WorldWideScience

Sample records for short lives point

  1. Vehicle emissions of short-lived and long-lived climate forcers: trends and tradeoffs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edwards, Morgan R; Klemun, Magdalena M; Kim, Hyung Chul; Wallington, Timothy J; Winkler, Sandra L; Tamor, Michael A; Trancik, Jessika E

    2017-08-24

    Evaluating technology options to mitigate the climate impacts of road transportation can be challenging, particularly when they involve a tradeoff between long-lived emissions (e.g., carbon dioxide) and short-lived emissions (e.g., methane or black carbon). Here we present trends in short- and long-lived emissions for light- and heavy-duty transport globally and in the U.S., EU, and China over the period 2000-2030, and we discuss past and future changes to vehicle technologies to reduce these emissions. We model the tradeoffs between short- and long-lived emission reductions across a range of technology options, life cycle emission intensities, and equivalency metrics. While short-lived vehicle emissions have decreased globally over the past two decades, significant reductions in CO 2 will be required by mid-century to meet climate change mitigation targets. This is true regardless of the time horizon used to compare long- and short-lived emissions. The short-lived emission intensities of some low-CO 2 technologies are higher than others, and thus their suitability for meeting climate targets depends sensitively on the evaluation time horizon. Other technologies offer low intensities of both short-lived emissions and CO 2 .

  2. Radiopharmaceuticals and other compounds labelled with short-lived radionuclides

    CERN Document Server

    Welch, Michael J

    2013-01-01

    Radiopharmaceuticals and Other Compounds Labelled with Short-Lived Radionuclides covers through both review and contributed articles the potential applications and developments in labeling with short-lived radionuclides whose use is restricted to institutions with accelerators. The book discusses the current and potential use of generator-produced radionuclides as well as other short-lived radionuclides, and the problems of quality control of such labeled compounds. The book is useful to nuclear medicine physicians.

  3. How Short-Lived Ikaite Affects Calcite Crystallization

    OpenAIRE

    Besselink, R; Rodriguez-Blanco, JD; Stawski, TM; Benning, LG; Tobler, DJ

    2017-01-01

    The pathways of CaCO3 crystallization are manifold, often involving one or several metastable amorphous or nanocrystalline intermediate phases. The presence of such intermediates is often overlooked, because they are short-lived and/or occur at small molar fractions. However, their occurrence does not just impact the mechanisms and pathways of formation of the final stable CaCO3 phase, but also affects their crystal size, shape, and structure. Here we document the presence of a short-lived in...

  4. Practical applications of short-lived radioisotopes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1963-01-15

    The advantages of the use of short-lived radioisotopes in agriculture, food industry and medicine as well as some industrial uses are discussed. Methods for isotope production in small research reactors and laboratories are presented

  5. Short-lived radiopharmaceutical development at E.R. Squibb and Sons, Inc

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Loberg, M.D.

    1985-01-01

    This paper describes the present status and future plans of E.R. Squibb and Sons, Inc. as they relate to the development of short-lived radiopharmaceuticals. The advantages of short-lived radiopharmaceuticals are summarized as are the problems inherent in their manufacture, quality control, and distribution. The nuclear generator is advocated as the best means of distributing short-lived radiopharmaceuticals. The E.R. Squibb and Sons work with the 82 Sr → 82 Rb generator is summarized

  6. Measurements of beta-decay half-lives of short-lived nuclei

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hirose, T.; Tsurita, Y.; Yamamoto, H.; Kawade, K. [Nagoya Univ. (Japan); Iida, T.; Takahashi, A.; Kasugai, Y.; Ikeda, Y.

    1997-03-01

    The {beta}-decay half-lives of short-lived nuclei produced by 14 MeV neutron bombardments were measured with Ge detectors, a High-rate spectroscopy amplifier (EG and G ORTEC model 973) and a Spectrum multi-scaler (Laboratory equipment corporation SMS-48) in the multi-scaling mode. The adequate corrections for pile-up and dead-time losses were made by applying source and pulser methods. The half-lives of {sup 53}V, {sup 53g}Fe, {sup 89m}Y and {sup 162}Tb were determined with uncertainties of 0.13-0.65%. It has been shown that previous values shorter than 10 min were systematically longer than the present ones. (author)

  7. Systematic measurement of beta-decay half-lives of short-lived isotopes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hirose, T.; Yamamoto, H.; Kawade, K. [Nagoya Univ. (Japan); Iida, T.; Takahashi, A.; Kasugai, Y.; Ikeda, Y.

    1997-03-01

    We have measured the half-lives of short-lived isotopes for past decade and deduced the half-lives of 6 isotopes further. These results demonstrated that most of the literature values shorter than 10 min systematically deviated from our measurement ones. The cause seems to be that a large number of the previous half-life studies were performed with scintillation counters before 1970 and they had a difficulty in distinguishing the interest {gamma}-ray from the contamination and correcting for pile-up and dead-time losses. Moreover, the deviated data found to be quoted for evaluation. (author)

  8. Application of accelerator-produced short-lived radionuclides in industry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kupsch, H.

    1986-01-01

    Several problems such as corrosion, catalysis, wear, process optimization and diagnosis, damage analysis, arising in idustry can be solved using short-lived radioisotopes. Some examples of technological target designs which have been developed are demonstrated for the radionuclide production based on p,n; d,α; α,n; α,2n; α,p; γ,n; γ,p nuclear reactions. Applications of short-lived radionuclides in plants and processes of electrodeposition and gas concrete production are described. (author)

  9. Mass Measurement of Very Short Half-Lived Nuclei

    CERN Document Server

    Duma, M; Iacob, V E; Thibault, C

    2002-01-01

    The MISTRAL (Mass measurements at ISolde with a Transmission RAdiofrequency spectrometer on-Line) experiment exploits a rapid measurement technique to make accurate mass determinations of very short-lived nuclei. The physics goals are to elucidate new nuclear structure effects and constrain nuclear mass models in regions of interest to nuclear astrophysics.\\\\ \\\\The spectrometer, installed in May 97, performed as promised in the proposal with mass resolution exceeding 100,000. In its first experiment in July 1998, neutron-rich Na isotopes having half-lives as short as 31 ms were measured. A second experiment in November 1998 enabled us to improve the measurement precision of the isotopes $^{26-30}$Na to about 20 keV. The measurement program continues as experiment IS 373.

  10. Schroedinger operators with point interactions and short range expansions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Albeverio, S.; Hoeegh-Krohn, R.; Oslo Univ.

    1984-01-01

    We give a survey of recent results concerning Schroedinger operators with point interactions in R 3 . In the case where the point interactions are located at a discrete set of points we discuss results about the resolvent, the spectrum, the resonances and the scattering quantities. We also discuss the approximation of point interactions by short range local potentials (short range or low energy expansions) and the one electron model of a 3-dimensional crystal. Moreover we discuss Schroedinger operators with Coulomb plus point interactions, with applications to the determination of scattering lengths and of level shifts in mesic atoms. Further applications to the multiple well problem, to multiparticle systems, to crystals with random impurities, to polymers and quantum fields are also briefly discussed. (orig.)

  11. Measurement of short-lived particles at PETRA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saxon, D.H.

    1987-04-01

    The contribution of PETRA to the measurement of short-lived particles is reviewed with discussion of the detectors and analysis techniques. New results are presented on lifetimes of identified particles and the systematics of b-life measurement outlined. The first application of vertex-tagging to flavour separation is described. (author)

  12. The ratio of long-lived to short-lived radon-222 progeny concentrations in ground-level air

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hoetzl, H.; Winkler, R.

    1996-01-01

    The ratio of 210 Pb air concentration to the short-lived radon ( 222 Rn) decay products concentration at ground level was investigated at a semi-rural location 10 km north of Munich, south Germany, for a period of 11 years (1982-1992). The average ratio from 132 monthly mean values has been found to be (7.5±2.2) x 10 -5 (arithmetic mean±S.D.). While the time series of the short-lived radon daughter concentration exhibit a distinct seasonal pattern with maxima mostly in October of each year, the course of 210 Pb air concentration is characterized by high values from October through February. Consequently, high ratios of 210 Pb to short-lived decay product concentration are often observed in the winter months of December-February. To study the influence of meteorological conditions on this behaviour, 210 Pb and 214 Pb concentrations were measured on a short-term basis with sampling intervals of 2-3 days from October 1991 to November 1992. The air concentrations obtained within those intervals were then correlated with actual meteorological parameters. On the base of this investigation the seasonal behaviour can essentially be explained by the more frequent inversion weather conditions in winter than in the summer months. At the same location, the average ratio of 210 Po to 210 Pb concentration in ground level air has been found to be 0.079 from 459 weakly mean values between 1976 and 1985. Hence, the corresponding average ratios of the short-lived radon daughters (EEC) to 210 Pb and 210 Po, were 1:7.5x10 -5 and 1:0.6 x 10 -5 , respectively

  13. The ratio of long-lived to short-lived radon-222 progeny concentrations in ground-level air

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hoetzl, H.; Winkler, R. [Institut fuer Strahlenschutz, GSF-Forschungszentrum fuer Umwelt und Gesundheit, Neuherberg Oberschleissheim (Germany)

    1996-02-09

    The ratio of {sup 210}Pb air concentration to the short-lived radon ({sup 222}Rn) decay products concentration at ground level was investigated at a semi-rural location 10 km north of Munich, south Germany, for a period of 11 years (1982-1992). The average ratio from 132 monthly mean values has been found to be (7.5{+-}2.2) x 10{sup -5} (arithmetic mean{+-}S.D.). While the time series of the short-lived radon daughter concentration exhibit a distinct seasonal pattern with maxima mostly in October of each year, the course of {sup 210}Pb air concentration is characterized by high values from October through February. Consequently, high ratios of {sup 210}Pb to short-lived decay product concentration are often observed in the winter months of December-February. To study the influence of meteorological conditions on this behaviour, {sup 210}Pb and {sup 214}Pb concentrations were measured on a short-term basis with sampling intervals of 2-3 days from October 1991 to November 1992. The air concentrations obtained within those intervals were then correlated with actual meteorological parameters. On the base of this investigation the seasonal behaviour can essentially be explained by the more frequent inversion weather conditions in winter than in the summer months. At the same location, the average ratio of {sup 210}Po to {sup 210}Pb concentration in ground level air has been found to be 0.079 from 459 weakly mean values between 1976 and 1985. Hence, the corresponding average ratios of the short-lived radon daughters (EEC) to {sup 210}Pb and {sup 210}Po, were 1:7.5x10{sup -5} and 1:0.6 x 10{sup -5}, respectively.

  14. Short-lived non-coding transcripts (SLiTs): Clues to regulatory long non-coding RNA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tani, Hidenori

    2017-03-22

    Whole transcriptome analyses have revealed a large number of novel long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). Although the importance of lncRNAs has been documented in previous reports, the biological and physiological functions of lncRNAs remain largely unknown. The role of lncRNAs seems an elusive problem. Here, I propose a clue to the identification of regulatory lncRNAs. The key point is RNA half-life. RNAs with a long half-life (t 1/2 > 4 h) contain a significant proportion of ncRNAs, as well as mRNAs involved in housekeeping functions, whereas RNAs with a short half-life (t 1/2 regulatory ncRNAs and regulatory mRNAs. This novel class of ncRNAs with a short half-life can be categorized as Short-Lived non-coding Transcripts (SLiTs). I consider that SLiTs are likely to be rich in functionally uncharacterized regulatory RNAs. This review describes recent progress in research into SLiTs.

  15. Soot and short-lived pollutants provide political opportunity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Victor, David G.; Zaelke, Durwood; Ramanathan, Veerabhadran

    2015-09-01

    Cutting levels of soot and other short-lived pollutants delivers tangible benefits and helps governments to build confidence that collective action on climate change is feasible. After the Paris climate meeting this December, actually reducing these pollutants will be essential to the credibility of the diplomatic process.

  16. Short Lived Fission Product Yield Measurements in 235U, 238U and 239Pu

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silano, Jack; Tonchev, Anton; Tornow, Werner; Krishichayan, Fnu; Finch, Sean; Gooden, Matthew; Wilhelmy, Jerry

    2017-09-01

    Yields of short lived fission products (FPYs) with half lives of a few minutes to an hour contain a wealth of information about the fission process. Knowledge of short lived FPYs would contribute to existing data on longer lived FPY mass and charge distributions. Of particular interest are the relative yields between the ground states and isomeric states of FPYs since these isomeric ratios can be used to determine the angular momentum of the fragments. Over the past five years, a LLNL-TUNL-LANL collaboration has made precision measurements of FPYs from quasi-monoenergetic neutron induced fission of 235U, 238U and 239Pu. These efforts focused on longer lived FPYs, using a well characterized dual fission chamber and several days of neutron beam exposure. For the first time, this established technique will be applied to measuring short lived FPYs, with half lives of minutes to less than an hour. A feasibility study will be performed using irradiation times of < 1 hour, improving the sensitivity to short lived FPYs by limiting the buildup of long lived isotopes. Results from this exploratory study will be presented, and the implications for isomeric ratio measurements will be discussed. This work was performed under the auspices of US DOE by LLNL under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.

  17. Applications of short lived nuclides in activation analysis, problems and progress

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Grass, F [Atominstitut, Vienna (Austria)

    1976-07-01

    Short lived nuclides or isomeric transitions, respectively would have some advantages over long lived ones. Although we published a paper concerning a germanium-determination in iron meteorites some years ago, only few laboratories use this technique, the main reason being that the high matrix activity disturbs the measurement of energy-spectra. A multichannel analyzer in the time sequence mode enables Li-8 determination by a purely instrumental method which is therefore used more frequently. In the time sequence mode much higher counting rates up to 10 - 50 MHz are processed then by taking energy-spectra. This is the reason why activation analysis with short lived isomeric states is seldom applied when counting rate and pulse height are to be detected simultaneously. Exceptional difficulties are encountered in measurement of samples activated by a reactor pulse. Further difficulties arise from the fact that an optimal expelling time depends on the half life of the nuclide, and is more critical if the half life is short and the full width half maximum of the reactor pulse is small. Commercial Ge-Li-detectors can be used only at low counting rates, so that samples with high matrix activities cannot be measured. Modifying the electronic system enables registration of samples with high matrix activities. For short lived nuclides emitting hard beta-rays, e.g. B-12 or Li-8, a Cerenkov-detector is optimal. These problems are discussed in examples. (author)

  18. Production and Use of Short-Lived Radioisotopes from Reactors. Vol. II. Proceedings of a Seminar on the Practical Applications of Short-Lived Radioisotopes Produced in Small Research Reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1963-01-01

    There are many radioisotope applications in which it is important that the radiation should rapidly fall to an insignificant level once the initial intense activity has served its purpose. Such applications include diagnostic tests in medicine, where it is essential to reduce the radiation dose to the patient to a minimum, non-destructive testing methods which must be applied without contaminating the material or product concerned, and repeated routine tests which are possible only if the residual activity from the previous test is negligible. All these applications call for radionuclides whose half- lives are measured in hours or even minutes. Similarly, in the new but increasingly important technique of activation analysis, whereby the quantities of elements present in a material can be determined by irradiating the material in a reactor and assaying the radionuclides produced, the latter are mainly short-lived and must be measured immediately. While the production of long-lived radionuclides can most economically be left to the large reactors at the main radioisotope centres, short-lived isotopes must be produced, or materials activation performed, in a reactor at or near the place of intended use or analysis; this, then, represents one of the most important uses for the large number of small reactors which have been installed in recent years, or will come into operation in the near future, in many parts of the world. Since in many countries the new problems of producing, separating and applying short-lived radioisotopes are being faced for the first time, the International Atomic Energy Agency believed it would be valuable to survey the state of the art by convening an international Seminar on Practical Applications of Short-lived Radioisotopes produced in Small Research Reactors at its Vienna headquarters in November, 1962. This Seminar provided an opportunity for the producers and users of short-lived radioisotopes from many countries to meet and discuss the

  19. Production and Use of Short-Lived Radioisotopes from Reactors. Vol. II. Proceedings of a Seminar on the Practical Applications of Short-Lived Radioisotopes Produced in Small Research Reactors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1963-03-15

    There are many radioisotope applications in which it is important that the radiation should rapidly fall to an insignificant level once the initial intense activity has served its purpose. Such applications include diagnostic tests in medicine, where it is essential to reduce the radiation dose to the patient to a minimum, non-destructive testing methods which must be applied without contaminating the material or product concerned, and repeated routine tests which are possible only if the residual activity from the previous test is negligible. All these applications call for radionuclides whose half- lives are measured in hours or even minutes. Similarly, in the new but increasingly important technique of activation analysis, whereby the quantities of elements present in a material can be determined by irradiating the material in a reactor and assaying the radionuclides produced, the latter are mainly short-lived and must be measured immediately. While the production of long-lived radionuclides can most economically be left to the large reactors at the main radioisotope centres, short-lived isotopes must be produced, or materials activation performed, in a reactor at or near the place of intended use or analysis; this, then, represents one of the most important uses for the large number of small reactors which have been installed in recent years, or will come into operation in the near future, in many parts of the world. Since in many countries the new problems of producing, separating and applying short-lived radioisotopes are being faced for the first time, the International Atomic Energy Agency believed it would be valuable to survey the state of the art by convening an international Seminar on Practical Applications of Short-lived Radioisotopes produced in Small Research Reactors at its Vienna headquarters in November, 1962. This Seminar provided an opportunity for the producers and users of short-lived radioisotopes from many countries to meet and discuss the

  20. Fast Resonance Raman Spectroscopy of Short-Lived Radicals

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pagsberg, Palle Bjørn; Wilbrandt, Robert Walter; Hansen, Karina Benthin

    1976-01-01

    We report the first application of pulsed resonance Raman spectroscopy to the study of short-lived free radicals produced by pulse radiolysis. A single pulse from a flash-lamp pumped tunable dye laser is used to excite the resonance Raman spectrum of the p-terphenyl anion radical with an initial...

  1. Studies on short-lived fission products at the Mainz TRIGA reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Trautmann, N.

    1974-01-01

    Neutron-rich nuclei of medium mass number are produced by thermal-neutron-induced fission of heavy elements, e.g., 235 U, 239 Pu, and 249 Cf. Pulse irradiations lead to an enhancement of the ratio of short-lived activities to the accompanying longer-lived components. One approach for investigating the properties of short-lived nuclei consists in a combination of rapid chemical separations with higher-resolution gamma spectroscopy. This is demonstrated by the isolation of neutron-rich isotopes of niobium by sorption on glass and of ruthenium by solvent extraction. Other rapid separation procedures from aqueous solutions are briefly summarized and a few examples for their application in nuclear fission- and delayed neutron studies are given. Some experiments with an on-line mass separator of the ISOLDE-type, using chemical targets, are described. (U.S.)

  2. Accurate mass measurements of short-lived isotopes with the MISTRAL rf spectrometer

    CERN Document Server

    Toader, C F; Borcea, C; Doubre, H; Duma, M; Jacotin, M; Henry, S; Képinski, J F; Lebée, G; Le Scornet, G; Lunney, M D; Monsanglant, C; De Saint-Simon, M; Thibault, C

    1999-01-01

    The MISTRAL experiment has measured its first masses at ISOLDE. Installed in May 1997, this radiofrequency transmission spectrometer is to concentrate on nuclides with particularly short half-lives. MISTRAL received its first stable beam in October and first radioactive beam in November 1997. These first tests, with a plasma ion source, resulted in excellent isobaric separation and reasonable transmission. Further testing and development enabled first data taking in July 1998 on neutron-rich Na isotopes having half-lives as short as 31 ms.

  3. Short-lived Isotopes from a Close-by AGB Star Triggering the Protosolar Nebula

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gallino, R.; Busso, M.; Wasserburg, G. J.; Straniero, O.

    The presence of short-lived isotopes in the early solar system, in particular 26Al, 41Ca, 60Fe, and 107Pd, point to a close-by and fresh nucleosynthesis source, possibly triggering the collapse of the protosolar nebula. We present the results of nucleosynthesis calculations based on an AGB polluting hypothesis. A general concordance of the predicted yields of the above radioactivities relative to 26Al can be obtained in the case of an intermediate mass AGB star with hot bottom burning in the envelope (thus producing 26Al), and mixing through a series of third dredge-up episodes a fraction of the C-rich and s-processed material from the He intershell with the extended envelope. Polution of the protosolar nebula with freshly synthesized material may derive from the efficient winds of the AGB star. In AGB stars, the s-process nucleosynthesis occurs both during the maximum phase of every thermal runaway, driven by the partial activation of the 22Ne(alpha,n)25Mg reaction, and in the interpulse phase, where the 13C nuclei are fully consumed in radiative conditions by the activation of the 13C(alpha,n)16O reaction. We have used different prescriptions for the amount of the 13C nuclei present in the intershell. A minimum amount of 13C is naturally expected in the ashes of H-shell burning. Possible formation of an extra "13C-pocket" derives from the injection of a small amount of protons from the envelope into the 12C-rich intershell during any third dredge-up episode, when the H-shell is inactivated. Prediction for other short-lived, 36Cl, 135Cs, and 205Pb, are given. General consequences for the pollution of the protosolar nebula with newly synthesized stable isotopes from the AGB winds are outlined. The origin of other detected short-lived nuclei, in particular 53Mn, 129I, and 182Hf, which cannot come from an AGB source, is analysed. The alternative trigger hypothesis by a close-by Supernova is discussed.

  4. Short-lived positron emitter labeled radiotracers - present status

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fowler, J.S.; Wolf, A.P.

    1982-01-01

    The preparation of labelled compounds is important for the application of positron emission transaxial tomography (PETT) in biomedical sciences. This paper describes problems and progress in the synthesis of short-lived positron emitter ( 11 C, 18 F, 13 N) labelled tracers for PETT. Synthesis of labelled sugars, amino acids, and neurotransmitter receptors (pimozide and spiroperidol tagged with 11 C) is discussed in particular

  5. Use of short-lived radionuclides in the agricultural and environmental sciences

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Krohn, K.A.

    1985-01-01

    In addition to their well-known uses in physiology, biochemistry, and medicine, short-lived radioisotopes have played an important part in promoting the authors knowledge of the agricultural and environmental sciences. Numerous investigators have found that the scientific rewards justify the additional demands associated with use of short-lived radioisotopes when novel or uniquely precise results can be achieved. This is best exemplified by examining the use of 13 N. Nitrogen-13 is the longest lived radioisotope of this very important element. The 10-min half-life of 13 N has required that the agricultural or environmental test model be brought to the laboratory where the isotope is made, but this has been done successfully in numerous instances. One major incentive for this research has probably been the fact that there is no analog of the very useful 14 C tracer to study nitrogen chemistry and biology

  6. Computing three-point functions for short operators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bargheer, Till; Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ; Minahan, Joseph A.; Pereira, Raul

    2013-11-01

    We compute the three-point structure constants for short primary operators of N=4 super Yang.Mills theory to leading order in 1/√(λ) by mapping the problem to a flat-space string theory calculation. We check the validity of our procedure by comparing to known results for three chiral primaries. We then compute the three-point functions for any combination of chiral and non-chiral primaries, with the non-chiral primaries all dual to string states at the first massive level. Along the way we find many cancellations that leave us with simple expressions, suggesting that integrability is playing an important role.

  7. Computing three-point functions for short operators

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bargheer, Till [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Hamburg (Germany); Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ (United States). School of Natural Sciences; Minahan, Joseph A.; Pereira, Raul [Uppsala Univ. (Sweden). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy

    2013-11-15

    We compute the three-point structure constants for short primary operators of N=4 super Yang.Mills theory to leading order in 1/√(λ) by mapping the problem to a flat-space string theory calculation. We check the validity of our procedure by comparing to known results for three chiral primaries. We then compute the three-point functions for any combination of chiral and non-chiral primaries, with the non-chiral primaries all dual to string states at the first massive level. Along the way we find many cancellations that leave us with simple expressions, suggesting that integrability is playing an important role.

  8. Historical review of short-lived isotope applications in New Zealand

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    More, R.D.

    1986-01-01

    Production of short-lived isotopes, nitrogen 13, fluorine 18 and carbon 11 with a small Van de Graaff accelerator. Applications of these isotopes in uptake and photosynthetic translocation studies in plants, and fluorine tracing in dental studies

  9. What's the point? Golden and Labrador retrievers living in kennels do not understand human pointing gestures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    D'Aniello, Biagio; Alterisio, Alessandra; Scandurra, Anna; Petremolo, Emanuele; Iommelli, Maria Rosaria; Aria, Massimo

    2017-07-01

    In many studies that have investigated whether dogs' capacities to understand human pointing gestures are aspects of evolutionary or developmental social competences, family-owned dogs have been compared to shelter dogs. However, for most of these studies, the origins of shelter dogs were unknown. Some shelter dogs may have lived with families before entering shelters, and from these past experiences, they may have learned to understand human gestures. Furthermore, there is substantial variation in the methodology and analytic approaches used in such studies (e.g. different pointing protocols, different treatment of trials with no-choice response and indoor vs. outdoor experimental arenas). Such differences in methodologies and analysis techniques used make it difficult to compare results obtained from different studies and may account for the divergent results obtained. We thus attempted to control for several parameters by carrying out a test on dynamic proximal and distal pointing. We studied eleven kennel dogs of known origin that were born and raised in a kennels with limited human interaction. This group was compared to a group of eleven dogs comparable in terms of breed, sex and age that had lived with human families since they were puppies. Our results demonstrate that pet dogs outperform kennel dogs in their comprehension of proximal and distal pointing, regardless of whether trials where no-choice was made were considered as errors or were excluded from statistical analysis, meaning that dogs living in kennels do not understand pointing gestures. Even if genetic effects of the domestication process on human-dog relationships cannot be considered as negligible, our data suggest that dogs need to learn human pointing gestures and thus underscore the importance of ontogenetic processes.

  10. A technique for the measurement of electron attachment to short-lived excited species

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Christophorou, L.G.; Pinnaduwage, L.A.; Bitouni, A.P.

    1990-01-01

    A technique is described for the measurement of electron attachment to short-lived (approx-lt 10 -9 s) excited species. Preliminary results are presented for photoenhanced electron attachment to short-lived electronically-excited states of triethylamine molecules produced by laser two-photon excitation. The attachment cross sections for these excited states are estimated to be >10 -11 cm 2 and are ∼10 7 larger compared to those for the unexcited (ground-state) molecules. 8 refs., 4 figs

  11. Disentangling the effects of CO2 and short-lived climate forcer mitigation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rogelj, J.; Schaeffer, M.; Meinshausen, M.; Shindell, D.T.; Hare, W.; Klimont, Z.; Velders, G.J.M.; Amann, M.; Schellnhuber, H.J.

    2014-01-01

    Anthropogenic global warming is driven by emissions of a wide variety of radiative forcers ranging from very short-lived climate forcers (SLCFs), like black carbon, to very long-lived, like CO2. These species are often released from common sources and are therefore intricately linked. However, for

  12. A proposal for assessing study quality: Biomonitoring, Environmental Epidemiology, and Short-lived Chemicals (BEES-C) instrument

    Science.gov (United States)

    LaKind, Judy S.; Sobus, Jon R.; Goodman, Michael; Barr, Dana Boyd; Fürst, Peter; Albertini, Richard J.; Arbuckle, Tye E.; Schoeters, Greet; Tan, Yu-Mei; Teeguarden, Justin; Tornero-Velez, Rogelio; Weisel, Clifford P.

    2015-01-01

    The quality of exposure assessment is a major determinant of the overall quality of any environmental epidemiology study. The use of biomonitoring as a tool for assessing exposure to ubiquitous chemicals with short physiologic half-lives began relatively recently. These chemicals present several challenges, including their presence in analytical laboratories and sampling equipment, difficulty in establishing temporal order in cross-sectional studies, short- and long-term variability in exposures and biomarker concentrations, and a paucity of information on the number of measurements required for proper exposure classification. To date, the scientific community has not developed a set of systematic guidelines for designing, implementing and interpreting studies of short-lived chemicals that use biomonitoring as the exposure metric or for evaluating the quality of this type of research for WOE assessments or for peer review of grants or publications. We describe key issues that affect epidemiology studies using biomonitoring data on short-lived chemicals and propose a systematic instrument – the Biomonitoring, Environmental Epidemiology, and Short-lived Chemicals (BEES-C) instrument – for evaluating the quality of research proposals and studies that incorporate biomonitoring data on short-lived chemicals. Quality criteria for three areas considered fundamental to the evaluation of epidemiology studies that include biological measurements of short-lived chemicals are described: 1) biomarker selection and measurement, 2) study design and execution, and 3) general epidemiological study design considerations. We recognize that the development of an evaluative tool such as BEES-C is neither simple nor non-controversial. We hope and anticipate that the instrument will initiate further discussion/debate on this topic. PMID:25137624

  13. Shot Noise Suppression in a Quantum Point Contact with Short Channel Length

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jeong, Heejun

    2015-01-01

    An experimental study on the current shot noise of a quantum point contact with short channel length is reported. The experimentally measured maximum energy level spacing between the ground and the first excited state of the device reached up to 7.5 meV, probably due to the hard wall confinement by using shallow electron gas and sharp point contact geometry. The two-dimensional non-equilibrium shot noise contour map shows noise suppression characteristics in a wide range of bias voltage. Fano factor analysis indicates spin-polarized transport through a short quantum point contact. (paper)

  14. Applications of nuclear data on short-lived fission products

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rudstam, G.; Aagaard, P.; Aleklett, K.; Lund, E.

    1981-01-01

    The study of short-lived fission products gives information about the nuclear structure on the neutron-rich side of stability. The data are also of interest for various applications both to basic science and to nuclear technology. Some of these applications, taken up by the OSIRIS group at Studsvik, are described in the present contribution. (orig.)

  15. Analysing environmental and fishing effects on a short-lived species ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Short-lived species are extremely dependent on the seasonal and interannual variability of environmental conditions, and determining their stock status is often difficult. This study investigates the effects of environmental variability and fishing pressure on the stock of octopus Octopus vulgaris in Senegalese waters over a ...

  16. Creation of point defects in superconductors. A short review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Quere, Yves; Rullier-Albenque, Florence.

    1981-11-01

    Many experiments have been published concerning the radiation damage in superconductors, but relatively few about the mechanisms of defect creation. A short review is presented of what is known on point defect creation in superconductors either by cold-work or by irradiation

  17. Radon and its short-lived decay nuclides in the living environment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abe, Siro

    1988-01-01

    The problem about radon and its shortlived decay nuclides in the living environment has been frequently closed-up. The problem is focused on the exposure of human being due to radon and its progeny. This paper reports the reason to the occurrence of the problem. Radon source as well as its pathway into our rooms are outlined here. The behavior of radon and its progeny indoors is also shown in this paper in comparison with outdoor situation and from the persons' activity's point of view. (author)

  18. Determination of gamma-ray exposure rate from short-lived fission products under criticality accident conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yanagisawa, Hiroshi; Ohno, Akio; Aizawa, Eijyu

    2002-01-01

    For the assessment of γ-ray doses from short-lived fission products (FPs) under criticality accident conditions, γ-ray exposure rates varying with time were experimentally determined in the Transient Experiment Critical Facility (TRACY). The data were obtained by reactivity insertion in the range of 1.50 to 2.93$. It was clarified from the experiments that the contribution of γ-ray from short-lived FPs to total exposure during the experiments was evaluated to be 15 to 17%. Hence, the contribution cannot be neglected for the assessment of γ-ray doses under criticality accident conditions. Computational analyses also indicated that γ-ray exposure rates from short-lived FPs calculated with the Monte Carlo code, MCNP4B, and photon sources based on the latest FP decay data, the JENDL FP Decay Data File 2000, well agreed with the experimental results. The exposure rates were, however, extremely underestimated when the photon sources were obtained by the ORIGEN2 code. The underestimation is due to lack of energy-dependent photon emission data for major short-lived FP nuclides in the photon database attached to the ORIGEN2 code. It was also confirmed that the underestimation arose in 1,000 or less of time lapse after an initial power burst. (author)

  19. A general dead-time correction method based on live-time stamping. Application to the measurement of short-lived radionuclides.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chauvenet, B; Bobin, C; Bouchard, J

    2017-12-01

    Dead-time correction formulae are established in the general case of superimposed non-homogeneous Poisson processes. Based on the same principles as conventional live-timed counting, this method exploits the additional information made available using digital signal processing systems, and especially the possibility to store the time stamps of live-time intervals. No approximation needs to be made to obtain those formulae. Estimates of the variances of corrected rates are also presented. This method is applied to the activity measurement of short-lived radionuclides. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Identification of short-lived neutron-rich ruthenium and rhodium isotopes in fission

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Franz, G.; Herrmann, G.

    1975-01-01

    Short-lived ruthenium and rhodium isotopes ( 107 Ru, 108 Ru, 108 Rh, 109 Ru, 109 Rh, 110 Ru, 110 Rh, 111 Ru, 111 Rh, 112 Ru, 112 Rh, 113 Ru) have been separated from fission products by a rapid chemical procedure and identified by means of γ-ray spectroscopy. Nuclides with half-lives down to 3 sec were accessible. Ruthenium isotopes up to mass number 113 have been identified. (author)

  1. Feasibility of short-lived radionuclide production at Fermilab

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ten Haken, R.K.; Awschalom, M.; Rosenberg, I.

    1985-01-01

    The requirements for establishing a short-lived radionuclide production program at Fermilab are explored. Such a program would utilize beam from the linac portion of the injector much like the present Neutron Therapy Facility. It should be possible to use approximately 10 to 20 μA of 66-MeV protons for iodine-123 production. Several additional magnets would need to be acquired and a shielded target facility would need to be constructed. However, the feasibility of establishing such a program hinges upon its harmonious operation with the high energy physics program

  2. Separation of short-lived fission products

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tamai, Tadaharu; Ohyoshi, Emiko; Ohyoshi, Akira; Kiso, Yoshiyuki; Shinagawa, Mutsuaki.

    1976-01-01

    A rbief review is presented on the various methods of separation available for both gaseous and liquid states, for the separation of short-lived fission products formed by binary fission of neutron irradiated uranium. The means available for gaseous state are the hot atom reaction, the hydride method and on-line mass separation. For liquid state, use can be made of precipitation, ionic or atomic exchange, solvent extraction and paper electrophoresis. Particular reference is made to electrophoretic separation of ions produced by fission in aqueous solution of uranium. The principle of electrophoretic separation and the procedures for separating the element of interest from the other fission products are outlined, with reference made to the results obtained with the method by the present authors. The elements in question are alkalines, alkaline earths, rare earths, halogens, selenium and

  3. Measurements of Short-Lived Fission Isomers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Finch, Sean; Bhike, Megha; Howell, Calvin; Krishichayan, Fnu; Tornow, Werner

    2016-09-01

    Fission yields of the short lived isomers 134mTe (T1 / 2 = 162 ns) and 136mXe (T1 / 2 = 2 . 95 μs) were measured for 235U and 238U. The isomers were detected by the γ rays associated with the decay of the isomeric states using high-purity germanium detectors. Fission was induced using both monoenergetic γ rays and neutrons. At TUNL's High-Intensity Gamma-ray Source (HI γS), γ rays of 9 and 11 MeV were produced . Monoenergetic 8 MeV neutrons were produced at TUNL's tandem accelerator laboratory. Both beams were pulsed to allow for precise time-gated spectroscopy of both prompt and delayed γ rays following fission. This technique offers a non-destructive probe of special nuclear materials that is sensitive to the isotopic identity of the fissile material.

  4. Transport of short lived radioactive contaminants with prologed half-lives of daughters through river water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Metwally, S.M.; Prohl, G.

    2005-01-01

    One of the main pathways for transporting contaminants to other parts in the environment, are rivers. This work is devoted for deriving and assessment the concentration of soluble radio contaminants along a river at any time after discharge, including the short-lived radionuclides in comparison with the discharge time interval, and prolonged half-life of the produced daughter nuclei. The assumed boundary conditions and deduced formulas can be applied either in case of accidental release or discharge under authority control. The formulas determining the produced daughter nuclei concentration require inequality of the parent and daughter nuclei half-lives. Because of the regional variation of river morphology, the assumed constancy of the flow velocity and dispersion coefficient requires dividing the river path into zones of similar hydrologic characteristics

  5. Organic synthesis with short-lived positron-emitting radioisotopes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pike, V.W.

    1988-01-01

    Chemistry with short-lived positron-emitting radioisotopes of the non-metals, principally 11 C, 13 N and 18 F, has burgeoned over the last decade. This has been almost entirely because of the emergence of positron emission tomography (PET) as a powerful non-invasive technique for investigating pathophysiology in living man. PET is essentially an external technique for the rapid serial reconstruction of the spatial distribution of any positron-emitting radioisotope that has been administered in vivo. Such a distribution is primarily governed by the chemical form in which the positron-emitting radioisotope is incorporated, and importantly for clinical research, is often perturbed by physical, biological or clinical factors. Judicious choice of the chemical form enables specific biological information to be obtained. For example, the labelling of glucose with a positron-emitting radioisotope could be expected to provide a radiopharmaceutical for the study of glucose utilisation in both health and disease. (author)

  6. Electron scattering off short-lived radioactive nuclei

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, S.; Emoto, T.; Furukawa, Y.

    2009-01-01

    We have established a novel method which make electron scattering off short-lived radioactive nuclei come into being. This novel method was named SCRIT (Self-Confining RI ion Target). It was based on the well known "ion trapping" phenomenon in electron storage rings. Stable nucleus, 133 Cs, was used as target nucleus in the R&D experiment. The luminosity of interaction between stored electrons and Cs ions was about 1.02(0.06) × 10 26 cm -2 s -1 at beam current around 80 mA. The angular distribution of elastically scattered electrons from trapped Cs ions was measured. And an online luminosity monitor was used to monitor the change of luminosity during the experiment. (author)

  7. Neutron-induced cross sections of short-lived nuclei via the surrogate reaction method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Morel P.

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available The measurement of neutron-induced cross sections of short-lived nuclei is extremely difficult due to the radioactivity of the samples. The surrogate reaction method is an indirect way of determining cross sections for nuclear reactions that proceed through a compound nucleus. This method presents the advantage that the target material can be stable or less radioactive than the material required for a neutron-induced measurement. We have successfully used the surrogate reaction method to extract neutron-induced fission cross sections of various short-lived actinides. In this work, we investigate whether this technique can be used to determine neutron-induced capture cross sections in the rare-earth region.

  8. Neutron-induced cross sections of short-lived nuclei via the surrogate reaction method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tassan-Got L.

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available The measurement of neutron-induced cross sections of short-lived nuclei is extremely difficult due to the radioactivity of the samples. The surrogate reaction method is an indirect way of determining cross sections for nuclear reactions that proceed through a compound nucleus. This method presents the advantage that the target material can be stable or less radioactive than the material required for a neutron-induced measurement. We have successfully used the surrogate reaction method to extract neutron-induced fission cross sections of various short-lived actinides. In this work, we investigate whether this technique can be used to determine neutron-induced capture cross sections in the rare-earth region.

  9. Short-lived brain state after cued motor imagery in naive subjects

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pfurtscheller, G.; Scherer, R.; Müller-Putz, G.R.; Lopes da Silva, F.H.

    2008-01-01

    Multi-channel electroencephalography recordings have shown that a visual cue, indicating right hand, left hand or foot motor imagery, can induce a short-lived brain state in the order of about 500 ms. In the present study, 10 able-bodied subjects without any motor imagery experience (naive subjects)

  10. Passive Mobile Bandwidth Classification Using Short Lived TCP Connections

    OpenAIRE

    Michelinakis, Foivos; Kreitz, Gunnar; Petrocco, Riccardo; Zhang, Boxun; Widmer, Joerg

    2015-01-01

    Consumption of multimedia content is moving from a residential environment to mobile phones. Optimizing Quality of Experience—smooth, quick, and high quality playback—is more difficult in this setting, due to the highly dynamic nature of wireless links. A key requirement for achieving this goal is estimating the available bandwidth of mobile devices. Ideally, this should be done quickly and with low overhead. One challenge is that the majority of connections on mobiles are short-lived TCP con...

  11. Review of short-lived radionuclide activities in the United States

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sodd, V.J.

    1985-01-01

    A review is given of the accelerator-produced short-lived radionuclides which are used in radiopharmaceuticals available commercially in the US and of the accelerator facilities devoted primarily to their production. Reactions for the efficient production of 67 Ga, 81 Rb → /sup 81m/Kr, 111 In, 201 Tl, and 123 I are given. Methods for the production of higher purity 123 I are suggested

  12. Last developments in the Belgian disposal programme for low and intermediate short-lived waste

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boyazis, Jean-Paul

    2006-01-01

    After an historical reminder of the several phases of the Belgian program for the disposal of low and medium level short-lived waste since the creation of ONDRAF/NIRAS and the bad results obtained in the 90's by using a pure technical approach, the presentation will explain the main lines of the new methodology developed, as a consequence of the government decision of 16 January 1998 in ONDRAF/NIRAS to improve local acceptance for the disposal project. The way local partnerships were created with four nuclear municipalities under the form of a non-profit organization with a clear mission, the functioning, on a voluntary base, of the different partnerships during four to six years and the concrete results obtained until now using this very innovative method will be addressed. The last developments of the Belgian program for the disposal of low and medium level and short-lived waste will be presented, including the recent and very important decision of the Belgian government of 23 June 2006 to dispose of the low and medium active short-lived waste in a surface disposal installation on the territory of the municipality Dessel. (author)

  13. PANTHER Data from SOLVE-II Through CR-AVE: A Contrast Between Long and Short Lived Compounds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, F. L.; Dutton, G. S.; Elkins, J. W.; Hall, B. D.; Hurst, D. F.; Nance, J. D.; Thompson, T. M.

    2006-12-01

    PANTHER (PAN and other Trace Hydrohalocarbons ExpeRiment) is an airborne 6-channel gas chromatograph that measures approximately 20 important atmospheric trace gases whose changing burdens impact air quality, climate change and both stratospheric and tropospheric ozone. In this presentation we will contrast measurements of the long-lived compounds against the short-lived compounds. The long-lived compounds tend to have well-defined troposphere boundary conditions and develop spatial gradients due to stratospheric processing. These measurements have played a major role in quantifying stratospheric transport, stratosphere- troposphere exchange, and ozone loss. In contrast the short-lived species develop spatial and temporal gradients in the tropical tropopause layer (TTL), due to variations in the surface boundary layer concentrations and the coupling of this surface boundary layer to the TTL via convective processes. Deep convection acts like a "conveyor belt" between the source region in the boundary layer and the relatively stable TTL region, often bypassing the free troposphere where scavenging of these short lived species takes place. Loss rates due to reaction with OH and thermal decomposition are reduced in the cold, dry air of the TTL, resulting in longer survival times. Isolation of the TTL region from the free troposphere can last from days to over a month. Significant amounts of these short-lived compound and their byproducts can therefore be transported into the lower stratosphere (LS). Of particular interest are compounds that contain bromine, iodine, and sulfur, not only because of their intrinsic harmful effects in the atmosphere, but also because they have unique source and sink regions that can help to de- convolve transport.

  14. Production of exotic, short lived carbon isotopes in ISOL-type facilities

    CERN Document Server

    Franberg, Hanna; Köster, Ulli; Ammann, Markus

    2008-01-01

    The beam intensities of short-lived carbon isotopes at Isotope Separation On-Line (ISOL) facilities have been limited in the past for technical reasons. The production of radioactive ion beams of carbon isotopes is currently of high interest for fundamental nuclear physics research. To produce radioactive ions a target station consisting of a target in a container connected to an ion source via a transfer line is commonly used. The target is heated to vaporize the product for transport. Carbon in elementary form is a very reactive element and react strongly with hot metal surfaces. Due to the strong chemisorption interaction, in the target and ion source unit, the atoms undergo significant retention on their way from the target to the ion source. Due to this the short lived isotopes decays and are lost leading to low ion yields. A first approach to tackle these limitations consists of incorporating the carbon atoms into less reactive molecules and to use materials for the target housing and the transfer line ...

  15. Production of medical short-lived radionuclides in Canada

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wiebe, L.I.

    1985-01-01

    The production of radionuclides for medical and biomedical research in Canada has been reviewed with respect to the national geographic and demographic characteristics which influence their use. The types of facilities available for the production of short-lived radionuclides have been summarized, and a tabulation of the radionuclides that are produced has been presented. In broad terms production facilities can be classified as belonging to one of two groups, nuclear reactor or charged-particle accelerators. The charged-particle accelerators produce the more neutron-deficient and (because of the resultant decay properties) the more useful radionuclides for medical application. The nuclear reactor facilities for radionuclide production range in size and capacity from the high-flux research reactors of AECL to the six SLOWPOKE reactors, five of which are located on university campuses across the country. The McMaster University reactor is used to produce curie quantities of fluorine-18 weekly. Millicurie amounts of a large number of radionuclides, most of which have half-lives ranging from 2 to 50 hr, are produced in the low-flux reactors, in support of basic medical research

  16. Continuous administration of short-lived isotopes for evaluating dynamic parameters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Selikson, M.

    1985-01-01

    In this paper it is shown that continuous but varying infusions (specifically, exponential infusions) of a short-lived radionuclide can be used to evaluate a wide range of dynamic parameters. The detector response to exponential infusions is derived. An example of an inert diffusible substrate for evaluating regional flow and a glucose model for evaluating regional metabolic rate are both worked out. The advantages of using exponential infusion methods are discussed

  17. Short-lived radiopharmaceuticals for the diagnosis of ocular melanoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Packer, S.; Lambrecht, R.; Atkins, H.L.; Wolf, A.P.

    1974-01-01

    An experimental procedure has been established to evaluate radiopharmaceuticals for the specific purpose of melanoma detection by scintiscanning. By using the Greene melanoma in the hamster several labeled compounds were compared. Specifically the tumor uptake along with detailed analyses of uptake by various parts of the eye and body were determined in a hamster model. Of those short-lived radionuclides investigated 203 Pb-tris was the most promising as a non-invasive localizing agent for ocular melanoma and it should prove effective for ocular scintigraphy. (U.S.)

  18. Applications of short-lived isotopes in agricultural research in New Zealand

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McCallum, G.J.; More, R.D.; McNaughton, G.S.; Minchin, P.E.H.; Presland, M.R.; Stout, J.D.

    1981-01-01

    The use of the short-lived isotopes 11 C and 13 N in agricultural research studies in New Zealand is reviewed. The methods employed to produce these radioisotopes using a 3 MV Van de Graaff accelerator are given. Experiments on transport processes and the uptake of nutrient by plants, and the study of soil processes are described. (Auth.)

  19. The development of fast tantalum foil targets for short-lived isotopes

    CERN Document Server

    Bennett, J R J; Drumm, P V; Ravn, H L

    2003-01-01

    The development of fast tantalum foil targets for short-lived isotopes was discussed. It was found that the effusion was faster but the diffusion out of the foils was a limiting factor. The performance of the targets at ISOLDE with beams of **1**1Li, **1**2Be and **1**4Be was also analyzed. (Edited abstract) 13 Refs.

  20. Activation analysis with neutron generators using short-lived radionuclides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salma, I.

    1993-01-01

    The short half-life involves a number of important differences in production, transportation and measurement of radionuclides, and in counting statistics as compared with those in traditional activation analysis. Experiments were performed to investigate the analytical possibilities and prospective utilization of short-lived radionuclides produced by 14-MeV neutron irradiation. A rapid pneumatic transfer system for use with neutron generators was installed and applied for detecting radionuclides with a half-life from 300 ms to 30 s. The transport time for samples with a total mass of 1-4 g is between 130 and 160 ms for pressurized air of 0.1-0.4 MPa. 11 elements were studied by the conventional activation method using both a typical pneumatic transport system (run time 3 s) and the fast pneumatic transport facility. The effect of the cyclic activation technique on the elemental sensitivities was also investigated. (orig.)

  1. Corrections for the combined effects of decay and dead time in live-timed counting of short-lived radionuclides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fitzgerald, R.

    2016-01-01

    Studies and calibrations of short-lived radionuclides, for example "1"5O, are of particular interest in nuclear medicine. Yet counting experiments on such species are vulnerable to an error due to the combined effect of decay and dead time. Separate decay corrections and dead-time corrections do not account for this issue. Usually counting data are decay-corrected to the start time of the count period, or else instead of correcting the count rate, the mid-time of the measurement is used as the reference time. Correction factors are derived for both those methods, considering both extending and non-extending dead time. Series approximations are derived here and the accuracy of those approximations are discussed. - Highlights: • Derived combined effects of decay and dead time. • Derived for counting systems with extending or non-extending dead times. • Derived series expansions for both midpoint and decay-to-start-time methods. • Useful for counting experiments with short-lived radionuclides. • Examples given for "1"5O, used in PET scanning.

  2. Emission channeling lattice location experiments with short-lived isotopes

    CERN Multimedia

    Wahl, U; Ronning, C R

    2007-01-01

    Emission channeling with position-sensitive detectors is a well-established technique at ISOLDE for studying the lattice location of radioactive impurities implanted into single crystals. In the case of electron emitting isotopes, however, due to count rate and noise-related limitations of the detection systems, the technique was restricted to isotopes with half lives above 6 h and electron energies above 40 keV. Recently, major technical developments have been realized and new equipment has been acquired which has allowed these limitations to be overcome and made feasible electron emission channeling experiments with short-lived isotopes and at low electron energies.\\\\ As first application, making use of two new on-line emission channeling setups at ISOLDE, we propose to investigate the lattice location of the transition metals Ni (2.5 h) and Co (1.6 h) in semiconductors, in particular in ZnO and GaN, by means of on-line $\\beta^{-}$-emission channeling experiments. In addition, we would like to study the lat...

  3. Determination of short-lived trace elements in environmental samples by neutron activation analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wardani, S.; Sihombing, E.; Hamzah, A.; Rochidi; Hery, P.S.; Hartaman, S.; Iman, J.

    1998-01-01

    Concentration of a short-lived trace elements in environmental samples were determined by neutron activation analysis, a counting loss often occur due to the high counting rate. A Pile-Up Rejecter (PUR) electric circuit was installed in counting a short-lived trace elements by a γ-ray spectrometer in order to correct a counting loss. The samples were irradiated for 30∼60 seconds at neutron flux of 3.5 x 10 12 n.cm -2 .s -1 , then the samples cooled for 120 second and counted for 180 second using this system. The nuclides concentration in the varieties environmental samples have a difference analysis result, was more accurate and precise, which the measured result would be 30 % more higher by PUR system than the result would be counted using a conventional γ-ray spectrometry method

  4. Nondispersive x-ray diagnostics of short lived plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Day, R.H.

    1983-01-01

    In this NATO Advanced Study Institute, we have discussed in detail the diagnosis of many pulse power machine properties, including their electrical behavior, grounding and shielding, and related data acquisition techniques. The purpose for many of these machines is to create high temperature/high density plasmas and, therefore, the subsequent behavior of these plasmas is of critical concern. The energy density of these plasmas is such that they will naturally radiate in the x-ray regime and thus the diagnosis of their x-ray emission is a crucial measurement of the entire system performance. In this lecture, I describe the general techniques used to perform nondispersive x-ray diagnostics of these short lived plasmas

  5. Harvard--MIT research program in short-lived radiopharmaceuticals. Progress report, September 1, 1977--April 30, 1978

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Adelstein, S.J.; Brownell, G.L.

    1978-05-01

    Progress is reported on the following studies: chemistry studies designed to achieve a more complete understanding of the fundamental chemistry of technetium in order to facilitate the design of future radiopharmaceuticals incorporating the radionuclide /sup 99m/Tc; the development of new radiopharmaceuticals intended to improve image quality and lower radiation doses by the use of short-lived radionuclides and disease-specific agents; the development of short-lived positron-emitting radionuclides which offer advantages in transverse section imaging of regional physiological processes; and studies of the toxic effects of particulate radiation

  6. Interest of the Department of Energy in production and development of short-lived radionuclides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thiessen, J.W.

    1985-01-01

    The Department of Energy has developed production of potentially useful radionuclides for applications in medicine. The Department's financial commitment and the short-lived radionuclide production program, with emphasis on iodine-123, is discussed

  7. Continuous administration of short-lived radioisotope tracers and the analogous Laplace transform

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Orr, J.S.

    1979-01-01

    Short-lived radioactive tracers are used because of the low radiation dose to patients. Another advantage finding increasing use, however, is that the equilibrium activities achieved by continuous administration to a steady state contain kinetic information. This is not the case with long-lived isotopes. The derivation of quantitative kinetic information in the form of rate constants or flows requires the formulation of a model of the system being studied. Several approaches to this have been published based on a model of single compartments with simultaneous arrival of tracer. To deal with more realistic models a method is proposed which uses the analogy between the procedure of continuous administration of short-lived tracer and the Laplace transform. This analogy permits all the theorems of Laplace transform theory to be applied to the analysis of measured activities. The basis of the analogy is explained and examples are given of its application to a number of models which represent actual physiology more realistically than single compartment models. In these applications the transformed equations representing the model, with measured values of activity inserted for each transform, are solved to derive the rate constants. This is different from the use of Laplace transforms where the constant coefficients are known and the initial value problem is solved to find the behaviour of the variables. (author)

  8. Place of the final disposal of short lived dismantling waste; Plats foer slutfoervaring av kortlivat rivningsavfall

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2013-01-15

    This report deals with the short-lived low and intermediate level radioactive waste, which will mainly arise from the dismantling of the Swedish nuclear power plants, but also the dismantling of other nuclear facilities. For these installations to be dismantled, there must be the capacity to receive and dispose of dismantling waste. SKB plans to expand the existing final repository for short-lived radioactive waste (SFR) in Forsmark for this purpose. The legislation requires alternatives to the chosen location. The alternate location for the disposal of decommissioning waste SKB has chosen to compare with is a location in the Simpevarp area outside Oskarshamn. There are currently Oskarshamn nuclear power plant and SKB between stock 'CLAB'. The choice of Simpevarp as alternative location is based on that it's one of the places in the country where data on the bedrock is available to an extent that allows an assessment of the prospects for long-term security, such an assessment is actually showing good potential, and that the location provide realistic opportunities to put into practice the disposal of decommissioning waste. At a comparison between the disposal of short-lived decommissioning waste in an extension of SFR with the option to build a separate repository for short-lived decommissioning waste in Simpevarp, the conclusion is that both options offer potentially good prospects for long-term security. The differences still indicated speaks to the Forsmark advantage. Similar conclusions were obtained when comparing the factors of environment, health and social aspects.

  9. Aube storage center for short-lived low- and intermediate-level wastes. Annual report 2008

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2009-06-01

    The National Radioactive Waste Management Agency (Andra), was established by the December 1991 Waste Act as a public body in charge of the long-term management of all radioactive waste, under the supervision of the Ministry of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and the Sea (formerly the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Environment), and the Ministry of Research. The Andra operates two storage centers in the Aube region (France): the center for short-lived low- and intermediate-level wastes, and the center for very-low-level radioactive wastes. This document is the 2008 activity report of the center for short-lived low- and intermediate-level wastes. It presents a review of the activities of the center: presentation of the installations, safety and radiation protection, events or incidents, environmental monitoring, wastes management, public information

  10. Simulation Studies of Diffusion-Release and Effusive-Flow of Short-Lived Radioactive Isotopes

    CERN Document Server

    Zhang, Yan; Kawai, Yoko

    2005-01-01

    Delay times associated with diffusion release from targets and effusive-flow transport of radioactive isotopes to ion sources are principal intensity limiters at ISOL-based radioactive ion beam facilities, and simulation studies with computer models are cost effective methods for designing targets and vapor transport systems with minimum delay times to avoid excessive decay losses of short lived ion species. A finite difference code, Diffuse II, was recently developed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to study diffusion-release of short-lived species from three principal target geometries. Simulation results are in close agreement with analytical solutions to Fick’s second equation. Complementary to the development of Diffuse II, the Monte-Carlo code, Effusion, was developed to address issues related to the design of fast vapor transport systems. Results, derived by using Effusion, are also found to closely agree with experimental measurements. In this presentation, the codes will be used in conc...

  11. Short-lived pollutants in the Arctic: their climate impact and possible mitigation strategies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Menon

    2008-03-01

    Full Text Available Several short-lived pollutants known to impact Arctic climate may be contributing to the accelerated rates of warming observed in this region relative to the global annually averaged temperature increase. Here, we present a summary of the short-lived pollutants that impact Arctic climate including methane, tropospheric ozone, and tropospheric aerosols. For each pollutant, we provide a description of the major sources and the mechanism of forcing. We also provide the first seasonally averaged forcing and corresponding temperature response estimates focused specifically on the Arctic. The calculations indicate that the forcings due to black carbon, methane, and tropospheric ozone lead to a positive surface temperature response indicating the need to reduce emissions of these species within and outside the Arctic. Additional aerosol species may also lead to surface warming if the aerosol is coincident with thin, low lying clouds. We suggest strategies for reducing the warming based on current knowledge and discuss directions for future research to address the large remaining uncertainties.

  12. Short-lived pollutants in the Arctic: their climate impact and possible mitigation strategies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Menon, Surabi; Quinn, P.K.; Bates, T.S.; Baum, E.; Doubleday, N.; Fiore, A.M.; Flanner, M.; Fridlind, A.; Garrett, T.J.; Koch, D.; Menon, S.; Shindell, D.; Stohl, A.; Warren, S.G.

    2007-09-24

    Several short-lived pollutants known to impact Arctic climate may be contributing to the accelerated rates of warming observed in this region relative to the global annually averaged temperature increase. Here, we present a summary of the short-lived pollutants that impact Arctic climate including methane, tropospheric ozone, and tropospheric aerosols. For each pollutant, we provide a description of the major sources and the mechanism of forcing. We also provide the first seasonally averaged forcing and corresponding temperature response estimates focused specifically on the Arctic. The calculations indicate that the forcings due to black carbon, methane, and tropospheric ozone lead to a positive surface temperature response indicating the need to reduce emissions of these species within and outside the Arctic. Additional aerosol species may also lead to surface warming if the aerosol is coincident with thin, low lying clouds. We suggest strategies for reducing the warming based on current knowledge and discuss directions for future research to address the large remaining uncertainties.

  13. Short-lived radioactive nuclides in meteorites and early solar system processes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chaussidon, M.; Gounelle, M.

    2007-01-01

    Now extinct, short-lived radioactive nuclides, such as 7 Be (T 1/2 = 53 days), 10 Be (T 1/2 = 1.5 Ma), 26 Al (T 1/2 = 0.74 Ma), 36 Cl (T 1/2 = 0.3 Ma), 41 Ca (T 1/2 = 0.1 Ma), 53 Mn (T 1/2 = 3.7 Ma) and 60 Fe (T 1/2 = 1.5 Ma), were present in the proto-solar nebula when the various components of meteorites formed. The presence of these radioactive isotopes requires a 'last-minute' origin, either nucleosynthesis in a massive star dying close in space and time to the nascent solar system or production by local irradiation of part of the proto-solar disk by high-energy solar cosmic rays. In this review, we list: (i) the different observations indicating the existence of multiple origins for short-lived radioactive nuclides, namely 7 Be, 10 Be and 36 Cl for irradiation scenario and 60 Fe for injection scenario; (ii) the constraints that exist on their distribution (homogeneous or heterogeneous) in the accretion disk; (iii) the constraints they brought on the timescales of nebular processes (from Ca-Al-rich inclusions to chondrules) and of the accretion and differentiation of planetesimals. (authors)

  14. Dynamical Detection of Topological Phase Transitions in Short-Lived Atomic Systems

    OpenAIRE

    Setiawan, F.; Sengupta, K.; Spielman, I. B.; Sau, Jay D.

    2015-01-01

    We demonstrate that dynamical probes provide direct means of detecting the topological phase transition (TPT) between conventional and topological phases, which would otherwise be difficult to access because of loss or heating processes. We propose to avoid such heating by rapidly quenching in and out of the short-lived topological phase across the transition that supports gapless excitations. Following the quench, the distribution of excitations in the final conventional phase carries signat...

  15. Validation of Six Short and Ultra-short Screening Instruments for Depression for People Living with HIV in Ontario

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Choi, Stephanie KY; Boyle, Eleanor; Burchell, Ann

    2015-01-01

    Objective Major depression affects up to half of people living with HIV. However, among HIV-positive patients, depression goes unrecognized 60–70% of the time in non-psychiatric settings. We sought to evaluate three screening instruments and their short forms to facilitate the recognition...... acceptance. This could lead to clinical benefits in fast-paced speciality HIV care settings and better management of depression in HIV-positive patients....

  16. Aube storage centre for short-lived low- and intermediate-level wastes. Annual report 2009

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2010-06-01

    The National Radioactive Waste Management Agency (Andra), was established by the December 1991 Waste Act as a public body in charge of the long-term management of all radioactive waste, under the supervision of the Ministry of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and the Sea (formerly the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Environment), and the Ministry of Research. The Andra operates two storage centers in the Aube region (France): the center for short-lived low- and intermediate-level wastes, and the center for very-low-level radioactive wastes. This document is the 2009 activity report of the center for short-lived low- and intermediate-level wastes. It presents a review of the activities of the center: presentation of the installations, safety and radiation protection, events or incidents, environmental monitoring, wastes management, public information, opinion of the Health and safety Committee (CHSCT)

  17. Aube storage center for short-lived low- and intermediate-level wastes. Annual report 2010

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2011-06-01

    The National Radioactive Waste Management Agency (Andra), was established by the December 1991 Waste Act as a public body in charge of the long-term management of all radioactive waste, under the supervision of the Ministry of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and the Sea (formerly the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Environment), and the Ministry of Research. The Andra operates two storage centers in the Aube region (France): the center for short-lived low- and intermediate-level wastes, and the center for very-low-level radioactive wastes. This document is the 2010 activity report of the center for short-lived low- and intermediate-level wastes. It presents a review of the activities of the center: presentation of the installations, safety and radiation protection, events or incidents, environmental monitoring, wastes management, public information, recommendations of the Health and safety Committee (CHSCT)

  18. Centuries of thermal sea-level rise due to anthropogenic emissions of short-lived greenhouse gases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zickfeld, Kirsten; Solomon, Susan; Gilford, Daniel M

    2017-01-24

    Mitigation of anthropogenic greenhouse gases with short lifetimes (order of a year to decades) can contribute to limiting warming, but less attention has been paid to their impacts on longer-term sea-level rise. We show that short-lived greenhouse gases contribute to sea-level rise through thermal expansion (TSLR) over much longer time scales than their atmospheric lifetimes. For example, at least half of the TSLR due to increases in methane is expected to remain present for more than 200 y, even if anthropogenic emissions cease altogether, despite the 10-y atmospheric lifetime of this gas. Chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons have already been phased out under the Montreal Protocol due to concerns about ozone depletion and provide an illustration of how emission reductions avoid multiple centuries of future TSLR. We examine the "world avoided" by the Montreal Protocol by showing that if these gases had instead been eliminated in 2050, additional TSLR of up to about 14 cm would be expected in the 21st century, with continuing contributions lasting more than 500 y. Emissions of the hydrofluorocarbon substitutes in the next half-century would also contribute to centuries of future TSLR. Consideration of the time scales of reversibility of TSLR due to short-lived substances provides insights into physical processes: sea-level rise is often assumed to follow air temperature, but this assumption holds only for TSLR when temperatures are increasing. We present a more complete formulation that is accurate even when atmospheric temperatures are stable or decreasing due to reductions in short-lived gases or net radiative forcing.

  19. Short-lived cyclotron-produced radioisotopes: Medi-Physics, Inc.'s commitment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kramer, H.H.

    1985-01-01

    Medi-Physics, Inc., is a major US supplier of short-lived cyclotron-produced radioisotopes for radiopharmaceuticals, as well as routinely producing and distributing the greatest number of 123 I radiopharmaceuticals. The present commercial production capacity for 123 I is more than ten times the theoretical need for existing procedures and is more than adequate for the research and development of new radiopharmaceuticals. However, production capacity is only one component of many that are required to supply a radioisotope for human use. These components are summarized in this paper

  20. Separation efficiency of the MASHA facility for short-lived mercury isotopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodin, A. M.; Belozerov, A. V.; Chernysheva, E. V.; Dmitriev, S. N.; Gulyaev, A. V.; Gulyaeva, A. V.; Itkis, M. G.; Kliman, J.; Kondratiev, N. A.; Krupa, L.; Novoselov, A. S.; Oganessian, Yu. Ts.; Podshibyakin, A. V.; Salamatin, V. S.; Siváček, I.; Stepantsov, S. V.; Vanin, D. V.; Vedeneev, V. Yu.; Yukhimchuk, S. A.; Granja, C.; Pospisil, S.

    2014-06-01

    The mass-separator MASHA built to identify Super Heavy Elements by their mass-to-charge ratios is described. The results of the off- and on-line measurements of its separation efficiency are presented. In the former case four calibrated leaks of noble gases were used. In the latter the efficiency was measured via 284 MeV Ar beam and with using the hot catcher. The ECR ion source was used in both cases. The -radioactive isotopes of mercury produced in the complete fusion reaction Ar+SmHg+xn were detected at the mass-separator focal plane. The half-lives and the separation efficiency for the short-lived mercury isotopes were measured. Potentialities of the MEDIPIX detector system have been demonstrated for future use at the mass-separator MASHA.

  1. Rapid transfer of short-lived radioisotopes via a 2. 4 km rabbit system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Burgerjon, J J; Gelbart, Z; Lau, V; Lehnart, D; Lenz, J; Pate, B D; Ruth, T J; Sprenger, H P; van Oers, N S.C.

    1984-09-01

    A 2.4 km long pipeline between a cyclotron and a hospital is used for the rapid transfer of short-lived radiopharmaceuticals. The vials containing the pharmaceuticals are placed inside capsules (rabbits) that are blown through a tube by means of compressed air. Travel times as short as 2 min are achieved, which makes the system suitable for the transfer of /sup 15/O, which has a 2 min half-life. The construction and test results of the system are described along with a computer model, developed to explain some properties of the system. 7 references, 15 figures, 2 tables.

  2. Development of the k0-based cyclic neutron activation analysis for short-lived radionuclides

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dung, H.M.; Blaauw, M.; Beasley, D.; Freitas, M.D.C.

    2011-01-01

    The k0-based cyclic neutron activation analysis (k0-CNAA) technique has been studied to explore the applicability at the Portuguese research reactor (RPI). In particular, for the determination of elements which form short-lived radionuclides, particularly fluorine (20F, 11.16 s half-life) and

  3. Compton suppression spectrometry for analysis of short-lived neutron activation products in foods

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anderson, D.L.; Cunningham, W.C.

    2008-01-01

    Compton suppression spectrometry was used to analyze foods for elements with short-lived neutron activation products (half-lives of about 2 minutes to 1.5 days). Analysis conditions were optimized to provide quality assurance analyses for iodine in FDA's Total Diet Study. Iodine mass fractions (0.075 to 2.03 mg/kg) were measured in 19 of 42 foods analyzed, with limits of detection (LODs) ranging from 0.03 to 1.4 mg/kg, mostly depending on NaCl content. LODs were lowered by up to a factor of 2 for 16 elements. Suppression factors ranged from about 2 to 8 over the energy range 400 to 3200 keV. (author)

  4. Kinetic aspects of the syntheses using short-lived radionuclides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Laangstroem, B.; Obenius, U.; Sjoeberg, S.; Bergson, G.

    1981-01-01

    In syntheses using short-lived radionuclides, such as 11 C, the reaction conditions are usually such that the concentrations of the reactants, except for the labelled reactant, can be considered constant during the reaction. Two kinetic models have been investigated - irreversible and reversible bimolecular elementary reactions. The influence of the rate constants, of the equilibrium constants, and of the ratio between the starting reactants on the yield of the labelled product has been studied. The results show that, even in cases with unfavourable equilibrium constants, high yields of the labelled products can be obtained if the rate constant for the forward reaction is large. In addition, the specific activity of the labelled product as a function of time has been studied for the irreversible bimolecular case. (author)

  5. Radiotracer diffusion in semiconductors and metallic compounds using short-lived isotopes

    CERN Multimedia

    Deicher, M; Kronenberg, J; Wagner, F E

    The transport of atoms in solids is of central importance for solid state physics, chemistry, metallurgy, and material sciences. Since the mobility of atoms in solids contributes to many physical phenomena the study of diffusion processes is of fundamental interest for solid state physics. Diffusion processes were frequently investigated using radioactive isotopes (radiotracers). The application of short-lived isotopes delivered at ISOLDE extends substantially the possibilities of investigating diffusion processes in solids. In particular, a new experimental set-up to be installed at ISOLDE in this year will enable the use of radioactive isotopes with half-lives down to minutes. Alternatively, in special cases diffusion processes can be investigated with help of hyperfine techniques on an atomic scale, like by perturbed $\\gamma \\gamma$-angular correlation (PAC). Here, the motion of the atom of interest becomes visible directly via characteristic changes in the measured PAC spectra.

  6. First Isochronous Time-of-Flight Mass Measurements of Short-Lived Projectile Fragments in the ESR

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stadlmann, J.; Geissel, H.; Hausmann, M.; Nolden, F.; Radon, T.; Schatz, H.; Scheidenberger, C.; Attallah, F.; Beckert, K.; Bosch, F.; Falch, M.; Franczak, B.; Franzke, B.; Kerscher, Th.; Klepper, O.; Kluge, H.J.; Kozhuharov, C.; Loebner, K.E.G.; Muenzenberg, G.; Novikov, Yu.N.; Steck, M.; Sun, Z.; Suemmerer, K.; Weick, H.; Wollnik, H.

    2000-01-01

    A new method for precise mass measurements of short-lived hot nuclei is presented. These nuclei were produced via projectile fragmentation, separated with the FRS and injected into the storage ring ESR being operated in the isochronous mode. The revolution time of the ions is measured with a time-of-flight detector sensitive to single particles. This new method allows access to exotic nuclei with half-lives in the microsecond region. First results from this novel method obtained with measurements on neutron-deficient fragments of a chromium primary beam with half-lives down to 50 ms are reported. A precision of deltam/m ≤ 5 · 10 -6 has been achieved

  7. Evaluation of regional pulmonary function using short-lived radioactive gases

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ashitaka, Tsuyoshi [Toho Univ., Tokyo (Japan). School of Medicine

    1993-05-01

    We investigated the application of short-lived radioactive gases for the assessment of regional pulmonary function, particularly diffusing capacity, in patients with chronic obstructive lung disease and interstitial lung disease. Short-lived radioactive gases including C[sup 15]O-O, [sup 11]CO[sub 2], and [sup 11]CO were produced using a baby cyclotron for medical care. Using a [gamma] camera, breath-holding images were taken serially after inhalation of the radioactive gases. The first exponential component of time-activity curve was analyzed to obtain clearance rate, which was expressed as exponential coefficient ([lambda]). Moreover, we created a functional map which was calculated by the clearance rate of [sup 11]CO[sub 2] as a percentage. Regional clearance rates of each gas in normal volunteers revealed higher values in the lower lung field than in the upper lung field. Whole lung clearance rates ([lambda]) of each gas in patients correlated well with D[sub LCO]/V[sub A], which indicates diffusing capacity. The functional map showed decreased regional diffusion closely matched to the perfusion defects seen by [sup 99m]Tc-MAA perfusion images. However, in certain interstitial lung diseases decreased clearance of [sup 11]CO[sub 2] was observed in regions having no evidence of perfusion defects. We concluded the functional map display of [sup 11]CO[sub 2] is useful indicator of the regional diffusing capacity of both the normal and diseased lung, and that it is beneficial to analyze the pathogenic physiology of diseased lungs by making a comparison between the functional map of [sup 11]CO[sub 2] and [sup 99m]Tc-MAA perfusion images. (author).

  8. Preparing isomerically pure beams of short-lived nuclei at JYFLTRAP

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Eronen, T. [Department of Physics, University of Jyvaeskylae, P.O. Box 35 (YFL), FIN-40014 (Finland)], E-mail: tommi.eronen@jyu.fi; Elomaa, V.-V.; Hager, U.; Hakala, J.; Jokinen, A.; Kankainen, A.; Rahaman, S.; Rissanen, J.; Weber, C.; Aystoe, J. [Department of Physics, University of Jyvaeskylae, P.O. Box 35 (YFL), FIN-40014 (Finland)

    2008-10-15

    A new procedure to prepare isomerically clean samples of short-lived ions with a mass resolving power of more than 1 x 10{sup 5} has been developed at the JYFLTRAP tandem Penning trap system. The method utilises a dipolar rf-excitation of the ion motion with separated oscillatory fields in the precision trap. During a subsequent retransfer to the purification trap, the contaminants are rejected and as a consequence, the remaining bunch is isomerically cleaned. This newly-developed method is suitable for very high-resolution cleaning and is at least a factor of five faster than the methods used so far in Penning trap mass spectrometry.

  9. Short-Term Power Load Point Prediction Based on the Sharp Degree and Chaotic RBF Neural Network

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dongxiao Niu

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available In order to realize the predicting and positioning of short-term load inflection point, this paper made reference to related research in the field of computer image recognition. It got a load sharp degree sequence by the transformation of the original load sequence based on the algorithm of sharp degree. Then this paper designed a forecasting model based on the chaos theory and RBF neural network. It predicted the load sharp degree sequence based on the forecasting model to realize the positioning of short-term load inflection point. Finally, in the empirical example analysis, this paper predicted the daily load point of a region using the actual load data of the certain region to verify the effectiveness and applicability of this method. Prediction results showed that most of the test sample load points could be accurately predicted.

  10. Large drainages from short-lived glacial lakes in the Teskey Range, Tien Shan Mountains, Central Asia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Narama, Chiyuki; Daiyrov, Mirlan; Duishonakunov, Murataly; Tadono, Takeo; Sato, Hayato; Kääb, Andreas; Ukita, Jinro; Abdrakhmatov, Kanatbek

    2018-04-01

    Four large drainages from glacial lakes occurred during 2006-2014 in the western Teskey Range, Kyrgyzstan. These floods caused extensive damage, killing people and livestock as well as destroying property and crops. Using satellite data analysis and field surveys of this area, we find that the water volume that drained at Kashkasuu glacial lake in 2006 was 194 000 m3, at western Zyndan lake in 2008 was 437 000 m3, at Jeruy lake in 2013 was 182 000 m3, and at Karateke lake in 2014 was 123 000 m3. Due to their subsurface outlet, we refer to these short-lived glacial lakes as the tunnel-type, a type that drastically grows and drains over a few months. From spring to early summer, these lakes either appear, or in some cases, significantly expand from an existing lake (but non-stationary), and then drain during summer. Our field surveys show that the short-lived lakes form when an ice tunnel through a debris landform gets blocked. The blocking is caused either by the freezing of stored water inside the tunnel during winter or by the collapse of ice and debris around the ice tunnel. The draining then occurs through an opened ice tunnel during summer. The growth-drain cycle can repeat when the ice-tunnel closure behaves like that of typical supraglacial lakes on debris-covered glaciers. We argue here that the geomorphological characteristics under which such short-lived glacial lakes appear are (i) a debris landform containing ice (ice-cored moraine complex), (ii) a depression with water supply on a debris landform as a potential lake basin, and (iii) no visible surface outflow channel from the depression, indicating the existence of an ice tunnel. Applying these characteristics, we examine 60 depressions (> 0.01 km2) in the study region and identify here 53 of them that may become short-lived glacial lakes, with 34 of these having a potential drainage exceeding 10 m3 s-1 at peak discharge.

  11. Are crab-type supernova remnants (plerions) short-lived

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Weiler, K.W.; Panagia, N.

    1978-01-01

    Arguments are given for a possible picture of the origin, maintenance, and lifetimes of the so-called Crab-like supernova remnants. It is suggested that these objects imply the existence of at least two distinct types of supernova events. A possible connection of the remnant types with the optically defined supernovae of Type I and Type II is discussed. Accepting that a pulsar is formed in at least some supernova events, the proposal is made that a rapidly rotating, rapidly slowing pulsar is necessary to create and maintain a Crab-like supernova remnant. Finally, arguments are presented that such a supernova remnant will be relatively short lived with respect to the more common shell-type of supernova remnant, perhaps surviving only 10000-20000 yr before fading into the Galactic background. The name of plerion is proposed for these filled-center supernova remnants and observational possiblities for confirming their nature are suggested. (orig.) [de

  12. Developing role of short-lived radionuclides in nuclear medical practice. DOE symposium series; 56

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Paras, P.; Thiessen, J.W.

    1985-01-01

    The purpose was to define the developing role and state-of-the-art development of short-lived radionuclides (SLR's) in current nuclear medical practice. Special emphasis was placed on radionuclides with general-purpose labeling capabilities. The need for high-purity labeling-grade iodine-123 was emphasized in the program. Papers have been separately abstracted for the data base

  13. Magnetic moment of short lived {beta}-emitter {sup 24m}Al

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nishimura, D., E-mail: daiki@vg.phys.sci.osaka-u.ac.jp; Komurasaki, J.; Matsuta, K.; Mihara, M.; Matsumiya, R. [Osaka University, Department of Physics (Japan); Momota, S. [Kochi University of Technology (Japan); Ohtsubo, T. [Niigata University, Department of Physics (Japan); Izumikawa, T. [Niigata University, RI Center (Japan); Hirano, H. [Niigata University, Department of Physics (Japan); Kitagawa, A.; Kanazawa, M.; Torikoshi, M.; Sato, S. [National Institute of Radiological Sciences (Japan); Fukuda, M.; Ishikawa, D. [Osaka University, Department of Physics (Japan); Minamisono, T. [Fukui University of Technology (Japan); Watanabe, R.; Kubo, T. [Niigata University, Department of Physics (Japan); Nojiri, Y. [Kochi University of Technology (Japan); Alonso, J. R. [Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (United States)

    2007-11-15

    The magnetic moment of short lived {beta}-emitter {sup 24m}Al (426 keV, I{sup {pi}} = 1{sup +}, T{sub 1/2} = 131 ms) has been measured by means of {beta}-NMR technique, for the first time. From the {beta}-NMR spectrum, the magnetic moment was determined as |{mu}({sup 24m}Al)|=(2.99{+-}0.09){mu}{sub N}. Combined with the known magnetic moment of the mirror partner {sup 24m}Na, the expectation value of < S{sub z} > is obtained to be (0.08 {+-} 0.12). These values are reproduced well by the shell model calculation.

  14. Extrinsic and intrinsic factors that shape the life history of the short living scallop Argopecten ventricosus

    OpenAIRE

    Guerra, Citlali

    2011-01-01

    The scallop Argopecten ventricosus is characterized by its high swimming activity, fast growth, high reproductive effort and the early age to get first sexual maturity. These traits may be the result of the adaptation to a specific environment that favors an active lifestyle and a short lifespan (2 years). This opens the question of how environmental factors modulate the way a short living marine ectotherm budget energy investments among life history traits and how this modulation impacts the...

  15. Investigation of short-living fission products from the spontaneous fission of Cf-252

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Klonk, H.

    1976-01-01

    In this paper, a method of separating and measuring fission products of Cf-252 is presented. The measurement was achieved by means of γ-spectrometry and thus provides a quantitative analysis with a good separation of the fission products with respect to both atomic number Z and mass number A. The separation of the fission products from the fission source was achieved by means of solid traps. An automatic changing apparatus made it possible to keep irradiation and measuring times short, so even very short-lived fission products could be registered. The quantitative evaluation of primary fission products was made possible by correction according to Bateman equations. With that, the yields of single nuclides and the dispersion of charge can be determined. (orig./WL) [de

  16. A Proposal for Assessing Study Quality: Biomonitoring, Environmental Epidemiology, and Short-Lived Chemicals (BEES-C) Instrument

    Science.gov (United States)

    The quality of exposure assessment is a major determinant of the overall quality of any environmental epidemiology study. The use of biomonitoring as a tool for assessing exposure to ubiquitous chemicals with short physiologic half-lives began relatively recently. These chemicals...

  17. Large drainages from short-lived glacial lakes in the Teskey Range, Tien Shan Mountains, Central Asia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. Narama

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Four large drainages from glacial lakes occurred during 2006–2014 in the western Teskey Range, Kyrgyzstan. These floods caused extensive damage, killing people and livestock as well as destroying property and crops. Using satellite data analysis and field surveys of this area, we find that the water volume that drained at Kashkasuu glacial lake in 2006 was 194 000  m3, at western Zyndan lake in 2008 was 437 000 m3, at Jeruy lake in 2013 was 182 000 m3, and at Karateke lake in 2014 was 123 000 m3. Due to their subsurface outlet, we refer to these short-lived glacial lakes as the tunnel-type, a type that drastically grows and drains over a few months. From spring to early summer, these lakes either appear, or in some cases, significantly expand from an existing lake (but non-stationary, and then drain during summer. Our field surveys show that the short-lived lakes form when an ice tunnel through a debris landform gets blocked. The blocking is caused either by the freezing of stored water inside the tunnel during winter or by the collapse of ice and debris around the ice tunnel. The draining then occurs through an opened ice tunnel during summer. The growth–drain cycle can repeat when the ice-tunnel closure behaves like that of typical supraglacial lakes on debris-covered glaciers. We argue here that the geomorphological characteristics under which such short-lived glacial lakes appear are (i a debris landform containing ice (ice-cored moraine complex, (ii a depression with water supply on a debris landform as a potential lake basin, and (iii no visible surface outflow channel from the depression, indicating the existence of an ice tunnel. Applying these characteristics, we examine 60 depressions (> 0.01 km2 in the study region and identify here 53 of them that may become short-lived glacial lakes, with 34 of these having a potential drainage exceeding 10 m3 s−1 at peak discharge.

  18. ''Sleeping reactor'' irradiations: Shutdown reactor determination of short-lived activation products

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jerde, E.A.; Glasgow, D.C.

    1998-01-01

    At the High-Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the principal irradiation system has a thermal neutron flux (φ) of ∼ 4 x 10 14 n/cm 2 · s, permitting the detection of elements via irradiation of 60 s or less. Irradiations of 6 or 7 s are acceptable for detection of elements with half-lives of as little as 30 min. However, important elements such as Al, Mg, Ti, and V have half-lives of only a few minutes. At HFIR, these can be determined with irradiation times of ∼ 6 s, but the requirement of immediate counting leads to increased exposure to the high activity produced by irradiation in the high flux. In addition, pneumatic system timing uncertainties (about ± 0.5 s) make irradiations of 9 Be(γ,n) 8 Be, the gamma rays principally originating in the spent fuel. Upon reactor SCRAM, the flux drops to ∼ 1 x 10 10 n/cm 2 · s within 1 h. By the time the fuel elements are removed, the flux has dropped to ∼ 6 x 10 8 . Such fluxes are ideal for the determination of short-lived elements such as Al, Ti, Mg, and V. An important feature of the sleeping reactor is a flux that is not constant

  19. Behaviour of short-lived fission products within operating UO2 fuel elements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hastings, I.J.; Hunt, C.E.L.; Lipsett, J.J.

    1983-01-01

    We have carried out experiments using a ''sweep gas'' technique to determine the behaviour of short-lived fission products within operating, intact UO 2 fuel elements. The Zircaloy-4-clad elements were 500 mm long and contained fuel of density 10.65-10.71 Mg/m 3 . A He-2% H 2 carrier gas swept gaseous or volatile fission products out of the operating fuel element past a gamma spectrometer for measurement. In tests at linear powers of 45 and 60 kW/m to maximum burnups of 70 MW.h/kg U, the species measured directly at the spectrometer were generally the short-lived xenons and kryptons. We did not observe iodine or bromine during normal operation. However, we have deduced the behaviour of I-133 and I-135 from the decay of Xe-133 and Xe-135 during reactor shutdowns. Plots of R/B (released/born) against lambda (decay constant) or effective lambda for all isotopes observed at 45 and 60 kW/m show that a line of slope -0.5, corresponding with diffusion kinetics, is a good fit to the measured xenon and krypton data. Our inferred release of iodine fits the same line. From this we can extrapolate to an R/B for I-131 of about 5x10 -3 . The ANS 5.4 release correlation gives calculated results in good agreement with our measurements. (author)

  20. Short-lived climate pollutant mitigation and the Sustainable Development Goals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haines, Andy; Amann, Markus; Borgford-Parnell, Nathan; Leonard, Sunday; Kuylenstierna, Johan; Shindell, Drew

    2017-12-01

    The post-2015 development agenda is dominated by a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that arose from the 2012 Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. The 17 goals and 169 targets address diverse and intersecting aspects of human and environmental needs and challenges. Achieving the SDGs by 2030 requires implementing coordinated and concerted strategies and actions that minimize potential trade-offs and conflicts and maximize synergies to contribute to multiple SDGs. Measures to mitigate emissions of short-lived climate pollutants are an example of actions that contribute to multiple outcomes relevant to development. This Perspective highlights the interlinkages between these pollutants and the SDGs, and shows that implementing emissions reduction measures can contribute to achieving many of the SDGs.

  1. DEMOGRAPHY OF ALPINE SHORT-LIVED PLANTS, LONGEVITY AND ONTOGENY STAGE DURATIONS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. S. Kazantseva

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim - to evaluate lifespan (full cycle and ontogeny stage durations of nine alpine short-lived North- West Caucasus plants.Methods. For calculation we used a new method which was developed and suggested earlier by us. This method is based on a discrete ontogeny description and on the probability theory and random processes. The data on the monitoring of the marked individuals were collected during six years.Results. We found out that the lifespan of Anthyllis vulneraria is 2.6±0.3 years (hereinafter “±” is Standard error, Draba hispida – 4.5±0.3, Murbeckiella huetii – 4.6±1.1, Carum meifolium – 7.8±1.4, Eritrichium caucasicum – 9.1±1.4, Trifolium badium – 10.3±2.6, Sedum tenellum – 11±2.05, Androsace albana – 12.1±2.5, Minuartia recurva – 22.9±4.5. Also we demonstrated the matrix population models for studied plants, which show the probability of transition of individuals from one ontogeny stage to another in time interval (in our experiment – 1 year.Conclusion. Mortality of seedlings and juvenile plants, except Murbeckiella huetii, is around and more than 50%. Two years is the minimal amount of time that is necessary for full cycle of short-lived alpine plants, as it was shown for Anthyllis vulneraria, Murbeckiella huetii и Trifolium badium. A 3-12 years lifespan was calculated for other studied species. Persistence of Eritrichium caucasicum and Androsace albana populations provided by resistance of adult vegetative plants.

  2. Synthesis of radiopharmaceuticals containing short-lived radionuclides. Comprehensive report, March 1, 1980-February 26, 1986

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kabalka, G.W.

    1985-09-01

    New methods for the rapid introduction of short-lived radionuclides into agents for use in diagnostic nuclear medicine are reported. Among the new syntheses reported are those for 123 I-labeled fatty acids and steroids, for 11 C-labeled alcohols, for 13 N-labeled amines, and for 15 O-labeled alcohols. 33 refs

  3. Synthesis of radiopharmaceuticals containing short-lived radionuclides. Progress report, March 1, 1985-February 26, 1986

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kabalka, G.W.

    1985-09-01

    Methods for the rapid introduction of short-lived radionuclides into agents for use in diagnostic nuclear medicine are reported. Methods to synthesize radioiodinated fatty acids, lipids, and amphetamine derivatives are described. New routes for the introduction of bromine-77, chlorine-34m, and carbon-11 into agents of interest are elaborated. 46 refs

  4. Changing-Look AGNs or Short-Lived Radio Sources?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wołowska, Aleksandra [Toruń Centre for Astronomy, Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Informatics, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń (Poland); Kunert-Bajraszewska, Magdalena; Mooley, Kunal [Centre for Astrophysical Surveys, University of Oxford, Oxford (United Kingdom); Hallinan, Gregg, E-mail: ola@astro.umk.pl [Cahill Center for Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA (United States)

    2017-11-17

    The evolution of extragalactic radio sources has been a fundamental problem in the study of active galactic nuclei for many years. A standard evolutionary model has been created based on observations of a wide range of radio sources. In the general scenario of the evolution, the younger and smaller Gigahertz-Peaked Spectrum (GPS) and Compact Steep Spectrum (CSS) sources become large-scale FRI and FRII objects. However, a growing number of observations of low power radio sources suggests that the model cannot explain all their properties and there are still some aspects of the evolutionary path that remain unclear. There are indications, that some sources may be short-lived objects on timescales of 10{sup 4}–10{sup 5} years. Those objects represent a new population of active galaxies. Here, we present the discovery of several radio transient sources on timescales of 5–20 yrs, largely associated with renewed AGN (Active Galactic Nucleus) activity. These changing-look AGNs possibly represent behavior typical for many active galaxies.

  5. Fast neutron activation analysis using short-lived radionuclides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salma, I.; Zemplen-Papp, E.

    1993-01-01

    Fast neutron activation analysis experiments were performed to investigate the analytical possibilities and prospective utilization of short-lived activation products. A rapid pneumatic transfer system for use with neutron generators has been installed and applied for detecting radionuclides with a half-life from ∼300 ms to 20 s. The transport time for samples of total mass of 1-4 g is between 130 and 160 ms for pressurized air of 0.1-0.4 MPa. The reproducibility of transport times is less than 2%. The employed method of correcting time-dependent counting losses is based on the virtual pulse generator principle. The measuring equipment consists of CAMAC modules and a special gating circuit. Typical time distributions of counting losses are presented. The same 14 elements were studied by the conventional activation method (single irradiation and single counting) by both a typical pneumatic transport system (run time 3 s) and the fast pneumatic transport facility. Furthermore, the influence of the cyclic activation technique on the elemental sensitivities was investigated. (author) 15 refs.; 5 figs.; 3 tabs

  6. Non-destructive investigation of technical plants and processes and natural processes by short-lived radionuclides (radiotracer)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jentsch, Thorsten; Zeuner, Albert

    2009-01-01

    Short lived open radionuclides are very suitable to investigate transport and mixing processes. They do not pollute the product. After decay of the radionuclide, the product can be used without any restrictions. Examples are showed for technical processes investigation by aid of radiotracer. (orig.)

  7. Search for short-lived particles produced on nuclei with a heavy liquid mini bubble chamber

    CERN Multimedia

    2002-01-01

    The aim of this experiment is to search for short-lived particles produced in hadronic interactions on nuclei with our high resolution heavy liquid mini bubble chamber BIBC, aiming to establish the cross-section for associated production in hadron-nucleus collisions, its $A$-dependence and an approximate value of the lifetime. The chamber will be operated at a bubble density of 290 bubbles/cm and with an apparent bubble size of 30 $\\mu$m in real space. In test runs at CERN we measured detection efficiencies which, together with simulations of $D\\bar{D}$ production and decay, lead to a sensitivity of 0.25 events/($\\mu$b/N) per day if the lifetime is of the order of $5\\times10^{-13}$s. A null result after 10 days running time would set an upper limit on the production cross section to $3 \\mu$b. \\\\ \\\\ In order to measure the momenta of charged decay products of short-lived particles, the bubble chamber will be placed 1.80 m upstream of the streamer chamber of the NA5 experiment (MPI). The geometrical acceptance ...

  8. Measurements of airborne short-lived radioactivity concentration in a PET facility at a national University hospital

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saito, Tadashi

    2006-01-01

    National universities in Japan became under regulation of Industrial Safety and Health Law since 2004FY. One of the legal obligations is working environment measurements such as airborne radioactivity concentration in the rooms where employees handle unsealed radiation sources. Both in 2004FY and in 2005FY, measurements of airborne radioactivity concentration were carried out by two different agencies. The most prominent difference among them is the measurement for short-lived PET nuclides. In 2004FY, one agency measured the radioactivity with a Ge spectrometer at its own laboratory, whereas, in 2005FY, the other agency brought a NaI scintillation counter for gross gamma counting to the Hospital. It can be shown that detection limits for short-lived PET nuclides are in principle almost the same in both methods. It is also found that, in the actual case, gamma spectrometry with a Ge spectrometer is superior in judgement of detection of the radioactivity. (author)

  9. Impact of preindustrial to present-day changes in short-lived pollutant emissions on atmospheric composition and climate forcing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Naik, Vaishali; Horowitz, Larry W.; Fiore, Arlene M.; Ginoux, Paul; Mao, Jingqiu; Aghedo, Adetutu M.; Levy, Hiram

    2013-07-01

    We describe and evaluate atmospheric chemistry in the newly developed Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory chemistry-climate model (GFDL AM3) and apply it to investigate the net impact of preindustrial (PI) to present (PD) changes in short-lived pollutant emissions (ozone precursors, sulfur dioxide, and carbonaceous aerosols) and methane concentration on atmospheric composition and climate forcing. The inclusion of online troposphere-stratosphere interactions, gas-aerosol chemistry, and aerosol-cloud interactions (including direct and indirect aerosol radiative effects) in AM3 enables a more complete representation of interactions among short-lived species, and thus their net climate impact, than was considered in previous climate assessments. The base AM3 simulation, driven with observed sea surface temperature (SST) and sea ice cover (SIC) over the period 1981-2007, generally reproduces the observed mean magnitude, spatial distribution, and seasonal cycle of tropospheric ozone and carbon monoxide. The global mean aerosol optical depth in our base simulation is within 5% of satellite measurements over the 1982-2006 time period. We conduct a pair of simulations in which only the short-lived pollutant emissions and methane concentrations are changed from PI (1860) to PD (2000) levels (i.e., SST, SIC, greenhouse gases, and ozone-depleting substances are held at PD levels). From the PI to PD, we find that changes in short-lived pollutant emissions and methane have caused the tropospheric ozone burden to increase by 39% and the global burdens of sulfate, black carbon, and organic carbon to increase by factors of 3, 2.4, and 1.4, respectively. Tropospheric hydroxyl concentration decreases by 7%, showing that increases in OH sinks (methane, carbon monoxide, nonmethane volatile organic compounds, and sulfur dioxide) dominate over sources (ozone and nitrogen oxides) in the model. Combined changes in tropospheric ozone and aerosols cause a net negative top

  10. CARIBIC observations of short-lived halocarbons and carbonyl sulphide over Asia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leedham, E.; Wisher, A.; Oram, D.; Baker, A. K.; Brenninkmeijer, C. A.

    2013-12-01

    The CARIBIC project (Civil Aircraft for the Regular Investigation of the atmosphere Based on an Instrument Container, www.caribic-atmospheric.com) aims to investigate the spatial and temporal distribution of a wide-range of compounds, including those of marine origin/influence, via ~monthly flights to collect in situ data and whole air samples aboard a commercial Lufthansa aircraft. CARIBIC measures up to an altitude of 12 km, allowing the influence of marine compounds on the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere (UTLS) to be explored. In particular, CARIBIC is a useful tool for exploring the impact of very short lived halocarbons (e.g. CH2Br2, CHBr3), whose impact on stratospheric ozone is dependent on convective uplift to the UTLS, a process which is not yet fully quantified. As part of the suite of CARIBIC measurements, whole air samples are analysed at the University of East Anglia (UEA) via gas chromatography mass spectrometry for carbonyl sulphide (OCS) and up to 40 halocarbons (accounting for virtually 100% of organic chlorine, bromine and iodine in the UTLS). Here we present an overview of short-lived halocarbons and OCS measured by CARIBIC. We focus on two regions of particular interest. (1) measurements made in 2012 over the tropical west Pacific to link with UEA measurements made during the SHIVA campaign. (2) measurements made during a collection of flights over India in 2008. Flights over India investigated the impact of monsoon circulation on the distribution of these compounds; for example, elevated concentrations of OCS were seen in CARIBIC samples taken over India during the summer monsoon (July - September). These flights, along with a wider range of flights over Asia (from Frankfurt to Guangzhou, Manila, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur) can provide unique information on the influence of tropical convection and monsoon circulation on halocarbon and OCS transport within this region.

  11. A growing threat to the ozone layer from short-lived anthropogenic chlorocarbons

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. E. Oram

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Large and effective reductions in emissions of long-lived ozone-depleting substance (ODS are being achieved through the Montreal Protocol, the effectiveness of which can be seen in the declining atmospheric abundances of many ODSs. An important remaining uncertainty concerns the role of very short-lived substances (VSLSs which, owing to their relatively short atmospheric lifetimes (less than 6 months, are not regulated under the Montreal Protocol. Recent studies have found an unexplained increase in the global tropospheric abundance of one VSLS, dichloromethane (CH2Cl2, which has increased by around 60 % over the past decade. Here we report dramatic enhancements of several chlorine-containing VSLSs (Cl-VSLSs, including CH2Cl2 and CH2ClCH2Cl (1,2-dichloroethane, observed in surface and upper-tropospheric air in East and South East Asia. Surface observations were, on occasion, an order of magnitude higher than previously reported in the marine boundary layer, whilst upper-tropospheric data were up to 3 times higher than expected. In addition, we provide further evidence of an atmospheric transport mechanism whereby substantial amounts of industrial pollution from East Asia, including these chlorinated VSLSs, can rapidly, and regularly, be transported to tropical regions of the western Pacific and subsequently uplifted to the tropical upper troposphere. This latter region is a major provider of air entering the stratosphere, and so this mechanism, in conjunction with increasing emissions of Cl-VSLSs from East Asia, could potentially slow the expected recovery of stratospheric ozone.

  12. New methodology for Ozone Depletion Potentials of short-lived compounds: n-Propyl bromide as an example

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wuebbles, Donald J.; Patten, Kenneth O.; Johnson, Matthew T.; Kotamarthi, Rao

    2001-07-01

    A number of the compounds proposed as replacements for substances controlled under the Montreal Protocol have extremely short atmospheric lifetimes, on the order of days to a few months. An important example is n-propyl bromide (also referred to as 1-bromopropane, CH2BrCH2CH3 or simplified as 1-C3H7Br or nPB). This compound, useful as a solvent, has an atmospheric lifetime of less than 20 days due to its reaction with hydroxyl. Because nPB contains bromine, any amount reaching the stratosphere has the potential to affect concentrations of stratospheric ozone. The definition of Ozone Depletion Potentials (ODP) needs to be modified for such short-lived compounds to account for the location and timing of emissions. It is not adequate to treat these chemicals as if they were uniformly emitted at all latitudes and longitudes as normally done for longer-lived gases. Thus, for short-lived compounds, policymakers will need a table of ODP values instead of the single value generally provided in past studies. This study uses the MOZART2 three-dimensional chemical-transport model in combination with studies with our less computationally expensive two-dimensional model to examine potential effects of nPB on stratospheric ozone. Multiple facets of this study examine key questions regarding the amount of bromine reaching the stratosphere following emission of nPB. Our most significant findings from this study for the purposes of short-lived replacement compound ozone effects are summarized as follows. The degradation of nPB produces a significant quantity of bromoacetone which increases the amount of bromine transported to the stratosphere due to nPB. However, much of that effect is not due to bromoacetone itself, but instead to inorganic bromine which is produced from tropospheric oxidation of nPB, bromoacetone, and other degradation products and is transported above the dry and wet deposition processes of the model. The MOZART2 nPB results indicate a minimal correction of the

  13. A new integrative methodology for desertification studies based on magnetic and short-lived radioisotope measurements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oldfield, F.; Higgitt, S.R.; Maher, B.A.; Appleby, P.G.; Scoullos, M.

    1986-01-01

    The use of mineral magnetic measurements and short-lived radioisotope studies with 210 Pb and 137 Cs is discussed within the ecosystem watershed conceptual framework. Used in conjunction with geomorphological, sedimentological, palaeoecological and geochemical techniques, these methods can form the core of an integrated multidisciplinary study of desertification and erosion processes on all relevant temporal and spatial scales. 30 refs.; 4 figs

  14. Pointing towards visuospatial patterns in short-term memory: differential effects on familiarity- and recollection-based judgments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rossi-Arnaud, Clelia; Spataro, Pietro; Marques, Valeria R S; Longobardi, Emiddia

    2015-03-01

    Previous studies have indicated that pointing toward to-be-remembered visuospatial patterns enhances short-term memory (STM) when the presentation of pointing and no-pointing trials is mixed (Chum et al., 2007; Dodd & Shumborski, 2009; Rossi-Arnaud et al., 2012). By contrast, when presentation is blocked, pointing has inhibitory effects on memory (Dodd & Shumborski, 2009; Rossi-Arnaud et al., 2012). In the present study, we demonstrated that pointing has different effects on short-term recollection- and familiarity-based judgments, depending on the length of the visuospatial patterns (5- vs. 7-item arrays) and the interval between the encoding and test phases (2 vs. 5 s). More specifically, pointing decreased the accuracy of recollection-based judgments for 5-item arrays, but not for 7-item arrays (this negative effect did not interact with interval length). In contrast, pointing facilitated familiarity-based judgments when the interval between the study and test phases was 5 s, but not when it was 2 s (this positive effect did not interact with pattern length). We proposed that the negative effects might be accounted for by the simultaneous recruitment of attention resources in the planning and execution of pointing movements. As a consequence, executive resources are diverted from the primary memory task, resulting in a less efficient use of attention-demanding retrieval strategies, like chunking. By contrast, the positive effects on familiarity judgments might reflect the unitization of the to-be-remembered items into a single shape. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  15. Online selection of short-lived particles on many-core computer architectures in the CBM experiment at FAIR

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zyzak, Maksym

    2016-01-01

    Modern experiments in heavy ion collisions operate with huge data rates that can not be fully stored on the currently available storage devices. Therefore the data flow should be reduced by selecting those collisions that potentially carry the information of the physics interest. The future CBM experiment will have no simple criteria for selecting such collisions and requires the full online reconstruction of the collision topology including reconstruction of short-lived particles. In this work the KF Particle Finder package for online reconstruction and selection of short-lived particles is proposed and developed. It reconstructs more than 70 decays, covering signals from all the physics cases of the CBM experiment: strange particles, strange resonances, hypernuclei, low mass vector mesons, charmonium, and open-charm particles. The package is based on the Kalman filter method providing a full set of the particle parameters together with their errors including position, momentum, mass, energy, lifetime, etc. It shows a high quality of the reconstructed particles, high efficiencies, and high signal to background ratios. The KF Particle Finder is extremely fast for achieving the reconstruction speed of 1.5 ms per minimum-bias AuAu collision at 25 AGeV beam energy on single CPU core. It is fully vectorized and parallelized and shows a strong linear scalability on the many-core architectures of up to 80 cores. It also scales within the First Level Event Selection package on the many-core clusters up to 3200 cores. The developed KF Particle Finder package is a universal platform for short- lived particle reconstruction, physics analysis and online selection.

  16. Online selection of short-lived particles on many-core computer architectures in the CBM experiment at FAIR

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zyzak, Maksym

    2016-07-07

    Modern experiments in heavy ion collisions operate with huge data rates that can not be fully stored on the currently available storage devices. Therefore the data flow should be reduced by selecting those collisions that potentially carry the information of the physics interest. The future CBM experiment will have no simple criteria for selecting such collisions and requires the full online reconstruction of the collision topology including reconstruction of short-lived particles. In this work the KF Particle Finder package for online reconstruction and selection of short-lived particles is proposed and developed. It reconstructs more than 70 decays, covering signals from all the physics cases of the CBM experiment: strange particles, strange resonances, hypernuclei, low mass vector mesons, charmonium, and open-charm particles. The package is based on the Kalman filter method providing a full set of the particle parameters together with their errors including position, momentum, mass, energy, lifetime, etc. It shows a high quality of the reconstructed particles, high efficiencies, and high signal to background ratios. The KF Particle Finder is extremely fast for achieving the reconstruction speed of 1.5 ms per minimum-bias AuAu collision at 25 AGeV beam energy on single CPU core. It is fully vectorized and parallelized and shows a strong linear scalability on the many-core architectures of up to 80 cores. It also scales within the First Level Event Selection package on the many-core clusters up to 3200 cores. The developed KF Particle Finder package is a universal platform for short- lived particle reconstruction, physics analysis and online selection.

  17. Harvard-MIT research program in short-lived radiopharmaceuticals. Final report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Adelstein, S.J.

    1995-02-01

    The Harvard-MIT Research Program in Short-lived Radiopharmaceuticals was established in 1977 to foster interaction among groups working in radiopharmaceutical chemistry at Harvard Medical School, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Massachusetts General Hospital. To this was added a group at The Childrens Hospital. From these collaborations and building upon the special strengths of the participating individuals, laboratories and institutions, it was hoped that original approaches would be found for the design of new, clinically useful, radiolabeled compounds. The original thrust of this proposal included: (a) examination of the coordination chemistry of technetium as a basis for rational radiopharmaceutical design, (b) development of an ultrashort-lived radionuclide generator for the diagnosis of congenital heart disease in newborns, (c) synthesis of receptor-site-directed halopharmaceuticals, (d) improved facile labeling of complex molecules with positron-emitting radionuclides. The authors' 1986 proposal was oriented toward organs and disease, emphasizing radiolabeled agents that delineate specific functions and the distribution of receptors in brain, heart, and tumors. In 1989, they further refined their purposes and focused on two major aims: (a) synthesis and utilization of neutral technetium and rhenium complexes of high specific activity, and (b) development of new approaches to the radiolabeling of proteins, peptides, immunoglobulins, and their fragments. In 1992, the authors amended this proposal to concentrate their efforts on biologically active peptides and proteins for targeted radiodiagnosis and therapy

  18. Harvard-MIT research program in short-lived radiopharmaceuticals. Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Adelstein, S.J. [Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., Cambridge, MA (United States). Office of Sponsored Programs

    1995-02-01

    The Harvard-MIT Research Program in Short-lived Radiopharmaceuticals was established in 1977 to foster interaction among groups working in radiopharmaceutical chemistry at Harvard Medical School, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Massachusetts General Hospital. To this was added a group at The Childrens Hospital. From these collaborations and building upon the special strengths of the participating individuals, laboratories and institutions, it was hoped that original approaches would be found for the design of new, clinically useful, radiolabeled compounds. The original thrust of this proposal included: (a) examination of the coordination chemistry of technetium as a basis for rational radiopharmaceutical design, (b) development of an ultrashort-lived radionuclide generator for the diagnosis of congenital heart disease in newborns, (c) synthesis of receptor-site-directed halopharmaceuticals, (d) improved facile labeling of complex molecules with positron-emitting radionuclides. The authors` 1986 proposal was oriented toward organs and disease, emphasizing radiolabeled agents that delineate specific functions and the distribution of receptors in brain, heart, and tumors. In 1989, they further refined their purposes and focused on two major aims: (a) synthesis and utilization of neutral technetium and rhenium complexes of high specific activity, and (b) development of new approaches to the radiolabeling of proteins, peptides, immunoglobulins, and their fragments. In 1992, the authors amended this proposal to concentrate their efforts on biologically active peptides and proteins for targeted radiodiagnosis and therapy.

  19. Contribution of the short lived radionuclides in food to the total radiation burden of man after the nuclear accident in Chernobyl

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Popovic, D.; Djuric, G.; Smelcerovic, M.; Maksimovic, B.

    1989-01-01

    The paper presents the results of the short lived radionuclides (I-131, Te(I)-132, Cs-136, Ce-141,144, Ru-103,106, Ba(La)-140, Zr-95, Mo-99, Nb-95, Sb-125) mass activities estimation in some foodstuff (milk and milk products), immediately after the nuclear accident in Chernobyl, in May 1986. The activities of the radionuclides were determined on Ge(Li) detector by standard gamma spectrometry, with the total error less than 20%. The results enabled the evaluation of the short lived radionuclides contribution in the total dose due to ingestion of milk and milk products, in the first month after the accident, compared to the contribution of I-131 and to the contribution of the main long lived radionuclides: Ce-134 and Cs-137 (author)

  20. [Hyperfine structure and isotope shift measurements of short lived elements by laser spectroscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schuessler, H.A.

    1986-01-01

    The aim of this research is to determine nuclear moments and charge distributions of short-lived isotopes produced both on-line and off-line to a nuclear facility. These measurements give detailed information on the nuclear force and are used to test current nuclear models. The small amounts of nuclei which can be produced off stability constitute the challenge in these experiments. Presently mainly neutron-rich isotopes are being studied by three ultrasensitive high-resolution laser techniques. These are collinear fast ion-beam laser spectroscopy, stored-ion laser spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy. 5 figs

  1. Applications of short-lived activation products in neutron activation analysis of bio-environmental specimens

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1987-03-01

    This report discusses the advantages and disadvantages, special techniques, and actual and potential applications of neutron activation analysis (NAA) utilizing short-lived neutron-induced products, with special reference to the analysis of samples of biological and environmental origin. Attention is devoted mainly to products having half-lives in roughly the range of 10 milliseconds to 60 seconds, but with some discussion of the usefulness of even shorter-lived species, and ones with half-lives as long as a few minutes. Important aspects of the analytical methodology include sample preparation, irradiation/transfer systems, activity measurements, data processing and analytical quality assurance. It is concluded that several trace elements can be determined in bio-environmental samples (as well as in samples of industrial, geochemical and other origin). In particular, this method provides analytical possibilities for several elements (e.g. B, F, Li and V) that are difficult to determine in some matrices at trace levels by any other technique. These conclusions are illustrated in an annex by results of calculations in which the applicability of the techniques to the analysis of several biological and environmental reference materials is evaluated by means of an advance computer prediction program. The report concludes with an annotated bibliography of relevant publications (including abstracts, where available) taken from the INIS database. (author)

  2. Short-lived radionuclide production capability at the Brookhaven Linac Isotope Producer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mausner, L.F.; Richards, P.

    1985-01-01

    The Brookhaven National Linac Isotope Producer is the first facility to demonstrate the capability of a large linear accelerator for efficient and economical production of difficult-to-make, medically useful radionuclides. The linac provides a beam of 200-MeV protons at an integrated beam current of up to 60 μA. The 200-MeV proton energy is very suitable for isotope production because the spallation process can create radionuclides unavailable at lower energy accelerators or reactors. Several medically important short-lived radionuclides are presently being prepared for on-site and off-site collaborative research programs. These are iodine-123, iron-52, manganese-52m, ruthenium-97, and the rubidium-81-krypton-81m system. The production parameters for these are summarized

  3. Quantum non-locality in a two-slit interferometer for short-lived particles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Klein, Spencer R.; Nystrand, Joakim

    2001-01-01

    We describe a new test of quantum nonlocality, using an interferometer for short-lived particles. The separation is large compared with the particle lifetimes. This interferometer is realized by vector meson production in distant heavy ion collisions. The mesons decay before waves from the two sources (ions) can overlap, so interference is only possible among the decay products. The post-decay wave function must retain amplitudes for all possible decays. The decay products are spatially separated, necessitating a non-local wave function. The interference is measurable by summing the product momenta. Alternately, the products positions could be observed, allowing new tests of the EPR paradox

  4. Seasonal variation in the behaviour of a short-lived rodent.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eccard, Jana A; Herde, Antje

    2013-11-15

    Short lived, iteroparous animals in seasonal environments experience variable social and environmental conditions over their lifetime. Animals can be divided into those with a "young-of-the-year" life history (YY, reproducing and dying in the summer of birth) and an "overwinter" life history (OW, overwintering in a subadult state before reproducing next spring).We investigated how behavioural patterns across the population were affected by season and sex, and whether variation in behaviour reflects the variation in life history patterns of each season. Applications of pace-of-life (POL) theory would suggest that long-lived OW animals are shyer in order to increase survival, and YY are bolder in order to increase reproduction. Therefore, we expected that in winter and spring samples, when only OW can be sampled, the animals should be shyer than in summer and autumn, when both OW and YY animals can be sampled.We studied common vole (Microtus arvalis) populations, which express typical, intra-annual density fluctuation. We captured a total of 492 voles at different months over 3 years and examined boldness and activity level with two standardised behavioural experiments. Behavioural variables of the two tests were correlated with each other. Boldness, measured as short latencies in both tests, was extremely high in spring compared to other seasons. Activity level was highest in spring and summer, and higher in males than in females. Being bold in laboratory tests may translate into higher risk-taking in nature by being more mobile while seeking out partners or valuable territories. Possible explanations include asset-protection, with OW animals being rather old with low residual reproductive value in spring. Therefore, OW may take higher risks during this season. Offspring born in spring encounter a lower population density and may have higher reproductive value than offspring of later cohorts. A constant connection between life history and animal personality, as

  5. Quantifying short-lived events in multistate ionic current measurements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balijepalli, Arvind; Ettedgui, Jessica; Cornio, Andrew T; Robertson, Joseph W F; Cheung, Kin P; Kasianowicz, John J; Vaz, Canute

    2014-02-25

    We developed a generalized technique to characterize polymer-nanopore interactions via single channel ionic current measurements. Physical interactions between analytes, such as DNA, proteins, or synthetic polymers, and a nanopore cause multiple discrete states in the current. We modeled the transitions of the current to individual states with an equivalent electrical circuit, which allowed us to describe the system response. This enabled the estimation of short-lived states that are presently not characterized by existing analysis techniques. Our approach considerably improves the range and resolution of single-molecule characterization with nanopores. For example, we characterized the residence times of synthetic polymers that are three times shorter than those estimated with existing algorithms. Because the molecule's residence time follows an exponential distribution, we recover nearly 20-fold more events per unit time that can be used for analysis. Furthermore, the measurement range was extended from 11 monomers to as few as 8. Finally, we applied this technique to recover a known sequence of single-stranded DNA from previously published ion channel recordings, identifying discrete current states with subpicoampere resolution.

  6. THE DEAD-LIVING-MOTHER: MARIE BONAPARTE'S INTERPRETATION OF EDGAR ALLAN POE'S SHORT STORIES.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Obaid, Francisco Pizarro

    2016-06-01

    Princess Marie Bonaparte is an important figure in the history of psychoanalysis, remembered for her crucial role in arranging Freud's escape to safety in London from Nazi Vienna, in 1938. This paper connects us to Bonaparte's work on Poe's short stories. Founded on concepts of Freudian theory and an exhaustive review of the biographical facts, Marie Bonaparte concluded that the works of Edgar Allan Poe drew their most powerful inspirational force from the psychological consequences of the early death of the poet's mother. In Bonaparte's approach, which was powerfully influenced by her recognition of the impact of the death of her own mother when she was born-an understanding she gained in her analysis with Freud-the thesis of the dead-living-mother achieved the status of a paradigmatic key to analyze and understand Poe's literary legacy. This paper explores the background and support of this hypothesis and reviews Bonaparte's interpretation of Poe's most notable short stories, in which extraordinary female figures feature in the narrative.

  7. Variation in the local population dynamics of the short-lived Opuntia macrorhiza (Cactaceae).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haridas, C V; Keeler, Kathleen H; Tenhumberg, Brigitte

    2015-03-01

    Spatiotemporal variation in demographic rates can have profound effects for population persistence, especially for dispersal-limited species living in fragmented landscapes. Long-term studies of plants in such habitats help with understanding the impacts of fragmentation on population persistence but such studies are rare. In this work, we reanalyzed demographic data from seven years of the short-lived cactus Opuntia macrorhiza var. macrorhiza at five plots in Boulder, Colorado. Previous work combining data from all years and all plots predicted a stable population (deterministic log lamda approximately 0). This approach assumed that all five plots were part of a single population. Since the plots were located in a suburban-agricultural interface separated by highways, grazing lands, and other barriers, and O. macrorhiza is likely dispersal limited, we analyzed the dynamics of each plot separately using stochastic matrix models assuming each plot represented a separate population. We found that the stochastic population growth rate log lamdaS varied widely between populations (log lamdaS = 0.1497, 0.0774, -0.0230, -0.2576, -0.4989). The three populations with the highest growth rates were located close together in space, while the two most isolated populations had the lowest growth rates suggesting that dispersal between populations is critical for the population viability of O. macrorhiza. With one exception, both our prospective (stochastic elasticity) and retrospective (stochastic life table response experiments) analysis suggested that means of stasis and growth, especially of smaller plants, were most important for population growth rate. This is surprising because recruitment is typically the most important vital rate in a short-lived species such as O. macrorhiza. We found that elasticity to the variance was mostly negligible, suggesting that O. macrorhiza populations are buffered against large temporal variation. Finally, single-year elasticities to means

  8. LiveWire interactive boundary extraction algorithm based on Haar wavelet transform and control point set direction search

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Jun; Zhang, Jun; Tian, Jinwen

    2015-12-01

    Based on deep analysis of the LiveWire interactive boundary extraction algorithm, a new algorithm focusing on improving the speed of LiveWire algorithm is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the Haar wavelet transform is carried on the input image, and the boundary is extracted on the low resolution image obtained by the wavelet transform of the input image. Secondly, calculating LiveWire shortest path is based on the control point set direction search by utilizing the spatial relationship between the two control points users provide in real time. Thirdly, the search order of the adjacent points of the starting node is set in advance. An ordinary queue instead of a priority queue is taken as the storage pool of the points when optimizing their shortest path value, thus reducing the complexity of the algorithm from O[n2] to O[n]. Finally, A region iterative backward projection method based on neighborhood pixel polling has been used to convert dual-pixel boundary of the reconstructed image to single-pixel boundary after Haar wavelet inverse transform. The algorithm proposed in this paper combines the advantage of the Haar wavelet transform and the advantage of the optimal path searching method based on control point set direction search. The former has fast speed of image decomposition and reconstruction and is more consistent with the texture features of the image and the latter can reduce the time complexity of the original algorithm. So that the algorithm can improve the speed in interactive boundary extraction as well as reflect the boundary information of the image more comprehensively. All methods mentioned above have a big role in improving the execution efficiency and the robustness of the algorithm.

  9. Development of a system for real-time measurements of metabolite transport in plants using short-lived positron-emitting radiotracers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kiser, Matthew R.

    Over the past 200 years, the Earth's atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2) concentration has increased by more than 35%, and climate experts predict that CO2 levels may double by the end of this century. Understanding the mechanisms of resource management in plants is fundamental for predicting how plants will respond to the increase in atmospheric CO 2. Plant productivity sustains life on Earth and is a principal component of the planet's system that regulates atmospheric CO2 concentration. As such, one of the central goals of plant science is to understand the regulatory mechanisms of plant growth in a changing environment. Short-lived positron-emitting radiotracer techniques provide time-dependent data that are critical for developing models of metabolite transport and resource distribution in plants and their microenvironments. To better understand the effects of environmental changes on resource transport and allocation in plants, we have developed a system for real-time measurements of rnetabolite transport in plants using short-lived positron-emitting radio-tracers. This thesis project includes the design, construction, and demonstration of the capabilities of this system for performing real-time measurements of metabolite transport in plants. The short-lived radiotracer system described in this dissertation takes advantage of the combined capabilities and close proximity of two research facilities at. Duke University: the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory (TUNL) and the Duke University Phytotron, which are separated by approximately 100 meters. The short-lived positron-emitting radioisotopes are generated using the 10-MV tandem Van de Graaff accelerator located in the main TUNL building, which provides the capability of producing short-lived positron-emitting isotopes such as carbon-11 (11C: 20 minute half-life), nitrogen-13 (13N; 10 minute half-life), fluorine-18 (18F; 110 minute half-life), and oxygen-15 (15O; 2 minute half-life). The radioisotopes may

  10. Production cross sections of short-lived silver radionuclides from natPd(p,xn) nuclear processes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khandaker, Mayeen Uddin; Kim, Kwangsoo; Kim, Guinyun

    2012-01-01

    Production cross-sections of short-lived 103 Ag, 104m Ag and 104g Ag radionuclides from proton-induced reactions on natural palladium (Pd) were measured up to 41 MeV by using a stacked-foil activation technique combined with high resolution γ-ray spectrometry. The present results are compared with the available literature values as well as theoretical data calculated by the TALYS and the ALICE-IPPE computer codes. Note that production cross-sections of the 104m Ag radionuclide from nat Pd(p,xn) processes has been measured here for the first time. Physical thick target yields for the investigated radionuclides were deduced from the respective threshold energy to 41 MeV taking into account that the total energy is absorbed in the targets. Measured data of the short-lived 103 Ag radionuclide are noteworthy due to its possible applications as a precursor for the indirect production of widely used therapeutic 103 Pd radionuclide via nat Pd(p,xn) 103 Ag → 103 Pd processes. On the other hand, the investigated 104 Ag radionuclide finds importance due to its potential use as a diagnostic and positron emission tomography (PET) imaging analogue. Above all, measured data will enrich the literature database leading to various applications in science and technology.

  11. Behaviour of short-lived iodines in operating UO2 fuel elements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lipsett, J.J.; Hastings, I.J.; Hunt, C.E.L.

    1984-11-01

    Sweep gas experiments have been done to determine the behaviour of short-lived fission products within operating UO 2 fuel elements at linear powers of 45, 54, and 60 KW/m, and to burnups of 70, 80, and 50 MWh/kgU respectively. Although radioiodine transport was not observed directly during normal operation, equilibrium gap inventories for I-131 were deduced from the shutdown decay behaviour of the fission gases. These inventories were a strong function of fuel power and ranged from 10 GBq (0.27 Ci) to 100 GBq (2.7 Ci) over the range tested. We conclude that the iodine inventory was adsorbed onto the fuel and/or sheath surfaces with a volatile fraction of less than 10 -2 and a charcoal-filter-penetrating fraction of less than 2x10 -4

  12. Short-Lived Human Umbilical Cord-Blood-Derived Neural Stem Cells Influence the Endogenous Secretome and Increase the Number of Endogenous Neural Progenitors in a Rat Model of Lacunar Stroke.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jablonska, Anna; Drela, Katarzyna; Wojcik-Stanaszek, Luiza; Janowski, Miroslaw; Zalewska, Teresa; Lukomska, Barbara

    2016-11-01

    Stroke is the leading cause of severe disability, and lacunar stroke is related to cognitive decline and hemiparesis. There is no effective treatment for the majority of patients with stroke. Thus, stem cell-based regenerative medicine has drawn a growing body of attention due to the capabilities for trophic factor expression and neurogenesis enhancement. Moreover, it was shown in an experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) model that even short-lived stem cells can be therapeutic, and we have previously observed that phenomenon indirectly. Here, in a rat model of lacunar stroke, we investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying the positive therapeutic effects of short-lived human umbilical cord-blood-derived neural stem cells (HUCB-NSCs) through the distinct measurement of exogenous human and endogenous rat trophic factors. We have also evaluated neurogenesis and metalloproteinase activity as cellular components of therapeutic activity. As expected, we observed an increased proliferation and migration of progenitors, as well as metalloproteinase activity up to 14 days post transplantation. These changes were most prominent at the 7-day time point when we observed 30 % increases in the number of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU)-positive cells in HUCB-NSC transplanted animals. The expression of human trophic factors was present until 7 days post transplantation, which correlated well with the survival of the human graft. For these 7 days, the level of messenger RNA (mRNA) in the analyzed trophic factors was from 300-fold for CNTF to 10,000-fold for IGF, much higher compared to constitutive expression in HUCB-NSCs in vitro. What is interesting is that there was no increase in the expression of rat trophic factors during the human graft survival, compared to that in non-transplanted animals. However, there was a prolongation of a period of increased trophic expression until 14 days post transplantation, while, in non-transplanted animals, there was a

  13. Determination of nuclear spins of short-lived isotopes by laser induced fluorescence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Buchinger, F.; Dabkiewicz, P.; Kremmling, H.; Kuehl, T.; Mueller, A.C.; Schuessler, H.A.

    1980-01-01

    The spins of several nuclear ground and isomeric states have been measured for a number of mercury isotopes. The fluorescent light from the 6s6p 3 P 1 state is observed at 2537 Angstroem after excitation with the frequency doubled output of a pulsed dye laser. Four different laser induced fluorescence techniques were tested for their applicability: double resonance, Hanle effect, time delayed integral Hanle beats, and time resolved quantum beats. The sensitivity and selectivity of these models are compared with emphasis on the determination of spins of nuclei far from beta-stability, where short half lives and low production yields restrict the number of available atoms. The experiments were carried out on-line with the ISOLDE isotope separator at CERN at densities as low as 10 6 atoms/cm 3 . Results for the very neutron deficient high spin mercury isomers with half lives of several seconds, but also for the ground states of the abundant low spin stable mercury isotopes, are given as examples. The test measurements determined the nuclear spins of the odd sup(185m-191m)Hg isomers to be I = 13/2. (orig.)

  14. Antigen modulation of the immune response. III. Evaluation of the hypothetical short-lived memory cell

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Feldbush, T.L.; Lande, I.; Bryan, B.; O'Neill, E.

    1974-01-01

    The putative short-lived memory cells, whose existence has been suggested by the results of secondary adoptive transfer experiments, were investigated. On the basis of the following evidences we have concluded that the short-lived memory cell is probably an artifact of the adoptive transfer technique: when immune thoracic duct lymphocytes, known to consist predominantly of long-lived memory cells, were transferred to irradiated recipients and challenged at various times after transfer, approximately 80 to 90 percent of the initial response was absent by Day 14 challenge; preirradiating adoptive recipients with increasing dose of x-irradiation tended to lengthen the observed half life of memory cells; single or multiple treatments of immune donors with 0.3 mg Vinblastin before transfer resulted in neither a depression of the initial secondary response nor an alteration in the rate of decline of the memory potential; reconstitution of irradiated hosts with normal spleen cells one day before transfer of memory cells and challenge resulted in inhibition of the adoptive secondary response; and the transfer of memory cells to antigen free intermediate hosts, in which they were allowed to reside for one day or fourteen days before transfer to irradiated recipients, resulted in only a slight decline in their capacity to respond. We propose that the rapid decline of memory potential in adoptive recipients challenged at various times after transfer is due to modulating effects by the hosts as it recovers from irradiation. These effects may be the result of cell crowding or the loss of irradiation-produced stimulatory factors. The relevance of these findings to adoptive transfer systems in general and the secondary response of intact animals is discussed

  15. Point-of-care C-reactive protein-based tuberculosis screening for people living with HIV: a diagnostic accuracy study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoon, Christina; Semitala, Fred C; Atuhumuza, Elly; Katende, Jane; Mwebe, Sandra; Asege, Lucy; Armstrong, Derek T; Andama, Alfred O; Dowdy, David W; Davis, J Luke; Huang, Laurence; Kamya, Moses; Cattamanchi, Adithya

    2017-12-01

    Symptom-based screening for tuberculosis is recommended for all people living with HIV. This recommendation results in unnecessary Xpert MTB/RIF testing in many individuals living in tuberculosis-endemic areas and thus poor implementation of intensified case finding and tuberculosis preventive therapy. Novel approaches to tuberculosis screening are needed to help achieve global targets for tuberculosis elimination. We assessed the performance of C-reactive protein (CRP) measured with a point-of-care assay as a screening tool for active pulmonary tuberculosis. For this prospective study, we enrolled adults (aged ≥18 years) living with HIV with CD4 cell count less than or equal to 350 cells per μL who were initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART) from two HIV/AIDS clinics in Uganda. CRP concentrations were measured at study entry with a point-of-care assay using whole blood obtained by fingerprick (concentration ≥10 mg/L defined as screen positive for tuberculosis). Sputum samples were collected for Xpert MTB/RIF testing and culture. We calculated the sensitivity and specificity of point-of-care CRP and WHO symptom-based screening in reference to culture results. We repeated the sensitivity analysis with Xpert MTB/RIF as the reference standard. Between July 8, 2013, and Dec 15, 2015, 1237 HIV-infected adults were enrolled and underwent point-of-care CRP testing. 60 (5%) patients with incomplete or contaminated cultures were excluded from the analysis. Of the remaining 1177 patients (median CD4 count 165 cells per μL [IQR 75-271]), 163 (14%) had culture-confirmed tuberculosis. Point-of-care CRP testing had 89% sensitivity (145 of 163, 95% CI 83-93) and 72% specificity (731 of 1014, 95% CI 69-75) for culture-confirmed tuberculosis. Compared with WHO symptom-based screening, point-of-care CRP testing had lower sensitivity (difference -7%, 95% CI -12 to -2; p=0·002) but substantially higher specificity (difference 58%, 95% CI 55 to 61; ptuberculosis screening test

  16. Harvard--MIT research program in short-lived radiopharmaceuticals. Progress report, September 1, 1977--April 30, 1978. [/sup 99m/Tc, positron-emitting radionuclides

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Adelstein, S.J.; Brownell, G.L.

    1978-05-01

    Progress is reported on the following studies: chemistry studies designed to achieve a more complete understanding of the fundamental chemistry of technetium in order to facilitate the design of future radiopharmaceuticals incorporating the radionuclide /sup 99m/Tc; the development of new radiopharmaceuticals intended to improve image quality and lower radiation doses by the use of short-lived radionuclides and disease-specific agents; the development of short-lived positron-emitting radionuclides which offer advantages in transverse section imaging of regional physiological processes; and studies of the toxic effects of particulate radiation.

  17. Muscle Senescence in Short-Lived Wild Mammals, the Soricine Shrews Blarina brevicauda and Sorex palustris

    Science.gov (United States)

    HINDLE, ALLYSON G.; LAWLER, JOHN M.; CAMPBELL, KEVIN L.; HORNING, MARKUS

    2015-01-01

    Red-toothed (soricine) shrews are consummate predators exhibiting the highest energy turnovers and shortest life spans (ca. 18 months) of any mammal, yet virtually nothing is known regarding their physiological aging. We assessed the emerging pattern of skeletal muscle senescence (contractile/connective tissue components) in sympatric species, the semi-aquatic water shrew (WS), Sorex palustris, and the terrestrial short-tailed shrew (STS), Blarina brevicauda, to determine if muscle aging occurs in wild, short-lived mammals (H0: shrews do not survive to an age where senescence occurs), and if so, whether these alterations are species-specific. Gracilis muscles were collected from first-year (n = 17) and second-year (n = 17) field-caught shrews. Consistent with typical mammalian aging, collagen content (% area) increased with age in both species (S. palustris: ~50%; B. brevicauda: ~60%). Muscle was dominated by stiffer Type I collagen, and the ratio of collagen Type I:Type III more than doubled with age. The area ratio of muscle:collagen decreased with age in both species, but was considerably lower in adult STS, suggesting species-specificity of senescence. Extracellular space was age-elevated in B. brevicauda, but was preserved in S. palustris (~50 vs. 10% elevation). Though juvenile interspecific comparisons revealed no significance, adult WS myocytes had 68% larger cross-sectional area and occurred at 28% lower fibers/area than those of adult STS. We demonstrate that age-related muscle senescence does occur in wild-caught, short-lived mammals, and we therefore reject this classic aging theory tenet. Our findings moreover illustrate that differential age adjustments in contractile/connective tissue components of muscle occur in the two species of wild-caught shrews. PMID:19296507

  18. Quail and other short-lived birds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ottinger, M A

    2001-04-01

    Japanese quail are small galliforms that are migratory and generally live 2 to 3years in the wild. Although there is evidence for other environmental cues, they primarily respond to long daylength for regulation of reproduction. In contrast to the Common Tern, a long-lived sea bird that shows little evidence of reproductive aging, Japanese quail follow a well-defined process of aging with evidence of declining function in reproductive, metabolic, and sensory systems. Our studies focus on neuroendocrine changes associated with reproductive aging in the Japanese quail, with emphasis on the male in order to study both endocrine and behavioral components of reproduction and the process of reproductive aging.

  19. Quality of life of elderly live kidney donors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klop, Karel W J; Dols, Leonienke F C; Weimar, Willem; Dooper, Ine M; IJzermans, Jan N M; Kok, Niels F M

    2013-10-15

    Expanding the use of elderly live donors may help meet the demand for kidney transplants. The aim of this study was to quantify the effect of the surgical procedure on the quality of life (QOL) of elderly donors compared with younger donors. Alongside three prospective studies (two randomized) running between May 2001 and October 2010, we asked 501 live donors to fill out the Short Form-36 questionnaire preoperatively and at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively. We defined live donors 60 years or older as elderly. Between-group analyses regarding QOL were adjusted for baseline values and gender. One hundred thirty-five donors were older and 366 donors were younger than 60 years. The response rate was high, with 87% at 12 months postoperatively. Elderly donors less often scored as American Society of Anaesthesiology classification 1 (60% vs. 81%; Pvitality" (5 points; P=0.008). At 3 months, "bodily pain" (3 points, P=0.04) and "role physical" (8 points, P=0.02) were still in favor of the older group. At 6 and 12 months, "physical function" was in favor of the younger group (3 and 5 points, respectively; P=0.04 and P<0.001). This study demonstrates that elderly donors recover relatively fast. The perspective of excellent postoperative QOL may help convince elderly individuals to donate.

  20. Dynamical Detection of Topological Phase Transitions in Short-Lived Atomic Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Setiawan, F.; Sengupta, K.; Spielman, I. B.; Sau, Jay D.

    2015-11-01

    We demonstrate that dynamical probes provide direct means of detecting the topological phase transition (TPT) between conventional and topological phases, which would otherwise be difficult to access because of loss or heating processes. We propose to avoid such heating by rapidly quenching in and out of the short-lived topological phase across the transition that supports gapless excitations. Following the quench, the distribution of excitations in the final conventional phase carries signatures of the TPT. We apply this strategy to study the TPT into a Majorana-carrying topological phase predicted in one-dimensional spin-orbit-coupled Fermi gases with attractive interactions. The resulting spin-resolved momentum distribution, computed by self-consistently solving the time-dependent Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations, exhibits Kibble-Zurek scaling and Stückelberg oscillations characteristic of the TPT. We discuss parameter regimes where the TPT is experimentally accessible.

  1. Contribution of short-lived nuclides to decay heat

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Katakura, Jun-ichi

    1987-01-01

    Comments are made on the calculation of decay heat, centering on evaluation of average decay energy. It is difficult to obtain sufficiently useful decay diagrams of short lived nucleides. High-energy levels are often missing in inferior decay diagrams, leading to an overestimation of the intensity of beta-rays at low-energy levels. Such an overestimation or underestimation due to the inferiority of a decay diagram is referred to as pandemonium effect. The pandemonium effect can be assessed by means of the ratio of the measured energy of the highest level of the daughter nuclide to the Q β -value of the beta-decay. When a satisfactory decay diagram cannot be obtained, the average decay energy has to be estimated by theoretical calculation. The gross theory for beta-decay proposed by Yamada and Takahashi is employed for the calculation. To carry out the calculation according to this theory, it is required to determine the value for the parameter Q 00 , the lowest energy of the daughter nuclide that meets the selection rule for beta-decay. Currently, Q 00 to be used for this purpose is estimated from data on the energy of the lowest level found in a decay diagram, even if it is inferior. Some examples of calculation of decay heat using the average beta- or gamma-ray energy are shown and compared with measurements. (author)

  2. Nuclear physics with use of KUR. Reviews of 30 years studies on short-lived nuclei and perspectives for the future

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kawase, Yoichi

    1995-01-01

    The research works which were carried out over the past 30 years on nuclear structure study have been reviewed with emphasis on the technical developments of experimental apparatus for the studies of very short-lived isotopes produced by the Kyoto University reactor(KUR). In the first chapter, nuclear structure studies of neutron-rich nuclei with use of the on-line irradiation apparatus and the on-line isotope separator(ISOL) for fission products have been described. In the second chapter, applications of nuclear methods to solid state physics by the perturbed angular correlation(PAC) technique have been examined to investigate the local electromagnetic fields in metals and compounds through the hyperfine interactions. Perspectives for the future of related research fields are given aiming at the advanced uses of short-lived radioisotopes. (author)

  3. A phase-imaging ion-cyclotron-resonance technique for mass measurements of short-lived nuclides

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Eliseev, Sergey; Blaum, Klaus; Doerr, Andreas; Eronen, Tommi; Goncharov, Mikhail; Hoecker, Martin; Ketter, Jochen; Ramirez, Enrique Minaya; Simon, Vanessa [Max-Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics (Germany); Block, Michael [GSI Helmholtzzentrum fuer Schwerionenforschung GmbH (Germany); Chenmarev, Stanislav; Filjanin, Pavel; Nesterenko, Dmitriy; Novikov, Yuri [Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute (Russian Federation); Droese, Christian; Schweikhard, Lutz [Institute for Physics, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University (Germany)

    2014-07-01

    A novel approach to mass measurements on the sub-ppb level even for short-lived nuclides with half-lives well below one second is presented. It is based on the projection of the radial ion motion in a Penning trap onto a position sensitive detector. Compared to the presently employed time-of-flight ion-cyclotron-resonance technique, the novel approach is 25-times faster and provides a 40-fold gain in resolving power. With the new technique low-lying isomeric states with excitation energy on the 10-keV level can be separated from the ground state. Moreover, the new technique possesses a substantially higher sensitivity since just two ions are sufficient to determine the ion cyclotron frequency. A measurement of the mass difference of singly charged ions of {sup 132}Xe and {sup 131}Xe with an uncertainty of 25 eV has demonstrated the great potential of the new approach.

  4. Comparison of the Mini-Nutritional Assessment short and long form and serum albumin as prognostic indicators of hip fracture outcomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Helminen, Heli; Luukkaala, Tiina; Saarnio, Juha; Nuotio, Maria

    2017-04-01

    Malnutrition is common among older hip fracture patients and associated with adverse outcomes. We examined Mini Nutritional Assessment short (MNA-SF) and long form (MNA-LF) and serum albumin as prognostic indicators of mobility, living arrangements and mortality after hip fracture. Population-based prospective data were collected on 594 hip fracture patients aged 65 and over. MNA-SF, MNA-LF and serum albumin were assessed on admission. Outcomes were poorer mobility; transfer to more assisted living accommodation and mortality one month, four months and one year post fracture. Logistic regression analyses for mobility and living arrangements with odds ratios (OR) and Cox proportional hazards model for mortality with hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used, adjusted for age, gender, ASA grade and fracture type. All measures predicted mortality at all time-points. Risk of malnutrition and malnutrition measured by MNA-LF predicted mobility and living arrangements within four months of hip fracture. At one year, risk of malnutrition predicted mobility and malnutrition predicted living arrangements, when measured by MNA-LF. Malnutrition, but not risk thereof, measured by MNA-SF predicted living arrangements at all time-points. None of the measures predicted one-month mobility. All measures were strong indicators of short- and long-term mortality after hip fracture. MNA-LF was superior in predicting mobility and living arrangements, particularly at four months. All measures were relatively poor in predicting short-term outcomes of mobility and living arrangements. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Muscle senescence in short-lived wild mammals, the soricine shrews Blarina brevicauda and Sorex palustris.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hindle, Allyson G; Lawler, John M; Campbell, Kevin L; Horning, Markus

    2009-06-01

    Red-toothed (soricine) shrews are consummate predators exhibiting the highest energy turnovers and shortest life spans (ca. 18 months) of any mammal, yet virtually nothing is known regarding their physiological aging. We assessed the emerging pattern of skeletal muscle senescence (contractile/connective tissue components) in sympatric species, the semi-aquatic water shrew (WS), Sorex palustris, and the terrestrial short-tailed shrew (STS), Blarina brevicauda, to determine if muscle aging occurs in wild, short-lived mammals (H(0): shrews do not survive to an age where senescence occurs), and if so, whether these alterations are species-specific. Gracilis muscles were collected from first-year (n=17) and second-year (n=17) field-caught shrews. Consistent with typical mammalian aging, collagen content (% area) increased with age in both species (S. palustris: approximately 50%; B. brevicauda: approximately 60%). Muscle was dominated by stiffer Type I collagen, and the ratio of collagen Type I:Type III more than doubled with age. The area ratio of muscle:collagen decreased with age in both species, but was considerably lower in adult STS, suggesting species-specificity of senescence. Extracellular space was age-elevated in B. brevicauda, but was preserved in S. palustris ( approximately 50 vs. 10% elevation). Though juvenile interspecific comparisons revealed no significance, adult WS myocytes had 68% larger cross-sectional area and occurred at 28% lower fibers/area than those of adult STS. We demonstrate that age-related muscle senescence does occur in wild-caught, short-lived mammals, and we therefore reject this classic aging theory tenet. Our findings moreover illustrate that differential age adjustments in contractile/connective tissue components of muscle occur in the two species of wild-caught shrews. (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  6. The epidemiology of long- and short-term cancer survivors

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jarlbæk, Lene; Christensen, Linda; Bruera, Eduardo

    2014-01-01

    Introduction. In this study, we present data from a population-based cohort of incident cancer patients separated in long- and short-term survivors. Our aim was to procure denominators for use in the planning of rehabilitation and palliative care programs. Material and methods. A registry......-linkage cohort study. All cancer patients, diagnosed from 1993 to 2003 from a 470 000 large population, were followed individually from diagnosis to death or until 31 December 2008. Long-term survivors lived five years or more after the time of the cancer diagnosis (TOCD). Short-term survivors died less than...... and sex. Two-year crude cancer survival seems as a clinically relevant cut point for characterizing potential "denominators" for rehabilitation or palliative care programs. From this cohort of incident cancer patients, and using two-year survival as a cut point, it could be estimated that 54% would...

  7. A crossed-beam experiment on intramultiplet mixing collisions with short-lived Ne** {(2p)5(3p)} atoms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Manders, M.P.I.; Ruyten, W.M.J.; van de Beucken, F..J.H.M.; Driessen, J.P.J.; Veugelers, W.J.T.; Kramer, P.H.; Vredenbregt, E.J.D.; van Hoek, W.B.M.; Sandker, G.J.; Beijerinck, H.C.W.; Verhaar, B.J.

    1988-01-01

    We describe the design, operation, and calibration of a crossed-beam experiment for the study of intramultiplet mixing collisions of short-lived electronically excited Ne{(2p)5(3p)}≡{α} atoms with ground-state atoms/molecules. The excellent performance of almost 1 kHz/Å2 (number of counts per unit

  8. Development of a Method to Assess the Radiation Dose due to Internal Exposure to Short-lived Radioactive Materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Benmaman, D.; Koch, J.; Ribak, J.

    2014-01-01

    Work with radioactive materials requires monitoring of the employees' exposure to ionizing radiation. Employees may be exposed to radiation from internal and/or external exposure. Control of external exposure is mostly conducted through personal radiation dosimeters provided to employees. Control of internal exposure can be performed by measuring the concentration of radioactive substances excreted in urine or through whole-body counting in which the entire body or target organs are scanned with a sensitive detector system (1). According to the regulations in Israel an employee that may be internally exposed must undergo an exposure control at least once every three months. The idea lying behind the control of internal exposure by urine testing is that if radioactive material has penetrated into the employee body, it can be detected even if the test is performed once every three months. A model was fitted for each element describing its dispersion in the body and its excretion therefrom (2). By means of this model, one can estimate the activity that entered the body and calculate the resulting radiation dose to which the worker was exposed. There is a problem to implement this method when it comes to short-lived radioactive materials, for which it is very likely that the material that penetrated into the body has decayed and cannot be detected by testing once every three months. As a result, workers with short-lived radioactive materials are presently not monitored for internal exposure, in contradiction to the requirements of the Safety at Work Regulations. The purpose of the study is to develop an alternative method to assess the amount of radioactive material absorbed in the body and the resulting radiation dose due to internal exposure of workers to short-lived radioactive materials

  9. Sizes and shapes of short-lived nuclei via laser spectroscopy. Progress report, May 1, 1980-January 31, 1981

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lewis, D.A.

    1981-02-01

    The first stage of the program to study the sizes and shapes of short-lived nuclei through their atomic hyperfine structure is to develop a movable laser spectroscopy system. This system is now almost complete and is described in this report along with plans for measurements at Argonne National Laboratory and Brookhaven National Laboratory

  10. Gross theory of beta-decay and half-lives of short-lived nuclei

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamada, Masami; Kondo, Norikatsu.

    1976-01-01

    The gross theory of beta-decay has been developed, and this theory offers the means of calculating directly the function of beta-decay intensity, then half-lives, complex beta spectra and so on are estimated from it. This paper presents the more refined theory by introducing the shell effect. The shell effect is considered in the intensity function. The half-lives in the electron decay of In with spin of 9/2 + , the positron decay of Bi, Po, At and Rn, and the decay of odd-odd nuclei were estimated. The introduction of the shell effect shows better agreement between the theory and the experimental data. The inequality relations of intensity functions and half-lives of two adjacent nuclei were obtained. When the spins and parities of two nuclei are same, the inequality relations hold especially good. (Kato, T.)

  11. Marked point process framework for living probabilistic safety assessment and risk follow-up

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arjas, Elja; Holmberg, Jan

    1995-01-01

    We construct a model for living probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) by applying the general framework of marked point processes. The framework provides a theoretically rigorous approach for considering risk follow-up of posterior hazards. In risk follow-up, the hazard of core damage is evaluated synthetically at time points in the past, by using some observed events as logged history and combining it with re-evaluated potential hazards. There are several alternatives for doing this, of which we consider three here, calling them initiating event approach, hazard rate approach, and safety system approach. In addition, for a comparison, we consider a core damage hazard arising in risk monitoring. Each of these four definitions draws attention to a particular aspect in risk assessment, and this is reflected in the behaviour of the consequent risk importance measures. Several alternative measures are again considered. The concepts and definitions are illustrated by a numerical example

  12. NMR detection of short-lived β-emitter {sup 12}N implanted in water

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sugihara, T., E-mail: sugihara@vg.phys.sci.osaka-u.ac.jp; Mihara, M.; Shimaya, J.; Matsuta, K.; Fukuda, M.; Ohno, J.; Tanaka, M.; Yamaoka, S.; Watanabe, K.; Iwakiri, S.; Yanagihara, R.; Tanaka, Y.; Du, H.; Onishi, K.; Kambayashi, S.; Minamisono, T. [Osaka University, Department of Physics (Japan); Nishimura, D. [Tokyo University of Science, Department of Physics (Japan); Izumikawa, T. [Niigata University, Radioisotope Center (Japan); Ozawa, A. [University of Tsukuba, Department of Physics (Japan); Ishibashi, Y. [RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science (Japan); and others

    2017-11-15

    The beta-detected nuclear magnetic resonance (β-NMR) in liquid H{sub 2}O has been observed for the first time using a short-lived β-ray emitter {sup 12}N (I{sup π} = 1{sup +},T{sub 1/2}=11 ms). A nuclear spin polarized {sup 12}N beam with an energy of about 20 MeV/nucleon was implanted into an enclosed water sample. About 50 % of implanted {sup 12}N ions maintained nuclear polarization and exhibited a β-NMR spectrum. The chemical shift of {sup 12}N in H{sub 2}O relative to {sup 12}N in Pt was deduced to be −(3.6±0.5) × 10{sup 2} ppm.

  13. Comparison between the effects of trigger point mesotherapy versus acupuncture points mesotherapy in the treatment of chronic low back pain: a short term randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Di Cesare, Annalisa; Giombini, Arrigo; Di Cesare, Mariachiara; Ripani, Maurizio; Vulpiani, Maria Chiara; Saraceni, Vincenzo Maria

    2011-02-01

    The goal of this study was to compare the effects of trigger point (TRP) mesotherapy and acupuncture (ACP) mesotherapy in the treatment of patients with chronic low back pain. Short term randomized controlled trial. 62 subjects with chronic low back pain were recruited at outpatients Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinic at the University of Rome "La Sapienza" in the period between July 2006 and May 2008. Study subjects were assigned to receive 4 weeks treatments with either trigger point mesotherapy (TRP mesotherapy, n=29) or acupoints mesotherapy (ACP mesotherapy, n=33). Pain intensity with a pain visual analogic scale (VAS) and verbal rating scale (VRS) and pain disability with McGill Pain Questionnaire Short Form (SFMPQ), Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMQ) and Oswestry Low Back Pain Disability Questionaire (ODQ). ACP mesotherapy shows a more effective results in VRS and VAS measures in the follow-up (p(VRS)=mesotherapy group. Our results suggest that the response to ACP mesotherapy may be greater than the response to TRP mesotherapy in the short term follow-up. This technique could be nevertheless a viable option as an adjunct treatment in an overall treatment planning of CLBP. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. 182Hf-182W age dating of a 26Al-poor inclusion and implications for the origin of short-lived radioisotopes in the early Solar System

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Holst, Jesper Christian; Olsen, Mia Bjørg Stolberg; Paton, Chad

    2013-01-01

    provide a unique window into the earliest Solar System, including the origin of short-lived radioisotopes. However, their chronology is unknown. Using the 182Hf–182W chronometer, we show that a FUN CAI recording a condensation origin from a solar gas formed coevally with canonical CAIs, but with 26Al/27Al......Refractory inclusions [calcium–aluminum-rich inclusions, (CAIs)] represent the oldest Solar System solids and provide information regarding the formation of the Sun and its protoplanetary disk. CAIs contain evidence of now extinct short-lived radioisotopes (e.g., 26Al, 41Ca, and 182Hf) synthesized...... in one or multiple stars and added to the protosolar molecular cloud before or during its collapse. Understanding how and when short-lived radioisotopes were added to the Solar System is necessary to assess their validity as chronometers and constrain the birthplace of the Sun. Whereas most CAIs formed...

  15. Monitoring of processes with gamma-rays of neutron capture and short-living radionuclides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aripov, G.A.; Kurbanov, B.I.; Allamuratova, G.

    2004-01-01

    Element content is a fundamental parameter of a substance, on which all its properties, and also character of physical, chemical, biological, technological and ecological processes depend. Therefore monitoring of element content (in the course of technological process - on line; in natural conditions - in site; or in living organisms - in vivo) becomes necessary for investigation of aforementioned processes. This problem can be successfully solved by using the methods of prompt gamma activation analysis (PGAA) and instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) on short-living radionuclides. These methods don't depend on type of substance (biological, geological, technological etc.), since the content is determined by gamma radiation of nuclei, and allows to meet such a serious requirement like the necessity of achieving minimal irradiation of the object and its minimal residual activity. In this work minimal determinable concentrations of various elements are estimated (based on experimental data) by the method of PGAA using radionuclide 252 Cf - source of neutrons with the yield of the oil of 10 8 neutron/sec on the experimental device with preliminary focusing of neutrons /1/, and also data of determination of elements by their isotopes with maximum time efficiency /2,3/ by the method of INAA. (author)

  16. Freshly induced short-lived gamma-ray activity as a measure of fission rates in lightly re-irradiated spent fuel

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kroehnert, H., E-mail: hanna.kroehnert@psi.c [Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI), OPRA-E07, CH-5232 Villigen (Switzerland); Perret, G., E-mail: gregory.perret@psi.c [Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI), OPRA-E07, CH-5232 Villigen (Switzerland); Murphy, M.F., E-mail: mike.murphy@psi.c [Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI), OPRA-E07, CH-5232 Villigen (Switzerland); Chawla, R., E-mail: rakesh.chawla@epfl.c [Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI), OPRA-E07, CH-5232 Villigen (Switzerland); Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne (Switzerland)

    2010-12-01

    A new measurement technique has been developed to determine fission rates in burnt fuel, following re-irradiation in a zero-power research reactor. The development has been made in the frame of the LIFE-PROTEUS program at the Paul Scherrer Institute, which aims at characterizing the interfaces between fresh and highly burnt fuel assemblies in modern LWRs. To discriminate against the high intrinsic gamma-ray activity of the burnt fuel, the proposed measurement technique uses high-energy gamma-rays, above 2000 keV, emitted by short-lived fission products freshly produced in the fuel. To demonstrate the feasibility of this technique, a fresh UO{sub 2} sample and a 36 GWd/t burnt UO{sub 2} sample were irradiated in the PROTEUS reactor and their gamma-ray activities were recorded directly after irradiation. For both fresh and the burnt fuel samples, relative fission rates were derived for different core positions, based on the short-lived {sup 142}La (2542 keV), {sup 89}Rb (2570 keV), {sup 138}Cs (2640 keV) and {sup 95}Y (3576 keV) gamma-ray lines. Uncertainties on the inter-position fission rate ratios were mainly due to the uncertainties on the net-area of the gamma-ray peaks and were about 1-3% for the fresh sample, and 3-6% for the burnt one. Thus, for the first time, it has been shown that the short-lived gamma-ray activity, induced in burnt fuel by irradiation in a zero-power reactor, can be used as a quantitative measure of the fission rate. For both fresh and burnt fuel, the measured results agreed, within the uncertainties, with Monte Carlo (MCNPX) predictions.

  17. Tantalum-178 - a short-lived nuclide for nuclear medicine: development of a potential generator system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Neirinckx, R.D.; Jones, A.G.; Davis, M.A.; Harris, G.I.; Holman, B.L.

    1978-01-01

    We describe a chemical separation that may form the basis of a generator system for the short-lived radionuclide Ta-178 (T/sub 1/2/ = 9 min). The parent nuclide W-178 (T/sub 1/2/ = 21.7 days) is loaded on an anion-exchange column and the daughter eluted with a mixture of dilute hydrochloric acid and hydrogen peroxide. The yields of tantalum and the breakthrough of the tungsten parent as a function of the eluting conditions are discussed, and preliminary animal distribution data are presented for various treatments of the eluant solution

  18. The short-lived African turquoise killifish: an emerging experimental model for ageing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Yumi; Nam, Hong Gil; Valenzano, Dario Riccardo

    2016-02-01

    Human ageing is a fundamental biological process that leads to functional decay, increased risk for various diseases and, ultimately, death. Some of the basic biological mechanisms underlying human ageing are shared with other organisms; thus, animal models have been invaluable in providing key mechanistic and molecular insights into the common bases of biological ageing. In this Review, we briefly summarise the major applications of the most commonly used model organisms adopted in ageing research and highlight their relevance in understanding human ageing. We compare the strengths and limitations of different model organisms and discuss in detail an emerging ageing model, the short-lived African turquoise killifish. We review the recent progress made in using the turquoise killifish to study the biology of ageing and discuss potential future applications of this promising animal model. © 2016. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

  19. Laser generation of proton beams for the production of short-lived positron emitting radioisotopes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Spencer, I.; Ledingham, K.W.D.; Singhal, R.P.; McCanny, T.; McKenna, P.; Clark, E.L.; Krushelnick, K.; Zepf, M.; Beg, F.N.; Tatarakis, M.; Dangor, A.E.; Norreys, P.A.; Clarke, R.J.; Allott, R.M.; Ross, I.N.

    2001-01-01

    Protons of energies up to 37 MeV have been generated when ultra-intense lasers (up to 10 20 W cm -2 ) interact with hydrogen containing solid targets. These protons can be used to induce nuclear reactions in secondary targets to produce β + -emitting nuclei of relevance to the nuclear medicine community, namely 11 C and 13 N via (p, n) and (p,α) reactions. Activities of the order of 200 kBq have been measured from a single laser pulse interacting with a thin solid target. The possibility of using ultra-intense lasers to produce commercial amounts of short-lived positron emitting sources for positron emission tomography (PET) is discussed

  20. Determination of k0-factors of short-lived nuclides and application of k0-NAA to selected trace elements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Acharya, R.; Holzbecher, J.; Chatt, A.

    2012-01-01

    As part of the standardization program of k 0 -based NAA (k 0 -NAA) methods at the Dalhousie University SLOWPOKE-2 reactor (DUSR) facility, the k 0 -factors of 15 analytically important short-lived nuclides (half-life 197 Au). The elemental standards used were prepared mostly from their primary standard solutions. The samples were irradiated in both inner and outer pneumatic sites of the DUSR facility and counted using an HPGe-detector coupled to an ORTEC’s digital gamma-ray spectrometer. The k 0 -factors determined using both inner and outer irradiation sites were found to be within ±5% with respect to either recommended or literature values in most cases. The Z-score values at 95% confidence level were found to be in the range of ±0.03–1.6. The k 0 -NAA method was applied to three different NIST standard reference materials (SRMs) and concentrations of six elements, namely Ag, F, Hf, Rb, Sc, and Se were determined using their short-lived nuclides. The concentrations of these elements were also determined by relative NAA method for comparison purposes.

  1. Measurement of formation cross sections producing short-lived nuclei by 14 MeV neutrons. Pr, Ba, Ce, Sm, W, Sn, Hf

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Murahira, S.; Satoh, Y.; Honda, N.; Shibata, M.; Yamamoto, H.; Kawade, K.; Takahashi, A.; Iida, T.

    1996-01-01

    Thirteen neutron activation cross sections for (n,2n), (n,p), (n,np) and (n,α) reactions producing short-lived nuclei with half-lives between 56 s and 24 min were measured in the energy range from 13.4 MeV to 14.9 MeV for Pr, Ba, Ce, Sm, W, Sn and Hf. The cross sections of 179 Hf(n,np) 178m Lu and 180 Hf(n,p) 180 Lu were measured for the first time. (author)

  2. Climate response to projected changes in short-lived species under an A1B scenario from 2000-2050 in the GISS climate model

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Menon, Surabi; Shindell, Drew T.; Faluvegi, Greg; Bauer, Susanne E.; Koch, Dorothy M.; Unger, Nadine; Menon, Surabi; Miller, Ron L.; Schmidt, Gavin A.; Streets, David G.

    2007-03-26

    We investigate the climate forcing from and response to projected changes in short-lived species and methane under the A1B scenario from 2000-2050 in the GISS climate model. We present a meta-analysis of new simulations of the full evolution of gas and aerosol species and other existing experiments with variations of the same model. The comparison highlights the importance of several physical processes in determining radiative forcing, especially the effect of climate change on stratosphere-troposphere exchange, heterogeneous sulfate-nitrate-dust chemistry, and changes in methane oxidation and natural emissions. However, the impact of these fairly uncertain physical effects is substantially less than the difference between alternative emission scenarios for all short-lived species. The net global mean annual average direct radiative forcing from the short-lived species is .02 W/m{sup 2} or less in our projections, as substantial positive ozone forcing is largely offset by negative aerosol direct forcing. Since aerosol reductions also lead to a reduced indirect effect, the global mean surface temperature warms by {approx}0.07 C by 2030 and {approx}0.13 C by 2050, adding 19% and 17%, respectively, to the warming induced by long-lived greenhouse gases. Regional direct forcings are large, up to 3.8 W/m{sup 2}. The ensemble-mean climate response shows little regional correlation with the spatial pattern of the forcing, however, suggesting that oceanic and atmospheric mixing generally overwhelms the effect of even large localized forcings. Exceptions are the polar regions, where ozone and aerosols may induce substantial seasonal climate changes.

  3. New three-count technique for short-lived radon decay products in air

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tian Deyuan; Lu Zhizhao

    1998-01-01

    Up to the present, radon and its short-lived decay products in air are usually monitored by means of a detection. But radon progeny, including RaB ( 214 Pb) and RaC ( 214 Bi) which are β and γ emitters, contribute about 90% to the equilibrium equivalent radon concentration (EECRn). Therefore, this paper introduces a new three-count technique by a β detector in the light of radioactive decay law and its boundary conditions during sampling and counting times to solve the Bateman equation. β (even low level β) instruments have been fairly popularized domestically and internationally. It can be used not only as an instrument for radon and its daughters in air, but also as a monitor for β airborne activity in the environment. This new method taps further the latent power of the present instrument and realizes various uses for a unit. (author)

  4. Continuous monitoring α-activity on aerosol filters by the pseudo-coincidence-technique. Explicitly taking into account the short lived Po-218 activity; Kontinuierliche Ueberwachung der α-Aktivitaet eines Aerosolfilters mit der Pseudokoinzidenzmesstechnik. Explizite Beruecksichtigung der kurzlebigen Po-218 Aktivitaetsbeitraaege

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kraut, W.; Schwarz, W. [Duale Hochschule Baden-Wuerttemberg (DHBW), Karlsruhe (Germany). Studiengang Sicherheitswesen; Kraut, B. [Berthold Technologies GmbH und Co.KG, Bad Wildbad (Germany)

    2015-07-01

    Pseudo-coincidence-technique is applied to continuous monitoring of α-activity on aerosolfilters by proportional counters. Filter activity can markedly increase or decrease by changing air conditions especially by the amount of short lived Po-218 activity. Conditions of constant proportions of activity concentrations for the short lived species for operating this technique are seldom fulfilled. The dynamic behavior of artificial (long lived) and natural (short lived) activity is mathematically modelled and the measured moving count rates are analyzed under this model by a multivariate regression analysis for activity concentrations of artificial resp. short lived activity. Results are compared to standard recommendations of DIN ISO 11929.

  5. Radioactivity of radon and its short-lived decay products in room air, 2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shimo, Michikuni; Katoh, Takao

    1983-01-01

    In the reactor room of the Kyoto University Research Reactor Institute, the measurements of radon (Rn) and its short-lived decay products (Rn-Dts) were carried out under ventilated and non-ventilated conditions. The indoor activities were equal to outdoor ones under ventilated condition and those activities increased till about 10 times of outdoors under non-ventilated condition. We attempted to explain these results on a basis of a simple model. The calculations were performed taking into account: (1) supply of Rn and Rn-Dts from outdoor, (2) the emanation rate of Rn from the wall materials of building, (3) the removal rate of Rn-Dts by ventilation and wall deposition, and (4) the attachment rate of unattached atom to aerosols. In addition, natural ventilation were considered during periods without artificial ventilation. (author)

  6. Simulation of radon short lived decay daughters' inhalation using the lung compartmental model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tomulescu, Vlad C.

    2002-01-01

    Radon and its short-lived decay daughters are the main source of radiation on natural ways for population. The radon gas, released from soil, water or construction materials is producing by radioactive decay the following solid daughters: Po-218, Bi-214, Pb-214, and Po-214, which can attach to aerosols, and consequently penetrate the organism by inhalation. The human respiratory tract can be approximated by aid of a compartment model that takes into account the different anatomical structures exposed to contamination and irradiation, as well as the respective physiological processes. This model is associated to a mathematical equation system that describes the behavior of the radioactive material inside the body. The results represent the dose equivalent on different organs and tissues, as a function of subject and the activity performed in contaminating environment. (author)

  7. Detection of 210Po on filter papers 16 years after use for the collection of short-lived radon progeny in a room

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abu-Jarad, F.; Fazal-ur-Rehman

    2003-01-01

    Radon gas was allowed to accumulate in its radium source and then injected into a 36 m 3 test room, resulting in an initial radon concentration of 15 kBq m -3 . Filter papers were used to collect the short-lived radon progeny and thus to measure the Potential Alpha Energy Concentration (PAEC) in-situ in the year 1984 at different times and conditions according to the experimental design. The radon progeny collected on the filter papers were studied as a function of aerosol particle concentration ranging from 10 2 -10 5 particles cm -3 in three different experiments. The highest aerosol particle concentration was generated by indoor cigarette smoking. Those filters were stored after the experiment, and were used after 16 years to study the activity of the radon long-lived alpha emitter progeny, 210 Po (T 1/2 =138 days). This isotope is separated from the short-lived progeny by 210 Pb beta emitter with 22.3 years half-life. After 16 years' storage of these filters, each filter paper was sandwiched and wrapped between two CR-39 nuclear track detectors, to put the detectors in contact with the surfaces of different filters, for 337 days. Correlation between the PAEC measured using filter papers in the year 1984 and the activity of long-lived alpha emitter 210 Po on the same filter papers measured in the year 2000 were studied. The results of the 210 Po activity showed a very good correlation of 0.92 with the PAEC 16 years ago. The results also depict that the PAEC and 210 Po activity in indoor air increased with the increase of aerosol particle concentration, which shows the attachment of short-lived radon progeny with the aerosol particles. The experiment proves that indoor cigarette smoking is a major source of aerosol particles carrying radon progeny and, thus, indoor cigarette smoking is an additional source of internal radiation hazard to the occupants whether smoker or non-smoker

  8. Multi-model evaluation of short-lived pollutant distributions over east Asia during summer 2008

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quennehen, B.; Raut, J.-C.; Law, K. S.; Daskalakis, N.; Ancellet, G.; Clerbaux, C.; Kim, S.-W.; Lund, M. T.; Myhre, G.; Olivié, D. J. L.; Safieddine, S.; Skeie, R. B.; Thomas, J. L.; Tsyro, S.; Bazureau, A.; Bellouin, N.; Hu, M.; Kanakidou, M.; Klimont, Z.; Kupiainen, K.; Myriokefalitakis, S.; Quaas, J.; Rumbold, S. T.; Schulz, M.; Cherian, R.; Shimizu, A.; Wang, J.; Yoon, S.-C.; Zhu, T.

    2016-08-01

    is too weak to explain the differences between the models. Our results rather point to an overestimation of SO2 emissions, in particular, close to the surface in Chinese urban areas. However, we also identify a clear underestimation of aerosol concentrations over northern India, suggesting that the rapid recent growth of emissions in India, as well as their spatial extension, is underestimated in emission inventories. Model deficiencies in the representation of pollution accumulation due to the Indian monsoon may also be playing a role. Comparison with vertical aerosol lidar measurements highlights a general underestimation of scattering aerosols in the boundary layer associated with overestimation in the free troposphere pointing to modelled aerosol lifetimes that are too long. This is likely linked to too strong vertical transport and/or insufficient deposition efficiency during transport or export from the boundary layer, rather than chemical processing (in the case of sulphate aerosols). Underestimation of sulphate in the boundary layer implies potentially large errors in simulated aerosol-cloud interactions, via impacts on boundary-layer clouds.This evaluation has important implications for accurate assessment of air pollutants on regional air quality and global climate based on global model calculations. Ideally, models should be run at higher resolution over source regions to better simulate urban-rural pollutant gradients and/or chemical regimes, and also to better resolve pollutant processing and loss by wet deposition as well as vertical transport. Discrepancies in vertical distributions require further quantification and improvement since these are a key factor in the determination of radiative forcing from short-lived pollutants.

  9. Multi-model evaluation of short-lived pollutant distributions over east Asia during summer 2008

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    B. Quennehen

    2016-08-01

    mitigation in Beijing is too weak to explain the differences between the models. Our results rather point to an overestimation of SO2 emissions, in particular, close to the surface in Chinese urban areas. However, we also identify a clear underestimation of aerosol concentrations over northern India, suggesting that the rapid recent growth of emissions in India, as well as their spatial extension, is underestimated in emission inventories. Model deficiencies in the representation of pollution accumulation due to the Indian monsoon may also be playing a role. Comparison with vertical aerosol lidar measurements highlights a general underestimation of scattering aerosols in the boundary layer associated with overestimation in the free troposphere pointing to modelled aerosol lifetimes that are too long. This is likely linked to too strong vertical transport and/or insufficient deposition efficiency during transport or export from the boundary layer, rather than chemical processing (in the case of sulphate aerosols. Underestimation of sulphate in the boundary layer implies potentially large errors in simulated aerosol–cloud interactions, via impacts on boundary-layer clouds.This evaluation has important implications for accurate assessment of air pollutants on regional air quality and global climate based on global model calculations. Ideally, models should be run at higher resolution over source regions to better simulate urban–rural pollutant gradients and/or chemical regimes, and also to better resolve pollutant processing and loss by wet deposition as well as vertical transport. Discrepancies in vertical distributions require further quantification and improvement since these are a key factor in the determination of radiative forcing from short-lived pollutants.

  10. Harvard-MIT research program in short-lived radiopharmaceuticals. Progress report, March 1, 1985-February 28, 1986

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1986-03-01

    The Harvard-MIT Research Program in Short-Lived Radiopharmaceuticals was established in 1977 to foster interaction among groups working at Harvard Medical School, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts General Hospital in fields related to radiopharmaceutical chemistry. From these collaborations and building upon the special, but different, strengths of the participating individuals, laboratories and institutions, it was hoped that original approaches would be found for the design of new, clinically useful, labeled compounds. We believe that examination of the record demonstrates that this has been a fruitful alliance

  11. Harvard-MIT research program in short-lived radiopharmaceuticals. Progress report, March 1, 1983-February 29, 1984

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Adelstein, S.J.; Brownell, G.L.

    1984-02-01

    This report describes research efforts towards the achievement of a clearer understanding of the solution chemistry of technetium in order to facilitate the design of future clinical agents labeled with Tc-99m, the development of new receptor binding radiopharmaceuticals for the in vivo assessment of insulin receptors and for imaging the adrenal medulla and the brain, the examination of the utility of monoclonal antibodies and liposomes in the design of radiopharmaceuticals for diagnosis and therapy, and the synthesis of short-lived positron-emitting radiopharmaceuticals for transverse imaging of regional physiological processes

  12. Impact on short-lived climate forcers increases projected warming due to deforestation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scott, C E; Monks, S A; Spracklen, D V; Arnold, S R; Forster, P M; Rap, A; Äijälä, M; Artaxo, P; Carslaw, K S; Chipperfield, M P; Ehn, M; Gilardoni, S; Heikkinen, L; Kulmala, M; Petäjä, T; Reddington, C L S; Rizzo, L V; Swietlicki, E; Vignati, E; Wilson, C

    2018-01-11

    The climate impact of deforestation depends on the relative strength of several biogeochemical and biogeophysical effects. In addition to affecting the exchange of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and moisture with the atmosphere and surface albedo, vegetation emits biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) that alter the formation of short-lived climate forcers (SLCFs), which include aerosol, ozone and methane. Here we show that a scenario of complete global deforestation results in a net positive radiative forcing (RF; 0.12 W m -2 ) from SLCFs, with the negative RF from decreases in ozone and methane concentrations partially offsetting the positive aerosol RF. Combining RFs due to CO 2 , surface albedo and SLCFs suggests that global deforestation could cause 0.8 K warming after 100 years, with SLCFs contributing 8% of the effect. However, deforestation as projected by the RCP8.5 scenario leads to zero net RF from SLCF, primarily due to nonlinearities in the aerosol indirect effect.

  13. Short Lived Climate Pollutants cause a Long Lived Effect on Sea-level Rise: Analyzing climate metrics for sea-level rise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sterner, E.; Johansson, D. J.

    2013-12-01

    Climate change depends on the increase of several different atmospheric pollutants. While long term global warming will be determined mainly by carbon dioxide, warming in the next few decades will depend to a large extent on short lived climate pollutants (SLCP). Reducing emissions of SLCPs could contribute to lower the global mean surface temperature by 0.5 °C already by 2050 (Shindell et al. 2012). Furthermore, the warming effect of one of the most potent SLCPs, black carbon (BC), may have been underestimated in the past. Bond et al. (2013) presents a new best estimate of the total BC radiative forcing (RF) of 1.1 W/m2 (90 % uncertainty bounds of 0.17 to 2.1 W/m2) since the beginning of the industrial era. BC is however never emitted alone and cooling aerosols from the same sources offset a majority of this RF. In the wake of calls for mitigation of SLCPs it is important to study other aspects of the climate effect of SLCPs. One key impact of climate change is sea-level rise (SLR). In a recent study, the effect of SLCP mitigation scenarios on SLR is examined. Hu et al (2013) find a substantial effect on SLR from mitigating SLCPs sharply, reducing SLR by 22-42% by 2100. We choose a different approach focusing on emission pulses and analyse a metric based on sea level rise so as to further enlighten the SLR consequences of SLCPs. We want in particular to understand the time dynamics of SLR impacts caused by SLCPs compared to other greenhouse gases. The most commonly used physical based metrics are GWP and GTP. We propose and evaluate an additional metric: The global sea-level rise potential (GSP). The GSP is defined as the sea level rise after a time horizon caused by an emissions pulse of a forcer to the sea level rise after a time horizon caused by an emissions pulse of a CO2. GSP is evaluated and compared to GWP and GTP using a set of climate forcers chosen to cover the whole scale of atmospheric perturbation life times (BC, CH4, N2O, CO2 and SF6). The study

  14. Numerical solution of stiff burnup equation with short half lived nuclides by the Krylov subspace method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamamoto, Akio; Tatsumi, Masahiro; Sugimura, Naoki

    2007-01-01

    The Krylov subspace method is applied to solve nuclide burnup equations used for lattice physics calculations. The Krylov method is an efficient approach for solving ordinary differential equations with stiff nature such as the nuclide burnup with short lived nuclides. Some mathematical fundamentals of the Krylov subspace method and its application to burnup equations are discussed. Verification calculations are carried out in a PWR pin-cell geometry with UO 2 fuel. A detailed burnup chain that includes 193 fission products and 28 heavy nuclides is used in the verification calculations. Shortest half life found in the present burnup chain is approximately 30 s ( 106 Rh). Therefore, conventional methods (e.g., the Taylor series expansion with scaling and squaring) tend to require longer computation time due to numerical stiffness. Comparison with other numerical methods (e.g., the 4-th order Runge-Kutta-Gill) reveals that the Krylov subspace method can provide accurate solution for a detailed burnup chain used in the present study with short computation time. (author)

  15. Development of short-form and screening cutoff point of the Smartphone Addiction Inventory (SPAI-SF).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Yu-Hsuan; Pan, Yuan-Chien; Lin, Sheng-Hsuan; Chen, Sue-Huei

    2017-06-01

    Smartphone addiction is considered a form of technological addiction that has attracted increasing attention. The present study developed and validated the short-form Smartphone Addiction Inventory (SPAI-SF) and established cutoff point for screening smartphone addiction based on diagnostic criteria established by psychiatric interview. A total of 268 participants completed an online survey that collected demographic data, smartphone use behaviours, and responses to the 26-item SPAI. Each participant also completed a psychiatric interview. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) revealed that the 10-item SPAI-SF replicated the structure of original 26-item SPAI accurately, yielding a four-factor model consisting of compulsive behaviour, functional impairment, withdrawal, and tolerance. For maximal diagnostic accuracy, a cutoff point of 24/25 best discriminated cases of smartphone addiction from diagnostic negatives. The present findings suggest that both the 26-item SPAI and SPAI-SF manifest the four constructs of behavioural addiction and the characteristics of smartphone addiction. The cutoff point determined by psychiatrists' diagnostic interview will be useful for clinical screening and epidemiologic research. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  16. Microspheres labelled with short-lived isotopes: Development and application for tumors treatment (Experimental study)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Drozdovsky, B.Y.; Rosiev, R.A.; Goncharova, A.Y.; Skvortsov, V.G.; Petriev, V.M.; Grigoriev, A.N.; Schischkanov, N.G.

    1997-01-01

    Analysis of the conducted studies strongly suggests the possibility of usage of the domestic protein microspheres as a vehicle for radionuclide. The neutron-activating method of RPP production enables to utilize a broad spectrum of short-living isotopes that can be delivered into the target organ and anchored there for a long time. Good treatment results were obtained in case of the experimentally induced rheumatoid arthritis in rats after intraarticular loading of 165 Dy-hMSA. Mathematical calculations show that homogeneous distribution of RPP in human articulation cavity with the square of 100 cm 2 can be achieved when the quantity of administered particles exceeds 3000. On the example of 165 Dy-hMSA energy characteristic distribution we demonstrated that the absorbed dose for damaged cells at 2mm distance from the radioactive source is 7 times less than the one for a sphere of 2mm diameter. Analysis of dosimetric data in case of intratumoral loading of 165 Dy-hMSA also point out the necessity of the absorbed dose calculation methods taking into account the distance from the source and possible heterogeneity of RPP distribution inside the tumor to be employed. The prolonged RPP detention in the target causing no essential morphological and functional changes was achieved by embolization on the level of septal and interlobular arteries and of efferent arterioles in the animal's renal. The uniformity of microsphere distribution in the organ and their accumulation in tumors depends on the number of particles being administered. Investigations carried out suggest the efficacy of radionuclide therapy application for treatment of oncological and heavy somatic diseases. They also indicate the necessity of further investigations aimed to optimize the usage of microspheres as a radionuclide carrier usage and to work out the criteria of dosimetric planning

  17. Microspheres labelled with short-lived isotopes: Development and application for tumors treatment (Experimental study)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Drozdovsky, B.Y.; Rosiev, R.A.; Goncharova, A.Y.; Skvortsov, V.G.; Petriev, V.M.; Grigoriev, A.N.; Schischkanov, N.G. [Medical Radiological Research Centre RAMS, Kaluga Region, (Russian Federation)

    1997-10-01

    Analysis of the conducted studies strongly suggests the possibility of usage of the domestic protein microspheres as a vehicle for radionuclide. The neutron-activating method of RPP production enables to utilize a broad spectrum of short-living isotopes that can be delivered into the target organ and anchored there for a long time. Good treatment results were obtained in case of the experimentally induced rheumatoid arthritis in rats after intraarticular loading of {sup 165}Dy-hMSA. Mathematical calculations show that homogeneous distribution of RPP in human articulation cavity with the square of 100 cm{sup 2} can be achieved when the quantity of administered particles exceeds 3000. On the example of {sup 165}Dy-hMSA energy characteristic distribution we demonstrated that the absorbed dose for damaged cells at 2mm distance from the radioactive source is 7 times less than the one for a sphere of 2mm diameter. Analysis of dosimetric data in case of intratumoral loading of {sup 165}Dy-hMSA also point out the necessity of the absorbed dose calculation methods taking into account the distance from the source and possible heterogeneity of RPP distribution inside the tumor to be employed. The prolonged RPP detention in the target causing no essential morphological and functional changes was achieved by embolization on the level of septal and interlobular arteries and of efferent arterioles in the animal`s renal. The uniformity of microsphere distribution in the organ and their accumulation in tumors depends on the number of particles being administered. Investigations carried out suggest the efficacy of radionuclide therapy application for treatment of oncological and heavy somatic diseases. They also indicate the necessity of further investigations aimed to optimize the usage of microspheres as a radionuclide carrier usage and to work out the criteria of dosimetric planning 25 refs.

  18. Detection of {sup 210}Po on filter papers 16 years after use for the collection of short-lived radon progeny in a room

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Abu-Jarad, F. E-mail: falah.abujarad@aramco.com; Fazal-ur-Rehman

    2003-07-01

    Radon gas was allowed to accumulate in its radium source and then injected into a 36 m{sup 3} test room, resulting in an initial radon concentration of 15 kBq m{sup -3}. Filter papers were used to collect the short-lived radon progeny and thus to measure the Potential Alpha Energy Concentration (PAEC) in-situ in the year 1984 at different times and conditions according to the experimental design. The radon progeny collected on the filter papers were studied as a function of aerosol particle concentration ranging from 10{sup 2}-10{sup 5} particles cm{sup -3} in three different experiments. The highest aerosol particle concentration was generated by indoor cigarette smoking. Those filters were stored after the experiment, and were used after 16 years to study the activity of the radon long-lived alpha emitter progeny, {sup 210}Po (T{sub 1/2}=138 days). This isotope is separated from the short-lived progeny by {sup 210}Pb beta emitter with 22.3 years half-life. After 16 years' storage of these filters, each filter paper was sandwiched and wrapped between two CR-39 nuclear track detectors, to put the detectors in contact with the surfaces of different filters, for 337 days. Correlation between the PAEC measured using filter papers in the year 1984 and the activity of long-lived alpha emitter {sup 210}Po on the same filter papers measured in the year 2000 were studied. The results of the {sup 210}Po activity showed a very good correlation of 0.92 with the PAEC 16 years ago. The results also depict that the PAEC and {sup 210}Po activity in indoor air increased with the increase of aerosol particle concentration, which shows the attachment of short-lived radon progeny with the aerosol particles. The experiment proves that indoor cigarette smoking is a major source of aerosol particles carrying radon progeny and, thus, indoor cigarette smoking is an additional source of internal radiation hazard to the occupants whether smoker or non-smoker.

  19. Synthesis of radiopharmaceuticals containing short-lived radionuclides: Progress report, March 1, 1987-February 28, 1988

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kabalka, G.W.

    1987-09-01

    The objective is the creation of new methods for introducing short-lived isotopes into agents for use in diagnostic nuclear medicine. Focus is on the design of new molecular architecture as opposed to the application of known reactions to the synthesis of specific radiopharmaceuticals. The new technology is utilized in nuclear medicine research at the University of Tennessee Medical Imaging Center and in collaboration with colleagues at other DOE facilities. The program provides training for students in the scientific aspects of nuclear medicine. The academic nature of the program facilitates collaborative interactions with other DOE nuclear medicine programs and helps to insure the continued availability of skilled scientists dedicated to the advancement of nuclear medicine. 70 refs., 9 figs

  20. Application of dynamic and transition magnetic fields for determination of magnetic moments of short-lived nuclear states

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burgov, N.A.

    1986-01-01

    Problem of measuring magnetic momenta of short-living nuclear states is discussed. Different methods for measuring magnetic momenta using interionic and transient magnetic fields were considered. Possibility for determining a value g by means of measuring correlation attenuation is investigated as well as measuring magnetic momenta by means of inclined foils. At present 2 + level magnetic momenta for many odd-odd nuclei have been determined by means of the above methods. The methods are only ones for determining magnetic momenta of nuclear levels with small lifetimes up to tenth and hundredth of shares of picoseconds

  1. External tandem target system for efficient production of short-lived positron emitting radionuclides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koh, K.; Dwyer, J.; Finn, R.; Sheh, Y.; Sinnreich, J.; Wooten, T.

    1983-01-01

    Recent developments in radiopharmaceutical chemistry allow the incorporation of short-lived, positron-emitting radionuclides into a variety of compounds which when used with a positron emission tomograph provide a means of monitoring physiological disorders by a standard technique. To effectively meet the increased ''in-house'' clinical demands while maintaining a production schedule, a tandem target was designed and has been installed for the simultaneous ''on-line'' preparation of oxygen-15 labelled compounds such as CO 2 15 , H 2 O 15 ; and nitrogen-13 labelled compounds such as 13 NH 3 , 13 N 2 O, and 13 N 2 . The processing time required for the synthesis of the nitrogen-13 products as compared to the essentially instantaneous formation of oxygen-15 labelled compounds has provided the necessary time delay for clinical utilization. The characterisitcs of this external tandem target system as well as the automation for the dual processing are presented

  2. Changes in oxidative stress parameters in relation to age, growth and reproduction in the short-lived catarina scallop Argopecten ventricosus reared in its natural environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guerra, C; Zenteno-Savín, T; Maeda-Martínez, A N; Philipp, E E R; Abele, D

    2012-08-01

    Increase in oxidative damage and decrease in cellular maintenance is often associated with aging, but, in marine ectotherms, both processes are also strongly influenced by somatic growth, maturation and reproduction. In this study, we used a single cohort of the short-lived catarina scallop Argopecten ventricosus, to investigate the effects of somatic growth, reproduction and aging on oxidative damage parameters (protein carbonyls, TBARS and lipofuscin) and cellular maintenance mechanisms (antioxidant activity and apoptosis) in scallops, caged in their natural environment. The concentrations of protein carbonyls and TBARS increased steeply during the early period of fast growth and during reproduction in one-year-old scallops. However, oxidative damage was transient, and apoptotic cell death played a pivotal role in eliminating damage in gill, mantle and muscle tissues of young scallops. Animals were able to reproduce again in the second year, but the reduced intensity of apoptosis impaired subsequent removal of damaged cells. In late survivors low antioxidant capacity and apoptotic activity together with a fast accumulation of the age pigment lipofuscin was observed. Rates of oxygen consumption and oxidative stress markers were strongly dependent on somatic growth and reproductive state but not on temperature. Compared to longer-lived bivalves, A. ventricosus seems more susceptible to oxidative stress with higher tissue-specific protein carbonyl levels and fast accumulation of lipofuscin in animals surviving the second spawning. Superoxide dismutase activity and apoptotic cell death intensity were however higher in this short-lived scallop than in longer-lived bivalves. The life strategy of this short-lived and intensely predated scallop supports rapid somatic growth and fitness as well as early maturation at young age at the cost of fast cellular degradation in second year scallops. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Limited BRC rulemaking: Regulatory approach and experience in Texas for short-lived radioactive waste

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McBurney, Ruth E.; Pollard, Christine G.

    1992-01-01

    In 1987, the Texas Department of Health (TDH) implemented a rule to allow, under certain conditions, wastes containing limited concentrations of short- lived radionuclides (less than 300-day half-life) to be disposed of in Type I sanitary landfills. The rule was based on a technical analysis that demonstrated the degree of safety for approximately 340 m of radioactive waste generated annually in Texas and identified major restrictions and conditions for disposal. TDH's Bureau of Radiation Control staff have been able to maintain an account of licensees utilizing the rule during the past years. Several research and industrial facilities in the state have saved significantly on waste disposal expenses. Public concerns and economic impacts for licensees as well as other regulatory aspects and experiences with the rule are discussed. (author)

  4. Bearing Capacity of Floating Ice Sheets under Short-Term Loads: Over-Sea-Ice Traverse from McMurdo Station to Marble Point

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-01-01

    under Short-Term Loads Over-Sea-Ice Traverse from McMurdo Station to Marble Point Co ld R eg io ns R es ea rc h an d En gi ne er in g La bo ra...Traverse from McMurdo Station to Marble Point Jason C. Weale and Devinder S. Sodhi Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) U.S...Division of Polar Programs operates an over-sea-ice traverse from McMurdo Station to rou- tinely resupply Marble Point Camp. The traverse requires that

  5. Routine short-term ureteral stent in living donor renal transplantation: introduction of a simple stent removal technique without using anesthesia and cystoscope.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dong, J; Lu, J; Zu, Q; Yang, S; Sun, S; Cai, W; Zhang, L; Zhang, X

    2011-12-01

    We evaluated routine short-time insertion of ureteral stent in living donor renal transplant at a single center. It was easy to remove the stent without cystoscopy and anesthesia. Between October 2007 and July 2010, a single surgeon performed 76 living donor renal transplantations at one institute. All recipients underwent extravesical ureteroneocystostomy with a 2-0 silk suture passed through the venting side hole of the double-J stent into the bladder; a quadruple knot prevented the suture's slippage or distraction from the stent. After removal of the indwelling catheter at 5 days posttransplantation, the 2-0 silk passed with the urinary stream within 72 hours. The double-J stent was removed at 7 to 10 (mean 8.4) days after kidney transplantation by pulling the 2-0 silk out of the urethral orifice without anesthesia or cystoscopy. There was only one case of stenosis, which was resolved by surgery. No patient developed urinary leakage. There were three episodes of urinary tract infection in 70 patients during first 6 months' follow-up. Routine short-term stenting is a safe and effective technique in living donor renal transplantation. Removal of the stent is feasible without cystoscopy or anesthesia. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Radon and its short-lived daughter products in the lower atmosphere

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Servant, J.

    1964-01-01

    The variations of vertical and temporal distributions of natural radioactivity with geographical location in the lower atmospheric layers are shown. The content of radon and its short lived daughters products are measured. Radon content is measured continually with a new apparatus, the sensibility of which is 0,2.10 -11 Ci m -3 i.e. the fiftieth of the mean concentration near the soil, this apparatus allowed us to show that radioactive equilibrium between radon and its daughter products is realised when the atmosphere is stable. Air observations between 0 and 100 meters above the ground point out that radon and its decay products are valuable tracers to mark the stability of the atmosphere. Under very stable nighttime conditions the radon accumulates in the former 30 meters of the air layer, at sunrise it ascends and at 9 o'clock attains 100 meters high. The removal rate of the air in the lower atmosphere is computed from the movement of this radon mass, it is equal to 90 per cent for a summer day. We have show that this radon comes from the soil in which it diffuses by brownian motion the intensity of which varies with the water content of the soil, its value for June 1958 is 6,10 -17 Ci cm -2 s -1 and for January 1959 0.2,10 -17 Ci cm -2 s - 1. During the year 1958-1959 general mean of flux for the sedimentary soil studied is equal to 3. 8 ± 1.3, 10 -17 Ci cm -2 s -1 it is identical to the world wide mean computed by H. Israel. In a hilly site in the Morvan, air movements are well marked by this radioactivity. We observed from one hand downslope and up-slope breezes having, respectively, speeds of 0.2 m s -1 and 0.7 m s -1 and from the other hand by night, in the valley and with a light wind favours the stagnation of the air near the ground, a strong increase of the radioactivity which is proportional to the one of the granitic rocks of the region. The radon flux of this soil is 74,10 -17 Ci cm -2 s -1 and the radioactivity of the air can attain 1.5,10 -8 Ci m

  7. Thyroid cancer in the Marshallese: relative risk of short-lived internal emitters and external radiation exposure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lessard, E.T.; Brill, A.B.; Adams, W.H.

    1985-01-01

    In a study of the comparative effects of internal versus external irradiation of the thyroid in young people, we determined that the dose from internal irradiation of the thyroid with short-lived internal emitters produced several times less thyroid cancer than did the same dose of radiation given externally. We determined this finding for a group of 85 Marshall Islands children, who were less than 10 years of age at the time of exposure and who were accidentially exposed to internal and external thyroid radiation at an average level of 1400 rad. The external risk coefficient ranged between 2.5 and 4.9 cancers per million person-rad-years at risk, and thus, from our computations, the internal risk coefficient for the Marshallese children was estimated to range between 1.0 and 1.4 cancers per million person-rad-years at risk. In contrast, for individual more than 10 years of age at the time of exposure, the dose from internal irradiation of the thyroid with short-lived internal emitters produced several times more thyroid cancer than did the same dose of radiation given externally. The external risk coefficients for the older age groups were reported in the literature to be in the range of 1.0 to 3.3 cancers per million person-rad-years-at risk. We computed internal risk coefficients of 3.3 to 8.1 cancers per million person-rad-years at risk for adolescent and adult groups. This higher sensitivity to cancer induction in the exposed adolescents and adults, is different from that seen in other exposed groups. 14 refs., 8 tabs

  8. Synthesis of radiopharmaceuticals containing short-lived radionuclides: Comprehensive progress report, March 1, 1986-February 28, 1989

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kabalka, G.W.

    1988-06-01

    The primary objective of the DOE Nuclear Medicine Program at The University of Tennessee is the creation of new methods for intoducing short-lived isotopes into agents for use in PET and SPECT. A portion of our effort is directed toward the design and in vivo quantitation of boron-containing neutron therapy agents. The uniqueness of the program is its focus on the design of new chemistry (molecular architecture) and technology as opposed to the application of known reactions to the synthesis of specific radiopharmaceuticals. The following topics are outlined in this paper: new isotope incorporation reactions utilizing nitrogen 13, oxygen 15, and carbon 11; technetium-boron complexes; boron-neutron-capture

  9. Short- and long-term effects of unemployment on fertility

    Science.gov (United States)

    Currie, Janet; Schwandt, Hannes

    2014-01-01

    Scholars have been examining the relationship between fertility and unemployment for more than a century. Most studies find that fertility falls with unemployment in the short run, but it is not known whether these negative effects persist, because women simply may postpone childbearing to better economic times. Using more than 140 million US birth records for the period 1975–2010, we analyze both the short- and long-run effects of unemployment on fertility. We follow fixed cohorts of US-born women defined by their own state and year of birth, and relate their fertility to the unemployment rate experienced by each cohort at different ages. We focus on conceptions that result in a live birth. We find that women in their early 20s are most affected by high unemployment rates in the short run and that the negative effects on fertility grow over time. A one percentage point increase in the average unemployment rate experienced between the ages of 20 and 24 reduces the short-run fertility of women in this age range by six conceptions per 1,000 women. When we follow these women to age 40, we find that a one percentage point increase in the unemployment rate experienced at ages 20–24 leads to an overall loss of 14.2 conceptions. This long-run effect is driven largely by women who remain childless and thus do not have either first births or higher-order births. PMID:25267622

  10. Distribution of Short-Term and Lifetime Predicted Risks of Cardiovascular Diseases in Peruvian Adults

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quispe, Renato; Bazo-Alvarez, Juan Carlos; Burroughs Peña, Melissa S; Poterico, Julio A; Gilman, Robert H; Checkley, William; Bernabé-Ortiz, Antonio; Huffman, Mark D; Miranda, J Jaime

    2015-01-01

    Background Short-term risk assessment tools for prediction of cardiovascular disease events are widely recommended in clinical practice and are used largely for single time-point estimations; however, persons with low predicted short-term risk may have higher risks across longer time horizons. Methods and Results We estimated short-term and lifetime cardiovascular disease risk in a pooled population from 2 studies of Peruvian populations. Short-term risk was estimated using the atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease Pooled Cohort Risk Equations. Lifetime risk was evaluated using the algorithm derived from the Framingham Heart Study cohort. Using previously published thresholds, participants were classified into 3 categories: low short-term and low lifetime risk, low short-term and high lifetime risk, and high short-term predicted risk. We also compared the distribution of these risk profiles across educational level, wealth index, and place of residence. We included 2844 participants (50% men, mean age 55.9 years [SD 10.2 years]) in the analysis. Approximately 1 of every 3 participants (34% [95% CI 33 to 36]) had a high short-term estimated cardiovascular disease risk. Among those with a low short-term predicted risk, more than half (54% [95% CI 52 to 56]) had a high lifetime predicted risk. Short-term and lifetime predicted risks were higher for participants with lower versus higher wealth indexes and educational levels and for those living in urban versus rural areas (PPeruvian adults were classified as low short-term risk but high lifetime risk. Vulnerable adults, such as those from low socioeconomic status and those living in urban areas, may need greater attention regarding cardiovascular preventive strategies. PMID:26254303

  11. Cyclotron production of molecules labelled with short-lived radioisotopes β+ emitters (15O, 13N, 11C) and their clinical uses

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bougharouat, B.

    1981-01-01

    Clinical use of three short-lived radioisotopes: 15 O, 13 N and 11 C is studied on two complementary aspects. A production and purification system is realized; detection instruments in medical use are studied. The production of labelled molecules with the three radiotracers 15 O, 13 N, 11 C from the target bombardment with charged and accelerated particles was studied [fr

  12. Overview of past activities for the use of short-lived radionuclides and the role of the Bureau of Radiological Health

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Paras, P.

    1985-01-01

    The Bureau of Radiological Health has developed a national program to control unnecessary medical radiation exposures to man and to assure the safe and effective use of radiation. The continuing interest and the role of the Bureau in the use of short-lived radionuclides (SLR's) are emphasized. An overview of the Bureau's SLR program, past accomplishments, and the status of production and use of iodine-123 are presented

  13. Point-of-Care Ultrasound for Jugular Venous Pressure Assessment: Live and Online Learning Compared.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Socransky, Steve; Lang, Eddy; Bryce, Rhonda; Betz, Martin

    2017-06-08

    Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is a novel technique for the assessment of jugular venous pressure. Distance education may allow for efficient dissemination of this technique. We compared online learning to a live course for teaching ultrasonography jugular venous pressure (u-JVP) to determine if these teaching methods yielded different levels of comfort with and use of u-JVP. This was an interventional trial of Canadian emergency physicians who had taken a basic POCUS course. The participants were in one of three Groups: online learning (Group OL), live teaching (Group LT), control (Group C). Group LT participants also took an advanced course prior to the study that included instruction in u-JVP. The participants who took the basic course were randomized to Group OL or Group C. Group OL was subject to the intervention, online learning. Group C only received an article citation regarding u-JVP. Questionnaires were completed before and after the intervention. The primary outcome was physician self-reported use and comfort with the technique of u-JVP after online learning compared to live teaching. Of the 287 advanced course participants, 42 completed the questionnaires (Group LT). Of the 3303 basic course participants, 47 who were assigned to Group OL completed the questionnaires and 47 from Group C completed the questionnaires. Use of u-JVP increased significantly in Group OL (from 15% to 55%) and Group C (from 21% to 47%) with the intervention. The comfort with use did not differ between Group LT and Group OL (p=0.14). The frequency of use remained higher in Group LT than Group OL (p=0.07). Online learning increases the use and comfort with performing u-JVP for emergency physicians with prior POCUS experience. Although the comfort with use of u-JVP was similar in Groups LT and OL, online learning appears to yield levels of use that are less than those of a live course.

  14. LIVING WITH THE PSYCHOTIC IN THE FAMILIAR POINT OF VIEW

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cíntia Nasi

    2006-12-01

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT: A lot of people live situations of mental sickness, from psychotic character, that can cause suffering both for the sick and his family. We believe that try this situation means to live with limitations and wearings in the familiar everyday, what makes difficult the living with the psychotic person. Considering these aspects, this research has the purpose of knowing the familiar perception about his living with a psychotic bearer person. It is about a qualitative, explorative and descriptive study, developed in a northwest city of Rio Grande do Sul state, called Ijuí. The people of the investigation are composed of five psychotic’s parents, which frequent the socioterapy group in Gloria district. The information collection happened trough open interviews, recorded and wrote out at all. The analysis of the obtained data followed MINAYO’s (2002 methodological proposition. By the contained information in the stud’s social actor’s declarations, emerged three thematic with a similar nucleus of thoughts. On first thematic, we discussed about the difficulties faced by the familiars in the living with the psychotic in the moment he has the acute symptoms. On the second thematic, we talked about the medical question as bring a therapeutic element that helps the mental sick to keep stable., becoming better the familiars life. The third thematic shows the family conception about mental sickness. With this research we concluded that the living with a mental sick person is taxing for the familiar and, sometimes, there are difficulties to understand the symptoms showed by the sick person. Besides that, the family considers the medication one of the most important possibilities of intervention in the psychotic’s therapy, what is reinforced by the health team that leads with these people. KEY WORDS: Family; Mental Illness; Nursing.

  15. LIVING WITH THE PSYCHOTIC IN THE FAMILIAR POINT OF VIEW

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leila Mariza Hildebrandt

    2004-04-01

    Full Text Available A lot of people live situations of mental sickness, from psychotic character, that can cause sufferingboth for the sick and his family. We believe that try this situation means to live with limitations and wearings in thefamiliar everyday, what makes difficult the living with the psychotic person. Considering these aspects, thisresearch has the purpose of knowing the familiar perception about his living with a psychotic bearer person. It isabout a qualitative, explorative and descriptive study, developed in a northwest city of Rio Grande do Sul state,called Ijuí. The people of the investigation are composed of five psychotic’s parents, which frequent the socioterapygroup in Gloria district. The information collection happened trough open interviews, recorded and wrote out at all.The analysis of the obtained data followed MINAYO’s (2002 methodological proposition. By the containedinformation in the stud’s social actor’s declarations, emerged three thematic with a similar nucleus of thoughts. Onfirst thematic, we discussed about the difficulties faced by the familiars in the living with the psychotic in themoment he has the acute symptoms. On the second thematic, we talked about the medical question as bring atherapeutic element that helps the mental sick to keep stable., becoming better the familiars life. The third thematicshows the family conception about mental sickness. With this research we concluded that the living with a mentalsick person is taxing for the familiar and, sometimes, there are difficulties to understand the symptoms showed bythe sick person. Besides that, the family considers the medication one of the most important possibilities ofintervention in the psychotic’s therapy, what is reinforced by the health team that leads with these people.

  16. Thyroid cancer in the Marshallese: relative risk of short-lived internal emitters and external radiation exposure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lessard, E.T.; Brill, A.B.; Adams, W.H.

    1986-01-01

    In a study of the comparative effects of internal versus external irradiation of the thyroid in young people, we determined that the dose from internal irradiation of the thyroid with short-lived internal emitters produced several times less thyroid cancer than did the same dose of radiation given externally. The authors determined this finding for a group of 85 Marshall Islands children, who were less than 10 years of age at the time of exposure and who were accidentally exposed to internal and external thyroid radiation at an average level of 1400 rad. The external risk coefficient ranged between 2.5 and 4.9 cancers per million person-rad-years at risk, and thus, from our computations, the internal risk coefficient for the Marshallese children was estimated to range between 1.0 and 1.4 cancers per million person-rad-years at risk. In contrast, for individuals more than 10 years of age at the time of exposure, the dose from internal irradiation of the thyroid with short-lived internal emitters produced several times more thyroid cancer than did the same dose of radiation given externally. The external risk coefficients for the older age groups were reported in the above literature to be in the range of 1.0 to 3.3 cancers per million person-rad-years-at risk. The authors computed internal risk coefficients of 3.3 to 8.1 cancers per million person-rad-years at risk for adolescent and adult groups. This higher sensitivity to cancer induction in the exposed adolescents and adults, is different from that seen in other exposed groups. The small number of cancers in the exposed population and the influence of increased levels of TSH, nonuniform irradiation of the thyroid, and thyroid cell killing at high dose make it difficult to draw firm conclusions from these studies. 14 references, 8 tables

  17. The low to intermediate activity and short living waste storage facility. For a controlled management of radioactive wastes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2006-01-01

    Sited at about 50 km of Troyes (France), the Aube facility started in 1992 and has taken over the Manche facility for the surface storage of low to intermediate and short living radioactive wastes. The Aube facility (named CSFMA) is the answer to the safe management of these wastes at the industrial scale and for 50 years onward. This brochure presents the facility specifications, the wastes stored at the center, the surface storage concept, the processing and conditioning of waste packages, and the environmental monitoring performed in the vicinity of the site. (J.S.)

  18. Application of Elovich equation on uptake kinetics of 137Cs by living freshwater macrophytes - a short duration laboratory study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jaison, T.J.; Patra, A.K.; Ravi, P.M.; Tripathi, R.M.

    2014-01-01

    Application of Elovich equation on uptake kinetics of 137 Cs by two living macrophytes during controlled experiments on short duration exposure is studied. Compliance to 2 nd order kinetics indicates the mechanism could be chemi-sorption, involving polar functional groups present on the extracelluar surface of the macrophytes. Data analysis suggests that Myriophyllum s. exhibits faster adsorption rate than Hydrilla v. As Myriophyllum s. exhibits better kinetics than Hydrilla v., former could be a better natural adsorbing media for 137 Cs. (author)

  19. Usefulness of K-Point Injection for the Nonspecific Neck Pain in So-Called K-Point Syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moon, Jeong Jae; Ahn, Myun Whan; Ahn, Hyo Sae; Lee, Sung Jun; Lee, Dong Yeol

    2016-12-01

    Shoichi Kokubun introduced his successful experience with local anesthetic injection at the occipital insertion of the sternocleidomastoid muscle in K-point syndrome. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the short-term and long-term effectiveness of K-point injection and investigate factors affecting treatment results. K-point injection was performed in 58 patients with K-point syndrome at Yeungnam University Medical Center. The syndrome was associated with cervical whiplash injury in 10 patients and was of nonspecific origin in the rest. One milliliter of 2% lidocaine mixed with 1 milliliter of dexamethasone was injected in 50 patients and 2 milliliters of 1% lidocaine alone in the rest. Initially, the severity of local tenderness at the K-point and other tender points was examined and the degree of immediate pain relief effect was assessed within 1 hour after injection. Early effect within 1 month after the injection and current effect were evaluated in 27 patients using a modified Kim's questionnaire with regard to the duration of improvement, degree of improvement in pain and daily living activities, and satisfaction. Of the total 58 patients, 44 (75.8%) apparently had immediate pain relief after K-point injection. The only factor associated with successful immediate pain relief was the whiplash injury associated with traffic accident (TA). The early pain control effect was associated with the immediate effect. The current effect was associated with the early effect alone. Satisfaction with the K-point injection was related to early successful pain relief. K-point injection would be useful for early pain relief in nonspecific neck pain syndrome so called K-point syndrome, but not for current pain relief. Especially, it was very effective for early pain control in the whiplash injury associated with TA.

  20. Production, study and use of short-lived nuclides in pure and applied nuclear research

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bjoernstad, T.

    1986-01-01

    The thesis which is based on 17 published papers, reports on the on-line performance of the fast radiochemical separation system SISAK, technical devlopment in the preparation of sources for beta-particles and neutrons, and on important SISAK system improvements concerning liquid hold-up time. It further reports on the development of new production targets at ISOLDE for 600 MeV proton and 910 MeV 3 He-particle irradiations, on tests with a heavy ion beam of 1 GeV 12 C-particles, and on the present availability of mass-separated beams of the halogen elements through new ion source development. Some results from nuclear spectroscopic studies of nuclides in selected mass regions when using such new or improved techniques are given. Examples of techniques for practical application of short-lived nuclides in radiochemical analysis and for radiochemical production for medical purposes are presented

  1. Precision mass measurements of very short-lived, neutron-rich Na isotopes using a radiofrequency spectrometer

    CERN Document Server

    Lunney, M D; Doubre, H; Henry, S; Monsanglant, C; De Saint-Simon, M; Thibault, C; Toader, C F; Borcea, C; Bollen, G

    2001-01-01

    Mass measurements of high precision have been performed on sodium isotopes out to $^{30}$Na using a new technique of radiofrequency excitation of ion trajectories in a homogeneous magnetic field. This method, especially suited to very short-lived nuclides, has allowed us to significantly reduce the uncertainty in mass of the most exotic Na isotopes: a relative error of 5x10$^{-7}$ was achieved for $^{28}$Na having a half-life of only 30.5 ms and 9x10$^{-7}$ for the weakly produced $^{30}$Na. Verifying and minimizing binding energy uncertainties in this region of the nuclear chart is important for clarification of a long standing problem concerning the strength of the $N$=20 magic shell closure. These results are the fruit of the commissioning of the new experimental program Mistral.

  2. Random summing in a multi-detector counting system measuring mixtures of radionuclides of short and long half-lives

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oxby, C.B.; Oldroyd, B.; Graham, S.G.

    1979-01-01

    A method is described for correcting a radiation spectrum for the distortion caused by random summing when a multidetector array is used to acquire events from a mixture of radionuclides whose half-lives may be long or short compared with the counting period. With our own counting system it was found that both the resolving time, and the fractions of the energy of a second signal which may be added to that of the immediately previous signal, i.e., the resolving time function, are dependent upon the energies of these two signals. The method requires knowledge of the losses which occur in a multidetector system e.g., live-time error and blocking losses, the variation of the resolving time function with signal energies, a standard spectrum of each radionuclide of the mixture and the fractions of them which constitute the mixture spectrum, the decay constant of each radionuclide, and the fraction of the total events recorded by the system being received by each detector. (orig.)

  3. Measurement method of activation cross-sections of reactions producing short-lived nuclei with 14 MeV neutrons

    CERN Document Server

    Kawade, K; Kasugai, Y; Shibata, M; Iida, T; Takahashi, A; Fukahori, T

    2003-01-01

    We describe a method for obtaining reliable activation cross-sections in the neutron energy range between 13.4 and 14.9 MeV for the reactions producing short-lived nuclei with half-lives between 0.5 and 30 min. We noted neutron irradiation fields and measured induced activities, including (1) the contribution of scattered low-energy neutrons, (2) the fluctuation of the neutron fluence rate during the irradiation, (3) the true coincidence sum effect, (4) the random coincidence sum effect, (5) the deviation in the measuring position due to finite sample thickness, (6) the self-absorption of the gamma-ray in the sample material and (7) the interference reactions producing the same radionuclides or the ones emitting the gamma-ray with the same energy of interest. The cross-sections can be obtained within a total error of 3.6%, when good counting statistics are achieved, including an error of 3.0% for the standard cross-section of sup 2 sup 7 Al (n, alpha) sup 2 sup 4 Na. We propose here simple methods for measuri...

  4. Distribution of Short-Term and Lifetime Predicted Risks of Cardiovascular Diseases in Peruvian Adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quispe, Renato; Bazo-Alvarez, Juan Carlos; Burroughs Peña, Melissa S; Poterico, Julio A; Gilman, Robert H; Checkley, William; Bernabé-Ortiz, Antonio; Huffman, Mark D; Miranda, J Jaime

    2015-08-07

    Short-term risk assessment tools for prediction of cardiovascular disease events are widely recommended in clinical practice and are used largely for single time-point estimations; however, persons with low predicted short-term risk may have higher risks across longer time horizons. We estimated short-term and lifetime cardiovascular disease risk in a pooled population from 2 studies of Peruvian populations. Short-term risk was estimated using the atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease Pooled Cohort Risk Equations. Lifetime risk was evaluated using the algorithm derived from the Framingham Heart Study cohort. Using previously published thresholds, participants were classified into 3 categories: low short-term and low lifetime risk, low short-term and high lifetime risk, and high short-term predicted risk. We also compared the distribution of these risk profiles across educational level, wealth index, and place of residence. We included 2844 participants (50% men, mean age 55.9 years [SD 10.2 years]) in the analysis. Approximately 1 of every 3 participants (34% [95% CI 33 to 36]) had a high short-term estimated cardiovascular disease risk. Among those with a low short-term predicted risk, more than half (54% [95% CI 52 to 56]) had a high lifetime predicted risk. Short-term and lifetime predicted risks were higher for participants with lower versus higher wealth indexes and educational levels and for those living in urban versus rural areas (PPeruvian adults were classified as low short-term risk but high lifetime risk. Vulnerable adults, such as those from low socioeconomic status and those living in urban areas, may need greater attention regarding cardiovascular preventive strategies. © 2015 The Authors. Published on behalf of the American Heart Association, Inc., by Wiley Blackwell.

  5. Short-lived isomers in 94Rb

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tsekhanovich, I.; Dare, J. A.; Smith, A. G.; Varley, B. J.; Simpson, G. S.; Urban, W.; Soldner, T.; Jolie, J.; Linnemann, A.; Orlandi, R.; Smith, J. F.; Scherillo, A.; Rzaca-Urban, T.; Zlomaniec, A.; Dorvaux, O.; Gall, B. J. P.; Roux, B.

    2008-01-01

    The medium-spin structure of the neutron-rich, odd-odd nucleus 94 Rb was studied by means of γ-ray spectroscopy. Excited levels were populated in the neutron-induced fission of 235 U and in the spontaneous fission of 252 Cf and 248 Cm. Two isomeric states were found at 1485.2 and 2074.8 keV with half-lives of 18 and 107 ns, respectively. The probable structures of the two isomers involve the fully aligned, proton-neutron configurations [π(g 9/2 ) x ν(g 7/2 )] 8 + and [π(g 9/2 ) x ν(h 11/2 )] 10 - , respectively. These new data give information on the single-particle energies in the region

  6. A survey of selected neutron-activation reactions with short-lived products of importance to fusion reactor technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ward, R.C.; Gomes, I.C.; Smith, D.L.

    1994-11-01

    The status of the cross sections for production of short-lived radioactivities in the intense high-energy neutron fields associated with D-T fusion reactors is investigated. The main concerns relative to these very radioactive isotopes are with radiation damage to sensitive components such as superconducting magnets, the decay-heat problem and the safety of personnel during operation of the facility. The present report surveys the status of nuclear data required to assess these problems. The study is limited to a few high-priority nuclear reactions which appear to be of critical concern in this context. Other reactions of lesser concern are listed but are not treated in the present work. Among the factors that were considered in defining the relevant reactions and setting priorities are: quantities of the elemental materials in a fusion reactor, isotopic abundances within elemental categories, the decay properties of the induced radioactive byproducts, the reaction cross sections, and the nature of the decay radiations. Attention has been focused on radioactive species with half lives in the range from about 1 second to 15 minutes. Available cross-section and reaction-product decay information from the literature has been compiled and included in the report. Uncertainties have been estimated by examining several sets of experimental as well as evaluated data. Comments on the general status of data for various high-priority reactions are offered. On the basis of this investigation, it has been found that the nuclear data are in reasonably good shape for some of the most important reactions but are unacceptable for others. Based on this investigation, the reactions which should be given the greatest attention are: 16 O(n,p) 16 N, 55 Mn(n,p) 55 Cr, 57 Fe(n,p) 57 Mn, 186 W(n,2n) 185m W, and 207 Pb(n,n') 207m Pb. However, the development of fusion power would benefit from an across-the-board refinement in these nuclear data so that a more accurate quantitative

  7. High rate gamma spectroscopy system for activation analysis of short-lived isomeric transitions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Westphall, G P [Atominstitut der Oesterreichischen Hochschulen, Vienna

    1976-07-15

    A high rate spectroscopy system specially suited for measurement of short-lived isomeric transitions is described, which, as part of a fast activation analysis facility at the TRIGA Mark II reactor, provides for automatic recording and immediate evaluation of gamma spectra taken from nuclides activated at stationary or pulsed reactor power. The system consists of a commercial de-coupled Ge(Li)-detector of 70 cm/sup 3/ modified for recycling operation for input rates in excess of 500000 c/s /sup 60/Co, a time variant trapezoidal shaping section and a fast constant dead-time ADC coupled to a programmed multichannel analyzer. Novel circuits for efficient pile-up rejection and time variant base line restoration extend the concept of gated integration up to count rates of more than 200000 c/s /sup 60/Co. Time-sequenced recording of spectra is performed by a minicomputer operated as a front-end processor of a larger laboratory computer, where final data processing takes place. New concepts for very simple and cost-effective implementation of multichannel analyzers by means of general purpose small computers are described.

  8. Possibilities of chemical isolation of element 106 from aqueous solutions according to the model experiments with short lived tungsten isotopes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Szeglowski, Z.; Bruchertseifer, H.; Brudanin, V.B.

    1993-01-01

    A rapid method for continuous separation of short-lived tungsten isotopes from the lanthanides has been developed. It consists in transforming nuclear reaction products from the target by an aerosol jet to an absorber where the KCl particulates are dissolved in 0.2 M HF and percolating the product solution through three successively linked columns filled with ion exchange resins Dowex 50X8 (cationite), Dowex 1X8 (anionite) and again Dowex 50X8. 3 refs

  9. Assisted Living Systems for Elderly and Disabled People: A Short Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivo Iliev

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available The number of elderly people living alone in their homes is permanently growing in the whole western world. Because of the deteriorating capabilities to sense and interact with the environment, such as memory, eye sight, hearing and mobility, the ageing populations often live with significantly degraded life quality. Many also suffer from chronic diseases that require medical treatment and periodical examinations. Different Assisted Living Systems have been proposed to cope with the problems. The goal is to enable the elderly people to live longer in their preferred environment, to enhance the quality of their live and to reduce the expenses of the public health care. The Assisted Living Systems are based on a lot of sensors, actuators and multimedia equipment, providing for the autonomy of people and assisting them in carrying out their daily activities together with available interaction with remote relatives and friends. The applied approaches and implementations are specific that limit the dissemination of the results between the object oriented groups. Besides, most of the projects require considerable funding for implementation. For the time being and especially for some countries with lower Gross Domestic Product, the efforts may be directed to creation of low-cost assistive systems performing some basic tasks, related to the need and health status of the living alone adults or disabled people, e.g. automatic fall detection and signalization, as well as instantaneous monitoring the photo-pletismographic signals together with permanently available communication interface between the caregiver and the user.

  10. Quality of Standard Reference Materials for Short Time Activation Analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ismail, S.S.; Oberleitner, W.

    2003-01-01

    Some environmental reference materials (CFA-1633 b, IAEA-SL-1, SARM-1,BCR-176, Coal-1635, IAEA-SL-3, BCR-146, and SRAM-5) were analysed by short-time activation analysis. The results show that these materials can be classified in three groups, according to their activities after irradiation. The obtained results were compared in order to create a quality index for determination of short-lived nuclides at high count rates. It was found that Cfta is not a suitable standard for determining very short-lived nuclides (half-lives<1 min) because the activity it produces is 15-fold higher than that SL-3. Biological reference materials, such as SRM-1571, SRM-1573, SRM-1575, SRM-1577, IAEA-392, and IAEA-393, were also investigated by a higher counting efficiency system. The quality of this system and its well-type detector for investigating short-lived nuclides was discussed

  11. Short-Term and Long-Term Forecasting for the 3D Point Position Changing by Using Artificial Neural Networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eleni-Georgia Alevizakou

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Forecasting is one of the most growing areas in most sciences attracting the attention of many researchers for more extensive study. Therefore, the goal of this study is to develop an integrated forecasting methodology based on an Artificial Neural Network (ANN, which is a modern and attractive intelligent technique. The final result is to provide short-term and long-term forecasts for point position changing, i.e., the displacement or deformation of the surface they belong to. The motivation was the combination of two thoughts, the insertion of the forecasting concept in Geodesy as in the most scientific disciplines (e.g., Economics, Medicine and the desire to know the future position of any point on a construction or on the earth’s crustal. This methodology was designed to be accurate, stable and general for different kind of geodetic data. The basic procedure consists of the definition of the forecasting problem, the preliminary data analysis (data pre-processing, the definition of the most suitable ANN, its evaluation using the proper criteria and finally the production of forecasts. The methodology gives particular emphasis on the stages of the pre-processing and the evaluation. Additionally, the importance of the prediction intervals (PI is emphasized. A case study, which includes geodetic data from the year 2003 to the year 2016—namely X, Y, Z coordinates—is implemented. The data were acquired by 1000 permanent Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS stations. During this case study, 2016 ANNs—with different hyper-parameters—are trained and tested for short-term forecasting and 2016 for long-term forecasting, for each of the GNSS stations. In addition, other conventional statistical forecasting methods are used for the same purpose using the same data set. Finally the most appropriate Non-linear Autoregressive Recurrent network (NAR or Non-linear Autoregressive with eXogenous inputs (NARX for the forecasting of 3D point

  12. Unattached fraction of short-lived Rn decay products in indoor and outdoor environments: An improved single-screen method and results

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reineking, A.; Porstendoerfer, J.

    1990-01-01

    The unattached fraction fp of potential alpha energy of short-lived Rn decay products was measured under realistic, natural conditions in different dwellings and in the open atmosphere by a single-screen technique. An improved data evaluation method was developed where the measured activities of 218 Po (RaA) and 214 Pb (RaB) were corrected by the screen-attached activities of 214 Bi ( 214 Po) [RaC (RaC')]. This method is based on the experimental observation that the 214 Bi ( 214 Po) unattached activities are negligible under realistic living conditions and that the size distributions of the aerosol-attached activities of all short-lived Rn daughters are identical. In closed rooms without additional aerosol sources, a mean unattached fraction fp of the potential alpha energy of 0.096 was obtained at a mean aerosol particle concentration of 6100 cm-3 and at a mean equilibrium factor F of 0.30. This mean fp value is about three times higher than the value used in the literature for the radiation exposure calculation of the human public. In closed rooms with additional aerosol sources (cigarette smoke, heating systems, aerosols from a burning candle), the aerosol particle concentrations ranged up to 10(6) cm-3 and the attachment rates, X, increased up to 1000 h-1. The fp values sometimes decreased below the detection limit of 0.005, and the F values increased to as high as 0.77. In the ambient atmosphere in the vicinity of Goettingen, a mean unattached fraction fp of 0.02 and a mean aerosol particle concentration of 3.4 x 10(4) cm-3 were measured at 1 m above the ground. The mean equilibrium factor F was determined to be 0.7.A

  13. The utilisation of short-lived radionuclides in the assessment of formulation and in vivo disposition of drugs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Digenis, G.A.

    1982-01-01

    The utilisation of short-lived radionuclides in the assessment of drug formulations, and the in vivo distribution of drugs is discussed. Disintegration of tablets and capsules as a function of the formulation, and gastric emptying are important. The applicability of perturbed angular correlation to the study of the dissolution of water soluble substances from solid dosages in man is shown. Examples are given to illustrate how external scintigraphy can be applied to study the tissue distribution of 18 F-haloperidol, 82 Br-bromperidol, in rat and monkey. 11 C, L-andD-phenylalanine in rats, 11 C, D-leucine in mice with human colon tumours; 13 N-nitrosoureas and 13 N-nitroso-carbamates. (U.K.)

  14. Measurements of half-lives of short-lived nuclides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Elmali, A.

    2001-01-01

    In this work 19 F(n,p) 19 O (26.94 sec.), 76 Ge(n,2n) 75m Ge(47.73 sec.), 23 Na(n,p) 23 Ne (37.24 sec.) 23 Na(n,α) 20 F (11.12 sec.), 68 Zn(n,p) 68g Cu (31.11 sec.), 46 Ti(n,P) 46m Sc (18.70 sec.), 19 F(n,α) 16 N (7.13 sec.) and 92 Mo(n,2n) 91m Mo (65.40 sec.) half lives were determined. The half life measurements were performed utilizing the Sames T-400 neutron generator at the Physics Department of Cekmece Nuclear Research and Training Center, Istanbul. Fast neutrons (∼ 14 MeV) were produced via T(d,n)He reaction in a TIT target which was bombarded by 300 KeV deuterons. The samples bombarded with 14 MeV neutrons were transferred with a fast sample transport system from neutron source to the HPGe detector were the gamma measurements are performed. The time elapsed during the transport of the sample between the two stations were about 0.5 sec. in the experimental data, corrections were made for coincidence summing, pules pile up, dead time and background elimination. In order to test the accuracy and the sensitivity of the half-life measurement system used in this work, the 19 O half life form the 19 F(n,p) 19 O reaction were measured first and compared with the data given in a recently published JAERI report

  15. Short-Lived Buildings in China: Impacts on Water, Energy, and Carbon Emissions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cai, Wenjia; Wan, Liyang; Jiang, Yongkai; Wang, Can; Lin, Lishen

    2015-12-15

    This paper has changed the vague understanding that "the short-lived buildings have huge environmental footprints (EF)" into a concrete one. By estimating the annual floor space of buildings demolished and calibrating the average building lifetime in China, this paper compared the EF under various assumptive extended buildings' lifetime scenarios based on time-series environmental-extended input-output model. Results show that if the average buildings' lifetime in China can be extended from the current 23.2 years to their designed life expectancy, 50 years, in 2011, China can reduce 5.8 Gt of water withdrawal, 127.1 Mtce of energy consumption, and 426.0 Mt of carbon emissions, each of which is equivalent to the corresponding annual EF of Belgium, Mexico, and Italy. These findings will urge China to extend the lifetime of existing and new buildings, in order to reduce the EF from further urbanization. This paper also verifies that the lifetime of a product or the replacement rate of a sector is a very important factor that influences the cumulative EF. When making policies to reduce the EF, adjusting people's behaviors to extend the lifetime of products or reduce the replacement rate of sectors may be a very simple and cost-effective option.

  16. Sizes and shapes of short-lived nuclei via laser spectroscopy. Final report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lewis, D.A.

    1985-10-01

    This project, a collaboration involving Iowa State University, Argonne National Lab., and the University of Minnesota, was aimed at the determination of properties of short-lived nuclei through their atomic hyperfine structure and optical isotope shifts. The basic approach was to use a cryogenic He-jet system to thermalize, neutralize, and transport radioactive nuclei produced online into a region suitable for laser spectroscopy. The photon burst method was then used for high sensitivity with the resulting continuous atomic beam. The experiment was located on beamline of the ANL superconducting heavy-ion accelerator. The He-jet system developed would reliably transport approx.10 2 nuclei into phase space useful for high resolution laser spectroscopy. The laser system developed could accurately and reproducibly sweep small frequency ranges for periods greater than or equal to1 day and sensitivity limits less than or equal to1 atom/s were achieved. However the nuclei were not transported as free atoms precluding nuclear determinations. Attempts to obtain free atoms by eliminating turbulence and contamination were not successful. Some of the high sensitivity spectroscopy techniques developed in this work are now being applied in a search for nuclear relics of the Big Bang and in studies of the photon statistics of light scattered by a single atom. 3 refs., 4 figs

  17. Convective Transport of Very-short-lived Bromocarbons to the Stratosphere

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liang, Qing; Atlas, Elliot Leonard; Blake, Donald Ray; Dorf, Marcel; Pfeilsticker, Klaus August; Schauffler, Sue Myhre

    2014-01-01

    We use the NASA GEOS Chemistry Climate Model (GEOSCCM) to quantify the contribution of two most important brominated very short-lived substances (VSLS), bromoform (CHBr3) and dibromomethane (CH2Br2), to stratospheric bromine and its sensitivity to convection strength. Model simulations suggest that the most active transport of VSLS from the marine boundary layer through the tropopause occurs over the tropical Indian Ocean, the Western Pacific warm pool, and off the Pacific coast of Mexico. Together, convective lofting of CHBr3 and CH2Br2 and their degradation products supplies 8 ppt total bromine to the base of the Tropical Tropopause Layer (TTL, 150 hPa), similar to the amount of VSLS organic bromine available in the marine boundary layer (7.8-8.4 ppt) in the above active convective lofting regions. Of the total 8 ppt VSLS-originated bromine that enters the base of TTL at 150 hPa, half is in the form of source gas injection (SGI) and half as product gas injection (PGI). Only a small portion (Br2, together, contribute 7.7 pptv to the present-day inorganic bromine in the stratosphere. However, varying model deep convection strength between maximum and minimum convection conditions can introduce a 2.6 pptv uncertainty in the contribution of VSLS to inorganic bromine in the stratosphere (BryVSLS). Contrary to the conventional wisdom, minimum convection condition leads to a larger BryVSLS as the reduced scavenging in soluble product gases, thus a significant increase in PGI (2-3 ppt), greatly exceeds the relative minor decrease in SGI (a few 10ths ppt.

  18. Microcomputer-based systems for automatic control of sample irradiation and chemical analysis of short-lived isotopes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bourret, S.C.

    1974-01-01

    Two systems resulted from the need for the study of the nuclear decay of short-lived radionuclides. Automation was required for better repeatability, speed of chemical separation after irradiation and for protection from the high radiation fields of the samples. A MCS-8 computer was used as the nucleus of the automatic sample irradiation system because the control system required an extensive multiple-sequential circuit. This approach reduced the sequential problem to a computer program. The automatic chemistry control system is a mixture of a fixed and a computer-based programmable control system. The fixed control receives the irradiated liquid sample from the reactor, extracts the liquid and disposes of the used sample container. The programmable control executes the chemistry program that the user has entered through the teletype. (U.S.)

  19. Time-separated oscillatory fields for high-precision mass measurements on short-lived Al and Ca nuclides

    CERN Document Server

    George, Simon; Blank, B.; Blaum, K.; Breitenfeldt, M.; Hager, U.; Herfurth, F.; Herlert, A.; Kellerbauer, A.; Kluge, H.J.; Kretzschmar, M.; Lunney, D.; Savreux, R.; Schwarz, Andreas S.; Schweikhard, L.; Yazidjian, C.

    2008-01-01

    High-precision Penning trap mass measurements on the stable nuclide $^{27}$Al as well as on the short-lived radionuclides $^{26}$Al and $^{38,39}$Ca have been performed by use of radio-frequency excitation with time-separated oscillatory fields, i.e. Ramsey's method, as recently introduced for the excitation of the ion motion in a Penning trap, was applied. A comparison with the conventional method of a single continuous excitation demonstrates its advantage of up to ten times shorter measurements. The new mass values of $^{26,27}$Al clarify conflicting data in this specific mass region. In addition, the resulting mass values of the superallowed $\\beta$-emitter $^{38}$Ca as well as of the groundstate of the $\\beta$-emitter $^{26}$Al$^{m}$ confirm previous measurements and corresponding theoretical corrections of the ft-values.

  20. Release studies of a thin foil tantalum target for the production of short-lived radioactive nuclei

    CERN Document Server

    Bennett, J R J; Drumm, P V; Lettry, Jacques; Nilsson, T; Catherall, R; Jonsson, O C; Ravn, H L; Simon, H

    2002-01-01

    Measurements have been made at ISOLDE, of the release curves and yields of radioactive beams of lithium, sodium and beryllium from a target constructed from 2 $\\mu$m thick foils. The release curves have been analysed by fitting to a mathematical model to determine the coefficients of diffusion of the particles in the foils and effusion through the target and ionizer at several temperatures. Through a better understanding of the rate of transport of the particles, it is possible to design targets and ionizers with improved yields. This is most important for the rare, short-lived isotopes in which there is considerable interest for physics experiments. This target has demonstrated large increases in the yields of $^{11}$Li and $^{12}$Be, in agreement with the predictions of the model. (11 refs).

  1. Screening for frailty in elderly subjects living at home: validation of the Modified Short Emergency Geriatric Assessment (SEGAm) instrument.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oubaya, N; Mahmoudi, R; Jolly, D; Zulfiqar, A A; Quignard, E; Cunin, C; Nazeyrollas, P; Novella, J L; Dramé, M

    2014-01-01

    To validate the modified version of the Short Emergency Geriatric Assessment (SEGAm) frailty instrument in elderly people living at home. Longitudinal, prospective, multicentre study. Four departments (Ardennes, Marne, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Meuse) in two French Regions (Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine). Subjects aged 65 years or more, living at home, who could read and understand French, with a degree of autonomy corresponding to groups 5, or 6 in the AGGIR autonomy evaluation scale. Assessment included demographic characteristics, comprehensive geriatric assessment, and the SEGAm instrument. Psychometric validation was used to study feasibility and acceptability, internal structure validity, reliability, and discriminant validity of the SEGAm instrument. Between July 1st 2012 and March 31st 2013, 167 patients were included in the study. Averaged age was 77±7 years, the majority were women (70.7%). Feasibility and acceptability of the SEGAm instrument were excellent: we observed no refusal to participate, no drop-out during administration, no missing items, no ceiling or floor effects, and the administration time was short (5.0±3.5 min). By factor analysis, the instrument proved to be unidimensional. It showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficient: 0.68) and good test-retest (intra-class correlation: 0.88) at 7 days interval. Discriminant validity showed a significant difference, mainly for nutritional status, fall risk, dependency, mood and depression risk, and comorbidities. Based on these psychometric properties, the SEGAm appears to be an easy-to-use instrument that is particularly suitable for use in the community to identify frail elderly people who could benefit from early targeted interventions.

  2. Labeling suspended aerosol particles with short-lived radionuclides for determination of particle deposition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smith, M.F.; Bryant, S.; Welch, S.; Digenis, G.A.

    1984-01-01

    Radiotracer techniques were developed to examine parameters that characterize pressurized aerosols designed to deliver insoluble particles suspended in the aerosol formulation. Microaggregated bovine serum albumin microspheres that were to be suspended were labeled with iodine-131 (t1/2 . 8 d). This iodination procedure (greater than 80% effective) is also applicable to iodine-123, which possesses superior characteristics for external imaging and further in vivo studies. This report shows that for pressurized aerosols containing suspended particles, each metered dose is approximately equal (not including the priming doses and the emptying doses). Increase in the delivery of the albumin particles out of the canister was best achieved by pretreating the valve assembly with a solution of 2% (w/v) bovine serum albumin in phosphate buffer. Use of a cascade impactor delineated the particle size distribution of the micropheres, with the majority of particles ranging in size from 2 to 8 microns. The data disclosed here indicate that the techniques developed with short-lived radionuclides can be used to quantitate each metered dose, characterize the particle size distribution profile of the aerosol contents, and determine the extent of deposition of the particles in the aerosol canister and all of its components

  3. Investigation concerning the relative formation rate and half-life time of short-lived nuclides with a fast conveyor tube system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kreiner, H.J.

    1976-01-01

    Since the installation of the 'Ultrafast Rabbit System' at the FRN in end of 1974, some research was started concerning the possibility of neutron activation analysis of short-lived nuclides (0.02 1/2 < 1 s) and measurements of short-lived fission products of U-235 and Pu-239. One of the results of the investigations is a more exact gamma-energy determination of the 0.8 s Cl-38m with 671.33 keV. In NAA it was possible to reach a sensitivity for lead and boron near 2 μg per sample respectively 10 ppm. In measurements of light fission products 0.1 - 8s after a pulse irradiation some differences of the relative formation rate and half-life in the region of A approximately 100 were found in comparison to literature. For example a strong build-up could be seen measuring the gamma-energy of 276.1 keV that belongs to Nb-101. Therefore we suppose the existence of an isomeric state of Nb-101. In comparison to our own results of yield ratio of the Pu- and U-fission products a good agreement with known data was found. Furthermore the measuring method gives the possibility of coordination of unknown gamma-lines to nuclides using the rate of formation, the half-life, the yield ratio between U and Pu and the build-up factor. That could be verified in some cases, e.g. Nb-103 and Sr-96. (author)

  4. [How do Affected Children and Adolescents Experience their Short Stature, and what is the Point of View of their Parents?].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quitmann, Julia; Rohenkohl, Anja; Sommer, Rachel; Petzold, Sophie; Bullinger-Naber, Monika

    2014-01-01

    How do Affected Children and Adolescents Experience their Short Stature, and what is the Point of View of their Parents? Despite a large number of publications on the psychosocial situation of short statured children and their parents only a few qualitative studies focus on the perspective of the affected families. Within the European QoLISSY study ("Quality of Life in Short Stature Youth") an instrument to assess the health related quality of life of short statured children was developed. The aim of this project was to examine the self-perceived quality of life of the children themselves in comparison to their parents' perspective. During the development of the QoLISSY instrument, focus groups were conducted as a first step of this study. A total of 23 short statured children and 31 parents participated and discussed their experiences in separate groups with trained moderators. The discussions were analyzed qualitatively und results were used to generate a first list of items for the questionnaire to be developed. While parents focused on socio-emotional problems, children talked much more about their growth hormone treatment and problems in their social environment. In comparison to other studies children rated their quality of life worse than their parents. Not only medical treatment but also a psychological and socio-emotional intervention seems to be indicated.

  5. "Short Courses Shouldn't Be Short-Lived!" Enhancing Longer-Term Impact of Short English as a Foreign Language INSET Initiatives in China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yan, Chunmei; He, Chuanjun

    2015-01-01

    Short in-service teacher development (INSET) programmes have been globally used as a form of teacher development, but their impact has been under question. This study sought to examine teacher participants' perceptions of short INSET programmes to come up with better solutions to enhancing their effect on teachers' professional learning. A…

  6. Treatment of short-lived radioactive wastes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamaguchi, Chiri

    1976-01-01

    Recently short life nuclides have come to be utilized increasingly as diagnostic radioisotopes, and Tc-99m (half-life; 6.05 hours) and Ga-67 (half-life 7.79 hours) are replacing the most nuclides fomerly used in vivo test. Such development of radioactive products inevitably causes the rapid increase of their wastes. At present, the radioactive wastes produced by hospitals and university laboratories in Japan are collected by the Japan Radioisotope Association, and treated by the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute. These wastes are divided into combustibles and incombustibles to store in the store house in the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute. The present law in Japan contains the contradiction which treats the matter with one several millionth of radioactivity after decay same as the original radioactive matter. Thus solid must be stored permanently, while gas and liquid can be discharged after dilution. (Kobatake, H.)

  7. Short-lived radionuclides produced on the ORNL 86-inch cyclotron and High-Flux Isotope Reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lamb, E.

    1985-01-01

    The production of short-lived radionuclides at ORNL includes the preparation of target materials, irradiation on the 86-in. cyclotron and in the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR), and chemical processing to recover and purify the product radionuclides. In some cases the target materials are highly enriched stable isotopes separated on the ORNL calutrons. High-purity 123 I has been produced on the 86-in. cyclotron by irradiating an enriched target of 123 Te in a proton beam. Research on calutron separations has led to a 123 Te product with lower concentrations of 124 Te and 126 Te and, consequently to lower concentrations of the unwanted radionuclides, 124 I and 126 I, in the 123 I product. The 86-in. cyclotron accelerates a beam of protons only but is unique in providing the highest available beam current of 1500 μA at 21 MeV. This beam current produces relatively large quantities of radionuclides such as 123 I and 67 Ga

  8. Optimization of irradiation decay and counting times in nuclear activation analysis using short-lived nuclides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bjoernstad, T.

    This work describes a method and outlines a procedure for optim- ization of an activation analysis with respect to the experimental times, irradiation time, t(subi), decay time and counting time. The method is based on the 'minimum relative standard deviation criterion', and specially designed for the use on short-lived nuclides. A computer program, COMB1, is written in the BASIC language in order to make the calculations easier and faster. It is intended to be understandable, and easily applicable on a computer of modest size. Time and cost are important factors, especially for routine analysis on a service basis. In such cases one can often allow a controlled reduction in the analysis quality (through a higher relative standard deviation). The procedure outlined can therefore help find acceptable conditions by calculation of the 'best practical' (or reasonable) experimental time values, and the minimum number of accumulation cycles necessary to fulfil the requirements given. (Auth.)

  9. Context of the long-term management of low-level short-lived waste

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hooft, E.

    2004-01-01

    Until the international moratorium of 1983, Belgium relied on sea disposal for its low-level waste. Since then, ONDRAF/NIRAS, the Belgian radioactive waste management agency, has launched studies to look for land-based solutions. These studies, which are still going on, have gone through various phases. The sometimes harsh reactions in public opinion and the recommendations of independent experts, however, progressively led ONDRAF/NIRAS to question its work methodology. On 16 January 1998 was a milestone in Belgian's nuclear waste management. On that day, the Belgian federal government opted for a final, or potentially final, solution for the long-term management of short-lived, low-level radioactive waste, a solution that also had to be progressive, flexible, and reversible. At the same time, the government entrusted new missions to ONDRAF/NIRAS in particular that of developing methods to enable the integration of final repository project proposals at a local level and restricted the number of potential sites for final disposal to the four existing nuclear sites in Belgium and to possibly interested local districts. The government's decision of 16 January 1998 forced ONDRAF/NIRAS to change its strategy. The agency set up a new work programme and worked out an innovative methodology. This new methodology aims to generate, at the level of the interested towns and villages, draft projects for a final repository supported by a wide public consensus. (author)

  10. Friction massage versus kinesiotaping for short-term management of latent trigger points in the upper trapezius: a randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mohamadi, Marzieh; Piroozi, Soraya; Rashidi, Iman; Hosseinifard, Saeed

    2017-01-01

    Latent trigger points in the upper trapezius muscle may disrupt muscle movement patterns and cause problems such as cramping and decreased muscle strength. Because latent trigger points may spontaneously become active trigger points, they should be addressed and treated to prevent further problems. In this study we compared the short-term effect of kinesiotaping versus friction massage on latent trigger points in the upper trapezius muscle. Fifty-eight male students enrolled with a stratified sampling method participated in this single-blind randomized clinical trial (Registration ID: IRCT2016080126674N3) in 2016. Pressure pain threshold was recorded with a pressure algometer and grip strength was recorded with a Collin dynamometer. The participants were randomly assigned to two different treatment groups: kinesiotape or friction massage. Friction massage was performed daily for 3 sessions and kinesiotape was used for 72 h. One hour after the last session of friction massage or removal of the kinesiotape, pressure pain threshold and grip strength were evaluated again. Pressure pain threshold decreased significantly after both friction massage (2.66 ± 0.89 to 2.25 ± 0.76; P  = 0.02) and kinesiotaping (2.00 ± 0.74 to 1.71 ± 0.65; P  = 0.01). Grip strength increased significantly after friction massage (40.78 ± 9.55 to 42.17 ± 10.68; P  = 0.03); however there was no significant change in the kinesiotape group (39.72 ± 6.42 to 40.65 ± 7.3; P  = 0.197). There were no significant differences in pressure pain threshold (2.10 ± 0.11 & 1.87 ± 0.11; P  = 0.66) or grip strength (42.17 ± 10.68 & 40.65 ± 7.3; P  = 0.53) between the two study groups. Friction massage and kinesiotaping had identical short-term effects on latent trigger points in the upper trapezius. Three sessions of either of these two interventions did not improve latent trigger points. Registration ID in IRCT: IRCT2016080126674N3.

  11. 182Hf-182W age dating of a 26Al-poor inclusion and implications for the origin of short-lived radioisotopes in the early Solar System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holst, Jesper C; Olsen, Mia B; Paton, Chad; Nagashima, Kazuhide; Schiller, Martin; Wielandt, Daniel; Larsen, Kirsten K; Connelly, James N; Jørgensen, Jes K; Krot, Alexander N; Nordlund, Ake; Bizzarro, Martin

    2013-05-28

    Refractory inclusions [calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions, (CAIs)] represent the oldest Solar System solids and provide information regarding the formation of the Sun and its protoplanetary disk. CAIs contain evidence of now extinct short-lived radioisotopes (e.g., (26)Al, (41)Ca, and (182)Hf) synthesized in one or multiple stars and added to the protosolar molecular cloud before or during its collapse. Understanding how and when short-lived radioisotopes were added to the Solar System is necessary to assess their validity as chronometers and constrain the birthplace of the Sun. Whereas most CAIs formed with the canonical abundance of (26)Al corresponding to (26)Al/(27)Al of ∼5 × 10(-5), rare CAIs with fractionation and unidentified nuclear isotope effects (FUN CAIs) record nucleosynthetic isotopic heterogeneity and (26)Al/(27)Al of Solar System, including the origin of short-lived radioisotopes. However, their chronology is unknown. Using the (182)Hf-(182)W chronometer, we show that a FUN CAI recording a condensation origin from a solar gas formed coevally with canonical CAIs, but with (26)Al/(27)Al of ∼3 × 10(-6). The decoupling between (182)Hf and (26)Al requires distinct stellar origins: steady-state galactic stellar nucleosynthesis for (182)Hf and late-stage contamination of the protosolar molecular cloud by a massive star(s) for (26)Al. Admixing of stellar-derived (26)Al to the protoplanetary disk occurred during the epoch of CAI formation and, therefore, the (26)Al-(26)Mg systematics of CAIs cannot be used to define their formation interval. In contrast, our results support (182)Hf homogeneity and chronological significance of the (182)Hf-(182)W clock.

  12. Increased Concentrations of Short-Lived Decay-Series Radionuclides in Groundwaters Underneath the Nopal I Uranium Deposit at Pena Blanca, Mexico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luo, S.; Ku, T.; Todd, V.; Murrell, M. T.; Dinsmoor, J. C.

    2007-05-01

    The Nopal I uranium ore deposit at Pena Blanca, Mexico, located at > 200 meters above the groundwater table, provides an ideal natural analog for quantifying the effectiveness of geological barrier for isolation of radioactive waste nuclides from reaching the human environments through ground water transport. To fulfill such natural analog studies, three wells (PB1, PB2, and PB3 respectively) were drilled at the site from the land surface down to the saturated groundwater zone and ground waters were collected from each of these wells through large- volume sampling/in-situ Mn-filter filtration for analyses of short-lived uranium/thorium-series radionuclides. Our measurements from PB1 show that the groundwater standing in the hole has much lower 222Rn activity than the freshly pumped groundwater. From this change in 222Rn activity, we estimate the residence time of groundwater in PB1 to be about 20 days. Our measurements also show that the activities of short-lived radioisotopes of Th (234Th), Ra (228Ra, 224Ra, 223Ra), Rn (222Rn), Pb (210Pb), and Po (210Po) in PB1, PB2, and PB3 are all significantly higher than those from the other wells near the Nopal I site. These high activities provide evidence for the enrichment of long-lived U and Ra isotopes in the groundwater as well as in the associated adsorbed phases on the fractured aquifer rocks underneath the ore deposit. Such enrichment suggests a rapid dissolution of U and Ra isotopes from the uranium ore deposit in the vadose zone and the subsequent migration to the groundwater underneath. A reactive transport model can be established to characterize the in-situ transport of radionuclides at the site. The observed change of 222Rn activity at PB1 also suggests that the measured high radioactivityies in ground waters from the site isare not an artifact of drilling operations. However, further studies are needed to assess if or to what extent the radionuclide migration is affected by the previous mining activities at

  13. RNA-seq of the aging brain in the short-lived fish N. furzeri - conserved pathways and novel genes associated with neurogenesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baumgart, Mario; Groth, Marco; Priebe, Steffen; Savino, Aurora; Testa, Giovanna; Dix, Andreas; Ripa, Roberto; Spallotta, Francesco; Gaetano, Carlo; Ori, Michela; Terzibasi Tozzini, Eva; Guthke, Reinhard; Platzer, Matthias; Cellerino, Alessandro

    2014-12-01

    The brains of teleost fish show extensive adult neurogenesis and neuronal regeneration. The patterns of gene regulation during fish brain aging are unknown. The short-lived teleost fish Nothobranchius furzeri shows markers of brain aging including reduced learning performances, gliosis, and reduced adult neurogenesis. We used RNA-seq to quantify genome-wide transcript regulation and sampled five different time points to characterize whole-genome transcript regulation during brain aging of N. furzeri. Comparison with human datasets revealed conserved up-regulation of ribosome, lysosome, and complement activation and conserved down-regulation of synapse, mitochondrion, proteasome, and spliceosome. Down-regulated genes differ in their temporal profiles: neurogenesis and extracellular matrix genes showed rapid decay, synaptic and axonal genes a progressive decay. A substantial proportion of differentially expressed genes (~40%) showed inversion of their temporal profiles in the last time point: spliceosome and proteasome showed initial down-regulation and stress-response genes initial up-regulation. Extensive regulation was detected for chromatin remodelers of the DNMT and CBX families as well as members of the polycomb complex and was mirrored by an up-regulation of the H3K27me3 epigenetic mark. Network analysis showed extensive coregulation of cell cycle/DNA synthesis genes with the uncharacterized zinc-finger protein ZNF367 as central hub. In situ hybridization showed that ZNF367 is expressed in neuronal stem cell niches of both embryonic zebrafish and adult N. furzeri. Other genes down-regulated with age, not previously associated with adult neurogenesis and with similar patterns of expression are AGR2, DNMT3A, KRCP, MEX3A, SCML4, and CBX1. CBX7, on the other hand, was up-regulated with age. © 2014 The Authors. Aging cell published by the Anatomical Society and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  14. Address Points, Points of Interest: AIRPORT_PRIVATE, AIRPORT_PUBLIC, ARMORY, ASSISTED LIVING, CAMPGROUND, CHILD CARE CENTERS, CHURCH, COLLEGE, COMMUNITY ENTRANCE, COMMUNITY REC CENTER, COURT, FARMERS MARKET, FIRE DEPT, GOVERNMENT BUILDING, HEALTH CENTER, HOSPITAL, etc, Published in 2011, 1:2400 (1in=200ft) scale, Anne Arundal County Government.

    Data.gov (United States)

    NSGIC Local Govt | GIS Inventory — Address Points dataset current as of 2011. Points of Interest: AIRPORT_PRIVATE, AIRPORT_PUBLIC, ARMORY, ASSISTED LIVING, CAMPGROUND, CHILD CARE CENTERS, CHURCH,...

  15. Multifocus confocal Raman microspectroscopy for fast multimode vibrational imaging of living cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okuno, Masanari; Hamaguchi, Hiro-o

    2010-12-15

    We have developed a multifocus confocal Raman microspectroscopic system for the fast multimode vibrational imaging of living cells. It consists of an inverted microscope equipped with a microlens array, a pinhole array, a fiber bundle, and a multichannel Raman spectrometer. Forty-eight Raman spectra from 48 foci under the microscope are simultaneously obtained by using multifocus excitation and image-compression techniques. The multifocus confocal configuration suppresses the background generated from the cover glass and the cell culturing medium so that high-contrast images are obtainable with a short accumulation time. The system enables us to obtain multimode (10 different vibrational modes) vibrational images of living cells in tens of seconds with only 1 mW laser power at one focal point. This image acquisition time is more than 10 times faster than that in conventional single-focus Raman microspectroscopy.

  16. Ultrasound-guided bilateral dual transversus abdominis plane block: a new four-point approach

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Neimann, Jens Dupont Børglum; Maschmann, C; Belhage, B

    2011-01-01

    scale 0–10) from a mean of 8.2 to a mean of 2.2 10 min after block performance (Pcare unit after an average of 34 min. Twenty-one patients (84%) did not require any i.v. opioids in the following 6 h. Sixteen patients (64%) were mobilized within 6 h...... after the block. Data were similar irrespective of open or laparoscopic surgery (P=0.68). Conclusion: This new four-point single-shot technique was effective in decreasing severe pain after a major abdominal surgery. The block, although short-lived, facilitated discharge from the post-anaesthesia care...

  17. Emission channeling with short-lived isotopes lattice location of impurities in semiconductors and oxides

    CERN Multimedia

    We propose to perform emission channeling lattice location experiments in a number of semiconductor and oxide systems of technological relevance: \\\\- The lattice location of the transition metal probes $^{56}$Mn ($\\textit{t}_{1/2}$=2.6 h), $^{59}$Fe (45 d), $^{61}$Co (1.6 h) and $^{65}$Ni (2.5 h) is to be investigated in materials of interest as dilute magnetic semiconductors, such as GaMnAs, GaMnN, GaFeN, AlGaN, SiC, and in a number of oxides that are candidates for “single ion ferromagnetism”, in particular SrTiO$_3$ and LiNbO$_3$.\\\\- The topic of $\\textit{p}$-type doping of nitride semiconductors shall be addressed by studying the lattice sites of the acceptor dopants Mg and Be in GaN and AlN using the short-lived probes $^{27}$Mg (9.5 min) and $^{11}$Be (13.8 s). The aim is to reach a lattice location precision around 0.05 Å in order to provide critical tests for recent theoretical models which e.g. have predicted displacements of the Mg atom from the ideal substitutional Ga and Al sites of the order...

  18. The trade-off between short- and long-lived greenhouse gases under uncertainty and learning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aaheim, H. Asbjoern; Brekke, Kjell Arne; Lystad, Terje; Torvanger, Asbjoern

    2001-01-01

    To find an optimal climate policy we must balance abatement of different greenhouse gases. There is substantial uncertainty about future damages from climate change, but we will learn more over the next few decades. Gases vary in terms of how long they remain in the atmosphere, which means that equivalent pulse emissions have very different climate impacts. Such differences between gases are important in consideration of uncertainty and learning about future damages, but they are disregarded by the conventional concept of Global Warming Potential We have developed a numerical model to analyze how uncertainty and learning affect optimal emissions of both CO 2 and CH 4 . In the model, emissions of these greenhouse gases lead to global temperature increases and production losses. New information about the severity of the climate problem arrives either in 2010 or in 2020. We find that uncertainty causes increased optimal abatement of both gases, compared to the certainty case. This effect amounts to 0.08 o C less expected temperature increase by year 2200. Learning leads to less abatement for both gases since expected future marginal damages from emissions are reduced. This effect is less pronounced for the short-lived CH 4 . (author)

  19. A high rate gamma spectroscopy system for activation analysis of short lived isomeric transitions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Westphal, G P [Atominstitut, Vienna (Austria)

    1976-07-01

    A high rate spectroscopy system specially suited for measurement of short-lived isomeric transitions is described, which, as part of a fast activation analysis facility at the TRIGA Mark II reactor, provides for automatic recording and immediate evaluation of gamma spectra taken from nuclides activated at stationary or pulsed reactor power. The system consists of a commercial DC-coupled Ge(Li)-detector of 70 cm{sup 3} modified for recycling operation for input rates in excess of 500,000 c/s Co-60, a time variant trapezoidal shaping section and a fast constant dead-time ADC coupled to a programmed multi-channel analyzer. Novel circuits for efficient pile-up rejection and time variant base line restoration extend the concept of gated integration up to count rates of more than 300,000 c/s Co-60. Time-sequenced recording of spectra is performed by a mini computer operated as a front-end processor of a larger laboratory computer, where final data processing takes place. New concepts for very simple and cost-effective implementation of multi-channel analyzers by means of general purpose small computers are described. (author)

  20. CellTracker Green labelling vs. rose bengal staining: CTG wins by points in distinguishing living from dead anoxia-impacted copepods and nematodes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Grego

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Hypoxia and anoxia have become a key threat to shallow coastal seas. Much is known about their impact on macrofauna, less on meiofauna. In an attempt to shed more light on the latter group, in particular from a process-oriented view, we experimentally induced short-term anoxia (1 week in the northern Adriatic Sea (Mediterranean and examined the two most abundant meiofauna taxa – harpacticoid copepods and nematodes. Both taxa also represent different ends of the tolerance spectrum, with copepods being the most sensitive and nematodes among the most tolerant. We compared two methods: CellTracker Green (CTG – new labelling approach for meiofauna – with the traditional rose bengal (RB staining method. CTG binds to active enzymes and therefore colours live organisms only. The two methods show considerable differences in the number of living and dead individuals of both meiofauna taxa. Generally, RB will stain dead but not yet decomposed copepods and nematodes equally as it does live ones. Specifically, RB significantly overestimated the number of living copepods in all sediment layers in anoxic samples, but not in any normoxic samples. In contrast, for nematodes, the methods did not show such a clear difference between anoxia and normoxia. RB overestimated the number of living nematodes in the top sediment layer of normoxic samples, which implies an overestimation of the overall live nematofauna. For monitoring and biodiversity studies, the RB method might be sufficient, but for more precise quantification of community degradation, especially after an oxygen depletion event, CTG labelling is a better tool. Moreover, it clearly highlights the surviving species within the copepod or nematode community. As already accepted for foraminiferal research, we demonstrate that the CTG labelling is also valid for other meiofauna groups.

  1. Effects of short-term environmental disturbances on living benthic foraminifera during the Pacific oyster summer mortality in the Marennes-Oléron Bay (France).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bouchet, Vincent M P; Debenay, Jean-Pierre; Sauriau, Pierre-Guy; Radford-Knoery, Joël; Soletchnik, Patrick

    2007-09-01

    Sediment cores were collected from April to August 2004 on tidal mudflats of the macrotidal Marennes-Oléron Bay (SW France), famous for the cultivation of Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas). The response of living (stained) benthic foraminifera to short-term biogeochemical disturbances in the sediment and overlying water, which may be involved in oyster summer mortality, was monitored. Short-term hypoxia occurred in early June, in conjunction with a sudden rise in temperature. In mid-June, the ammonia content of sediment porewater increased, leading to potentially maximal flux towards overlying waters. Foraminiferal assemblages, particularly in the topmost layer, were altered. Ammonia tepida was the most tolerant to temperature increase and hypoxic conditions whereas Brizalina variabilis and Haynesina germanica were sensitive to organic degradation and hypoxia. Cribroelphidium gunteri was the most opportunistic during recolonisation. Benthic foraminifera showed that short-term biochemical changes in the sediment are toxic and may be involved in the summer mortality of Pacific oysters.

  2. Multidimensional poverty, household environment and short-term morbidity in India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dehury, Bidyadhar; Mohanty, Sanjay K

    2017-01-01

    Using the unit data from the second round of the Indian Human Development Survey (IHDS-II), 2011-2012, which covered 42,152 households, this paper examines the association between multidimensional poverty, household environmental deprivation and short-term morbidities (fever, cough and diarrhoea) in India. Poverty is measured in a multidimensional framework that includes the dimensions of education, health and income, while household environmental deprivation is defined as lack of access to improved sanitation, drinking water and cooking fuel. A composite index combining multidimensional poverty and household environmental deprivation has been computed, and households are classified as follows: multidimensional poor and living in a poor household environment, multidimensional non-poor and living in a poor household environment, multidimensional poor and living in a good household environment and multidimensional non-poor and living in a good household environment. Results suggest that about 23% of the population belonging to multidimensional poor households and living in a poor household environment had experienced short-term morbidities in a reference period of 30 days compared to 20% of the population belonging to multidimensional non-poor households and living in a poor household environment, 19% of the population belonging to multidimensional poor households and living in a good household environment and 15% of the population belonging to multidimensional non-poor households and living in a good household environment. Controlling for socioeconomic covariates, the odds of short-term morbidity was 1.47 [CI 1.40-1.53] among the multidimensional poor and living in a poor household environment, 1.28 [CI 1.21-1.37] among the multidimensional non-poor and living in a poor household environment and 1.21 [CI 1.64-1.28] among the multidimensional poor and living in a good household environment compared to the multidimensional non-poor and living in a good household

  3. Decay properties of short-lived mass-separated fission products

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lund, E.

    1977-01-01

    The present work describes determinations of total β-decay energies and studies of delayed neutron emission including the identification and half-life determinations of delayed neutron precursors and the measurement of neutron spectra. It also includes a short review of the OSIRIS on-line isotope separator facility. (Auth.)

  4. Three Point Bending of Top-Hat Stiffened Chopped Short Fibre Ramie/HDPE Thermoplastic Composite Beam

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hadi, Bambang K.; Nuril, Yogie S.

    2018-04-01

    The use of natural fibre and thermoplastic matrices in composite materials increased significantly during the last decade especially in the automotive industries. Ramie is one of these potential natural fibres. In this paper, a three point bending of top-hat beam made of ramie/HDPE (High-Density-Polyethylene) composites was performed. Top-hat stiffened structures were common structures found in the aerospace industries. Nevertheless, these structures are beginning to be applied in automotive structures in the forms of chassis and bumpers. The ramie/HDPE composite was manufactured using hot-press technique. The temperature was set to be 135°C and the pressure was 6 bars. Chopped short ramie fibre was used, due to good drape ability characteristics. The experiments showed that the beams produced a large non-linearity. Linear Finite Element Analysis was carried out to be compared with the experimental data. The differences are reasonable.

  5. Comparison of short-lived medical isotopes activation by laser thin target induced protons and conventional cyclotron proton beams

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murray, Joseph; Dudnikova, Galina; Liu, Tung-Chang; Papadopoulos, Dennis; Sagdeev, Roald; Su, J. J.; UMD MicroPET Team

    2014-10-01

    Production diagnostic or therapeutic nuclear medicines are either by nuclear reactors or by ion accelerators. In general, diagnostic nuclear radioisotopes have a very short half-life varying from tens of minutes for PET tracers and few hours for SPECT tracers. Thus supplies of PET and SPECT radiotracers are limited by regional production facilities. For example 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) is the most desired tracer for positron emission tomography because its 110 minutes half-life is sufficient long for transport from production facilities to nearby users. From nuclear activation to completing image taking must be done within 4 hours. Decentralized production of diagnostic radioisotopes will be idea to make high specific activity radiotracers available to researches and clinicians. 11 C, 13 N, 15 O and 18 F can be produced in the energy range from 10-20 MeV by protons. Protons of energies up to tens of MeV generated by intense laser interacting with hydrogen containing targets have been demonstrated by many groups in the past decade. We use 2D PIC code for proton acceleration, Geant4 Monte Carlo code for nuclei activation to compare the yields and specific activities of short-lived isotopes produced by cyclotron proton beams and laser driven protons.

  6. Clinical development and regulatory points for consideration for second-generation live attenuated dengue vaccines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vannice, Kirsten S; Wilder-Smith, Annelies; Barrett, Alan D T; Carrijo, Kalinka; Cavaleri, Marco; de Silva, Aravinda; Durbin, Anna P; Endy, Tim; Harris, Eva; Innis, Bruce L; Katzelnick, Leah C; Smith, Peter G; Sun, Wellington; Thomas, Stephen J; Hombach, Joachim

    2018-03-07

    Licensing and decisions on public health use of a vaccine rely on a robust clinical development program that permits a risk-benefit assessment of the product in the target population. Studies undertaken early in clinical development, as well as well-designed pivotal trials, allow for this robust characterization. In 2012, WHO published guidelines on the quality, safety and efficacy of live attenuated dengue tetravalent vaccines. Subsequently, efficacy and longer-term follow-up data have become available from two Phase 3 trials of a dengue vaccine, conducted in parallel, and the vaccine was licensed in December 2015. The findings and interpretation of the results from these trials released both before and after licensure have highlighted key complexities for tetravalent dengue vaccines, including concerns vaccination could increase the incidence of dengue disease in certain subpopulations. This report summarizes clinical and regulatory points for consideration that may guide vaccine developers on some aspects of trial design and facilitate regulatory review to enable broader public health recommendations for second-generation dengue vaccines. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  7. Evaluating the climate and air quality impacts of short-lived pollutants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stohl, A.; Aamaas, B.; Amann, M.; Baker, L. H.; Bellouin, N.; Berntsen, T. K.; Boucher, O.; Cherian, R.; Collins, W.; Daskalakis, N.; Dusinska, M.; Eckhardt, S.; Fuglestvedt, J. S.; Harju, M.; Heyes, C.; Hodnebrog, Ø.; Hao, J.; Im, U.; Kanakidou, M.; Klimont, Z.; Kupiainen, K.; Law, K. S.; Lund, M. T.; Maas, R.; MacIntosh, C. R.; Myhre, G.; Myriokefalitakis, S.; Olivié, D.; Quaas, J.; Quennehen, B.; Raut, J.-C.; Rumbold, S. T.; Samset, B. H.; Schulz, M.; Seland, Ø.; Shine, K. P.; Skeie, R. B.; Wang, S.; Yttri, K. E.; Zhu, T.

    2015-09-01

    This paper presents a summary of the work done within the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme project ECLIPSE (Evaluating the Climate and Air Quality Impacts of Short-Lived Pollutants). ECLIPSE had a unique systematic concept for designing a realistic and effective mitigation scenario for short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs; methane, aerosols and ozone, and their precursor species) and quantifying its climate and air quality impacts, and this paper presents the results in the context of this overarching strategy. The first step in ECLIPSE was to create a new emission inventory based on current legislation (CLE) for the recent past and until 2050. Substantial progress compared to previous work was made by including previously unaccounted types of sources such as flaring of gas associated with oil production, and wick lamps. These emission data were used for present-day reference simulations with four advanced Earth system models (ESMs) and six chemistry transport models (CTMs). The model simulations were compared with a variety of ground-based and satellite observational data sets from Asia, Europe and the Arctic. It was found that the models still underestimate the measured seasonality of aerosols in the Arctic but to a lesser extent than in previous studies. Problems likely related to the emissions were identified for northern Russia and India, in particular. To estimate the climate impacts of SLCPs, ECLIPSE followed two paths of research: the first path calculated radiative forcing (RF) values for a large matrix of SLCP species emissions, for different seasons and regions independently. Based on these RF calculations, the Global Temperature change Potential metric for a time horizon of 20 years (GTP20) was calculated for each SLCP emission type. This climate metric was then used in an integrated assessment model to identify all emission mitigation measures with a beneficial air quality and short-term (20-year) climate impact. These measures together

  8. New use of global warming potentials to compare cumulative and short-lived climate pollutants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allen, Myles R.; Fuglestvedt, Jan S.; Shine, Keith P.; Reisinger, Andy; Pierrehumbert, Raymond T.; Forster, Piers M.

    2016-08-01

    Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have requested guidance on common greenhouse gas metrics in accounting for Nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to emission reductions. Metric choice can affect the relative emphasis placed on reductions of `cumulative climate pollutants' such as carbon dioxide versus `short-lived climate pollutants' (SLCPs), including methane and black carbon. Here we show that the widely used 100-year global warming potential (GWP100) effectively measures the relative impact of both cumulative pollutants and SLCPs on realized warming 20-40 years after the time of emission. If the overall goal of climate policy is to limit peak warming, GWP100 therefore overstates the importance of current SLCP emissions unless stringent and immediate reductions of all climate pollutants result in temperatures nearing their peak soon after mid-century, which may be necessary to limit warming to ``well below 2 °C'' (ref. ). The GWP100 can be used to approximately equate a one-off pulse emission of a cumulative pollutant and an indefinitely sustained change in the rate of emission of an SLCP. The climate implications of traditional CO2-equivalent targets are ambiguous unless contributions from cumulative pollutants and SLCPs are specified separately.

  9. Short-Lived Electronically-Excited Diatomic Molecules Cooled via Supersonic Expansion from a Plasma Microjet

    Science.gov (United States)

    Houlahan, Thomas J., Jr.; Su, Rui; Eden, Gary

    2014-06-01

    Using a pulsed plasma microjet to generate short-lived, electronically-excited diatomic molecules, and subsequently ejecting them into vacuum to cool via supersonic expansion, we are able to monitor the cooling of molecules having radiative lifetimes as low as 16 ns. Specifically, we report on the rotational cooling of He_2 molecules in the d^3Σ_u^+, e^3Π_g, and f^3Σ_u^+ states, which have lifetimes of 25 ns, 67 ns, and 16 ns, respectively. The plasma microjet is driven with a 2.6 kV, 140 ns high-voltage pulse (risetime of 20 ns) which, when combined with a high-speed optical imaging system, allows the nonequilibrium rotational distribution for these molecular states to be monitored as they cool from 1200 K to below 250 K with spatial and temporal resolutions of below 10 μm and 10 ns, respectively. The spatial and temporal resolution afforded by this system also allows the observation of excitation transfer between the f^3Σ_u^+ state and the lower lying d^3Σ_u^+ and e^3Π_g states. The extension of this method to other electronically excited diatomics with excitation energies >5 eV will also be discussed.

  10. Dissolved organic matter composition drives the marine production of brominated very short-lived substances.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yina; Thornton, Daniel C O; Bianchi, Thomas S; Arnold, William A; Shields, Michael R; Chen, Jie; Yvon-Lewis, Shari A

    2015-03-17

    Brominated very short-lived substances (BrVSLS), such as bromoform, are important trace gases for stratospheric ozone chemistry. These naturally derived trace gases are formed via bromoperoxidase-mediated halogenation of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in seawater. Information on DOM type in relation to the observed BrVSLS concentrations in seawater, however, is scarce. We examined the sensitivity of BrVSLS production in relation to the presence of specific DOM moieties. A total of 28 model DOM compounds in artificial seawater were treated with vanadium bromoperoxidase (V-BrPO). Our results show a clear dependence of BrVSLS production on DOM type. In general, molecules that comprise a large fraction of the bulk DOM pool did not noticeably affect BrVSLS production. Only specific cell metabolites and humic acid appeared to significantly enhance BrVSLS production. Amino acids and lignin phenols suppressed enzyme-mediated BrVSLS production and may instead have formed halogenated nonvolatile molecules. Dibromomethane production was not observed in any experiments, suggesting it is not produced by the same pathway as the other BrVSLS. Our results suggest that regional differences in DOM composition may explain the observed BrVSLS concentration variability in the global ocean. Ultimately, BrVSLS production and concentrations are likely affected by DOM composition, reactivity, and cycling in the ocean.

  11. The trade-off between short- and long-lived greenhouse gases under uncertainty and learning

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Aaheim, H. Asbjoern; Brekke, Kjell Arne; Lystad, Terje; Torvanger, Asbjoern

    2001-07-01

    To find an optimal climate policy we must balance abatement of different greenhouse gases. There is substantial uncertainty about future damages from climate change, but we will learn more over the next few decades. Gases vary in terms of how long they remain in the atmosphere, which means that equivalent pulse emissions have very different climate impacts. Such differences between gases are important in consideration of uncertainty and learning about future damages, but they are disregarded by the conventional concept of Global Warming Potential We have developed a numerical model to analyze how uncertainty and learning affect optimal emissions of both CO{sub 2} and CH{sub 4}. In the model, emissions of these greenhouse gases lead to global temperature increases and production losses. New information about the severity of the climate problem arrives either in 2010 or in 2020. We find that uncertainty causes increased optimal abatement of both gases, compared to the certainty case. This effect amounts to 0.08 {sup o}C less expected temperature increase by year 2200. Learning leads to less abatement for both gases since expected future marginal damages from emissions are reduced. This effect is less pronounced for the short-lived CH{sub 4}. (author)

  12. Delivery of halogenated very short-lived substances from the west Indian Ocean to the stratosphere during the Asian summer monsoon

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Fiehn

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Halogenated very short-lived substances (VSLSs are naturally produced in the ocean and emitted to the atmosphere. When transported to the stratosphere, these compounds can have a significant influence on the ozone layer and climate. During a research cruise on RV Sonne in the subtropical and tropical west Indian Ocean in July and August 2014, we measured the VSLSs, methyl iodide (CH3I and for the first time bromoform (CHBr3 and dibromomethane (CH2Br2, in surface seawater and the marine atmosphere to derive their emission strengths. Using the Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART with ERA-Interim meteorological fields, we calculated the direct contribution of observed VSLS emissions to the stratospheric halogen burden during the Asian summer monsoon. Furthermore, we compare the in situ calculations with the interannual variability of transport from a larger area of the west Indian Ocean surface to the stratosphere for July 2000–2015. We found that the west Indian Ocean is a strong source for CHBr3 (910 pmol m−2 h−1, very strong source for CH2Br2 (930 pmol m−2 h−1, and an average source for CH3I (460 pmol m−2 h−1. The atmospheric transport from the tropical west Indian Ocean surface to the stratosphere experiences two main pathways. On very short timescales, especially relevant for the shortest-lived compound CH3I (3.5 days lifetime, convection above the Indian Ocean lifts oceanic air masses and VSLSs towards the tropopause. On a longer timescale, the Asian summer monsoon circulation transports oceanic VSLSs towards India and the Bay of Bengal, where they are lifted with the monsoon convection and reach stratospheric levels in the southeastern part of the Asian monsoon anticyclone. This transport pathway is more important for the longer-lived brominated compounds (17 and 150 days lifetime for CHBr3 and CH2Br2. The entrainment of CHBr3 and CH3I from the west Indian Ocean to the stratosphere during the

  13. Teaching English Using Local Culture Content Short Story

    OpenAIRE

    Sanda, Silfi

    2009-01-01

    This paper is mainly about the use of local culture content short story in developing students' English proficiency and some activities that can be employed for this purpose. The local culture exposed in the short story is the traditional woven clothes of Palembang, Songket in term of process and product. The short story used in this topic is Cek Ipah "The Palembang Songket Weaver". This short story is authors' original work telling about everyday live of palembang songket weaver which covers...

  14. Review of short-term screening tests for mutagens, toxigens, and carcinogens

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Carney, H.J.; Hass, B.S.

    1979-07-01

    In order to test the thousands of man-made chemicals in the environment for carcinogenic and genetic hazards, a multitude of short-term screening tests has been developed to complement long-term mammalian bioassays and epidemiological studies. These tests cover a broad spectrum of organisms, and include the use of naked and viral nucleic acids, bacteria, fungi, higher plants, insects in vitro mammalian cell cultures (cell transformation, cell-mediated mutagenesis, DNA repair, and chromosome aberration tests) and live mammals. Assay end points include effects on nucleic acids, DNA repair synthesis, point or gene mutation, structural and numerical chromosome aberrations, cytological alterations, and in vitro cell transformation. The present review describes and compares these assays. In addition, it discusses their historical development, the problems and limitations associated with their use, and their implementation in comprehensive testing programs. It is intended to provide overview and specific information to the laboratory that is in the process of establishing genetic toxicological systems. (The literature is reviewed to January 1978.)

  15. Knee Pain during Strength Training Shortly following Fast-Track Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Cross-Sectional Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bandholm, Thomas; Thorborg, Kristian; Lunn, Troels Haxholdt; Kehlet, Henrik; Jakobsen, Thomas Linding

    2014-01-01

    Background Loading and contraction failure (muscular exhaustion) are strength training variables known to influence neural activation of the exercising muscle in healthy subjects, which may help reduce neural inhibition of the quadriceps muscle following total knee arthroplasty (TKA). It is unknown how these exercise variables influence knee pain after TKA. Objective To investigate the effect of loading and contraction failure on knee pain during strength training, shortly following TKA. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Consecutive sample of patients from the Copenhagen area, Denmark, receiving a TKA, between November 2012 and April 2013. Participants Seventeen patients, no more than 3 weeks after their TKA. Main outcome measures: In a randomized order, the patients performed 1 set of 4 standardized knee extensions, using relative loads of 8, 14, and 20 repetition maximum (RM), and ended with 1 single set to contraction failure (14 RM load). The individual loadings (kilograms) were determined during a familiarization session >72 hours prior. The patients rated their knee pain during each repetition, using a numerical rating scale (0–10). Results Two patients were lost to follow up. Knee pain increased with increasing load (20 RM: 3.1±2.0 points, 14 RM: 3.5±1.8 points, 8 RM: 4.3±2.5 points, P = 0.006), and repetitions to contraction failure (10% failure: 3.2±1.9 points, 100% failure: 5.4±1.6 points, Pknee pain 60 seconds after the final repetition (2.7±2.4 points) was not different from that recorded before strength training (2.7±1.8 points, P = 0.88). Conclusion Both loading and repetitions performed to contraction failure during knee- extension strength-training, increased post-operative knee pain during strength training implemented shortly following TKA. However, only the increase in pain during repetitions to contraction failure exceeded that defined as clinically relevant, and was very short-lived. Trial Registration Clinical

  16. Novel point estimation from a semiparametric ratio estimator (SPRE): long-term health outcomes from short-term linear data, with application to weight loss in obesity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weissman-Miller, Deborah

    2013-11-02

    Point estimation is particularly important in predicting weight loss in individuals or small groups. In this analysis, a new health response function is based on a model of human response over time to estimate long-term health outcomes from a change point in short-term linear regression. This important estimation capability is addressed for small groups and single-subject designs in pilot studies for clinical trials, medical and therapeutic clinical practice. These estimations are based on a change point given by parameters derived from short-term participant data in ordinary least squares (OLS) regression. The development of the change point in initial OLS data and the point estimations are given in a new semiparametric ratio estimator (SPRE) model. The new response function is taken as a ratio of two-parameter Weibull distributions times a prior outcome value that steps estimated outcomes forward in time, where the shape and scale parameters are estimated at the change point. The Weibull distributions used in this ratio are derived from a Kelvin model in mechanics taken here to represent human beings. A distinct feature of the SPRE model in this article is that initial treatment response for a small group or a single subject is reflected in long-term response to treatment. This model is applied to weight loss in obesity in a secondary analysis of data from a classic weight loss study, which has been selected due to the dramatic increase in obesity in the United States over the past 20 years. A very small relative error of estimated to test data is shown for obesity treatment with the weight loss medication phentermine or placebo for the test dataset. An application of SPRE in clinical medicine or occupational therapy is to estimate long-term weight loss for a single subject or a small group near the beginning of treatment.

  17. Measurement of cross sections producing short-lived nuclei by 14 MeV neutron. Br, Te, Dy, Ho, Yb

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sakane, H.; Matsumoto, T.; Yamamoto, H.; Kawade, K. [Nagoya Univ. (Japan); Iida, T.; Takahashi, A.

    1997-03-01

    Nine neutron activation cross sections producing the nuclei with half-lives between 2 min and 57 min have been measured at energy range between 13.4 and 14.9 MeV for Br, Te, Dy, Ho, Yb. The cross sections of {sup 81}Br(n,p){sup 81m}Se, {sup 128}Te(n,p){sup 128m}Sb, {sup 128}Te(n,{alpha}){sup 125m}Sn, {sup 164}Dy(n,p){sup 164}Tb, {sup 165}Ho(n,{alpha}){sup 162}Tb, {sup 176}Yb(n,p){sup 176}Tm were newly obtained at the six energy points between 13.4-14.9 MeV, although the previous results have been obtained at one energy point. {sup 79}Br(n,2n){sup 78}Br, {sup 164}Dy(n,p){sup 164}Tb are compared with evaluated data of JENDL-3.2. The evaluations for these reactions agree reasonably well with experimental results. The cross sections of (n,p) reaction are compared with systematics by Kasugai et. al. The systematics agrees with experimental results. (author)

  18. Quantitative cerebral blood flow patterns with the short lived isotope 195m Au

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lindner, P.; Nickel, O.

    1984-01-01

    A previously reported theory for quantitative cerebral blood flow measurements using intravenously injected nondiffusible radiotracers has been applied on patients after stroke and on volunteers undergoing a mental stimulation exercise. Quantitative measurements of cerebral blood flow patterns (in ml/min/100g) not only in p.a. but also in lateral views of the brain are possible by using of the short-lived (30 sec) isotope Au 195m. The energy spectrum of the eluate of the generator shows two strong photon peaks, one at 68 keV and a second at 262 keV. The 68 keV peak is suitable for perfusion studies in lateral views of the hemispheres, no 'look through' effect is seen. The 262 keV peak is good for studies in p.a. positions. The studies last less than 1 minute and can be repeated after 3 minutes. Parametric images for quantitative regional cerebral blood flow can be generated. The area of occluded vessels in the case of stroke can be made visible. Quantitative activation patterns of cerebral blood flow during mental stimulation can be generated. After optical stimulation a clear increase of blood flow was seen in the visual cortex. The results prove that not only with freely diffusible (like Xenon) but also with nondiffusible indicators like 195m Au it is possible to measure quantitatively cerebral blood flow patterns. Au 195m is very advantageous for quantitative clinical investigations of cerebrovascular disease. (Author)

  19. Health Literacy of Living Kidney Donors and Kidney Transplant Recipients

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dageforde, Leigh Anne; Petersen, Alec W.; Feurer, Irene D.; Cavanaugh, Kerri L.; Harms, Kelly A.; Ehrenfeld, Jesse M.; Moore, Derek E.

    2015-01-01

    Background Health literacy (HL) may be a mediator for known socioeconomic and racial disparities in living kidney donation. Methods We evaluated the associations of patient and demographic characteristics with HL in living kidney donors (LD), living donor kidney transplant recipients (LDR), and deceased donor recipients (DDR) in a single center retrospective review of patients undergoing kidney donation or transplantation from September 2010 to July 2012. HL and demographic data were collected. HL was assessed via the Short Literacy Survey (SLS) comprising three self-reported screening questions scored using the 5-point Likert scale [low (3-8), moderate (9-14), high (15)]. Chi-square and logistic regression were used to test factors associated with lower HL. Results The sample included 360 adults (105 LD, 103 LDR, 152 DDR; 46±14 years; 70% white; 56% male; 14±3 years of education). HL scores were skewed (49% high, 41% moderate, 10% low). The distribution of HL categories differed significantly among groups (p=0.019). After controlling for age, race, gender, education and a race-education interaction term, DDR were more likely to have moderate or low HL than LDR (OR 1.911; 95%CI 1.096, 3.332; p=0.022) Conclusions Overall, living donors had high HL. The distribution of low, moderate and high HL differed significantly between LD, DDR and LDR. DDR had a higher likelihood of having low HL than LDR. Screening kidney transplant candidates and donors for lower HL may identify barriers to living donation. Future interventions addressing HL may be important to increase living donation and reduce disparities. PMID:24573114

  20. Simulation study on the measurements of diffusion coefficients in solid materials by short-lived radiotracer beams

    CERN Document Server

    Jeong, S C; Kawakami, H

    2003-01-01

    We have examined, by a computer simulation, an on-line measurement of diffusion coefficients by using a short-lived alpha particle emitter, sup 8 Li (half life of 0.84s), as a radiotracer. The energy spectra of alpha particles emitted from diffusing sup 8 Li primarily implanted in the sample of LiAl ar simulated as a measure of the diffusion of sup 8 Li in the sample. As a possible time sequence for the measurement, a time cycle of 6s, i.e. the implantation of sup 8 Li for 1.5s and subsequent diffusion for 4.5s, is supposed. The sample is primarily set on a given temperature for the measurement. The time-dependent yields of alpha particles during the time cycle reveal the possibility to measure the diffusion coefficient with an accuracy of 10% if larger than 1 x 10 sup - sup 9 cm sup 2 /s, by the comparison with the experimental spectra measured at the temperature, i.e. at a certain diffusion coefficient. (author)

  1. The origin and disappearance of the late Pleistocene-early Holocene short-lived coastal wetlands along the Carmel coast, Israel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sivan, Dorit; Greenbaum, Noam; Cohen-Seffer, Ronit; Sisma-Ventura, Guy; Almogi-Labin, Ahuva

    The formation of short-lived backswamps along the Carmel coast of Israel coincides with the rapid global sea-level rise during the late Pleistocene-early Holocene transition. The current study shows that the wetland phenomena originated around 10,000 yr ago and dried up shortly before the local Pre-Pottery Neolithic humans settled on the wetland dark clay sediments 9430 cal yr BP. Palaeontological and stable-isotope data were used in this study to elucidate previously published sedimentological reconstruction obtained from a core drilled into the western trough of the Carmel coastal plain. The water body contained typical brackish calcareous fauna, with variable numerical abundance and low species richness of ostracods and foraminifera. The δ 18O and δ 13C of the ostracod Cyprideis torosa show close similarity to the present Pleistocene coastal aquifer isotopic values. This study therefore concludes that the wetlands were shallow-water bodies fed by groundwater, with no evidence of sea-water mixing. It seems that they developed as the result of high groundwater levels, transportation of sediments landward, and deposition of sand bars at the paleo-river mouths. It is still not fully understood why these wetlands deteriorated abruptly and disappeared within less than 1000 yr.

  2. 38 CFR 21.160 - Independent living services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... furnished: (1) As part of a program to achieve rehabilitation to the point of employability; (2) As part of...) Evaluation of independent living potential; (ii) Training in independent living skills; (iii) Attendant care...

  3. History and review of short-lived radionuclide development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Myers, W.G.

    1985-01-01

    The use of twinkling atoms in biomedicine is discussed from the historical point of view. Their discovery, production, and applications are described. The development of modern nuclear medicine from its inception, e.g., the first simple applications, to the latest complex studies are described with special emphasis on the applications of the ideal radionuclide - iodine-123

  4. Operator expansion at short distance in QCD

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hubschmid, W [Bern Univ. (Switzerland). Inst. fuer Theoretische Physik; Mallik, S [Karlsruhe Univ. (T.H.) (Germany, F.R.). Inst. fuer Theoretische Kernphysik

    1982-11-01

    We present a method of calculating coefficients of gluon operators in the operator product expansion of two-point functions at short distance. It is based on a short-distance expansion of the singular part of the quark propagator in the gluon field, the latter being treated as external. We verify in full generality that the spin zero, gluon operator of dimension six does not contribute to the two-point functions of quark bilinears.

  5. Dormancy and germination in short-lived lepidium perfoliatu l. (brassicaceae) seeds

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tang, An-Jun; Tian, M.; Long, Chun-Lin

    2010-01-01

    To understand germination timing in an ecological context, the response to environmental events that effect seed dormancy is central and has to be combined with knowledge of germination responses to different ecological factors. In this study, seed dormancy, germination and seedling survival of annual short-lived clasping pepper weed Lepidium perfoliatum L. (Brassicaceae) were investigated. Three types of pre-treatments viz., various temperature dry storage, light and water stress were tested as possible dormancy and survival-affecting environmental events. Fresh mature seeds were greatly dormant. Warm (30 deg. C) dry storage more facilitated breaking dormancy, they germinated well under apt conditions (e.g. 20 deg. C and 10/20 deg. C plus periodic light, 14 h/d). For those seeds which underwent after-ripening, they could germinate at a range of constant temperatures (4, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 deg. C) and one alternating temperature (10/20 deg. C). Under alternating temperature regimes, the final percent germination of L. perfoliatum seeds increased from 37 deg. C to 93% when temperature altered from 4/10 deg. C to 10/20 deg. C in light, then decreased with increasing temperature. The germination pattern under constant temperature conditions was similar to that under alternating temperature and significant differences in final percent germinations and rates of germination were observed among different temperatures. Under different light treatments, final germination of showed significant differences, only with 35% of germination percentage in dark, much lower than those in red and white light (i.e. 93% and 91%, respectively). GA3 could promote the germination of non-dormant seeds in dark. When water potentials were reduced, final percent germination decreased dramatically, and few seeds germinated at -0.98 MPa (generated by PEG-8000). The changes of proline content in resultant seedlings were reverse to that of final percent germination with changing water

  6. Short pulse, high resolution, backlighters for point projection high-energy radiography at the National Ignition Facility

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tommasini, R.; Bailey, C.; Bradley, D. K.; Bowers, M.; Chen, H.; Di Nicola, J. M.; Di Nicola, P.; Gururangan, G.; Hall, G. N.; Hardy, C. M.; Hargrove, D.; Hermann, M.; Hohenberger, M.; Holder, J. P.; Hsing, W.; Izumi, N.; Kalantar, D.; Khan, S.; Kroll, J.; Landen, O. L.; Lawson, J.; Martinez, D.; Masters, N.; Nafziger, J. R.; Nagel, S. R.; Nikroo, A.; Okui, J.; Palmer, D.; Sigurdsson, R.; Vonhof, S.; Wallace, R. J.; Zobrist, T.

    2017-05-01

    High-resolution, high-energy X-ray backlighters are very active area of research for radiography experiments at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) [Miller et al., Nucl. Fusion 44, S228 (2004)], in particular those aiming at obtaining Compton-scattering produced radiographs from the cold, dense fuel surrounding the hot spot. We report on experiments to generate and characterize point-projection-geometry backlighters using short pulses from the advanced radiographic capability (ARC) [Crane et al., J. Phys. 244, 032003 (2010); Di Nicola et al., Proc. SPIE 2015, 93450I-12], at the NIF, focused on Au micro-wires. We show the first hard X-ray radiographs, at photon energies exceeding 60 keV, of static objects obtained with 30 ps-long ARC laser pulses, and the measurements of strength of the X-ray emission, the pulse duration and the source size of the Au micro-wire backlighters. For the latter, a novel technique has been developed and successfully applied.

  7. Gold-195m short-lived single-photon emitter for cardiovascular studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mena, I.; de Jong, R.; Mena, F.J.; Narahara, K.A.

    1985-01-01

    Ultrashort-lived radionuclides offer many advantages for clinical nuclear medicine. These radionuclide are generator-produced at bedside, with markedly diminished radiation exposure to the patient; larger doses of radionuclides can therefore be administered, and rapid, sequential, background-free studies can be performed. Gold-195m is an example of an ultrashort-lived radionuclide with a half-life of 30.4 sec. It is generated from /sup 195m/Hg (T/sub 1/2/, 40.6 hr). The quality of imaging and radiation exposure to patients is a function of the percentage breakthrough of /sup 195m/Hg owing to high-energy gamma radiation and longer half-life. Percentage breakthrough of /sup 195m/Hg was measured. The performance of the generator was assessed by determining the coefficient of variation of subsequent measurements

  8. Determination of copper in biological materials by neutron activation analysis using short-lived 66Cu

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dybczynski, R.; Danko, B.; Kaczorowski, J.

    1989-01-01

    A method for determination of copper traces in biological materials based on neutron activation employing 65 Cu(n, γ) 66 Cu reaction and preconcentration by extraction chromatography has been devised. The 200-500 mg samples after wet digestion and evaporation were dissolved in glycine solution and after pH adjusting to ca. 4.4 were passed through the column with Lix 64N on Bio Beads SM-1 for isolation of copper traces from the matrix elements. Other cations were selectively eluted with 0.1 mol x 1 -1 (glycine-HNO 3 ) buffer, 1 mol x 1 -1 in NH 4 NO 3 (pH = 3.6). The resin bed with quantitatively retained copper was sealed in the PE bag and irradiated together with Cu standards in EWA reactor using pneumatic tube facility. The activity of the short-lived 66 Cu was measured in samples and standard by gamma-ray spectrometry with Ge(Li) detector. Good accuracy of the method was confirmed by analysis of the following certified reference materials: NBS 1571 Orchad leaves, IAEA H-4 Animal muscle, IAEA V-8 Rye flour, IAEA A-11 milk powder. The detection limit amounted to 0.34 mg/kg, for the sample weight of 500 mg. (author)

  9. Prompt gamma activation analysis (PGAA) and short-lived neutron activation analysis (NAA) applied to the characterization of legacy materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    English, G.A.; Firestone, R.B.; Perry, D.L.; Reijonen, J.P.; Ka-Ngo Leung; Garabedian, G.F.; Molnar, G.L.; Revay, Zs.

    2008-01-01

    Without quality historical records that provide the composition of legacy materials, the elemental and/or chemical characterization of such materials requires a manual analytical strategy that may expose the analyst to unknown toxicological hazards. In addition, much of the existing legacy inventory also incorporates radioactivity, and, although radiological composition may be determined by various nuclear-analytical methods, most importantly, gamma-spectroscopy, current methods of chemical characterization still require direct sample manipulation, thereby presenting special problems with broad implications for both the analyst and the environment. Alternately, prompt gamma activation analysis (PGAA) provides a 'single-shot' in-situ, non-destructive method that provides a complete assay of all major entrained elemental constituents. Additionally, neutron activation analysis (NAA) using short-lived activation products complements PGAA and is especially useful when NAA activation surpasses the PGAA in elemental sensitivity. (author)

  10. Study of short-lived fission products with the aid of an isotope separator connected to reactor R2-0

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rudstam, G.

    1976-01-01

    This report constitutes a final report on project 74-3289 together with a preliminary report for project 75-3332. These projects have been included in the budget years 1974/75 and 1975/76 as a contribution to the operating costs of reactor R2-0 at Studsvik. The reactor was used for experimental studies on short-lived fission products with OSIRIS isotope-separator equipment. The scientific programme is very broad. It comprises, in the first place, characterisation of fission products (a study of their excitation levels, measurement of decay properties such as half-life and emission of delayed neutrons, determination of neutron energy spectrum, determination of total decay energy, etc.). An important application of this field of research is the determination of decay heat in nuclear fuel. The programme thus comprises research of a fundamental character and applied research. (H.E.G.)

  11. Prompt gamma activation analysis (PGAA) and short-lived neutron activation analysis (NAA) applied to the characterization of legacy materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Firestone, Richard B; English, G.A.; Firestone, R.B.; Perry, D.L.; Reijonen, J.P.; Leung, Ka-Ngo; Garabedian, G.F.; Molnar, G.L.; Revay, Zs.

    2008-01-01

    Without quality historical records that provide the composition of legacy materials, the elemental and/or chemical characterization of such materials requires a manual analytical strategy that may expose the analyst to unknown toxicological hazards. In addition, much of the existing legacy inventory also incorporates radioactivity, and, although radiological composition may be determined by various nuclear-analytical methods, most importantly, gamma-spectroscopy, current methods of chemical characterization still require direct sample manipulation, thereby presenting special problems with broad implications for both the analyst and the environment. Alternately, prompt gamma activation analysis (PGAA) provides a 'single-shot' in-situ, non-destructive method that provides a complete assay of all major entrained elemental constituents.1-3. Additionally, neutron activation analysis (NAA) using short-lived activation products complements PGAA and is especially useful when NAA activation surpasses the PGAA in elemental sensitivity

  12. [Validation of a cutoff point for the short version of the Depression Scale of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies in older Mexican adults].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salinas-Rodríguez, Aarón; Manrique-Espinoza, Betty; Acosta-Castillo, Gilberto Isaac; Franco-Núñez, Aurora; Rosas-Carrasco, Oscar; Gutiérrez-Robledo, Luis Miguel; Sosa-Ortiz, Ana Luisa

    2014-01-01

    To identify a valid cutoff point associated with Center for Epidemiologic Studies, Depression Scale (CES-D) of seven items, which allows the classification of older adults according to presence/absence of clinically significant depressive symptoms. Screening study with 229 older adults residing in two states of Mexico (Morelos and Tlaxcala), which were part of the sample from the National Survey of Health and Nutrition, 2012. We estimated the sensitivity and specificity associated with the selected cutoff points using the diagnostic criteria of ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision) and DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition). The cutoff point estimated was CES-D=5. According to the ICD-10 sensitivity and specificity were 83.3 and 90.2%, and ROC was 87%. Using DSM-IV, the values were 85, 83.2, and 84%, respectively. The short version of the CES-D can be used as a screening test to identify probable cases of older adults with clinically significant depressive symptoms.

  13. Proceedings of the specialists' meeting on 'nuclear spectroscopy and condensed matter physics using short-lived nuclei'

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kobayashi, Yoshio; Shibata, Michihiro; Ohkubo, Yoshitaka

    2016-02-01

    The research reactor at Research Reactor Institute, Kyoto University is a very useful neutron generator, providing us neutron-rich unstable nuclei by bombarding nuclei with those neutrons. The produced unstable nuclei exhibit aspects distinct from those of stable ones. Nuclear structure studies on a variety of excited states reflecting dynamic nuclear properties are one of fascinating research subjects of physics. On the other hand, some radioactive nuclei can be used as useful probes for understanding interesting properties of condensed matters through studies of hyperfine interactions of static nuclear electromagnetic moments with extranuclear fields. Concerning these two research fields and related areas, the 2nd symposium under the title of 'Nuclear Spectroscopy and Condensed Matter Physics Using Short-lived Nuclei' was held at the Institute for two days on November 4 and 5 in 2015. We are pleased that many hot discussions were made. The talks were given on the followings: 1) Nuclear spectroscopic experiments, 2) TDPAC (time-differential perturbed angular correlation), 3) β-NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance), 4) Moessbauer spectroscopy, 5) muon, etc. This issue is the collection of 17 papers presented at the entitled meeting. The 6 of the presented papers are indexed individually. (J.P.N.)

  14. Application of short-time activation analysis in the sciences

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grass, F.

    1991-01-01

    Short-time activation analysis has proved to be a valuable tool in nearly all fields of science. To take full advantage of this technique, it is favorable to use a fast transfer system and a high resolution high rate gamma-spectroscopy system for short lived gamma-emitters and a Cherenkov detector for the determination of hard beta-emitters. It is then possible to utilize sub-minute nuclides Li-8 (740 ms), B-12 (20 ms), F-20 (11.1 s), Y-89m (16 s), and Pb-207m (800 ms) for the determination of these elements. Besides these sub-minute nuclides which constitute the only possibility for neutron activation analysis of these elements there are a number of other elements which form longer lived nuclides on short irradiation. The analysis of the halogenides F, Cl, Br, I in waste water of a sewage incineration plant can be achieved with a single 20 s irradiation and two consecutive measurement of 20 and 600 s using Cl-38m, F-20, Br-79m as well as the longer lived Cl-38, Br-80, I-128

  15. The investigation of properties of short-lived SF isotopes (Z > 100 at the focal plane of VASSILISSA separator

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Svirikhin Alexandr

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available For experiments aimed at the study of spontaneous fission of transfermium nuclei improvements in the focal plane detector system of recoil separator VASSILISSA have been made. A neutron detector consisting of 54 3He-filled counters has been mounted around the focal-plane detector chamber. The reaction 48Ca + 206Pb = 2n + 252No is used for tuning the separator settings and calibrating the detector system with the spontaneous fission of the 252No. The average neutron number per 252No spontaneous fission event is as large as ν̅ = 4.06 ± 0.12. The short-lived heavy isotopes 244,246Fm, produced in the complete fusion reactions 40Ar + 206,208Pb, are investigated. The average number of neutrons per spontaneous fission of 244,246Fm from the experimental data were (ν̅ = 3.3 ± 0.3 and (ν̅ = 3.55 ± 0.50, respectively. Both values are determined for the first time.

  16. Daily and seasonal variation of short-lived radon decay product concentrations in ground-level air at Munich-Neuherberg - a long-term study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Winkler, R.

    2001-09-01

    Daily and seasonal variation of the equilibrium equivalent radon concentration (EEC Rn-222 ) and of the concentration of the short-lived radon decay product 214 Pb in ground-level air was investigated at Munich-Neuherberg from 1982 to 2000, and from 1989 to 2000, respectively. For this, the EEC was measured continuously with an alpha/beta aerosol monitor at 2.5 m above ground, and 214 Pb was determined by online gamma spectrometry at about 12 m above ground. The resulting time series were analysed statistically. For the respective periods, the measurements yielded a long-term average concentration of 7.8 Bq m -3 (geometric mean: 6.1 Bq m -3 ) for the EEC, and 6.0 Bq m -3 (geom. mean: 5.0 Bq m -3 ) for 214 Pb. In these periods, daily averages ranged from 0.6 to 49 Bq m -3 (EEC), and from 0.6 to 43 Bq m -3 ( 214 Pb). Monthly mean concentrations varied between 3.0 Bq m -3 in March 1988 and 20 Bq m -3 in October 1985 (EEC), and from 3.4 Bq m -3 in April 1992 to 11 Bq m -3 in October 1995 ( 214 Pb), respectively. The annual average concentrations were from 5.9 Bq m -3 in 1999 to 10.6 Bq m -3 in 1985 (EEC), and from 5.3 Bq m -3 in 1999 to 6.8 Bq m -3 in 1991 ( 214 Pb). From the long-term average equilibrium equivalent radon concentration (EEC), an average annual effective dose of 0.13 mSv due to the short-lived radon progeny outdoors was estimated. The time series showed distinct daily and seasonal variations. The variations from day to day are mainly caused by the actual weather conditions (wind, rain, etc.), i.e. the short-term turbulent conditions. The seasonal pattern is characterised by an autumn to winter maximum and an early summer minimum, and reflects the prevailing turbulent conditions at the respective seasons. As known, at Munich-Neuherberg during autumn and winter months (October/November to February) inversion weather conditions frequently occur, while the other months are characterised by more turbulent conditions. (orig.)

  17. Short Communication: Gender Bias and Stigmatization against ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Short Communication: Gender Bias and Stigmatization against Women Living with ... In Ethiopia, HIV/AIDS is highly stigmatized due to the fact that sexual ... bias, socio-economic situations and traditional beliefs contribute, individually and in ...

  18. Modes of correlated angular motion in live cells across three distinct time scales

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harrison, Andrew W; Kenwright, David A; Woodman, Philip G; Allan, Victoria J; Waigh, Thomas A

    2013-01-01

    Particle tracking experiments with high speed digital microscopy yield the positions and trajectories of lipid droplets inside living cells. Angular correlation analysis shows that the lipid droplets have uncorrelated motion at short time scales (τ 10 ms, becomes persistent, indicating directed movement. The motion at all time scales is associated with the lipid droplets being tethered to and driven along the microtubule network. The point at which the angular correlation changes from anti-persistent to persistent motion corresponds to the cross over between sub-diffusive and super diffusive motion, as observed by mean square displacement analysis. Correct analysis of the angular correlations of the detector noise is found to be crucial in modelling the observed phenomena. (paper)

  19. Hand Hygiene Saves Lives: Patient Admission Video (Short Version)

    Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Podcasts

    This podcast is for hospital patients and visitors. It emphasizes two key points to help prevent infections: the importance of practicing hand hygiene while in the hospital, and that it's appropriate to ask or remind healthcare providers to practice hand hygiene.

  20. Thermoresponsive Poly(2-Oxazoline) Molecular Brushes by Living Ionic Polymerization: Modulation of the Cloud Point by Random and Block Copolymer Pendant Chains

    KAUST Repository

    Zhang, Ning

    2012-08-10

    Molecular brushes (MBs) of poly(2-oxazoline)s were prepared by living anionic polymerization of 2-isopropenyl-2-oxazoline to form the backbone and living cationic ring-opening polymerization of 2-n-propyl-2-oxazoline and 2-methyl-2-oxazoline to form random and block copolymers. Their aqueous solutions displayed a distinct thermoresponsive behavior as a function of the side-chain composition and sequence. The cloud point (CP) of MBs with random copolymer side chains is a linear function of the hydrophilic monomer content and can be modulated in a wide range. For MBs with block copolymer side chains, it was found that the block sequence had a strong and surprising effect on the CP. While MBs with a distal hydrophobic block had a CP at 70 °C, MBs with hydrophilic outer blocks already precipitated at 32 °C. Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  1. Low interannual precipitation has a greater negative effect than seedling herbivory on the population dynamics of a short-lived shrub, Schiedea obovata.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bialic-Murphy, Lalasia; Gaoue, Orou G

    2018-01-01

    Climate projections forecast more extreme interannual climate variability over time, with an increase in the severity and duration of extreme drought and rainfall events. Based on bioclimatic envelope models, it is projected that changing precipitation patterns will drastically alter the spatial distributions and density of plants and be a primary driver of biodiversity loss. However, many other underlying mechanisms can impact plant vital rates (i.e., survival, growth, and reproduction) and population dynamics. In this study, we developed a size-dependent integral projection model (IPM) to evaluate how interannual precipitation and mollusk herbivory influence the dynamics of a Hawaii endemic short-lived shrub, Schiedea obovata (Caryophyllaceae). Assessing how wet season precipitation effects population dynamics it critical, as it is the timeframe when most of the foliar growth occurs, plants flower and fruit, and seedlings establish. Temporal variation in wet season precipitation had a greater effect than mollusk herbivory on S . obovata population growth rate λ, and the impact of interannual precipitation on vital rates shifted across plant ontogeny. Furthermore, wet season precipitation influenced multiple vital rates in contrasting ways and the effect of precipitation on the survival of larger vegetative and reproductively mature individuals contributed the most to variation in the population growth rate. Among all combination of wet season precipitation and herbivory intensities, the only scenario that led to a growing population was when high wet precipitation was associated with low herbivory. Our study highlights the importance of evaluating how abiotic factors and plant-consumer interactions influence an organism across its life cycle to fully understand the underpinning mechanisms that structure its spatial and temporal distribution and abundance. Our results also illustrate that for short-lived species, like S. obovata , seedling herbivory can have

  2. GROWTH HORMONE TREATMENT OF CHILDREN WITH SHORT STATURE LIVED IN SAMARA REGION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E.G. Mikhailova

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Growth inhibition in children is heterogeneous state, and it may accompany many endocrine, somatic, genetic and chromosome diseases. Generally recognized medications for treatment of somatotropic insufficiency in present times are biosynthetic analogs of human growth hormone (hGH, obtained with DNA-recombinant technology. This article presents the results of estimation of effectiveness of hGH in treatment of children with short stature (n=77 with isolated deficiency of growth hormone, panhypopituitarism, Turner's syndrome, treated with hGH during 3 years. All patients had significant positive dynamics of clinical status, the velocity of grouth increased from 1.9 cm (initial per year to 11.0 cm (the end of first year, with following decrease to 5.3 cm per year. SDS index of growth had stable tendency to increase: medium SDS index of growth initially was -3.9 SD, on the end of third year – -2.0 SD. It was shown, that treatment with hGH is effective in any types of short stature.Key words: children, short stature, treatment, human growth hormone.(Voprosy sovremennoi pediatrii — Current Pediatrics. 2009;8(1:108-113

  3. The Living Challenges of Ambient Assisted Living - A Literature Review

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bygholm, Ann; Kanstrup, Anne Marie

    2015-01-01

    Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) is a rapidly evolving research and development area propelled by scarcity of health resources caused by an aging workforce and increase of Citizens in need of health care and health assistance on a regular basis. This paper presents a literature review of the current...... state-of-the-art of AAL. The objective is to point towards methodological actions to be taken into account in AAL research on this basis. Searches were conducted in five research databases. The search identified 86 papers. 10 of these papers were review papers chosen for analysis. The analysis presents...... an overview of the current status of AAL within the following categories: technology, users, application domains, rationales, successes and challenges of AAL. The paper concludes that the living part, i.e. the everyday practice of people living with Assistive Technology, is the primary challenge to the field...

  4. Detailed description of a new management system for solid, short-lived low and intermediate level radioactive waste at Ignalina NPP

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2002-01-01

    The objective is to modify and extend the existing system at the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (INPP) for handling of Very Low Level Waste (VLLW), short lived Low and Intermediate Level Waste (LLW-SL and ILW-SL). The ultimate aim is to reduce the risks and the influence on the personnel and the environment. According to the request from INPP, the modified system is based on the existence of an incineration plant. This system description describes treatment of non-combustible VLLW, LLW-SL and ILW-SL at a new waste handling facility (WHF) located in the future buildings 159/2 and 159/3 at the INPP. The new WHF is also handling Exempt Waste (EW), Reusable Material (RM) and Free Release Goods (FRG). The buildings 159/2 and 159/3 are future extensions of the existing building 159. (author)

  5. Leadership emergence over time in short-lived groups: Integrating expectations states theory with temporal person-perception and self-serving bias.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kalish, Yuval; Luria, Gil

    2016-10-01

    Research into leadership emergence typically focuses on the attributes of the emergent leader. By considering also the attributes of perceivers and the passage of time, we develop a more complete theory of leadership emergence in short-lived groups. Using expectation states theory as an overarching theoretical framework, and integrating it with the surface- and deep-level diversity literature and with theories of self-serving biases, we examine the predictors of leadership emergence in short timeframes. We conduct a field study in a military assessment boot camp (a pilot study, n = 60; and a main study, n = 89). We use cross-sectional and longitudinal exponential random graph models to analyze data on participants' abilities and on their perceptions of who, in their respective groups, were "leaders." We find that the criteria by which people perceive leadership in others change over time, from easily noticeable attributes to covert leadership-relevant attributes, and that people also rely on leadership-relevant attributes that they possess at high levels to inform their perceptions of leadership in others. The integration of expectation states theory, attribute salience over time and theories of self-serving bias is needed for a full understanding of leadership emergence in groups, because perceivers' own abilities are instrumental in shaping their perceptions of emergent leadership over time. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  6. Climate impacts of short-lived climate forcers versus CO2 from biodiesel: a case of the EU on-road sector.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lund, Marianne T; Berntsen, Terje K; Fuglestvedt, Jan S

    2014-12-16

    Biofuels are proposed to play an important role in several mitigation strategies to meet future CO2 emission targets for the transport sector but remain controversial due to significant uncertainties in net impacts on environment, society, and climate. A switch to biofuels can also affect short-lived climate forcers (SLCFs), which provide significant contributions to the net climate impact of transportation. We quantify the radiative forcing (RF) and global-mean temperature response over time to EU on-road fossil diesel SLCFs and the impact of 20% (B20) and 100% (B100) replacement of fossil diesel by biodiesel. SLCFs are compared to impacts of on-road CO2 using different approaches from existing literature to account for biodiesel CO2. Given the best estimates for changes in emissions when replacing fossil diesel with biodiesel, the net positive RF from EU on-road fossil diesel SLCFs of 3.4 mW/m(2) is reduced by 15% and 80% in B20 and B100, respectively. Over time the warming of SLCFs is likely small compared to biodiesel CO2 impacts. However, SLCFs may be relatively more important for the total warming than in the fossil fuel case if biodiesel from feedstock with very short rotation periods and low land-use-change impacts replaces a high fraction of fossil diesel.

  7. Validation of a cutoff point for the short version of the Depression Scale of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies in older Mexican adults

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aarón Salinas-Rodríguez

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Objective. To identify a valid cutoff point associated with Center for Epidemiologic Studies, Depression Scale (CES-D of seven items, which allows the classification of older adults according to presence/absence of clinically significant depressive symptoms. Materials and methods. Screening study with 229 older adults residing in two states of Mexico (Morelos and Tlaxcala, which were part of the sample from the National Survey of Health and Nutrition, 2012. We estimated the sensitivity and specificity associated with the selected cutoff points using the diagnostic criteria of ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision and DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition. Results. The cutoff point estimated was CES-D=5. According to the ICD-10 sensitivity and specificity were 83.3 and 90.2%, and ROC was 87%. Using DSM-IV, the values were 85, 83.2, and 84%, respectively. Conclusions. The short version of the CES-D can be used as a screening test to identify probable cases of older adults with clinically significant depressive symptoms.

  8. Neutron-captures in Low Mass Stars and the Early Solar System Record of Short-lived Radioactivities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Busso, Maurizio; Vescovi, Diego; Trippella, Oscar; Palmerini, Sara; Cristallo, Sergio; Piersanti, Luciano

    2018-01-01

    Noticeable improvements were recently introduced in the modelling of n-capture nucleosynthesis in the advanced evolutionary stages of giant stars (Asymptotic Giant Branch, or AGB, stars). Two such improvements are closely linked together and concern the introduction of non-parameterized, physical models for extended mixing processes and the adoption of accurate reaction rates for H- and He-burning reactions, including the one for the main neutron source 13C(α,n)16O. These improvements profited of a longstanding collaboration between stellar physicists and C. Spitaleri's team and of his seminal work both as a leader in the Nuclear Astrophysics scenario and as a talent-scout in the recruitment of young researchers in the field. We present an example of the innovative results that can be obtained thanks to the novelties introduced, by estimating the contributions from a nearby AGB star to the synthesis of short-lived (t1/2 ≤ 10 Myr) radioactive nuclei which were alive in early Solar System condensates. We find that the scenario indicating an AGB star as the source of such radioactivities, discussed for many years by researchers in this field, appears now to be no longer viable, when the mentioned improvements of AGB models and nuclear parameters are considered.

  9. Regional scale temperature and circulation impacts of short-lived climate pollutants reductions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oudar, T.; Kushner, P. J.; Fyfe, J. C.; von Salzen, K.; Shrestha, R.

    2017-12-01

    The role of anthropogenic aerosols on climate is still not clearly understood. Aerosol forcing is spatially heterogeneous and their emissions are controlled by regional economic and regulatory factors. For example, it is known that black carbon is responsible for a global net warming but its regional impacts are less understood. We evaluate the regional climate impacts of anthropogenic aerosol emission changes over the recent past and near future. Specifically, we report on numerical experiments using aerosol emissions from the Evaluating the Climate and Air Quality Impacts of Short-Lived Pollutants (ECLIPSE, Stohl et al., 2015) project. These scenarios are alternative mitigation pathways for black carbon and organic aerosol over the period from 1990 to 2050. With these scenarios, we carried out three sets of simulation using the second generation Canadian Earth System Model (CanESM2): 1) A current legislation emission (CLE) scenario for black carbon and organic aerosols; 2) A mitigation (MIT) scenario for black carbon and organic aerosols, and; 3) A black carbon only mitigation scenario (MIT-BC). Five simulations were carried out for each scenario and the response analyzed in the context of a large fifty-member initial condition ensemble of simulations using historical anthropogenic aerosol forcings to 2005 as well as those forcing from the RCP8.5 scenario to 2020. Our main finding is a significant springtime cooling over the Northern midlatitudes that attributable to black carbon. Other cooling signals attributable to black carbon reductions are found in the boreal summer over Southern Europe as well as over the Northern Hemisphere midlatitudes and tropical troposphere in boreal summer and fall. All of these cooling signals are to some degree offset by simultaneous reductions in organic aerosols. As a check on the robustness, we will also report on results of five-member draws from the large ensemble over periods of comparably strong radiative forcing changes, to

  10. Effects of daily living occupational therapy and resistance exercise on the activities of daily living and muscular fitness in Guillain-Barré syndrome: a case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ko, Kwang-Jun; Ha, Gi-Chul; Kang, Seol-Jung

    2017-05-01

    [Purpose] The study aimed to investigate the effects of daily living occupational therapy and resistance exercise on the performance of activities of daily living and muscular fitness in a patient with Guillain-Barré syndrome. [Subject and Methods] A 35-year-old man was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome. He was hospitalized at A Hospital for 3 years, and was discharged from the hospital after he became able to execute daily life activities. After discharge, he performed daily occupational therapy and resistance exercise twice a week for 70 minutes per session for 12 weeks. Performance in the activities of daily living was assessed using the modified Barthel index, and muscular fitness was measured in terms of isokinetic muscular function using the Biodes system. [Results] The subject's Barthel index score improved from 54 points before the intervention to 62 points after 4 weeks, 69 points after 8 weeks, and 79 points after 12 weeks. In addition, his shoulder flexion and extension, knee flexion and extension, and lumbar flexion and extension were improved. [Conclusion] The present study suggests that daily living occupational therapy and resistance exercise are effective in improving the activities of daily living and muscular fitness in a patient recovering from Guillain-Barré syndrome.

  11. Investigation of short-lived neutron-rich palladium and silver isotopes after fast chemical separation from fission fragments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bruechle, W.

    1976-01-01

    In this paper, chemical separation processes are described permitting fast and neat isolation of short-lived palladium and silver nuclides from fusion product mixtures. The process for palladium is based on the stability of palladium diethyldithiophosphate. From fission products of the reactions 238 U(n,f) and 249 Cf(nth,f), the following palladium niclides could be studied for the first time by gamma spectroscopy: 1.66 min 113 Pd, 2.45 min 114 Pd, 29 sec sup(115a)Pd, 54 sec sup(115b)Pd, 12.5 sec 116 Pd. 113 Pd could also be indentified according to the reaction 116 Cd(n,α) 113 Pd. The separation of silver is based on the fast isotopic exchange on AgCl. With this process, the following nuclides have been separated from fission product mixtures and studied by gamma spectroscopy: 70 sec sup(113m)Ag, 5.0 sec 114 Ag, 19.2 sec sup(115m)Ag, 2.65 min sup(116g)Ag, 10.5 sec sup(116m)Ag, 1.3 min sup(117g)Ag, 6.0 sec sup(117m)Ag, 4.0 sec 118 Ag. (orig./WL) [de

  12. Quantitative analysis of dynamic association in live biological fluorescent samples.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pekka Ruusuvuori

    Full Text Available Determining vesicle localization and association in live microscopy may be challenging due to non-simultaneous imaging of rapidly moving objects with two excitation channels. Besides errors due to movement of objects, imaging may also introduce shifting between the image channels, and traditional colocalization methods cannot handle such situations. Our approach to quantifying the association between tagged proteins is to use an object-based method where the exact match of object locations is not assumed. Point-pattern matching provides a measure of correspondence between two point-sets under various changes between the sets. Thus, it can be used for robust quantitative analysis of vesicle association between image channels. Results for a large set of synthetic images shows that the novel association method based on point-pattern matching demonstrates robust capability to detect association of closely located vesicles in live cell-microscopy where traditional colocalization methods fail to produce results. In addition, the method outperforms compared Iterated Closest Points registration method. Results for fixed and live experimental data shows the association method to perform comparably to traditional methods in colocalization studies for fixed cells and to perform favorably in association studies for live cells.

  13. Generating minimal living systems from non-living materials and increasing their evolutionary abilities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Steen; Constantinescu, Adi; Svaneborg, Carsten

    2016-01-01

    We review lessons learned about evolutionary transitions from a bottom up construction of minimal life. We use a particular systemic protocell design process as a starting point for exploring two fundamental questions: (1) how may minimal living systems emerge from nonliving materials? - and (2......) how may minimal living systems support increasingly more evolutionary richness? Under (1) we present what has been accomplished so far and discuss the remaining open challenges and their possible solutions. Under (2) we present a design principle we have utilized successfully both for our...

  14. Maintaining formal models of living guidelines efficiently

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Seyfang, Andreas; Martínez-Salvador, Begoña; Serban, Radu; Wittenberg, Jolanda; Miksch, Silvia; Marcos, Mar; Ten Teije, Annette; Rosenbrand, Kitty C J G M

    2007-01-01

    Translating clinical guidelines into formal models is beneficial in many ways, but expensive. The progress in medical knowledge requires clinical guidelines to be updated at relatively short intervals, leading to the term living guideline. This causes potentially expensive, frequent updates of the

  15. Ability of Accelerator-Driven Systems (ADS) to Transmute Long Lived Fission Fragments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nguyen Mong Giao; Nguyen Thi Ai Thu; Tu Thanh Danh; Tran Thanh Dung; Huynh, Thi Kim Chi

    2010-12-01

    This paper presents the research results of the possibility to transmute the long-lived radioactive isotopes into stable or short-lived, mainly the long-lived fission fragments as 99 Tc, 127 I, 129 I, 181 Ta, 107 Ag, 109 Ag by accelerator-driven systems. We use semi-empirical formulas to establish our calculating code with the support of computer programs. (author)

  16. Lead in the blood of children living close to industrial point sources in Bulgaria and Poland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Willeke-Wetstein, C.; Bainova, A.; Georgieva, R.; Huzior-Balajewicz, A.; Bacon, J. R.

    2003-05-01

    ln Eastern European countries some industrial point sources are still suspected to have unacceptable emission rates of lead that pose a major health risk in particular to children. An interdisciplinary research project under the auspices of the EU had the aims (I) to monitor the current contamination of two industrial zones in Bulgaria and Poland, (2) to relate the Pb levels in ecological strata to the internal exposure of children, (3) to develop public health strategies in order to reduce the health risk by heavy metals. The human monitoring of Pb in Poland did not show increased health risks for the children living in an industrial zone close to Krakow. Bulgarian children, however, exceeded the WHO limit of 100 μg lead per litre blood by over one hundred percent (240 μg/1). Samples of soil, fodder and livestock organs showed elevated concentrations of lead. Recent literature results are compared with the findings in Bulgaria and Poland. The sources of the high internal exposure of children are discussed. Public health strategies to prevent mental dysfunction in Bulgarian children at risk include awareness building and social masures.

  17. Impact of short-lived non-CO2 mitigation on carbon budgets for stabilizing global warming

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rogelj, Joeri; Riahi, Keywan; Meinshausen, Malte; Schaeffer, Michiel; Knutti, Reto

    2015-01-01

    Limiting global warming to any level requires limiting the total amount of CO 2 emissions, or staying within a CO 2 budget. Here we assess how emissions from short-lived non-CO 2 species like methane, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), black-carbon, and sulphates influence these CO 2 budgets. Our default case, which assumes mitigation in all sectors and of all gases, results in a CO 2 budget between 2011–2100 of 340 PgC for a >66% chance of staying below 2°C, consistent with the assessment of the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Extreme variations of air-pollutant emissions from black-carbon and sulphates influence this budget by about ±5%. In the hypothetical case of no methane or HFCs mitigation—which is unlikely when CO 2 is stringently reduced—the budgets would be much smaller (40% or up to 60%, respectively). However, assuming very stringent CH 4 mitigation as a sensitivity case, CO 2 budgets could be 25% higher. A limit on cumulative CO 2 emissions remains critical for temperature targets. Even a 25% higher CO 2 budget still means peaking global emissions in the next two decades, and achieving net zero CO 2 emissions during the third quarter of the 21st century. The leverage we have to affect the CO 2 budget by targeting non-CO 2 diminishes strongly along with CO 2 mitigation, because these are partly linked through economic and technological factors. (letter)

  18. Long-lived effects of administering β-glucans

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Petit, Jules; Wiegertjes, Geert F.

    2016-01-01

    Over the past decades, it has become evident that immune-modulation of fish with β-glucans, using injection, dietary or even immersion routes of administration, has stimulating but presumed short-lived effects on both intestinal and systemic immunity and can increase protection against a

  19. Development and application of the generator for the short-living nuclides production

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tsejner, A.

    1979-01-01

    The results are stated of investigations by means of radioisotopes on the substance transfer in technological equipment. For these purposes, in most cases, nuclides with high gamma-activity are used and, if possible, having short half-life because the short half-life gives certain advantages in the cases when it is impossible to store radioactive substances in the technological equipment for a long time. It is noted that in connection with short half-life of the nucludes used for labelling and for the economic and radiation safety reasons, activity of these nuclides can not be high. It has been established that the most suitable nuclide for the labelling purpose is lanthanum-140 produced either in a nuclear reactor, or by means of separation from barium=-140 transforming into lanthanum-140 in an isotopic generator. Some methods of lanthanum separation from barium are described, in particular, in the isotopic generator described, barium is adsorbed on the cation-exchanger KPS-200 having high enough stability with respect to the ionozing radiations. As an eluent the 10 -2 M solution of the complexone (Na 2 - EDTA) was used. The complexone solution can be easely obtained and, because of the hydrolysis, it serves as a buffer solution. The data are given for radiation purity and yield of lanthanum-=140 [ru

  20. Hand Hygiene Saves Lives: Patient Admission Video (Short Version)

    Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Podcasts

    2008-05-01

    This podcast is for hospital patients and visitors. It emphasizes two key points to help prevent infections: the importance of practicing hand hygiene while in the hospital, and that it's appropriate to ask or remind healthcare providers to practice hand hygiene.  Created: 5/1/2008 by National Center for Preparedness, Detection, and Control of Infectious Diseases (NCPDCID).   Date Released: 4/26/2010.

  1. Regional emission metrics for short-lived climate forcers from multiple models

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    B. Aamaas

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available For short-lived climate forcers (SLCFs, the impact of emissions depends on where and when the emissions take place. Comprehensive new calculations of various emission metrics for SLCFs are presented based on radiative forcing (RF values calculated in four different (chemical-transport or coupled chemistry–climate models. We distinguish between emissions during summer (May–October and winter (November–April for emissions in Europe and East Asia, as well as from the global shipping sector and global emissions. The species included in this study are aerosols and aerosol precursors (BC, OC, SO2, NH3, as well as ozone precursors (NOx, CO, VOCs, which also influence aerosols to a lesser degree. Emission metrics for global climate responses of these emissions, as well as for CH4, have been calculated using global warming potential (GWP and global temperature change potential (GTP, based on dedicated RF simulations by four global models. The emission metrics include indirect cloud effects of aerosols and the semi-direct forcing for BC. In addition to the standard emission metrics for pulse and sustained emissions, we have also calculated a new emission metric designed for an emission profile consisting of a ramping period of 15 years followed by sustained emissions, which is more appropriate for a gradual implementation of mitigation policies.For the aerosols, the emission metric values are larger in magnitude for emissions in Europe than East Asia and for summer than winter. A variation is also observed for the ozone precursors, with largest values for emissions in East Asia and winter for CO and in Europe and summer for VOCs. In general, the variations between the emission metrics derived from different models are larger than the variations between regions and seasons, but the regional and seasonal variations for the best estimate also hold for most of the models individually. Further, the estimated climate impact of an illustrative mitigation

  2. Optimization of the recoil-shadow projection method for the investigation of short-lived fission isomers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Helmecke, M.; Thirolf, P.G.; Habs, D.; Gartzke, E.; Kolhinen, V.; Lang, C.; Szerypo, J.; Trepl, L. [Fakultaet f. Physik, LMU Muenchen (Germany); Maier-Leibnitz Laboratory, Garching (Germany)

    2009-07-01

    Spectroscopic studies of super- and hyperdeformed actinide nuclei offer the possibility to gain insight into the multiple-humped fission barrier landscape. With the identification of deep third minima in {sup 234}U and {sup 236}U the systematics of fission isomers in light actinides was revisited, especially searching for isomers in light uranium isotopes with half-lives in the pico-second range. Using the recoil-shadow projection method and solid state nuclear track detectors, an experimental search for their observation has been started. This well-established detection technique nowadays benefits from an efficient analysis technology based on a PC-controlled auto-focus microscope and a CCD camera together with pattern recognition software. The flatness and the definition of the shadow edge of the target is the critical point of this method: Due to the energy loss of the beam the target carrier foil (1{mu}m Ni) may develop thermal distortions in the {mu}m range, leading to misinterpretations of isomeric fission fragments. Therefore the flatness of the target foil is continuously monitored via a capacitance measurement. First results applying this method to the search of a fission isomer in {sup 234}U via the {sup 232}Th({alpha},2n) reaction are presented.

  3. Short-term memory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toulouse, G.

    This is a rather bold attempt to bridge the gap between neuron structure and psychological data. We try to answer the question: Is there a relation between the neuronal connectivity in the human cortex (around 5,000) and the short-term memory capacity (7±2)? Our starting point is the Hopfield model (Hopfield 1982), presented in this volume by D.J. Amit.

  4. 'Sleeping reactor' irradiations. The use of a shut-down reactor for the determination of elements with short-lived activation products

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jerde, E.A.; Oak Ridge National Laboratory, TN; Glasgow, D.C.

    1999-01-01

    Neutron activation analysis utilizing the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) immediately following SCRAM is a workable solution to obtaining data for ultra-short lived species, principally Al, Ti, Mg, and V. Neutrons are produced in the HFIR core within the beryllium reflector due to gamma-ray bombardment from the spent fuel elements. This neutron flux is not constant, varying by over two orders of magnitude during the first 24 hours. The problems associated with irradiation in a changing neutron flux are removed through the use of a specially tailored activation equation. This activation equation is applicable to any irradiation at HFIR in the firs 24 hours after SCRAM since the fuel elements are identical from cycle to cycle, and the gamma-emitting nuclides responsible for the neutrons reach saturation during the fuel cycle. Reference material tests demonstrate that this method is successful, and detection limit estimates reveal that it should be applicable to materials of widely ranging mass and composition. (author)

  5. Surface disposal of low-level and medium-level short-lived waste. How safe is the disposal facility in Dessel in the long term?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2014-01-01

    A disposal facility for the disposal of low-level and medium-level short-lived waste is planned to be built on a site located in the community of Dessel (Belgium). The facility will consist of 34 modules, corresponding to a storage volume capacity of approximately 70,000 m3. The disposal concept includes waste containers that are encapsulated in a concrete box which is filled with mortar. Approximately 900 of these blocks, or monoliths, fit inside each module. The article discusses the Research and Development programme that has been conducted at the Belgian Nuclear Research Center SCK-CEN in conjunction with the development of this facility. Main emphasis is on the models that have been developed for predicting the long-term containment of the disposal facility.

  6. Dead-time corrections on long-interval measurements of short-lived activities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Irfan, M.

    1977-01-01

    A method has been proposed to make correction for counting losses due to dead time where the counting interval is comparable to or larger than the half-life of the activity under investigation. Counts due to background and any long-lived activity present in the source have been taken into consideration. The method is, under certain circumstances, capable of providing a valuable check on the accuracy of the dead time of the counting system. (Auth.)

  7. Fractional release of short-lived noble gases and iodine from HTGR fuel compact containing a fraction of coated fuel particles with through-coating defects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ogawa, Toru; Fukuda, Kosaku; Kobayashi, Fumiaki; Kikuchi, Teruo; Tobita, Tsutomu; Kashimura, Satoru; Kikuchi, Hironobu; Yamamoto, Katsumune.

    1986-10-01

    Fractional release (R/B) data of short-lived noble gases and iodine from sweep-gas irradiated HTGR fuel compacts were analyzed. Empirical formulas to predict R/B of 88 Kr as a function of temperature and fraction through-coating defects, and to calculate ratios of R/B's of other shortlived gases to that of 88 Kr were proposed. A method to predict R/B of iodine was also proposed. As for 131 I, a fission product of major safety concern, (R/B) I 131 ≅ (R/B) Xe 133 was predicted. Applying those methods, R/B from OGL-1 fuel element (5th and 6th) was predicted to show a good agreement with observation. (author)

  8. SHORT COMMUNICATION: Correlation between the Resistance Ratios of Platinum Resistance Thermometers at the Melting Point of Gallium and the Triple Point of Mercury

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Y. P.; Maas, H.; Edler, F.; Zaidi, Z. H.

    1994-01-01

    A set of resistance ratios (W) for platinum resistance thermometers was obtained at the triple point of Hg and the melting point of Ga in order to study their relationship. It was found that using measured values for one of the fixed points, a linear equation will predict the value of the other. These measurements also indicate that the fixed points of Hg and of Ga are inconsistent by about 1,5 mK in the sense that either the melting point of Ga or the triple point of Hg was assigned too high a value on the ITS-90.

  9. Verification of alternative dew point hygrometer for CV-LRT in MONJU. Short- and long-term verification of capacitance-type dew point hygrometer (Translated document)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ichikawa, Shoichi; Chiba, Yusuke; Ono, Fumiyasu; Hatori, Masakazu; Kobayashi, Takanori; Uekura, Ryoichi; Hashiri, Nobuo; Inuzuka, Taisuke; Kitano, Hiroshi; Abe, Hisashi

    2017-03-01

    To reduce the influence of maintenance of dew point hygrometers on the plant schedule at the prototype fast-breeder reactor MONJU, Japan Atomic Energy Agency examined a capacitance-type dew point hygrometer as an alternative to the lithium-chloride dew point hygrometer being used in the containment vessel leak rate test. As verifications, a capacitance-type dew point hygrometer was compared with a lithium-chloride dew point hygrometer under a containment vessel leak rate test condition. And the capacitance-type dew point hygrometer was compared with a high-precision-mirror-surface dew point hygrometer for long-term (2 years) in the containment vessel as an unprecedented try. A comparison of a capacitance-type dew point hygrometer with a lithium-chloride dew point hygrometer in a containment vessel leak rate test (Atmosphere: nitrogen, Testing time: 24 h) revealed no significant difference between the capacitance-type dew point hygrometer and the lithium-chloride dew point hygrometer. A comparison of the capacitance-type dew point hygrometer with the high-precision-mirror-surface dew point hygrometer for long-term verification (Atmosphere: air, Testing time: 24 months) revealed that the capacitance-type dew point hygrometer satisfied the instrumental specification (synthesized precision of detector and converter: ±2.04°C) specified in the Leak Rate Test Regulations for Nuclear Reactor Containment Vessel. It was confirmed that the capacitance-type dew point hygrometer can be used as a long-term alternative to the lithium-chloride dew point hygrometer without affecting the dew point hygrometer maintenance schedule of the MONJU plant. (author)

  10. The efficacy of a short education program and a short physiotherapy program for treating low back pain in primary care: a cluster randomized trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Albaladejo, Celia; Kovacs, Francisco M; Royuela, Ana; del Pino, Rafael; Zamora, Javier

    2010-03-01

    Cluster randomized clinical trial. To assess the efficacy of a short education program and short physiotherapy program for treating low back pain (LBP) in primary care. There is sparse evidence on the effectiveness of education and physiotherapy programs that are short enough to be feasible in primary care. Sixty-nine primary care physicians were randomly assigned to 3 groups and recruited 348 patients consulting for LBP; 265 (79.8%) were chronic. All patients received usual care, were given a booklet and received a consistent 15 minutes group talk on health education, which focused on healthy nutrition habits in the control group, and on active management for LBP in the "education" and "education + physiotherapy" groups. Additionally, in the "education + physiotherapy" group, patients were given a second booklet and a 15-minute group talk on postural hygiene, and 4 one-hour physiotherapy sessions of exercise and stretching which they were encouraged to keep practicing at home. The main outcome measure was improvement of LBP-related disability at 6 months. Patients' assessment and data analyses were blinded. During the 6-month follow-up period, improvement in the "control" group was negligible. Additional improvement in the "education" and "education + physiotherapy" groups was found for disability (2.0 and 2.2 Roland Morris Questionnaire points, respectively), LBP (1.8 and 2.10 Visual Analogue Scale points), referred pain (1.3 and 1.6 Visual Analogue Scale points), catastrophizing (1.6 and 1.8 Coping Strategies Questionnaire points), physical quality of life (2.9 and 2.9 SF-12 points), and mental quality of life (3.7 and 5.1 SF-12 points). The addition of a short education program on active management to usual care in primary care leads to small but consistent improvements in disability, pain, and quality of life. The addition of a short physiotherapy program composed of education on postural hygiene and exercise intended to be continued at home, increases those

  11. Live Aircraft Encounter Visualization at FutureFlight Central

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murphy, James R.; Chinn, Fay; Monheim, Spencer; Otto, Neil; Kato, Kenji; Archdeacon, John

    2018-01-01

    Researchers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have developed an aircraft data streaming capability that can be used to visualize live aircraft in near real-time. During a joint Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)/NASA Airborne Collision Avoidance System flight series, test sorties between unmanned aircraft and manned intruder aircraft were shown in real-time at NASA Ames' FutureFlight Central tower facility as a virtual representation of the encounter. This capability leveraged existing live surveillance, video, and audio data streams distributed through a Live, Virtual, Constructive test environment, then depicted the encounter from the point of view of any aircraft in the system showing the proximity of the other aircraft. For the demonstration, position report data were sent to the ground from on-board sensors on the unmanned aircraft. The point of view can be change dynamically, allowing encounters from all angles to be observed. Visualizing the encounters in real-time provides a safe and effective method for observation of live flight testing and a strong alternative to travel to the remote test range.

  12. From Contrapuntal Music to Polyphonic Novel: Aldous Huxley’s Point Counter Point

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mevlüde ZENGİN

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Taken at face value Point Counter Point (1928 written by Aldous Huxley seems to be a novel including many stories of various and sundry people and reflecting their points of view about the world in which they live and about the life they have been leading. However, it is this very quality of the novel that provides grounds for the study of the novel as a polyphonic one. The novel presents to its reader an aggregate of strikingly different characters and thus a broad spectrum of contemporary society. The characters in the novel are all characterized by and individualized with easily recognizable physical, intellectual, emotional, psychological and moral qualities. Each of them is well-contrived through their differences in social status, political views, wealth, etc. Thus, many different viewpoints, conflicting voices, contrasting insights and ideas are heard and seen synchronically in Point Counter Point, which makes it polyphonic. Polyphony is a musical motif referring to different notes and chords played at the same time to create a rhythm. It was first adopted by M. M. Bakhtin to analyze F. M. Dostoyevsky’s fiction. The aim of this study is firstly to elucidate, in Bakhtinian thought, polyphony and then dialogism and heteroglossia closely related to his concept of polyphony; and then to put the polyphonic qualities in Point Counter Point forth, studying the novel’s dialogism and heteroglot qualities

  13. Research on activation analysis using short-lived isotopes and a multi-purpose isotopic neutron irradiator. Part of a coordinated programme on on-line X-ray and neutron techniques for industrial process control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ozek, F.

    1981-02-01

    A method of cyclic activation analysis (CA) has been studied and applied. A theoretical comparison between cyclic and conventional neutron activation analysis of gold has been made. The optimum number of cycles in cyclic activation have been investigated and an equation for the rapid calculation of the number of cycles is proposed. The isotopic neutron irradiation system including the 5Ci Pu-Be neutron source was designed and constructed. The system is flexible and transportable and is capable of carrying out prompt and conventional delay gamma-ray analysis and cyclic activation of bulk materials. The advantages as well as the disadvantages of neutron activation analysis with the use of short-lived nuclides were considered, and can be summarized as follows: Advantages: saturation factor approaches unity, speed of analysis, low cost of analysis, increased selectivity, reduced matrix activities. Disadvantages: proximity of neutron source, chemical separation hardly possible or impossible, total number of counts low. Low counting rates can be substantially increased by applying the technique of ''cyclic activation'', which is another reason by the use of short-lived isotopes in neutron activation analysis is steadily becoming more attractive

  14. Synchronous Condenser Allocation for Improving System Short Circuit Ratio

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jia, Jundi; Yang, Guangya; Nielsen, Arne Hejde

    2018-01-01

    With converter-based renewable energy sources increasingly integrated into power systems and conventional power plants gradually phased out, future power systems will experience reduced short circuit strength. The deployment of synchronous condensers can serve as a potential solution. This paper...... presents an optimal synchronous condenser allocation method for improving system short circuit ratio at converter point of common coupling using a modified short circuit analysis approach. The total cost of installing new synchronous condensers is minimized while the system short circuit ratios...

  15. Quality of life of people living with HIV/AIDS and on highly active ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Quality of life of people living with HIV/AIDS and on highly active ... the Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36) was used to measure quality of life among patients on ... instrument for use in Ethiopia to assess the quality of life of people living with ...

  16. Diagnosis as the First Critical Point in the Treatment Trajectory

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Missel, Malene; Pedersen, Jesper H; Hendriksen, Carsten

    2015-01-01

    sociology. RESULTS: The findings are presented as themes that summarize and express the ways in which a diagnosis affects patients' daily lives: the cancer diagnosis comes as a shock, it changes everyday awareness; it presents the patient with an unfamiliar body, disturbs social relationships, forces......BACKGROUND: Significant advances have been made in the surgical treatment of lung cancer while patient experiences with diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation remain only sparsely researched. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate how the diagnosis affects the daily lives...... of patients with operable lung cancer in order to identify their needs for care interventions from the point of diagnosis to hospitalization. METHODS: We investigated patients' lived experiences from a longitudinal perspective at 4 critical time points during the treatment trajectory; we present here...

  17. Safety evaluation by living probabilistic safety assessment. Procedures and applications for planning of operational activities and analysis of operating experience

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johanson, Gunnar; Holmberg, J.

    1994-01-01

    Living Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) is a daily safety management system and it is based on a plant-specific PSA and supporting information systems. In the living use of PSA, plant status knowledge is used to represent actual plant safety status in monitoring or follow-up perspective. The PSA model must be able to express the risk at a given time and plant configuration. The process, to update the PSA model to represent the current or planned configuration and to use the model to evaluate and direct the changes in the configuration, is called living PSA programme. The main purposes to develop and increase the usefulness of living PSA are: Long term safety planning: To continue the risk assessment process started with the basic PSA by extending and improving the basic models and data to provide a general risk evaluation tool for analyzing the safety effects of changes in plant design and procedures. Risk planning of operational activities: To support the operational management by providing means for searching optimal operational maintenance and testing strategies from the safety point of view. The results provide support for risk decision making in the short term or in a planning mode. The operational limits and conditions given by technical specifications can be analyzed by evaluating the risk effects of alternative requirements in order to balance the requirements with respect to operational flexibility and plant economy. Risk analysis of operating experience: To provide a general risk evaluation tool for analyzing the safety effects of incidents and plant status changes. The analyses are used to: identify possible high risk situations, rank the occurred events from safety point of view, and get feedback from operational events for the identification of risk contributors. This report describes the methods, models and applications required to continue the process towards a living use of PSA. 19 tabs, 20 figs

  18. Naïve Point Estimation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lindskog, Marcus; Winman, Anders; Juslin, Peter

    2013-01-01

    The capacity of short-term memory is a key constraint when people make online judgments requiring them to rely on samples retrieved from memory (e.g., Dougherty & Hunter, 2003). In this article, the authors compare 2 accounts of how people use knowledge of statistical distributions to make point estimates: either by retrieving precomputed…

  19. Transport and deposition of nano-particles. Application to the free action of short-lived radon daughters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Malet, J.

    1997-01-01

    Short-lived radon daughters ( 218 Po, 214 Pb, 214 Bi, and 214 Po) are important contributors to the natural average annual individual dose. The models describing the evolution of these aerosol in a house depend critically on a parameter, the 218 Po deposition velocity, which, although aerosol deposition has been extensively studied, is poorly known. A numerical and experimental study is thus carried out for a simple case: deposition in a cylindrical tube under laminar flow condition. The numerical results help understanding the difference between the transport and deposition of these radionuclides and those of non radioactive aerosols. Comparison of these well environment does not give satisfactory correlation, requiring the study of phenomena that may affect deposition. The first of these is the possible variation in the e 218 Po diffusion coefficient. Furthermore, experiments coupled with numerical calculations show that this variation could be due to 218 Po neutralization. The second phenomenon concerns the effect of the surface type, which is also shown experimentally. By modelling the neutralization and using results with a piratically smooth surface, good numerical/experimental correlations are obtained. Understanding this simple case than makes possible studying a more complex case: deposition in controlled turbulent flow. Two theories are thus experimentally validated. In addition, a 218 Po deposition velocity representative of our experimental conditions is determined. Finally, we report a feasibility study of radon daughters transport and deposition in a ventilated chamber taking into account all the involved phenomena. (author)

  20. Information report on the nuclear safety and radiation protection of the Aube center for short-lived low- and intermediate-level wastes storage - 2011. Annual report in the framework of article 21 of the Act on nuclear transparency and safety

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2012-06-01

    The National Radioactive Waste Management Agency (Andra), was established by the December 1991 Waste Act as a public body in charge of the long-term management of all radioactive waste, under the supervision of the Ministry of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and the Sea (formerly the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Environment), and the Ministry of Research. The Andra operates two storage centers in the Aube region (France): the center for short-lived low- and intermediate-level wastes, and the center for very-low-level radioactive wastes. This document is the 2011 activity report of the center for short-lived low- and intermediate-level wastes. It presents a review of the activities of the center: presentation of the installations, safety and radiation protection, events or incidents, environmental monitoring, wastes management, public information, recommendations of the Health and safety Committee (CHSCT)

  1. “I don’t hate living here, but…”

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pless, Mette; Sørensen, Niels Ulrik

    experiences which capture neither the lives of rural young people nor the spatial dimensions of the structures and cultures that make up contemporary youth.” (Farrugia 2013:295). By this, youth sociology tends to focus on young lives in urban areas, while there has been little attention pointed towards how...

  2. Lifetime induced abortion: a comparison between women living and not living with HIV.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pilecco, Flávia Bulegon; Teixeira, Luciana Barcellos; Vigo, Alvaro; Dewey, Michael E; Knauth, Daniela Riva

    2014-01-01

    Studies aimed at understanding the association between induced abortion and HIV are scarce and differ on the direction of the association. This paper aims to show the prevalence of induced abortion in a sample of pregnancies of women living and not living with HIV/Aids, determining variables associated with pregnancy termination and linked to the life course of women and to the specific context of the pregnancy. Data came from a cross-sectional study, using interviewer-administered questionnaire, developed with women that attended public health services in Porto Alegre, Brazil. A generalized estimating equation model with logit link measured the association between determinants and abortion. The final sample was composed of 684 women living with HIV/Aids (2,039 pregnancies) and 639 women not living with HIV/Aids (1,539 pregnancies). The prevalence of induced abortion among pregnancies in women living with HIV/Aids was 6.5%, while in women not living with HIV/Aids was 2.9%. Among women living with HIV/Aids, the following were associated with induced abortion in the multivariable analysis: being older, having a higher education level, having had more sexual partners (i.e., variables linked to the life course of women), having had children prior to the index pregnancy and living with a sexual partner during pregnancy (i.e., variables linked to the context of each pregnancy). On the other hand, among women not living with HIV/Aids, only having a higher education level and having had more sexual partners (i.e., determinants linked to the life course of women) were associated with voluntary pregnancy termination in multivariable analysis. Although determinants are similar between women living and not living with HIV/Aids, prevalence of induced abortion is higher among pregnancies in women living with HIV/Aids, pointing to their greater social vulnerability and to the need for public policy to address prevention and treatment of HIV associated with reproductive issues.

  3. Tests to determine the release of short-lived fission products from UO2 fuel operating at linear powers of 45 and 60 kW/m

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hastings, I.J.; Hunt, C.E.L.; Lipsett, J.J.; MacDonald, R.D.

    1985-09-01

    Experiments have been carried out using a 'sweep gas' technique to determine the behaviour of short-lived fission products within operating, intact UO 2 fuel elements. The Zircaloy-4-clad elements were 600 mm long and contained fuel of density 10.65 - 10.71 Mg/m 3 . A He-2% H 2 carrier gas swept gaseous or volatile fission products out of the operating fuel element past a gamma spectrometer for measurement. We outline our loop model and give full details of calculational procedures. In tests at linear powers of 45 (FIO-122) and 60 kW/m (FIO-124) to a maximum burnup of 80 MW.h/kg U, the species measured directly at the spectrometer during normal operation were generally the short-lived xenons and kryptons. Iodines were not observed during normal operation. The behaviour of I-133 and I-135 was deduced from the decay of Xe-133 and Xe-135 during reactor shutdowns. Plots of R/B (released/born) against λ (decay constant) or effective λ for all isotopes observed at 45 and 60 kW/m show that a line of slope -0.5, corresponding with diffusion kinetics, is a good fit to the measured xenon and krypton data. The inferred release of iodine fits the same line. From this we can extrapolate to an R/B for I-131 of about 5 x 10 -4 at 45 kW/m, and 3 x 10 -3 at 60 kW/m. Both tests were terminated by defects. Under defect conditions, R/B dependence on λ was about 0.6. I-131 release under defect conditions was 5 Ci and 60 mCi for FIO-122 and FI0-124, respectively. 22 refs

  4. A multi-model intercomparison of halogenated very short-lived substances (TransCom-VSLS): linking oceanic emissions and tropospheric transport for a reconciled estimate of the stratospheric source gas injection of bromine

    OpenAIRE

    Hossaini, R.; Patra, P. K.; Leeson, A. A.; Krysztofiak, G.; Abraham, N. L.; Andrews, S. J.; Archibald, A. T.; Aschmann, J.; Atlas, E. L.; Belikov, D. A.; Bonisch, H.; Carpenter, L. J.; Dhomse, S.; Dorf, M.; Engel, A.

    2016-01-01

    The first concerted multi-model intercomparison of halogenated very short-lived substances (VSLS) has been performed, within the framework of the ongoing Atmospheric Tracer Transport Model Intercomparison Project (TransCom). Eleven global models or model variants participated (nine chemical transport models and two chemistry–climate models) by simulating the major natural bromine VSLS, bromoform (CHBr3) and dibromomethane (CH2Br2), over a 20-year period (1993–2012). Except f...

  5. Periodic orbits around areostationary points in the Martian gravity field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu Xiaodong; Baoyin Hexi; Ma Xingrui

    2012-01-01

    This study investigates the problem of areostationary orbits around Mars in three-dimensional space. Areostationary orbits are expected to be used to establish a future telecommunication network for the exploration of Mars. However, no artificial satellites have been placed in these orbits thus far. The characteristics of the Martian gravity field are presented, and areostationary points and their linear stability are calculated. By taking linearized solutions in the planar case as the initial guesses and utilizing the Levenberg-Marquardt method, families of periodic orbits around areostationary points are shown to exist. Short-period orbits and long-period orbits are found around linearly stable areostationary points, but only short-period orbits are found around unstable areostationary points. Vertical periodic orbits around both linearly stable and unstable areostationary points are also examined. Satellites in these periodic orbits could depart from areostationary points by a few degrees in longitude, which would facilitate observation of the Martian topography. Based on the eigenvalues of the monodromy matrix, the evolution of the stability index of periodic orbits is determined. Finally, heteroclinic orbits connecting the two unstable areostationary points are found, providing the possibility for orbital transfer with minimal energy consumption.

  6. Short communication: Short and long-term efficacy and phytotoxicity of phosphine against Rhynchophorus ferrugineus in live Phoenix canariensis palms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Óscar Dembilio

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, is a palm borer native to South Asia which has spread mainly due to the unintended movement of infested planting material. As a result, this species has become the most destructive palm pest in the world. The difficulty of detecting the early stages of infestation due to its cryptic life cycle has led many countries to implement, strict pre- and post-entry quarantine regulations to prevent further spread. However, there are no quarantine protocols to ensure that palm material for planting is free of R. ferrugineus. The aim of this study has been to determine the efficacy of aluminium phosphide as a safe quarantine treatment against different stages of R. ferrugineus and the possible phytotoxic effects on live Phoenix canariensis palms. Our results confirm that a dose of 1.14 g/m3 for 2 days is enough to kill all stages of R. ferrugineus in live palms with no phytotoxic effects on treated palms for up to one year after the treatment. This procedure, which could be easily applied in sealed containers used for palm trade, could drastically reduce risks associated to palm movement worldwide.

  7. Thermoresponsive Poly(2-oxazoline) Molecular Brushes by Living Ionic Polymerization: Kinetic Investigations of Pendant Chain Grafting and Cloud Point Modulation by Backbone and Side Chain Length Variation

    KAUST Repository

    Zhang, Ning

    2012-04-17

    Molecular brushes of poly(2-oxazoline)s were prepared by living anionic polymerization of 2-iso-propenyl-2-oxazoline to form the backbone and subsequent living cationic ring-opening polymerization of 2-n- or 2-iso-propyl-2-oxazoline for pendant chain grafting. In situ kinetic studies indicate that the initiation efficiency and polymerization rates are independent from the number of initiator functions per initiator molecule. This was attributed to the high efficiency of oxazolinium salt and the stretched conformation of the backbone, which is caused by the electrostatic repulsion of the oxazolinium moieties along the macroinitiator. The resulting molecular brushes showed thermoresponsive properties, that is, having a defined cloud point (CP). The dependence of the CP as a function of backbone and side chain length as well as concentration was studied. © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  8. Dissociating Measures of Consciousness from Measures of Short-Term Memory

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Thomas Alrik; Ásgeirsson, Árni Gunnar; Staugaard, Camilla Funch

    Often, the contents of consciousness are equated with the contents of short-term memory (or working memory), sometimes to a point where they are treated as identical entities. In the present study we aimed to investigate whether they may be modulated independently and thus dissociated from each...... if conscious content simply can be reduced to a cognitive process like short-term memory. In two experiments, we combined two different measures of short-term memory capacity to investigate how manipulations of set-size affect performance in observers with the Perceptual Awareness Scale (PAS) to measure...... conscious experience of the stimulus in every trial (Ramsøy & Overgaard, 2004; Overgaard & Sørensen, 2004). We trained observers to report their experience of a visual target stimulus on the four-point PAS scale; ranging from “no experience” to “clear experience”. To measure short-term memory we used...

  9. MAGNETIC NULL POINTS IN KINETIC SIMULATIONS OF SPACE PLASMAS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Olshevsky, Vyacheslav; Innocenti, Maria Elena; Cazzola, Emanuele; Lapenta, Giovanni; Deca, Jan; Divin, Andrey; Peng, Ivy Bo; Markidis, Stefano

    2016-01-01

    We present a systematic attempt to study magnetic null points and the associated magnetic energy conversion in kinetic particle-in-cell simulations of various plasma configurations. We address three-dimensional simulations performed with the semi-implicit kinetic electromagnetic code iPic3D in different setups: variations of a Harris current sheet, dipolar and quadrupolar magnetospheres interacting with the solar wind, and a relaxing turbulent configuration with multiple null points. Spiral nulls are more likely created in space plasmas: in all our simulations except lunar magnetic anomaly (LMA) and quadrupolar mini-magnetosphere the number of spiral nulls prevails over the number of radial nulls by a factor of 3–9. We show that often magnetic nulls do not indicate the regions of intensive energy dissipation. Energy dissipation events caused by topological bifurcations at radial nulls are rather rare and short-lived. The so-called X-lines formed by the radial nulls in the Harris current sheet and LMA simulations are rather stable and do not exhibit any energy dissipation. Energy dissipation is more powerful in the vicinity of spiral nulls enclosed by magnetic flux ropes with strong currents at their axes (their cross sections resemble 2D magnetic islands). These null lines reminiscent of Z-pinches efficiently dissipate magnetic energy due to secondary instabilities such as the two-stream or kinking instability, accompanied by changes in magnetic topology. Current enhancements accompanied by spiral nulls may signal magnetic energy conversion sites in the observational data

  10. The Impact of Pointing on the Short-Term Memory (STM) of Heterophonic Homographs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vaknin-Nusbaum, Vered; Miller, Paul

    2014-01-01

    This study entailed two short-term memory (STM) experiments investigating the importance of vowel diacritics for the temporary retention of three distinct Hebrew word list types: heterophonic homographs, non-homographs and homophonic homographs. Eighty university students participated in each experiment, with half of them tested with word lists…

  11. 17 CFR 1.34 - Monthly record, “point balance”.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... REGULATIONS UNDER THE COMMODITY EXCHANGE ACT Recordkeeping § 1.34 Monthly record, “point balance”. (a) Each... statement commonly known as a “point balance,” which accrues or brings to the official closing price, or... contracts long and short in the customers' accounts are in balance with those in the carrying futures...

  12. Flat Coalgebraic Fixed Point Logics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schröder, Lutz; Venema, Yde

    Fixed point logics are widely used in computer science, in particular in artificial intelligence and concurrency. The most expressive logics of this type are the μ-calculus and its relatives. However, popular fixed point logics tend to trade expressivity for simplicity and readability, and in fact often live within the single variable fragment of the μ-calculus. The family of such flat fixed point logics includes, e.g., CTL, the *-nesting-free fragment of PDL, and the logic of common knowledge. Here, we extend this notion to the generic semantic framework of coalgebraic logic, thus covering a wide range of logics beyond the standard μ-calculus including, e.g., flat fragments of the graded μ-calculus and the alternating-time μ-calculus (such as ATL), as well as probabilistic and monotone fixed point logics. Our main results are completeness of the Kozen-Park axiomatization and a timed-out tableaux method that matches ExpTime upper bounds inherited from the coalgebraic μ-calculus but avoids using automata.

  13. Biomolecular tracing using long-lived isotopes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vogel, J.S.; Turteltaub, K.W.; Frantz, C.E.; Keating, G.; Felton, J.S.; Southon, J.R.; Roberts, M.R.; Gledhill, B.L.

    1992-01-01

    Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) was developed over the past 15 years as an essential tool for detecting long-lived, cosmogenic radio-isotopes in the earth and space sciences. We apply this technology to the measurement of chemical kinetics, primarily in biomedical systems, which had heretofore employed short-lived isotopes and/or long counting times to quantify radio-isotopic labels. AMS provides detection efficiencies of ∼ 1%, 10 3 to 10 6 better than decay-counting. Long-lived isotopes are used and detected with AMS at concentrations which reduce sample size, chemical dose, radiation safety hazards and radiolysis. We measure 3 H, 7,1O Be, 14 C, 26 Al, 36 CI, 41 Ca and 129 I, but most of our current program uses 14 C. Initial experiments involved research on the genotoxicity of mutagens in cooked foods and reversible binding of compounds to antibodies. Through collaborations, we apply AMS detection to research in carcinogenesis, pharmacokinetics of toxins, elemental metabolism, distribution of topical medications and nutrition

  14. Evaluation of Short-Term Changes in Serum Creatinine Level as a Meaningful End Point in Randomized Clinical Trials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coca, Steven G; Zabetian, Azadeh; Ferket, Bart S; Zhou, Jing; Testani, Jeffrey M; Garg, Amit X; Parikh, Chirag R

    2016-08-01

    Observational studies have shown that acute change in kidney function (specifically, AKI) is a strong risk factor for poor outcomes. Thus, the outcome of acute change in serum creatinine level, regardless of underlying biology or etiology, is frequently used in clinical trials as both efficacy and safety end points. We performed a meta-analysis of clinical trials to quantify the relationship between positive or negative short-term effects of interventions on change in serum creatinine level and more meaningful clinical outcomes. After a thorough literature search, we included 14 randomized trials of interventions that altered risk for an acute increase in serum creatinine level and had reported between-group differences in CKD and/or mortality rate ≥3 months after randomization. Seven trials assessed interventions that, compared with placebo, increased risk of acute elevation in serum creatinine level (pooled relative risk, 1.52; 95% confidence interval, 1.22 to 1.89), and seven trials assessed interventions that, compared with placebo, reduced risk of acute elevation in serum creatinine level (pooled relative risk, 0.57; 95% confidence interval, 0.44 to 0.74). However, pooled risks for CKD and mortality associated with interventions did not differ from those with placebo in either group. In conclusion, several interventions that affect risk of acute, mild to moderate, often temporary elevation in serum creatinine level in placebo-controlled randomized trials showed no appreciable effect on CKD or mortality months later, raising questions about the value of using small to moderate changes in serum creatinine level as end points in clinical trials. Copyright © 2016 by the American Society of Nephrology.

  15. IN-SITU RADIONUCLIDE TRANSPORT NEAR THE NOPAL I URANIUM DEPOSIT AT PENA BLANCA, MEXICO: CONSTRAINTS FROM SHORT-LIVED DECAY-SERIES RADIONUCLIDES

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Luo, S.; Ku, T.L.; Todd, V.; Murrell, M.; Pineda, J. Alfredo Rodriguez; Dinsmoor, J.; Mitchell, A.

    2005-01-01

    For nuclear waste management, an important mechanism by which radioactive waste components are isolated from returning to the human environment, the biosphere, is by the geological barrier in which the effectiveness of the barrier is characterized by in-situ retardation factor, i.e., the transport rate of a radionuclide relative to that of groundwater. As part of natural analog studies of the Yucca Mountain Project of the U. S. Department of Energy, we propose such characterization by using naturally-occurring decay-series radioisotopes as an analog. We collected large-volume (>1000 liters) groundwater samples from three wells (PB, Pozos, and PB4, respectively) near the Nopal I Uranium Ore site at Pena Blanca, Mexico, by using an in-situ Mn-cartridge filtration technique for analysis of short-lived decay-series radionuclides. Results show that the activities of short-lived radioisotopes ( 228 Ra, 224 Ra and 223 Ra) and activity ratios of 224 Ra/ 228 Ra and 224 Ra/ 223 Ra are higher at PB and Pozos than at PB4. In contrast, the 210 Po activity is much lower at PB and Pozos than at PB4. The high Ra activities and activities ratios at PB and Pozos are attributable to the high alpha-recoil input from the aquifer rocks, while the high 210 Po activity at PB4 is due to the enhanced colloidal transport. Based on a uranium-series transport model, we estimate that the in-situ retardation factor of Ra is (0.43 ± 0.02) x 10 3 at PB, (1.68 ± 0.08) x 10 3 at Pozos, and (1.19 ± 0.08) x 10 3 at PB4 and that the mean fracture width in the aquifer rocks is about 0.23 (micro)m at PB, 0.37 (micro)m at Posos, and 4.0 (micro)m at PB4, respectively. The large fracture width at PB4 as derived from the model provides an additional evidence to the inference from the Po measurements that particle-reactive radionuclides are transported mainly as colloidal forms through the large fractures in rocks. Our model also suggests that in addition to alpha recoil, decay of 226 Ra from the adsorbed

  16. Implementing a short-term loyalty program : case: Bosch Lawn & Garden and the Ventum short-term loyalty program

    OpenAIRE

    Logvinova, Veronika

    2015-01-01

    In 2015, one of the Bosch Home and Garden divisions, Bosch Lawn and Garden, has made a strategic decision to adopt a points-based short-term loyalty program called Ventum LG in the German supermarkets and petrol stations. It was decided that the base of this program will be completed Ventum PT short-term loyalty program which was managed by another division, Bosch Power Tools, and proved to be successful. This thesis aims to evaluate the worthiness of the Ventum LG loyalty program for Bosch L...

  17. Integers without Large Prime Factors in Short Intervals: Conditional ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    ... Public Lectures · Lecture Workshops · Refresher Courses · Symposia · Live Streaming. Home; Journals; Proceedings – Mathematical Sciences; Volume 120; Issue 5. Integers without Large Prime Factors in Short Intervals: Conditional Results. Goutam Pal Satadal Ganguly. Volume 120 Issue 5 November 2010 pp 515-524 ...

  18. Monthly variations of dew point temperature in the coterminous United States

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinson, Peter J.

    1998-11-01

    The dew point temperature, Td, data from the surface airways data set of the U.S. National Climatic Data Center were used to develop a basic dew point climatology for the coterminous United States. Quality control procedures were an integral part of the analysis. Daily Td, derived as the average of eight observations at 3-hourly intervals, for 222 stations for the 1961-1990 period were used. The annual and seasonal pattern of average values showed a clear south-north decrease in the eastern portion of the nation, a trend which was most marked in winter. In the west, values decreased inland from the Pacific Coast. Inter-annual variability was generally low when actual mean values were high. A cluster analysis suggested that the area could be divided into six regions, two oriented north-south in the west, four aligned east-west in the area east of the Rocky Mountains. Day-to-day variability was low in all seasons in the two western clusters, but showed a distinct winter maximum in the east. This was explained in broad terms by consideration of air flow regimes, with the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico acting as the major moisture sources. Comparison of values for pairs of nearby stations suggested that Td was rather insensitive to local moisture sources. Analysis of the patterns of occurrence of dew points exceeding the 95th percentile threshold indicated that extremes in summer tend to be localized and short-lived, while in winter they are more widespread and persistent.

  19. Long term imaging of living brain cancer cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farias, Patricia M. A.; Galembeck, André; Milani, Raquel; Andrade, Arnaldo C. D. S.; Stingl, Andreas

    2018-02-01

    QDs synthesized in aqueous medium and functionalized with polyethylene glycol were used as fluorescent probes. They label and monitor living healthy and cancer brain glial cells in culture. Physical-chemical characterization was performed. Toxicological studies were performed by in vivo short and long-term inhalation in animal models. Healthy and cancer glial living cells were incubated in culture media with highly controlled QDs. Specific features of glial cancer cells were enhanced by QD labelling. Cytoplasmic labelling pattern was clearly distinct for healthy and cancer cells. Labelled cells kept their normal activity for same period as non-labelled control samples.

  20. Short-time quantum propagator and Bohmian trajectories

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Gosson, Maurice; Hiley, Basil

    2013-12-01

    We begin by giving correct expressions for the short-time action following the work Makri-Miller. We use these estimates to derive an accurate expression modulo Δt2 for the quantum propagator and we show that the quantum potential is negligible modulo Δt2 for a point source, thus justifying an unfortunately largely ignored observation of Holland made twenty years ago. We finally prove that this implies that the quantum motion is classical for very short times.

  1. Short-time quantum propagator and Bohmian trajectories

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gosson, Maurice de; Hiley, Basil

    2013-01-01

    We begin by giving correct expressions for the short-time action following the work Makri–Miller. We use these estimates to derive an accurate expression modulo Δt 2 for the quantum propagator and we show that the quantum potential is negligible modulo Δt 2 for a point source, thus justifying an unfortunately largely ignored observation of Holland made twenty years ago. We finally prove that this implies that the quantum motion is classical for very short times.

  2. Design a 10 kJ IS Mather Type Plasma Focus for Solid Target Activation to Produce Short-Lived Radioisotopes 12C(d,n)13N

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sadat Kiai, S. M.; Adlparvar, S.; Sheibani, S.; Elahi, M.; Safarien, A.; Farhangi, S.; Zirak, A. R.; Alhooie, S.; Mortazavi, B. N.; Khalaj, M. M.; Khanchi, A. R.; Dabirzadeh, A. A.; Kashani, A.; Zahedi, F.

    2010-10-01

    A 10 kJ (15 kV, 88 μF) IS (Iranian Sun) Mather type plasma focus device has been studied to determine the activity of a compound exogenous carbon solid target through 12C(d,n)13N nuclear reaction. The produced 13N is a short-lived radioisotope with a half-life of 9.97 min and threshold energy of 0.28 MeV. The results indicate that energetic deuterons impinging on the solid target can produce yield of = 6.7 × 10-5 with an activity of A = 6.8 × 104 Bq for one plasma focus shut and A ν = 4 × 105 Bq for 6 shut per mint when the projectile maximum deuterons energy is E max = 3 MeV.

  3. Formation of short-lived positron emitters in reactions of protons of energies up to 200 MeV with the target elements carbon, nitrogen and oxygen

    CERN Document Server

    Kettern, K; Qaim, S M; Shubin, Yu N; Steyn, G F; Van der Walt, T N; 10.1016/j.apradiso.2004.02.007

    2004-01-01

    Excitation functions were measured by the stacked-foil technique for proton induced reactions on carbon, nitrogen and oxygen leading to the formation of the short-lived positron emitters /sup 11/C (T/sub 1 /2/=20.38 min) and /sup 13/N (T/sub 1/2/=9.96 min). The energy region covered extended up to 200 MeV. The product activity was measured non-destructively via gamma -ray spectrometry. A careful decay curve analysis of the positron annihilation radiation was invariably performed. The experimental results were compared with theoretical data obtained using the modified hybrid nuclear model code ALICE-IPPE for intermediate energies. The agreement was found to be generally satisfactory. The data are of importance in proton therapy.

  4. Temporal Dynamics of Recovery from Extinction Shortly after Extinction Acquisition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Archbold, Georgina E.; Dobbek, Nick; Nader, Karim

    2013-01-01

    Evidence suggests that extinction is new learning. Memory acquisition involves both short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM) components; however, few studies have examined early phases of extinction retention. Retention of auditory fear extinction was examined at various time points. Shortly (1-4 h) after extinction acquisition…

  5. Living Shorelines: Assessing Geomorphic Change and Water Quality in an Urban Waterway

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huggins, A.; Schwartz, M. C.; Schmutz, P. P.

    2017-12-01

    In recent years, alternative strategies for shoreline armoring have become increasingly popular with coastal property owners. In Northwest Florida, local agencies implemented plans to attenuate wave action and reduce landward shore recession in an urban bayou by installing living shorelines. Living shorelines are constructed in the inter-tidal zones and incorporate both hard and soft structured stabilization. Generally, the hard component is fossilized oyster shells and the soft component is planted intertidal vegetation, such as Spartina alterniflora (Smooth cordgrass) and Juncus roemererianus (Black needlerush). Living shorelines were intended to comprise both ecological and societal implications by significantly slowing erosion processes for property owners, by utilizing oyster beds to improve water quality, and by fostering new ecological habitats in the marsh grasses. The issue presented with living shoreline management is long-term studies have not been carried out on these engineered systems. For this study, geospatial technology was utilized to create 3D images of terrain by interpolation of data points using a TotalStation to compute geomorphic change. Additionally, water samples were analyzed using traditional wet chemistry laboratory methods to determine total oxidized nitrogen (TON), ammonium, and orthophosphate content in water. Over a short three-month preliminary study, sediment accretion was observed primarily within the vegetation with the bulk of the erosion occurring around the oyster beds. TON was detected at levels between 10 µM and 30 µM, ammonium up to 5 µM, and orthophosphate was only detected in very low levels, consistently quality data will be used to establish baseline data for future research to determine volumetric geomorphic change,and to set a standard for water quality trends, surrounding oyster beds and vegetation in response to climatic events.

  6. Evaluation of the technical feasibility of new conditioning matrices for long-lived radionuclides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Deschanels, X.

    2004-01-01

    Several matrices have been selected for the conditioning of long-lived radioactive wastes: a compound made of a iodo-apatite core coated with a densified matrice of vanadium-phosphorus-lead apatite for iodine; the hollandite ceramic for cesium; the britholite, zirconolite, thorium phosphate diphosphate, and the monazite-brabantite solid solution for minor actinides; and a Nb-based metal alloy and phosphate or titanate-type ceramics for technetium. This report presents the results of the researches carried out between 2002-2004 during the technical feasibility step. The main points described are: - the behaviour of matrices under irradiation. These studies were performed thanks to an approach combining the characterization of natural analogues, the doping of matrices with short-lived radionuclides and the use of external irradiations; - the behaviour of these matrices with respect to water alteration; - the sensibility of these structures with respect to the incorporation of chemical impurities; - a package-process approach including the optimization of the process and preliminary studies about the package concept retained. These studies show that important work remains to be done to develop conditioning matrices suitable for iodine and technetium, while for cesium and minor actinides, the first steps of the technical feasibility are made. However, it remains impossible today to determine the structure having the best global behaviour. (J.S.)

  7. Do African Lives Matter to Black Lives Matter? Youth Uprisings and the Borders of Solidarity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strong, Krystal

    2018-01-01

    Despite experiencing a proliferation of youth-led mobilizations in recent years, Africa remains peripheral to the analysis of the U.S.-centered Movement for Black Lives (M4BL). This article explores points of convergence and tension between African uprisings and the M4BL, with a focus on two movements at the intersection of education and activism:…

  8. Automatic loudness control in short-form content for broadcasting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pires, Leandro da S; Vieira, Maurílio N; Yehia, Hani C

    2017-03-01

    During the early years of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) loudness calculation standard for sound broadcasting [ITU-R (2006), Rec. BS Series, 1770], the need for additional loudness descriptors to evaluate short-form content, such as commercials and live inserts, was identified. This work proposes a loudness control scheme to prevent loudness jumps, which can bother audiences. It employs short-form content audio detection and dynamic range processing methods for the maximum loudness level criteria. Detection is achieved by combining principal component analysis for dimensionality reduction and support vector machines for binary classification. Subsequent processing is based on short-term loudness integrators and Hilbert transformers. The performance was assessed using quality classification metrics and demonstrated through a loudness control example.

  9. Short-time quantum propagator and Bohmian trajectories

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gosson, Maurice de, E-mail: maurice.degosson@gmail.com [Universität Wien, Fakultät für Mathematik, NuHAG, Wien 1090 (Austria); Hiley, Basil [University of London, Birkbeck College, Theoretical Physics Unit, London WC1E 7HX (United Kingdom)

    2013-12-06

    We begin by giving correct expressions for the short-time action following the work Makri–Miller. We use these estimates to derive an accurate expression modulo Δt{sup 2} for the quantum propagator and we show that the quantum potential is negligible modulo Δt{sup 2} for a point source, thus justifying an unfortunately largely ignored observation of Holland made twenty years ago. We finally prove that this implies that the quantum motion is classical for very short times.

  10. Medicaid expenditures for children living with smokers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Levy Douglas E

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Children's exposure to secondhand smoke is associated with increased morbidity. We estimated Medicaid expenditures for children living with smokers compared to those living with no smokers in the United States. Methods Data were overall and service-specific (i.e., inpatient, ambulatory, emergency department, prescription drug, and dental annual Medicaid expenditures for children 0-11 years old from the 2000-2007 Medical Expenditures Panel Surveys. Smokers' presence in households was determined by adult respondents' self reports. There were 25,835 person-years of observation. We used multivariate analyses to adjust for child, parent, and geographic characteristics. Results Children with Medicaid expenditures were nearly twice as likely to live with a smoker as other children in the U.S. population. Adjusted analyses revealed no detectable differences in children's overall Medicaid expenditures by presence of smokers in the household. Medicaid children who lived with smokers on average had $10 (95% CI $3, $18 higher emergency department expenditures per year than those living with no smokers. Conclusions Living with at least one smoker (a proxy for secondhand smoke exposure is unrelated to children's overall short-term Medicaid expenditures, but has a modest impact on emergency department expenditures. Additional research is necessary to understand the relationship between secondhand smoke exposure and long-term health and economic outcomes.

  11. NETWORK DESIGN IN CLOSE-RANGE PHOTOGRAMMETRY WITH SHORT BASELINE IMAGES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. Barazzetti

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available The avaibility of automated software for image-based 3D modelling has changed the way people acquire images for photogrammetric applications. Short baseline images are required to match image points with SIFT-like algorithms, obtaining more images than those necessary for “old fashioned” photogrammetric projects based on manual measurements. This paper describes some considerations on network design for short baseline image sequences, especially on precision and reliability of bundle adjustment. Simulated results reveal that the large number of 3D points used for image orientation has very limited impact on network precision.

  12. Transport of short-lived climate forcers/pollutants (SLCF/P) to the Himalayas during the South Asian summer monsoon onset

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cristofanelli, P; Putero, D; Landi, T C; Marinoni, A; Duchi, R; Calzolari, F; Bonasoni, P; Adhikary, B; Stocchi, P; Verza, G; Vuillermoz, E; Laj, P; Kang, S; Ming, J

    2014-01-01

    Over the course of six years (2006–2011), equivalent black carbon (eqBC), coarse aerosol mass (PM 1–10 ), and surface ozone (O 3 ), observed during the monsoon onset period at the Nepal Climate Observatory–Pyramid WMO/GAW Global Station (NCO-P, 5079 m a.s.l.), were analyzed to investigate events characterized by a significant increase in these short-lived climate forcers/pollutants (SLCF/P). These events occurred during periods characterized by low (or nearly absent) rain precipitation in the central Himalayas, and they appeared to be related to weakening stages (or ‘breaking’) of the South Asian summer monsoon system. As revealed by the combined analysis of atmospheric circulation, air-mass three-dimensional back trajectories, and satellite measurements of atmospheric aerosol loading, surface open fire, and tropospheric NO x , the large amount of SLCF/P reaching the NCO-P appeared to be related to natural (mineral dust) and anthropogenic emissions occurring within the PBL of central Pakistan (i.e., Thar Desert), the Northwestern Indo-Gangetic plain, and the Himalayan foothills. The systematic occurrence of these events appeared to represent the most important source of SLCF/P inputs into the central Himalayas during the summer monsoon onset period, with possible important implications for the regional climate and for hydrological cycles. (letter)

  13. Separation and purification of short lived fission products from irradiated uranium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Balasubramanian, K.R.; Rao, K.L.N.; Mathai, C.; Varma, R.N.; Dhiwar, V.I.; Saxena, S.K.

    1991-01-01

    Fission produced radioisotopes like 95 Zr, 140 Ba, 103 Ru, 89 Sr and 91 Y whose half lives are less than 1 year find a wide variety of applications in the fields of industry, medicine and research. Isotope Division, BARC has been supplying these isotopes in hudreds of mCi amounts during the past several years. A new method for the sequential separation of these isotopes from irradiated uranium has been developed based on synthetic inorganic exchangers like stannic phosphate, polyphospho antimonic acid, hydrous manganese dioxide, etc. This report describes the new flow sheet worked out and adopted for the regular processing of these isotopes at hundreds of milli curie amounts. (author). 19 refs., 4 tabs. , 1 fig

  14. Living Together v. Living Well Together: A Normative Examination of the SAS Case

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lori G. Beaman

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available The European Court of Human Rights decision in SAS from France illustrates how a policy and national mantra that ostensibly aims to enhance inclusiveness, ‘living together’, is legally deployed in a manner that may have the opposite effect. In essence, despite acknowledging the sincerity of SAS’s religious practice of wearing the niqab, and her agency in making the decision to do so, the Court focuses on radicalism and women’s oppression amongst Muslims. Taking the notion of living together as the beginning point, the paper explores the normative assumptions underlying this notion as illustrated in the judgment of the Court. An alternative approach, drawing on the work of Derrida for the notion of ‘living well together’ will be proposed and its implications for social inclusion explicated. The paper’s aim is to move beyond the specific example of SAS and France to argue that the SAS pattern of identifying particular values as ‘national values’, the deployment of those values through law, policy and public discourse, and their exclusionary effects is playing out in a number of Western democracies, including Canada, the country with which the author is most familiar. Because of this widespread dissemination of values and their framing as representative of who ‘we’ are, there is a pressing need to consider the potentially alienating effects of a specific manifestation of ‘living together’ and an alternative model of ‘living well together’.

  15. Short-lived long non-coding RNAs as surrogate indicators for chemical exposure and LINC00152 and MALAT1 modulate their neighboring genes.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hidenori Tani

    Full Text Available Whole transcriptome analyses have revealed a large number of novel long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs. Although accumulating evidence demonstrates that lncRNAs play important roles in regulating gene expression, the detailed mechanisms of action of most lncRNAs remain unclear. We previously reported that a novel class of lncRNAs with a short half-life (t1/2 < 4 h in HeLa cells, termed short-lived non-coding transcripts (SLiTs, are closely associated with physiological and pathological functions. In this study, we focused on 26 SLiTs and nuclear-enriched abundant lncRNA, MALAT1(t1/2 of 7.6 h in HeLa cells in neural stem cells (NSCs derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells, and identified four SLiTs (TUG1, GAS5, FAM222-AS1, and SNHG15 that were affected by the following typical chemical stresses (oxidative stress, heavy metal stress and protein synthesis stress. We also found the expression levels of LINC00152 (t1/2 of 2.1 h in NSCs, MALAT1 (t1/2 of 1.8 h in NSCs, and their neighboring genes were elevated proportionally to the chemical doses. Moreover, we confirmed that the overexpression of LINC00152 or MALAT1 upregulated the expressions of their neighboring genes even in the absence of chemical stress. These results reveal that LINC00152 and MALAT1 modulate their neighboring genes, and thus provide a deeper understanding of the functions of lncRNAs.

  16. Conversion of zero point energy into high-energy photons

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ivlev, B. I. [Universidad Autonoma de San Luis Potosi, Instituto de Fisica, Av. Manuel Nava No. 6, Zona Universitaria, 78290 San Luis Potosi, SLP (Mexico)

    2016-11-01

    An unusual phenomenon, observed in experiments is studied. X-ray laser bursts of keV energy are emitted from a metal where long-living states, resulting in population inversion, are totally unexpected. Anomalous electron-photon states are revealed to be formed inside the metal. These states are associated with narrow, 10{sup -11} cm, potential well created by the local reduction of zero point electromagnetic energy. In contrast to analogous van der Waals potential well, leading to attraction of two hydrogen atoms, the depth of the anomalous well is on the order of 1 MeV. The states in that well are long-living which results in population inversion and subsequent laser generation observed. The X-ray emission, occurring in transitions to lower levels, is due to the conversion of zero point electromagnetic energy. (Author)

  17. Short Term Group Counseling of Visually Impaired People by Telephone.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jaureguy, Beth M.; Evans, Ron L.

    1983-01-01

    Short term group counseling via the telephone resulted in marked increases in activities of daily living among 12 legally blind veterans. Many subjects' personal coping goals were met as well, and social involvement also increased. No significant changes in levels of depression or agitation were noted. (CL)

  18. Approximative calculation of transient short-circuit currents in power-systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Heuck, K; Rosenberger, R; Dettmann, K D; Kegel, R

    1986-08-01

    The paper shows that it is approximatively possible to calculate the transient short-circuit currents for symmetrical and asymmetrical faults in power-systems. For that purpose a simple equivalent network is found. Its error of approximation is small. For the important maximum short-circuit current limits of error are pointed out compared to VDE 0102.

  19. Short- and long-term memory in Drosophila require cAMP signaling in distinct neuron types.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blum, Allison L; Li, Wanhe; Cressy, Mike; Dubnau, Josh

    2009-08-25

    A common feature of memory and its underlying synaptic plasticity is that each can be dissected into short-lived forms involving modification or trafficking of existing proteins and long-term forms that require new gene expression. An underlying assumption of this cellular view of memory consolidation is that these different mechanisms occur within a single neuron. At the neuroanatomical level, however, different temporal stages of memory can engage distinct neural circuits, a notion that has not been conceptually integrated with the cellular view. Here, we investigated this issue in the context of aversive Pavlovian olfactory memory in Drosophila. Previous studies have demonstrated a central role for cAMP signaling in the mushroom body (MB). The Ca(2+)-responsive adenylyl cyclase RUTABAGA is believed to be a coincidence detector in gamma neurons, one of the three principle classes of MB Kenyon cells. We were able to separately restore short-term or long-term memory to a rutabaga mutant with expression of rutabaga in different subsets of MB neurons. Our findings suggest a model in which the learning experience initiates two parallel associations: a short-lived trace in MB gamma neurons, and a long-lived trace in alpha/beta neurons.

  20. Point of Injury Sampling Technology for Battlefield Molecular Diagnostics

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-11-14

    Injury" Sampling Technology for Battlefield Molecular Diagnostics November 14, 2011 Sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DOD...Date of Contract: April 25, 2011 Short Title of Work: "Point of Injury" Sampling Technology for Battlefield Molecular Diagnostics " Contract...PHASE I FINAL REPORT: Point of Injury, Sampling Technology for Battlefield Molecular Diagnostics . W31P4Q-11-C-0222 (UNCLASSIFIED) P.I: Bernardo

  1. IN-SITU RADIONUCLIDE TRANSPORT NEAR THE NOPAL I URANIUM DEPOSIT AT PENA BLANCA, MEXICO: CONSTRAINTS FROM SHORT-LIVED DECAY-SERIES RADIONUCLIDES

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    S. Luo; T.L. Ku; V. Todd; M. Murrell; J. Alfredo Rodriguez Pineda; J. Dinsmoor; A. Mitchell

    2005-07-11

    For nuclear waste management, an important mechanism by which radioactive waste components are isolated from returning to the human environment, the biosphere, is by the geological barrier in which the effectiveness of the barrier is characterized by in-situ retardation factor, i.e., the transport rate of a radionuclide relative to that of groundwater. As part of natural analog studies of the Yucca Mountain Project of the U. S. Department of Energy, we propose such characterization by using naturally-occurring decay-series radioisotopes as an analog. We collected large-volume (>1000 liters) groundwater samples from three wells (PB, Pozos, and PB4, respectively) near the Nopal I Uranium Ore site at Pena Blanca, Mexico, by using an in-situ Mn-cartridge filtration technique for analysis of short-lived decay-series radionuclides. Results show that the activities of short-lived radioisotopes ({sup 228}Ra, {sup 224}Ra and {sup 223}Ra) and activity ratios of {sup 224}Ra/{sup 228}Ra and {sup 224}Ra/{sup 223}Ra are higher at PB and Pozos than at PB4. In contrast, the {sup 210}Po activity is much lower at PB and Pozos than at PB4. The high Ra activities and activities ratios at PB and Pozos are attributable to the high alpha-recoil input from the aquifer rocks, while the high {sup 210}Po activity at PB4 is due to the enhanced colloidal transport. Based on a uranium-series transport model, we estimate that the in-situ retardation factor of Ra is (0.43 {+-} 0.02) x 10{sup 3} at PB, (1.68 {+-} 0.08) x 10{sup 3} at Pozos, and (1.19 {+-} 0.08) x 10{sup 3} at PB4 and that the mean fracture width in the aquifer rocks is about 0.23 {micro}m at PB, 0.37 {micro}m at Posos, and 4.0 {micro}m at PB4, respectively. The large fracture width at PB4 as derived from the model provides an additional evidence to the inference from the Po measurements that particle-reactive radionuclides are transported mainly as colloidal forms through the large fractures in rocks. Our model also suggests that

  2. A column-store meets the point clouds

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Martinez-Rubi, O.; Kersten, M.L.; Goncalves, R.; Ivanova, M.

    2014-01-01

    Column stores have become the de-facto standard for most datawarehouse solutions. The regularity and query patterns of LIDAR data are a potential application area well suited for this technology. In this short work in progress paper we report on our experiences in supporting point cloud data using

  3. Mechanisms of corrosion, falling short of dew point and formation of corrosion in boilers and exhaust systems. Mechanismen der Korrosionsbildung, der Taupunktunterschreitung und Entstehung von Korrosionen in Kessel- und Abgassystemen

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Marx, E.

    1994-09-01

    In order to save energy boilers for heating systems are run on increasingly lower exhaust gas- and boiler temperatures. Combustion as such depends of type of fuel, boiler and burner design, design of exhaust systems and atmospheric disturbance variables. This article looks at the influence which these factors have on corrosion. Falling short of the dew point is an important parameter in this context. Possibilities of avoiding corrosion are explained. (BWI)

  4. Studies of short-lived products of spallation fission reactions at TRIUMF

    CERN Document Server

    Bischoff, G; D'Auria, J M; Dautet, H; Lee, J K P; Pate, B D; Wiesehahn, W

    1976-01-01

    The gas-jet recoil transport technique has been used to transport products from spallation and fission reactions from a target chamber to a shielded location for nuclear spectroscopic studies. These involve X- beta - gamma coincidence measurements and (shortly) time- of-flight mass spectroscopy. It has been deduced that the proton beam at present intensities has no appreciable effect on the ability of ethylene and other cluster-producing gases to transport radioactivity. Preliminary results will be presented for shortlived fission products from uranium, and for spallation products of iodine and argon. The latter were obtained from the bombardment of gas and aerosol targets mixed with the transporting gas in the target chamber, which appears to be a generally useful technique.

  5. JULIUS CAESAR. PLUTARCH'S LIVES. AUTOBIOGRAPHY. LITERATURE CURRICULUM IV, STUDENT VERSION.

    Science.gov (United States)

    KITZHABER, ALBERT R.

    THIS 10TH-GRADE STUDENT GUIDE POSED SOME QUESTIONS AND CLARIFIED OTHERS ON SHAKESPEARE'S "JULIUS CAESAR," AND PRESENTED SHORT SELECTIONS FROM PLUTARCH'S "LIVES" (ON CAESAR, BRUTUS, AND MARK ANTONY) WITH ACCOMPANYING DISCUSSION QUESTIONS. A UNIT OF AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL READINGS OF EARLY LIFE EXPERIENCES WAS ALSO OUTLINED. BY…

  6. People living on the street from the health point of view.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hino, Paula; Santos, Jaqueline de Oliveira; Rosa, Anderson da Silva

    2018-01-01

    To know the Brazilian scientific production of the last ten years (2007 to 2016) about people who experience street situations under the health gaze. Integrative literature review using the descriptors: street people, health policy and public health. We analyzed 21 articles available in the Virtual Health Library. Four categories of analysis emerged. There was an increase in the frequency of published work on the subject, showing that the experience of living on the street makes people vulnerable to various diseases and health problems and, in addition, increases the difficulties of access to health services. There was an increase in the discussion of this topic due to the increase in the number of published studies. Despite the existence of public health policies directed to this social group, much still needs to be done to guarantee the health of this population.

  7. Online evaluation of point-of-interest recommendation systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dean-Hall, A.; Clarke, C.L.A.; Kamps, J.; Kiseleva, J.

    2015-01-01

    In this work we describe a system to evaluate multiple point- of-interest recommendation systems. In this system each recommendation service will be exposed online and crowd-sourced assessors will interact with merged results from multiple services, which are responding to suggestion requests live,

  8. Differences in ability to perform activities of daily living among women with fibromyalgia

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    von Bülow, Cecilie; Amris, Kirstine; La Cour, Karen

    2015-01-01

    Objective: To investigate whether the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS), the physical function subscales of the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ PF) and the 36-item Short Form (SF-36 PF) can identify subgroups of women with fibromyalgia with clinically relevant differences...... in ability to perform activities of daily living. Design: Cross-sectional study. Subjects: A total of 257 women with fibromyalgia. Methods: Participants were evaluated with the AMPS (measuring activities of daily living motor and activities of daily living process ability), FIQ and SF-36. AMPS independence...

  9. AGE-DEPENDENT INHALATION DOSE DUE TO EXPOSURE OF SHORT LIVED PROGENY OF RADON AND THORON FOR DIFFERENT AGE GROUPS IN JAMMU & KASHMIR, HIMALAYAS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, Sumit; Kumar, Ajay; Mehra, Rohit

    2018-05-16

    Dosimetric approach is used in this study for the assessment of doses due to inhalation of short lived radon/thoron progeny to the inhabitants of Udhampur district of Jammu & Kashmir. This paper also presents the activity concentrations and unattached fraction of radon and thoron progeny. The observed annual concentration of attached and unattached 222Rn and 220Rn progeny has been found to vary from 8 to 32 and 0.09 to 14 Bq/m3, 0.75 to 3.16 and 0.01 to 1.13 Bq/m3, respectively. The inhalation doses from radon progeny to different body organs of different age groups have been calculated by using the age dependent biokinetic model. The attachment rate of 222Rn and indoor aerosol concentration of 222Rn and 220Rn have been estimated and their relation between them has also been studied. The dose conversion factor for mouth and nasal breathing to different exposure conditions has been obtained from Porstendorfer model.

  10. The Precarity of Older Adults Living Alone With Cognitive Impairment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Portacolone, Elena; Rubinstein, Robert L; Covinsky, Kenneth E; Halpern, Jodi; Johnson, Julene K

    2018-01-24

    To examine the lived experience of older adults living alone with cognitive impairment to better understand their needs and concerns. Based on our previous work suggesting that older adults living alone often experience a sense of precarity, we were interested in exploring this construct in older adults living alone with a diagnosis of cognitive impairment. The notion of precarity points to the uncertainty deriving from coping with cumulative pressures while trying to preserve a sense of independence. This is a qualitative study of 12 adults aged 65 and older living alone with cognitive impairment. Six participants had a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease; 6 had a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment. Participants' lived experiences were elicited through 40 ethnographic interviews and participant observation in their homes. Using a qualitative content analysis approach, interview transcripts and fieldnotes were analyzed to identify codes and themes. Qualitative analysis of transcripts revealed three themes. Theme 1 described the distress stemming from the uncertainty of having cognitive impairment that has an unpredictable course. Theme 2 drew attention to the tendency of participants to feel responsible for managing their cognitive impairment. Theme 3 described the pressures stemming from the lack of appropriate services to support independent living for persons with cognitive impairment. These 3 themes all pointed to facets of precarity. Findings also suggest the dearth of programs to support older adults living alone with cognitive impairment and the need to develop novel programs and interventions. © The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  11. Short communication: On the effect of live fuel moisture content on fire-spread rate

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carlos G. Rossa

    2018-01-01

    Research highlights: By providing evidence that the most significant effect of FMC on ROS is independent of vegetation phenology (dead or live condition, and explaining why in specific situations dead FMC is sufficient to provide satisfactory ROS predictions, our results can assist future modelling efforts.

  12. Seat Capacity Selection for an Advanced Short-Haul Aircraft Design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marien, Ty V.

    2016-01-01

    A study was performed to determine the target seat capacity for a proposed advanced short-haul aircraft concept projected to enter the fleet by 2030. This analysis projected the potential demand in the U.S. for a short-haul aircraft using a transportation theory approach, rather than selecting a target seat capacity based on recent industry trends or current market demand. A transportation systems model was used to create a point-to-point network of short-haul trips and then predict the number of annual origin-destination trips on this network. Aircraft of varying seat capacities were used to meet the demand on this network, assuming a single aircraft type for the entire short-haul fleet. For each aircraft size, the ticket revenue and operational costs were used to calculate a total market profitability metric for all feasible flights. The different aircraft sizes were compared, based on this market profitability metric and also the total number of annual round trips and markets served. Sensitivity studies were also performed to determine the effect of changing the aircraft cruise speed and maximum trip length. Using this analysis, the advanced short-haul aircraft design team was able to select a target seat capacity for their design.

  13. Ancient mitochondrial DNA reveals convergent evolution of giant short-faced bears (Tremarctinae) in North and South America.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitchell, Kieren J; Bray, Sarah C; Bover, Pere; Soibelzon, Leopoldo; Schubert, Blaine W; Prevosti, Francisco; Prieto, Alfredo; Martin, Fabiana; Austin, Jeremy J; Cooper, Alan

    2016-04-01

    The Tremarctinae are a subfamily of bears endemic to the New World, including two of the largest terrestrial mammalian carnivores that have ever lived: the giant, short-faced bears Arctodus simus from North America and Arctotherium angustidens from South America (greater than or equal to 1000 kg). Arctotherium angustidens became extinct during the Early Pleistocene, whereas Arctodus simus went extinct at the very end of the Pleistocene. The only living tremarctine is the spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus), a largely herbivorous bear that is today only found in South America. The relationships among the spectacled bears (Tremarctos), South American short-faced bears (Arctotherium) and North American short-faced bears (Arctodus) remain uncertain. In this study, we sequenced a mitochondrial genome from an Arctotherium femur preserved in a Chilean cave. Our molecular phylogenetic analyses revealed that the South American short-faced bears were more closely related to the extant South American spectacled bear than to the North American short-faced bears. This result suggests striking convergent evolution of giant forms in the two groups of short-faced bears (Arctodus and Arctotherium), potentially as an adaptation to dominate competition for megafaunal carcasses. © 2016 The Author(s).

  14. Consideration of reinforcement mechanism in the short fiber mixing granular materials by granular element simulations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mori, Kentaro; Kaneko, Kenji; Hashizume, Yutaka

    2017-06-01

    The short fiber mixing method is well known as one of the method to improve the strength of gran- ular soils in geotechnical engineering. Mechanical properties of the short fiber mixing granular materials are influenced by many factors, such as the mixture ratio of the short fiber, the material of short fiber, the length, and the orientation. In particular, the mixture ratio of the short fibers is very important in mixture design. In the past study, we understood that the strength is reduced by too much short fiber mixing by a series of tri-axial compression experiments. Namely, there is "optimum mixture ratio" in the short fiber mixing granular soils. In this study, to consider the mechanism of occurrence of the optimum mixture ratio, we carried out the numerical experiments by granular element method. As the results, we can understand that the strength decrease when too much grain-fiber contact points exist, because a friction coefficient is smaller than the grain-grain contact points.

  15. The Pervasive Power of PowerPoint

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schoeneborn, Dennis

    2013-01-01

    This paper examines the pervasive role of Microsoft’s presentation software PowerPoint as a genre of professional and organizational communication. Frequently, PowerPoint is not only used for the primary function it was initially designed for, i.e., facilitating live presentations, but also...... for alternative purposes such as project documentation. Its application in a neighboring domain, however, poses a functional dilemma: does the PowerPoint genre preserve the features of its primary function, i.e., presentation, or rather adapt to the new function, i.e., documentation? By drawing on a communication......-centered perspective, this paper examines PowerPoint’s role in the domain of project documentation as a clash between the constitutive affordances of professional and of organizational communication. To investigate this issue empirically, I conducted a case study at a multinational business consulting firm. The study...

  16. The experience of living with adult-onset epilepsy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kılınç, Stephanie; van Wersch, Anna; Campbell, Carol; Guy, Alison

    2017-08-01

    The incidence and prevalence of adults diagnosed with epilepsy is higher compared to those diagnosed in childhood, yet the experience of living with adult-onset epilepsy has rarely been examined. Hence, the current study took a phenomenological approach to examining the experience of living with epilepsy following diagnosis in adulthood. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 39 people from across the UK, diagnosed with epilepsy between the ages of eighteen and sixty, at two points in time, six months apart. Phenomenological analysis identified three central themes: the unpredictability of seizure occurrence; the ripple effect; and re-evaluating the future. Despite the accepted consensus in the epilepsy literature that living and coping with epilepsy becomes more difficult the older a person is diagnosed, the current findings indicated that this is inadequate. Rather, it is more suitable to consider that those living with adult-onset epilepsy have a specific experience of the condition and particular support needs, given that they once lived their lives as people without epilepsy. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Studies of short-lived radicals in the. gamma. -irradiated aqueous solution of uridine-5'-monophosphate by the spin-trapping method and the liquid chromatography

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kominami, S [Hiroshima Univ. (Japan); Rokushika, S; Hatano, H

    1976-12-01

    An aerated aqueous solution of uridine-5'-monophosphate was ..gamma..-irradiated with 2-methyl-2-nitrosopropane as a spin-trapping reagent. Liquid chromatography was applied to separate the stable nitroxide radicals in the irradiated solution. The radicals were detected by U.V. and e.s.r. spectrometry. The e.s.r. detection showed four peaks in the chromatogram. The orcinol method for detection of the residual sugar moieties was applied before and after reduction of the base to determine the existence of the 5,6-double bond for the molecules in each fraction. From the combined results of the e.s.r. and orcinol methods, the short-lived radicals which were trapped by 2-methyl-2-nitrosopropane were identified as radicals of N-1 and C-6 positions of the base moiety and t-butyl radicals which was the radiolytic product of the trapping reagent.

  18. The effects of short-lived radionuclides and porosity on the early thermo-mechanical evolution of planetesimals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lichtenberg, Tim; Golabek, Gregor J.; Gerya, Taras V.; Meyer, Michael R.

    2016-08-01

    The thermal history and internal structure of chondritic planetesimals, assembled before the giant impact phase of chaotic growth, potentially yield important implications for the final composition and evolution of terrestrial planets. These parameters critically depend on the internal balance of heating versus cooling, which is mostly determined by the presence of short-lived radionuclides (SLRs), such as 26Al and 60Fe, as well as the heat conductivity of the material. The heating by SLRs depends on their initial abundances, the formation time of the planetesimal and its size. It has been argued that the cooling history is determined by the porosity of the granular material, which undergoes dramatic changes via compaction processes and tends to decrease with time. In this study we assess the influence of these parameters on the thermo-mechanical evolution of young planetesimals with both 2D and 3D simulations. Using the code family I2ELVIS/I3ELVIS we have run numerous 2D and 3D numerical finite-difference fluid dynamic models with varying planetesimal radius, formation time and initial porosity. Our results indicate that powdery materials lowered the threshold for melting and convection in planetesimals, depending on the amount of SLRs present. A subset of planetesimals retained a powdery surface layer which lowered the thermal conductivity and hindered cooling. The effect of initial porosity was small, however, compared to those of planetesimal size and formation time, which dominated the thermo-mechanical evolution and were the primary factors for the onset of melting and differentiation. We comment on the implications of this work concerning the structure and evolution of these planetesimals, as well as their behavior as possible building blocks of terrestrial planets.

  19. Systema naturae or the outline of living world classification

    OpenAIRE

    Shipunov, Alexey

    2009-01-01

    Here we present the short outline of the classification of living things (to the level of classes), given with two main goals: to provide a compact, synthetic overview of the biological diversity; and to supply users with up-todate information of latest taxonomic achievements. The latter is especially important in the recent epoch of molecular revolution in the taxonomy.

  20. Point Genetics: A New Concept to Assess Neutron Kinetics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Klein Meulekamp, R.; Kuijper, J.C.; Schikorr, M.

    2005-01-01

    Point genetic equations are introduced. These equations are similar to the well-known point kinetic equations but characterize and couple individual fission generations in subcritical systems. Point genetic equations are able to describe dynamic behavior of source-driven subcritical systems on shorter timescales than is possible with point kinetic equations. Point genetic parameters can be used as a first-order characterization of the system and can be calculated using standard Monte Carlo techniques; the implementation in other calculational schemes seems straightforward. A Godiva sphere is considered to show the applicability of the point genetic equations in describing a detector response on short timescales. For this system the point genetic parameters are calculated and compared with reference calculations. Typical dynamic source behavior is considered by studying a transient in which the neutron source energy decreases from 20 to 1 MeV. For all cases studied, the point genetic equations are compared to full space-time kinetic solutions, and it is shown that point genetics performs well

  1. Bright point study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tang, F.; Harvey, K.; Bruner, M.; Kent, B.; Antonucci, E.

    1982-01-01

    Transition region and coronal observations of bright points by instruments aboard the Solar Maximum Mission and high resolution photospheric magnetograph observations on September 11, 1980 are presented. A total of 31 bipolar ephemeral regions were found in the photosphere from birth in 9.3 hours of combined magnetograph observations from three observatories. Two of the three ephemeral regions present in the field of view of the Ultraviolet Spectrometer-Polarimeter were observed in the C IV 1548 line. The unobserved ephemeral region was determined to be the shortest-lived (2.5 hr) and lowest in magnetic flux density (13G) of the three regions. The Flat Crystal Spectrometer observed only low level signals in the O VIII 18.969 A line, which were not statistically significant to be positively identified with any of the 16 ephemeral regions detected in the photosphere. In addition, the data indicate that at any given time there lacked a one-to-one correspondence between observable bright points and photospheric ephemeral regions, while more ephemeral regions were observed than their counterparts in the transition region and the corona

  2. New data on some short-lived isotopes of ruthenium and rhodium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baumgartner, F.; Plata Bedmar, A.

    1961-01-01

    Ru and Rd isotopes with mass numbers 107 and 108 and 1 09Rh, has been obtained from fission products. 1 07 Ru has also been prepared by the nuclear process 1 10Pd (n,α) 1 07 Ru. Beta and gamma energies of these nuclides have been studied spectropolarimetry and the gamma lines found for 1 07 Ru and 1 08Ru ( and daughter) have been very useful for the precise determination of their half-lives. 1 09Rh has been identified through its daughter 1 09Pd in the mixture of rhodium isotopes from fission products. Irradiation of natural palladium with fast neutrons has lead to an activity that may only be attributed to 1 10rh. Neither its half life nor its decay energy have been possible to determine accurately. (Author) 1 refs

  3. Living with an unfixable heart: a qualitative study exploring the experience of living with advanced heart failure.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Ryan, Marie

    2012-02-01

    BACKGROUND: Nurses working with patients with advanced heart failure need knowledge that will help us to help patients cope with their situations of chronic illness. However, our knowledge bank is deficient due to the scarcity of inquiry that takes the affected person\\'s point of view as its central focus. AIM: The aim of this study was to describe patients\\' experiences of living with advanced heart failure. METHODS: The study sample (N=9) consisted of male (N=6) and female (N=3) patients with advanced (NYHA classes III-IV) heart failure. The design was qualitative and open unstructured interviews were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim during 2006. RESULTS: Four main themes emerged: Living in the Shadow of Fear; Running on Empty; Living a Restricted life; and Battling the System. The experience of living with advanced heart failure was described as a fearful and tired sort of living characterised by escalating impotence and dependence. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that there may be an illogical but enduring ethos of \\'cure\\' pervading health care worker\\'s attitudes to advanced heart failure care. This mindset might be working to hinder the application of additional or alternative therapies, which might better palliate the physical and psychosocial distress of patients.

  4. Introduction to nanotechnology: a short course for high school students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Markin, Alexey V.

    2016-04-01

    This report devoted to presenting results of development and implementation of a short course (4 hours) entitled "Introduction to Nanotechnology" that was specially designed for familiarizing high school students with nanomaterials and nanotechnology. The course contains introduction to nanotechnology, essential definitions, short overview of history, descriptions for various examples of nanomaterials and their classifications, performing demonstration experiments. All these parts of the course are briefly analyzed from pedagogical effectiveness point of view. Finally, results of course testing, problems and perspectives of nano-oriented education at high school are also discussed shortly.

  5. Autofluorescence-Free Live-Cell Imaging Using Terbium Nanoparticles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cardoso Dos Santos, M; Goetz, J; Bartenlian, H; Wong, K-L; Charbonnière, L J; Hildebrandt, N

    2018-04-18

    Fluorescent nanoparticles (NPs) have become irreplaceable tools for advanced cellular and subcellular imaging. While very bright NPs require excitation with UV or visible light, which can create strong autofluorescence of biological components, NIR-excitable NPs without autofluorescence issues exhibit much lower brightness. Here, we show the application of a new type of surface-photosensitized terbium NPs (Tb-NPs) for autofluorescence-free intracellular imaging in live HeLa cells. The combination of exceptionally high brightness, high photostability, and long photoluminecence (PL) lifetimes for highly efficient suppression of the short-lived autofluorescence allowed for time-gated PL imaging of intracellular vesicles over 72 h without toxicity and at extremely low Tb-NP concentrations down to 12 pM. Detection of highly resolved long-lifetime (ms) PL decay curves from small (∼10 μm 2 ) areas within single cells within a few seconds emphasized the unprecedented photophysical properties of Tb-NPs for live-cell imaging that extend well beyond currently available nanometric imaging agents.

  6. Towards short wavelengths FELs workshop

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ben-Zvi, I.; Winick, H.

    1993-01-01

    This workshop was caged because of the growing perception in the FEL source community that recent advances have made it possible to extend FEL operation to wavelengths about two orders of magnitude shorter than the 240 nm that has been achieved to date. In addition short wavelength FELs offer the possibilities of extremely high peak power (several gigawatts) and very short pulses (of the order of 100 fs). Several groups in the USA are developing plans for such short wavelength FEL facilities. However, reviewers of these plans have pointed out that it would be highly desirable to first carry out proof-of-principle experiments at longer wavelengths to increase confidence that the shorter wavelength devices will indeed perform as calculated. The need for such experiments has now been broadly accepted by the FEL community. Such experiments were the main focus of this workshop as described in the following objectives distributed to attendees: (1) Define measurements needed to gain confidence that short wavelength FELs will perform as calculated. (2) List possible hardware that could be used to carry out these measurements in the near term. (3) Define a prioritized FEL physics experimental program and suggested timetable. (4) Form collaborative teams to carry out this program

  7. Towards short wavelengths FELs workshop

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ben-Zvi, I.; Winick, H.

    1993-11-01

    This workshop was caged because of the growing perception in the FEL source community that recent advances have made it possible to extend FEL operation to wavelengths about two orders of magnitude shorter than the 240 nm that has been achieved to date. In addition short wavelength FEL's offer the possibilities of extremely high peak power (several gigawatts) and very short pulses (of the order of 100 fs). Several groups in the USA are developing plans for such short wavelength FEL facilities. However, reviewers of these plans have pointed out that it would be highly desirable to first carry out proof-of-principle experiments at longer wavelengths to increase confidence that the shorter wavelength devices will indeed perform as calculated. The need for such experiments has now been broadly accepted by the FEL community. Such experiments were the main focus of this workshop as described in the following objectives distributed to attendees: (1) Define measurements needed to gain confidence that short wavelength FEL's will perform as calculated. (2) List possible hardware that could be used to carry out these measurements in the near term. (3) Define a prioritized FEL physics experimental program and suggested timetable. (4) Form collaborative teams to carry out this program.

  8. Group- and Individual-Level Responsiveness of the 3-Point Berg Balance Scale and 3-Point Postural Assessment Scale for Stroke Patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Yi-Jing; Lin, Gong-Hong; Lee, Shih-Chieh; Chen, Yi-Miau; Huang, Sheau-Ling; Hsieh, Ching-Lin

    2018-03-01

    To examine both group- and individual-level responsiveness of the 3-point Berg Balance Scale (BBS-3P) and 3-point Postural Assessment Scale for Stroke Patients (PASS-3P) in patients with stroke, and to compare the responsiveness of both 3-point measures versus their original measures (Berg Balance Scale [BBS] and Postural Assessment Scale for Stroke Patients [PASS]) and their short forms (short-form Berg Balance Scale [SFBBS] and short-form Postural Assessment Scale for Stroke Patients [SFPASS]) and between the BBS-3P and PASS-3P. Data were retrieved from a previous study wherein 212 patients were assessed at 14 and 30 days after stroke with the BBS and PASS. Medical center. Patients (N=212) with first onset of stroke within 14 days before hospitalization. Not applicable. Group-level responsiveness was examined by the standardized response mean (SRM), and individual-level responsiveness was examined by the proportion of patients whose change scores exceeded the minimal detectable change of each measure. The responsiveness was compared using the bootstrap approach. The BBS-3P and PASS-3P had good group-level (SRM, .60 and SRM, .56, respectively) and individual-level (48.1% and 44.8% of the patients with significant improvement, respectively) responsiveness. Bootstrap analyses showed that the BBS-3P generally had superior responsiveness to the BBS and SFBBS, and the PASS-3P had similar responsiveness to the PASS and SFPASS. The BBS-3P and PASS-3P were equally responsive to both group and individual change. The responsiveness of the BBS-3P and PASS-3P was comparable or superior to those of the original and short-form measures. We recommend the BBS-3P and PASS-3P as responsive outcome measures of balance for individuals with stroke. Copyright © 2017 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Estimating long-run equilibrium real exchange rates: short-lived shocks with long-lived impacts on Pakistan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zardad, Asma; Mohsin, Asma; Zaman, Khalid

    2013-12-01

    The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that affect real exchange rate volatility for Pakistan through the co-integration and error correction model over a 30-year time period, i.e. between 1980 and 2010. The study employed the autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (ARCH), generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) and Vector Error Correction model (VECM) to estimate the changes in the volatility of real exchange rate series, while an error correction model was used to determine the short-run dynamics of the system. The study is limited to a few variables i.e., productivity differential (i.e., real GDP per capita relative to main trading partner); terms of trade; trade openness and government expenditures in order to manage robust data. The result indicates that real effective exchange rate (REER) has been volatile around its equilibrium level; while, the speed of adjustment is relatively slow. VECM results confirm long run convergence of real exchange rate towards its equilibrium level. Results from ARCH and GARCH estimation shows that real shocks volatility persists, so that shocks die out rather slowly, and lasting misalignment seems to have occurred.

  10. Short run hydrothermal coordination with network constraints using an interior point method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lopez Lezama, Jesus Maria; Gallego Pareja, Luis Alfonso; Mejia Giraldo, Diego

    2008-01-01

    This paper presents a lineal optimization model to solve the hydrothermal coordination problem. The main contribution of this work is the inclusion of the network constraints to the hydrothermal coordination problem and its solution using an interior point method. The proposed model allows working with a system that can be completely hydraulic, thermal or mixed. Results are presented on the IEEE 14 bus test system

  11. Laser resonance ionization for ultra-trace analysis on long-lived ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    for producing pure beams of short-lived isotopes at on-line facilities. .... mental design is to develop a compact table-top RIS experiment which allows for. 1058 ... partial beams which are merged by dichroic mirrors and polarization beam splitter ... A quasi-cw 35 W CO2 laser is used for efficient non-resonant ionization of.

  12. Methods to Collect, Compile, and Analyze Observed Short-lived Fission Product Gamma Data

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Finn, Erin C.; Metz, Lori A.; Payne, Rosara F.; Friese, Judah I.; Greenwood, Lawrence R.; Kephart, Jeremy D.; Pierson, Bruce D.; Ellis, Tere A.

    2011-09-29

    A unique set of fission product gamma spectra was collected at short times (4 minutes to 1 week) on various fissionable materials. Gamma spectra were collected from the neutron-induced fission of uranium, neptunium, and plutonium isotopes at thermal, epithermal, fission spectrum, and 14-MeV neutron energies. This report describes the experimental methods used to produce and collect the gamma data, defines the experimental parameters for each method, and demonstrates the consistency of the measurements.

  13. H.A.L.P. : Home Automated Living Platform

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vellinga, Marco; Fellinger, Hielke; Homs, Ruben; Tilma, Lisanne; Vos, Jorga

    2013-01-01

    At ageing, there comes a certain point when people are no longer able to live independently in their own homes. With an ever increasing elderly population, this constitutes a significant and increasing burden for the health care expenses. The need for more cost effective solutions is evident.

  14. Relativity a very short introduction

    CERN Document Server

    Stannard, F Russell

    2008-01-01

    Relativity: A Very Short Introduction makes the theory of relativity understandable and accessible. 100 years ago, Einstein's theory of relativity shattered the world of physics. Our comforting Newtonian ideas of space and time were replaced by bizarre and counterintuitive conclusions: if you move at high speed, time slows down, space squashes up and you get heavier; travel fast enough and you could weigh as much as a jumbo jet, be squashed thinner than a CD without feeling a thing - and live forever. And that was just the special theory. With the general theory came even stranger ideas of curved space-time, which changed our understanding of gravity and the cosmos.

  15. Nothing a very short introduction

    CERN Document Server

    Close, Frank

    2009-01-01

    What is 'nothing'? What remains when you take all the matter away? Can empty space - a void - exist? This Very Short Introduction explores the science and the history of the elusive void: from Aristotle who insisted that the vacuum was impossible, via the theories of Newton and Einstein, to our very latest discoveries and why they can tell us extraordinary things about the cosmos. Frank Close tells the story of how scientists have explored the elusive void, and the rich discoveries that they have made there. He takes the reader on a lively and accessible history through ancient ideas and cultural superstitions to the frontiers of current research

  16. Progression to surgery: online versus live seminar.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miletics, Maureen; Claros, Leonardo; Stoltzfus, Jill; Davis, Terri; Chaar, Maher El

    2018-03-01

    The objective of this study was to evaluate progression to surgery rates for live and online seminar and assess weight loss outcome comparisons at 1-year postoperation. University Hospital Network, Allentown, PA, USA. The entry point into our program was an information seminar where prospective patients are educated about obesity, bariatric surgery, indications and contraindications, risks and benefits, and our center's process. Between January of 2009 and November of 2011, only live information seminars were offered. In November of 2011, we started offering an online information seminar to reach those who are unable to attend a live seminar. Tracking of live versus online seminar attendance was documented in our database. Between November 1, 2011 and September 30, 2015, 3484 people completed an information seminar. Of those, 2744 attendees came to a live seminar while 740 completed the online seminar. A significantly higher number of live seminar attendees, 78.1% (2144/2744) progressed to an office visit compared with online seminar attendees 66.5% (492/740), Ponline attendees (Ponline seminar, P = .65) and initial body mass index (46.3 ± 7.4 for live seminar versus 45.3 ± 7.1 for online seminar, P = .09) were very similar between the groups. Online seminar attendees' age (42.7 ± 12.1) was younger than that of the live seminar attendees' (47.3 ± 12.3) (P<.0001) but has little clinical value. Our results demonstrated that live seminar attendees are more likely to progress to surgery and therefore should continue to be offered. Copyright © 2018 American Society for Bariatric Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Criterion validity of a Wechsler-III scale short form in a sample of Brazilian Elderly

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eliane Ferreira Carvalho Banhato

    Full Text Available Abstract Although a normative process, changes in cognitive functioning vary among older adults. The differential diagnosis between normal and pathological aging must be made early using psychometrically adequate measures. Objectives: To assess the evidence of criterion validity of a Short Form (SF of the Wechsler-III Scale containing eight subtests (SF8 by determining its sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values and cut-off points for Brazilian elderly from different age groups. Methods: 168 individuals, aged 60 years or above, living in the community or in an institution, were assigned to case and control groups, and investigated according to age range. Measures included a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE, Verbal Fluency Test, Clock-Drawing Test and the SF8. Results: More than two thirds of the sample was women (73.8%, mean age was 74.5 years (SD=8.9, mean education was 6.2 years (SD=4.8 and 40.5% were widows/widowers. In the total sample, the best cut-off point for the SF8 was 142 while cut offs among individuals aged 60 to 69 years, 70 to 79 years, and more than 80 years were 160, 129 and 129, respectively. Conclusions: The results demonstrated the importance of different cut-off points for different age ranges. Sensitivity and specificity values of the SF8 were sufficiently high to warrant the use of the SF8 as an instrument to identify cognitive impairment in the elderly.

  18. Criterion validity of a Wechsler-III Scale Short Form in a sample of brazilian elderly.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Banhato, Eliane Ferreira Carvalho; Leite, Isabel Cristina Gonçalves; Guedes, Danielle Viveiros; Chaoubah, Alfredo

    2010-01-01

    Although a normative process, changes in cognitive functioning vary among older adults. The differential diagnosis between normal and pathological aging must be made early using psychometrically adequate measures. To assess the evidence of criterion validity of a Short Form (SF) of the Wechsler-III Scale containing eight subtests (SF8) by determining its sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values and cut-off points for Brazilian elderly from different age groups. 168 individuals, aged 60 years or above, living in the community or in an institution, were assigned to case and control groups, and investigated according to age range. Measures included a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Verbal Fluency Test, Clock-Drawing Test and the SF8. More than two thirds of the sample was women (73.8%), mean age was 74.5 years (SD=8.9), mean education was 6.2 years (SD=4.8) and 40.5% were widows/widowers. In the total sample, the best cut-off point for the SF8 was 142 while cut offs among individuals aged 60 to 69 years, 70 to 79 years, and more than 80 years were 160, 129 and 129, respectively. The results demonstrated the importance of different cut-off points for different age ranges. Sensitivity and specificity values of the SF8 were sufficiently high to warrant the use of the SF8 as an instrument to identify cognitive impairment in the elderly.

  19. Glucose Homeostasis During Short-term and Prolonged Exposure to High Altitudes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ader, Marilyn; Bergman, Richard N.

    2015-01-01

    Most of the literature related to high altitude medicine is devoted to the short-term effects of high-altitude exposure on human physiology. However, long-term effects of living at high altitudes may be more important in relation to human disease because more than 400 million people worldwide reside above 1500 m. Interestingly, individuals living at higher altitudes have a lower fasting glycemia and better glucose tolerance compared with those who live near sea level. There is also emerging evidence of the lower prevalence of both obesity and diabetes at higher altitudes. The mechanisms underlying improved glucose control at higher altitudes remain unclear. In this review, we present the most current evidence about glucose homeostasis in residents living above 1500 m and discuss possible mechanisms that could explain the lower fasting glycemia and lower prevalence of obesity and diabetes in this population. Understanding the mechanisms that regulate and maintain the lower fasting glycemia in individuals who live at higher altitudes could lead to new therapeutics for impaired glucose homeostasis. PMID:25675133

  20. Using a space filling curve approach for the management of dynamic point clouds

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Psomadaki, S; van Oosterom, P.J.M.; Tijssen, T.P.M.; Baart, F.

    2016-01-01

    Point cloud usage has increased over the years. The development of low-cost sensors makes it now possible to acquire frequent point cloud measurements on a short time period (day, hour, second). Based on the requirements coming from the coastal monitoring domain, we have developed, implemented and

  1. Extracurricular Activities and Their Effect on the Student's Grade Point Average: Statistical Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bakoban, R. A.; Aljarallah, S. A.

    2015-01-01

    Extracurricular activities (ECA) are part of students' everyday life; they play important roles in students' lives. Few studies have addressed the question of how student engagements to ECA affect student's grade point average (GPA). This research was conducted to know whether the students' grade point average in King Abdulaziz University,…

  2. Attitudes Toward Bile Extraction From Living Bears: Survey of Citizens and Students in Beijing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Zhao; Jiang, Zhigang; Yang, Aifang; Xu, Bingbing; Fang, Hongxia; Xie, Zongping; Li, Ning; Li, Chunwang; Meng, Zhibin; Zeng, Yan

    2017-01-01

    Bear bile is a traditional Chinese medicine that has been used for millennia. Several arguments support and oppose the use of bear farming in terms of conservation and nonhuman animal welfare. This study involved designing a questionnaire and surveying a random sample of general citizens and college students in Beijing to elicit their attitudes on bile extraction from living bears. Older people and people with lower education levels used more bear bile medicines. In total, 29.47% (n = 204) of citizens and 23.14% (n = 81) of students surveyed used bear bile medicine since 1990. Students were less willing to use bear bile medicines than citizens (p bears; anti for short) was significantly higher than that for the red side (support the extraction of bile from living bears; pro for short; p bears.

  3. 222Rn and short live progeny in atmospheric environment. Origin and measurement techniques

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Charuau, J.; Labed, V.; Robe, M.C.; Thevenin, J.C.; Fazileabasse, J.; Klein, D.; Heleschewitz, H.; Tymen, G.; Aubert, C.; Gibaud, C.

    1996-01-01

    Radon is the main source of man's exposure to natural ionizing radiation. This document summarizes the general knowledge of the origin of radon 222 and its development in various air environments. It presents several methods for measuring radon activity concentration and the potential alpha energy from its short life daughters. It has been prepared by the commission M60-3, of the Office for the standardization of nuclear equipments (BNEN in French) under the French association for standardization (AFNOR in French). (author)

  4. Preliminary Results of IS Plasma Focus as a Breeder of Short-Lived Radioisotopes 12C(d,n)13N

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sadat Kiai, S. M.; Elahi, M.; Adlparvar, S.; Shahhoseini, E.; Sheibani, S.; Ranjber akivaj, H.; Alhooie, S.; Safarien, A.; Farhangi, S.; Aghaei, N.; Amini, S.; Khalaj, M. M.; Zirak, A. R.; Dabirzadeh, A. A.; Soleimani, J.; Torkzadeh, F.; Mousazadeh, M. M.; Moradi, K.; Abdollahzadeh, M.; Talaei, A.; Zaeem, A. A.; Moslehi, A.; Kashani, A.; Babazadeh, A. R.; Bagiyan, F.; Ardestani, M.; Roozbahani, A.; Pourbeigi, H.; Tajik Ahmadi, H.; Ahmadifaghih, M. A.; Mahlooji, M. S.; Mortazavi, B. N.; Zahedi, F.

    2011-04-01

    Modified IS (Iranian Sun) plasma focus (10 kJ,15 kV, 94 μF, 0.1 Hz) has been used to produce the short-lived radioisotope 13N (half-life of 9.97 min) through 12C(d,n)13N nuclear reaction. The filling gas was 1.5-3 torr of hydrogen (60%) deuterium (40%) mixture. The target was solid nuclear grade graphite with 5 mm thick, 9 cm width and 13 in length. The activations of the exogenous target on average of 20 shots (only one-third acceptable) through 10-13 kV produced the 511 keV gamma rays. Another peak found at the 570 keV gamma of which both was measured by a NaI portable gamma spectrometer calibrated by a 137Cs 0.25 μCi sealed reference source with its single line at 661.65 keV and 22Na 0.1 μCi at 511 keV. To measure the gamma rays, the graphite target converts to three different phases; solid graphite, powder graphite, and powder graphite in water solution. The later phase approximately has a doubled activity with respect to the solid graphite target up to 0.5 μCi of 511 keV and 1.1 μCi of 570 keV gamma lines were produced. This increment in activity was perhaps due to structural transformation of graphite powder to nano-particles characteristic in liquid water.

  5. The Traces of “New Character” in Uzbek Short Story Heroes Based on Two Examples of Uzbek Short Stories of the Present Day

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Veli Savaş Yelok

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The era following the Uzbek independence resulted in a renaissance in Uzbek life. This process in which a renaissance was experienced, also affected the material and moral elements that shape their view of life. When this situation affected the way people understand life, this reform of the Uzbek people naturally formed “the new era”. This new era demanded new ways of thinking from those who lived in that era. The effect of this development and change on people’s minds and their way of understanding and thinkingand its description found itself in literary life. In the short stories published following the independence, the spirit of the time and the different fates of those people who lived in that era were reflected. As a result, writers created the heroes of today through the change experienced by people in their inner world who lived in the same era as the writers. As a general principle, creating a hero is seen as the first issue in the literature of every era. This is so because the hero in the work of literature is the tool that reflects the inner and outer world of the people of a specific era. All the nice and ugly things in a person’s life -starting from the person’s lifestyle and continuing to the end of his life- are passed onto the hero’s thoughts and actions. Describing the changes constantly observed in a hero’s character, reflecting these by forming a direct relationship with the era is comparatively easier in a short story when compared to other genres. In this article, information on the development of short story in present day Uzbek Literature is presented. In addition, the reflection of “the person of the new era” observed in the heroes in the stories “The Author” and “The Trick of Gumshoe Jacob” written by Erkin A‘zam and Xurshid Dostmuhammad who have gained the admiration of readers in their works following the independence is studied.

  6. Reading the Writer's Craft: The Hemingway Short Stories

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garrigues, Lisa

    2004-01-01

    The high school students who spent five weeks studying the style and craft of Ernest Hemingway experienced the power and plus points of apprenticeships. Several assignments that helped the high school juniors to analyze Hemingway's work on short stories and learn from this master craftsman are presented.

  7. Fatherhood and Men's Lives at Middle Age

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eggebeen, David J.; Dew, Jeffrey; Knoester, Chris

    2010-01-01

    This article uses data on 2,024 men who were followed through the third wave of the National Survey of Families and Households to examine the implications of fatherhood experiences for men's involvement in altruistic social activities at middle age. We find that middle-aged men (ages 45-65) who at some point in their lives become fathers are…

  8. Human monitoring, smart health and assisted living techniques and technologies

    CERN Document Server

    Longhi, Sauro; Freddi, Alessandro

    2017-01-01

    This book covers the three main scientific and technological areas critical for improving people's quality of life - namely human monitoring, smart health and assisted living - from both the research and development points of view.

  9. Duan's fixed point theorem: Proof and generalization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arkowitz Martin

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available Let be an H-space of the homotopy type of a connected, finite CW-complex, any map and the th power map. Duan proved that has a fixed point if . We give a new, short and elementary proof of this. We then use rational homotopy to generalize to spaces whose rational cohomology is the tensor product of an exterior algebra on odd dimensional generators with the tensor product of truncated polynomial algebras on even dimensional generators. The role of the power map is played by a -structure as defined by Hemmi-Morisugi-Ooshima. The conclusion is that and each has a fixed point.

  10. Lessons Learned from OMI Observations of Point Source SO2 Pollution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krotkov, N.; Fioletov, V.; McLinden, Chris

    2011-01-01

    The Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASA Aura satellite makes global daily measurements of the total column of sulfur dioxide (SO2), a short-lived trace gas produced by fossil fuel combustion, smelting, and volcanoes. Although anthropogenic SO2 signals may not be detectable in a single OMI pixel, it is possible to see the source and determine its exact location by averaging a large number of individual measurements. We describe new techniques for spatial and temporal averaging that have been applied to the OMI SO2 data to determine the spatial distributions or "fingerprints" of SO2 burdens from top 100 pollution sources in North America. The technique requires averaging of several years of OMI daily measurements to observe SO2 pollution from typical anthropogenic sources. We found that the largest point sources of SO2 in the U.S. produce elevated SO2 values over a relatively small area - within 20-30 km radius. Therefore, one needs higher than OMI spatial resolution to monitor typical SO2 sources. TROPOMI instrument on the ESA Sentinel 5 precursor mission will have improved ground resolution (approximately 7 km at nadir), but is limited to once a day measurement. A pointable geostationary UVB spectrometer with variable spatial resolution and flexible sampling frequency could potentially achieve the goal of daily monitoring of SO2 point sources and resolve downwind plumes. This concept of taking the measurements at high frequency to enhance weak signals needs to be demonstrated with a GEOCAPE precursor mission before 2020, which will help formulating GEOCAPE measurement requirements.

  11. Half-life and mass measurement of the short-lived {sup 215}Po isotope (1.78 ms) at the FRS ion catcher

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rink, Ann-Kathrin; Bergmann, Julian; Ebert, Jens; Hornung, Christine; Miskun, Ivan; Reiter, Moritz P. [Justus-Liebig Universitaet Giessen (Germany); Ayet San Andres, Samuel; Dickel, Timo; Plass, Wolfgang R.; Scheidenberger, Christoph [Justus-Liebig Universitaet Giessen (Germany); GSI, Darmstadt (Germany); Geissel, Hans; Purushothaman, Sivaji [GSI, Darmstadt (Germany)

    2016-07-01

    At the Low-Energy Branch (LEB) of the Super-FRS at FAIR, precision experiments with exotic nuclei will be performed using ion traps and lasers. The nuclei will be produced at relativistic energies, slowed down, thermalised in a cryogenic stopping cell (CSC) and made available to various experiments. The thermalisation is a challenging task because of the large energy straggling of the nuclei after production, which requires a stopping cell with large areal densities. Also, the process needs to be performed on a millisecond time scale in order to give access to short-lived nuclides. This method has already been successfully applied at the FRS Ion Catcher at GSI using a prototype CSC. Recently the potential of the method has been demonstrated by the mass and half-life measurement of the {sup 215}Po nuclide with a half-life of 1.78 ms only. The multiple-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer at the FRS Ion Catcher has been used to determine the mass to a sub-ppm accuracy and to provide a mass-selected beam for alpha spectroscopy. Furthermore, experiments have been performed with the prototype CSC in order to test novel concepts to be used with the final version of the CSC for the LEB.

  12. Experimental Study of Thermal Field Evolution in the Short-Impending Stage Before Earthquakes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ren, Yaqiong; Ma, Jin; Liu, Peixun; Chen, Shunyun

    2017-08-01

    Phenomena at critical points are vital for identifying the short-impending stage prior to earthquakes. The peak stress is a critical point when stress is converted from predominantly accumulation to predominantly release. We call the duration between the peak stress and instability "the meta-instability stage", which refers to the short-impending stage of earthquakes. The meta-instability stage consists of a steady releasing quasi-static stage and an accelerated releasing quasi-dynamic stage. The turning point of the above two stages is the remaining critical point. To identify the two critical points in the field, it is necessary to study the characteristic phenomena of various physical fields in the meta-instability stage in the laboratory, and the strain and displacement variations were studied. Considering that stress and relative displacement can be detected by thermal variations and peculiarities in the full-field observations, we employed a cooled thermal infrared imaging system to record thermal variations in the meta-instability stage of stick slip events generated along a simulated, precut planer strike slip fault in a granodiorite block on a horizontally bilateral servo-controlled press machine. The experimental results demonstrate the following: (1) a large area of decreasing temperatures in wall rocks and increasing temperatures in sporadic sections of the fault indicate entrance into the meta-instability stage. (2) The rapid expansion of regions of increasing temperatures on the fault and the enhancement of temperature increase amplitude correspond to the turning point from the quasi-static stage to the quasi-dynamic stage. Our results reveal thermal indicators for the critical points prior to earthquakes that provide clues for identifying the short-impending stage of earthquakes.

  13. Extracting biologically significant patterns from short time series gene expression data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    McGinnis Thomas

    2009-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Time series gene expression data analysis is used widely to study the dynamics of various cell processes. Most of the time series data available today consist of few time points only, thus making the application of standard clustering techniques difficult. Results We developed two new algorithms that are capable of extracting biological patterns from short time point series gene expression data. The two algorithms, ASTRO and MiMeSR, are inspired by the rank order preserving framework and the minimum mean squared residue approach, respectively. However, ASTRO and MiMeSR differ from previous approaches in that they take advantage of the relatively few number of time points in order to reduce the problem from NP-hard to linear. Tested on well-defined short time expression data, we found that our approaches are robust to noise, as well as to random patterns, and that they can correctly detect the temporal expression profile of relevant functional categories. Evaluation of our methods was performed using Gene Ontology (GO annotations and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP-chip data. Conclusion Our approaches generally outperform both standard clustering algorithms and algorithms designed specifically for clustering of short time series gene expression data. Both algorithms are available at http://www.benoslab.pitt.edu/astro/.

  14. Relativistic dynamics of point magnetic moment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rafelski, Johann; Formanek, Martin; Steinmetz, Andrew

    2018-01-01

    The covariant motion of a classical point particle with magnetic moment in the presence of (external) electromagnetic fields is revisited. We are interested in understanding extensions to the Lorentz force involving point particle magnetic moment (Stern-Gerlach force) and how the spin precession dynamics is modified for consistency. We introduce spin as a classical particle property inherent to Poincaré symmetry of space-time. We propose a covariant formulation of the magnetic force based on a `magnetic' 4-potential and show how the point particle magnetic moment relates to the Amperian (current loop) and Gilbertian (magnetic monopole) descriptions. We show that covariant spin precession lacks a unique form and discuss the connection to g-2 anomaly. We consider the variational action principle and find that a consistent extension of the Lorentz force to include magnetic spin force is not straightforward. We look at non-covariant particle dynamics, and present a short introduction to the dynamics of (neutral) particles hit by a laser pulse of arbitrary shape.

  15. Forest stand dynamics and sudden oak death: Mortality in mixed-evergreen forests dominated by coast live oak

    Science.gov (United States)

    L.B. Brown; B. Allen-Diaz

    2009-01-01

    Sudden oak death (SOD), caused by the recently discovered non-native invasive pathogen, Phytophthora ramorum, has already killed tens of thousands of native coast live oak and tanoak trees in California. Little is known of potential short and long term impacts of this novel plant–pathogen interaction on forest structure and composition. Coast live...

  16. Living with parents and risky sexual behaviors among preparatory ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    EB

    Keywords: Risky sexual behavior, living with parents, family environment. African Halth ... increases the probability of negative consequences ... greater the gender imbalance in rates of HIV infection, with ... communication and family support) (22 Items with. 5-point ... students relationship and school-students relationship).

  17. Tetra point wetting at the free surface of liquid Ga-Bi

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huber, P.; Shpyrko, O.G.; Pershan, P.S.; Ocko, B.M.; Di Masi, E.; Deutsch, M.

    2002-01-01

    A continuous surface wetting transition, pinned to a solid-liquid-liquid-vapor tetra coexistence point, is studied by x-ray reflectivity in liquid Ga-Bi binary alloys. The short-range surface potential is determined from the measured temperature evolution of the wetting film. The thermal fluctuations are shown to be insufficient to induce a noticeable breakdown of mean-field behavior, expected in short-range-interacting systems due to their d u =3 upper critical dimensionality

  18. Design of four-point SENB specimens with stable crack growth

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jørgensen, Jeppe Bjørn; Kildegaard, Casper; Sørensen, Bent F.

    2018-01-01

    A four-point single-edge-notch-beam (SENB) test specimen loaded in displacement control (fixed grip) is proposed for studying crack deflection at bi-material interfaces. In order to ensure stable crack growth, a novel analytical model of the four-point SENB specimen in fixed grip is derived...... and compared with numerical models. Model results show that the specimen should be short and thick, and the start-crack length should be deep for the crack to propagate stable towards the bi-material interface. Observations from experimental tests of four-point SENB specimens with different start-crack lengths...

  19. Lives Remembered: Telling the Stories of Older People - An Anthology University of York Lives Remembered: Telling the Stories of Older People - An Anthology £5 42pp 9780901931061 0901931063 [Formula: see text].

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-02-24

    THREE NURSING students at the University of York have each written a short story based on the memories of a nursing home resident. It is a great read - a snapshot of the residents' younger lives and times long gone.

  20. SHORT COMMUNICATION: Recognition of supercooled dew in a quartz crystal microbalance dew-point sensor by slip phenomena

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kwon, Su-Yong; Kim, Jong-Chul; Choi, Byung-Il

    2007-10-01

    Distinguishing between a supercooled dew and frost below 0 °C in dew/frost-point measurements is an important and challenging problem that has not yet been completely solved. This study presents a new method for the recognition of a supercooled dew in a dew/frost-point sensor. A quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor was used as a dew/frost-point sensor to detect a dew and a supercooled dew as well as frost. The slip phenomenon occurring at an interface between the water droplet and the surface of the quartz crystal resonator of the QCM sensor gives a simple and accurate way of distinguishing between a supercooled dew and frost below 0 °C. This method can give a highly accurate measurement of the dew or the frost point without misreading in the dew-point sensor at temperatures below 0 °C.

  1. Do we need radiation protection for the living environment?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hefner, A.; Voelkle, H.

    2003-01-01

    The protection of the living environment, i.e. non human species or non human organisms, is a condition for the long term human survival. This certainly is true also for radioactivity and ionizing radiation. The ICRP statement that fauna und flora are sufficiently protected if man is protected is valid in many cases but not in every one. The article gives some reflections on this subject from the point of view of practical radiation protection and some suggestions on how, if necessary, protection of the living environment could be put into practice. (orig.) [de

  2. Arctic tipping points in an Earth system perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wassmann, Paul; Lenton, Timothy M

    2012-02-01

    We provide an introduction to the volume The Arctic in the Earth System perspective: the role of tipping points. The terms tipping point and tipping element are described and their role in current science, general debates, and the Arctic are elucidated. From a wider perspective, the volume focuses upon the role of humans in the Arctic component of the Earth system and in particular the envelope for human existence, the Arctic ecosystems. The Arctic climate tipping elements, the tipping elements in Arctic ecosystems and societies, and the challenges of governance and anticipation are illuminated through short summaries of eight publications that derive from the Arctic Frontiers conference in 2011 and the EU FP7 project Arctic Tipping Points. Then some ideas based upon resilience thinking are developed to show how wise system management could ease pressures on Arctic systems in order to keep them away from tipping points.

  3. Business models & business cases for point-of-care testing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Staring, A.J.; Meertens, L. O.; Sikkel, N.

    2016-01-01

    Point-Of-Care Testing (POCT) enables clinical tests at or near the patient, with test results that are available instantly or in a very short time frame, to assist caregivers with immediate diagnosis and/or clinical intervention. The goal of POCT is to provide accurate, reliable, fast, and

  4. The method to Certify Performance of Long-Lived In-Core Instrumentation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Roh, Kyung-ho; Cha, Kyoon-ho; Moon, Sang-rae [KHNP CRI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-10-15

    Rh ICI (In-Core Instrumentation) used in OPR1000 generates the relatively large signal but its lifetime is below 6 years. Rh ICI consists of 5 detectors which is a type of SPND (Self Powered Neutron Detector), a couple of thermo-couple, one background wire and several fillers. The short lifetime of Rh detector causes increase of procurement price and space shortage of spent fuel pool. Also, it makes operators be exposed by more radiations. KHNP (Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co., Ltd.) CRI (Central Research Institute) is developing the LLICI (Long-Lived In-Core Instrumentation) based on vanadium to solve these problems. LLICI is the detector which is a type of SPND based on Vanadium and has the lifetime of about 10 years. The short lifetime of OPR1000's Rh ICI and long cycle operation strategy cause increase of procurement price, space shortage of spent fuel pool and more radiation exposed to operators. KHNP (Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co., Ltd.) CRI (Central Research Institute) is developing the LLICI (Long-Lived In-Core Instrumentation) to solve these problems.

  5. Parental survival, living arrangements and school enrolment of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Parental survival, living arrangements and school enrolment of children in Malawi in the era of HIV/AIDS. ... findings are consistent with results from other countries that are hit hard by the AIDS epidemic and point to the critical role of the extended family system in taking care of the disadvantaged and vulnerable children.

  6. AMCO On-Site Air Monitoring Points, Oakland CA, Live 2017, US EPA Region 9

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This feature class contains points depicting locations and air monitor sensor readings for Vinyl Chloride, Trichloroethene (TCE), and Tetrachloroethene (PCE) and...

  7. Living unrelated donors in kidney transplants: better long-term results than with non-HLA-identical living related donors?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Humar, A; Durand, B; Gillingham, K; Payne, W D; Sutherland, D E; Matas, A J

    2000-05-15

    Given the severe organ shortage and the documented superior results obtained with living (vs. cadaver) donor kidney transplants, we have adopted a very aggressive policy for the use of living donors. Currently, we make thorough attempts to locate a living related donor (LRD) or a living unrelated donor (LURD) before proceeding with a cadaver transplant. We compared the results of our LURD versus LRD transplants to determine any significant difference in outcome. Between 1/1/84 and 6/30/98, we performed 711 adult kidney transplants with non-HLA-identical living donors. Of these, 595 procedures used LRDs and 116 used LURDs. Immunosuppression for both groups was cyclosporine-based, although LURD recipients received 5-7 days of induction therapy (antilymphocyte globulin or antithymocyte globulin), whereas LRD recipients did not. LURD recipients tended to be older, to have inferior HLA matching, and to have older donors than did the LRD recipients (all factors potentially associated with decreased graft survival). Short-term results, including initial graft function and incidence of acute rejection, were similar in the two groups. LURD recipients had a slightly higher incidence of cytomegalovirus disease (P=NS). We found no difference in patient and graft survival rates. However, the incidence of biopsy-proven chronic rejection was significantly lower among LURD recipients (16.7% for LRD recipients and 10.0% for LURD recipients at 5 years posttransplant; P=0.05). LRD recipients also had a greater incidence of late (>6 months posttransplant) acute rejection episodes than did the LURD recipients (8.6% vs. 2.6%, P=0.04). The exact reason for these findings is unknown. Although LURD recipients have poorer HLA matching and older donors, their patient and graft survival rates are equivalent to those of non-HLA-identical LRD recipients. The incidence of biopsy-proven chronic rejection is lower in LURD transplants. Given this finding and the superior results of living donor (vs

  8. Point of Injury’ Sampling Technology for Battlefield Molecular Diagnostics

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-03-17

    Injury" Sampling Technology for Battlefield Molecular Diagnostics March 17,2012 Sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DOD) Defense...Contract: April 25, 2011 Short Title of Work: "Point of Injury" Sampling Technology for Battlefield Molecular Diagnostics " Contract Expiration Date...SBIR PHASE I OPTION REPORT: Point of Injury, Sampling Technology for Battlefield Molecular Diagnostics . W31P4Q-1 l-C-0222 (UNCLASSIFIED) P.I

  9. Suppression of Long-Lived Humoral Immunity Following Borrelia burgdorferi Infection.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rebecca A Elsner

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Lyme Disease caused by infection with Borrelia burgdorferi is an emerging infectious disease and already by far the most common vector-borne disease in the U.S. Similar to many other infections, infection with B. burgdorferi results in strong antibody response induction, which can be used clinically as a diagnostic measure of prior exposure. However, clinical studies have shown a sometimes-precipitous decline of such antibodies shortly following antibiotic treatment, revealing a potential deficit in the host's ability to induce and/or maintain long-term protective antibodies. This is further supported by reports of frequent repeat infections with B. burgdorferi in endemic areas. The mechanisms underlying such a lack of long-term humoral immunity, however, remain unknown. We show here that B. burgdorferi infected mice show a similar rapid disappearance of Borrelia-specific antibodies after infection and subsequent antibiotic treatment. This failure was associated with development of only short-lived germinal centers, micro-anatomical locations from which long-lived immunity originates. These showed structural abnormalities and failed to induce memory B cells and long-lived plasma cells for months after the infection, rendering the mice susceptible to reinfection with the same strain of B. burgdorferi. The inability to induce long-lived immune responses was not due to the particular nature of the immunogenic antigens of B. burgdorferi, as antibodies to both T-dependent and T-independent Borrelia antigens lacked longevity and B cell memory induction. Furthermore, influenza immunization administered at the time of Borrelia infection also failed to induce robust antibody responses, dramatically reducing the protective antiviral capacity of the humoral response. Collectively, these studies show that B. burgdorferi-infection results in targeted and temporary immunosuppression of the host and bring new insight into the mechanisms underlying the failure

  10. Effects of living near an urban motorway on the wellbeing of local residents in deprived areas: Natural experimental study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Louise Foley

    Full Text Available Health and wellbeing are partly shaped by the neighbourhood environment. In 2011, an eight kilometre (five mile extension to the M74 motorway was opened in Glasgow, Scotland, constructed through a predominantly urban, deprived area. We evaluated the effects of the new motorway on wellbeing in local residents.This natural experimental study involved a longitudinal cohort (n = 365 and two cross-sectional samples (baseline n = 980; follow-up n = 978 recruited in 2005 and 2013. Adults from one of three study areas-surrounding the new motorway, another existing motorway, or no motorway-completed a postal survey. Within areas, individual measures of motorway proximity were calculated. Wellbeing was assessed with the mental (MCS-8 and physical (PCS-8 components of the SF-8 scale at both time points, and the short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (SWEMWBS at follow-up only.In multivariable linear regression analyses, cohort participants living nearer to the new M74 motorway experienced significantly reduced mental wellbeing over time (MCS-8: -3.6, 95% CI -6.6 to -0.7 compared to those living further away. In cross-sectional and repeat cross-sectional analyses, an interaction was found whereby participants with a chronic condition living nearer to the established M8 motorway experienced reduced (MCS-8: -3.7, 95% CI -8.3 to 0.9 or poorer (SWEMWBS: -1.1, 95% CI -2.0 to -0.3 mental wellbeing compared to those living further away.We found some evidence that living near to a new motorway worsened local residents' wellbeing. In an area with an existing motorway, negative impacts appeared to be concentrated in those with chronic conditions, which may exacerbate existing health inequalities and contribute to poorer health outcomes. Health impacts of this type of urban regeneration intervention should be more fully taken into account in future policy and planning.

  11. Effects of living near an urban motorway on the wellbeing of local residents in deprived areas: Natural experimental study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prins, Richard; Crawford, Fiona; Humphreys, David; Mitchell, Richard; Sahlqvist, Shannon; Thomson, Hilary; Ogilvie, David

    2017-01-01

    Background Health and wellbeing are partly shaped by the neighbourhood environment. In 2011, an eight kilometre (five mile) extension to the M74 motorway was opened in Glasgow, Scotland, constructed through a predominantly urban, deprived area. We evaluated the effects of the new motorway on wellbeing in local residents. Methods This natural experimental study involved a longitudinal cohort (n = 365) and two cross-sectional samples (baseline n = 980; follow-up n = 978) recruited in 2005 and 2013. Adults from one of three study areas—surrounding the new motorway, another existing motorway, or no motorway—completed a postal survey. Within areas, individual measures of motorway proximity were calculated. Wellbeing was assessed with the mental (MCS-8) and physical (PCS-8) components of the SF-8 scale at both time points, and the short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (SWEMWBS) at follow-up only. Results In multivariable linear regression analyses, cohort participants living nearer to the new M74 motorway experienced significantly reduced mental wellbeing over time (MCS-8: -3.6, 95% CI -6.6 to -0.7) compared to those living further away. In cross-sectional and repeat cross-sectional analyses, an interaction was found whereby participants with a chronic condition living nearer to the established M8 motorway experienced reduced (MCS-8: -3.7, 95% CI -8.3 to 0.9) or poorer (SWEMWBS: -1.1, 95% CI -2.0 to -0.3) mental wellbeing compared to those living further away. Conclusions We found some evidence that living near to a new motorway worsened local residents’ wellbeing. In an area with an existing motorway, negative impacts appeared to be concentrated in those with chronic conditions, which may exacerbate existing health inequalities and contribute to poorer health outcomes. Health impacts of this type of urban regeneration intervention should be more fully taken into account in future policy and planning. PMID:28379993

  12. Modular Short Form Videos for Library Instruction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cindy Craig

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available In Brief Expensive software isn’t necessary to create effective tutorials. Quick, unedited tutorials created on social media, such as on Instagram or Snapchat, may be more effective. These short form videos (SFVs combine the advantages of animated GIFs with the advantages of screencasts: modularity, repetition of steps, and animated visuals supported by pertinent audio. SFVs are cheap (or free and easy to make with materials libraries already possess, such as Internet access, computers, and smartphones. They are easily replaceable if the subject changes. The short form forces librarians to get right to the point. Finally, SFVs are easily disseminated on social media and have the potential to go viral.

  13. Properties of short-dough biscuits in relation to structure

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Baltsavias, A.; Jurgens, A.; Vliet, T. van

    1999-01-01

    The mechanical properties of short-dough biscuits of various composition were determined in three-point bending tests. The temperature during dough preparation and the dough water content affected the air volume fraction and the mechanical properties to an extent which depended on the fat content.

  14. Change Point Estimation in Panel Data without Boundary Issue

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Peštová, Barbora; Pešta, M.

    2017-01-01

    Roč. 5, č. 1 (2017), č. článku 7. E-ISSN 2227-9091 Institutional support: RVO:67985807 Keywords : change point * estimation * consistency * panel data * short panels * boundary issue * structural change * bootstrap * non-life insurance * change in claim amounts Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics OBOR OECD: Pure mathematics

  15. Life satisfaction set point: stability and change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fujita, Frank; Diener, Ed

    2005-01-01

    Using data from 17 years of a large and nationally representative panel study from Germany, the authors examined whether there is a set point for life satisfaction (LS)--stability across time, even though it can be perturbed for short periods by life events. The authors found that 24% of respondents changed significantly in LS from the first 5 years to the last 5 years and that stability declined as the period between measurements increased. Average LS in the first 5 years correlated .51 with the 5-year average of LS during the last 5 years. Height, weight, body mass index, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and personality traits were all more stable than LS, whereas income was about as stable as LS. Almost 9% of the sample changed an average of 3 or more points on a 10-point scale from the first 5 to last 5 years of the study.

  16. A living model for obesity and aging research: Caenorhabditis elegans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shen, Peiyi; Yue, Yiren; Park, Yeonhwa

    2018-03-24

    Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) is a free-living nematode that has been extensively utilized as an animal model for research involving aging and neurodegenerative diseases, like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, etc. Compared with traditional animal models, this small nematode possesses many benefits, such as small body size, short lifespan, completely sequenced genome, and more than 65% of the genes associated with human disease. All these characteristics make this organism an ideal living system for obesity and aging studies. This review gives a brief introduction of C. elegans as an animal model, highlights some advantages of research using this model and describes methods to evaluate the effect of treatments on obesity and aging of this organism.

  17. Significant decimal digits for energy representation on short-word computers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sartori, E.

    1989-01-01

    The general belief that single precision floating point numbers have always at least seven significant decimal digits on short word computers such as IBM is erroneous. Seven significant digits are required however for representing the energy variable in nuclear cross-section data sets containing sharp p-wave resonances at 0 Kelvin. It is suggested that either the energy variable is stored in double precision or that cross-section resonances are reconstructed to room temperature or higher on short word computers

  18. Establishing meaningful cut points for online user ratings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hirschfeld, Gerrit; Thielsch, Meinald T

    2015-01-01

    Subjective perceptions of websites can be reliably measured with questionnaires. But it is unclear how such scores should be interpreted in practice, e.g. is an aesthetics score of 4 points on a seven-point-scale satisfactory? The current paper introduces a receiver-operating characteristic (ROC)-based methodology to establish meaningful cut points for the VisAWI (visual aesthetics of websites inventory) and its short form the VisAWI-S. In two studies we use users' global ratings (UGRs) and website rankings as anchors. A total of 972 participants took part in the studies which yielded similar results. First, one-item UGRs correlate highly with the VisAWI. Second, cut points on the VisAWI reliably differentiate between sites that are perceived as attractive versus unattractive. Third, these cut points are variable, but only within a certain range. Together the research presented here establishes a score of 4.5 on the VisAWI which is a reasonable goal for website designers and highlights the utility of the ROC methodology to derive relevant scores for rating scales.

  19. Difference-based clustering of short time-course microarray data with replicates

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kim Jihoon

    2007-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background There are some limitations associated with conventional clustering methods for short time-course gene expression data. The current algorithms require prior domain knowledge and do not incorporate information from replicates. Moreover, the results are not always easy to interpret biologically. Results We propose a novel algorithm for identifying a subset of genes sharing a significant temporal expression pattern when replicates are used. Our algorithm requires no prior knowledge, instead relying on an observed statistic which is based on the first and second order differences between adjacent time-points. Here, a pattern is predefined as the sequence of symbols indicating direction and the rate of change between time-points, and each gene is assigned to a cluster whose members share a similar pattern. We evaluated the performance of our algorithm to those of K-means, Self-Organizing Map and the Short Time-series Expression Miner methods. Conclusions Assessments using simulated and real data show that our method outperformed aforementioned algorithms. Our approach is an appropriate solution for clustering short time-course microarray data with replicates.

  20. Tropospheric ozone and its precursors from the urban to the global scale from air quality to short-lived climate forcer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Monks, P. S.; Archibald, A. T.; Colette, A.; Cooper, O.; Coyle, M.; Derwent, R.; Fowler, D.; Granier, C.; Law, K. S.; Mills, G. E.; Stevenson, D. S.; Tarasova, O.; Thouret, V.; von Schneidemesser, E.; Sommariva, R.; Wild, O.; Williams, M. L.

    2015-08-01

    Ozone holds a certain fascination in atmospheric science. It is ubiquitous in the atmosphere, central to tropospheric oxidation chemistry, yet harmful to human and ecosystem health as well as being an important greenhouse gas. It is not emitted into the atmosphere but is a byproduct of the very oxidation chemistry it largely initiates. Much effort is focused on the reduction of surface levels of ozone owing to its health and vegetation impacts, but recent efforts to achieve reductions in exposure at a country scale have proved difficult to achieve owing to increases in background ozone at the zonal hemispheric scale. There is also a growing realisation that the role of ozone as a short-lived climate pollutant could be important in integrated air quality climate change mitigation. This review examines current understanding of the processes regulating tropospheric ozone at global to local scales from both measurements and models. It takes the view that knowledge across the scales is important for dealing with air quality and climate change in a synergistic manner. The review shows that there remain a number of clear challenges for ozone such as explaining surface trends, incorporating new chemical understanding, ozone-climate coupling, and a better assessment of impacts. There is a clear and present need to treat ozone across the range of scales, a transboundary issue, but with an emphasis on the hemispheric scales. New observational opportunities are offered both by satellites and small sensors that bridge the scales.

  1. From ER to E.T. how electromagnetic technologies are changing our lives

    CERN Document Server

    Bansal, Rajeev

    2017-01-01

    From ER to ET: How Electromagnetic Technologies Are Changing Our Lives explores electromagnetic wave theory including its founders, scientific underpinnings, ethical issues, and applications through history. Utilizing a format of short essays, this book explains in a balanced, and direct style how electromagnetic technologies are changing the world we live in and the future they may create for us. Quizzes at the end of each chapter provide the reader with a deeper understanding of the material. This book is a valuable resource for microwave engineers of varying levels of experience, and for instructors to motivate their students and add depth to their assignments.

  2. Short-term plasticity as a neural mechanism supporting memory and attentional functions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jääskeläinen, Iiro P; Ahveninen, Jyrki; Andermann, Mark L; Belliveau, John W; Raij, Tommi; Sams, Mikko

    2011-11-08

    Based on behavioral studies, several relatively distinct perceptual and cognitive functions have been defined in cognitive psychology such as sensory memory, short-term memory, and selective attention. Here, we review evidence suggesting that some of these functions may be supported by shared underlying neuronal mechanisms. Specifically, we present, based on an integrative review of the literature, a hypothetical model wherein short-term plasticity, in the form of transient center-excitatory and surround-inhibitory modulations, constitutes a generic processing principle that supports sensory memory, short-term memory, involuntary attention, selective attention, and perceptual learning. In our model, the size and complexity of receptive fields/level of abstraction of neural representations, as well as the length of temporal receptive windows, increases as one steps up the cortical hierarchy. Consequently, the type of input (bottom-up vs. top down) and the level of cortical hierarchy that the inputs target, determine whether short-term plasticity supports purely sensory vs. semantic short-term memory or attentional functions. Furthermore, we suggest that rather than discrete memory systems, there are continuums of memory representations from short-lived sensory ones to more abstract longer-duration representations, such as those tapped by behavioral studies of short-term memory. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Point defect properties of ternary fcc Fe-Cr-Ni alloys

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wróbel, J.S., E-mail: jan.wrobel@inmat.pw.edu.pl [Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology, Woloska 141, 02-507 Warsaw (Poland); Nguyen-Manh, D.; Dudarev, S.L. [CCFE, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 3DB (United Kingdom); Kurzydłowski, K.J. [Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology, Woloska 141, 02-507 Warsaw (Poland)

    2017-02-15

    Highlights: • Properties of point defects depend on the local atomic environment. • As the degree of chemical order increases, the formation energies increase, too. • Relaxation volumes are larger for the more ordered structures. - Abstract: The properties of point defects in Fe-Cr-Ni alloys are investigated, using density functional theory (DFT), for two alloy compositions, Fe{sub 50}Cr{sub 25}Ni{sub 25} and Fe{sub 55}Cr{sub 15}Ni{sub 30}, assuming various degrees of short-range order. DFT-based Monte Carlo simulations are applied to explore short-range order parameters and generate representative structures of alloys. Chemical potentials for the relevant structures are estimated from the minimum of the substitutional energy at representative atoms sites. Vacancies and 〈1 0 0〉 dumbbells are introduced in the Fe{sub 2}CrNi intermetallic phase as well as in two Fe{sub 55}Cr{sub 15}Ni{sub 30} alloy structures: the disordered and short range-ordered structures, generated using Monte Carlo simulations at 2000 K and 300 K, respectively. Formation energies and relaxation volumes of defects as well as changes of magnetic moments caused by the presence of defects are investigated as functions of the local environment of a defect.

  4. Relativistic dynamics of point magnetic moment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rafelski, Johann; Formanek, Martin; Steinmetz, Andrew [The University of Arizona, Department of Physics, Tucson, AZ (United States)

    2018-01-15

    The covariant motion of a classical point particle with magnetic moment in the presence of (external) electromagnetic fields is revisited. We are interested in understanding extensions to the Lorentz force involving point particle magnetic moment (Stern-Gerlach force) and how the spin precession dynamics is modified for consistency. We introduce spin as a classical particle property inherent to Poincare symmetry of space-time. We propose a covariant formulation of the magnetic force based on a 'magnetic' 4-potential and show how the point particle magnetic moment relates to the Amperian (current loop) and Gilbertian (magnetic monopole) descriptions. We show that covariant spin precession lacks a unique form and discuss the connection to g - 2 anomaly. We consider the variational action principle and find that a consistent extension of the Lorentz force to include magnetic spin force is not straightforward. We look at non-covariant particle dynamics, and present a short introduction to the dynamics of (neutral) particles hit by a laser pulse of arbitrary shape. (orig.)

  5. Migration as a turning point in food habits: the early phase of dietary acculturation among women from South Asian, African, and Middle Eastern Countries living in Norway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Terragni, Laura; Garnweidner, Lisa M; Pettersen, Kjell Sverre; Mosdøl, Annhild

    2014-01-01

    This article explores the early phase of dietary acculturation after migration. South Asian, African and Middle Eastern women (N = 21) living in Norway were interviewed about their early experiences with food in a new context. The findings pointed to abrupt changes in food habits in the first period after migration. To various degrees, women reported unfamiliarity with foods in shops, uncertainty about meal formats and food preparation and fear of eating food prohibited by their religion. Their food consumption tended to be restricted to food items perceived as familiar or safe. Our findings indicate that the first period after migration represents a specific phase in the process of dietary acculturation. Early initiatives aimed at enhancing confidence in food and familiarity with the new food culture are recommended.

  6. Writing the Live Coding Book

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Blackwell, Alan; Cox, Geoff; Lee, Sang Wong

    2016-01-01

    This paper is a speculation on the relationship between coding and writing, and the ways in which technical innovations and capabilities enable us to rethink each in terms of the other. As a case study, we draw on recent experiences of preparing a book on live coding, which integrates a wide range...... of personal, historical, technical and critical perspectives. This book project has been both experimental and reflective, in a manner that allows us to draw on critical understanding of both code and writing, and point to the potential for new practices in the future....

  7. The Economic Lives of People with Disabilities in Vietnam.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael Palmer

    Full Text Available Through a series of focus group discussions conducted in northern and central Vietnam, this study gives voice to the lived economic experience of families with disabilities and how they manage the economic challenges associated with disability. The dynamic of low and unstable income combined with on-going health care and other disability-related costs gives rise to a range of coping mechanisms (borrowing, reducing and foregoing expenditures, drawing upon savings and substituting labour that helps to maintain living standards in the short-run yet threatens the longer-term welfare of both the individual with disability and their household. Current social protection programs were reported as not accessible to all and while addressing some immediate economic costs of disability, do not successfully meet current needs nor accommodate wider barriers to availing benefits.

  8. High-frequency microrheology reveals cytoskeleton dynamics in living cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rigato, Annafrancesca; Miyagi, Atsushi; Scheuring, Simon; Rico, Felix

    2017-08-01

    Living cells are viscoelastic materials, dominated by an elastic response on timescales longer than a millisecond. On shorter timescales, the dynamics of individual cytoskeleton filaments are expected to emerge, but active microrheology measurements on cells accessing this regime are scarce. Here, we develop high-frequency microrheology experiments to probe the viscoelastic response of living cells from 1 Hz to 100 kHz. We report the viscoelasticity of different cell types under cytoskeletal drug treatments. On previously inaccessible short timescales, cells exhibit rich viscoelastic responses that depend on the state of the cytoskeleton. Benign and malignant cancer cells revealed remarkably different scaling laws at high frequencies, providing a unique mechanical fingerprint. Microrheology over a wide dynamic range--up to the frequency characterizing the molecular components--provides a mechanistic understanding of cell mechanics.

  9. The Steiner ratio for points on a triangular lattice

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    design of integrated circuit boards, communication networks, power networks and pipelines of minimum cost. In such applications the Steiner ratio is an indication of how badly a minimum spanning tree performs compared to a Steiner minimal tree. In this paper a short proof is presented for the Steiner ratio for points on a ...

  10. Point vortex description of drift wave vortices: Dynamics and transport

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kono, M.; Horton, W.

    1991-05-01

    Point-vortex description for drift wave vortices is formulated based on the Hasegawa-Mima equation to study elementary processes for the interactions of vortices as well as statistical properties like vortex diffusion. Dynamical properties of drift wave vortices known by numerical experiments are recovered. Furthermore a vortex diffusion model discussed by Horton based on numerical simulations is shown to be analytically obtained. A variety of phenomena arising from the short-range nature of the interaction force of point vortices are suggested. 12 refs., 10 figs

  11. Familial short fifth metacarpals and insulin resistance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hyari, Muwafag; Hamamy, Hanan; Barham, Muries; Ajlouni, Kamel; Al-Hadidy, Azmy

    2006-01-01

    Very few reports on the phenotype of short fifth metacarpals have been published in the medical literature. We report a Jordanian family in which three sisters aged 15, 13 and 8 years revealed bilateral shortening of the fifth fingers and radiological shortening of the fifth metacarpals. The father had unilateral short fifth metacarpal. The elder two sisters, their father as well as their brother and another sister manifested insulin resistance. Spherocytosis was diagnosed in one of the girls and her father. The parents are non-consanguineous. This constellation of findings has not been previously reported and could point to the presence of two disorders segregating in the family or to a novel syndrome with autosomal dominant inheritance and variable expressivity. (orig.)

  12. Public participation in decision-making processes: ONDRAF/NIRAS' approach to the disposal of low-level and short-lived radioactive waste

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hooft, E.

    2000-01-01

    January 16, 1998, is a milestone in the nuclear waste management in Belgium. On that day, the Belgian government effectively opted for a definitive or potentially definitive solution for the Iona term management of low-level, short-lived radioactive waste. The government also wanted this solution to be implemented in a progressive, flexible, and reversible manner. it was thereby definitively abandoning the prolonged interim storage option, in favour of either surface disposal or deep geological disposal. At the same time, the government entrusted new missions to ONDRAFINIRAS, aimed at enabling it to make, around 2001-2002, the necessary technical and economic choice between surface disposal and deep geological disposal. ONDRAFNIRAS had to develop, in particular, methods, including the management and dialogue strictures, necessary to integrate a repository project at the local level. Furthermore, it had to restrict from then on its investigations to the four already existing nuclear zones in Belgium namely those of Doel, Fleurus, Mol-Dessel, and Tihange, and to the local towns or villages having shown an interest in a preliminary field study. Early in 1998, ONDRAFNIRAS set up a new work programme and developed an entirely new work methodology. As we understood that the best way to take involved into account the interests of all parties, is to involve them in the decision making on the project, we developed the idea of the local partnerships. Any party that could be directly affected by a collective decision, must have a say in it. Another innovative aspect of this new methodology is that of integration: an integration at the local level which is meant to enable the development of draft repository projects creating new perspectives for the regions concerned. Extending over four to five years, ONDRAFINIRAS's new work programme assumes the active participation of all the interested local representatives. Because it has understood that any party that could be directly

  13. Integrating Cell Phone Imaging with Magnetic Levitation (i-LEV) for Label-Free Blood Analysis at the Point-of-Living.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baday, Murat; Calamak, Semih; Durmus, Naside Gozde; Davis, Ronald W; Steinmetz, Lars M; Demirci, Utkan

    2016-03-02

    There is an emerging need for portable, robust, inexpensive, and easy-to-use disease diagnosis and prognosis monitoring platforms to share health information at the point-of-living, including clinical and home settings. Recent advances in digital health technologies have improved early diagnosis, drug treatment, and personalized medicine. Smartphones with high-resolution cameras and high data processing power enable intriguing biomedical applications when integrated with diagnostic devices. Further, these devices have immense potential to contribute to public health in resource-limited settings where there is a particular need for portable, rapid, label-free, easy-to-use, and affordable biomedical devices to diagnose and continuously monitor patients for precision medicine, especially those suffering from rare diseases, such as sickle cell anemia, thalassemia, and chronic fatigue syndrome. Here, a magnetic levitation-based diagnosis system is presented in which different cell types (i.e., white and red blood cells) are levitated in a magnetic gradient and separated due to their unique densities. Moreover, an easy-to-use, smartphone incorporated levitation system for cell analysis is introduced. Using our portable imaging magnetic levitation (i-LEV) system, it is shown that white and red blood cells can be identified and cell numbers can be quantified without using any labels. In addition, cells levitated in i-LEV can be distinguished at single-cell resolution, potentially enabling diagnosis and monitoring, as well as clinical and research applications. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  14. Functional memory B cells and long-lived plasma cells are generated after a single Plasmodium chabaudi infection in mice.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francis Maina Ndungu

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available Antibodies have long been shown to play a critical role in naturally acquired immunity to malaria, but it has been suggested that Plasmodium-specific antibodies in humans may not be long lived. The cellular mechanisms underlying B cell and antibody responses are difficult to study in human infections; therefore, we have investigated the kinetics, duration and characteristics of the Plasmodium-specific memory B cell response in an infection of P. chabaudi in mice. Memory B cells and plasma cells specific for the C-terminal region of Merozoite Surface Protein 1 were detectable for more than eight months following primary infection. Furthermore, a classical memory response comprised predominantly of the T-cell dependent isotypes IgG2c, IgG2b and IgG1 was elicited upon rechallenge with the homologous parasite, confirming the generation of functional memory B cells. Using cyclophosphamide treatment to discriminate between long-lived and short-lived plasma cells, we demonstrated long-lived cells secreting Plasmodium-specific IgG in both bone marrow and in spleens of infected mice. The presence of these long-lived cells was independent of the presence of chronic infection, as removal of parasites with anti-malarial drugs had no impact on their numbers. Thus, in this model of malaria, both functional Plasmodium-specific memory B cells and long-lived plasma cells can be generated, suggesting that defects in generating these cell populations may not be the reason for generating short-lived antibody responses.

  15. 3-D Effects Force Reduction of Short-Crested Non-Breaking Waves on Caissons

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Burcharth, H. F.; Liu, Z.

    1998-01-01

    The effect of wave short-crestedness on the horizontal wave force on a caisson is twofold. The one is the force reduction due to the reduction of point pressure on the caisson, named point-pressure reduction. The other is the force reduction due to the fact that the peak pressures do not occur si...

  16. Epidemiology, public health, and health surveillance around point sources of pollution

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stebbings, J.H. Jr.

    1981-01-01

    In industrial society a large number of point sources of pollution exist, such as chemical plants, smelters, and nuclear power plants. Public concern has forced the practising epidemiologist to undertake health surveillance of the usually small populations living around point sources. Although not justifiable as research, such epidemiologic surveillance activities are becoming a routine part of public health practice, and this trend will continue. This introduction reviews concepts of epidemiologic surveillance, and institutional problems relating to the quality of such applied research

  17. The LivePhoto Physics videos and video analysis site

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abbott, David

    2009-09-01

    The LivePhoto site is similar to an archive of short films for video analysis. Some videos have Flash tools for analyzing the video embedded in the movie. Most of the videos address mechanics topics with titles like Rolling Pencil (check this one out for pedagogy and content knowledge—nicely done!), Juggler, Yo-yo, Puck and Bar (this one is an inelastic collision with rotation), but there are a few titles in other areas (E&M, waves, thermo, etc.).

  18. Panorama 2013 - Short term trends in the gas industry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lecarpentier, Armelle

    2012-10-01

    The outlook for gas industry development in the short term is clouded by uncertainties (impact of the economic slowdown, competition between energies, price fluctuations, etc.). However, as in 2012, many favorable factors in terms of natural gas supply and demand point to sustained and sustainable growth of this energy. (author)

  19. Impact on short-lived climate forcers (SLCFs) from a realistic land-use change scenario via changes in biogenic emissions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scott, C E; Monks, S A; Spracklen, D V; Arnold, S R; Forster, P M; Rap, A; Carslaw, K S; Chipperfield, M P; Reddington, C L S; Wilson, C

    2017-08-24

    More than one quarter of natural forests have been cleared by humans to make way for other land-uses, with changes to forest cover projected to continue. The climate impact of land-use change (LUC) is dependent upon the relative strength of several biogeophysical and biogeochemical effects. In addition to affecting the surface albedo and exchanging carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and moisture with the atmosphere, vegetation emits biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs), altering the formation of short-lived climate forcers (SLCFs) including aerosol, ozone (O 3 ) and methane (CH 4 ). Once emitted, BVOCs are rapidly oxidised by O 3 , and the hydroxyl (OH) and nitrate (NO 3 ) radicals. These oxidation reactions yield secondary organic products which are implicated in the formation and growth of aerosol particles and are estimated to have a negative radiative effect on the climate (i.e. a cooling). These reactions also deplete OH, increasing the atmospheric lifetime of CH 4 , and directly affect concentrations of O 3 ; the latter two being greenhouse gases which impose a positive radiative effect (i.e. a warming) on the climate. Our previous work assessing idealised deforestation scenarios found a positive radiative effect due to changes in SLCFs; however, since the radiative effects associated with changes to SLCFs result from a combination of non-linear processes it may not be appropriate to scale radiative effects from complete deforestation scenarios according to the deforestation extent. Here we combine a land-surface model, a chemical transport model, a global aerosol model, and a radiative transfer model to assess the net radiative effect of changes in SLCFs due to historical LUC between the years 1850 and 2000.

  20. Inactivation of Candida glabrata by a humid DC argon discharge afterglow: dominant contributions of short-lived aqueous active species

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiong, Qing; Liu, Hongbin; Lu, Weiping; Chen, Qiang; Xu, Le; Wang, Xia; Zhu, Qunlin; Zeng, Xue; Yi, Ping

    2017-05-01

    Plasma medicine applications are currently attracting significant interest all over the world. Bactericidal treatments of Candida glabrata cultured in saline suspension are performed in this study by a room-temperature reactive afterglow of a DC-driven argon discharge. Water vapor was added to the discharge to study the inactivation contributions of reactive hydrolytic species including OH and H2O2 transporting along the gas flow to the treated solutions. The inactivation results indicate that the dominant roles in the bactericidal treatments are played by the short-lived aqueous active species, but not the stable species like H2O2aq (aq indicates an aqueous species). Further analysis shows that the ·OHaq radicals play an important role in the inactivation process. The ·OHaq radicals in the suspension are mostly produced from the direct dissolution of the OH species in the reactive afterglow. With the increase of added water vapor content, the ·OHaq production increases and enhances the inactivation efficiency of C. glabrata. Furthermore, it is found that the ambient air diffusion shows essential effects on the bactericidal activity of the remote humid argon discharge. Higher bactericidal effects can be obtained in open-space treatments compared to in a controlled Ar + H2O gas atmosphere. Key active air-byproduct species are believed to be generated in the suspension during the treatments and contributing to the inactivation process. Based on chemical analysis, the peroxynitrous acid ONOOHaq is considered as the key antimicrobial air-byproduct species. These results indicate the important dependence of plasma biomedical effects on the processing environment, which finally relates to the critical contributions of the key reactive species formed therein.

  1. The Sun-Earth saddle point: characterization and opportunities to test general relativity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Topputo, Francesco; Dei Tos, Diogene A.; Rasotto, Mirco; Nakamiya, Masaki

    2018-04-01

    The saddle points are locations where the net gravitational accelerations balance. These regions are gathering more attention within the astrophysics community. Regions about the saddle points present clean, close-to-zero background acceleration environments where possible deviations from General Relativity can be tested and quantified. Their location suggests that flying through a saddle point can be accomplished by leveraging highly nonlinear orbits. In this paper, the geometrical and dynamical properties of the Sun-Earth saddle point are characterized. A systematic approach is devised to find ballistic orbits that experience one or multiple passages through this point. A parametric analysis is performed to consider spacecraft initially on L_{1,2} Lagrange point orbits. Sun-Earth saddle point ballistic fly-through trajectories are evaluated and classified for potential use. Results indicate an abundance of short-duration, regular solutions with a variety of characteristics.

  2. Response of Living Shorelines to Wave Energy and Sea Level rise: Short-term Resilience and Long-term Vulnerability in North Carolina

    Science.gov (United States)

    Currin, C.; Davis, J.

    2017-12-01

    A decade of research and monitoring of Living Shoreline sites in North Carolina identifies both resilient and vulnerable features of this approach to estuarine shoreline stabilization. We used a wave energy model to calculate representative wave energy along 1500 miles of estuarine shoreline, and observed a linear, negative relationship between wind-wave energy and the width of fringing salt marshes. Proximity to navigation channels (boat wakes) further reduced fringing marsh width. These results provide guidance for Living Shoreline design alternatives. Surface elevation tables (SETs) deployed at the lower edge of both natural fringing marshes and `Living Shoreline' marsh-sill sites demonstrated that while natural marshes were losing surface elevation at an average rate of 6 mm y-1, marsh surface elevation at Living Shoreline sites increased at an average of 3 mm y-1. Marsh vegetation at the lower edge of natural sites exhibited a decline in biomass, while Living Shoreline sites exhibited an increase in upper marsh species and an extension of lower marsh into previous mudflat habitat. These changes provide Living Shoreline (marsh-sill) sites with added resilience to sea level rise, though decreased inundation alters the delivery of other ecosystem services (fish habitat, nutrient cycling). North Carolina lagoonal estuaries have low suspended sediment supply and low topography, and modeling predicts that landward transgression is the primary means by which salt marsh acreage can be maintained under moderate to high sea level rise scenarios. In this region, bank erosion can be important source of sediment to wetland habitats. Further, the association of built infrastructure with Living Shoreline sites portends a future scenario of coastal squeeze, as marsh migration landward will be inhibited.

  3. Comparison of a UAV-derived point-cloud to Lidar data at Haig Glacier, Alberta, Canada

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bash, E. A.; Moorman, B.; Montaghi, A.; Menounos, B.; Marshall, S. J.

    2016-12-01

    The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is expanding rapidly in glaciological research as a result of technological improvements that make UAVs a cost-effective solution for collecting high resolution datasets with relative ease. The cost and difficult access traditionally associated with performing fieldwork in glacial environments makes UAVs a particularly attractive tool. In the small, but growing, body of literature using UAVs in glaciology the accuracy of UAV data is tested through the comparison of a UAV-derived DEM to measured control points. A field campaign combining simultaneous lidar and UAV flights over Haig Glacier in April 2015, provided the unique opportunity to directly compare UAV data to lidar. The UAV was a six-propeller Mikrokopter carrying a Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 camera with a 12 Megapixel Live MOS sensor and Lumix G 20 mm lens flown at a height of 90 m, resulting in sub-centimetre ground resolution per image pixel. Lidar data collection took place April 20, while UAV flights were conducted April 20-21. A set of 65 control points were laid out and surveyed on the glacier surface on April 19 and 21 using a RTK GPS with a vertical uncertainty of 5 cm. A direct comparison of lidar points to these control points revealed a 9 cm offset between the control points and the lidar points on average, but the difference changed distinctly from points collected on April 19 versus those collected April 21 (7 cm and 12 cm). Agisoft Photoscan was used to create a point-cloud from imagery collected with the UAV and CloudCompare was used to calculate the difference between this and the lidar point cloud, revealing an average difference of less than 17 cm. This field campaign also highlighted some of the benefits and drawbacks of using a rotary UAV for glaciological research. The vertical takeoff and landing capabilities, combined with quick responsiveness and higher carrying capacity, make the rotary vehicle favourable for high-resolution photos when

  4. Survival benefits select for group living in a social spider despite reproductive costs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bilde, T.; Coates, K.S.; Birkhofer, K.

    2007-01-01

    The evolution of cooperation requires benefits of group living to exceed costs. Hence, some components of fitness are expected to increase with increasing group size, whereas others may decrease because of competition among group members. The social spiders provide an excellent system to investig......The evolution of cooperation requires benefits of group living to exceed costs. Hence, some components of fitness are expected to increase with increasing group size, whereas others may decrease because of competition among group members. The social spiders provide an excellent system...... to investigate the costs and benefits of group living: they occur in groups of various sizes and individuals are relatively short-lived, therefore life history traits and Lifetime Reproductive Success (LRS) can be estimated as a function of group size. Sociality in spiders has originated repeatedly...... and survival in the social spider Stegodyphus dumicola in two populations in Namibia. In both populations, the major benefit of group living was improved survival of colonies and late-instar juveniles with increasing colony size. By contrast, female fecundity, female body size and early juvenile survival...

  5. The 7 C's for Creating Living Software: A Research Perspective for Quality-Oriented Software Engineering

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Aksit, Mehmet

    2004-01-01

    This article proposes the 7 C's for realizing quality-oriented software engineering practices. All the desired qualities of this approach are expressed in short by the term living software. The 7 C's are: Concern-oriented processes, Canonical models, Composable models, Certifiable models,

  6. Short time propagation of a singular wave function: Some surprising results

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marchewka, A.; Granot, E.; Schuss, Z.

    2007-08-01

    The Schrödinger evolution of an initially singular wave function was investigated. First it was shown that a wide range of physical problems can be described by initially singular wave function. Then it was demonstrated that outside the support of the initial wave function the time evolution is governed to leading order by the values of the wave function and its derivatives at the singular points. Short-time universality appears where it depends only on a single parameter—the value at the singular point (not even on its derivatives). It was also demonstrated that the short-time evolution in the presence of an absorptive potential is different than in the presence of a nonabsorptive one. Therefore, this dynamics can be harnessed to the determination whether a potential is absorptive or not simply by measuring only the transmitted particles density.

  7. Water-selective excitation of short T2 species with binomial pulses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deligianni, Xeni; Bär, Peter; Scheffler, Klaus; Trattnig, Siegfried; Bieri, Oliver

    2014-09-01

    For imaging of fibrous musculoskeletal components, ultra-short echo time methods are often combined with fat suppression. Due to the increased chemical shift, spectral excitation of water might become a favorable option at ultra-high fields. Thus, this study aims to compare and explore short binomial excitation schemes for spectrally selective imaging of fibrous tissue components with short transverse relaxation time (T2 ). Water selective 1-1-binomial excitation is compared with nonselective imaging using a sub-millisecond spoiled gradient echo technique for in vivo imaging of fibrous tissue at 3T and 7T. Simulations indicate a maximum signal loss from binomial excitation of approximately 30% in the limit of very short T2 (0.1 ms), as compared to nonselective imaging; decreasing rapidly with increasing field strength and increasing T2 , e.g., to 19% at 3T and 10% at 7T for T2 of 1 ms. In agreement with simulations, a binomial phase close to 90° yielded minimum signal loss: approximately 6% at 3T and close to 0% at 7T for menisci, and for ligaments 9% and 13%, respectively. Overall, for imaging of short-lived T2 components, short 1-1 binomial excitation schemes prove to offer marginal signal loss especially at ultra-high fields with overall improved scanning efficiency. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  8. "The difference being a woman made" Untold Lives in personal and intellectual context.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rutherford, Alexandra; Milar, Katharine

    2017-07-01

    To mark the 30th anniversary of the publication of Scarborough and Furumoto's classic work Untold Lives, and to honor the intellectual legacy of Elizabeth Scarborough (1935-2015), we introduce this special issue devoted to the histories of women, gender, and feminism in psychology. We provide a short biographical sketch of Elizabeth, highlighting her own marriage-career dilemma, then contextualize the publication of Untold Lives within the historiography on women in psychology at that time. We conclude by discussing intersectionality as an analytic framework for the history of psychology as a way to extend and enrich this historiography. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  9. Semi-automated quantification of living cells with internalized nanostructures

    KAUST Repository

    Margineanu, Michael B.

    2016-01-15

    Background Nanostructures fabricated by different methods have become increasingly important for various applications in biology and medicine, such as agents for medical imaging or cancer therapy. In order to understand their interaction with living cells and their internalization kinetics, several attempts have been made in tagging them. Although methods have been developed to measure the number of nanostructures internalized by the cells, there are only few approaches aimed to measure the number of cells that internalize the nanostructures, and they are usually limited to fixed-cell studies. Flow cytometry can be used for live-cell assays on large populations of cells, however it is a single time point measurement, and does not include any information about cell morphology. To date many of the observations made on internalization events are limited to few time points and cells. Results In this study, we present a method for quantifying cells with internalized magnetic nanowires (NWs). A machine learning-based computational framework, CellCognition, is adapted and used to classify cells with internalized and no internalized NWs, labeled with the fluorogenic pH-dependent dye pHrodo™ Red, and subsequently to determine the percentage of cells with internalized NWs at different time points. In a “proof-of-concept”, we performed a study on human colon carcinoma HCT 116 cells and human epithelial cervical cancer HeLa cells interacting with iron (Fe) and nickel (Ni) NWs. Conclusions This study reports a novel method for the quantification of cells that internalize a specific type of nanostructures. This approach is suitable for high-throughput and real-time data analysis and has the potential to be used to study the interaction of different types of nanostructures in live-cell assays.

  10. β-Decay half-lives and nuclear structure of exotic proton-rich waiting point nuclei under rp-process conditions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nabi, Jameel-Un; Böyükata, Mahmut

    2016-03-01

    We investigate even-even nuclei in the A ∼ 70 mass region within the framework of the proton-neutron quasi-particle random phase approximation (pn-QRPA) and the interacting boson model-1 (IBM-1). Our work includes calculation of the energy spectra and the potential energy surfaces V (β , γ) of Zn, Ge, Se, Kr and Sr nuclei with the same proton and neutron number, N = Z. The parametrization of the IBM-1 Hamiltonian was performed for the calculation of the energy levels in the ground state bands. Geometric shape of the nuclei was predicted by plotting the potential energy surfaces V (β , γ) obtained from the IBM-1 Hamiltonian in the classical limit. The pn-QRPA model was later used to compute half-lives of the neutron-deficient nuclei which were found to be in very good agreement with the measured ones. The pn-QRPA model was also used to calculate the Gamow-Teller strength distributions and was found to be in decent agreement with the measured data. We further calculate the electron capture and positron decay rates for these N = Z waiting point (WP) nuclei in the stellar environment employing the pn-QRPA model. For the rp-process conditions, our total weak rates are within a factor two compared with the Skyrme HF +BCS +QRPA calculation. All calculated electron capture rates are comparable to the competing positron decay rates under rp-process conditions. Our study confirms the finding that electron capture rates form an integral part of the weak rates under rp-process conditions and should not be neglected in the nuclear network calculations.

  11. Short-Term Versus Long-Term Effects of Depressive Symptoms on Mortality in Patients on Dialysis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Dijk, Sandra; van den Beukel, Tessa O.; Dekker, Friedo W.; le Cessie, Saskia; Kaptein, Adrian A.; Honig, Adriaan; Siegert, Carl E.; Boeschoten, Elisabeth W.; Krediet, Ray T.; Verduijn, Marion; Apperloo, A. J.; Bijlsma, J. A.; Boekhout, M.; Boer, W. H.; van der Boog, B. J. M.; Büller, H. R.; van Buren, M.; de Charro, F. T.; Doorenbos, C. J.; van der Dorpel, M. A.; van Es, A.; Fagel, W. J.; Feith, G. W.; de Fijter, C. W. H.; Frenken, L. A. M.; Grave, W.; van Geelen, J. A. C. A.; Gerlag, P. G. G.; Gorgels, J. P. M. C.; Huisman, R. M.; Jager, K. J.; Jie, K.; Koning-Mulder, W. A. H.; Koolen, M. I.; Kremer Hovinga, T. K.; Lavrijssen, A. T. J.; Luik, A. J.; van der Meulen, J.; Parlevliet, K. J.; Raasveld, M. H. M.; van der Sande, F. M.; Schonck, M. J. M.; Schuurmans, M. M. J.; Siegert, C. E. H.; Stegeman, C. A.; Stevens, P.; Thijssen, J. G. P.; Valentijn, R. M.; Vastenburg, G. H.; Verburgh, C. A.

    2012-01-01

    Objective:. Depressive symptoms seem to pose a risk factor for mortality among patients on dialysis. It is currently unknown whether the association is only short-lived and whether associations over time depend on specific causes of mortality. Methods: In a prospective nationwide cohort study, 1528

  12. Long-lived radionuclides in the air of the Dolni Rozinka uranium mine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Otahal, Petr; Burian, Ivo; Vosahlik, Josef

    2010-01-01

    Rozna I is the last open uranium mine in Europe, employing about 400 A-category (underground) workers who are exposed to three types of dose commitment: external gamma radiation, inhalation of short-lived radon decay products, and inhalation of long-lived alpha radionuclides of the uranium family. The paper discusses the last-mentioned factor, for which the derived limit for irradiation from the inhalation of a mixture of long-lived alpha emitters of the uranium family is 1850 Bq per calendar year as set by the Czech State Office for Nuclear Safety Decree No. 307/2002 (as amended by Decree No. 499/2005). Four major factors determine the extent of inhalation of long-lived radionuclides in mine air: concentration of uranium and their daughters in the ore, type of mining work being performed, intensity of ventilation, and intensity of spraying. The long-lived component of contamination of the mine atmosphere can be divided into 2 parts: the before-radon radionuclides ( 234 U, 230 Th, 226 Ra), released during the rock separation work, and the after-radon radionuclides ( 210 Po), which are due to radon decay

  13. Five palaeobiological laws needed to understand the evolution of the living biota.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marshall, Charles R

    2017-05-23

    The foundations of several disciplines can be expressed as simple quantitative laws, for example, Newton's laws or the laws of thermodynamics. Here I present five laws derived from fossil data that describe the relationships among species extinction and longevity, species richness, origination rates, extinction rates and diversification. These statements of our palaeobiological knowledge constitute a dimension largely hidden from view when studying the living biota, which are nonetheless crucial to the study of evolution and ecology even for groups with poor or non-existent fossil records. These laws encapsulate: the critical fact of extinction; that species are typically geologically short-lived, and thus that the number of extinct species typically dwarfs the number of living species; that extinction and origination rates typically have similar magnitudes; and, that significant extinction makes it difficult to infer much about a clade's early history or its current diversity dynamics from the living biota alone. Although important strides are being made to integrate these core palaeontological findings into our analysis of the living biota, this knowledge needs to be incorporated more widely if we are to understand their evolutionary dynamics.

  14. Short radiological emergency response training program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Williams, R.D.; Greenhouse, N.A.

    1977-01-01

    This paper presents an outline of a radiological emergency response training program conducted at Brookhaven National Laboratory by the health physics and safety training staff. This course is given to groups from local, county, state, and federal agencies and industrial organizations. It is normally three days in length, although the structure is flexible to accommodate individual needs and prior training. An important feature of the course is an emergency exercise utilizing a short lived radionuclide to better simulate real accident conditions. Groups are encouraged to use their own instruments to gain better familiarity with their operating characteristics under field conditions. Immediately following the exercise, a critical review of the students' performance is conducted

  15. Discrepancies in the half-lives of 90Sr, 137Cs and 252Cf

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rajput, M.U.; Mac Mahon, T.D.

    1990-01-01

    Recent reports have pointed out that significant discrepancies exist in published half-life data for 90 Sr, 137 Cs and 252 Cr, amongst others. These discrepancies make the estimation of evaluated half-lives for these isotopes difficult and contentious. This paper reviews the current situation, takes into account recently available data and attempts to derive recommended half-lives and associated uncertainties for the three isotopes. 37 refs, 3 tabs

  16. LA-ICP-MS for Trace Analysis of Long-Lived Radionuclides in Solid Non-conducting Radioactive Waste Samples

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Becker, J.S.; Gastel, M.; Tenzler, D.; Dietze, H.J.

    1999-01-01

    The characterization of radioactive waste materials from nuclear reactors for recycling and final storage requires fast, sensitive and precise analytical methods, which are able to determine long-lived radionuclidic ultra traces in a short time. For the determination of long-lived α and β ray-emitting nuclides besides the classical radiochemical methods which are mostly include time-consuming radiochemical separation procedures, to an increasing extent inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) has been used successfully as a powerful trace, ultra trace and isotopic analytical method for the determination of long-lived radionuclides in aqueous solutions [1-3

  17. Strategic planning for saving the lives of mothers, newborns and children and preventing stillbirths in KwaZulu-Natal province South Africa: modelling using the Lives Saved Tool (LiST).

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGee, Shelley-Ann; Chola, Lumbwe; Tugendhaft, Aviva; Mubaiwa, Victoria; Moran, Neil; McKerrow, Neil; Kamugisha, Leonard; Hofman, Karen

    2016-01-19

    KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa has the largest population of children under the age of five and experiences the highest number of child births per annum in the country. Its population has also been ravaged by the dual epidemics of HIV and TB and it has struggled to meet targets for maternal and child mortality. In South Africa's federal system, provinces have decision-making power on the prioritization and allocation of resources within their jurisdiction. As part of strategic planning for 2015-2019, KwaZulu-Natal provincial authorities requested an assessment of current mortality levels in the province and identification and costing of priority interventions for saving additional maternal, newborn and child lives, as well as preventing stillbirths in the province. The Lives Saved Tool (LiST) was used to determine the set of interventions, which could save the most additional maternal and child lives and prevent stillbirths from 2015-2019, and the costs of these. The impact of family planning was assessed using two scenarios by increasing baseline coverage of modern contraception by 0.5 percentage points or 1 percentage point per annum. A total of 7,043 additional child and 297 additional maternal lives could be saved, and 2,000 stillbirths could be prevented over five years. Seventeen interventions account for 75% of additional lives saved. Increasing family planning contributes to a further reduction of up to 137 maternal and 3,168 child deaths. The set of priority interventions scaled up to achievable levels, with no increase in contraception would require an additional US$91 million over five years or US$1.72 per capita population per year. By increasing contraceptive prevalence by one percentage point per year, overall costs to scale up to achievable coverage package, decrease by US$24 million over five years. Focused attention on a set of key interventions could have a significant impact on averting stillbirths and maternal and neonatal mortality in

  18. FORMATION OF THE SHORT-LIVED RADIONUCLIDE 36Cl IN THE PROTOPLANETARY DISK DURING LATE-STAGE IRRADIATION OF A VOLATILE-RICH RESERVOIR

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jacobsen, Benjamin; Yin Qingzhu; Matzel, Jennifer; Hutcheon, Ian D.; Ramon, Erick C.; Weber, Peter K.; Krot, Alexander N.; Nagashima, Kazuhide; Ishii, Hope A.; Ciesla, Fred J.

    2011-01-01

    Short-lived radionuclides (SLRs) in the early solar system provide fundamental insight into protoplanetary disk evolution. We measured the 36 Cl- 36 S-isotope abundance in wadalite ( 36 Cl (τ 1/2 ∼ 3 x 10 5 yr) in the early solar system. Its presence, initial abundance, and the noticeable decoupling from 26 Al raise serious questions about the origin of SLRs. The inferred initial 36 Cl abundance for wadalite, corresponding to a 36 Cl/ 35 Cl ratio of (1.81 ± 0.13) x 10 -5 , is the highest 36 Cl abundance ever reported in any early solar system material. The high level of 36 Cl in wadalite and the absence of 26 Al ( 26 Al/ 27 Al ≤ 3.9 x 10 -6 ) in co-existing grossular (1) unequivocally support the production of 36 Cl by late-stage solar energetic particle irradiation in the protoplanetary disk and (2) indicates that the production of 36 Cl, recorded by wadalite, is unrelated to the origin of 26 Al and other SLRs ( 10 Be, 53 Mn) recorded by primary minerals of CAIs and chondrules. We infer that 36 Cl was largely produced by irradiation of a volatile-rich reservoir in an optically thin protoplanetary disk adjacent to the region in which the CV chondrite parent asteroid accreted while the Sun was a weak T Tauri star. Subsequently, 36 Cl accreted into the Allende CV chondrite together with condensed water ices.

  19. Triggering Collapse of the Presolar Dense Cloud Core and Injecting Short-lived Radioisotopes with a Shock Wave. V. Nonisothermal Collapse Regime

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Boss, Alan P., E-mail: aboss@carnegiescience.edu [Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution for Science, 5241 Broad Branch Road, NW, Washington, DC 20015-1305 (United States)

    2017-08-01

    Recent meteoritical analyses support an initial abundance of the short-lived radioisotope (SLRI) {sup 60}Fe that may be high enough to require nucleosynthesis in a core-collapse supernova, followed by rapid incorporation into primitive meteoritical components, rather than a scenario where such isotopes were inherited from a well-mixed region of a giant molecular cloud polluted by a variety of supernovae remnants and massive star winds. This paper continues to explore the former scenario, by calculating three-dimensional, adaptive mesh refinement, hydrodynamical code (FLASH 2.5) models of the self-gravitational, dynamical collapse of a molecular cloud core that has been struck by a thin shock front with a speed of 40 km s{sup −1}, leading to the injection of shock front matter into the collapsing cloud through the formation of Rayleigh–Taylor fingers at the shock–cloud intersection. These models extend the previous work into the nonisothermal collapse regime using a polytropic approximation to represent compressional heating in the optically thick protostar. The models show that the injection efficiencies of shock front materials are enhanced compared to previous models, which were not carried into the nonisothermal regime, and so did not reach such high densities. The new models, combined with the recent estimates of initial {sup 60}Fe abundances, imply that the supernova triggering and injection scenario remains a plausible explanation for the origin of the SLRIs involved in the formation of our solar system.

  20. Duan's fixed point theorem: proof and generalization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available Let X be an H-space of the homotopy type of a connected, finite CW-complex, f:X→X any map and p k :X→X the k th power map. Duan proved that p k f :X→X has a fixed point if k≥2 . We give a new, short and elementary proof of this. We then use rational homotopy to generalize to spaces X whose rational cohomology is the tensor product of an exterior algebra on odd dimensional generators with the tensor product of truncated polynomial algebras on even dimensional generators. The role of the power map is played by a θ -structure μ θ :X→X as defined by Hemmi-Morisugi-Ooshima. The conclusion is that μ θ f and f μ θ each has a fixed point.

  1. [The perception of the young and long-lived elderly 'Gauchos' (from the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) about the public spaces they live in Resumo].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Navarro, Joel Hirtz do Nascimento; Andrade, Francini Porcher; Paiva, Tiago Sousa; da Silva, Diovana Ourique; Gessinger, Cristiane Fernanda; Bós, Ângelo José Gonçalves

    2015-02-01

    By 2050, the number of Brazilians living in urban areas will be over 200 million and 29% of the population will be elderly. The long-lived elderly are 80 or more years old and the young elderly are between 60 and 79 years of age. The scope of this article was to verify the difference in perception between the young elderly and the long-lived elderly from Rio Grande do Sul (RS) about the urban environment they live in. This is a population-based, observational, descriptive, retrospective study with a quantitative analysis paradigm. Data was analyzed from Elderly Profile research in RS conducted by the Geriatric and Gerontological Institute of PUCRS in partnership with the RS School of Public Health. The sample consisted of 6913 questionnaires answered by the elderly from 59 cities. Data analysis was performed for each age group and independent variables were processed using the Chi-square test, with p under 0.05. Results showed that the perception of difficulties such as a lack of park benches and safety strips, short traffic light times for pedestrians, high steps and bad-smelling public toilets was greater among the young elderly. The long-lived elderly noticed these facts less, though they admitted that they frequent community environments less often.

  2. Health-related quality of life of elderly living in the rural community and homes for the elderly in a district of India. Application of the short form 36 (SF-36) health survey questionnaire.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Varma, G R; Kusuma, Y S; Babu, B V

    2010-08-01

    The present investigation aimed to assess the health-related QoL (HRQoL) of elderly people living in two settings: (i) rural community and (ii) homes for the elderly in a district of South India. The data are drawn from elderly (>60 years of age) sampled from both settings. The short form 36-item health survey (SF-36) was administered to all respondents. The average scores for several domains, including total physical health, total mental health and overall health (total SF-36 score) were around 50, which can be interpreted as a moderate level of health-related QoL. Residents living in a home for the elderly scored better in all domains except for role-physical and role-emotional. Though univariate analysis revealed some associations between characteristics of elderly SF-36 scores, the multiple regression analysis indicated that working status yields a significant but negative coefficient for total SF-36 score among community dwelling elderly. The elderly report that their lives are better when they are staying in homes for the elderly. Hence, despite the socio-economic conditions, provision of a better and conducive environment by setting up more charity-based homes for the elderly may be one of the options for relative betterment of the QoL of the elderly, particularly those who are socially and economically deprived. Finally, the study warrants the need of normative values of SF-36 for various population groups in India.

  3. Lived Lives: A Pavee Perspective. An arts-science community intervention around suicide in an indigenous ethnic minority [version 1; referees: 2 approved

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kevin M. Malone

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Background: Suicide is a significant public health concern, which impacts on health outcomes. Few suicide research studies have been interdisciplinary. We combined a psychobiographical autopsy with a visual arts autopsy, in which families donated stories, images and objects associated with the lived life of a loved one lost to suicide. From this interdisciplinary research platform, a mediated exhibition was created (Lived Lives with artist, scientist and families, co-curated by communities, facilitating dialogue, response and public action around suicide prevention. Indigenous ethnic minorities (IEMs bear a significant increased risk for suicide. Irish Travellers are an IEM with social and cultural parallels with IEMs internationally, experiencing racism, discrimination, and poor health outcomes including elevated suicide rates (SMR 6.6. Methods: An adjusted Lived Lives exhibition, Lived Lives: A Pavee Perspective manifested in Pavee Point, the national Traveller and Roma Centre. The project was evaluated by the Travelling Community as to how it related to suicide in their community, how it has shaped their understanding of suicide and its impacts, and its relevance to other socio-cultural contexts, nationally and internationally. The project also obtained feedback from all relevant stakeholders. Evaluation was carried out by an international visual arts research advisor and an independent observer from the field of suicide research. Results: Outputs included an arts-science mediated exhibition with reference to elevated Irish Traveller suicide rates. Digital online learning materials about suicide and its aftermath among Irish Travellers were also produced. The project reached its target audience, with a high level of engagement from members of the Travelling Community. Discussion: The Lived Lives methodology navigated the societal barriers of stigma and silence to foster communication and engagement, working with cultural values, consistent

  4. Fiber design and realization of point-by-point written fiber Bragg gratings in polymer optical fibers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stefani, Alessio; Stecher, Matthias; Town, Graham E.

    2012-01-01

    the gratings make the point-by-point grating writing technique very interesting and would appear to be able to fill this technological gap. On the other end this technique is hardly applicable for microstructured fibers because of the writing beam being scattered by the air-holes. We report on the design...... and because they allow to tune the guiding parameters by modifying the microstructure. Now a days the only technique used to write gratings in such fibers is the phase mask technique with UV light illumination. Despite the good results that have been obtained, a limited flexibility on the grating design...... and the very long times required for the writing of FBGs raise some questions about the possibility of exporting POF FBGs and the sensors based on them from the laboratory bench to the mass production market. The possibility of arbitrary design of fiber Bragg gratings and the very short time required to write...

  5. Study of genetic markers of CODIS and ESS systems in a population of individuals from Cabo Verde living in Lisboa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Resende, Ana; Amorim, António; da Silva, Cláudia Vieira; Ribeiro, Teresa; Porto, Maria João; Costa Santos, Jorge; Afonso Costa, Heloísa

    2017-01-01

    Twenty-two autosomal short tandem repeats included in the PowerPlex® Fusion System Amplification kit (Promega Corporation) were genotyped in a population sample of 500 unrelated individuals from Cabo Verde living in Lisboa. Allelic frequency data and forensic and statistical parameters were calculated and evaluated in this work. The genetic relationship among immigrant population from Cabo Verde living in Lisboa and other populations, such as Brazilian and Angola immigrants living in Lisboa; Afro-Americans, Caucasians, Hispanics and Asians living in the USA and the population from Lisboa was assessed, and a multidimensional scaling plot was drown to show these results.

  6. Slip weakening, strain and short-termpreseismic disturbances

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. A. Morgounov

    2004-06-01

    Full Text Available The problem of short-term earthquake precursors is discussed. In contrast to the increasing number of reports on short-lived precursors of various types, direct strain measurements cannot detect clearly expressed preseismic anomalies, as follows from the aseismic nucleation mechanism. Based on previously published data and the assumption that the attenuation of the stress-strain field is proportional to r- 3, a possible scenario of the final stage of earthquake nucleation process is proposed on the basis of the slip weakening mechanism in the source and the associated mosaic pattern of precursors on the Earth?s surface. The formulas for estimating the maximum distance of precursor detection and minimum duration of the final stage of inelastic deformation preceding brittle failure of rocks are derived. The data of electromagnetic precursors are interpreted in terms of a skin-layer model. A considerable increase in strain rates at the final stage of the earthquake nucleation provides an opportunity to explain teleseismic effects before strong earthquakes in terms of normalized epicenter distance. The modeling results are compared with in situ observations.

  7. Rehabilitation of the short pelvic floor. II: Treatment of the patient with the short pelvic floor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    FitzGerald, M P; Kotarinos, R

    2003-10-01

    Several urogynecologic syndromes are associated with the clinical finding of a short, painful, tender and weak pelvic floor and a variety of connective tissue abnormalities. Techniques for rehabilitation include the avoidance of perpetuating factors, rehabilitation of extrapelvic musculoskeletal abnormalities, the use of manual techniques and needling to promote resolution of connective tissue problems, closure of any diastasis recti, and transvaginal/transrectal manual release of muscular trigger points and contractures. Therapy can be facilitated by pudendal or epidural nerve block. Patients contribute to their success through home maintenance programs.

  8. Body image and anthropometric indicators in adolescents living with HIV

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luiz Rodrigo Augustemak de Lima

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was to compare body image and anthropometric indicators among adolescents living with HIV and healthy adolescents (control group. In addition, we verified the associations of anthropometric indicators, infection/treatment, sexual maturity, and sociodemographic characteristics with body image in adolescents living with HIV. One hundred and eleven adolescents aged 10 to 15 years were divided into those living with HIV (n = 57 and a control group (n = 54. Body image was investigated using an eight-point body silhouette scale. Body weight, height, circumferences, and skinfolds were measured. Body image dissatisfaction was found in 54.4% of the adolescents living with HIV, with 38.6% of them wishing to increase their body size. Conversely, body image dissatisfaction was due to the desire to reduce body size in the control group (40.7%. No difference between the HIV and control groups was found for the anthropometric indicators analyzed. Gender (β = -0.52, age (β = 0.18, body weight (β = 0.07, body mass index (β = -0.19, and upper arm muscle area (β = -0.08 explained 42% of the variation in the body image score of adolescents living with HIV. Thinness is the main reason for body image dissatisfaction in adolescents living with HIV. Almost half the body dissatisfaction of adolescents living with HIV was explained by demographic and anthropometric variables.

  9. Zero-point length from string fluctuations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fontanini, Michele; Spallucci, Euro; Padmanabhan, T.

    2006-01-01

    One of the leading candidates for quantum gravity, viz. string theory, has the following features incorporated in it. (i) The full spacetime is higher-dimensional, with (possibly) compact extra-dimensions; (ii) there is a natural minimal length below which the concept of continuum spacetime needs to be modified by some deeper concept. On the other hand, the existence of a minimal length (zero-point length) in four-dimensional spacetime, with obvious implications as UV regulator, has been often conjectured as a natural aftermath of any correct quantum theory of gravity. We show that one can incorporate the apparently unrelated pieces of information-zero-point length, extra-dimensions, string T-duality-in a consistent framework. This is done in terms of a modified Kaluza-Klein theory that interpolates between (high-energy) string theory and (low-energy) quantum field theory. In this model, the zero-point length in four dimensions is a 'virtual memory' of the length scale of compact extra-dimensions. Such a scale turns out to be determined by T-duality inherited from the underlying fundamental string theory. From a low energy perspective short distance infinities are cutoff by a minimal length which is proportional to the square root of the string slope, i.e., α ' . Thus, we bridge the gap between the string theory domain and the low energy arena of point-particle quantum field theory

  10. Influence of short heat pulses on the helium boiling heat transfer rate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Andreev, V.K.; Deev, V.I.; Savin, A.N.; Kutsenko, K.V.

    1987-01-01

    Investigation results on heat transfer in the process of helium boiling on a heated wall under conditions of pulsed heat effect are described. Results of the given study point to one of possible ways of heat exchange intensification in boiling helium by supplying short heat pulse to the heater. Even short-time noncontrolled or incidental increase in the heater capacity during experiment with boiling helium can result in a considerable disagreement of experimental data on heat transfer

  11. Ancient mitochondrial DNA reveals convergent evolution of giant short-faced bears (Tremarctinae) in North and South America

    OpenAIRE

    Mitchell, Kieren J.; Bray, Sarah C.; Bover, Pere; Soibelzon, Leopoldo; Schubert, Blaine W.; Prevosti, Francisco; Prieto, Alfredo; Martin, Fabiana; Austin, Jeremy J.; Cooper, Alan

    2016-01-01

    The Tremarctinae are a subfamily of bears endemic to the New World, including two of the largest terrestrial mammalian carnivores that have ever lived: the giant, short-faced bears Arctodus simus from North America and Arctotherium angustidens from South America (greater than or equal to 1000 kg). Arctotherium angustidens became extinct during the Early Pleistocene, whereas Arctodus simus went extinct at the very end of the Pleistocene. The only living tremarctine is the spectacled bear (Trem...

  12. Living With Chronic Lower Pulmonary Disease

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Charlotte Pooler

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available In this article, I present a phenomenological study of individuals’ experiences of living with moderate to very severe chronic lower pulmonary disease (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, or both. Phenomenology is a philosophy, distinct from descriptive or thematic research, which is useful as a foundation for scientific inquiry. In this study, I used the lens of Merleau-Ponty to understand and interpret participants’ experiences of living with pulmonary disease, and the approach of van Manen for analysis. I conclude that in chronic pulmonary disease, awareness of breathing and the body is experienced in the sounds, sensations, and signals of breathing and the body, and in the experiences of the body-in-the-world. Central themes of being-in-the-world from the study describe the disruption of the embodied phenomenological self: Participants experienced slowing down, doing less, and having to stop due to shortness of breath. Both chronic and acute dyspnea were prevalent and the taken-for-granted aspects of daily activities were disrupted. Findings of this study have implications for public and patient education, and opportunities for integration of experiential aspects within nursing education and practice.

  13. Living With Chronic Lower Pulmonary Disease

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pooler, Charlotte

    2014-01-01

    In this article, I present a phenomenological study of individuals’ experiences of living with moderate to very severe chronic lower pulmonary disease (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, or both). Phenomenology is a philosophy, distinct from descriptive or thematic research, which is useful as a foundation for scientific inquiry. In this study, I used the lens of Merleau-Ponty to understand and interpret participants’ experiences of living with pulmonary disease, and the approach of van Manen for analysis. I conclude that in chronic pulmonary disease, awareness of breathing and the body is experienced in the sounds, sensations, and signals of breathing and the body, and in the experiences of the body-in-the-world. Central themes of being-in-the-world from the study describe the disruption of the embodied phenomenological self: Participants experienced slowing down, doing less, and having to stop due to shortness of breath. Both chronic and acute dyspnea were prevalent and the taken-for-granted aspects of daily activities were disrupted. Findings of this study have implications for public and patient education, and opportunities for integration of experiential aspects within nursing education and practice. PMID:28462289

  14. Saving and Re-building Lives: Determinants of Short-term and Long-term Disaster Relief

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Geethanjali SELVARETNAM

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available We analyse both theoretically and empirically, the factors that influence the amount of humanitarian aid received by countries which are struck by natural disasters, particularly distinguishing between immediate disaster relief and long term humanitarian aid. The theoretical model is able to make predictions as well as explain some of the peculiarities in the empirical results. We show that both short and long term humanitarian aid increases with number of people killed, financial loss and level of corruption, while GDP per capita had no effect. More populated countries receive more humanitarian aid. Earthquake, tsunami and drought attract more aid.

  15. NREL/NASA Internal Short-Circuit Instigator in Lithium Ion Cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Keyser, Matthew; Long, Dirk; Pesaran, Ahmad; Darcy, Eric; Shoesmith, Mark; McCarthy, Ben

    2015-10-11

    Lithium-ion cells provide the highest specific energy (>280 Wh/kg) and energy density (>600 Wh/L) rechargeable battery building block to date with the longest life. Electrode/electrolyte thermal instability and flammability of the electrolyte of Li-ion cells make them prone to catastrophic thermal runaway under some rare internal short circuit conditions. Despite extensive QC/QA, standardized industry safety testing, and over 18 years of manufacturing experience, major recalls have taken place and incidents still occur. Many safety incidents that take place in the field originate due to an internal short that was not detectable or predictable at the point of manufacture. The Internal Short-Circuit Instigator can be used to study types of separators, non-flammable electrolytes, electrolyte additives, fusible tabs, propagation studies, and gas generation within a cell.

  16. Live insertion method used for main renewal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Solkowitz, M.

    1992-01-01

    Baltimore Gas and Electric's pilot project using the live insertion method to replace a cast iron main provided excellent results. Its use on Eastern Avenue, a major state highway, was cost effective, provided gas service to customers during the work, required relatively short construction time and resulted in only minor traffic disruptions. Gas service transfers to the new main were done at customer convenience and resulted in outages of only a few hours per customer. This paper reports that the project involved inserting a 6-in. plastic line inside an existing 10-in. cast iron main. Miller Pipeline Corp., Indianapolis, supplier of the Insertec left-angle R right-angle live insertion method was contracted for the job. Miller technicians assisted BG and E forces by providing a load analysis of the main, a pushing machine and related supplies, foaming equipment and pipe cutting tools. Company forces were responsible for all preparatory work, including opening all excavations, installing bypasses, and fusing and testing the plastic pipe. Service transfers and renewals were also completed by company employees

  17. Energy risk management through self-exciting marked point process

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Herrera, Rodrigo

    2013-01-01

    Crude oil is a dynamically traded commodity that affects many economies. We propose a collection of marked self-exciting point processes with dependent arrival rates for extreme events in oil markets and related risk measures. The models treat the time among extreme events in oil markets as a stochastic process. The main advantage of this approach is its capability to capture the short, medium and long-term behavior of extremes without involving an arbitrary stochastic volatility model or a prefiltration of the data, as is common in extreme value theory applications. We make use of the proposed model in order to obtain an improved estimate for the Value at Risk in oil markets. Empirical findings suggest that the reliability and stability of Value at Risk estimates improve as a result of finer modeling approach. This is supported by an empirical application in the representative West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent crude oil markets. - Highlights: • We propose marked self-exciting point processes for extreme events in oil markets. • This approach captures the short and long-term behavior of extremes. • We improve the estimates for the VaR in the WTI and Brent crude oil markets

  18. Characterization of long-lived radioactive dust clouds generated in uranium mill operations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bigu, J.

    1987-01-01

    The characteristics of long-lived radioactive dust clouds generated in several mechanical and physico-chemical operations in a uranium mill have been investigated. The study consisted of the determination of dust size distribution, and of the radionuclides contained in the particles of each dimension class ranging from <0.1 to 26 μm in diameter. Experiments were conducted using several cascade impactors operating at different sample flow rates. Two different types of cascade impactors were used. Radionuclide identification was done using α-spectrometry and γ-spectrometry. Long-lived and short-lived radionuclides were identified in dust samples. The characteristics of the dust clouds depended on the mill operation. The following operations were studied: crushing (vibrating grizzly, jaw crusher, cone crusher); screening; ore transportation; grinding; acid leaching; counter-current decantation; yellowcake precipitation and drying; and yellowcake packaging. In addition, other dust and radioactivity measurements have been carried out

  19. Observations of Short Gamma-Ray Bursts: Prompt Emission and Afterglow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berger, Edo

    2011-09-01

    The study of short gamma-ray bursts has been revolutionized by the discovery of afterglows and host galaxies. In this talk I will review observations of the prompt emission, afterglows, and host galaxies, primarily as they pertain to the nature of the progenitor systems. The bulk of the evidence points to the merger of compact objects (NS-NS or NS-BH) making short GRBs the prime candidate for gravitational wave detections with the next generation detectors. This work is partially supported by funds from NASA (through the Swift and Chandra GO programs) and the NSF through an AAG grant.

  20. Study on the risk of late damage in humans after incorporation of the short-lived alpha emitter Ra-224

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wick, R.R.; Nekolla, E.A.; Kellerer, A.M.; Goessner, W.

    2003-01-01

    An epidemiological study has been carried out at the GSF - National Research Center for Environment and Health - between 1948 and 1975, on 1460 ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients. The aim of the study was to ascertain the late health effects suffered by these patients who had received repeated intravenous injections of the short lived α-emitter 224 Ra. These patients have been followed together with a control group of 1323 ankylosing spondylitis patients not treated with radioactive drugs and/or X-rays. Causes of death have been ascertained for 842 exposed patients and 861 controls by the end of 2002. In the exposed group there has been a total of 219 malignant diseases and 206 cases among the controls. In particular, we observed 15 cases of leukaemia in the exposure group and 8 cases of leukaemia in the control group. Further subclassification of the leukaemias demonstrated a high increase of myeloid leukaemia in the exposure group (9 cases obs. vs. 2.5 cases exp.), and out of these especially the acute myeloid leukaemias (6 cases observed vs. 1.6 expected), whereas in the control group the observed cases are within the expected range (3 myeloid leukaemias vs. 2.6 cases). Out of these 6 cases of myeloid leukaemia, 3 cases have been observed at doses comparable to those of the currently applied 224 Ra treatment with the preparation SpondylAT registered , in one case the 224 Ra-dose was the 0.6fold, in another case 1.6fold, whereas in one case the total dose could not be verified exactly. The enhanced leukaemia incidence in our exposed group is in line with results from animal experiments in mice having been injected with bone seeking α-emitters given at low dose rates. (orig.) [de