

    2017-12-01

    GNSS precise point positioning (PPP) is capable of measuring centimeter-level positions epoch by epoch at a single station, and is thus treasured in tsunami/earthquake early warning where static displacements in the near field are critical to rapidly and reliably determining the magnitude of destructive events. However, most operational real-time PPP systems at present rely on only GPS data. The deficiency of such systems is that the high reliability and availability of precise displacements cannot be maintained continuously in real time, which is however a crucial requirement for disaster resistance and response. Multi-GNSS, including GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo and QZSS other than only GPS, can be a solution to this problem because much more satellites per epoch (e.g. 30-40) will be available. In this case, positioning failure due to data loss or blunders can be minimized, and on the other hand, positioning initializations can be accelerated to a great extent since the satellite geometry for each epoch will be enhanced enormously. We established a prototype real-time multi-GNSS PPP service based on Asia-Pacific real-time network which can collect and stream high-rate data from all five navigation systems above. We estimated high-rate satellite clock corrections and enabled undifferenced ambiguity fixing for multi-GNSS, which therefore ensures high availability and reliability of precise displacement estimates in contrast to GPS-only systems. We will report how we can benefit from multi-GNSS for seismology, especially the noise characteristics of high-rate and sub-daily displacements. We will also use storm surge loading events to demonstrate the contribution of multi-GNSS to sub-daily transient signals.

  13. The Regional-Matrix Approach to the Training of Highly Qualified Personnel for the Sustainable Development of the Mining Region

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhernov, Evgeny; Nehoda, Evgenia

    2017-11-01

    The state, regional and industry approaches to the problem of personnel training for building an innovative knowledge economy at all levels that ensures sustainable development of the region are analyzed in the article using the cases of the Kemerovo region and the coal industry. A new regional-matrix approach to the training of highly qualified personnel is proposed, which allows to link the training systems with the regional economic matrix "natural resources - cognitive resources" developed by the author. A special feature of the new approach is the consideration of objective conditions and contradictions of regional systems of personnel training, which have formed as part of economic systems of regions differ-entiated in the matrix. The methodology of the research is based on the statement about the interconnectivity of general and local knowledge, from which the understanding of the need for a combination of regional, indus-try and state approaches to personnel training is derived. A new form of representing such a combination is the proposed approach, which is based on matrix analysis. The results of the research can be implemented in the practice of modernization of professional education of workers in the coal industry of the natural resources extractive region.

  14. Under-utilisation of high-dose-rate brachytherapy boost in men with intermediate-high risk prostate cancer treated with external beam radiotherapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ong, Wee Loon; Evans, Sue M; Millar, Jeremy L

    2018-04-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of high-dose-rate brachytherapy (HDR-BT) boost with definitive external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) in prostate cancer (CaP) management. The study population comprised men with intermediate-high risk CaP captured in the population-based Prostate Cancer Outcome Registry Victoria (PCOR-Vic), treated with EBRT from January 2010 to December 2015. The primary outcome is the proportion of men who received HDR-BT boost. Multivariate logistic regressions were used to evaluate the effect of patient-, tumour- and treatment-factors on the likelihood of HDR-BT use. Medicare Benefit Schedule (MBS) data was accessed to evaluate the Australia-wide pattern of HDR-BT use. One thousand eight hundred and six patients were included in this study - 886 (49%) intermediate-risk, and 920 (51%) high-risk CaP patients. Overall, only 124 (7%) patients had EBRT + HDR-BT - 47 (5%) intermediate-risk and 77 (8%) high-risk CaP patients (P = 0.01). There is higher proportion of patients who had HDR-BT in public institutions (7% public vs. 3% private, P = 0.005) and in metropolitan centres (9% metropolitan vs. 2% regional, P Victorian men with CaP. The decline in HDR-BT use was also observed nationally. © 2017 The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists.

  15. NCLB Implementation Report: State Approaches for Calculating High School Graduation Rates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swanson, Christopher B.

    This review investigated the state accountability Workbooks provisionally approved and publicly reported by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) as of June 2003. These documents were obtained from the DOE Web site. This report examines state definitions of high school graduation rates and strategies for constructing graduation rate indicators. A…

  16. High capacity and high rate capability of nitrogen-doped porous hollow carbon spheres for capacitive deionization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhao, Shanshan; Yan, Tingting; Wang, Hui; Chen, Guorong; Huang, Lei; Zhang, Jianping; Shi, Liyi; Zhang, Dengsong

    2016-01-01

    Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • The nitrogen-doped porous hollow carbon spheres were prepared. • The obtained materials have a good capacitive deionization performance. • The electrodes show high salt adsorption rate and good regeneration performance. - Abstract: In this work, nitrogen-doped porous hollow carbon spheres (N-PHCS) were well prepared by using polystyrene (PS) spheres as hard templates and dopamine hydrochloride as carbon and nitrogen sources. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images demonstrate that the N-PHCS have a uniform, spherical and hollow structure. Nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis shows that the N-PHCS have a high specific area of 512 m 2 /g. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy result reveals that the nitrogen doping amount is 2.92%. The hollow and porous structure and effective nitrogen doping can contribute to large accessible surface area, efficient ion transport and good conductivity. In the electrochemical tests, we can conclude that the N-PHCS have a high specific capacitance value, a good stability and low inner resistance. The N-PHCS electrodes present a high salt adsorption capacity of 12.95 mg/g at a cell voltage of 1.4 V with a flow rate of 40 mL/min in a 500 mg/L NaCl aqueous solution. Moreover, the N-PHCS electrodes show high salt adsorption rate and good regeneration performance in the CDI process. With high surface specific area and effective nitrogen doping, the N-PHCS is promising to the CDI and other electrochemical applications.

  17. High capacity and high rate capability of nitrogen-doped porous hollow carbon spheres for capacitive deionization

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhao, Shanshan; Yan, Tingting; Wang, Hui; Chen, Guorong; Huang, Lei; Zhang, Jianping; Shi, Liyi; Zhang, Dengsong, E-mail: dszhang@shu.edu.cn

    2016-04-30

    Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • The nitrogen-doped porous hollow carbon spheres were prepared. • The obtained materials have a good capacitive deionization performance. • The electrodes show high salt adsorption rate and good regeneration performance. - Abstract: In this work, nitrogen-doped porous hollow carbon spheres (N-PHCS) were well prepared by using polystyrene (PS) spheres as hard templates and dopamine hydrochloride as carbon and nitrogen sources. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images demonstrate that the N-PHCS have a uniform, spherical and hollow structure. Nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis shows that the N-PHCS have a high specific area of 512 m{sup 2}/g. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy result reveals that the nitrogen doping amount is 2.92%. The hollow and porous structure and effective nitrogen doping can contribute to large accessible surface area, efficient ion transport and good conductivity. In the electrochemical tests, we can conclude that the N-PHCS have a high specific capacitance value, a good stability and low inner resistance. The N-PHCS electrodes present a high salt adsorption capacity of 12.95 mg/g at a cell voltage of 1.4 V with a flow rate of 40 mL/min in a 500 mg/L NaCl aqueous solution. Moreover, the N-PHCS electrodes show high salt adsorption rate and good regeneration performance in the CDI process. With high surface specific area and effective nitrogen doping, the N-PHCS is promising to the CDI and other electrochemical applications.

  18. A characteristics of East Asian climate using high-resolution regional climate model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yhang, Y.

    2013-12-01

    Climate research, particularly application studies for water, agriculture, forestry, fishery and energy management require fine scale multi-decadal information of meteorological, oceanographic and land states. Unfortunately, spatially and temporally homogeneous multi-decadal observations of these variables in high horizontal resolution are non-existent. Some long term surface records of temperature and precipitation exist, but the number of observation is very limited and the measurements are often contaminated by changes in instrumentation over time. Some climatologically important variables, such as soil moisture, surface evaporation, and radiation are not even measured over most of East Asia. Reanalysis is one approach to obtaining long term homogeneous analysis of needed variables. However, the horizontal resolution of global reanalysis is of the order of 100 to 200 km, too coarse for many application studies. Regional climate models (RCMs) are able to provide valuable regional finescale information, especially in regions where the climate variables are strongly regulated by the underlying topography and the surface heterogeneity. In this study, we will provide accurately downscaled regional climate over East Asia using the Global/Regional Integrated Model system [GRIMs; Hong et al. 2013]. A mixed layer model is embedded within the GRIMs in order to improve air-sea interaction. A detailed description of the characteristics of the East Asian summer and winter climate will be presented through the high-resolution numerical simulations. The increase in horizontal resolution is expected to provide the high-quality data that can be used in various application areas such as hydrology or environmental model forcing.

  19. Resection of individually identified high-rate high-frequency oscillations region is associated with favorable outcome in neocortical epilepsy

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Cho, J.R.; Koo, D.L.; Joo, E.Y.; Seo, D.W.; Hong, S.-Ch.; Jiruška, Přemysl; Hong, S.B.

    2014-01-01

    Roč. 55, č. 11 (2014), s. 1872-1883 ISSN 0013-9580 R&D Projects: GA MZd(CZ) NT14489 Institutional support: RVO:67985823 Keywords : epilepsy surgery * high-frequency oscillations * neocortical epilepsy Subject RIV: FH - Neurology Impact factor: 4.571, year: 2014

  20. Probing topological relations between high-density and low-density regions of 2MASS with hexagon cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wu, Yongfeng [American Physical Society, San Diego, CA (United States); Xiao, Weike, E-mail: yongfeng.wu@maine.edu [Department of Astronautics Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, P.O. Box 345, Heilongjiang Province 150001 (China)

    2014-02-01

    We introduced a new two-dimensional (2D) hexagon technique for probing the topological structure of the universe in which we mapped regions of the sky with high and low galaxy densities onto a 2D lattice of hexagonal unit cells. We defined filled cells as corresponding to high-density regions and empty cells as corresponding to low-density regions. The numbers of filled cells and empty cells were kept the same by controlling the size of the cells. By analyzing the six sides of each hexagon, we could obtain and compare the statistical topological properties of high-density and low-density regions of the universe in order to have a better understanding of the evolution of the universe. We applied this hexagonal method to Two Micron All Sky Survey data and discovered significant topological differences between the high-density and low-density regions. Both regions had significant (>5σ) topological shifts from both the binomial distribution and the random distribution.