Memories of David Kirzhnits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bolotovsky, B. M.

2013-06-01

In the mid-1950s, a new staff member appeared at the Theory Division of the Physical Institute of the Academy of Sciences (FIAN): David Abramovich Kirzhnits. A Moscow State University alumnus, after graduation he had been assigned to a large defense plant in the city of Gorky, where he had worked for several years as an engineer. He was "liberated" from there by Igor Evgenyevich Tamm, our department head, who managed to transfer him to FIAN. Igor Evgenyevich knew D. A. Kirzhnits - they had met in Moscow before Kirzhnits finished university. At that time Kirzhnits was performing thesis work with professor A. S. Kompaneyets as academic adviser. At his adviser's suggestion, D. Kirzhnits consulted with I. E. Tamm on questions pertaining to the thesis topic. I. E. Tamm took a great liking for the diploma student, and he even wanted to recruit D. A. Kirzhnits for the Theory Division immediately after graduation. But at that time (1949) this proved impossible for several reasons. First, D. Kirzhnits was, as they say, an "invalid of the fifth group" - a Jew - which during those years of violent struggle against cosmopolitanismb often proved an obstacle in looking for work. Second, during the years of mass repressions D. Kirzhnits' father had been arrested on treason charges (according to the charges, he had wanted to sell the Far East to Japan). After intensive investigation his father was released, but he lived only a little longer. Reports of this also could have impeded his acceptance. Third, Igor Evgenyevich didn't have enough weight in officials' eyes at that time and so was unable to overcome "first" and "second."...

East Europe Report, Political, Sociological and Military Affairs

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-07-25

the Serbian LC." Speaker: Milomir Petrovic. Attendance: 520. DOB 15 May 1983. "Miladin Zivotic: Revolution and Culture." Speakers: Veljko Korac...Milosevic, Esad Cimic, Dimitrije Rupel, Igor Mandic , Dobroslav Smiljanic and Boro Krivokapic. Attendance: 450. DOB 6 April 1983. "Predrag Matvejevic

76 FR 42706 - Amendment of Inspector General Operations & Reporting System Audit, Assignment, and Timesheet...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-07-19

... Operations & Reporting System Audit, Assignment, and Timesheet Files (EPA-42) AGENCY: Environmental... (IGOR) System Audit, Assignment, and Timesheet Files (EPA-42) to the Inspector General Enterprise Management System (IGEMS) Audit, Assignment, and Timesheet Modules. DATES: Effective Dates: Persons wishing...

Observing storm surges from space: Hurricane Igor off Newfoundland

PubMed Central

Han, Guoqi; Ma, Zhimin; Chen, Dake; deYoung, Brad; Chen, Nancy

2012-01-01

Coastal communities are becoming increasingly more vulnerable to storm surges under a changing climate. Tide gauges can be used to monitor alongshore variations of a storm surge, but not cross-shelf features. In this study we combine Jason-2 satellite measurements with tide-gauge data to study the storm surge caused by Hurricane Igor off Newfoundland. Satellite observations reveal a storm surge of 1 m in the early morning of September 22, 2010 (UTC) after the passage of the storm, consistent with the tide-gauge measurements. The post-storm sea level variations at St. John's and Argentia are associated with free equatorward-propagating continental shelf waves (with a phase speed of ~10 m/s and a cross-shelf decaying scale of ~100 km). The study clearly shows the utility of satellite altimetry in observing and understanding storm surges, complementing tide-gauge observations for the analysis of storm surge characteristics and for the validation and improvement of storm surge models. PMID:23259048

Annular Electric Discharge as an Initiator of Combustion in Supersonic Flow

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-02-01

Flow 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER ISTC Registration No: 3833P 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) Kossyi Igor Antonovich...REPORT NUMBER(S) ISTC 07-7012 12. DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENT Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. 13. SUPPLEMENTARY...

Annotations in Refseq (GSC8 Meeting)

ScienceCinema

Tatusova, Tatiana

2018-01-15

The Genomic Standards Consortium was formed in September 2005. It is an international, open-membership working body which promotes standardization in the description of genomes and the exchange and integration of genomic data. The 2009 meeting was an activity of a five-year funding "Research Coordination Network" from the National Science Foundation and was organized held at the DOE Joint Genome Institute with organizational support provided by the JGI and by the University of California - San Diego. Tatiana Tatusova of NCBI discusses "Annotations in Refseq" at the Genomic Standards Consortium's 8th meeting at the DOE JGI in Walnut Creek, CA on Sept. 10, 2009.

"Micro-robots" team up to act like vacuum cleaner

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Snezhko, Alexey and Aronson, Igor

2011-01-01

"Micro-robots" designed by Argonne National Laboratory physicists Alexey Snezhko and Igor Aronson pick up free-floating particles. The competing hydrodynamic flows created by the four-aster assembly trap the particles. This video is courtesy of Nature Materials. Read more about the bots at http://go.usa.gov/KAT

The Birth of "Frankenstein"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Howard, Jennifer

2008-01-01

Nobody shouts "It's alive!" in the novel that gave birth to Frankenstein's monster. "Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus," does not feature mad scientists messing around with beakers in laboratories, nor does it deliver any bug-eyed assistants named Igor. Hollywood has given people those stock images, but the story of the monster and his maker…

Decreasing Inappropriate Vocalizations Using Classwide Group Contingencies and Color Wheel Procedures: A Component Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirk, Emily R.; Becker, Jennifer A.; Skinner, Christopher H., Fearrington, Jamie Yarbr; McCane-Bowling, Sara J.; Amburn, Christie; Luna, Elisa; Greear, Corinne

2010-01-01

Teacher referrals for consultation resulted in two independent teams collecting evidence that allowed for a treatment component evaluation of color wheel (CW) procedures and/or interdependent group-oriented reward (IGOR) procedures on inappropriate vocalizations in one third- and one first-grade classroom. Both studies involved the application of…

Multiple Antigen Peptide Vaccines against Plasmodium falciparum Malaria

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-01-01

Robert A. Boykins/ Victoria Majam,l Hong Zheng,1 Rana Chattopadhyay,l Patricia de Ia Vcga,3 J. Kathleen Moch ,J J. David Hayncs,3 Igor M. Belyakov,2...K. Moch , and D. S. Smoot. 2002. Erythroc-ytic malaria growth or invasion inhibition assays with emphasis on suspension culture GIA. Methods Mol. Med

Conducting Approaches and Recommendations for the Performance of Igor Stravinsky's "L'Histoire du Soldat"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Denti, Joseph R.

2013-01-01

This study examines "L'Histoire du Soldat" from the conductor's perspective. The review of literature examines texts on score study and conducting technique, analyzes writing on the interpretation of Stravinsky's conducting approach and his view on conductors, and provides works on the history and analysis of "L'Histoire du…

"Micro-robots" pick up a glass bead

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

2011-01-01

"Micro-robots", which are really collections of particles animated by magnetic fields, pick up a glass bead and move it around the screen. Each movement is precisely controlled. The "asters" were designed by Alexey Snezkho and Igor Aronson at Argonne National Laboratory. Video courtesy Nature Materials. Read the full story at http://go.usa.gov/KAT

Strategic Planning Within Weapon System Program Offices at Aeronautical Systems Division.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-09-01

Command, date. 2. II. Department of the Air Force. The Air Force Budget Process. AFP 172-4. Washington: HQ USAF, 1 October 1984. 3. DD. Ansoff , Igor H...informal approach is subjective, it has been successful for some managers and should not be considered an ineffective approach. According to Ansoff

76 FR 71019 - Amendment of Inspector General's Operation and Reporting (IGOR) System Investigative Files (EPA-40)

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-11-16

... such action. 2. To the Department of Justice to obtain its advice on Freedom of Information Act matters... and the Department of Justice when EPA is seeking an ex parte court order to obtain taxpayer... standards, or reflects on the moral, educational, or professional qualifications of an individual who is...

Depolarization Diffusion During Weak Suprathreshold Stimulation of Cardiac Tissue

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-10-25

DEPOLARIZATION DIFFUSION DURING WEAK SUPRATHRESHOLD STIMULATION OF CARDIAC TISSUE Vladimir Nikolski, Aleksandre Sambelashvili, and Igor R. Efimov...the depolarized regions. Such an activation pattern appears similar to break activation. The effect of the depolarization diffusion from depolarized...Subtitle Depolarization Diffusion During Weak Suprathreshold Stimulation of Cardiac Tissue Contract Number Grant Number Program Element Number Author(s

Naive Probability: Model-based Estimates of Unique Events

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-05-04

Gilio & Over, 2012) – a possibility to which we return later. Despite these studies...Barrouillet, Jean-François Bonnefon, Nick Cassimatis, Nick Chater, Ernest Davis, Igor Douven, Angelo Gilio , Adam Harris, Gernot Kleiter, Gary Marcus, Ray...1230-1239. Gilio , A., & Over, D. (2012). The psychology of inferring conditionals from disjunctions: A probabilistic study. Journal of

Northeast Artificial Intelligence Consortium Annual Report - 1988 Parallel Vision. Volume 9

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-10-01

supports the Northeast Aritificial Intelligence Consortium (NAIC). Volume 9 Parallel Vision Report submitted by Christopher M. Brown Randal C. Nelson...NORTHEAST ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE CONSORTIUM ANNUAL REPORT - 1988 Parallel Vision Syracuse University Christopher M. Brown and Randal C. Nelson...Technical Director Directorate of Intelligence & Reconnaissance FOR THE COMMANDER: IGOR G. PLONISCH Directorate of Plans & Programs If your address has

Book Review: Einstein studies in Russia. Yuri Balashov and Vladimir Vizgin (Eds.); Birkhäuser, Basel, 2002, 315pp, US 59.95, ISBN 0-8176-4263-3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pechenkin, A. A.

Most of the articles included here were first published in Russian in the series Einstein Studies (Einshteinovskii sbornik) (ES) between 1974 and 1990. ES was established in 1966 with support from the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Igor E. Tamm, who became one of the editors,

Center for Artificial Intelligence

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-03-14

builder’s intelligent assistant. The basic approach of IGOR is to integrate the complementary strategies of exploratory and confirmatory data analysis...Recovery: A Model and Experiments," in Proceedings of the Ninth National Conference on Artifcial Intelligence , Anaheim, CA, July 1991, pp. 801-808. Howe...Lehnert University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MAJ (413) 545-1322 Lessei•:s.umass.edu Title: Center for Artificial Intelligence Contract #: N00014-86-K

Secure DBMS Auditor

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-07-01

i k RAYMOND P. URTZ, JR. Technical Director Directorate of Command & Control FOR TH!E C0OKANDER: IGOR G. PLONISCH Directorate of Plans & Programs If...access controls and for thwarting inference and aggregation attacks ae generally considered inadequate for high usurance systems. Consequently, thee is...requirements was to have been based on a state-of-the-art survey involving interviews with TDBMS researchers and developers and security officers and auditors

Public Works Department Maintenance Management Information System

DTIC Science & Technology

1976-06-01

Associates, Inc., 1974. 2. Ansoff , Igor H. , Corporate Strategy , McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1965. 3. Anthony, Robert N. , Planning and Control Systems, A...hierarchy of information systems. Ansoff describes management decision-making in three categories as strategic, administrative and operating decisions [Re...involve the firm’s goals, objectives, diversification, product-mix, markets, and growth. Ansoff also notes these other differences: 76 (1) operating

JPRS Report, Proliferation Issues

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-10-28

the Kozloduy Nuclear Power mentary Union for Social Democracy for the town of Plant . Igor Kareyev, the embassy’s economic counselor, Svishtov, comments...are working at the nuclear the Belene Nuclear Power Plant is halted." It is evident that plant . unless this issue is finally resolved, no one will make...long-term investments in the region of the projected nuclear Russian organizations are doing everything possible to power plant . It is true that

The Orion Nebula: Still Full of Surprises

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2011-01-01

This ethereal-looking image of the Orion Nebula was captured using the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory, Chile. This nebula is much more than just a pretty face, offering astronomers a close-up view of a massive star-forming region to help advance our understanding of stellar birth and evolution. The data used for this image were selected by Igor Chekalin (Russia), who participated in ESO's Hidden Treasures 2010 astrophotography competition. Igor's composition of the Orion Nebula was the seventh highest ranked entry in the competition, although another of Igor's images was the eventual overall winner. The Orion Nebula, also known as Messier 42, is one of the most easily recognisable and best-studied celestial objects. It is a huge complex of gas and dust where massive stars are forming and is the closest such region to the Earth. The glowing gas is so bright that it can be seen with the unaided eye and is a fascinating sight through a telescope. Despite its familiarity and closeness there is still much to learn about this stellar nursery. It was only in 2007, for instance, that the nebula was shown to be closer to us than previously thought: 1350 light-years, rather than about 1500 light-years. Astronomers have used the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile to observe the stars within Messier 42. They found that the faint red dwarfs in the star cluster associated with the glowing gas radiate much more light than had previously been thought, giving us further insights into this famous object and the stars that it hosts. The data collected for this science project, with no original intention to make a colour image, have now been reused to create the richly detailed picture of Messier 42 shown here. The image is a composite of several exposures taken through a total of five different filters. Light that passed through a red filter as well as light from a filter that shows the glowing hydrogen gas, were coloured red. Light in the yellow-green part of the spectrum is coloured green, blue light is coloured blue and light that passed through an ultraviolet filter has been coloured purple. The exposure times were about 52 minutes through each filter. This image was processed by ESO using the observational data found by Igor Chekalin (Russia) [1], who participated in ESO's Hidden Treasures 2010 astrophotography competition [2], organised by ESO in October-November 2010, for everyone who enjoys making beautiful images of the night sky using real astronomical data. Notes [1] Igor searched through ESO's archive and identified datasets that he used to compose his image of Messier 42, which was the seventh highest ranked entry in the competition, out of almost 100 entries. His original work can be seen here. Igor Chekalin was awarded the first prize of the competition for his composition of Messier 78, and he also submitted an image of NGC3169, NGC3166 and SN 2003cg, which was ranked second highest. [2] ESO's Hidden Treasures 2010 competition gave amateur astronomers the opportunity to search through ESO's vast archives of astronomical data, hoping to find a well-hidden gem that needed polishing by the entrants. Participants submitted nearly 100 entries and ten skilled people were awarded some extremely attractive prizes, including an all expenses paid trip for the overall winner to ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) on Cerro Paranal, in Chile, the world's most advanced optical telescope. The ten winners submitted a total of 20 images that were ranked as the highest entries in the competition out of the near 100 images. More information ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive astronomical observatory. It is supported by 15 countries: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory and VISTA, the world's largest survey telescope. ESO is the European partner of a revolutionary astronomical telescope ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. ESO is currently planning a 42-metre European Extremely Large optical/near-infrared Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky".

Effects of Non-Equilibrium Plasmas on Low-Pressure, Premixed Flames. Part 1: CH* Chemiluminescence, Temperature, and OH

DTIC Science & Technology

2018-01-16

1    Effects of Non -Equilibrium Plasmas on Low-Pressure, Premixed Flames. Part 1: CH* Chemiluminescence, Temperature, and OH Ting Li, Igor V...investigate the effects of nanosecond, repetitively-pulsed, non -equilibrium plasma discharges on laminar, low-pressure, premixed burner-stabilized hydrogen/O2...sources, both of which generate uniform, low-temperature, volumetric, non -equilibrium plasma discharges, are used to study changes in

Implementing Strategy in a Budget: A Model for the Coast Guard Reserve

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-06-01

Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1983. Andrews, K. R., The Concept of Corporate Strategy, McGraw- Hill Book Co., 1965. Ansoff , H. Igor , Strategic...SNARE OKKARIIL. ADOPTION Of NEW MARKETIG CONCEPTS I CRATNE INCNRtImG MARKITIMCNGGNUP!S Figure 4.( Ansoff ,1979,p. 65) 17 The niche question focuses...domain. Ansoff observed the increasing competition for resources and commented: The explosive growth of expenditures for government and social welfare

Advanced Research Workshop on Fundamentals of Electronic Nanosystems Held in St. Petersburg, Russia on 25 June-1 July 2005

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-01-01

qubits . Suppression of Superconductivity in Granular Metals Igor Beloborodov Argonne National Laboratory, USA We investigate the suppression of...Russia Various strategies for extending coherence times of superconducting qubits have been proposed. We analyze the effect of fluctuations on a... qubit operated at an optimal point in the free- induction decay and the spin-echo-like experiments. Motivated by the recent experimental findings we

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Snezhko, Alex and Aronson, Igor

Nickel particles float peacefully in a liquid medium until a giant snake seems to swim by and snatch several particles up, adding to its own mass. The self-assembled "snakes" act like biological systems, but they are not alive and are driven by a magnetic field. The research may someday offer some insight into the organization of life itself. Read more at Wired: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/03/snakes/. Research and video by Alex Snezhko and Igor Aronson, Argonne National Laboratory.

Improvement of Managerial Education of Junior Officers of the Venezuelan Navy.

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-03-01

it is very important that the Navy has a well rounded career program to improve the management education of all officers, especially for those just...93943-5100 5. Comandancia General de la Armada de Venezuela 2 Director de Educacion de la Armada Ave. Vollmer, San Bernardino Caracas, Venezuela 1011...6. Escuela Superior de Guerra Naval 1 Direccion de Educacion de la Armada Ave. Vollmer, San Bernardino Caracas, Venezuela 1011 7. Cdr. Igor A. Campos

Dr. Igor Sikorsky Visits the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory

NASA Image and Video Library

1951-06-21

Dr. Igor Sikorsky, fourth from the left, visits the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory in Cleveland, Ohio. The legendary Russian-born aviation pioneer visited NACA Lewis several times during the 1940s and 1950s. In 1946 Sikorsky arrived at Lewis for the 1946 National Air Races, which included demonstrations by five of his helicopters. NACA flight mechanic Joseph Sikosky personally escorted Sikorsky during the visit. Sikorsky frequently addressed local professional organizations, such as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, during his visits. Sikorsky built and flew the first multi-engine aircraft as a youth in Russia. In his mid-20s Sikorsky designed and oversaw the manufacturing of 75 four-engine bombers. During the Bolshevik Revolution he fled to New York City where he worked jobs outside of aviation. In 1923 Sikorsky obtained funding to build a twin-engine water aircraft. This aircraft was the first US twin-engine flying machine and a world-wide success. In 1939 Sikorsky designed the first successful US helicopter. He then put all of his efforts into helicopters, and built some of the most successful helicopters in use today. Sikorsky passed away in 1972. From left to right: unknown; John Collins, Chief of the Engine Performance and Materials Division; Abe Silverstein, Chief of Research; Sikorsky; lab Director Ray Sharp; and Executive Officer Robert Sessions.

Soviet scientists speak out

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Holloway, D.

1993-05-01

In this article, Russian bomb designers answer the KGB's claim that espionage, not science, produced the Soviet bomb. Yuli Khariton and Yuri Smirnov wholly reject the argument that Soviet scientists can claim little credit for the first Soviet bomb. In a lecture delivered at the Kurchatov Institute, established in 1943 when Igor Kurchatov became the director of the Soviet nuclear weapons project, Khariton and Smironov point to the work done by Soviet nuclear physicists before 1941 and refute assertions that have been made in Western literature regarding the hydrogen bomb.

Wave Modelling - The State of the Art

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-09-27

Numerics and Resolution in Large Scale Wave Modelling 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 0601153N 6. AUTHOR( S ) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER Erick Rogers...Hendrik Tolman, Fabrice Ardhuin, Igor Lavrenov 5e. TASK NUMBER 5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER 73-8580-06-5 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME( S ) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8...SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME( S ) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSOR/MONITOR’S ACRONYM( S ) Office of Naval Research ONR 800 N. Quincy St. Arlington, VA 22217

On the Relationship Between Satellite-Estimated Bio-Optical and Thermal Properties in the Gulf of Mexico

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-03-15

with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control number. PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR FORM TO THE ABOVE ORGANIZATION...0601153N 6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER Jason Jolliff, John C. Kindle, Bradley Penta, Robert Helber, Zhongping Lee, Igor G. Shulman, Robert A . Arrone...Gulf of Mexico may be broadly defined by two seasonally occurring bio-thermal periods. A winter mixing period, characterized by net heat losses to the

Accelerated Testing and Preventive Maintenance in Acquisition, Maintenance and Operation of Vehicle Systems using Time-Dependent Reliability/Durability Principles

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-05-24

1 ARC 5/24/2011 UNCLASSIFIED: Distribution Statement A. Approved for public release Amandeep Singh1, Igor Baseski1,2 1U.S. Army, RDECOM TARDEC...of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering...currently valid OMB control number. 1 . REPORT DATE 24 MAY 2011 2. REPORT TYPE Briefing Charts 3. DATES COVERED 24-05-2011 to 24-05-2011 4. TITLE

LAUNCH (IGOR) - STS-1

NASA Image and Video Library

1981-04-12

S81-33179 (12 April 1981) --- Though their STS-1 task has been performed, the two solid rocket boosters (SRB) still glow following their jettisoning from the space shuttle Columbia on its way to many firsts. Among the history recorded by the spacecraft is the marking of a mission in a reusable spacecraft. STS-1 is NASA's first manned mission since the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975. Inside the cabin of the climbing spacecraft are astronauts John W. Young and Robert L. Crippen. Photo credit: NASA

The Strength of Chaos: Accurate Simulation of Resonant Electron Scattering by Many-Electron Ions and Atoms in the Presence of Quantum Chaos

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-01-20

September 2016 PI and Co-PI information: Igor Bray; I.Bray@curtin.edu.au; Curtin University; Department of Physics , Astronomy and Medical Radiation... astrophysics , fusion energy through to cancer imaging and therapy. During the last two decades there has been immense progress in the field of...Theoretical Physics Division, at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Theory: The underlying theoretical approach to collisions that we use is known as the

Estrogen Regulation of Messenger RNA Stability

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-08-17

34Amphibian albumins as members of the albumin, alpha - fetoprotein , vitamin D- binding protein multigene family." J. Moi. Evol. 29: 344-354. Hagenbuchle, 0...Related to a- Fetoproteins .... 48 5. Comparison Between the Sequence of Xenopus and Rat Serum Albumin 50 6. Effect of Estradici on Cytoplasmic mRNA... alpha -actin clone pSPAC9 with Eco RI and Barn HI. The latter clone was a gift from Drs. Tom Sargent and Igor Dawid (NIH). The probe used for RNase H

End User Acceptance - Requirements or Specifications, Certification, Testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jeevarajan, Judith

2013-01-01

NASA follows top level safety requirement of two-failure tolerance (t hree levels of controls or design for minimum risk) to all catastroph ic hazards in the design of safe li-ion batteries for space use. ? R igorous development testing at appropriate levels to credible offnominal conditions and review of test data. ? Implement robust design con trols based on test results and test again to confirm safety at the a ppropriate levels. ? Stringent testing of all (100%) flight batteries (from button cells to large batteries).

Using Software Applications to Facilitate and Enhance Strategic Planning

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-09-01

Angeles, CA 90089-0021 213-743-3083 XIA 2.0 Booz-Allen & Hamilton, Inc. 1953 Gallows Road Vienna, VA 11180 703-893-0040 92 REFERENCES Ansoff , H. Igor ...to doing business was invented ( Ansoff 1984). Two examples of business applications of strategy are generic and competitive strategies (Mintzberg 1991...34 ( Ansoff 1984, p. 188) Keller (1990) states the purpose of the PPBS was "to produce a plan, a program, and, finally a budget for the Department of Defense

COGNAT: a web server for comparative analysis of genomic neighborhoods.

PubMed

Klimchuk, Olesya I; Konovalov, Kirill A; Perekhvatov, Vadim V; Skulachev, Konstantin V; Dibrova, Daria V; Mulkidjanian, Armen Y

2017-11-22

In prokaryotic genomes, functionally coupled genes can be organized in conserved gene clusters enabling their coordinated regulation. Such clusters could contain one or several operons, which are groups of co-transcribed genes. Those genes that evolved from a common ancestral gene by speciation (i.e. orthologs) are expected to have similar genomic neighborhoods in different organisms, whereas those copies of the gene that are responsible for dissimilar functions (i.e. paralogs) could be found in dissimilar genomic contexts. Comparative analysis of genomic neighborhoods facilitates the prediction of co-regulated genes and helps to discern different functions in large protein families. We intended, building on the attribution of gene sequences to the clusters of orthologous groups of proteins (COGs), to provide a method for visualization and comparative analysis of genomic neighborhoods of evolutionary related genes, as well as a respective web server. Here we introduce the COmparative Gene Neighborhoods Analysis Tool (COGNAT), a web server for comparative analysis of genomic neighborhoods. The tool is based on the COG database, as well as the Pfam protein families database. As an example, we show the utility of COGNAT in identifying a new type of membrane protein complex that is formed by paralog(s) of one of the membrane subunits of the NADH:quinone oxidoreductase of type 1 (COG1009) and a cytoplasmic protein of unknown function (COG3002). This article was reviewed by Drs. Igor Zhulin, Uri Gophna and Igor Rogozin.

Observing Storm Surges from Space: A New Opportunity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Guoqi; Ma, Zhimin; Chen, Dake; de Young, Brad; Chen, Nancy

2013-04-01

Coastal tide gauges can be used to monitor variations of a storm surge along the coast, but not in the cross-shelf direction. As a result, the cross-shelf structure of a storm surge has rarely been observed. In this study we focus on Hurricane Igor-induced storm surge off Newfoundland, Canada. Altimetric observations at about 2:30, September 22, 2010 UTC (hours after the passage of Hurricane Igor) reveal prominent cross-shelf variation of sea surface height during the storm passage, including a large nearshore slope and a mid-shelf depression. A significant coastal surge of 1 m derived from satellite altimetry is found to be consistent with tide-gauge measurements at nearby St. John's station. The post-storm sea level variations at St. John's and Argentia are argued to be associated with free equatorward-propagating continental shelf waves (with phase speeds of 11-13 m/s), generated along the northeast Newfoundland coast hours after the storm moved away from St. John's. The cross-shelf e-folding scale of the shelf wave was estimated to be ~100 km. We further show approximate agreement of altimetric and tide-gauge observations in the Gulf of Mexico during Hurricane Katrina (2005) and Isaac (2012). The study for the first time in the literature shows the robustness of satellite altimetry to observe storm surges, complementing tide-gauge observations for the analysis of storm surge characteristics and for the validation and improvement of storm surge models.

Book Review: The future of spacetime. Stephen William Hawking (ed.); Kip S. Thorne, Igor Novikov, Timothy Ferris, Alan Lightman, and Richard Price, W.W. Norton & Company, 2002, 224 pp., US 25.95, ISBN 0393020223

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smeenk, Chris

2003-12-01

The study of Einstein's theory of general relativity experienced a renaissance beginning in the early 1960s. Prior to this resurgence of interest, general relativity was isolated from mainstream physics-admired for its elegance, perhaps, but only from a distance. The generation of students who risked their careers by entering this neglected field has now reached the age of festschrifts. In June of 2000, Caltech hosted ;Kipfest,; a conference in honor of Kip Thorne's 60th birthday. Thorne started graduate school at Princeton in 1962 and began research in general relativity under John Wheeler's guidance in the heady early days of the renaissance. Since then, he has played a prominent role in general relativity: as co-author of the influential textbook Gravitation, as a leader in research regarding astrophysical applications of Einstein's theory, and as a co-founder and chief advocate for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO), to mention a few aspects of his far-reaching work. ;Kipfest; included 14 speakers discussing fields to which Thorne has contributed. But the conference also reflected Thorne's long-standing commitment to communicating science to a general audience: Igor Novikov, Stephen Hawking, Timothy Ferris, and Alan Lightman gave popular talks at ;Kipfest,; with Thorne himself tricked into delivering a fifth. The Future of Spacetime gathers adaptations of these five lectures, along with a lengthy introductory essay by Richard Price.

SciDAC Center for Gyrokinetic Particle Simulation of Turbulent Transport in Burning Plasmas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lin, Zhihong

2013-12-18

During the first year of the SciDAC gyrokinetic particle simulation (GPS) project, the GPS team (Zhihong Lin, Liu Chen, Yasutaro Nishimura, and Igor Holod) at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) studied the tokamak electron transport driven by electron temperature gradient (ETG) turbulence, and by trapped electron mode (TEM) turbulence and ion temperature gradient (ITG) turbulence with kinetic electron effects, extended our studies of ITG turbulence spreading to core-edge coupling. We have developed and optimized an elliptic solver using finite element method (FEM), which enables the implementation of advanced kinetic electron models (split-weight scheme and hybrid model) in the SciDACmore » GPS production code GTC. The GTC code has been ported and optimized on both scalar and vector parallel computer architectures, and is being transformed into objected-oriented style to facilitate collaborative code development. During this period, the UCI team members presented 11 invited talks at major national and international conferences, published 22 papers in peer-reviewed journals and 10 papers in conference proceedings. The UCI hosted the annual SciDAC Workshop on Plasma Turbulence sponsored by the GPS Center, 2005-2007. The workshop was attended by about fifties US and foreign researchers and financially sponsored several gradual students from MIT, Princeton University, Germany, Switzerland, and Finland. A new SciDAC postdoc, Igor Holod, has arrived at UCI to initiate global particle simulation of magnetohydrodynamics turbulence driven by energetic particle modes. The PI, Z. Lin, has been promoted to the Associate Professor with tenure at UCI.« less

ESO's Hidden Treasures Brought to Light

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2011-01-01

ESO's Hidden Treasures 2010 astrophotography competition attracted nearly 100 entries, and ESO is delighted to announce the winners. Hidden Treasures gave amateur astronomers the opportunity to search ESO's vast archives of astronomical data for a well-hidden cosmic gem. Astronomy enthusiast Igor Chekalin from Russia won the first prize in this difficult but rewarding challenge - the trip of a lifetime to ESO's Very Large Telescope at Paranal, Chile. The pictures of the Universe that can be seen in ESO's releases are impressive. However, many hours of skilful work are required to assemble the raw greyscale data captured by the telescopes into these colourful images, correcting them for distortions and unwanted signatures of the instrument, and enhancing them so as to bring out the details contained in the astronomical data. ESO has a team of professional image processors, but for the ESO's Hidden Treasures 2010 competition, the experts decided to give astronomy and photography enthusiasts the opportunity to show the world what they could do with the mammoth amount of data contained in ESO's archives. The enthusiasts who responded to the call submitted nearly 100 entries in total - far exceeding initial expectations, given the difficult nature of the challenge. "We were completely taken aback both by the quantity and the quality of the images that were submitted. This was not a challenge for the faint-hearted, requiring both an advanced knowledge of data processing and an artistic eye. We are thrilled to have discovered so many talented people," said Lars Lindberg Christensen, Head of ESO's education and Public Outreach Department. Digging through many terabytes of professional astronomical data, the entrants had to identify a series of greyscale images of a celestial object that would reveal the hidden beauty of our Universe. The chance of a great reward for the lucky winner was enough to spur on the competitors; the first prize being a trip to ESO's Very Large Telescope in Paranal, Chile, with guided tours and the opportunity to participate in a night's observations. Runner-up prizes included an iPod, books and DVDs. Furthermore, the highest ranked images will be released for the world to see on www.eso.org as Photo Releases or Pictures of the Week, co-crediting the winners. The jury evaluated the entries based on the quality of the data processing, the originality of the image and the overall aesthetic feel. As several of the highest ranked images were submitted by the same people, the jury decided to make awards to the ten most talented participants, so as to give more people the opportunity to win a prize and reward their hard work and talent. The ten winners of the competition are: * First prize, a trip to Paranal + goodies: Igor Chekalin (Russia). * Second prize, an iPod Touch + goodies: Sergey Stepanenko (Ukraine). * Third Prize, VLT laser cube model + goodies: Andy Strappazzon (Belgium). * Fourth to tenth prizes, Eyes on the Skies Book + DVD + goodies: Joseph (Joe) DePasquale (USA), Manuel (Manu) Mejias (Argentina), Alberto Milani (Italy), Joshua (Josh) Barrington (USA), Oleg Maliy (Ukraine), Adam Kiil (United Kingdom), Javier Fuentes (Chile). The ten winners submitted the twenty highest ranked images: 1. M78 by Igor Chekalin. 2. NGC3169 & NGC3166 and SN 2003cg by Igor Chekalin. 3. NGC6729 by Sergey Stepanenko. 4. The Moon by Andy Strappazzon. 5. NGC 3621 by Joseph (Joe) DePasquale. 6. NGC 371 by Manuel (Manu) Mejias. 7. Dust of Orion Nebula (ESO 2.2m telescope) by Igor Chekalin. 8. NGC1850 EMMI by Sergey Stepanenko. 9. Abell 1060 by Manuel (Manu) Mejias. 10. Celestial Prominences NGC3582 by Joseph DePasquale. 11. Globular Cluster NGC288 by Alberto Milani. 12. Antennae Galaxies by Alberto Milani. 13. Sakurai's Object by Joshua (Josh) Barrington. 14. NGC 1929, N44 Superbubble by Manuel (Manu) Mejias. 15. NGC 3521 by Oleg Maliy. 16. NGC 6744 by Andy Strappazzon. 17. NGC 2217 by Oleg Maliy. 18. VIMOS.2008-01-31T07_16_47j by Adam Kiil. 19. NGC 2467 - number 2 by Josh Barrington. 20. Haffner 18 and 19 by Javier Fuentes. Igor Chekalin, winner of the trip to Paranal, says: "It was a great experience and pleasure to work with such amazing data. As an amateur astrophotographer, this was the most difficult processing and post-processing job I have ever done. My participation in the Hidden Treasures competition gave me a range of challenges, from installing new software to studying techniques and even operating systems that I did not know before." The success of the ESO's Hidden Treasures 2010 competition and the enthusiasm of the skilled participants made it easy to decide to run a follow-up to the competition. Stay tuned and check www.eso.org for news about ESO's Hidden Treasures 2011. More information ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive astronomical observatory. It is supported by 15 countries: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory and VISTA, the world's largest survey telescope. ESO is the European partner of a revolutionary astronomical telescope ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. ESO is currently planning a 42-metre European Extremely Large optical/near-infrared Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky".

Observing storm surges from satellite altimetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Guoqi

2016-07-01

Storm surges can cause catastrophic damage to properties and loss of life in coastal communities. Thus it is important to enhance our capabilities of observing and forecasting storm surges for mitigating damage and loss. In this presentation we show examples of observing storm surges around the world using nadir satellite altimetry, during Hurricane Sandy, Igor, and Isaac, as well as other cyclone events. The satellite observations are evaluated against tide-gauge observations and discussed for dynamic mechanisms. We also show the potential of a new wide-swath altimetry mission, the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT), for observing storm surges.

Signing of agreement on information policy for ASTP mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1974-01-01

John P. Donnelly (seated right), NASA Assistant Administrator for Public Affairs, and Vladen S. Vereshchetin (seated left), Vice Chairman of Intercosmos, USSR Academy of Sciences, initial an agreement on information policy for the joint U.S.-USSR Apollo Soyuz Test Project mission during ceremonies in Moscow in September 1974. Other members of the joint public affairs delegation looking on are, standing left to right, Vladimir A. Denissenko, Tatyana Klotchkovsaya, Igor P. Rumyantsev, John W. King, Nicholas Timacheff, and Robert Shafer. King is the Public Affairs Officer at JSC. Timacheff is the language officer with the JSC ASTP office. Shafer is NASA Deputy Assitant Administrator for Public Affairs (television).

Russia's energy policy: A framing comment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aslund, A.

A prominent specialist on the Russian economy provides a framing comment on two preceding papers entitled 'Russia's Energy Policy' (by Vladimir Milov, Leonard Coburn, and Igor Danchenko) and 'Russia's Energy Policy: A Divergent View' (by Matthew J. Sagers). The author argues that Russia's current energy policy should be viewed as an outcome of competition between three overlapping programs. In this context, he identifies three policy models - the old Soviet, the liberal or oligarchic, and the most recent state capitalist. The latter is currently supported by President Putin, who prioritizes diversification of the country's economy at the expense of diminishedmore » investments in the oil and gas sector.« less

On transient events in the upper atmosphere generated away of thunderstorm regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morozenko, V.; Garipov, G.; Khrenov, B.; Klimov, P.; Panasyuk, M.; Sharakin, S.; Zotov, M.

2011-12-01

Experimental data on transient events in UV and Red-IR ranges obtained in the MSU missions "Unversitetsky-Tatiana" (wavelengths 300-400 nm) and "Unversitetsky-Tatiana-2" (wavelengths 300-400 nm and 600-800 nm), published by Garipov et al, in 2010 at COSPAR session http://www.cospar2010.org, at TEPA conference http://www.aragats.am/Conferences/tepa2010 and in 2011 by Sadovnichy et al, Solar System Research, 45, #1, 3-29 (2011); Vedenkin et al, JETP, v. 140, issue 3(9), 1-11 (2011) demonstrated existence of transients at large distances (up to thousands km) away of cloud thunderstorm regions. Those "remote" transients are short (1-5 msec) and are less luminous than the transients above thunderstorm regions. The ratio of Red-IR to UV photon numbers in those transients indicates high altitude of their origin (~70 km). Important observation facts are also: 1. a change of the exponent in transient distribution on luminosity Q ("-1" for photon numbers Q=1020 -1023 to "-2" for Q>1023), 2. a change of global distribution of transient with their luminosity (transients with Q>1023 are concentrated in equatorial range above continents, while transients with low luminosity are distributed more uniformly), 3. a phenomenon of transient sequences in one satellite orbit which is close to geomagnetic meridian. In the present paper phenomenological features of transients are explained in assumption that the observed transients have to be divided in two classes: 1. transients related to local, lower in the atmosphere, lightning at distance not more than hundreds km from satellite detector field of view in the atmosphere and 2. transients generated by far away lightning. Local transients are luminous and presumably are events called "transient luminous events" (TLE). In distribution on luminosity those events have some threshold Q~1023 and their differential luminosity distribution is approximated by power law exponent "-2". Remote transients have to be considered separately. Their origin may be related to electromagnetic pulses (EMP) or waves (whistler, EMW) generated by lightning. The EMP-EMW is transmitted in the ionosphere- ground channel to large distances R with low absorption. The part of EMP-EMW "visible" in the detector aperture diminishes with distance as R-1 due to observation geometry. The EMP-EMW triggers the electric discharge in the upper atmosphere (lower ionosphere, ~70 km). Estimates of resulting transients luminosity and their correlation with geomagnetic field are in progress.

Personnel - Denissenko, Vladimir A. - Moscow

NASA Image and Video Library

1974-09-01

S74-29896 (September 1974) --- John P. Donnelly (seated right), NASA Assistant Administrator for Public Affairs, and Vladen S. Vereshchetin (seated left), Vice Chairman of Intercosmos, USSR Academy of Sciences, initial an agreement on information policy for the joint U.S.-USSR Apollo-Soyuz Test Project mission during ceremonies in Moscow in September 1974. Other members of the joint public affairs delegation looking on are, standing left to right, Vladimir A. Denissenko, Tatyana Klotchkovsaya, Igor P. Rumyantsev, John W. King, Nicholas Timacheff, and Robert Shafer. King is the Public Affairs Officer at the Johnson Space Center. Timacheff is the language officer with the JSC ASTP office. Shafer is NASA Deputy Assistant Administrator for Public Affairs (Television).

Carbon balance indicates a time limit for cultivation of organic soils in central Switzerland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paul, Sonja; Ammann, Christof; Alewell, Christine; Leifeld, Jens

2016-04-01

Peatlands serve as important carbon sinks. Globally, more than 30% of the soil organic carbon is stored in organic soils, although they cover only 3% of the land surface. The agricultural use of organic soils usually requires drainage thereby transforming these soils from a net carbon sink into a net source. Currently, about 2 to 3 Gt CO2 are emitted world-wide from degrading organic soils (Joosten 2011; Parish et al. 2008) which is ca. 5% of the total anthropogenic emissions. Besides these CO2 emissions, the resulting subsidence of drained peat soils during agricultural use requires that drainage system are periodically renewed and finally to use pumping systems after progressive subsidence. In Switzerland, the Seeland region is characterised by fens which are intensively used for agriculture since 1900. The organic layer is degrading and subsequently getting shallower and the underlying mineral soil, as lake marl or loam, is approaching the surface. The questions arises for how long and under which land use practises and costs these soils can be cultivated in the near future. The study site was under crop rotation until 2009 when it was converted to extensively used grassland with the water regime still being regulated. The soil is characterised by a degraded organic horizon of 40 to 70 cm. Since December 2014 we are measuring the carbon exchange of this grassland using the Eddy-Covariance method. For 2015, the carbon balance indicates that the degraded fen is a strong carbon source, with approximately 500 g C m-2 a-1. The carbon balance is dominated by CO2 emissions and harvest. Methane emissions are negligible. With the gained emission factors different future scenarios are evaluated for the current cultivation practise of organic soils in central Switzerland. Joosten, H., 2011: Neues Geld aus alten Mooren: Über die Erzeugung von Kohlenstoffzertifikaten aus Moorwiedervernässungen. Telma Beiheft 4, 183-202. Parish, F., A. Sirin, D. Charman, H. Joosten, T. Minayeva, M. Silvius & L. Stringer (Eds.). 2008: Assessment on Peatlands, Biodiversity and Climate Change: Main Report. Global Environment Centre, Kuala Lumpur and Wetlands International, Wageningen

Hunger strike for science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carlowicz, Michael

Lamenting the degenerating working conditions for scientists in Russia, geophysicist Vladimir Strakhov and physicist Igor Naumenko-Bondarenko of the United Institute of Physics of the Earth (UIPE) at the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) have begun a hunger strike. Strakhov is General Director of UIPE, and Naumenko-Bondarenko is chairman of the Trade Union Committee of UIPE.In a press statement released on September 30 in Moscow, the geophysicists stated that they are striking to “protest the policy of the Government of the Russian Federation with regard to Russian science in general and to the Russian Academy of Sciences in particular.” They blame governmental neglect and, specifically, “the non-payment of funds that were in the 1996 budget” for the “virtual collapse of Russian science.”

AutoMicromanager: A microscopy scripting toolkit for LABVIEW and other programming environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ashcroft, Brian Alan; Oosterkamp, Tjerk

2010-11-01

We present a scripting toolkit for the acquisition and analysis of a wide variety of imaging data by integrating the ease of use of various programming environments such as LABVIEW, IGOR PRO, MATLAB, SCILAB, and others. This toolkit is designed to allow the user to quickly program a variety of standard microscopy components for custom microscopy applications allowing much more flexibility than other packages. Included are both programming tools as well as graphical user interface classes allowing a standard, consistent, and easy to maintain scripting environment. This programming toolkit allows easy access to most commonly used cameras, stages, and shutters through the Micromanager project so the scripter can focus on their custom application instead of boilerplate code generation.

Comittees

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2004-10-01

Fritz Caspers (CERN, Switzerland), Michel Chanel (CERN, Switzerland), Håkan Danared (MSL, Sweden), Bernhard Franzke (GSI, Germany), Manfred Grieser (MPI für Kernphysik, Germany), Dieter Habs (LMU München, Germany), Jeffrey Hangst (University of Aarhus, Denmark), Takeshi Katayama (RIKEN/Univ. Tokyo, Japan), H.-Jürgen Kluge (GSI, Germany), Shyh-Yuan Lee (Indiana University, USA), Rudolf Maier (FZ Jülich, Germany), John Marriner (FNAL, USA), Igor Meshkov (JINR, Russia), Dieter Möhl (CERN, Switzerland), Vasily Parkhomchuk (BINP, Russia), Robert Pollock (Indiana University), Dieter Prasuhn (FZ Jülich, Germany), Dag Reistad (TSL, Sweden), John Schiffer (ANL, USA), Andrew Sessler (LBNL, USA), Alexander Skrinsky (BINP, Russia), Markus Steck (GSI, Germany), Jie Wei (BNL, USA), Andreas Wolf (MPI für Kernphysik, Germany), Hongwei Zhao (IMP, People's Rep. of China).

Integrated protocol for reliable and fast quantification and documentation of electrophoresis gels.

PubMed

Rehbein, Peter; Schwalbe, Harald

2015-06-01

Quantitative analysis of electrophoresis gels is an important part in molecular cloning, as well as in protein expression and purification. Parallel quantifications in yield and purity can be most conveniently obtained from densitometric analysis. This communication reports a comprehensive, reliable and simple protocol for gel quantification and documentation, applicable for single samples and with special features for protein expression screens. As major component of the protocol, the fully annotated code of a proprietary open source computer program for semi-automatic densitometric quantification of digitized electrophoresis gels is disclosed. The program ("GelQuant") is implemented for the C-based macro-language of the widespread integrated development environment of IGOR Pro. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

AutoMicromanager: a microscopy scripting toolkit for LABVIEW and other programming environments.

PubMed

Ashcroft, Brian Alan; Oosterkamp, Tjerk

2010-11-01

We present a scripting toolkit for the acquisition and analysis of a wide variety of imaging data by integrating the ease of use of various programming environments such as LABVIEW, IGOR PRO, MATLAB, SCILAB, and others. This toolkit is designed to allow the user to quickly program a variety of standard microscopy components for custom microscopy applications allowing much more flexibility than other packages. Included are both programming tools as well as graphical user interface classes allowing a standard, consistent, and easy to maintain scripting environment. This programming toolkit allows easy access to most commonly used cameras, stages, and shutters through the Micromanager project so the scripter can focus on their custom application instead of boilerplate code generation.

Advances in using satellite altimetry to observe storm surge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Guoqi

2017-04-01

Storm surges are the major cause for coastal flooding, resulting in catastrophic damage to properties and loss of life in coastal communities. Thus it is important to utilize new technology to enhance our capabilities of observing storm surges and ultimately to improve our capacity for forecasting storm surges and mitigating damage and loss. In this talk we first review traditional methods of monitoring storm surges. We then provide examples of storm surges observed by nadir satellite altimetry, during Hurricane Sandy and Igor, as well as typhoon and cyclone events. We further evaluate satellite results against tide-gauge data and explain storm surge features. Finally, we discuss the potential of a wide-swath altimetry mission, the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT), for observing storm surges.

Bioinformatics clouds for big data manipulation.

PubMed

Dai, Lin; Gao, Xin; Guo, Yan; Xiao, Jingfa; Zhang, Zhang

2012-11-28

As advances in life sciences and information technology bring profound influences on bioinformatics due to its interdisciplinary nature, bioinformatics is experiencing a new leap-forward from in-house computing infrastructure into utility-supplied cloud computing delivered over the Internet, in order to handle the vast quantities of biological data generated by high-throughput experimental technologies. Albeit relatively new, cloud computing promises to address big data storage and analysis issues in the bioinformatics field. Here we review extant cloud-based services in bioinformatics, classify them into Data as a Service (DaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), and present our perspectives on the adoption of cloud computing in bioinformatics. This article was reviewed by Frank Eisenhaber, Igor Zhulin, and Sandor Pongor.

Stroke, music, and creative output: Alfred Schnittke and other composers.

PubMed

Zagvazdin, Yuri

2015-01-01

Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998), a celebrated Russian composer of the twentieth century, suffered from several strokes which affected his left cerebral hemisphere. The disease, however, did not diminish his musical talent. Moreover, he stated that his illness in a way facilitated his work. The composer showed amazingly high productivity after his first and second injuries of the central nervous system. The main topic of this chapter is the effect of strokes on Schnittke's output, creativity, and style of music. A brief biography of the composer with the chronology of his brain hemorrhages is included. In addition, the influence of cerebrovascular lesions on creative potential of other prominent composers such as Benjamin Britten, Jean Langlais, Vissarion Shebalin, Igor Stravinsky, and Ira Randall Thompson is discussed. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Bioinformatics clouds for big data manipulation

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Abstract As advances in life sciences and information technology bring profound influences on bioinformatics due to its interdisciplinary nature, bioinformatics is experiencing a new leap-forward from in-house computing infrastructure into utility-supplied cloud computing delivered over the Internet, in order to handle the vast quantities of biological data generated by high-throughput experimental technologies. Albeit relatively new, cloud computing promises to address big data storage and analysis issues in the bioinformatics field. Here we review extant cloud-based services in bioinformatics, classify them into Data as a Service (DaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), and present our perspectives on the adoption of cloud computing in bioinformatics. Reviewers This article was reviewed by Frank Eisenhaber, Igor Zhulin, and Sandor Pongor. PMID:23190475

Developing countries use music videos to promote teen sexual restraint.

PubMed

Pemberton, M

1991-12-15

The Center for Communications Programs of the Johns Hopkins University has successfully produced and aired songs and music videos promoting teenage sexual restraint in developing countries. Entertaining music videos convey accurate messages to target audiences more effectively than teachers and doctors are able. In addition to successes in the Philippines and Nigeria, overwhelming success has been met with Wait, a video with Latin American pop start Tatiana and Johnny. A hit in 11 Latin American countries reaching 1 in Mexico, the video received 1 million hour s free air time. Passionate, powerful, and persuasive, these videos have prompted increased contraceptive use in countries where they have been aired. The Center's videos and songs have proved popular and profitable in a competitive market of ideas, earning 3-4 times their production costs. Accordingly, health experts from Johns Hopkins University recognize the potential role of these productions in preventing AIDS and unwanted pregnancies in other settings. Where Baltimore leads the U.S. in teen pregnancies, the Center would like to air soap opera on sexual responsibility. Production costs in the U.S. are, however, 10 times higher than in developing countries. With the collaboration of media executives, significant financial and social rewards could result from such a production.

The changing face of environmentalism in the Soviet Union

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1990-03-01

Igor Izodorovich Altshuler and Ruben Artyomovich Mnatsakanyan are scientific researchers in the department of geography at Moscow State University and cofounders of the Association for the Support of Ecological initiatives established by the Soviet Foundation for Social Innovations. They authored a report on glasnost and ecology in the Soviet Union published in the December 1988 ENVIRONMENT. Recently, Altshuler and Mnatsakanyan visited ENVIRONMENT's offices in Washington, D.C., and talked at length about environmental problems and issues in the USSR. This paper presents excerpts of an interview of Altshuler and Mnatsakanyan conducted by Barbara Richman, managing editor of ENVIRONMENT. They discuss environmentalmore » problems, global climate change, agriculture, lack of information on the biggest polluters, transboundary pollution, impact of recent elections on environmental policy, the use of environmental impact assessments, public information about the environment, training of reporters, environmental organizations, and lack of money and political obstacles to environmental improvements.« less

Finding the Big Bang

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peebles, P. James E.; Page, Lyman A., Jr.; Partridge, R. Bruce

2009-03-01

1. Introduction; 2. A guide to modern cosmology; 3. Origins of the cosmology of the 1960s; 4. Recollections of the 1960s Dave Hogg, Neville Woolf, George B. Field, Patrick Thaddeus, Donald E. Osterbrock, Yuri Nikolaevich Smirnov, Igor Dmitriyevich Novikov, Andrei Georgievich Doroshkevich, Rashid Alievich Sunyaev, Malcolm S. Longair, Arno Penzias, Robert W. Wilson, Bernard F. Burke, Kenneth C. Turner, P. James E. Peebles, David T. Wilkinson, Peter G. Roll, R. Bruce Partridge, Malcolm S. Longair, John Faulkner, Robert V. Wagoner, Martin Rees, Geoffrey R. Burbidge, Jayant V. Narlikar, David Layzer, Michele Kaufman, Jasper V. Wall, John Shakeshaft, William Welch, Kazimir S. Stankevich, Paul Boynton, Robert A. Stokes, Martin Harwit, Judith L. Pipher, Kandiah Shivanandan, Rainer Weiss, Jer-tsang Yu, Rainer K. Sachs, Arthur M. Wolfe, Joe Silk, George F. R. Ellis, Ronald N. Bracewell, Edward K. Conklin, Stephen Boughn, Karl C. Davis, Paul S. Henry; 5. Cosmology and the CMBR since the 1960s Dick Bond; Appendixes; Glossary; References; Index.

MONTE CARLO SIMULATION OF THE BREMSSTRAHLUNG RADIATION FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF AN INTERNAL CONTAMINATION WITH PURE-BETA EMITTERS IN VIVO.

PubMed

Fantínová, K; Fojtík, P; Malátová, I

2016-09-01

Rapid measurement techniques are required for a large-scale emergency monitoring of people. In vivo measurement of the bremsstrahlung radiation produced by incorporated pure-beta emitters can offer a rapid technique for the determination of such radionuclides in the human body. This work presents a method for the calibration of spectrometers, based on the use of UPh-02T (so-called IGOR) phantom and specific (90)Sr/(90)Y sources, which can account for recent as well as previous contaminations. The process of the whole- and partial-body counter calibration in combination with application of a Monte Carlo code offers readily extension also to other pure-beta emitters and various exposure scenarios. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Verochka Zingan or recollections from the Physics Department of the Moscow University

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaina, Alex

The author recollects his studentship during 70-th years at the Physics Department of the Moscow University. He was graduated from the theoretical Physics Department in 1977. The Rectors of the University that times were I.G. Petrovskii, R.V. Khokhlov and A.A. Logunov. The dean of the Physics Department was V.S. Fursov. As a particular event a meet with the former prime-minister of the USSR A.N. Kosygin is reported. Between professors mentioned throughout the recollections are A.I.Kitaigorodskii, Ya. B. Zel'dovich, D.D. Ivanenko, A.A. Sokolov, A.A. Vlasov, V.B. Braginsky, I.M. Ternov, L.A. Artsimovich, E.P. Velikhov and other, including that which became University professors later. A great number of colleagues from the Physics, Chemistry, Phylological and Historical Departments of the Moscow University are mentioned. Particularly, the students which entered the group 113 in 1971 and finished the group 601 in 1977 are listed. The recollections include 5 parts. Persons cited throughout the paper: A.N. Kosygin, A.S. Golovin, V. Kostyukevich, I.M. Ternov, E.G. Pozdnyak, A. N. Matveev, V.P. Elyutin, V.V. Kerzhentsev, 113 academic group (1971), V. Topala, E.A. Marinchuk, P.Paduraru, A.I. Kitaygorodski, A. Leahu, S. Berzan, B. Ursu, I. Coanda (Koade), M. Stefanovici, O. Bulgaru, A. Iurie-Apostol, A.S. Davydov, M.I. Kaganov, I.M. Lifshitz, Ya. B. Zel'dovich, A.Zhukov, A.I. Buzdin, N.S. Perov, V. Dolgov, P. Vabishchevich, A.A. Samarskii, V. Makarov, Irina Kamenskih, A.A. Arsen'ev, L.A. Artsimovich, A.A. Tyapkin, B.M. Pontecorvo, D.I. Blokhintsev, I.G. Petrovskii, R.V. Khokhlov, V.N. Rudenko, A.A. Sokolov, D.D. Ivanenko (Iwanenko), A.A. Vlasov, V.N. Ponomarev, N.N. Bogolyubov, N.N. Bogolyubov (Jr), V.Ch. Zhukovskii, Tamara Tarasova, Zarina Radzhabova (Malovekova), V.Malovekov, Tatiana Shmeleva, Alexandra C.Nicolescu, Tatiana Nicolescu, Rano Mahkamova, Miriam Yandieva, Natalia Germaniuk (Grigor'eva), E. Grigor'ev, A. Putro, Elena Nikiforova, B. Kostrykin, Galia Laufer, K. Laufer, Yu. El'nitskii, Gh. Nemtoi, Yu. Oprunenko, N.N. Semenov, Varun Sahni, A.A. Starobinskii, Liusea Burca, Serge Rollet, Tatyana Davydova, Zinaida Uglichina (Khafizova), T.Filippova, V.S. Filippov, Vera Zingan (Stefanovici), B.A. Gaina, E.F. Gaina, Valeri Gaina, A. Kirnitskii, M. Kavalerchik, Margarita Kavalerchik, Mark Rainis, L.I. Sedov, D. Mangeron, S. Taltu (Coanda), Z. Sali(Chitoroaga, Kitoroage), Raisa M. Gorbachova, Maria Bulgaru, S. Pavlichenko, Nadezhda Shishkan, A.N. Matveev, N.Ya. Tyapunina, D.F. Kiselev, V.A. Petukhov, N.Ch. Krutitskaya, G.N. Medvedev, A.A. Shishkin,I.A. Shishmarev,A.G. Sveshnikov, A.B. Vasil'eva, A.G. Yagola, I.I. Ol'hovskii, V.V. Kravtsov, V.V.Petkevich, V.I. Grigor'ev, V.S. Rostovskii, V.V. Balashov, B.I. Spasskii, V.D. Krivchenkov, M.B. Menskii, V.Ya. Fainberg, V.G. Kadyshevskii, B.K. Kerimov, V.A. Matveev, I.A. Kvasnikov, D.V. Gal'tsov, V.R. Khalilov, G.A. Chizhov,I.A. Obukhov, V.N. Melnikov, A.A. Logunov, A.N. Tavkhelidze,Yu.S. Vladimirov, N.F. Florea (Floria), B.A. Lysov, V.D. Kukin, 601-academic group (1977), A.R. Khokhlov, P.L. Kapitza, S.P. Kapitza, Ion C. Inculet, Ion I. Inculet,W. Bittner, Nikolay Florea (Floria), M.M. Heraskov, N.V. Sklifosovskii, N.N. Bantysh-Kamenskii, N.D. Zelinskii, Olga Crusevan (Krushevan), Eugenia Crusevan (Krushevan),L.S. Berg, I. Buzdugan (Buzdyga),S.G. Lazo, M.K. Grebenchya (Grebencea), V.T. Kondurar (Conduraru), E.A. Grebenikov, K.F. Teodorchik, V.A. Albitzky, M.V. Nazarov, Tatiana Nazarova, V. P. Oleinikov, O.V. Bolshakov, D.M. Nikolaev, V. Afanas'ev, Olga Tatarinskaya, Yu.V. Karaganchou, B.A. Volkov, V.K. Turta, S. Varzar, C. Sochichiu, V.B. Braginsky, V.S. Fursov, L.I. Brezhnev, V.I. Sobolev (INP MSU), V.A. Smirnov (INP MSU), L.D. Landau, M.A. Leontovich, A.G. Loskutova, Yu.M. Loskutov, N.S. Akulov, V.B. Gostev, A.R. Frenkin, N.N. Kolesnikov, A. Vasil'ev, V.N. Tsytovich, Ya.A. Frenkel, N.V. Mitskievich, E.A. Grebenikov, A.N. Prokopenya, A. Einstein, L.I. Sedov, A.N. Kolmogorov, V.I. Arnold, G.I.Popov, R.Z. Sagdeev, A.A. Kokoshin, A.E. Marinchuk, D.V. Gal'tsov, V.I. Petukhov, S.I. Vacaru, A. Matiukhin,V.L. Ginsburg, L.P. Grishchuk, I.D. Novikov, A.G. Polnarev, V.F. Shvartsman, R.A. Syunyaev, E.L. Feinberg, Yu.N. Gnedin, A.Ya. Yakovlev, B.N. El'tsin, G.Kasparov, N. Travkin. A part of the paper concerns graduated from the Moscow University as well as to doctoral fellows from the Moscow University based on the literature, cited in the paper, many of which became later professors, members of the Academy, political persons and other influent persons in the Republic of Moldova.

Control of the permeability of fractures in geothermal rocks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Faoro, Igor

This thesis comprises three journal articles that will be submitted for publication (Journal of Geophysical Research-Solid Earth). Their respective titles are: "Undrained through Drained Evolution of Permeability in Dual Permeability Media" by Igor Faoro, Derek Elsworth and Chris Marone, "Evolution of Stiffness and Permeability in Fractures Subject to Thermally-and Mechanically-Activated Dissolution" by Igor Faoro, Derek Elsworth Chris Marone; "Linking permeability and mechanical damage for basalt from Mt. Etna volcano (Italy)" by Igor Faoro, Sergio Vinciguerra, Chris Marone and Derek Elsworth. Undrained through Drained Evolution of Permeability in Dual Permeability Media: temporary permeability changes of fractured aquifers subject to earthquakes have been observed and recorded worldwide, but their comprehension still remains a complex issue. In this study we report on flow-through fracture experiments on cracked westerly cores that reproduce, at laboratory scale, those (steps like) permeability changes that have been recorded when earthquakes occur. In particular our experiments show that under specific test boundary conditions, rapid increments of pore pressure induce transient variations of flow rate of the fracture whose peak magnitudes decrease as the variations of the effective stresses increase. We identify that the observed hydraulic behavior of the fracture is due to two principal mechanisms of origin; respectively mechanical (shortening of core) and poro-elastic (radial diffusion of the pore fluid into the matrix of the sample) whose interaction cause respectively an instantaneous opening and then a progressive closure of the fracture. Evolution of Stiffness and Permeability in Fractures Subject to Thermally-and Mechanically-Activated Dissolution: we report the results of radial flow-through experiments conducted on heated samples of Westerly granite. These experiments are performed to examine the influence of thermally and mechanically activated dissolution on the mechanical (stiffness) and transport (stress-permeability) characteristics of fractures. The sample is thermally stressed to 80 °C and measurements of the constrained axial stress acting on the sample and of the flow rate of the fracture are recorded with time. Net efflux of dissolved mineral mass is also measured periodically to provide a record of rates of net mass removal. During the experiment the fracture permeability shows high sensitivity to the changing conditions of stress and temperature but no significant permanent variation of permeability have been recorded once the thermal cycle ends. Linking permeability and mechanical damage for basalt from Mt. Etna volcano (Italy): volcanic edifices, such as Mt. Etna volcano (Italy), are affected from repeated episodes of pressurization due to magma emplacement from deep reservoirs to shallow depths. This mechanism pressurizes the large aquifers within the edifice and increases the level of crack damage within the rocks of the edifice over extended periods of times. In order to improve our understanding of the complex coupling between circulating fluids and the development of crack damage we performed flow-through tests using cylindrical cores of Etna Basalt (Etna, Italy) cyclically loaded either by constant increments of the principal stress: sigma1 (deviatoric condition), or by increments of the effective confining pressure: sigma1 = sigma 2 = sigma3 (isostatic conditions). Under hydrostatic stresses, the permeability values of the intact sample decrease linearly with the increments of pressure and range between 5.2*10-17 m2 and 1.5*10-17m2. At deviatoric stresses (up to 60 MPa) the permeability from the initial value of 5*10-17 m2 slightly decays to the minimum value of 2*10 -17 m2 observed when the axial deviatoric stresses range between 40 MPa and 60 MPa. For higher deviatoric stresses, increases to 10-16 m2 are then observed up to the peak stress at 92 MPa. After failure the permeability persisted steady at the value of 8*10-16 m2 for the whole duration of the test, independently from the applied stress. We interpreted the decrease observed as due to the progressive closure of the voids space, as the axial load is incremented.

Enter-educate: new word from Johns Hopkins.

PubMed

Coleman, P L

1988-01-01

Social development communication activities are competing with all of the other communication activities for the attention of the audience. The Johns Hopkins University/Population Communication Services (JHU/PCS) strongly believes that one of the best ways to get the attention of a designated audience, and to keep it, is to entertain the audience and educate it at the same time. They call this concept enter-educate. The basic precepts of this approach include: 1) Choose the most appropriate medium to reach the intended audience; 2) Enlist professionals experienced in the chosen medium in order to have access to the best available resources; 3) Develop a high-quality product that will attract the commercial sector; 4) Use a medium which has a big regional or national audience; and 5) Make the program appealing by including entertainment elements appropriate for the intended audience and not obviously preachy. The most successful project that JHU/PCS has supported that incorporated the concept of enter-educate is the Communication for Young People project in Latin America, better known as the Tatiana and Johnny project. This project used popular music, and its spin offs, to reach young people in 11 Spanish-speaking countries with a sexual responsibility message. Other successful projects in Nigeria and Mali are also described. Nigeria used television shows with family planning skits; in Mali the traditional Koteba theatrical format was made into films for short cinema showings before the main feature.

Nanostructure Determination by Co-Refining Models to Multiple Datasets

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Billinge, Simon J. L.

2011-05-31

The results of the work are contained in the publications resulting from the grant (which are listed below). Here I summarize the main findings from the last period of the award, 2006-2007: • Published a paper in Science with Igor Levin outlining the “Nanostructure Problem”, our inability to solve structure at the nanoscale. • Published a paper in Nature demonstrating the first ever ab-initio structure determination of a nanoparticle from atomic pair distribution function (PDF) data. • Published one book and 3 overview articles on PDF methods and the nanostructure problem. • Completed a project that sought to find amore » structural response to the presence of the so-called “intermediate phase” in network glasses which appears close to the rigidity percolation threshold in these systems. The main result was that we did not see convincing evidence for this, which drew into doubt the idea that Ge xSe 1-x glasses were a model system exhibiting rigidity percolation.« less

Localizer: fast, accurate, open-source, and modular software package for superresolution microscopy

PubMed Central

Duwé, Sam; Neely, Robert K.; Zhang, Jin

2012-01-01

Abstract. We present Localizer, a freely available and open source software package that implements the computational data processing inherent to several types of superresolution fluorescence imaging, such as localization (PALM/STORM/GSDIM) and fluctuation imaging (SOFI/pcSOFI). Localizer delivers high accuracy and performance and comes with a fully featured and easy-to-use graphical user interface but is also designed to be integrated in higher-level analysis environments. Due to its modular design, Localizer can be readily extended with new algorithms as they become available, while maintaining the same interface and performance. We provide front-ends for running Localizer from Igor Pro, Matlab, or as a stand-alone program. We show that Localizer performs favorably when compared with two existing superresolution packages, and to our knowledge is the only freely available implementation of SOFI/pcSOFI microscopy. By dramatically improving the analysis performance and ensuring the easy addition of current and future enhancements, Localizer strongly improves the usability of superresolution imaging in a variety of biomedical studies. PMID:23208219

Distribution of Potato virus Y in potato plant organs, tissues, and cells.

PubMed

Kogovšek, P; Kladnik, A; Mlakar, J; Znidarič, M Tušek; Dermastia, M; Ravnikar, M; Pompe-Novak, M

2011-11-01

The distribution of Potato virus Y (PVY) in the systemically infected potato (Solanum tuberosum) plants of the highly susceptible cultivar Igor was investigated. Virus presence and accumulation was analyzed in different plant organs and tissues using real-time polymerase chain reaction and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) negative staining methods. To get a complete insight into the location of viral RNA within the tissue, in situ hybridization was developed and optimized for the detection of PVY RNA at the cellular level. PVY was shown to accumulate in all studied leaf and stem tissues, in shoot tips, roots, and tubers; however, the level of virus accumulation was specific for each organ or tissue. The highest amounts of viral RNA and viral particles were found in symptomatic leaves and stem. By observing cell ultrastructure with TEM, viral cytoplasmic inclusion bodies were localized in close vicinity to the epidermis and in trichomes. Our results show that viral RNA, viral particles, and cytoplasmic inclusion bodies colocalize within the same type of cells or in close vicinity.

TerraSAR-X precise orbit determination with real-time GPS ephemerides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wermuth, Martin; Hauschild, Andre; Montenbruck, Oliver; Kahle, Ralph

TerraSAR-X is a German Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite, which was launched in June 2007 from Baikonour. Its task is to acquire radar images of the Earth's surface. In order to locate the radar data takes precisely, the satellite is equipped with a high-quality dual-frequency GPS receiver -the Integrated Geodetic and Occultation Receiver (IGOR) provided by the GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam (GFZ). Using GPS observations from the IGOR instrument in a reduced dynamic precise orbit determination (POD), the German Space Operations Center (DLR/GSOC) is computing rapid and science orbit products on a routine basis. The rapid orbit products arrive with a latency of about one hour after data reception with an accuracy of 10-20 cm. Science orbit products are computed with a latency of five days achieving an accuracy of about 5cm (3D-RMS). For active and future Earth observation missions, the availability of near real-time precise orbit information is becoming more and more important. Other applications of near real-time orbit products include the processing of GNSS radio occulation measurements for atmospheric sounding as well as altimeter measurements of ocean surface heights, which are nowadays employed in global weather and ocean circulation models with short latencies. For example after natural disasters it is necessary to evaluate the damage by satellite images as soon as possible. The latency and quality of POD results is mainly driven by the availability of precise GPS ephemerides. In order to have high-quality GPS ephemerides available at real-time, GSOC has developed the real-time clock estimation system RETICLE. The system receives NTRIP-data streams with GNSS observations from the global tracking network of IGS in real-time. Using the known station position, RETICLE estimates precise GPS satellite clock offsets and drifts based on the most recent available IGU predicted orbits. The clock offset estimates have an accuracy of better than 0.3 ns and are globally valid. The latency of the estimated clocks is approximately 7 seconds. Another limiting factor is the frequency of satellite downlinks and the latency of the data transfer from the ground station to the computation center. Therefore a near real-time scenario is examined in which the satellite has about one ground station contact per orbit or respectively one contact in 90 minutes. The results of the near real-time POD are evaluated in an internal consistency check and compared against the science orbit solution and laser ranging observations.

Synchrotron Radiation Workshop (SRW)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chubar, O.; Elleaume, P.

2013-03-01

"Synchrotron Radiation Workshop" (SRW) is a physical optics computer code for calculation of detailed characteristics of Synchrotron Radiation (SR) generated by relativistic electrons in magnetic fields of arbitrary configuration and for simulation of the radiation wavefront propagation through optical systems of beamlines. Frequency-domain near-field methods are used for the SR calculation, and the Fourier-optics based approach is generally used for the wavefront propagation simulation. The code enables both fully- and partially-coherent radiation propagation simulations in steady-state and in frequency-/time-dependent regimes. With these features, the code has already proven its utility for a large number of applications in infrared, UV, softmore » and hard X-ray spectral range, in such important areas as analysis of spectral performances of new synchrotron radiation sources, optimization of user beamlines, development of new optical elements, source and beamline diagnostics, and even complete simulation of SR based experiments. Besides the SR applications, the code can be efficiently used for various simulations involving conventional lasers and other sources. SRW versions interfaced to Python and to IGOR Pro (WaveMetrics), as well as cross-platform library with C API, are available.« less

The Security of Russia's Nuclear Arsenal: The Human Factor

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ball, D.Y.

1999-10-12

Assertions by the Russian military that all of their nuclear weapons are secure against theft and that nuclear units within the military are somehow insulated from the problems plaguing the Russian military should not be accepted uncritically. Accordingly, we should not give unwarranted credence to the pronouncements of military figures like Cal.-Gen. Igor Valynkin, Chief of the Defense Ministry's 12th Main Directorate, which oversees the country's nuclear arsenal. He contends that ''Russian nuclear weapons are under reliable supervision'' and that ''talk about the unreliability of our control over nuclear weapons has only one pragmatic goal--to convince international society that themore » country is incapable of maintaining nuclear safety and to introduce international oversight over those weapons, as it is done, for example, in Iraq.'' While the comparison to Iraq is preposterous, many analysts might agree with Valynkin's sanguine appraisal of the security of Russia's nuclear weapons. In contrast, I argue that the numerous difficulties confronting the military as a whole should cause concern in the West over the security of the Russian nuclear arsenal.« less

Metabolic scaling and biodiversity of forests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Banavar, Jayanth

Forests are biologically diverse and play a critical role in the dynamics of earth-climate systems. A forest is a tremendously complex system comprising co-existing rooted trees of many species and many sizes and utilizing resources from the environment. The trees interact with each other and with their environment and the interactions are not precisely known. Using scaling ideas, we will present a theoretical framework for understanding the role of geometry in determining the metabolic rate of a tree and of a forest. The quantification of tropical tree biodiversity and their abundances is still an open and challenging problem. Using a global-scale compilation, we will present a method that allows one to predict, from local censuses, the biodiversity and patterns of species abundance at the whole forest scale. The method allows one to quantify the minimum percentage cover of the forest that should be sampled in order to have a precise prediction of the estimates of biodiversity and species abundances. Collaborators: Amos Maritan, Tommaso Anfodillo, Sandro Azaele, Marco Favretti, Marco Formentin, Jacopo Grilli, Samir Suweis, Anna Tovo, Igor Volkov.

Dynamical systems theory and applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Awrejcewicz, Jan

2006-08-01

The 7th International Conference devoted to "Dynamical Systems-Theory and Applications" hold in 8-11 December, 2003 in Łódź, Poland, and it was organized by the staff of Department of Automatics and Biomechanics of the Technical University of Łódź. It was financially supported by the Rector of the Technical University of Łódź and the Department of Education and Physical Culture of the Łódź City Hall. The members of the International Scientific Committee included: Igor V. Andrianov (Dniepropetrovsk), Jan Awrejcewicz (Łódź), Iliya Blekhman (Sankt Petersburg), Roman Bogacz (Warszawa), Dick van Campen (Eindhoven), Zbigniew Engel (Kraków), Lothar Gaul (Stuttgart), Józef Giergiel (Kraków), Michał Kleiber (Warszawa), Vadim A. Krysko (Saratov), Włodzimierz Kurnik (Warszawa), Claude-Henri Lamarque (Lyon), Leonid I. Manevitch (Moscow), Jan Osiecki (Warszawa), Wiesaw Ostachowicz (Gdańsk), Ladislav Pust (Prague), Giuseppe Rega (Rome), Tsuneo Someya (Tokyo), Zbigniew Starczewski (Warszawa), Eugeniusz Świtoński (Gliwice), Andrzej Tylikowski (Warszawa), Tadeusz Uhl (Kraków), Aleksander F. Vakakis (Illinois), Józef Wojnarowski (Gliwice).

List of Organizing Committees and Conference Programme

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2012-03-01

Organizers Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research Horia Hulubei National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering - IFIN HH Romanian Neutron Scattering Society Sponsors Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research Horia Hulubei National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering - IFIN HH Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry AS CR, Czech Republic Programme Committee Valentin Gordely (chairman)Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Russia Heinrich StuhrmannGermany Jose TeixeiraLaboratoire Leon Brillouin, France Pavel ApelJoint Institute for Nuclear Research, Russia Pavol BalgavyComenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia Alexander BelushkinJoint Institute for Nuclear Research, Russia Georg BueldtInstitute of Structural Biology and Biophysics (ISB), Germany Leonid BulavinTaras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine Emil BurzoBabes-Bolyai University, Romania Vadim CherezovThe Scripps Research Institute, Department of Molecular Biology, USA Ion IonitaRomanian Society of Neutron Scattering, Romania Alexei KhokhlovMoscow State University, Russia Aziz MuzafarovInstitute of Synthetic Polymeric Materials, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia Alexander OzerinInstitute of Synthetic Polymeric Materials, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia Gerard PepyResearch Institute for Solid State Physics and Optics, Hungary Josef PlestilInstitute of Macromolecular Chemistry CAS, Czech Republic Aurel RadulescuJuelich Centre for Neutron Science JCNS, Germany Maria BalasoiuJoint Institute for Nuclear Research, Russia Alexander KuklinJoint Institute for Nuclear Research, Russia Local Organizing Committee Alexander Kuklin - Chairman Maria Balasoiu - Co-chairman Tatiana Murugova - Secretary Natalia Malysheva Natalia Dokalenko Julia Gorshkova Andrey Rogachev Oleksandr Ivankov Dmitry Soloviev Lilia Anghel Erhan Raul The PDF also contains the Conference Programme.

Irena : tool suite for modeling and analysis of small-angle scattering.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ilavsky, J.; Jemian, P.

2009-04-01

Irena, a tool suite for analysis of both X-ray and neutron small-angle scattering (SAS) data within the commercial Igor Pro application, brings together a comprehensive suite of tools useful for investigations in materials science, physics, chemistry, polymer science and other fields. In addition to Guinier and Porod fits, the suite combines a variety of advanced SAS data evaluation tools for the modeling of size distribution in the dilute limit using maximum entropy and other methods, dilute limit small-angle scattering from multiple non-interacting populations of scatterers, the pair-distance distribution function, a unified fit, the Debye-Bueche model, the reflectivity (X-ray and neutron)more » using Parratt's formalism, and small-angle diffraction. There are also a number of support tools, such as a data import/export tool supporting a broad sampling of common data formats, a data modification tool, a presentation-quality graphics tool optimized for small-angle scattering data, and a neutron and X-ray scattering contrast calculator. These tools are brought together into one suite with consistent interfaces and functionality. The suite allows robust automated note recording and saving of parameters during export.« less

Astrochemistry Lecture and Laboratory Courses at the University of Illinois: Applied Spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woon, David E.; McCall, Benjamin J.

2016-06-01

The Department of Chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign offers two courses in astrochemistry, one lecture (Chem 450) and one laboratory (Chem 451). Both courses present the opportunity for advanced undergraduate and graduate students to learn about various spectroscopic concepts as they are applied toward an exotic subject, astrochemistry. In the lecture course, each student devotes a substantial fraction of the course work to one of the known astromolecules, building a wiki page for it during the semester, presenting a brief oral description about it in class, and then finally writing a paper about it. The course covers electronic, vibrational, and rotational spectroscopy, along with Einstein coefficients, line widths, and the interpretation of actual astronomical spectra. It also covers relevant reactions and reaction networks. Students learn to use pgopher for modeling rotational spectra. The lab course focuses on the methylidyne radical (CH). It begins with its chemistry and spectroscopy and then moves on to laboratory study of its electronic spectrum as observed in a butane flame and then collected with the university's 12" f/15 Brashear refracting telescope in the campus observatory built in 1896. Students learn to use IGOR to reduce CCD data.

Bibliography on Small Systems: Nonequilibrium Phenomena and Anomalous Behavior

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

LIU, Fei; Lamberto, Rondoni; TANG, Lei-Han; ZHOU, Hai-Jun; WANG, Yan-Ting

2014-10-01

The workshop and satellite conference held in July 2013 at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics China (KITPC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) brought together experts of a variety of different fields, and constituted a unique opportunity to share ideas and breed new ones in a strongly interdisciplinary fashion. At the same time, the breadth of the scope of these two meetings was so wide that the need for a collection of reference books and papers was pointed out, in order to help the interested professionals, as well as graduate students, both to tackle the technically advanced issues and to bridge the gaps, necessarily present in each other's background. Therefore, we invited some of the participants to produce a bibliography containing the most relevant works in their own fields, and to complement this bibliography with a short explanation of the content of those books and papers. We are thus very grateful to Igor Goychuk, David Lacoste, Annick Lesne, Andrea Puglisi, Hong Qian and Hugo Touchette for having accepted our invitation and for having produced what we consider a very useful tool for all those who want to learn or to understand more deeply the current theories concerning small and nonequilibrium systems.

General Relativity and Gravitation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ashtekar, Abhay; Berger, Beverly; Isenberg, James; MacCallum, Malcolm

2015-07-01

Part I. Einstein's Triumph: 1. 100 years of general relativity George F. R. Ellis; 2. Was Einstein right? Clifford M. Will; 3. Cosmology David Wands, Misao Sasaki, Eiichiro Komatsu, Roy Maartens and Malcolm A. H. MacCallum; 4. Relativistic astrophysics Peter Schneider, Ramesh Narayan, Jeffrey E. McClintock, Peter Mészáros and Martin J. Rees; Part II. New Window on the Universe: 5. Receiving gravitational waves Beverly K. Berger, Karsten Danzmann, Gabriela Gonzalez, Andrea Lommen, Guido Mueller, Albrecht Rüdiger and William Joseph Weber; 6. Sources of gravitational waves. Theory and observations Alessandra Buonanno and B. S. Sathyaprakash; Part III. Gravity is Geometry, After All: 7. Probing strong field gravity through numerical simulations Frans Pretorius, Matthew W. Choptuik and Luis Lehner; 8. The initial value problem of general relativity and its implications Gregory J. Galloway, Pengzi Miao and Richard Schoen; 9. Global behavior of solutions to Einstein's equations Stefanos Aretakis, James Isenberg, Vincent Moncrief and Igor Rodnianski; Part IV. Beyond Einstein: 10. Quantum fields in curved space-times Stefan Hollands and Robert M. Wald; 11. From general relativity to quantum gravity Abhay Ashtekar, Martin Reuter and Carlo Rovelli; 12. Quantum gravity via unification Henriette Elvang and Gary T. Horowitz.

Reflected Glory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2011-02-01

The nebula Messier 78 takes centre stage in this image taken with the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile, while the stars powering the bright display take a backseat. The brilliant starlight ricochets off dust particles in the nebula, illuminating it with scattered blue light. Igor Chekalin was the overall winner of ESO's Hidden Treasures 2010 astrophotography competition with his image of this stunning object. Messier 78 is a fine example of a reflection nebula. The ultraviolet radiation from the stars that illuminate it is not intense enough to ionise the gas to make it glow - its dust particles simply reflect the starlight that falls on them. Despite this, Messier 78 can easily be observed with a small telescope, being one of the brightest reflection nebulae in the sky. It lies about 1350 light-years away in the constellation of Orion (The Hunter) and can be found northeast of the easternmost star of Orion's belt. This new image of Messier 78 from the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory is based on data selected by Igor Chekalin in his winning entry to the Hidden Treasures competition [1]. The pale blue tint seen in the nebula in this picture is an accurate representation of its dominant colour. Blue hues are commonly seen in reflection nebulae because of the way the starlight is scattered by the tiny dust particles that they contain: the shorter wavelength of blue light is scattered more efficiently than the longer wavelength red light. This image contains many other striking features apart from the glowing nebula. A thick band of obscuring dust stretches across the image from the upper left to the lower right, blocking the light from background stars. In the bottom right corner, many curious pink structures are also visible, which are created by jets of material being ejected from stars that have recently formed and are still buried deep in dust clouds. Two bright stars, HD 38563A and HD 38563B, are the main powerhouses behind Messier 78. However, the nebula is home to many more stars, including a collection of about 45 low mass, young stars (less than 10 million years old) in which the cores are still too cool for hydrogen fusion to start, known as T Tauri stars. Studying T Tauri stars is important for understanding the early stages of star formation and how planetary systems are created. Remarkably, this complex of nebulae has also changed significantly in the last ten years. In February 2004 the experienced amateur observer Jay McNeil took an image of this region with a 75 mm telescope and was surprised to see a bright nebula - the prominent fan shaped feature near the bottom of this picture - where nothing was seen on most earlier images. This object is now known as McNeil's Nebula and it appears to be a highly variable reflection nebula around a young star. This colour picture was created from many monochrome exposures taken through blue, yellow/green and red filters, supplemented by exposures through an H-alpha filter that shows light from glowing hydrogen gas. The total exposure times were 9, 9, 17.5 and 15.5 minutes per filter, respectively. Notes [1] Igor Chekalin from Russia uncovered the raw data for this image of Messier 78 in ESO's archives in the competition Hidden Treasures (eso1102). He processed the raw data with great skill, claiming first prize in the contest for his final image (Flickr link). ESO's team of in-house image processing experts then independently processed the raw data at full resolution to produce the image shown here. More information ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive astronomical observatory. It is supported by 15 countries: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory and VISTA, the world's largest survey telescope. ESO is the European partner of a revolutionary astronomical telescope ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. ESO is currently planning a 42-metre European Extremely Large optical/near-infrared Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky".

Observations of elevated Atlantic water heat fluxes at the boundary of the Arctic Basin.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lincoln, Benjamin; Rippeth, Tom; Lenn, Yueng; Bacon, Sheldon

2014-05-01

The well documented decline in Arctic Sea Ice cover over the past 30 years has outpaced global models as warming in Polar Regions occurs faster than the global mean. The thermohaline circulation brings warm water from the Atlantic Ocean into the Arctic basin. This Atlantic water circulates at depth and contains sufficient heat to melt the sea ice cover several times over. Recent studies have shown that this Atlantic water has warmed and shoaled over recent decades (Polyakov et al, 2010). The stability of the upper Arctic Ocean has also changed, with stratification reduced in the Eurasian basin but increased in the Canada basin. Along with an increased availability of heat the reduction in sea ice cover allows greater potential for wind to input energy to the ocean to vertically mix heat to the surface and further melt sea ice. Direct measurements of vertical mixing rates across the Arctic are essential to understanding the changes in this supply of heat from below, but are scarce due to the challenges of making such measurements in the harsh Arctic environment. We present measurements of turbulent kinetic energy dissipation (ɛ) within the top 500 m of the water column using microstructure measurements made both in open water and under ice during 4 different years. Mean rates of dissipation in the Atlantic water thermocline are calculated and compared for data collected in the European, Siberian and Canadian Arctic, including measurements from 2007 and 2012 when record minimum sea ice extents were recorded. Diapycnal heat fluxes from the mean Atlantic water dissipation rates were calculated from these mean dissipation rates and show significant variation across the Arctic Basin. Profiles in the deep basin generally revealed very low rates of dissipation were low ɛ<10-9Wkg-1 and as such heat fluxes of AW were correspondingly low Fh=0.1-0.5Wm-2. However double diffusive staircases were present in all such casts and so vertical transfer of heat may be increased by diffusive fluxes. Dissipation rates were enhanced by up to 3 orders of magnitude at the boundaries of the Arctic basin with the highest rates North of Svalbard and decreasing ɛ anticlockwise around the basin with low ɛ in the Canada basin. Enhanced heat fluxes at the boundaries ranged from 10-100 Wm-2 north of Svalbard decreasing to 2-5 Wm-2 along the Laptev shelf slope and less than 0.5 Wm-2 along the East Siberian slope and Lomonosov ridge. In the Canada basin heat fluxes at the boundary were less than 0.2 Wm-2. --- Arctic Ocean Warming Contributes to Reduced Polar Ice Cap Igor V. Polyakov, Leonid A. Timokhov, Vladimir A. Alexeev, Sheldon Bacon, Igor A. Dmitrenko, Louis Fortier, et al. in Journal of Physical Oceanography (2010)

Relativistic Astrophysics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, Bernard J. T.; Markovic, Dragoljub

1997-06-01

Preface; Prologue: Conference overview Bernard Carr; Part I. The Universe At Large and Very Large Redshifts: 2. The size and age of the Universe Gustav A. Tammann; 3. Active galaxies at large redshifts Malcolm S. Longair; 4. Observational cosmology with the cosmic microwave background George F. Smoot; 5. Future prospects in measuring the CMB power spectrum Philip M. Lubin; 6. Inflationary cosmology Michael S. Turner; 7. The signature of the Universe Bernard J. T. Jones; 8. Theory of large-scale structure Sergei F. Shandarin; 9. The origin of matter in the universe Lev A. Kofman; 10. New guises for cold-dark matter suspects Edward W. Kolb; Part II. Physics and Astrophysics Of Relativistic Compact Objects: 11. On the unification of gravitational and inertial forces Donald Lynden-Bell; 12. Internal structure of astrophysical black holes Werner Israel; 13. Black hole entropy: external facade and internal reality Valery Frolov; 14. Accretion disks around black holes Marek A. Abramowicz; 15. Black hole X-ray transients J. Craig Wheeler; 16. X-rays and gamma rays from active galactic nuclei Roland Svensson; 17. Gamma-ray bursts: a challenge to relativistic astrophysics Martin Rees; 18. Probing black holes and other exotic objects with gravitational waves Kip Thorne; Epilogue: the past and future of relativistic astrophysics Igor D. Novikov; I. D. Novikov's scientific papers and books.

A new species of Bryoleuca Hampson, 1908 from Afghanistan (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae, Bryophilinae).

PubMed

Pekarsky, Oleg

2015-11-13

A new species of the raptricula species-group, Bryoleuca pljushtchi sp. n. is described. A diagnostic comparison is made with Bryoleuca raptricula ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775), Bryoleuca felina (Eversmann, 1852), Bryoleuca orthogramma (Boursin, 1954), Bryoleuca volodia An, Choi & Ronkay, 2013 and Bryoleuca nahnybidai Pekarsky, 2014. Adults and female genitalia of the new species and its closest relatives are illustrated. Modern taxonomic studies of the raptricula-group started by Fibiger et al. (2009) and got progress by the clarification of the taxonomic status of B. felina (Pekarsky & Ronkay 2010). Subsequently, further two newly recognised species were described in the last two years, B. volodia and B. nahnybidai. The first attempt to prepare the checklist of the subfamily was made by Hacker (1990) and, later, European check list was given in the Noctuidae Europaeae, Vol. 11 (Fibiger et al. 2009). As for the fauna of Afghanistan, Koçak and Kemal (2012) listed twelve Bryophilinae species one of which, B. raptricula, belongs to the genus Bryoleuca. The taxonomic situation of the raptricula species-complex is far not completely known yet. Present paper contains the description of a new Bryoleuca species from Afghanistan. The single female of this new species was collected by Ukrainian entomologists Igor Pljushtch and Oleg Pak in Central Afghanistan in 2013.

Biogeosystem technique as a base of Sustainable Irrigated Agriculture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Batukaev, Abdulmalik

2016-04-01

The world water strategy is to be changed because the current imitational gravitational frontal isotropic-continual paradigm of irrigation is not sustainable. This paradigm causes excessive consumption of fresh water - global deficit - up to 4-15 times, adverse effects on soils and landscapes. Current methods of irrigation does not control the water spread throughout the soil continuum. The preferable downward fluxes of irrigation water are forming, up to 70% and more of water supply loses into vadose zone. The moisture of irrigated soil is high, soil loses structure in the process of granulometric fractions flotation decomposition, the stomatal apparatus of plant leaf is fully open, transpiration rate is maximal. We propose the Biogeosystem technique - the transcendental, uncommon and non-imitating methods for Sustainable Natural Resources Management. New paradigm of irrigation is based on the intra-soil pulse discrete method of water supply into the soil continuum by injection in small discrete portions. Individual volume of water is supplied as a vertical cylinder of soil preliminary watering. The cylinder position in soil is at depth form 10 to 30 cm. Diameter of cylinder is 1-2 cm. Within 5-10 min after injection the water spreads from the cylinder of preliminary watering into surrounding soil by capillary, film and vapor transfer. Small amount of water is transferred gravitationally to the depth of 35-40 cm. The soil watering cylinder position in soil profile is at depth of 5-50 cm, diameter of the cylinder is 2-4 cm. Lateral distance between next cylinders along the plant raw is 10-15 cm. The soil carcass which is surrounding the cylinder of non-watered soil remains relatively dry and mechanically stable. After water injection the structure of soil in cylinder restores quickly because of no compression from the stable adjoining volume of soil and soil structure memory. The mean soil thermodynamic water potential of watered zone is -0.2 MPa. At this potential the stomatal apparatus of leaf regulate the water flow through plant, transpiration rate is reduced, soil solution concentration increases, plant nutrition supply rate becomes higher than at a stage of water field capacity. The rate of plant biomass growth is highest at water thermodynamic potential of -0.2-0.4 MPa. No excessive irrigation intra-soil mass transfer, nor excessive transpiration, evaporation and seepage. New intra-soil pulse discrete paradigm of irrigation optimizes the plant organogenesis, reduces consumption of water per unit of biological product. The biological productivity increases. Fresh water saving is up to 20 times. The new sustainable world strategy of Ecosystem Maintaining Productivity is to be based on the Biogeosystem Technique, it suits well the robotic nowadays noosphere technological platform and implements the principals of Geoethics in technologies of Biosphere. Key words: Paradigm, Biogeosystem technique, intra-soil pulse discrete watering. SSS8.1 Restoration and rehabilitation of degraded lands in arid, semi-arid and Mediterranean environments Batukaev Abdulmalik A. Chechen State University, Agrotechnological Institute, Dr Sc (Agric), Professor, Director, 364907, Sheripova st., 32, Grozny, Russia, batukaevmalik@mail.ru Kalinichenko Valery P. Institute of Fertility of Soils of South Russia, Dr Sc (Biol), Professor, Director, 346493, Krivoshlikova st., 2, Persianovka, Rostov region. Russia, kalinitch@mail.ru Minkina Tatiana M., Southern Federal University, Dr Sc (Biol), Head of the Soil Science Chair, 344006, Bolshaja Sadovaja st., 105/42, Rostov-on-Don, Russia, tminkina@mail.ru Zarmaev Ali A. Agrotechnological Institute of Chechen State University, Head of the Agrotechnology Chair, Dr Sc (Agric), Professor, 364907, Sheripova st., 32, Grozny, Russia, ali5073@mail.ru Skovpen Andrey N. Don State Agrarian University, PhD, Ass. Professor of Ecology Chair, 346493, Krivoshlikova st., 2, Persianovka, Rostov region, Russia, instit03@mail.ru Zaurbek Dikaev S. Chechen State University, Agrotechnological Institute, Ass. Professor of the Agrotechnology Chair, 364907, Sheripova st., 32, Grozny, Russia, dikaev-91@mail.ru Jusupov Vaha U. Chechen State University, Agrotechnological Institute, Ass. Professor of the Agrotechnology Chair, 364907, Sheripova st., 32, Grozny, Russia. knyaz-vakha@mail.ru Rykhlik Artem E. Institute of Fertility of Soils of South Russia, Expert, 346493, Krivoshlikova st., 2, Persianovka, Rostov region. Russia, tyoma-4444@yandex.ru Bauer Tatiana V. Southern Federal University, Academy of Biology and Biotechnology, Postgraduate, 344006, Bolshaja Sadovaja st., 105/42, Rostov-on-Don, Russia, tminkina@mail.ru

COMMITTEES: Quark Matter 2008 Organising and International Advisory Committees

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2008-10-01

Organising Committee Madan M Aggarwal (Chandigarh) Jan-e Alam (Kolkata) Convener Arup Bandyopadhyay (Kolkata) Debades Bandyopadhyay (Kolkata) Rahul Basu (Chennai) Rakesh K Bhandari (Kolkata) Anju Bhasin (Jammu) Subhasis Chattopadhyay (Kolkata) Convener Sukalyan Chattopadhyay (Kolkata) Asis Chaudhuri (Kolkata) Premomoy Ghosh (Kolkata) Sanjay Ghosh (Kolkata) Sourendu Gupta (Mumbai) Muhammad Irfan (Aligarh) Durga P Mahapatra (Bhubaneswar) DAmruta Mishra (New Delhi) Ajit K Mohanty (Mumbai) Bedangadas Mohanty (Kolkata) Vaisali Naik (Kolkata) Tapan K Nayak (Kolkata) Convener Sudhir Raniwala (Jaipur) Sourav Sarkar (Kolkata) Bikash Sinha (Kolkata) Chair Dinesh Srivastava (Kolkata) Raghava Varma (Mumbai) Yogendra P Viyogi (Bhubaneswar)Co-chair International Advisory Committee R Aymar,Switzerland Jean Paul Blaizot, France Peter Braun Münzinger, Germany Igor M Dremin, Russia Kari Eskola, Finland Jens Jorgen Gaardhoje,Denmark Rajiv V Gavai, India Hans-Ake Gustaffson, Sweden Hans Gutbrod, Germany Miklos Gyulassy, USA Timothy Hallman, USA Hideki Hamagaki, Japan Tetsuo Hatsuda, Japan Huan-Zhong Huang, USA Barbara Jacak, USA Peter Jenni, Switzerland Taka Kajino, Japan Takeshi Kodama, Brazil T D Lee, USA Peter Levai, Hungary Luciano Maiani, Italy Larry McLerran, USA Berndt Müller, USA Guy Paic, Mexico Sibaji Raha, India Lodovico Riccati, Italy Hans Georg Ritter, USA Helmut Satz, Germany Jurgen Schukraft, Switzerland Yves Schutz, France Edward V Shuryak, USA Johanna Stachel, Germany Horst Stöcker, Germany Itzhak Tserruya, Israel Xin-Nian Wang, USA Bolek Wyslouch, USA Glenn R Young, USA William A Zajc, USA Wen-Long Zhan, China

NeuroMatic: An Integrated Open-Source Software Toolkit for Acquisition, Analysis and Simulation of Electrophysiological Data

PubMed Central

Rothman, Jason S.; Silver, R. Angus

2018-01-01

Acquisition, analysis and simulation of electrophysiological properties of the nervous system require multiple software packages. This makes it difficult to conserve experimental metadata and track the analysis performed. It also complicates certain experimental approaches such as online analysis. To address this, we developed NeuroMatic, an open-source software toolkit that performs data acquisition (episodic, continuous and triggered recordings), data analysis (spike rasters, spontaneous event detection, curve fitting, stationarity) and simulations (stochastic synaptic transmission, synaptic short-term plasticity, integrate-and-fire and Hodgkin-Huxley-like single-compartment models). The merging of a wide range of tools into a single package facilitates a more integrated style of research, from the development of online analysis functions during data acquisition, to the simulation of synaptic conductance trains during dynamic-clamp experiments. Moreover, NeuroMatic has the advantage of working within Igor Pro, a platform-independent environment that includes an extensive library of built-in functions, a history window for reviewing the user's workflow and the ability to produce publication-quality graphics. Since its original release, NeuroMatic has been used in a wide range of scientific studies and its user base has grown considerably. NeuroMatic version 3.0 can be found at http://www.neuromatic.thinkrandom.com and https://github.com/SilverLabUCL/NeuroMatic. PMID:29670519

27-day cycles in human mortality: Traute and Bernhard Düll

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Halberg, F.; Düll-Pfaff, N.; Gumarova, L.; Zenchenko, T. A.; Schwartzkopff, O.; Freytag, E. M.; Freytag, J.; Cornelissen, G.

2013-04-01

This tribute to her parents by one co-author (NDP) is the fruit of a more than a decade-long search by the senior author (FH) for the details of the lives of Bernhard and Gertraud (''Traute'') Düll. These pioneers studied how space/terrestrial weather may differentially influence human mortality from various causes, the 27-day mortality pattern being different whether death was from cardiac or respiratory disease, or from suicide. FH is the translator of personal information about her parents provided by NDP in German. Figuratively, he also attempts to ''translate'' the Dülls' contribution in the context of the literature that had appeared before their work and after their deaths. Although the Dülls published in a then leading journal, among others (and FH had re-analyzed some of their work in a medical journal), they were unknown to academies or libraries (where FH had inquired about them). The Dülls thoroughly assembled death certificates to offer the most powerful evidence for an effect of solar activity reflected in human mortality, as did others before them. They went several steps further than their predecessors, however. They were the first to show possibly differential effects of space and/or Earth weather with respect to suicide and other deaths associated with the nervous and sensory systems vs. death from cardiac or respiratory disease as well as overall death by differences in the phase of a common 27-day cycle characterizing these mortality patterns. Furthermore, Bernhard Düll developed tests of human visual and auditory reaction time to study effects of weather and solar activity, publishing a book (his professorial dissertation) on the topic. His unpublished finding of an increased incidence of airplane crashes in association with higher solar activity was validated after his death, among others, by Tatiana Zenchenko and A. M. Merzlyi.

27-day cycles in human mortality: Traute and Bernhard Düll

PubMed Central

Halberg, F.; Düll-Pfaff, N.; Gumarova, L.; Zenchenko, T. A.; Schwartzkopff, O.; Freytag, E. M.; Freytag, J.; Cornelissen, G.

2013-01-01

This tribute to her parents by one co-author (NDP) is the fruit of a more than a decade-long search by the senior author (FH) for the details of the lives of Bernhard and Gertraud (“Traute”) Düll. These pioneers studied how space/terrestrial weather may differentially influence human mortality from various causes, the 27-day mortality pattern being different whether death was from cardiac or respiratory disease, or from suicide. FH is the translator of personal information about her parents provided by NDP in German. Figuratively, he also attempts to “translate” the Dülls’ contribution in the context of the literature that had appeared before their work and after their deaths. Although the Dülls published in a then leading journal, among others (and FH had re-analyzed some of their work in a medical journal), they were unknown to academies or libraries (where FH had inquired about them). The Dülls thoroughly assembled death certificates to offer the most powerful evidence for an effect of solar activity reflected in human mortality, as did others before them. They went several steps further than their predecessors, however. They were the first to show possibly differential effects of space and/or Earth weather with respect to suicide and other deaths associated with the nervous and sensory systems vs. death from cardiac or respiratory disease as well as overall death by differences in the phase of a common 27-day cycle characterizing these mortality patterns. Furthermore, Bernhard Düll developed tests of human visual and auditory reaction time to study effects of weather and solar activity, publishing a book (his professorial dissertation) on the topic. His unpublished finding of an increased incidence of airplane crashes in association with higher solar activity was validated after his death, among others, by Tatiana Zenchenko and A. M. Merzlyi. PMID:24224144

Fortran graphics routines for the Macintosh

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shore, B.W.

1992-06-01

The Language Systems MPW Fortran is a popular Fortran compiler for the Macintosh. Unfortunately, it does not have any built-in calls to graphics routines (such as are available with Graflib on the NLTSS), so there is no simple way to make x-y plots from calls within Fortran. Instead, a file of data must be created and a commercial plotting routine (such as IGOR or KALEIDAGRAPH) or a spreadsheet with graphics (such as WINGZ) must be applied to post-process the data. The Macintosh does have available many built-in calls (to the Macintosh Toolbox) that allow drawing shapes and lines with quickdraw,more » but these are not designed for plotting functions and are difficult to learn to use. This work outlines some Fortran routines that can be called from LS Fortran to make the necessary calls to the Macintosh toolbox to create simple two-dimensional plots or contour plots. The source code DEMOGRAF.F shows how these routines may be used. DEMOGRAF.F simply demonstrates some Fortran subroutines that can be called with language systems MPW Fortran on the Macintosh to plot arrays of numbers. The subroutines essentially mimic the functionality that has been available at LTSS and NLTSS and UNICOS at LLNL. The graphics primitives are kept in four separate files, each containing several subroutines. The subroutines are compiled and stored in a library file, LIBgraf.o. Makefile is used to link this library to the source code. A discussion is included on requirements for interactive plotting of functions.« less

The multiple personalities of Watson and Crick strands.

PubMed

Cartwright, Reed A; Graur, Dan

2011-02-08

In genetics it is customary to refer to double-stranded DNA as containing a "Watson strand" and a "Crick strand." However, there seems to be no consensus in the literature on the exact meaning of these two terms, and the many usages contradict one another as well as the original definition. Here, we review the history of the terminology and suggest retaining a single sense that is currently the most useful and consistent. The Saccharomyces Genome Database defines the Watson strand as the strand which has its 5'-end at the short-arm telomere and the Crick strand as its complement. The Watson strand is always used as the reference strand in their database. Using this as the basis of our standard, we recommend that Watson and Crick strand terminology only be used in the context of genomics. When possible, the centromere or other genomic feature should be used as a reference point, dividing the chromosome into two arms of unequal lengths. Under our proposal, the Watson strand is standardized as the strand whose 5'-end is on the short arm of the chromosome, and the Crick strand as the one whose 5'-end is on the long arm. Furthermore, the Watson strand should be retained as the reference (plus) strand in a genomic database. This usage not only makes the determination of Watson and Crick unambiguous, but also allows unambiguous selection of reference stands for genomics. This article was reviewed by John M. Logsdon, Igor B. Rogozin (nominated by Andrey Rzhetsky), and William Martin.

Neurological Surgery at the National Institutes of Health

PubMed Central

Mehta, Gautam U.; Heiss, John D.; Park, John K.; Asthagiri, Ashok R.; Lonser, Russell R.

2010-01-01

The Surgical Neurology Branch (SNB) in the intramural program of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at the National Institutes of Health has been a unique setting for academic neurosurgery for nearly 60 years. Every patient evaluated and treated in the SNB is enrolled in a clinical research protocol, which underscores a singular focus on advancing neurosurgical research and patient care. Since the inception of the SNB, this research effort has been driven by dedicated clinician-investigators and basic scientists including Maitland Baldwin, Igor Klatzo, John M. Van Buren, Ayub K. Ommaya, Richard J. Youle and Edward H. Oldfield. These and other SNB investigators have studied and advanced treatment of a number of neuropathologic processes including delineation of differences between cytotoxic and vasogenic edema, head injury, Cushing’s disease, the effects of vascular endothelial growth factor in nervous system tissues, tumor suppressor syndromes, the pathophysiology of syringomyelia, mechanisms underlying cerebral vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage, spinal arteriovenous malformations, mechanisms of cell death and drug delivery. Currently, SNB efforts are focused on central nervous system drug-delivery, the natural history of familial tumor syndromes, functional neurosurgery, epilepsy, vasospasm and development of chemotherapeutics for malignant glioma. Throughout its history, the SNB has also been dedicated to training neurosurgeon clinician-investigators; 22 previous fellows/staff have become Chairs of their respective neurosurgical departments. Recently, the commitment to training future neurosurgeon clinician-investigators has been further defined with the development of a residency-training program in neurological surgery approved in 2010. PMID:21278842

Conference Committees

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2015-11-01

Scientific Committee Silvia Arrese-Igor Irigoyen (CFM, CSIC - UPV/EHU, Donostia), Javier Campo (ICMA-CSIC, Zaragoza), Carlos Frontera (ICMAB-CSIC, Barcelona), Victoria García Sakai (ISIS, Chilton), Cristina Gómez-Polo (UPNa, Pamplona), Miguel Ángel González (ILL, Grenoble), Pedro Gorría (Universidad Oviedo), Jon Gutiérrez Echevarría (EHU/UPV, Bilbao), J. Iñaki Pérez Landazábal (UPNa, Pamplona), Vicente Recarte (UPNa, Pamplona), Jesús Ruíz Hervías (UPM, Madrid), Vicente Sánchez-Alarcos (UPNa, Pamplona), Antonio Urbina (UPC, Cartagena) Organizing Committee J. Iñaki Pérez Landazábal (Co-Chair), Vicente Recarte ( Co-Chair), Cristina Gómez-Polo, Silvia Larumbe Abuin, Vicente Sánchez-Alarcos Editors of the Proceedings J. Iñaki Pérez Landazábal, Vicente Recarte Plenary speakers Charles Simon (Institut Laue-Langevin, Grenoble, France), Miguel Angel Alario Franco (Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain), Dieter Richter (Jülich Centre for Neutron Science, Jülich, Germany), James Yeck (European Spallation Source, Lund, Sweden) Invited speakers Manu Barandiarán (BCMaterials & EHU/UPV), Arantxa Arbe (MFC, CSIC- UPV/EHU), José Luis Martínez (Consorcio ESS-Bilbao), Marta Castellote, IETcc-CSIC), Josep Lluis Tamarit (UPC), Diego Alba-Venero (ISIS), Elizabeth Castillo (CIC Energigune), Josu M. Igartua (EHU/UPV), Antonio Dos Santos (UPM), Alex Masalles (Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya), José Abad (UPCT), Claudia Mondelli (ILL), Oscar Fabelo (ILL), Aurora Nogales (IEM-CSIC), Jesús Rodríguez (UC), Gerardo

Section Editors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Groep, D. L.; Bonacorsi, D.

2014-06-01

1. Data Acquisition, Trigger and Controls Niko NeufeldCERNniko.neufeld@cern.ch Tassos BeliasDemokritosbelias@inp.demokritos.gr Andrew NormanFNALanorman@fnal.gov Vivian O'DellFNALodell@fnal.gov 2. Event Processing, Simulation and Analysis Rolf SeusterTRIUMFseuster@cern.ch Florian UhligGSIf.uhlig@gsi.de Lorenzo MonetaCERNLorenzo.Moneta@cern.ch Pete ElmerPrincetonpeter.elmer@cern.ch 3. Distributed Processing and Data Handling Nurcan OzturkU Texas Arlingtonnurcan@uta.edu Stefan RoiserCERNstefan.roiser@cern.ch Robert IllingworthFNAL Davide SalomoniINFN CNAFDavide.Salomoni@cnaf.infn.it Jeff TemplonNikheftemplon@nikhef.nl 4. Data Stores, Data Bases, and Storage Systems David LangeLLNLlange6@llnl.gov Wahid BhimjiU Edinburghwbhimji@staffmail.ed.ac.uk Dario BarberisGenovaDario.Barberis@cern.ch Patrick FuhrmannDESYpatrick.fuhrmann@desy.de Igor MandrichenkoFNALivm@fnal.gov Mark van de SandenSURF SARA sanden@sara.nl 5. Software Engineering, Parallelism & Multi-Core Solveig AlbrandLPSC/IN2P3solveig.albrand@lpsc.in2p3.fr Francesco GiacominiINFN CNAFfrancesco.giacomini@cnaf.infn.it Liz SextonFNALsexton@fnal.gov Benedikt HegnerCERNbenedikt.hegner@cern.ch Simon PattonLBNLSJPatton@lbl.gov Jim KowalkowskiFNAL jbk@fnal.gov 6. Facilities, Infrastructures, Networking and Collaborative Tools Maria GironeCERNMaria.Girone@cern.ch Ian CollierSTFC RALian.collier@stfc.ac.uk Burt HolzmanFNALburt@fnal.gov Brian Bockelman U Nebraskabbockelm@cse.unl.edu Alessandro de SalvoRoma 1Alessandro.DeSalvo@ROMA1.INFN.IT Helge MeinhardCERN Helge.Meinhard@cern.ch Ray PasetesFNAL rayp@fnal.gov Steven GoldfarbU Michigan Steven.Goldfarb@cern.ch

Far from thunderstorm UV transient events in the atmosphere measured by Vernov satellite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morozenko, Violetta; Klimov, Pavel; Khrenov, Boris; Gali, Garipov; Margarita, Kaznacheeva; Mikhail, Panasyuk; Sergei, Svertilov; Robert, Holzworth

2016-04-01

The steady self-contained classification of events such as sprites, elves, blue jets emerged for the period of transient luminous events (TLE) observation. In accordance with TLE origin theories the presence of the thunderstorm region where the lightnings with the large peak current generating in is necessary. However, some far-from-thunderstorm region events were also detected and revealed to us another TLE generating mechanisms. For the discovering of the TLE nature the Universitetsky-Tatiana-2 and Vernov satellites were equipped with ultraviolet (240-400 nm) and red-infrared ( >610 nm) detectors. In both detector it was carried out regardless the lightnings with the guidance by the flashes in the UV wavelength where lightning's emitting is quite faint. The lowered threshold on the Vernov satellite allowed to select the great amount of TLE with the numerous far-from-thunderstorm region events examples. such events were not conjuncted with lightning activity measured by global lightning location network (WWLLN) on the large area of approximately 107 km2 for 30 minutes before and after the time of registration. The characteristic features of this type of event are: the absence of significant signal in the red-infrared detector's channel; a relatively small number of photons (less than 5 ṡ 1021). A large number of without lightning flash were detected at high latitudes over the ocean (30°S - 60°S). Lightning activity in the magnetic conjugate point also was analyzed. The relationship of far-from-thunderstorm region events with the specific lightning discharges didn't confirmed. Far-from-thunderstorm events - a new type of transient phenomena in the upper atmosphere is not associated with the thunderstorm activity. The mechanism of such discharges is not clear, though it was accumulated a sufficient amount of experimental facts of the existence of such flashes. According to the data of Vernov satellite the temporal profile, duration, location with earth coordinates and the number of photons generated in the far-from-thunderstorm atmospheric events has been analyzed and the discussion of these events origin is in progress.

Usefulness of a Novel Mobile Diabetes Prevention Program Delivery Platform With Human Coaching: 65-Week Observational Follow-Up.

PubMed

Michaelides, Andreas; Major, Jennifer; Pienkosz, Edmund; Wood, Meghan; Kim, Youngin; Toro-Ramos, Tatiana

2018-05-03

It is widely recognized that the prevalence of obesity and comorbidities including prediabetes and type 2 diabetes continue to increase worldwide. Results from a 24-week Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) fully mobile pilot intervention were previously published showing promising evidence of the usefulness of DPP-based eHealth interventions on weight loss. This pilot study extends previous findings to evaluate weight loss results of core (up to week 16) and maintenance (postcore weeks) DPP interventions at 65 weeks from baseline. Originally, 140 participants were invited and 43 overweight or obese adult participants with a diagnosis of prediabetes signed up to receive a 24-week virtual DPP with human coaching through a mobile platform. At 65 weeks, this pilot study evaluates weight loss and engagement in maintenance participants by means of repeated measures analysis of variances and backward multiple linear regression to examine predictors of weight loss. Last observation carried forward was used for endpoint measurements. At 65 weeks, mean weight loss was 6.15% in starters who read 1 or more lessons per week on 4 or more core weeks, 7.36% in completers who read 9 or more lessons per week on core weeks, and 8.98% in maintenance completers who did any action in postcore weeks (all P<.001). Participants were highly engaged, with 80% (47/59) of the sample completing 9 lessons or more and 69% (32/47) of those completing the maintenance phase. In-app actions related to self-monitoring significantly predicted weight loss. In comparison to eHealth programs, this pilot study shows that a fully mobile DPP can produce transformative weight loss. A fully mobile DPP intervention resulted in significant weight loss and high engagement during the maintenance phase, providing evidence for long-term potential as an alternative to in-person DPP by removing many of the barriers associated with in-person and other forms of virtual DPP. ©Andreas Michaelides, Jennifer Major, Edmund Pienkosz Jr, Meghan Wood, Youngin Kim, Tatiana Toro-Ramos. Originally published in JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth (http://mhealth.jmir.org), 03.05.2018.

Holocene climate change in North Africa and the end of the African humid period - results of new high-resolution transient simulations with the MPI-ESM 1.3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dallmeyer, Anne; Claussen, Martin; Lorenz, Stephan

2017-04-01

The Max-Planck-Institute for Meteorology has recently undertaken high-resolution transient Holocene simulations using the fully-coupled Earth System Model MPI-ESM 1.3. The simulations cover the last 8000 years and are forced not only by reconstructed Holocene orbital variations and atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, but also by recent compilations of Holocene volcanic aerosol distributions, variations in spectral solar irradiance, stratospheric ozone and land-use change. The simulations reveal the ubiquitous "Holocene conundrum": simulated global mean temperatures increase during the mid-Holocene and stay constant during the late Holocene. Simulated mid-Holocene near-surface temperatures are too cold in large parts of the world. Simulated precipitation, however, agrees much better with reconstruction than temperatures do. Likewise simulated global biome pattern fit reconstructions nicely, except for North Western America. First results of these simulations are presented with the main focus on the North African monsoon region. The amplitude of the mid-Holocene African Humid Period (AHP) is well captured in terms of precipitation and vegetation cover, so is the south-ward transgression of the termination of the AHP seen in reconstructions. The Holocene weakening and southward retreat of the North African monsoon as well as changes in the monsoon dynamic including shifts in the seasonal cycle and their relation to the locally varying termination of the AHP are discussed in detail. Members of the Hamburg Holocene Team: Jürgen Bader (1), Sebastian Bathiany (2), Victor Brovkin (1), Martin Claussen (1,3), Traute Crüger (1), Roberta D'agostino (1), Anne Dallmeyer (1), Sabine Egerer (1), Vivienne Groner (1), Matthias Heinze (1), Tatiana Ilyina (1), Johann Jungclaus (1), Thomas Kleinen (1), Alexander Lemburg (1), Stephan Lorenz (1), Thomas Raddatz (1), Hauke Schmidt (1), Gerhard Schmiedl (3), Bjorn Stevens (1), Claudia Timmreck (1), Matthew Toohey (4) (1) Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie, D (2) Wageningen University, NL (3) CEN, Universität Hamburg, D (4) GEOMAR Helmholtz Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel, D

The multiple personalities of Watson and Crick strands

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background In genetics it is customary to refer to double-stranded DNA as containing a "Watson strand" and a "Crick strand." However, there seems to be no consensus in the literature on the exact meaning of these two terms, and the many usages contradict one another as well as the original definition. Here, we review the history of the terminology and suggest retaining a single sense that is currently the most useful and consistent. Proposal The Saccharomyces Genome Database defines the Watson strand as the strand which has its 5'-end at the short-arm telomere and the Crick strand as its complement. The Watson strand is always used as the reference strand in their database. Using this as the basis of our standard, we recommend that Watson and Crick strand terminology only be used in the context of genomics. When possible, the centromere or other genomic feature should be used as a reference point, dividing the chromosome into two arms of unequal lengths. Under our proposal, the Watson strand is standardized as the strand whose 5'-end is on the short arm of the chromosome, and the Crick strand as the one whose 5'-end is on the long arm. Furthermore, the Watson strand should be retained as the reference (plus) strand in a genomic database. This usage not only makes the determination of Watson and Crick unambiguous, but also allows unambiguous selection of reference stands for genomics. Reviewers This article was reviewed by John M. Logsdon, Igor B. Rogozin (nominated by Andrey Rzhetsky), and William Martin. PMID:21303550

EDITORIAL: Letter from the Editor Letter from the Editor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pashinin, Pavel P.

2013-01-01

Dear readers, contributors, and members of the world laser physics community. It is a great honour for us to introduce to you our new publishing partner, IOP Publishing, a subsidiary of the Institute of Physics, United Kingdom. IOP Publishing is a world renowned authority in producing journals, magazines, websites and services that enable researchers and research organizations to present their work to a world-wide audience. Laser Physics, the first English-language scientific journal in Russia, was founded in 1990 on the initiative of Alexander M Prokhorov, a pioneer and leader in laser physics research. Professor Prokhorov served as the first Editor-in-Chief of the journal until 2002. We are proud that it is our 23rd year of publishing Laser Physics and our 10th year of publishing Laser Physics Letters. We would like to honour the memory of our friend, late Professor Igor Yevseyev, whose enthusiasm and unwavering dedication to our journals contributed most significantly to their success. It was initially his idea in 2011 to approach IOP with a partnership proposal. We deeply regret that he is no longer with us as we enter this productive alliance. Now, in partnership with IOP, we are turning a new page in providing world-wide access to the cutting-edge research results in our journals, serving our well established global audience. We see new horizons opening for our journals for years to come and hope that our readers share our enthusiasm and aspirations. Please accept our best wishes for all your new scientific endeavors in the exciting field of laser physics.

Costs and deaths of landslides in Europe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haque, Ubydul; Blum, Philipp

2016-04-01

Landslides cause human and large economic losses worldwide and also in Europe. However, the quantification of associated costs and deaths is highly underestimated and still incomplete, thus the estimation of landslide costs and risk is still rather ambitious. Hence, in this study a spatio-temporal analysis of fatal landslides is presented for 27 European countries from 1995-2014. These landslides are mainly concentrated in mountainous areas. A total of 1370 fatalities are reported resulting from 476 landslides. The highest fatalities with 335 are observed in Turkey. In general, an increasing trend of fatal landslides is recognized starting in 2008. The latter is almost certainly triggered by an increase in natural extreme events such as storms (i.e. heavy rainfall) and floods. The highest annual economic loss is observed in Italy with 3.9 billion Euro per year. In contrast, in Germany the annual total loss is only about 0.3 billion Euro. The results of this study serves as an initial baseline information for further risk studies integrating landslide locations, local land use data, cost data, and will therefore certainly support the studied countries to better protect their citizens and assets. Acknowledgements We would like to acknowledge the valuable contributions by Paula F. da Silva, Peter Andersen, Jürgen Pilz, Ali Ardalan, Sergey R. Chalov, Jean-Philippe Malet, Mateja Jemec Auflič, Norina Andres, Eleftheria Poyiadji, Pedro C. Lamas, Wenyi Zhang, Igor Pesevski, Halldór G. Pétursson, Tayfun Kurt, Nikolai Dobrev, Juan Carlos García Davalillo, Matina Halkia, Stefano Ferri, George Gaprindashvili, Johanna Engström and David Keellings.

Exon definition as a potential negative force against intron losses in evolution.

PubMed

Niu, Deng-Ke

2008-11-13

Previous studies have indicated that the wide variation in intron density (the number of introns per gene) among different eukaryotes largely reflects varying degrees of intron loss during evolution. The most popular model, which suggests that organisms lose introns through a mechanism in which reverse-transcribed cDNA recombines with the genomic DNA, concerns only one mutational force. Using exons as the units of splicing-site recognition, exon definition constrains the length of exons. An intron-loss event results in fusion of flanking exons and thus a larger exon. The large size of the newborn exon may cause splicing errors, i.e., exon skipping, if the splicing of pre-mRNAs is initiated by exon definition. By contrast, if the splicing of pre-mRNAs is initiated by intron definition, intron loss does not matter. Exon definition may thus be a selective force against intron loss. An organism with a high frequency of exon definition is expected to experience a low rate of intron loss throughout evolution and have a high density of spliceosomal introns. The majority of spliceosomal introns in vertebrates may be maintained during evolution not because of potential functions, but because of their splicing mechanism (i.e., exon definition). Further research is required to determine whether exon definition is a negative force in maintaining the high intron density of vertebrates. This article was reviewed by Dr. Scott W. Roy (nominated by Dr. John Logsdon), Dr.Eugene V. Koonin, and Dr. Igor B. Rogozin (nominated by Dr. Mikhail Gelfand). For the full reviews,please go to the Reviewers' comments section.

PREFACE: International Conference on the Applications of the Mössbauer Effect (ICAME 2009)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Müller, Herbert; Reissner, Michael; Steiner, Walter; Wiesinger, Günter

2010-04-01

The International Conference on the Applications of the Mössbauer Effect (ICAME2009) was held for the first time in Austria, at the Vienna University of Technology on 19-24 July 2009. This largest conference of the Mössbauer community attracted much interest, nearly 500 colleagues announced their intention to participate. Unfortunately, due to the world-wide finance crisis, in the end many could not manage to come. Nevertheless 380 abstracts were submitted. More than 300 participants from 38 countries were present at the conference. The programme contained 20 invited talks, selected by the international advisory board. 49 contributions were selected for oral presentation. Following the advice of the IBAME board, no parallel sessions were organized. Therefore most of the work was presented as posters, attached for the whole week, giving thus the opportunity for intense discussions outside of the poster sessions. A special tutorial session, dedicated to Mössbauer spectroscopy with synchrotron radiation, organized by R Rüffer was held on the first day. It was included in the conference programme giving all participants the opportunity to attend this meeting. Although lasting until late in the evening, the audience was always well occupied. New developments in the field of iron-containing superconductors were discussed in a micro symposium. The scientific level of the whole conference was high. After thorough peer-reviewing, 147 papers were accepted by the referees and are presented in this volume. ICAME2009 was possible due to the efforts of many people, in the organizing committee, the programme committee and the editorial board and to the students who took care of the participants during the conference and all social activities. ICAME2009 was in several ways a special conference. It was the 30th in the series of ICAME meetings, and the first after the celebration of 50 years of the Mössbauer Effect. In 2009 Rudolf Mössbauer also celebrated his 80th birthday. The positive atmosphere, the high attendance in the sessions and the lively discussions made the conference a great success and a memorable event. It was pointed out, that Mössbauer spectroscopy is still an interesting and powerful method with great opportunities in the future. Herbert Müller (Secretary) Michael Reissner (Chairman) This book is dedicated to our colleagues Nicol Malcom, who could not come, because he suddenly died a few weeks in advance to the conference and Hercilio Rechenberg, who died on his way home from Vienna. Conference photograph Conference Organisation Local Organizing Committee Reissner Michael (Chairman)Müller Herbert (Conference Secretary) Amthauer Georg Lottermoser WernerSteiner Walter Bauer Ernst Michor Herwig Vogl Gero Bühler-Paschen Silke Müller Martin Waas Monika Grodzicki Michael Redhammer Günther Wiesinger Günter Grössinger Roland Sassik Herbert Hilscher Gerfried Sepiol Bogdan International Programme Committee Amthauer Georg Gütlich Philipp Steiner Walter Baggio-Saitovich Elisa Litterst Fred Jochen Trautwein Alfred Xaver Berry Frank Long Gary Vogl Gero Felner Israel Nagy Denes Lajos Yoshida Yutaka Greneche Jean-Marc Rüffer Rudolf International Advisory Board Alp E ErcanGénin Jean-Marie Baggio-Saitovitch Elisa Greneche Jean-Marc Miglierini Marcel Balogh Judit Grodzicki Michael Musić Svetozar Bender Koch Christian Gütlich Philipp Nagy Dénes Lajos Berry Frank Häggström Lennart Nishida Tetsuaki Brown Dennis Hanzel Darko Pérez Alcázar German Campbell Stewart Hassaan Mohamed Yousri Rüffer Rudolf Carbucicchio Massimo Jumas Jean-Claude Ryan Dominic H Croci Simonetta Kadyrzhanov Kariat Sanchez Francisco Di Naili Katila Toivo Schünemann Volker Elzain Mohamed Kim Chul Sung Stanek Jan Fabris José Domingos Klingelhöfer Göstar Stevens John Felner Israel Langouche Guido Suzdalev Igor P Fern George R Lyubutin Igor S Szymanski Krzysztof Forder Sue D Marco Jose F Waanders Frans Gajbhiye Nandeo Mašlaň Miroslav Yoshida Yutaka

CALIBRATION AND TESTING OF SONIC STIMULATION TECHNOLOGIES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Roger Turpening; Wayne Pennington; Christopher Schmidt

2005-03-01

In conjunction with Baker Atlas Inc. Michigan Technological University devised a system capable of recording the earth motion and pressure due to downhole and surface seismic sources. The essential elements of the system are (1) a borehole test site that will remain constant and is available all the time and for any length of time, (2) a downhole sonde that will itself remain constant and, because of its downhole digitization feature, does not require the wireline or surface recording components to remain constant, and (3) a set of procedures that ensures that the amplitude and frequency parameters of a widemore » range of sources can be compared with confidence. This system was used to record four seismic sources, three downhole sources and one surface source. A single activation of each of the downhole sources was not seen on time traces above the ambient noise, however, one sweep of the surface source, a small vertical vibrator, was easily seen in a time trace. One of the downhole sources was seen by means of a spike in its spectrum and a second downhole source was clearly seen after correlation and stacking. The surface vibrator produced a peak to peak particle motion signal of approximately 4.5 x 10{sup -5} cm/sec and a peak to peak pressure of approx. 2.5 x 10{sup -7} microPascals at a depth of 1,485 ft. Theoretical advances were made with our partner, Dr. Igor Beresnev at Iowa State University. A theory has been developed to account for the behavior of oil ganglia trapped in pore throats, and their ultimate release through the additional incremental pressure associated with sonic stimulation.« less

Behcet disease combined with Sjogren syndrome: A unique case report and literature review.

PubMed

Ju, Fang-He; Xu, Ting-Zhen; Hong, Hui-Hua; Mao, He; Wang, Meng; Wang, Zhen

2018-03-01

Behcet disease(BD) and Sjogren syndrome(SS) are separate conditions that rarely concomitantly affect an individual. In theory,mild symptoms of patients with BD or SS are easy to igore and,thus,remain undiagnosed. There,it is reasonable to believe there may be some clinical cases of combined diseases that go undiscovered and which needs to be taken seriously. In addition,it has been suggested that herpes simplex virus(HSV) types 1 and 2 are associated with BD,but have not been shown to be correlated to the direct pathogenesis of BD. The role of HSV in BD needs more research and attention. Here,we report a young woman who had both BD and SS. The first symptom of the disease was fever. However,the HSV type 1 IgG and HSV type 2 IgM antibody results were positive in our case and,which rendered this case unique. BD and SS concomitantly affect the individual,and BD was the acute type. IV methylprednisolone was used for 9 days and then oral glucocorticoids was used to instead,and the treatment works very well. BD and SS can concomitantly affect an individual,and we believe that HSV-2 may be directly related to the pathogenesis of BD. The nature of BD as an auto-inflammatory disorder, autoimmune disorder, or both, is controversial. If we can find more patients who combined affected these two disease, it might helpful for us to understand the nature of BD. For patients with clinical diagnosis of BD or SS,we need to be alert that it may combinded the other disease. Long term follow up and detailed inspection are important means to avoid undiscovered.

Coverage of Russian psychological contributions in American psychology textbooks.

PubMed

Aleksandrova-Howell, Maria; Abramson, Charles I; Craig, David Philip Arthur

2012-01-01

Internationalizing psychology is an important component of current globalization trends. American textbooks on the history of psychology and introductory psychology were surveyed for the presence of historical and contemporary important Russian psychologists to assess the current status of Russian-American crossfertilization. Of a list of 97 important Russian psychologists, as determined by the editors of the Russian journal Methodology and History in Psychology, less than 22% are mentioned in the reviewed texts. The most common names were Pavlov, Luria, and Vygotsky. As the internet is arguably the single most important factor affecting the increase of international communication and dissemination of knowledge, we also searched for these 97 names on various websites, most notably Wikipedia and Google. Forty-one internet sites contained some amount of biographical information about Russian psychologists. On Wikipedia, 14 Russian psychologists had articles documenting biographical information. We also developed a rubric to determine the amount of information available on the internet for these psychologists and compared Wikipedia's mean score with various other websites. Wikipedia pages on average had a significantly higher score than the rest of the internet. Recommendations to improve Russian coverage in America are provided and include: (1) developing pages on Wikipedia and other virtual venues highlighting Russian contributions, (2) soliciting articles for US journals from Russian psychologists, and (3) incorporating Russian contributions in introductory and historical textbooks. We provide a partial bibliography of Russian contributions that can be used by authors of such textbooks. We would like to thank Dr Viktor Fedorovich Petrenko and Dr Igor Nikolaevich Karitsky from the journal Methodology and History of Psychology for supplying the names of the Russian psychologists. We would also like to express our appreciation to Robert García for reviewing and editing an earlier version of this manuscript.

Precise Determination of the Baseline Between the TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X Satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koenig, Rolf; Rothacher, Markus; Michalak, Grzegorz; Moon, Yongjin

TerraSAR-X, launched on June 15, 2007, and TanDEM-X, to be launched in September 2009, both carry the Tracking, Occultation and Ranging (TOR) category A payload instrument package. The TOR consists of a high-precision dual-frequency GPS receiver, called Integrated GPS Occultation Receiver (IGOR), for precise orbit determination and atmospheric sounding and a Laser retro-reflector (LRR) serving as target for the global Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) ground station network. The TOR is supplied by the GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam (GFZ) Germany, and the Center for Space Research (CSR), Austin, Texas. The objective of the German/US collaboration is twofold: provision of atmospheric profiles for use in numerical weather predictions and climate studies from the occultation data and precision SAR data processing based on precise orbits and atmospheric products. For the scientific objectives of the TanDEM- X mission, i.e., bi-static SAR together with TerraSAR-X, the dual-frequency GPS receiver is of vital importance for the millimeter level determination of the baseline or distance between the two spacecrafts. The paper discusses the feasibility of generating millimeter baselines by the example of GRACE, where for validation the distance between the two GRACE satellites is directly available from the micrometer-level intersatellite link measurements. The distance of the GRACE satellites is some 200 km, the distance of the TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X formation will be some 200 meters. Therefore the proposed approach is then subject to a simulation of the foreseen TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X formation. The effect of varying space environmental conditions, of possible phase center variations, multi path, and of varying center of mass of the spacecrafts are evaluated and discussed.

STS-102 Photo-op/Suit-up/Depart O&C/Launch Discovery On Orbit/Landing/Crew Egress

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2001-01-01

The spacecrews of STS-102 and the Expedition 1 and 2 crews of the International Space Station (ISS) are seen in this video, which presents an overview of their activities. The crew consists of Commander Jim Wetherbee, Pilot James Kelly, and Mission Specialists Andrew Thomas, and Paul Richards. The sections of the video include: Photo-op, Suit-up, Depart O&C, Ingress, Launch with Playbacks, On-orbit, Landing with Playbacks, and Crew Egress & Departs. The prelaunch activities are explained by two narrators, and the crew members are assisted in the White Room just before boarding the Space Shuttle Discovery. Isolated views of the shuttle's launch include: VAB, PAD-B, DLTR-3, UCS-23 Tracker, PATRICK IGOR, UCS-10 Tracker, Grandstand, Tower-1, OTV-160, OTV-170, OTV-171, and On-board Camera. The video shows two extravehicular activities (EVAs) to perform work on the ISS, one by astronauts Helms and Voss from Expedition 2, and another by Richards and Thomas. The attachment of the Leonardo Multipurpose Logistics Module, a temporary resupply module, is shown in a series of still images. The on-orbit footage also includes a view of the Nile River, and a crew exhange ceremony between Expedition 1 (Commander Yuri Gidzenko, Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev) and Expedition 2 (Commander Yury Usachev, Flight Engineers James Voss, Susan Helms). Isolated views of the landing at Kennedy Space Center include: North Runway Camera, VAB, Tower-1, Mid-field, Midfield IR, Tower-2, and UCS-12 IR. The Crew Transfer Vehicle (CTV) for unloading the astronauts is shown, administrators greet the crew upon landing, and Commander Wetherbee gives a briefing.

Multiverse: Increasing Diversity in Earth and Space Science Through Multicultural Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peticolas, L. M.; Raftery, C. L.; Mendez, B.; Paglierani, R.; Ali, N. A.; Zevin, D.; Frappier, R.; Hauck, K.; Shackelford, R. L., III; Yan, D.; Thrall, L.

2015-12-01

Multiverse at the University of California, Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory provides earth and space science educational opportunities and resources for a variety of audiences, especially for those who are underrepresented in the sciences. By way of carefully crafted space and earth science educational opportunities and resources, we seek to connect with people's sense of wonder and facilitate making personal ties to science and the learning process in order to, ultimately, bring the richness of diversity to science and make science discovery accessible for all. Our audiences include teachers, students, education and outreach professionals, and the public. We partner with NASA, the National Science Foundation, scientists, teachers, science center and museum educators, park interpreters, and others with expertise in reaching particular audiences. With these partners, we develop resources and communities of practice, offer educator workshops, and run events for the public. We will will present on our pedagogical techniques, our metrics for success, and our evaluation findings of our education and outreach projects that help us towards reaching our vision: We envision a world filled with science literate societies capable of thriving with today's technology, while maintaining a sustainable balance with the natural world; a world where people develop and sustain the ability to think critically using observation and evidence and participate authentically in scientific endeavors; a world where people see themselves and their culture within the scientific enterprise, and understand science within the context that we are all under one sky and on one Earth. Photo Caption: Multiverse Team Members at our Space Sciences Laboratory from left to right: Leitha Thrall, Daniel Zevin, Bryan Mendez, Nancy Ali, Igor Ruderman, Laura Peticolas, Ruth Paglierani, Renee Frappier, Rikki Shackelford, Claire Raftery, Karin Hauck, and Darlene Yan.

Evaluation of linear regression techniques for atmospheric applications: the importance of appropriate weighting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Cheng; Zhen Yu, Jian

2018-03-01

Linear regression techniques are widely used in atmospheric science, but they are often improperly applied due to lack of consideration or inappropriate handling of measurement uncertainty. In this work, numerical experiments are performed to evaluate the performance of five linear regression techniques, significantly extending previous works by Chu and Saylor. The five techniques are ordinary least squares (OLS), Deming regression (DR), orthogonal distance regression (ODR), weighted ODR (WODR), and York regression (YR). We first introduce a new data generation scheme that employs the Mersenne twister (MT) pseudorandom number generator. The numerical simulations are also improved by (a) refining the parameterization of nonlinear measurement uncertainties, (b) inclusion of a linear measurement uncertainty, and (c) inclusion of WODR for comparison. Results show that DR, WODR and YR produce an accurate slope, but the intercept by WODR and YR is overestimated and the degree of bias is more pronounced with a low R2 XY dataset. The importance of a properly weighting parameter λ in DR is investigated by sensitivity tests, and it is found that an improper λ in DR can lead to a bias in both the slope and intercept estimation. Because the λ calculation depends on the actual form of the measurement error, it is essential to determine the exact form of measurement error in the XY data during the measurement stage. If a priori error in one of the variables is unknown, or the measurement error described cannot be trusted, DR, WODR and YR can provide the least biases in slope and intercept among all tested regression techniques. For these reasons, DR, WODR and YR are recommended for atmospheric studies when both X and Y data have measurement errors. An Igor Pro-based program (Scatter Plot) was developed to facilitate the implementation of error-in-variables regressions.

Overview of Experiments for Physics of Fast Reactors from the International Handbooks of Evaluated Criticality Safety Benchmark Experiments and Evaluated Reactor Physics Benchmark Experiments

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bess, J. D.; Briggs, J. B.; Gulliford, J.

Overview of Experiments to Study the Physics of Fast Reactors Represented in the International Directories of Critical and Reactor Experiments John D. Bess Idaho National Laboratory Jim Gulliford, Tatiana Ivanova Nuclear Energy Agency of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development E.V.Rozhikhin, M.Yu.Sem?nov, A.M.Tsibulya Institute of Physics and Power Engineering The study the physics of fast reactors traditionally used the experiments presented in the manual labor of the Working Group on Evaluation of sections CSEWG (ENDF-202) issued by the Brookhaven National Laboratory in 1974. This handbook presents simplified homogeneous model experiments with relevant experimental data, as amended. The Nuclear Energymore » Agency of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development coordinates the activities of two international projects on the collection, evaluation and documentation of experimental data - the International Project on the assessment of critical experiments (1994) and the International Project on the assessment of reactor experiments (since 2005). The result of the activities of these projects are replenished every year, an international directory of critical (ICSBEP Handbook) and reactor (IRPhEP Handbook) experiments. The handbooks present detailed models of experiments with minimal amendments. Such models are of particular interest in terms of the settlements modern programs. The directories contain a large number of experiments which are suitable for the study of physics of fast reactors. Many of these experiments were performed at specialized critical stands, such as BFS (Russia), ZPR and ZPPR (USA), the ZEBRA (UK) and the experimental reactor JOYO (Japan), FFTF (USA). Other experiments, such as compact metal assembly, is also of interest in terms of the physics of fast reactors, they have been carried out on the universal critical stands in Russian institutes (VNIITF and VNIIEF) and the US (LANL, LLNL, and others.). Also worth mentioning is the critical experiments with fast reactor fuel rods in water, interesting in terms of justification of nuclear safety during transportation and storage of fresh and spent fuel. These reports provide a detailed review of the experiment, designate the area of their application and include results of calculations on modern systems of constants in comparison with the estimated experimental data.« less

TH-EF-204-04: Experience of IMRT and Other Conformal Techniques in Russia

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Krylova, T.

Joanna E. Cygler, Jan Seuntjens, J. Daniel Bourland, M. Saiful Huq, Josep Puxeu Vaque, Daniel Zucca Aparicio, Tatiana Krylova, Yuri Kirpichev, Eric Ford, Caridad Borras Stereotactic Radiation Therapy (SRT) utilizes small static and dynamic (IMRT) fields, to successfully treat malignant and benign diseases using techniques such as Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) and Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT). SRT is characterized by sharp dose gradients for individual fields and their resultant dose distributions. For appropriate targets, small field radiotherapy offers improved treatment quality by allowing better sparing of organs at risk while delivering the prescribed target dose. Specialized small field treatment deliverymore » systems, such as robotic-controlled linear accelerators, gamma radiosurgery units, and dynamic arc linear accelerators may utilize rigid fixation, image guidance, and tumor tracking, to insure precise dose delivery to static or moving targets. However, in addition to great advantages, small field delivery techniques present special technical challenges for dose calibration due to unique geometries and small field sizes not covered by existing reference dosimetry protocols such as AAPM TG-51 or IAEA TRS 398. In recent years extensive research has been performed to understand small field dosimetry and measurement instrumentation. AAPM, IAEA and ICRU task groups are expected to provide soon recommendations on the dosimetry of small radiation fields. In this symposium we will: 1] discuss the physics, instrumentation, methodologies and challenges for small field radiation dose measurements; 2] review IAEA and ICRU recommendations on prescribing, recording and reporting of small field radiation therapy; 3] discuss selected clinical applications and technical aspects for specialized image-guided, small field, linear accelerator based treatment techniques such as IMRT and SBRT. Learning Objectives: To learn the physics of small fields in contrast to dosimetry of conventional fields To learn about detectors suitable for small fields To learn about the role of Monte Carlo simulations in determination of small field output factors To provide an overview of the IAEA small field dosimetry recommendations To provide an overview of the content of the ICRU report on Prescribing, Reporting and Recording of Small Field Radiation Therapy. To learn about special technical considerations in delivering IMRT and SBRT treatments To appreciate specific challenges of IMRT implementation J. Seuntjens, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council; Canadian Institutes of Health Research.« less

TH-EF-204-00: AAPM-AMPR (Russia)-SEFM (Spain) Joint Course On Challenges and Advantages of Small Field Radiation Treatment Techniques

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

Joanna E. Cygler, Jan Seuntjens, J. Daniel Bourland, M. Saiful Huq, Josep Puxeu Vaque, Daniel Zucca Aparicio, Tatiana Krylova, Yuri Kirpichev, Eric Ford, Caridad Borras Stereotactic Radiation Therapy (SRT) utilizes small static and dynamic (IMRT) fields, to successfully treat malignant and benign diseases using techniques such as Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) and Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT). SRT is characterized by sharp dose gradients for individual fields and their resultant dose distributions. For appropriate targets, small field radiotherapy offers improved treatment quality by allowing better sparing of organs at risk while delivering the prescribed target dose. Specialized small field treatment deliverymore » systems, such as robotic-controlled linear accelerators, gamma radiosurgery units, and dynamic arc linear accelerators may utilize rigid fixation, image guidance, and tumor tracking, to insure precise dose delivery to static or moving targets. However, in addition to great advantages, small field delivery techniques present special technical challenges for dose calibration due to unique geometries and small field sizes not covered by existing reference dosimetry protocols such as AAPM TG-51 or IAEA TRS 398. In recent years extensive research has been performed to understand small field dosimetry and measurement instrumentation. AAPM, IAEA and ICRU task groups are expected to provide soon recommendations on the dosimetry of small radiation fields. In this symposium we will: 1] discuss the physics, instrumentation, methodologies and challenges for small field radiation dose measurements; 2] review IAEA and ICRU recommendations on prescribing, recording and reporting of small field radiation therapy; 3] discuss selected clinical applications and technical aspects for specialized image-guided, small field, linear accelerator based treatment techniques such as IMRT and SBRT. Learning Objectives: To learn the physics of small fields in contrast to dosimetry of conventional fields To learn about detectors suitable for small fields To learn about the role of Monte Carlo simulations in determination of small field output factors To provide an overview of the IAEA small field dosimetry recommendations To provide an overview of the content of the ICRU report on Prescribing, Reporting and Recording of Small Field Radiation Therapy. To learn about special technical considerations in delivering IMRT and SBRT treatments To appreciate specific challenges of IMRT implementation J. Seuntjens, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council; Canadian Institutes of Health Research.« less

TH-EF-204-02: Small Field Radiation Therapy: Physics and Recent Recommendations From IAEA and ICRU

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Seuntjens, J.

Joanna E. Cygler, Jan Seuntjens, J. Daniel Bourland, M. Saiful Huq, Josep Puxeu Vaque, Daniel Zucca Aparicio, Tatiana Krylova, Yuri Kirpichev, Eric Ford, Caridad Borras Stereotactic Radiation Therapy (SRT) utilizes small static and dynamic (IMRT) fields, to successfully treat malignant and benign diseases using techniques such as Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) and Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT). SRT is characterized by sharp dose gradients for individual fields and their resultant dose distributions. For appropriate targets, small field radiotherapy offers improved treatment quality by allowing better sparing of organs at risk while delivering the prescribed target dose. Specialized small field treatment deliverymore » systems, such as robotic-controlled linear accelerators, gamma radiosurgery units, and dynamic arc linear accelerators may utilize rigid fixation, image guidance, and tumor tracking, to insure precise dose delivery to static or moving targets. However, in addition to great advantages, small field delivery techniques present special technical challenges for dose calibration due to unique geometries and small field sizes not covered by existing reference dosimetry protocols such as AAPM TG-51 or IAEA TRS 398. In recent years extensive research has been performed to understand small field dosimetry and measurement instrumentation. AAPM, IAEA and ICRU task groups are expected to provide soon recommendations on the dosimetry of small radiation fields. In this symposium we will: 1] discuss the physics, instrumentation, methodologies and challenges for small field radiation dose measurements; 2] review IAEA and ICRU recommendations on prescribing, recording and reporting of small field radiation therapy; 3] discuss selected clinical applications and technical aspects for specialized image-guided, small field, linear accelerator based treatment techniques such as IMRT and SBRT. Learning Objectives: To learn the physics of small fields in contrast to dosimetry of conventional fields To learn about detectors suitable for small fields To learn about the role of Monte Carlo simulations in determination of small field output factors To provide an overview of the IAEA small field dosimetry recommendations To provide an overview of the content of the ICRU report on Prescribing, Reporting and Recording of Small Field Radiation Therapy. To learn about special technical considerations in delivering IMRT and SBRT treatments To appreciate specific challenges of IMRT implementation J. Seuntjens, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council; Canadian Institutes of Health Research.« less

TH-EF-204-06: Closing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Borras, C.

2016-06-15

Joanna E. Cygler, Jan Seuntjens, J. Daniel Bourland, M. Saiful Huq, Josep Puxeu Vaque, Daniel Zucca Aparicio, Tatiana Krylova, Yuri Kirpichev, Eric Ford, Caridad Borras Stereotactic Radiation Therapy (SRT) utilizes small static and dynamic (IMRT) fields, to successfully treat malignant and benign diseases using techniques such as Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) and Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT). SRT is characterized by sharp dose gradients for individual fields and their resultant dose distributions. For appropriate targets, small field radiotherapy offers improved treatment quality by allowing better sparing of organs at risk while delivering the prescribed target dose. Specialized small field treatment deliverymore » systems, such as robotic-controlled linear accelerators, gamma radiosurgery units, and dynamic arc linear accelerators may utilize rigid fixation, image guidance, and tumor tracking, to insure precise dose delivery to static or moving targets. However, in addition to great advantages, small field delivery techniques present special technical challenges for dose calibration due to unique geometries and small field sizes not covered by existing reference dosimetry protocols such as AAPM TG-51 or IAEA TRS 398. In recent years extensive research has been performed to understand small field dosimetry and measurement instrumentation. AAPM, IAEA and ICRU task groups are expected to provide soon recommendations on the dosimetry of small radiation fields. In this symposium we will: 1] discuss the physics, instrumentation, methodologies and challenges for small field radiation dose measurements; 2] review IAEA and ICRU recommendations on prescribing, recording and reporting of small field radiation therapy; 3] discuss selected clinical applications and technical aspects for specialized image-guided, small field, linear accelerator based treatment techniques such as IMRT and SBRT. Learning Objectives: To learn the physics of small fields in contrast to dosimetry of conventional fields To learn about detectors suitable for small fields To learn about the role of Monte Carlo simulations in determination of small field output factors To provide an overview of the IAEA small field dosimetry recommendations To provide an overview of the content of the ICRU report on Prescribing, Reporting and Recording of Small Field Radiation Therapy. To learn about special technical considerations in delivering IMRT and SBRT treatments To appreciate specific challenges of IMRT implementation J. Seuntjens, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council; Canadian Institutes of Health Research.« less

TH-EF-204-01: Introduction

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cygler, J.

2016-06-15

Joanna E. Cygler, Jan Seuntjens, J. Daniel Bourland, M. Saiful Huq, Josep Puxeu Vaque, Daniel Zucca Aparicio, Tatiana Krylova, Yuri Kirpichev, Eric Ford, Caridad Borras Stereotactic Radiation Therapy (SRT) utilizes small static and dynamic (IMRT) fields, to successfully treat malignant and benign diseases using techniques such as Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) and Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT). SRT is characterized by sharp dose gradients for individual fields and their resultant dose distributions. For appropriate targets, small field radiotherapy offers improved treatment quality by allowing better sparing of organs at risk while delivering the prescribed target dose. Specialized small field treatment deliverymore » systems, such as robotic-controlled linear accelerators, gamma radiosurgery units, and dynamic arc linear accelerators may utilize rigid fixation, image guidance, and tumor tracking, to insure precise dose delivery to static or moving targets. However, in addition to great advantages, small field delivery techniques present special technical challenges for dose calibration due to unique geometries and small field sizes not covered by existing reference dosimetry protocols such as AAPM TG-51 or IAEA TRS 398. In recent years extensive research has been performed to understand small field dosimetry and measurement instrumentation. AAPM, IAEA and ICRU task groups are expected to provide soon recommendations on the dosimetry of small radiation fields. In this symposium we will: 1] discuss the physics, instrumentation, methodologies and challenges for small field radiation dose measurements; 2] review IAEA and ICRU recommendations on prescribing, recording and reporting of small field radiation therapy; 3] discuss selected clinical applications and technical aspects for specialized image-guided, small field, linear accelerator based treatment techniques such as IMRT and SBRT. Learning Objectives: To learn the physics of small fields in contrast to dosimetry of conventional fields To learn about detectors suitable for small fields To learn about the role of Monte Carlo simulations in determination of small field output factors To provide an overview of the IAEA small field dosimetry recommendations To provide an overview of the content of the ICRU report on Prescribing, Reporting and Recording of Small Field Radiation Therapy. To learn about special technical considerations in delivering IMRT and SBRT treatments To appreciate specific challenges of IMRT implementation J. Seuntjens, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council; Canadian Institutes of Health Research.« less

Feasibility of Using a Smartwatch to Intensively Monitor Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Prospective Cohort Study.

PubMed

Wu, Robert; Liaqat, Daniyal; de Lara, Eyal; Son, Tatiana; Rudzicz, Frank; Alshaer, Hisham; Abed-Esfahani, Pegah; Gershon, Andrea S

2018-06-14

Acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are associated with accelerated decline in lung function, diminished quality of life, and higher mortality. Proactively monitoring patients for early signs of an exacerbation and treating them early could prevent these outcomes. The emergence of affordable wearable technology allows for nearly continuous monitoring of heart rate and physical activity as well as recording of audio which can detect features such as coughing. These signals may be able to be used with predictive analytics to detect early exacerbations. Prior to full development, however, it is important to determine the feasibility of using wearable devices such as smartwatches to intensively monitor patients with COPD. We conducted a feasibility study to determine if patients with COPD would wear and maintain a smartwatch consistently and whether they would reliably collect and transmit sensor data. Patients with COPD were recruited from 3 hospitals and were provided with a smartwatch that recorded audio, heart rate, and accelerations. They were asked to wear and charge it daily for 90 days. They were also asked to complete a daily symptom diary. At the end of the study period, participants were asked what would motivate them to regularly use a wearable for monitoring of their COPD. Of 28 patients enrolled, 16 participants completed the full 90 days. The average age of participants was 68.5 years, and 36% (10/28) were women. Survey, heart rate, and activity data were available for an average of 64.5, 65.1, and 60.2 days respectively. Technical issues caused heart rate and activity data to be unavailable for approximately 13 and 17 days, respectively. Feedback provided by participants indicated that they wanted to actively engage with the smartwatch and receive feedback about their activity, heart rate, and how to better manage their COPD. Some patients with COPD will wear and maintain smartwatches that passively monitor audio, heart rate, and physical activity, and wearables were able to reliably capture near-continuous patient data. Further work is necessary to increase acceptability and improve the patient experience. ©Robert Wu, Daniyal Liaqat, Eyal de Lara, Tatiana Son, Frank Rudzicz, Hisham Alshaer, Pegah Abed-Esfahani, Andrea S Gershon. Originally published in JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth (http://mhealth.jmir.org), 14.06.2018.

TH-EF-204-03: Determination of Small Field Output Factors, Advantages and Limitations of Monte Carlo Simulation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vaque, J. Puxeu

2016-06-15

Joanna E. Cygler, Jan Seuntjens, J. Daniel Bourland, M. Saiful Huq, Josep Puxeu Vaque, Daniel Zucca Aparicio, Tatiana Krylova, Yuri Kirpichev, Eric Ford, Caridad Borras Stereotactic Radiation Therapy (SRT) utilizes small static and dynamic (IMRT) fields, to successfully treat malignant and benign diseases using techniques such as Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) and Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT). SRT is characterized by sharp dose gradients for individual fields and their resultant dose distributions. For appropriate targets, small field radiotherapy offers improved treatment quality by allowing better sparing of organs at risk while delivering the prescribed target dose. Specialized small field treatment deliverymore » systems, such as robotic-controlled linear accelerators, gamma radiosurgery units, and dynamic arc linear accelerators may utilize rigid fixation, image guidance, and tumor tracking, to insure precise dose delivery to static or moving targets. However, in addition to great advantages, small field delivery techniques present special technical challenges for dose calibration due to unique geometries and small field sizes not covered by existing reference dosimetry protocols such as AAPM TG-51 or IAEA TRS 398. In recent years extensive research has been performed to understand small field dosimetry and measurement instrumentation. AAPM, IAEA and ICRU task groups are expected to provide soon recommendations on the dosimetry of small radiation fields. In this symposium we will: 1] discuss the physics, instrumentation, methodologies and challenges for small field radiation dose measurements; 2] review IAEA and ICRU recommendations on prescribing, recording and reporting of small field radiation therapy; 3] discuss selected clinical applications and technical aspects for specialized image-guided, small field, linear accelerator based treatment techniques such as IMRT and SBRT. Learning Objectives: To learn the physics of small fields in contrast to dosimetry of conventional fields To learn about detectors suitable for small fields To learn about the role of Monte Carlo simulations in determination of small field output factors To provide an overview of the IAEA small field dosimetry recommendations To provide an overview of the content of the ICRU report on Prescribing, Reporting and Recording of Small Field Radiation Therapy. To learn about special technical considerations in delivering IMRT and SBRT treatments To appreciate specific challenges of IMRT implementation J. Seuntjens, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council; Canadian Institutes of Health Research.« less

TH-EF-204-05: Application of Small-Field Treatment: The Promises and Pitfalls of SBRT

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ford, E.

2016-06-15

Joanna E. Cygler, Jan Seuntjens, J. Daniel Bourland, M. Saiful Huq, Josep Puxeu Vaque, Daniel Zucca Aparicio, Tatiana Krylova, Yuri Kirpichev, Eric Ford, Caridad Borras Stereotactic Radiation Therapy (SRT) utilizes small static and dynamic (IMRT) fields, to successfully treat malignant and benign diseases using techniques such as Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) and Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT). SRT is characterized by sharp dose gradients for individual fields and their resultant dose distributions. For appropriate targets, small field radiotherapy offers improved treatment quality by allowing better sparing of organs at risk while delivering the prescribed target dose. Specialized small field treatment deliverymore » systems, such as robotic-controlled linear accelerators, gamma radiosurgery units, and dynamic arc linear accelerators may utilize rigid fixation, image guidance, and tumor tracking, to insure precise dose delivery to static or moving targets. However, in addition to great advantages, small field delivery techniques present special technical challenges for dose calibration due to unique geometries and small field sizes not covered by existing reference dosimetry protocols such as AAPM TG-51 or IAEA TRS 398. In recent years extensive research has been performed to understand small field dosimetry and measurement instrumentation. AAPM, IAEA and ICRU task groups are expected to provide soon recommendations on the dosimetry of small radiation fields. In this symposium we will: 1] discuss the physics, instrumentation, methodologies and challenges for small field radiation dose measurements; 2] review IAEA and ICRU recommendations on prescribing, recording and reporting of small field radiation therapy; 3] discuss selected clinical applications and technical aspects for specialized image-guided, small field, linear accelerator based treatment techniques such as IMRT and SBRT. Learning Objectives: To learn the physics of small fields in contrast to dosimetry of conventional fields To learn about detectors suitable for small fields To learn about the role of Monte Carlo simulations in determination of small field output factors To provide an overview of the IAEA small field dosimetry recommendations To provide an overview of the content of the ICRU report on Prescribing, Reporting and Recording of Small Field Radiation Therapy. To learn about special technical considerations in delivering IMRT and SBRT treatments To appreciate specific challenges of IMRT implementation J. Seuntjens, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council; Canadian Institutes of Health Research.« less

Radioanalytical Chemistry for Automated Nuclear Waste Process Monitoring

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Devol, Timothy A.

2005-06-01

Comparison of different pulse shape discrimination methods was performed under two different experimental conditions and the best method was identified. Beta/gamma discrimination of 90Sr/90Y and 137Cs was performed using a phoswich detector made of BC400 (2.5 cm OD x 1.2 cm) and BGO (2.5 cm O.D. x 2.5 cm ) scintillators. Alpha/gamma discrimination of 210Po and 137Cs was performed using a CsI:Tl (2.8 x 1.4 x 1.4 cm3) scintillation crystal. The pulse waveforms were digitized with a DGF-4c (X-Ray Instrumentation Associates) and analyzed offline with IGOR Pro software (Wavemetrics, Inc.). The four pulse shape discrimination methods that were compared include:more » rise time discrimination, digital constant fraction discrimination, charge ratio, and constant time discrimination (CTD) methods. The CTD method is the ratio of the pulse height at a particular time after the beginning of the pulse to the time at the maximum pulse height. The charge comparison method resulted in a Figure of Merit (FoM) of 3.3 (9.9 % spillover) and 3.7 (0.033 % spillover) for the phoswich and the CsI:Tl scintillator setups, respectively. The CTD method resulted in a FoM of 3.9 (9.2 % spillover) and 3.2 (0.25 % spillover), respectively. Inverting the pulse shape data typically resulted in a significantly higher FoM than conventional methods, but there was no reduction in % spillover values. This outcome illustrates that the FoM may not be a good scheme for the quantification of a system to perform pulse shape discrimination. Comparison of several pulse shape discrimination (PSD) methods was performed as a means to compare traditional analog and digital PSD methods on the same scintillation pulses. The X-ray Instrumentation Associates DGF-4C (40 Msps, 14-bit) was used to digitize waveforms from a CsI:Tl crystal and BC400/BGO phoswich detector.« less

STS-105/Discovery/ISS 7A.1: Pre-Launch Activities, Launch, Orbit Activities and Landing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2001-01-01

The crew of Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-105 is introduced at their pre-launch meal and at suit-up. The crew members include Commander Scott Horowitz, Pilot Rick Sturckow, and Mission Specialists Patrick Forrester and Daniel Barry, together with the Expedition 3 crew of the International Space Station (ISS). The Expedition 3 crew includes Commander Frank Culbertson, Soyuz Commander Vladimir Dezhurov, and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin. When the astronauts depart for the launch pad in the Astrovan, their convoy is shown from above. Upon reaching the launch pad, they conduct a walk around of the shuttle, display signs for family members while being inspected in the White Room, and are strapped into their seats onboard Disciovery. The video includes footage of Discovery in the Orbiter Processing Facility, and some of the pre-launch procedures at the Launch Control Center are shown. The angles of launch replays include: TV-1, Beach Tracker, VAB, Pad A, Tower 1, UCS-15, Grandstand, OTV-70, Onboard, IGOR, and UCS-23. The moment of docking between Discovery and the ISS is shown from inside Discovery's cabin. While in orbit, the crew conducted extravehicular activities (EVAs) to attach an experiments container, and install handrails on the Destiny module of the ISS. The video shows the docking and unloading of the Leonardo Multipurpose Logistics Module (MPLM) onto the ISS. The deployment of a satellite from Discovery with the coast of the Gulf of Mexico in the background is shown. Cape Canaveral is also shown from space. Landing replays include VAB, Tower 1, mid-field, South End SLF, North End SLF, Tower 2, Playalinda DOAMS, UCS-23, and Pilot Point of View (PPOV). NASA Administrator Dan Goldin meets the crew upon landing and participates in their walk around of Discovery. The video concludes with a short speech by commander Horowitz.

The dependence of the discharge of nitrous oxide by ordinary chernozem steppe of the Central-Chernozem Region of Russia from the content of humus, nitrogen and enzymatic activity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Avksentev, Alexey; Negrobova, Elena; Kramareva, Tatiana; Moiseeva, Evgenya

2016-04-01

The dependence of the discharge of nitrous oxide by ordinary chernozem steppe of the Central-Chernozem Region of Russia from the content of humus, nitrogen and enzymatic activity Alexey Avksentev, Elena Negrobova, Tatiana Kramareva, Evgenya Moiseeva 394000 Voronezh, Universitetskaya square, 1 Voronezh State University Nitrous oxide is emitted by soil as a result of microbiological processes, ranks third in the list of aggressive greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide and methane. Nitrous oxide is formed during nitrification and denitrification of ammonia that enters the soil during microbial decomposition of complex organic compounds. Denitrification can be direct and indirect. In the microbiological process of recovery of nitrates involved of the organic substance. In aerobic conditions microorganisms denitrificator behave like normal saprotrophs and oxidize organic matter in the act of breathing oxygen. Thus, they operate at different times two enzyme systems: the electron transport chain with an oxygen acceptor in aerobic and restoration of nitrates under anaerobic conditions. Investigation of the emission of nitrous oxide by ordinary Chernozem steppe of the Central-Chernozem Region showed that it depends on the type of cenosis and the content of available forms of nitrogen. Natural ecosystems emit nitrous oxide more than the soil of arable land. The dependence of the emission of nitrous oxide from the humus content shows positive trend, but the aggregation of data, significant differences are not detected. Research shows that nitrous oxide emissions are seasonal. So the autumn season is characterized by nitrous oxide emissions than spring. Enzymatic processes are an important link in the biological cycle of elements and, consequently, participate in the process of decomposition of organic matter, nitrification and other processes. Analysis of the data on enzyme activity of ordinary Chernozem and the intensity of emission of N20 shows a clear relationship between invertase, urease activity and emission of nitrous oxide, which is confirmed by the correlation coefficient R=0,78-0,79. Analysis of data on physical characteristics of common Chernozem shows that the relationship between nitrous oxide emissions and the density of the solid phase of the soil and the density of the composition of the soil and total porosity is not significant (R=0.4) and is not limiting. A limiting factor of N20 flux from ordinary Chernozem is the presence of available forms of nitrogen.

Biological soil crusts in Chile along the precipitation gradient

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samolov, Elena; Glaser, Karin; Baumann, Karen; Leinweber, Peter; Jung, Patrick; Büdel, Burkhard; Mikhailyuk, Tatiana; Karsten, Ulf

2017-04-01

Biological soil crusts in Chile along a precipitation gradient Elena Samolov* (1), Karin Glaser (1), Karen Baumann (2), Peter Leinweber (2), Patrick Jung (3), Burkhard Büdel (3), Tatiana Mikhailyuk (4) and Ulf Karsten (1) (1) Institute of Biological Sciences - Applied Ecology and Phycology, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany, (2) Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences - Soil Sciences, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany (3) University of Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany (4) M.H. Kholodny Institute of Botany, National Academy of Science of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine * elena.samolov@uni-rostock.de Biological soil crusts (BSCs) are an association of different microorganisms and soil particles in the top millimeters of the soil. They are formed by algae, cyanobacteria, microfungi, bacteria, bryophytes and lichens in various compositions; together with their by-products they create a micro-ecosystem that performs important ecological functions, e.g. primary production, nitrogen fixation, mineralization and stabilization of soils. These top-soil assemblages are almost unstudied in South America (Büdel et al. 2016). Therefore, our aim is to investigate for the first time biodiversity of the key photosynthetic organisms, green algae and cyanobacteria following a precipitation gradient along the west coast of Chile. We are applying polyphasic approach - a combination of microscopy, culture dependent (16S and 18S rRNA, ITS) and culture independent molecular techniques (NGS). First results, based on culturing and light microscopy, showed high diversity of eukaryotic algae in biocrusts from humid regions, followed by semi-arid regions. Lichen dominated biocrusts from arid regions were characterized by a high diversity of green algae, while cyanobacteria were scarcely present. The functional role of the BSCs in the biogeochemical cycle of phosphorous (P) was evaluated using state of the art analytical methods including 31P-NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectroscopy and P K-edge XANES (x-ray absorbance near edge structures). Total P as well as P fractions were quantified in all BSCs, adjacent soil underneath and comparable nearby soil of BSC-free areas, revealing a slight accumulation of total phosphorous and a distinct pattern of P fractions in the crust. Our study describes for the first time the diversity of photosynthetic organisms in BSCs along a precipitation gradient in South America and their functional role in biogeochemical cycle of phosphorus as an important macronutrient. Reference: Büdel et al. "Cyanobacteria and Algae of Biological soil crusts". In B. Weber et al. (eds.), Biological Soli Crusts: An Organizing Principle in Drylands, Ecological Studies 226, Springer International Publishing Switzerland: 2016. (pp. 55-80).

Vegetation and land carbon feedbacks in the high-resolution transient Holocene simulations using the MPI Earth system model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brovkin, Victor; Lorenz, Stephan; Raddatz, Thomas

2017-04-01

Plants influence climate through changes in the land surface biophysics (albedo, transpiration) and concentrations of the atmospheric greenhouse gases. One of the interesting periods to investigate a climatic role of terrestrial biosphere is the Holocene, when, despite of the relatively steady global climate, the atmospheric CO2 grew by about 20 ppm from 7 kyr BP to pre-industrial. We use a new setup of the Max Planck Institute Earth System Model MPI-ESM1 consisting of the latest version of the atmospheric model ECHAM6, including the land surface model JSBACH3 with carbon cycle and vegetation dynamics, coupled to the ocean circulation model MPI-OM, which includes the HAMOCC model of ocean biogeochemistry. The model has been run for several simulations over the Holocene period of the last 8000 years under the forcing data sets of orbital insolation, atmospheric greenhouse gases, volcanic aerosols, solar irradiance and stratospheric ozone, as well as land-use changes. In response to this forcing, the land carbon storage increased by about 60 PgC between 8 and 4 kyr BP, stayed relatively constant until 2 kyr BP, and decreased by about 90 PgC by 1850 AD due to land use changes. Vegetation and soil carbon changes significantly affected atmospheric CO2 during the periods of strong volcanic eruptions. In response to the eruption-caused cooling, the land initially stores more carbon as respiration decreases, but then it releases even more carbon due to productivity decrease. This decadal- scale variability helps to quantify the vegetation and land carbon feedbacks during the past periods when the temporal resolution of the ice-core CO2 record is not sufficient to capture fast CO2 variations. From a set of Holocene simulations with prescribed or interactive atmospheric CO2, we get estimates of climate-carbon feedback useful for future climate studies. Members of the Hamburg Holocene Team: Jürgen Bader1, Sebastian Bathiany2, Victor Brovkin1, Martin Claussen1,3, Traute Crüger1, Roberta D'agostino1, Anne Dallmeyer1, Sabine Egerer1, Vivienne Groner1, Matthias Heinze1, Tatiana Ilyina1, Johann Jungclaus1, Thomas Kleinen1, Alexander Lemburg1, Stephan Lorenz1, Thomas Raddatz1, Hauke Schmidt1, Gerhard Schmiedl3, Bjorn Stevens1, Claudia Timmreck1, Matthew Toohey4 1Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie, D 2Wageningen University, NL 3CEN, Universität Hamburg, D 4GEOMAR Helmholtz Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel, D

Sugar Lego: gene composition of bacterial carbohydrate metabolism genomic loci.

PubMed

Kaznadzey, Anna; Shelyakin, Pavel; Gelfand, Mikhail S

2017-11-25

Bacterial carbohydrate metabolism is extremely diverse, since carbohydrates serve as a major energy source and are involved in a variety of cellular processes. Bacterial genes belonging to same metabolic pathway are often co-localized in the chromosome, but it is not a strict rule. Gene co-localization in linked to co-evolution and co-regulation. This study focuses on a large-scale analysis of bacterial genomic loci related to the carbohydrate metabolism. We demonstrate that only 53% of 148,000 studied genes from over six hundred bacterial genomes are co-localized in bacterial genomes with other carbohydrate metabolism genes, which points to a significant role of singleton genes. Co-localized genes form cassettes, ranging in size from two to fifteen genes. Two major factors influencing the cassette-forming tendency are gene function and bacterial phylogeny. We have obtained a comprehensive picture of co-localization preferences of genes for nineteen major carbohydrate metabolism functional classes, over two hundred gene orthologous clusters, and thirty bacterial classes, and characterized the cassette variety in size and content among different species, highlighting a significant role of short cassettes. The preference towards co-localization of carbohydrate metabolism genes varies between 40 and 76% for bacterial taxa. Analysis of frequently co-localized genes yielded forty-five significant pairwise links between genes belonging to different functional classes. The number of such links per class range from zero to eight, demonstrating varying preferences of respective genes towards a specific chromosomal neighborhood. Genes from eleven functional classes tend to co-localize with genes from the same class, indicating an important role of clustering of genes with similar functions. At that, in most cases such co-localization does not originate from local duplication events. Overall, we describe a complex web formed by evolutionary relationships of bacterial carbohydrate metabolism genes, manifested as co-localization patterns. This article was reviewed by Daria V. Dibrova (A.N. Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia), nominated by Armen Mulkidjanian (University of Osnabrück, Germany), Igor Rogozin (NCBI, NLM, NIH, USA) and Yuri Wolf (NCBI, NLM, NIH, USA).

FORCinel Version 3.0: An Integrated Environment for Processing, Analysis and Simulation of First-Order Reversal Curve Diagrams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lascu, I.; Harrison, R. J.

2016-12-01

First-order reversal curve (FORC) diagrams are a powerful method to characterise the hysteresis properties of magnetic grain ensembles. Methods of processing, analysis and simulation of FORC diagrams have developed rapidly over the past few years, dramatically expanding their utility within rock magnetic research. Here we announce the latest release of FORCinel (Version 3.0), which integrates many of these developments into a unified, user-friendly package running within Igor Pro (www.wavemetrics.com). FORCinel v. 3.0 can be downloaded from https://wserv4.esc.cam.ac.uk/nanopaleomag/. The release will be accompanied by a series of video tutorials outlining each of the new features, including: i) improved work flow, with unified smoothing approach; ii) increased processing speed using multiple processors; iii) control of output resolution, enabling large datasets (> 500 FORCs) to be smoothed in a matter of seconds; iv) load, process, analyse and average multiple FORC diagrams; v) load and process non-gridded data and data acquired on non-PMC systems; vi) improved method for exploring optimal smoothing parameters; vii) interactive and un-doable data-pretreatments; viii) automated detection and removal of measurement outliers; ix) improved interactive method for the generation and optimisation of colour scales; x) full integration with FORCem1 - supervised quantitative unmixing of FORC diagrams using principle component analysis (PCA); xi) full integration with FORCulator2 - micromagnetic simulation of FORC diagrams; xiii) simulate TRM acquisition using the kinetic Monte Carlo simulation algorithm of Shcherbakov3. 1. Lascu, I., Harrison, R.J., Li, Y., Muraszko, J.R., Channell, J.E.T., Piotrowski, A.M., Hodell, D.A., 2015. Magnetic unmixing of first-order reversal curve diagrams using principal component analysis. Geochemistry, Geophys. Geosystems 16, 2900-2915. 2. Harrison, R.J., Lascu, I., 2014. FORCulator: A micromagnetic tool for simulating first-order reversal curve diagrams. Geochemistry Geophys. Geosystems 15, 4671-4691. 3. Shcherbakov, V.P., Lamash, B.E., Sycheva, N.K., 1995. Monte-Carlo modelling of thermoremanence acquisition in interacting single-domain grains. Phys. Earth Planet. Inter. 87, 197-211.

Music carries a message to youths.

PubMed

Coleman, P L

1986-01-01

The most widely played song in Mexico in March 1986 is a special record designed to encourage young people to be sexually responsible and not to bring into the world children they cannot care for. "It's OK to say 'no,'" is the message of a unique new family planning and health communication project designed to reach young people in 11 Spanish speaking countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. What makes this ambitious regional project so unique is not just the message or the remarkable success of the 1st song but the combination of materials that were produced, the way they were produced, and how they are now being used throughout the region. The Population Communication Services project in the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health (JHU/PCS) has been working in Latin America and elsewhere for 4 years to support innovative family planning communication projects. It became evident that 1 key group was not being reached, i.e., young people aged 13-18 who comprise approximately 30% of the total population in Latin America. The fertility and sexual behavior of young people have a significant impact on their own lives, their community, their country, and the region. Early pregnancy is a major health and social problem throughout the region and the world. To address this problem, the JHU/PCS decided to develop a regional Latin American project to make young people more sharply aware of the personal advantages to them of responsible parenthood. JHU/PCS put together a financial, marketing, and institutional package. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) provided the finances. Analysis showed that the common denominator for young people throughout the region is music. The decision was made to produce 2 songs, each with a music video, pressed on each side of 45 rpm single records and enclosed in a full-size, full-color, 2-sided record jacket which folds out into a poster. The next step was to refine the general message of sexual responsibility to a specific message, one that young people would listen to and that would not offend others. Once the artists and the messages had been identified, a contest was held for the music and lyrics, with more than 20 professional composers participating. An underlying concern built into the design of this project was that the materials had to appeal to young people as popular songs, not as educational materials. The marketing of what became known as the "Tatiana & Johnny Project" included sending: copies of the record to 3020 radio stations; copies of the record and music videos to 250 television stations; press kits to 350 newspapers, magazines, and journals; and brochures about the project to 3500 media representatives throughout the region. Initial reaction to the project has been overwhelmingly positive. Lessons learned from the project are identified.

EDITORIAL: Invited review and topical lectures from the 13th International Congress on Plasma Physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zagorodny, A.; Kocherga, O.

2007-05-01

The 13th International Congress on Plasma Physics (ICPP 2006) was organized, on behalf of the International Advisory Committee of the ICPP series, by the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and the Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics (BITP) and held in Kiev, Ukraine, 22 26 May 2006. The Congress Program included the topics: fundamental problems of plasma physics; fusion plasmas; plasmas in astrophysics and space physics; plasmas in applications and technologies; complex plasmas. A total of 305 delegates from 30 countries took part in the Congress. The program included 9 invited review lectures, 32 invited topical and 313 contributed papers (60 of which were selected for oral presentation). The Congress Program was the responsibility of the International Program Committee: Anatoly Zagorodny (Chairman) Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics, Ukraine Olha Kocherga (Scientific Secretary) Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics, Ukraine Boris Breizman The University of Texas at Austin, USA Iver Cairns School of Physics, University of Sydney, Australia Tatiana Davydova Institute for Nuclear Research, Ukraine Tony Donne FOM-Institute for Plasma Physics, Rijnhuizen, The Netherlands Nikolai S Erokhin Space Research Institute of RAS, Russia Xavier Garbet CEA, France Valery Godyak OSRAM SYLVANIA, USA Katsumi Ida National Institute for Fusion Science, Japan Alexander Kingsep Russian Research Centre `Kurchatov Institute', Russia E P Kruglyakov Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics, Russia Gregor Morfill Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik, Germany Osamu Motojima National Institute for Fusion Science, Japan Jef Ongena ERM-KMS, Brussels and EFDA-JET, UK Konstantyn Shamrai Institute for Nuclear Research, Ukraine Raghvendra Singh Institute for Plasma Research, India Konstantyn Stepanov Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology, Ukraine Masayoshi Tanaka National Institute for Fusion Science, Japan Nodar Tsintsadze Physics Institute, Georgia The four-page texts of the contributed papers are presented as a CD, `ICPP 2006. Contributed Papers' which was distributed among the delegates. They are also available at the Congress website http://icpp2006.kiev.ua. A major part of the review and topical lectures is published in this special issue which has been sent to the Congress delegates. The papers were refereed to the usual high standard of the journal Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. The Guest Editors of the special issue are grateful to the Publishers for their cooperation. Recognizing the role of Professor Alexej Sitenko (12 February 1927 11 February 2002) in the initiation and organization of the International (Kiev) Conferences on Plasma Theory which, after having been combined with the International Congresses on Waves and Instabilities in Plasma in 1980, created the series of International Congresses on Plasma Physics, and taking into account the contribution of Professor Sitenko to the progress of plasma theory, the Program Committee decided to open ICPP 2006 with the Sitenko memorial lecture. This memorial lecture is available as supplementary data (PDF) at stacks.iop.org/PPCF/49/i=5A.

Channeling through Bent Crystals

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mack, Stephanie; /Ottawa U. /SLAC

2012-09-07

Bent crystals have demonstrated potential for use in beam collimation. A process called channeling is when accelerated particle beams are trapped by the nuclear potentials in the atomic planes within a crystal lattice. If the crystal is bent then the particles can follow the bending angle of the crystal. There are several different effects that are observed when particles travel through a bent crystal including dechanneling, volume capture, volume reflection and channeling. With a crystal placed at the edge of a particle beam, part of the fringe of the beam can be deflected away towards a detector or beam dump,more » thus helping collimate the beam. There is currently FORTRAN code by Igor Yazynin that has been used to model the passage of particles through a bent crystal. Using this code, the effects mentioned were explored for beam energy that would be seen at the Facility for Advanced Accelerator Experimental Tests (FACET) at a range of crystal orientations with respect to the incoming beam. After propagating 5 meters in vacuum space past the crystal the channeled particles were observed to separate from most of the beam with some noise due to dechanneled particles. Progressively smaller bending radii, with corresponding shorter crystal lengths, were compared and it was seen that multiple scattering decreases with the length of the crystal therefore allowing for cleaner detection of the channeled particles. The input beam was then modified and only a portion of the beam sent through the crystal. With the majority of the beam not affected by the crystal, most particles were not deflected and after propagation the channeled particles were seen to be deflected approximately 5mm. After a portion of the beam travels through the crystal, the entire beam was then sent through a quadrupole magnet, which increased the separation of the channeled particles from the remainder of the beam to a distance of around 20mm. A different code, which was developed at SLAC, was used to create an angular profile plot which was compared to what was produced by Yazynin's code for a beam with no multiple scattering. The results were comparable, with volume reflection and channeling effects observed and the range of crystal orientations at which volume reflection is seen was about 1 mrad in both simulations.« less

PREFACE: IV Nanotechnology International Forum (RUSNANOTECH 2011)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dvurechenskii, Anatoly; Alfimov, Mikhail; Suzdalev, Igor; Osiko, Vyacheslav; Khokhlov, Aleksey; Son, Eduard; Skryabin, Konstantin; Petrov, Rem; Deev, Sergey

2012-02-01

Logo The RUSNANOTECH 2011 International Forum on Nanotechnology was held from 26-28 October 2011, in Moscow, Russia. It was the fourth forum organized by RUSNANO (Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies) since 2008. In March 2011 RUSNANO was established as an open joint-stock company through the reorganization of the state corporation Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies. RUSNANO's mission is to develop the Russian nanotechnology industry through co-investment in nanotechnology projects with substantial economic potential or social benefit. Within the framework of the Forum Science and Technology Program, presentations on key trends of nanotechnology development were given by foreign and Russian scientists, R&D officers of leading international companies, universities and scientific centers. The science and technology program of the Forum was divided into four sections as follows (by following hyperlinks you may find each section's program including videos of all oral presentations): Nanoelectronics and Nanophotonics Nanomaterials Nanotechnology and Green Energy Nanotechnology in Healthcare and Pharma (United business and science & technology section on 'RUSNANOTECH 2011') The scientific program of the forum included more than 50 oral presentations by leading scientists from 15 countries. Among them were world-known specialists such as Professor S Bader (Argonne National Laboratory, USA), Professor O Farokzhad (Harvard Medical School, USA), Professor K Chien (Massachusetts General Hospital, USA), Professor L Liz-Marzan (University of Vigo), A Luque (Polytechnic University of Madrid) and many others. The poster session consisted of over 120 presentations, 90 of which were presented in the framework of the young scientists' nanotechnology papers competition. This volume of Journal of Physics: Conference Series includes a selection of 47 submissions. Section editors of the proceedings: Nanoelectronics and nanophotonics Corresponding Member of Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor Anatoly Dvurechenskii (Institute of Semiconductor Physics, RAS). Nanomaterials Member of Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor Mikhail Alfimov (Photochemistry Center, RAS), Professor Igor Suzdalev (Semenov Institute of Chemical Physics, RAS), Member of Russian Academy of Science, Professor Vyacheslav Osiko (Prokhorov General Physics Institute, RAS), Member of Russian Academy of Science, Professor Aleksey Khokhlov (Physical department of Moscow State University). Nanotechnology and green energy Corresponding Member of Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor Eduard Son (Joint Institute for High Temperatures, RAS). Nanotechnology in Healthcare and Pharma Member of Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor Konstantin Skryabin (Bioengineering Center, RAS), Member of Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor Rem Petrov (RAS), Corresponding Member of Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor Sergey Deev (Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry).

PREFACE: Preface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takahashi, Masahiko; Ueda, Kiyoshi

2011-03-01

The 17th edition of the International Conference on Many Particle Spectroscopy of Atoms, Molecules, Clusters, and Surfaces (MPS) was held in Sendai, Japan, from September 4-7, 2010. It was the first time that a meeting of this series of biennial conferences was hosted in a non-European country. The conference was attended by 110 researchers (90 regular participants and 20 students) from 15 different countries around the world. The themes that the conference covered can be divided into three broad areas: lepton impact, photon impact and heavy-particle impact. A total of 43 oral presentations - including 2 plenary talks, 29 progress reports and 12 hot topics - and 87 poster presentations were held during the course of the program. Rapid progress both in experimental and theoretical techniques has led to discussions across a broad range of currently hot topics, such as many-body dynamics and electron correlation effects in excitation processes, as well as in single and multiple ionization processes for various kinds of targets including atoms, molecules, clusters, solid state and even biological systems. A snapshot of the present status of many particle spectroscopy is given in this proceedings. The chairs of the conference gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Morino Foundation for Molecular Science, Iwatani Naoji Foundation, Sendai Tourism and Convention Bureau, and Intelligent Cosmos Academic Foundation. They are indebted to the Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials, Tohoku University, for co-hosting the conference, as well as to the international advisory board members for their extremely helpful suggestions to make the program attractive. The united effort of the local organizing committee, involving N Watanabe (Secretary), M Okunishi (Treasurer), H Fukuzawa, M Yamazaki, Y Kino, and N Kishimoto, is also gratefully acknowledged. Without the help of these institutions and individuals it would have been impossible to organize the conference. Finally, the chairs would like to express their thanks to all the participants for contributing to lively and fruitful discussions throughout the conference. Masahiko Takahashi and Kiyoshi Ueda International Advisory Board Lorenzo Avaldi (Italy)Klaus Bartschat (USA) Azzedine Lahmam-Bennani (France)Jamal Berakdar (Germany) Nora Berrah (USA)Igor Bray (Australia) XiangJun Chen (China)Claude Dal Cappello (France) Reinhard Dörner (Germany)Alexander Dorn (Germany) Danielle Dowek (France)Alexey Grum-Grzhimailo (Russia) Noriyuki Kouchi (Japan)Birgit Lohmann (Australia) Don Madison (USA)Fernando Martin (Spain) Andrew Murray (England)Bernard Piraux (Belgium) Roberto Rivarola (Argentina)Emma Sokell (Ireland) Giovanni Stefani (Italy) Conference photograph

Obituary: Preston F. Gott, 1919-2002

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Myles, Charles Wesley

2003-12-01

Preston F. Gott, Professor Emeritus of Physics and former Director of the Observatories at Texas Tech University, died 13 January 2002 after a bout with Cancer. Mr. Gott was born 21 November 1919 in Waxahachie (Ellis County) Texas. He received his Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts degrees from the University of Texas at Austin. His first wife, Edna Maynard Gott, passed away in 1986; their two children are Eugene Willard Gott and Edith Suzanne Gott. After his retirement from Texas Tech University in 1989, he married Orene Whitcomb Peddicord, M.D. on 14 May 1991 and they lived in Odessa, Texas. Preston joined the Texas Tech University (TTU) faculty in 1948 and taught physics and astronomy there for 41 years, before retiring in 1989. He was responsible for starting astronomy teaching within the Physics department. He also developed, and taught for many years, a very popular, hands-on photography course in that department. It is due to Preston's persistence and determination that TTU has two astronomy observatories devoted to teaching. Because of his efforts, the on-campus observatory, Igor, was donated to TTU by White Sands Proving Grounds, New Mexico. He is also primarily responsible for obtaining the land, equipment and construction funds for an off campus observatory. In 1991, the TTU Board of Regents named the latter facility the Preston F. Gott Skyview Observatory. He also developed a private Mountainside Observatory in Fort Davis, Texas. Until recently, Preston was listed as a Senior Scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA where he worked several summers on the moon and mars lander projects. In the 1950s and 1960s, he worked several summers at the White Sands Proving Grounds in New Mexico. In that period, he was also a consultant and frequent Visiting Scientist at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. Preston was a very generous donor to the Department of Physics and the Texas Tech University. He endowed the Gott Gold Tooth Scholarship Award in Physics and also endowed a scholarship in the Women's Studies Program, in memory of his first wife, long time TTU Economics Professor Edna Gott. He was a true gentleman and a friend to all who knew him. He will be sorely missed. He is survived by his wife, Orene, and his children, Eugene and Suzanne. His stepchildren are Ruth, Benita, and Diana (who pre-deceased him).

Evidence-based gene models for structural and functional annotations of the oil palm genome.

PubMed

Chan, Kuang-Lim; Tatarinova, Tatiana V; Rosli, Rozana; Amiruddin, Nadzirah; Azizi, Norazah; Halim, Mohd Amin Ab; Sanusi, Nik Shazana Nik Mohd; Jayanthi, Nagappan; Ponomarenko, Petr; Triska, Martin; Solovyev, Victor; Firdaus-Raih, Mohd; Sambanthamurthi, Ravigadevi; Murphy, Denis; Low, Eng-Ti Leslie

2017-09-08

Oil palm is an important source of edible oil. The importance of the crop, as well as its long breeding cycle (10-12 years) has led to the sequencing of its genome in 2013 to pave the way for genomics-guided breeding. Nevertheless, the first set of gene predictions, although useful, had many fragmented genes. Classification and characterization of genes associated with traits of interest, such as those for fatty acid biosynthesis and disease resistance, were also limited. Lipid-, especially fatty acid (FA)-related genes are of particular interest for the oil palm as they specify oil yields and quality. This paper presents the characterization of the oil palm genome using different gene prediction methods and comparative genomics analysis, identification of FA biosynthesis and disease resistance genes, and the development of an annotation database and bioinformatics tools. Using two independent gene-prediction pipelines, Fgenesh++ and Seqping, 26,059 oil palm genes with transcriptome and RefSeq support were identified from the oil palm genome. These coding regions of the genome have a characteristic broad distribution of GC 3 (fraction of cytosine and guanine in the third position of a codon) with over half the GC 3 -rich genes (GC 3  ≥ 0.75286) being intronless. In comparison, only one-seventh of the oil palm genes identified are intronless. Using comparative genomics analysis, characterization of conserved domains and active sites, and expression analysis, 42 key genes involved in FA biosynthesis in oil palm were identified. For three of them, namely EgFABF, EgFABH and EgFAD3, segmental duplication events were detected. Our analysis also identified 210 candidate resistance genes in six classes, grouped by their protein domain structures. We present an accurate and comprehensive annotation of the oil palm genome, focusing on analysis of important categories of genes (GC 3 -rich and intronless), as well as those associated with important functions, such as FA biosynthesis and disease resistance. The study demonstrated the advantages of having an integrated approach to gene prediction and developed a computational framework for combining multiple genome annotations. These results, available in the oil palm annotation database ( http://palmxplore.mpob.gov.my ), will provide important resources for studies on the genomes of oil palm and related crops. This article was reviewed by Alexander Kel, Igor Rogozin, and Vladimir A. Kuznetsov.

Classifying transcription factor targets and discovering relevant biological features

PubMed Central

Holloway, Dustin T; Kon, Mark; DeLisi, Charles

2008-01-01

Background An important goal in post-genomic research is discovering the network of interactions between transcription factors (TFs) and the genes they regulate. We have previously reported the development of a supervised-learning approach to TF target identification, and used it to predict targets of 104 transcription factors in yeast. We now include a new sequence conservation measure, expand our predictions to include 59 new TFs, introduce a web-server, and implement an improved ranking method to reveal the biological features contributing to regulation. The classifiers combine 8 genomic datasets covering a broad range of measurements including sequence conservation, sequence overrepresentation, gene expression, and DNA structural properties. Principal Findings (1) Application of the method yields an amplification of information about yeast regulators. The ratio of total targets to previously known targets is greater than 2 for 11 TFs, with several having larger gains: Ash1(4), Ino2(2.6), Yaf1(2.4), and Yap6(2.4). (2) Many predicted targets for TFs match well with the known biology of their regulators. As a case study we discuss the regulator Swi6, presenting evidence that it may be important in the DNA damage response, and that the previously uncharacterized gene YMR279C plays a role in DNA damage response and perhaps in cell-cycle progression. (3) A procedure based on recursive-feature-elimination is able to uncover from the large initial data sets those features that best distinguish targets for any TF, providing clues relevant to its biology. An analysis of Swi6 suggests a possible role in lipid metabolism, and more specifically in metabolism of ceramide, a bioactive lipid currently being investigated for anti-cancer properties. (4) An analysis of global network properties highlights the transcriptional network hubs; the factors which control the most genes and the genes which are bound by the largest set of regulators. Cell-cycle and growth related regulators dominate the former; genes involved in carbon metabolism and energy generation dominate the latter. Conclusion Postprocessing of regulatory-classifier results can provide high quality predictions, and feature ranking strategies can deliver insight into the regulatory functions of TFs. Predictions are available at an online web-server, including the full transcriptional network, which can be analyzed using VisAnt network analysis suite. Reviewers This article was reviewed by Igor Jouline, Todd Mockler(nominated by Valerian Dolja), and Sandor Pongor. PMID:18513408

Associations Between Maternal Depressive Symptoms and Nonresponsive Feeding Styles and Practices in Mothers of Young Children: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Lindsay, Ana Cristina; Mesa, Tatiana; Greaney, Mary L; Wallington, Sherrie F; Wright, Julie A

2017-05-26

Childhood obesity is a significant global public health problem due to increasing rates worldwide. Growing evidence suggests that nonresponsive parental feeding styles and practices are important influences on children's eating behaviors and weight status, especially during early childhood. Therefore, understanding parental factors that may influence nonresponsive parental feeding styles and practices is significant for the development of interventions to prevent childhood obesity. The objectives of this systematic review were to (1) identify and review existing research examining the associations between maternal depressive symptoms and use of nonresponsive feeding styles and practices among mothers of young children (2-8 years of age), (2) highlight the limitations of reviewed studies, and (3) generate suggestions for future research. Using the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic review and Meta-Analysis Protocols) guidelines, six electronic academic databases were searched for peer-reviewed, full-text papers published in English between January 2000 and June 2016. Only studies with mothers 18+ years old of normally developing children between 2 and 8 years of age were included. Of the 297 citations identified, 35 full-text papers were retrieved and 8 were reviewed. The reviewed studies provided mixed evidence for associations between maternal depressive symptoms and nonresponsive feeding styles and practices. Two out of three studies reported positive associations with nonresponsive feeding styles, in that mothers with elevated depressive symptoms were more likely than mothers without those symptoms to exhibit uninvolved and permissive or indulgent feeding styles. Furthermore, results of reviewed studies provide good evidence for association between maternal depressive symptoms and instrumental feeding (3 of 3 reviewed studies) and nonresponsive family mealtime practices (3/3), but mixed evidence for pressuring children to eat (3/6) and emotional feeding (1/3). In addition, evidence for the association between maternal depressive symptoms and restricting child food intake was mixed: one study (1/6) found a positive association; two studies (2/6) found a negative association; whereas one study (1/6) found no association. This review indicates that the results of studies examining the associations between maternal depressive symptoms and parental feeding styles and practices are mixed. Limitations of studies included in this review should be noted: (1) the use of a diverse set of self-report questionnaires to assess parental feeding practices is problematic due to potential misclassification and makes it difficult to compare these outcomes across studies, thus caution must be taken in drawing conclusions; and (2) the majority of included studies (6/8) were cross-sectional. There is a need for additional longitudinal studies to disentangle the influence of depression on parental feeding styles and practices. Nevertheless, given that depressive symptoms and feeding styles and practices are potentially modifiable, it is important to understand their relationship to inform obesity prevention interventions and programs. ©Ana Cristina Lindsay, Tatiana Mesa, Mary L. Greaney, Sherrie F. Wallington, Julie A. Wright. Originally published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (http://publichealth.jmir.org), 26.05.2017.

Special feature of kinetics of ZcE isomerization of β-N-methylaminovinyl trifluoromethyl ketone in Ar matrix exposed to UV radiation and spontaneous E ⇌ Z isomerization of α-methyl-β-N-methylaminovinyl trifluoromethyl ketone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vdovenko, Sergey I.; Gerus, Igor I.; Pagacz-Kostrzewa, Magdalena; Wierzejewska, Maria; Zhuk, Yuri I.; Kukhar, Valery P.

2018-06-01

Although it is well known that reactivity of α,β-unsaturated enaminoketones is closely associated with spatial and electronic structure but until now little attention was devoted to quantitative investigation of interconversion of different stereoisomeric forms of enaminoketones. In present work we studied peculiarities of kinetics of Z ⇌ E isomerization of enaminoketone 4-(N-methylamino)-1,1,1-trifluorobut-3-en-2-one F3C-COsbnd CHdbnd CHsbnd NH(CH3) (1) in Ar-matrix exposed to UV-radiation (λ = 340 nm) with IR Fourier and 2D correlation spectroscopy and we found that Z-s-Z-s-trans isomer transforms primarily into two E-isomers, E-s-E-s-trans and E-s-Z-s-trans which further turn into the E-s-E-s-cis and E-s-Z-s-cis conformers all interconversion rate constants being comparable in magnitude. Along with this process long-term exposure to the UV-radiation results in proton transfer from nitrogen of methylamino group to carbonyl oxygen with simultaneous isomerization of 'cyclic' iminoenol form into 'linear'one. In solution of enaminoketone 4-(N-methylamino)-1,1,1-trifluoro-3-methylbut-3-en-2-one F3C-CO-C(CH3)dbnd CH-NH(CH3) (2) we observed reversed process, namely, spontaneous interconversion of the E-s-E-s-trans and E-s-Z-s-trans conformers into the Z-s-Z-trans isomer. It was found that rate constants of the dimeric forms of the E-s-E-s-trans and E-s-Z-s-trans conformers are higher than those of the monomers and are independent on total enaminoketone concentration. Addition of highly polar HMPA promotes proton transfer from nitrogen to oxygen in the Z-s-Z-s-trans isomer of 2 with subsequent isomerization into the linear imino-enol product but the rate constant of this transformation is ten-fold smaller than that for 1 in the Ar matrix exposed to UV radiation. Special feature of kinetics of Z ⇌ E isomerization of β-N-methylaminovinyl trifluoromethyl ketone in Ar matrix exposed to UV radiation and spontaneous E ⇌ Z isomerization of α-Methyl-, β-N-methylaminovinyl trifluoromethyl ketone. Sergey I. Vdovenko, Igor I. Gerus, Magdalena Pagacz-Kostrzewa, Maria Wierzejewska, Yuri I. Zhuk and Valery P. Kukhar.

Summary of KOMPSAT-5 Calibration and Validation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, D.; Jeong, H.; Lee, S.; Kim, B.

2013-12-01

Korean Multi-Purpose Satellite 5 (KOMPSAT-5), equipped with high resolution X-band (9.66 GHz) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), is planning to be launched on August 22, 2013. With the satellite's primary mission objective being providing Geographical Information System (GIS), Ocean monitoring and Land management, and Disaster and ENvironment monitoring (GOLDEN), it is expected that its applications for scientific research on geographical processes will be extensive. In order to meet its mission objective, the KOMPSAT-5 will provide three different kinds of SAR imaging modes; High Resolution Mode (1 m resolution, 5 km swath), Standard Mode (3 m resolution, 30 km swath), and Wide Swath Mode (20 m resolution, 100 km swath). The KOMPSAT-5 will be operated in a 550 km sun-synchronous, dawn- dusk orbit with a 28-day ground repeat cycle providing valuable image information on Earth surface day-or-night and even in bad weather condition. After successful launch of the satellite, it will go through Launch and Early Operation (LEOP) and In-Orbit Testing (IOT) period about for 6 months to carry out various tests on satellite bus and payload systems. The satellite bus system will be tested during the first 3 weeks after the launch focusing on the Attitude and Orbit Control Subsystem (AOCS) and Integrated GPS Occultation Receiver (IGOR) calibration. With the completion of bus system test, the SAR payload system will be calibrated during initial In-Flight check period (11 weeks) by the joint effort of Thales Alenia Space Italy (TAS-I) and Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI). The pointing and relative calibration will be carried out during this period by analyzing the doppler frequency and antenna beam pattern of reflected microwave signal from selected regions with uniform backscattering coefficients (e.g. Amazon rainforest). A dedicated SAR calibration, called primary calibration, will be allocated at the end of LEOP for 12 weeks to perform thorough calibration activities including pointing, relative and absolute calibration as well as geolocation accuracy determination. The absolute calibration will be accomplished by determining absolute radiometric accuracy using already deployed trihedral corner reflectors on calibration and validation sites located southeast from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. To establish a measure for the assess the final image products, geolocation accuracies of image products with different imaging modes will be determined by using deployed point targets and available Digital Terrain Model (DTM), and on different image processing levels. In summary, this paper will present calibration and validation activities performed during the LEOP and IOT of KOMPSAT-5. The methodology and procedure of calibration and validation will be explained as well as its results. Based on the results, the applications of SAR image products on geophysical processes will be also discussed.

PLASMA-2013: International Conference on Research and Applications of Plasmas (Warsaw, Poland, 2-6 September 2013)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sadowski, Marek J.

2014-05-01

The PLASMA-2013 International Conference on Research and Applications of Plasmas was held in Warsaw (Poland) from 2 to 6 September 2013. The conference was organized by the Institute of Plasma Physics and Laser Microfusion, under the auspices of the Polish Physical Society. The scope of the PLASMA conferences, which have been organized every two years since 1993, covers almost all issues of plasma physics and fusion research as well as selected problems of plasma technology. The PLASMA-2013 conference topics included: •Elementary processes and general plasma physics. •Plasmas in tokamaks and stellarators (magnetic confinement fusion). •Plasmas generated by laser beams and inertial confinement fusion. •Plasmas produced by Z-pinch and plasma-focus discharges. •Low-temperature plasma physics. •Space plasmas and laboratory astrophysics. •Plasma diagnostic methods and applications of plasmas. This conference was designed not only for plasma researchers and engineers, but also for students from all over the world, in particular for those from Central and Eastern Europe. Almost 140 participants had the opportunity to hear 9 general lectures, 11 topical talks and 26 oral presentations, as well as to see and discuss around 120 posters. From about 140 contributions, after the preparation of about 100 papers and the peer review process, only 74 papers have been accepted for publication in this topical issue. Acknowledgments Acting on behalf of the International Scientific Committee I would like to express our thanks to all the invited speakers and all the participants of the PLASMA-2013 conference for their numerous contributions. In particular, I wish to thank all of the authors of papers submitted for publication in this topical issue of Physica Scripta . Particular thanks are due to all of the reviewers for their valuable reports and comments, which helped to improve the quality of many of the papers. International Scientific Committee Marek J Sadowski, NCBJ, Otwock, Poland—Chairman Dimitri Batani, Universite Bordeaux, France Sergio Ciattaglia, ITER, Cadarache, France Michael Dudeck, UPMC, Paris, France Igor E Garkusha, NSC KIPT, Kharkov, Ukraine Zbigniew Kłos, CBK PAN, Warsaw Giorgio Maddaluno, ENEA Frascati, Italy Andrea Murari, EFDA JET, Culham, UK Józef Musielok, University of Opole, Poland Svetlana Ratynskaia, RIT, Stockholm, Sweden Karel Rohlena, IP CAS, Prague, Czech Republic Valentin Smirnov, Rosatom, Moscow, Russia Francisco Tabares, CIEMAT, Madrid, Spain Lorenzo Torrisi, University of Messina, Messina, Italy Jerzy Wołowski, IFPiLM, Warsaw, Poland Urszula Woźnicka, IFJ PAN, Cracow, Poland Local Organizing Committee Jerzy Wołowski—Chairman Paweł Gąsior—Secretary Zofia Kalinowska Ewa Kowalska-Strzęciwilk Monika Kubkowska Anita Pokorska Ryszard Panfil Joanna Dziak-Beme Conference website: http://plasma2013.ipplm.pl/

List of Posters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

List of Posters: Dark matter annihilation in the Galactic galo, by Dokuchaev Vyacheslav, et al. NEMO developments towards km3 telescope in the Mediterranean Sea. The NEMO project. Neutrino Mediterranean Observatory By Antonio Capone, NEMO Collaboration. Alignment as a result from QCD jet production or new still unknown physics at LHC? By Alexander Snigirev. Small-scale fluctuations of extensive air showers: systematics in energy and muon density estimation By Grigory Rubtsov. SHINIE: Simulation of High-Energy Neutrino Interacting with the Earth By Lin Guey-Lin, et al.. Thermodynamics of rotating solutions in n+1 dimensional Einstein - Maxwell -dilation gravity By Ahmad Sheykhi, et al.. Supernova neutrino physics with future large Cherenkov detectors By Daniele Montanino. Crossing of the Cosmological Constant Barrier in the string Inspired Dark Energy Model By S. Yu. Vernov. Calculations of radio signals produced by ultra-high and extremely high energy neutrino induced cascades in Antarctic ice By D. Besson, et al.. Inflation, Cosmic Acceleration and string Gravity By Ischwaree Neupane. Neutrino Physics: Charm and J/Psi production in the atmosphere By Liudmila Volkova. Three generation flavor transitions and decays of supernova relic neutrinos By Daniele Montanino. Lattice calculations & computational quantum field theory: Sonification of Quark and Baryon Spectra By Markum Harald, et al.. Generalized Kramers-Wannier Duality for spin systems with non-commutative symmetry By V. M. Buchstaber, et al.. Heavy ion collisions & quark matter: Nuclear matter jets and multifragmentation By Danut Argintaru, et al.. QCD hard interactions: The qT-spectrum of the Higgs and Slepton-pairs at the LHC By Guiseppe Bozzi. QCD soft interactions: Nonperturbative effects in Single-Spin Asymmetries: Instantons and TMD-parton distributions By Igor Cherednikov, et al.. Gluon dominance model and high multiplicity By Elena Kokoulina. Resonances in eta pi- pi- pi+ system By Dmitry Ryabchikov. Saturation effects in diffractive scattering at LHC By Oleg Selugin. A nonperturbative expansion method in QCD and R-related quantities By Igor Solovtsov. Z-scaling and high multiplicity particle Production in bar pp/pp & AA collisions at Tevatron and RHIC By Mikhail Tokarev. Scaling behaviour of the reactionsdd - > p↑ /3H and pd - > pd with pT at energy I-2 GeV By Yuri Uzikov. [ADS Note: Title formula can not be rendered correctly in ASCII.] CP violation, rare decays, CKM: Precision Measurements of the Mass of the Top Quark at CDF (Precision Top Mass Measurements at CDF) By Daniel Whiteson. Measurement of the Bs Oscillation at CDF By Luciano Ristori. The Bs mixing phase at LHCb By J. J. van Hunen. ATLAS preparations for precise measurements of semileptonic rare B decays By K. Toms. Hadron spectroscopy & exotics: Searches for radial excited states of charmonium in experiments using cooled antiproton beams By M. Yu. Barabanov. Retardation effects in the rotating string model By Fabien Buisseret and Claude Semay. Final results from VEPP-2M (CMD-2 and SND) By G. V. Fedotovich. Heavy Quark Physics: Prospects for B physics measurements using the CMS detector at the LHC By Andreev Valery. Heavy flavour production at HERA-B By Andrey Bogatyrev. B-Meson subleading form factors in the Heavy Quark Effective Theory (HQET) By Frederic Jugeau. Beyond the Standard Model: Monopole Decay in a Variable External Field By Andrey Zayakin. Two-Loop matching coefficients for the strong coupling in the MSSM By Mihaila Luminita. Test of lepton flavour violation at LHC By Hidaka Keisho. Looking at New Physics through 4 jets and no ET By Maity Manas. Are Preons Dyons? Naturalness of Three Generations By Das Chitta Ranjan. SUSY Dark Matter at Linear Collider By Sezen Sekmen, Mehmet Zeyrek. MSSM light Higgs boson scenario and its test at hadron colliders By Alexander Belyaev. Antiscalar Approach to Gravity and Standard Model By E. Mychelkin. GRID distributed analysis in high energy physics: PAX: Physics Analysis Design and Application on the GRID By Martin Erdmann, et al.. D0 and the (SAM) GRID: An ongoing success story DO Collaboration. R & D for future accelerators, detectors & new facilities: High Level Trigger Selection in the CMS experiment By Monica Vazquez Acosta. R&D for a Helical Undulator Based Positron Source for the International Linear Collider By Phil Allport. Muon Detection, Reconstruction and Identification in CMS By Ivan Belotelov. Acoustic Measurements for EeV Neutrino Detection at the South Pole By Sebastian Böser. The PSI source of ultracold neutrons (UCN) By Manfred Daum. The LHCb Pixel Hybrid Photon Detectors (Characterization of Nybrig Photon Detectors for the LHCb experiment) By Neville Harnew, et al.. Semi-Insulating GaN-radiation hard semiconductor for ionizing radiation detectors By Juozas Vaitkus. Monitored Drift Tube end-cap spectrometer for the ATLAS detector By Dmitri Kotchetkov. Development of Focusing Aerogel RICH By Sergey Kononov, et al.. Electromagnetic Calibration of the Hadronic Tile Calorimeter Modules of the ATLAS detector at the LHC By Iouri Koultchitski. A Study of Proximity focusing RICH with Multiple Refractive Index Aerogel Radiator By Peter Krizan. The Heavy Flavor Tracker (HFT) for STAR By Vasil Kuspil. ATLAS Liquid Argon Calorimeter ATLAS Collaboration: Field Emission in HEP Colliders Initiated by a Relativistic Positively Charged Bunch of Particles By Boris Levchenko. MICE: the international Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment By Kenneth Long. In situ calibration of the CMS electromagnetic calorimeter By Augustino Lorenzo. The Transition Radiation Tracker for the ATLAS experiment at the LHC By Victor Maleev. Resonance depolarization and Compton-Backscattering technique for beam energy measurement of VEPP-4M collider By Ivan Nikolaev, et al.. CCD - based Pixel Detectors by LCFI By Andrei Nomerotski. The SiD Detector Concept for the International Linear Collider By Dmitry Onoprienko. CMS Hadron Calorimetry, Calibration, and Jets/Missing Transverse Energy Measurements By Sergey Petrushanko. The CMS Silicon Tracker By Oliver Pooth. Drift Chamber for CMD-3 detector By Alexandr Popov, et al.. Vacuum Phototriods for the CMS ECAL Endcap crystal calorimeter By Vladimir Postoev. CMS Silicon Tracker: Track Reconstruction and Alignment By Frank-Peter Schilling. eRHIC - A precision electron-proton/ion collider facility at Brookhaven National Laboratory By Bernd Surrow. Development of tracking detectors with industrially produced GEM foils By Bernd Surrow, et al.. A Linear Collider Facility with High Intensity e+e- beams (A high intensity e+e- Linear Collider Facility at low energy) By Andre Schoening. Construction of the BESIII detector for tau-charm physics By Yifang Wang. The HERMES Recoil Detector By Sergey Yashchenko. Simulation of MICE in G4 MICE MICE Experiment: The new DO Layer O silicon detector The DO trigger upgrade for RUNIIb The Do Collaboration. Operational experiences with the silicon detector at CDF By Jeannine Wagner. Mathematical aspects of QFT & string theory: Electron in superstrong Coulomb field By D. Gitman. Stability of a non-commutative Jackiw-Teitelboim gravity By Fresneda Rodrigo, et al.. 4d gravity localized on thick branes: the complete mass spectrum By Alfredo Herrera-Aguilar. On Emergence of Quantum Mechanics By L. V. Prokhorov.

Two year-long continuous monitoring of PM1 aerosol chemical composition at the Cyprus Atmospheric Observatory. Source apportionment of the Organic content and geographic origins.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stavroulas, Iasonas; Pikridas, Michael; Oikonomou, Kostantina; Vasiliadou, Emily; Savvides, Chrysanthos; Vrekoussis, Mihalis; Mihalopoulos, Nikolaos; Gros, Valerie; Sciare, Jean

2017-04-01

Particulate matter with diameter smaller than 1{μ}m (PM1) induces direct and indirect effects on local and regional pollution, global climate and health. As of the beginning of 2015, the chemical composition of submicron aerosols, is continuously being monitored at the newly established Cyprus Atmospheric Observatory (CAO, http://www.cyi.ac.cy/index.php/cao.html), a national facility of the ACTRIS Research Infrastructure operated by The Cyprus Institute. Cyprus, an island located in the Eastern Mediterranean Middle East region and influenced by diverse air masses throughout the year, is ideal for monitoring photochemically aged aerosols and gaseous pollutants of both natural and anthropogenic origin. Furthermore this is a unique dataset for this area in such proximity to the Middle East, a poorly documented area in terms of atmospheric aerosol observations. An Aerodyne Quadrupole Aerosol Chemical Speciation Monitor (Q-ACSM) is currently deployed at the CAO premises (35.04N - 33.06E) situated at the rural area of Agia Marina Xyliatou on the foothill of mount Troodos at an elevation of 532m above sea level (asl). The ACSM delivers chemical composition of the major non-refractory aerosol (PM1) chemical constituents (organics, sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, chloride) with an effective (close to 100{%}) collection efficiency for particles in the diameter range of 65-700 nm at a 30 minute temporal resolution. Black Carbon (BC) was also monitored using both Magee Scientific AE-31 and AE-33 aethalometers. Quality control of the PM chemical dataset was conducted by comparison with chemical analysis performed on collocated 24-h filter samples (PM1) and comparison with 1-h PM2.5 derived from a Thermo Scientific TEOM (1400a) Monitor. Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) was conducted and different organic aerosol factors were distinguished using the Igor based SoFi toolkit utilizing the ME-2 multilinear engine. Air mass origin was investigated for each measurement day using the Lagrangian dispersion model FLEXPART in backward mode. Analysis of the PMF on the organic mass spectra, based on good agreement with external standard mass spectra, led to the selection of a solution with three factors, an HOA (Hydrocarbon-like Organic Aerosol) factor with relatively low overall contribution (9{%}), a typical Low Volatility (LV-OOA) factor contributing 54{%}, and a factor attributed to Semi-Volatile organics (SV-OOA), contributing 37{%}. The FLEXPART model analysis, led to eight main regions of influence, namely Europe, West Turkey, Anatolia, Middle East, North Africa, Marine, Local and Mixed. Organic content exhibits maximum values when air masses originate from the wider northern sector (West Turkey and Anatolia) and the Middle East. Less aged organic content was identified for air masses originating from the immediate neighboring regions (West Turkey, Anatolia, Middle East and North Africa) while fresh organics peaked when air masses originated from the Middle East, coinciding with elevated BC concentrations, suggesting strong anthropogenic sources for this sector. This project received funding from the ChArMEx (Chemistry Aerosol Mediterranean Experiment) program, the ENVI-MED CyAr project, the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) project BACCHUS under grant agreement no. 603445, and the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme ACTRIS-2 under grant agreement No 654109.

EDITORIAL: Editorial from the new Editor-in-Chief for 2014 Editorial from the new Editor-in-Chief for 2014

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Graham, W. G.

2014-02-01

I am honoured to take on the leadership of Plasma Sources Science and Technology (PSST) as the successor to Professor Mark J Kushner, with whom I have had the pleasure to work on the journal for many years. Under Mark's insightful and energetic leadership over the last six years, PSST has cemented its position as the journal of choice within its subject area and is now one of the most successful journals in the field. In this first issue of 2014, I would like to reflect on some of the events and achievements of 2013. At the start of the year the PSST Editorial Board, recognizing the vital importance of atomic, molecular and optical (AMO) data to low-temperature plasma physics, agreed that PSST would accept papers reporting such new data, generated through both experiment and theory. Jonathan Tennyson joined the Editorial Board to represent this area. In March Anne Bourdon joined the Associate Editor team and has since then played a key part in the journal's review process alongside our other Editors. During the autumn, PSST moved to a new editorial management system. In December Deborah O'Connell was awarded the 2013 Hershkowitz Early Career Award and Review and joins the Editorial Board as of 2014. I would also like to thank Miles Turner for his work in leading the drafting of a guide on the details necessary in the reporting of the results of computer simulations; the main conclusions of this report have been incorporated into the journal policy. Overall 2013 has been another successful year for PSST; paper submissions were up by 8% on the previous year and there was the highest ever number of downloads of PSST papers in one year. Another noteworthy feature of 2013 was the continuing improvement in publication times while maintaining our high standards for acceptance and providing expert feedback coupled with encouragement particularly to younger researchers and groups. Largely as a result of the hard work of our referees and Associate Editors, the average time from receipt-to-first decision of a paper is only 50 days. In 2014 we will continue to support the low-temperature plasma physics community through the publication of special topical issues. Those already scheduled for next year are: Transport in B-fields in low temperature plasmas, Guest Editors: Rod Boswell and Igor D Kaganovich Spots and patterns on electrodes of gas discharges, Guest Editors: Mikhail S Benilov and Ulrich Kogelschatz Interaction of electromagnetic waves with low temperature plasmas, Guest Editors: Osamu Sakai and Shahid Rauf We will also launch a new feature: LabTalks, a way in which our authors can showcase their group's work and communicate their research published in PSST to a wider audience. Full details are on the PSST website. Along with the leadership team, made up of Associate Editors, Anne, Nick and Richard and the great PSST staff at Institute of Physics Publishing, led by Alice Malhador, I will strive to grow, improve and deliver a journal which reflects the excellent science from the low-temperature plasma community. We hope we can continue to count on your vital support as authors and referees.

Walking to Olympus: An EVA Chronology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Portree, David S. F.; Trevino, Robert C.

1997-01-01

Spacewalkers enjoy a view of Earth once reserved for Apollo, Zeus, and other denizens of Mt. Olympus. During humanity's first extravehicular activity (EVA), Alexei Leonov floated above Gibraltar, the rock ancient seafarers saw as the gateway to the great unknown Atlantic. The symbolism was clear, Leonov stepped past a new Gibraltar when he stepped into space. More than 32 years and 154 EVAs later, Jerry Linenger conducted an EVA with Vladimir Tsibliyev as part of International Space Station Phase 1. They floated together above Gibraltar. Today the symbolism has new meaning: humanity is starting to think of stepping out of Earth orbit, space travel's new Gibraltar, and perhaps obtaining a new olympian view, a close-up look at Olympus Mons on Mars. Walking to Olympus: An EVA Chronology chronicles the 154 EVAs conducted from March 1965 to April 1997. It is intended to make clear the crucial role played by EVA in the history of spaceflight, as well as to chronicle the large body of EVA "lessons learned." Russia and the U.S. define EVA differently. Russian cosmonauts are said to perform EVA any time they are in vacuum in a space suit. A U.S. astronaut must have at least his head outside his spacecraft before he is said to perform an EVA. The difference is based in differing spacecraft design philoso- phies. Russian and Soviet spacecraft have always had a specialized airlock through which the EVA cosmonaut egressed, leaving the main habitable volume of the spacecraft pressurized. The U.S. Gemini and Apollo vehicles, on the other hand, depressurized their entire habitable volume for egress. In this document, we apply the Russian definition to Russian EVAS, and the U.S. definition to U.S. EVAS. Thus, for example, Gemini 4 Command Pilot James McDivitt does not share the honor of being first American spacewalker with Ed White, even though he was suited and in vacuum when White stepped out into space. Non-EVA spaceflights are listed in the chronology to provide context and to display the large num- ber of flights in which EVA played a role. This approach also makes apparent significant EVA gaps, for example, the U.S. gap between 1985 and 1991 following the Challenger accident. This NASA History Monograph is an edited extract from an extensive EVA Chronology and Reference Book being produced by the EVA Project Office, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas. The larger work will be published as part of the NASA Formal Series in 1998. The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance rendered by Max Ary, Ashot Bakunts, Gert-Jan Bartelds, Frank Cepollina, Andrew Chaikin, Phillip Clark, Richard Fullerton, Steven Glenn, Linda Godwin, Jennifer Green, Greg Harris, Clifford Hess, Jeffrey Hoffman, David Homan, Steven Hopkins, Nicholas Johnson, Eric Jones, Neville Kidger, Joseph Kosmo, Alexei Lebedev, Mark Lee, James LeBlanc, Dmitri Leshchenskii, Jerry Linenger, Igor Lissov, James McBarron, Clay McCullough, Joseph McMann, Story Musgrave, Dennis Newkirk, James Oberg, Joel Powell, Lee Saegesser, Andy Salmon, Glen Swanson, Joseph Tatarewicz, Kathy Thornton, Chris Vandenberg, Charles Vick, Bert Vis, David Woods, Mike Wright, John Young, and Keith Zimmerman. Special thanks to Laurie Buchanan, John Charles, Janet Kovacevich, Joseph Loftus, Sue McDonald, Martha Munies, Colleen Rapp, and Jerry Ross. Any errors remain the responsibility of the authors.

Comprehensive analysis of the HEPN superfamily: identification of novel roles in intra-genomic conflicts, defense, pathogenesis and RNA processing

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background The major role of enzymatic toxins that target nucleic acids in biological conflicts at all levels has become increasingly apparent thanks in large part to the advances of comparative genomics. Typically, toxins evolve rapidly hampering the identification of these proteins by sequence analysis. Here we analyze an unexpectedly widespread superfamily of toxin domains most of which possess RNase activity. Results The HEPN superfamily is comprised of all α-helical domains that were first identified as being associated with DNA polymerase β-type nucleotidyltransferases in prokaryotes and animal Sacsin proteins. Using sensitive sequence and structure comparison methods, we vastly extend the HEPN superfamily by identifying numerous novel families and by detecting diverged HEPN domains in several known protein families. The new HEPN families include the RNase LS and LsoA catalytic domains, KEN domains (e.g. RNaseL and Ire1) and the RNase domains of RloC and PrrC. The majority of HEPN domains contain conserved motifs that constitute a metal-independent endoRNase active site. Some HEPN domains lacking this motif probably function as non-catalytic RNA-binding domains, such as in the case of the mannitol repressor MtlR. Our analysis shows that HEPN domains function as toxins that are shared by numerous systems implicated in intra-genomic, inter-genomic and intra-organismal conflicts across the three domains of cellular life. In prokaryotes HEPN domains are essential components of numerous toxin-antitoxin (TA) and abortive infection (Abi) systems and in addition are tightly associated with many restriction-modification (R-M) and CRISPR-Cas systems, and occasionally with other defense systems such as Pgl and Ter. We present evidence of multiple modes of action of HEPN domains in these systems, which include direct attack on viral RNAs (e.g. LsoA and RNase LS) in conjunction with other RNase domains (e.g. a novel RNase H fold domain, NamA), suicidal or dormancy-inducing attack on self RNAs (RM systems and possibly CRISPR-Cas systems), and suicidal attack coupled with direct interaction with phage components (Abi systems). These findings are compatible with the hypothesis on coupling of pathogen-targeting (immunity) and self-directed (programmed cell death and dormancy induction) responses in the evolution of robust antiviral strategies. We propose that altruistic cell suicide mediated by HEPN domains and other functionally similar RNases was essential for the evolution of kin and group selection and cell cooperation. HEPN domains were repeatedly acquired by eukaryotes and incorporated into several core functions such as endonucleolytic processing of the 5.8S-25S/28S rRNA precursor (Las1), a novel ER membrane-associated RNA degradation system (C6orf70), sensing of unprocessed transcripts at the nuclear periphery (Swt1). Multiple lines of evidence suggest that, similar to prokaryotes, HEPN proteins were recruited to antiviral, antitransposon, apoptotic systems or RNA-level response to unfolded proteins (Sacsin and KEN domains) in several groups of eukaryotes. Conclusions Extensive sequence and structure comparisons reveal unexpectedly broad presence of the HEPN domain in an enormous variety of defense and stress response systems across the tree of life. In addition, HEPN domains have been recruited to perform essential functions, in particular in eukaryotic rRNA processing. These findings are expected to stimulate experiments that could shed light on diverse cellular processes across the three domains of life. Reviewers This article was reviewed by Martijn Huynen, Igor Zhulin and Nick Grishin PMID:23768067

PREFACE: International Symposium on (e,2e), Double Photoionization and Related Topics & 15th International Symposium on Polarization and Correlation in Electronic and Atomic Collisions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martin, Nicholas L. S.; deHarak, Bruno A.

2010-01-01

From 30 July to 1 August 2009, over a hundred scientists from 18 countries attended the International Symposium on (e,2e), Double Photoionization and Related Topics and the 15th International Symposium on Polarization and Correlation in Electronic and Atomic Collisions which were held at the W T Young Library of the University of Kentucky, USA. Both conferences were satellite meetings of the XXVI International Conference on Photonic, Electronic and Atomic Collisions (ICPEAC) held in Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA, 21-28 July 2009. These symposia covered a broad range of experimental and theoretical topics involving excitation, ionization (single and multiple), and molecular fragmentation, of a wide range of targets by photons and charged particles (polarized and unpolarized). Atomic targets ranged from hydrogen to the heavy elements and ions, while molecular targets ranged from H2 to large molecules of biological interest. On the experimental front, cold target recoil ion momentum spectroscopy (COLTRIMS), also known as the Reaction Microscope because of the complete information it gives about a wide variety of reactions, is becoming commonplace and has greatly expanded the ability of researchers to perform previously inaccessible coincidence experiments. Meanwhile, more conventional spectrometers are also advancing and have been used for increasingly sophisticated and exacting measurements. On the theoretical front great progress has been made in the description of target states, and in the scattering calculations used to describe both simple and complex reactions. The international nature of collaborations between theorists and experimentalists is exemplified by, for example, the paper by Ren et al which has a total of 13 authors of whom the experimental group of six is from Heidelberg, Germany, one theoretical group is from Australia, with the remainder of the theoreticians coming from several different institutions in the United States. A total of 52 invited talks and 44 submitted posters covered recent advances in these topics. These proceedings present papers on 35 of the invited talks. The Local Organizers gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences, and the University of Kentucky Department of Physics and Astronomy. We also thank Carol Cotrill, Eva Ellis, Diane Yates, Sarah Crowe, and John Nichols, of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kentucky for their invaluable assistance in the smooth running of the conferences; Oleksandr Korneta for taking the group photograph; and Emily Martin for helping accompanying persons. Nicholas L S Martin University of Kentucky Bruno A deHarak Illinois Wesleyan University International Scientific Organizing Committee Co-Chairs Don Madison (USA)Klaus Bartschat (USA) Members Lorenzo Avaldi (Italy)Nils Andersen (Denmark) Jamal Berakdar (Germany)Uwe Becker (Germany) Michael Brunger (Australia)Igor Bray (Australia) Greg Childers (USA)Nikolay Cherepkov (Russia) JingKang Deng (China)Albert Crowe (UK) Alexander Dorn (Germany)Danielle Dowek (France) Jim Feagin (USA)Oscar Fojon (Argentina) Nikolay Kabachnik (Russia)Tim Gay (USA) Anatoli Kheifets (Australia)Alexei Grum-Grzhimailo (Russia) George King (UK)Friedrich Hanne (Germany) Tom Kirchner (Germany)Alan Huetz (France) Azzedine Lahmam-Bennani (France)Morty Khakoo (USA) Julian Lower (Australia)Birgit Lohmann (Australia) William McCurdy (USA)Bill McConkey (Canada) Andrew Murray (UK)Rajesh Srivastava (India) Bernard Piraux (Belgium)Al Stauffer (Canada) Tim Reddish (Canada)Jim Williams (Australia) Roberto Rivarola (Argentina)Akira Yagishita (Japan) Michael Schulz (USA)Peter Zetner (Canada) Anthony Starace (USA)Joachim Ullrich (Germany) Giovanni Stefani (Italy)Erich Weigold (Australia) Masahiko Takahashi (Japan) Conference photograph

Comprehensive analysis of the HEPN superfamily: identification of novel roles in intra-genomic conflicts, defense, pathogenesis and RNA processing.

PubMed

Anantharaman, Vivek; Makarova, Kira S; Burroughs, A Maxwell; Koonin, Eugene V; Aravind, L

2013-06-15

The major role of enzymatic toxins that target nucleic acids in biological conflicts at all levels has become increasingly apparent thanks in large part to the advances of comparative genomics. Typically, toxins evolve rapidly hampering the identification of these proteins by sequence analysis. Here we analyze an unexpectedly widespread superfamily of toxin domains most of which possess RNase activity. The HEPN superfamily is comprised of all α-helical domains that were first identified as being associated with DNA polymerase β-type nucleotidyltransferases in prokaryotes and animal Sacsin proteins. Using sensitive sequence and structure comparison methods, we vastly extend the HEPN superfamily by identifying numerous novel families and by detecting diverged HEPN domains in several known protein families. The new HEPN families include the RNase LS and LsoA catalytic domains, KEN domains (e.g. RNaseL and Ire1) and the RNase domains of RloC and PrrC. The majority of HEPN domains contain conserved motifs that constitute a metal-independent endoRNase active site. Some HEPN domains lacking this motif probably function as non-catalytic RNA-binding domains, such as in the case of the mannitol repressor MtlR. Our analysis shows that HEPN domains function as toxins that are shared by numerous systems implicated in intra-genomic, inter-genomic and intra-organismal conflicts across the three domains of cellular life. In prokaryotes HEPN domains are essential components of numerous toxin-antitoxin (TA) and abortive infection (Abi) systems and in addition are tightly associated with many restriction-modification (R-M) and CRISPR-Cas systems, and occasionally with other defense systems such as Pgl and Ter. We present evidence of multiple modes of action of HEPN domains in these systems, which include direct attack on viral RNAs (e.g. LsoA and RNase LS) in conjunction with other RNase domains (e.g. a novel RNase H fold domain, NamA), suicidal or dormancy-inducing attack on self RNAs (RM systems and possibly CRISPR-Cas systems), and suicidal attack coupled with direct interaction with phage components (Abi systems). These findings are compatible with the hypothesis on coupling of pathogen-targeting (immunity) and self-directed (programmed cell death and dormancy induction) responses in the evolution of robust antiviral strategies. We propose that altruistic cell suicide mediated by HEPN domains and other functionally similar RNases was essential for the evolution of kin and group selection and cell cooperation. HEPN domains were repeatedly acquired by eukaryotes and incorporated into several core functions such as endonucleolytic processing of the 5.8S-25S/28S rRNA precursor (Las1), a novel ER membrane-associated RNA degradation system (C6orf70), sensing of unprocessed transcripts at the nuclear periphery (Swt1). Multiple lines of evidence suggest that, similar to prokaryotes, HEPN proteins were recruited to antiviral, antitransposon, apoptotic systems or RNA-level response to unfolded proteins (Sacsin and KEN domains) in several groups of eukaryotes. Extensive sequence and structure comparisons reveal unexpectedly broad presence of the HEPN domain in an enormous variety of defense and stress response systems across the tree of life. In addition, HEPN domains have been recruited to perform essential functions, in particular in eukaryotic rRNA processing. These findings are expected to stimulate experiments that could shed light on diverse cellular processes across the three domains of life. This article was reviewed by Martijn Huynen, Igor Zhulin and Nick Grishin.

Sensitivity of ocean model simulation in the coastal ocean to the resolution of the meteorological forcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Feng; Shapiro, Georgy; Thain, Richard

2013-04-01

The quality of ocean simulations depends on a number of factors such as approximations in governing equations, errors introduced by the numerical scheme, uncertainties in input parameters, and atmospheric forcing. The identification of relations between the uncertainties in input and output data is still a challenge for the development of numerical models. The impacts of ocean variables on ocean models are still not well known (e.g., Kara et al., 2009). Given the considerable importance of the atmospheric forcing to the air-sea interaction, it is essential that researchers in ocean modelling work need a good understanding about how sensitive the atmospheric forcing is to variations of model results, which is beneficial to the development of ocean models. Also, it provides a proper way to choose the atmospheric forcing in ocean modelling applications. Our previous study (Shapiro et al, 2011) has shown that the basin-wide circulation pattern and the temperature structure in the Black Sea produced by the same model is significantly dependent on the source of the meteorological input, giving remarkably different responses. For the purpose of this study we have chosen the Celtic Sea where high resolution meteo data are available from the UK Met office since 2006. The Celtic Sea is tidally dominated water basin, with the tidal stream amplitude varying from 0.25m/s in the southwest to 2 m/s in the Bristol Channel. It is also filled with mesoscale eddies which contribute to the formation of the residual (tidally averaged) circulation pattern (Young et al, 2003). The sea is strongly stratified from April to November, which adds to the formation of density driven currents. In this paper we analyse how sensitive the model output is to variations in the spatial resolution of meteorological using low (1.6°) and high (0.11°) resolution meteo forcing, giving the quantitative relation between variations of met forcing and the resulted differences of model results, as well as identifying the causes. The length scales of most energetic dynamic features in both ocean and atmosphere are defined by the Rossby radius of deformation, which is about 1000 km (a typical size of a cyclone) in the atmosphere while only 10-20 km (a size of a mesoscale eddy) in a shallow sea. However sub-mesoscale atmospheric patterns such as patchiness in the cloud cover could result in smaller scale variations of both the wind and solar radiation hence creating a direct link of these smaller atmospheric features with the ocean mesoscale variability. The simulation has been performed using a version of POLCOMS numerical model (Enriquez et al, 2005). Tidal boundary conditions were taken from the Oregon State University European Shelf Tidal Model (Egbert et al, 2010) and the temperature/ salinity initial fields and boundary conditions were taken from the World Ocean Database (Boyer et al, 2004). The paper discusses what elements of the circulation and water column structure are mostly sensitive to the meteo-fields resolution. References Kara, A.B., Wallcraft, A.J., Hurlburt, H.E., Loh, W.-Y., 2009. Which surface atmospheric variable drives the seasonal cycle of sea surface temperature over the global ocean? Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 114, D05101. Boyer, .T, S. Levitus, H. Garcia, R. Locarnini, C. Stephens, and J. Antonov, T. Boyer, S. Levitus, H. Garcia, R. Locarnini, C. Stephens, and J. Antonov, 2004. Objective Analyses of Annual, Seasonal, and Monthly Temperature and Salinity for the World Ocean on a ¼ Grid. International Journal of Climatology, 25, 931-945. Egbert, G. D., S. Y. Erofeeva, and R. D. Ray, 2010. Assimilation of altimetry data for nonlinear shallow-water tides: quarter-diurnal tides of the Northwest European Shelf, Continental Shelf Research, 30, 668-679. Enriquez, C. E., G. I. Shapiro, A. J. Souza, and A. G. Zatsepin, 2005. Hydrodynamic modelling of mesoscale eddies in the Black Sea. Ocean Dyn., 55, 476-489. Georgy Shapiro, Dmitry Aleynik , Andrei Zatsepin , Valentina Khan, Valery Prostakishin , Tatiana Akivis , Vladimir Belokopytov , Anton Sviridov , and Vladimir Piotukh . 2011. Response of water temperature in the Black Sea to atmospheric forcing: the sensitivity study. Geophysical Research Abstracts. Vol. 13, EGU2011-933

List of Participants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2008-11-01

Mohab Abou ZeidInstitut des Hautes Études Scientifiques, Bures-sur-Yvette Ido AdamMax-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik (AEI), Potsdam Henrik AdorfLeibniz Universität Hannover Mohammad Ali-AkbariIPM, Tehran Antonio Amariti Università di Milano-Bicocca Nicola Ambrosetti Université de Neuchâtel Martin Ammon Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Christopher AndreyÉcole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) Laura AndrianopoliPolitecnico di Torino David AndriotLPTHE, Université UPMC Paris VI Carlo Angelantonj Università di Torino Pantelis ApostolopoulosUniversitat de les Illes Balears, Palma Gleb ArutyunovInstitute for Theoretical Physics, Utrecht University Davide AstolfiUniversità di Perugia Spyros AvramisUniversité de Neuchâtel Mirela BabalicChalmers University, Göteborg Foday BahDigicom Ioannis Bakas University of Patras Igor BandosUniversidad de Valencia Jose L F BarbonIFTE UAM/CSIC Madrid Till BargheerMax-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik (AEI), Potsdam Marco Baumgartl Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH), Zürich James BedfordImperial College London Raphael BenichouLaboratoire de Physique Théorique, École Normale Supérieure, Paris Francesco Benini SISSA, Trieste Eric Bergshoeff Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Groningen Alice BernamontiVrije Universiteit, Brussel Julia BernardLaboratoire de Physique Théorique, École Normale Supérieure, Paris Adel Bilal Laboratoire de Physique Théorique, École Normale Supérieure, Paris Marco Billo' Università di Torino Matthias Blau Université de Neuchâtel Guillaume BossardAlbert-Einstein-Institut, Golm Leonardo BriziÉcole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) Johannes BroedelLeibniz Universität Hannover (AEI) Tom BrownQueen Mary, University of London Ilka BrunnerEidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH), Zürich Erling BrynjolfssonUniversity of Iceland Dmitri BykovSteklov Institute, Moscow and Trinity College, Dublin Joan CampsUniversitat de Barcelona Davide CassaniLaboratoire de Physique Théorique, École Normale Supérieure, Paris Alejandra CastroUniversity of Michigan Claudio Caviezel Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Alessio Celi Universitat de Barcelona Anna Ceresole Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Università di Torino Athanasios ChatzistavrakidisNational Technical University of Athens Wissam ChemissanyCentre for Theoretical Physics, University of Groningen Eugen-Mihaita CioroianuUniversity of Craiova Andres CollinucciTechnische Universität Wien Paul CookUniversità di Roma, Tor Vergata Lorenzo CornalbaUniversità di Milano-Bicocca Aldo CotroneKatholieke Universiteit Leuven Ben Craps Vrije Universiteit, Brussel Stefano Cremonesi SISSA, Trieste Riccardo D'AuriaPolitecnico di Torino Gianguido Dall'AgataUniversity of Padova Jose A de AzcarragaUniversidad de Valencia Jan de BoerInstituut voor Theoretische Fysica, Universiteit van Amsterdam Sophie de BuylInstitut des Hautes Études Scientifiques, Bures-sur-Yvette Marius de LeeuwUtrecht University Frederik De RooVrije Universiteit, Brussel Jan De Rydt Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and CERN, Geneva Bernard de WitInstitute for Theoretical Physics, Utrecht University Stephane DetournayIstituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Milano Paolo Di Vecchia Niels Bohr Institute, København Eugen DiaconuUniversity of Craiova Vladimir Dobrev Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia Nick DoreyUniversity of Cambridge Hajar Ebrahim NajafabadiIPM, Tehran Federico Elmetti Università di Milano Oleg Evnin Vrije Universiteit, Brussel Francesco Fiamberti Università di Milano Davide Forcella SISSA, Trieste and CERN, Geneva Valentina Forini Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Angelos Fotopoulos Università di Torino Denis Frank Université de Neuchâtel Marialuisa Frau Università di Torino Matthias Gaberdiel Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH), Zürich Diego Gallego SISSA/ISAS, Trieste Maria Pilar Garcia del MoralIstituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Università di Torino Valentina Giangreco Marotta PulettiUppsala University Valeria L GiliQueen Mary, University of London Luciano GirardelloUniversità di Milano-Bicocca Gian GiudiceCERN, Geneva Kevin Goldstein Institute for Theoretical Physics, Utrecht University Joaquim Gomis Universitat de Barcelona Pietro Antonio GrassiUniversità del Piemonte Orientale, Alessandria Viviane GraßLudwig-Maximilians-Universität, München Gianluca Grignani Università di Perugia Luca Griguolo Università di Parma Johannes GrosseJagiellonian University, Krakow Umut Gursoy École Polytechnique, Palaiseau Norberto Gutierrez RodriguezUniversity of Oviedo Babak HaghighatPhysikalisches Institut, Universität Bonn Troels Harmark Niels Bohr Institute, København Robert HaslhoferEidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH), Zürich Tae-Won HaPhysikalisches Institut, Universität Bonn Alexander HauptImperial College London and Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik (AEI), Potsdam Marc HenneauxUniversité Libre de Bruxelles Johannes HennLAPTH, Annecy-le-Vieux Shinji HiranoNiels Bohr Institute, København Stefan HoheneggerEidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH), Zürich Jan HomannLudwig-Maximilians-Universität, München Gabriele Honecker CERN, Geneva Joost HoogeveenInstituut voor Theoretische Fysica, Universiteit van Amsterdam Mechthild HuebscherUniversidad Autónoma de Madrid Chris HullImperial College London Carmen-Liliana IonescuUniversity of Craiova Ella JasminUniversité Libre de Bruxelles Konstantin KanishchevInstitute of Theoretical Physics, University of Warsaw Stefanos Katmadas Utrecht University Alexandros KehagiasNational Technical University of Athens Christoph Keller Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH), Zürich Patrick Kerner Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Rebiai KhaledLaboratoire de Physique Mathématique et Physique Subatomique, Université Mentouri, Constantine Elias Kiritsis Centre de Physique Théorique, École Polytechnique, Palaiseau and University of Crete Denis KleversPhysikalisches Institut, Universität Bonn Paul Koerber Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Simon Koers Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Karl KollerLudwig-Maximilians-Universität, München Peter Koroteev Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics (ITEP), Moscow and Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik (AEI), Potsdam Alexey KoshelevVrije Universiteit, Brussel Costas KounnasÉcole Normale Supérieure, Paris Daniel KreflCERN, Geneva Charlotte KristjansenNiels Bohr Institute, København Finn LarsenCERN, Geneva and University of Michigan Arnaud Le DiffonÉcole Normale Supérieure, Lyon Michael LennekCentre de Physique Théorique, École Polytechnique, Palaiseau Alberto Lerda Università del Piemonte Orientale, Alessandria Andreas LiberisUniversity of Patras Maria A Lledo Universidad de Valencia Oscar Loaiza-Brito CINVESTAV, Mexico Florian Loebbert Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik (AEI), Potsdam Yolanda Lozano University of Oviedo Dieter Luest Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München Tomasz Łukowski Jagiellonian University, Krakow Diego Mansi University of Crete Alberto Mariotti Università di Milano-Bicocca Raffaele Marotta Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Napoli Alessio Marrani Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare and LNF, Firenze Andrea Mauri University of Crete Liuba Mazzanti École Polytechnique, Palaiseau Sean McReynoldsUniversità di Milano-Bicocca AKM Moinul Haque Meaze Chittagong University Patrick Meessen Instituto de Física Teórica, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Carlo MeneghelliUniversità di Parma and Albert-Einstein-Institut, Golm Lotta Mether University of Helsinki and CERN, Geneva René Meyer Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Georgios MichalogiorgakisCenter de Physique Théorique, École Polytechnique, Palaiseau Giuseppe Milanesi Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH), Zürich Samuel Monnier Université de Genève Wolfgang MueckUniversità di Napoli Federico II Elena Méndez Escobar University of Edinburgh Iulian Negru University of Craiova Emil NissimovInstitute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy, Sofia Teake NutmaCentre for Theoretical Physics, University of Groningen Niels Obers Niels Bohr Institute, København Olof Ohlsson SaxUppsala University Rodrigo OleaIstituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Milano Domenico OrlandoUniversité de Neuchâtel Marta Orselli Niels Bohr Institute, København Tomas OrtinInstituto de Física Teórica, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Yaron OzTel Aviv University Enrico PajerLudwig-Maximilians-Universität, München Angel Paredes GalanUtrecht University Sara PasquettiUniversité de Neuchâtel Silvia PenatiUniversità di Milano-Bicocca Jan PerzKatholieke Universiteit Leuven Igor PesandoUniversità di Torino Tassos PetkouUniversity of Crete Marios PetropoulosCenter de Physique Théorique, École Polytechnique, Palaiseau Franco PezzellaIstituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Napoli Moises Picon PonceUniversity of Padova Marco PirroneUniversità di Milano-Bicocca Andrea PrinslooUniversity of Cape Town Joris RaeymaekersKatholieke Universiteit Leuven Alfonso RamalloUniversidade de Santiago de Compostela Carlo Alberto RattiUniversità di Milano-Bicocca Marco RauchPhysikalisches Institut, Universität Bonn Ronald Reid-EdwardsUniversity of Hamburg Patricia RitterUniversity of Edinburgh Peter RoenneDESY, Hamburg Jan RosseelUniversità di Torino Clement RuefService de Physique Théorique, CEA Saclay Felix RustMax-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Thomas RyttovNiels Bohr Institute, København and CERN, Geneva Agustin Sabio VeraCERN, Geneva Christian SaemannTrinity College, Dublin Houman Safaai SISSA, Trieste Henning SamtlebenÉcole Normale Supérieure, Lyon Alberto SantambrogioIstituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Milano Silviu Constantin SararuUniversity of Craiova Ricardo SchiappaCERN, Geneva Ionut Romeo SchiopuChalmers University, Göteborg Cornelius Schmidt-ColinetEidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH), Zürich Johannes SchmudeSwansea University Waldemar SchulginLaboratoire de Physique Théorique, École Normale Supérieure, Paris Domenico SeminaraUniversità di Firenze Alexander SevrinVrije Universiteit, Brussel Konstadinos SfetsosUniversity of Patras Igor ShenderovichSt Petersburg State University Jonathan ShockUniversidade de Santiago de Compostela Massimo SianiUniversità di Milano-Bicocca Christoph SiegUniversità Degli Studi di Milano Joan SimonUniversity of Edinburgh Paul SmythUniversity of Hamburg Luca SommovigoUniversidad de Valencia Dmitri Sorokin Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Padova Christos SourdisUniversity of Patras Wieland StaessensVrije Universiteit, Brussel Ivan StefanovUniversity of Patras Sigurdur StefanssonUniversity of Iceland Kellogg Stelle Imperial College London Giovanni Tagliabue Università di Milano Laura Tamassia Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Javier TarrioUniversidade de Santiago de Compostela Dimitri TerrynVrije Universiteit, Brussel Larus Thorlacius University of Iceland Mario ToninDipartimento Di Fisica, Sezione Di Padova Mario Trigiante Politecnico di Torino Efstratios TsatisUniversity of Patras Arkady TseytlinImperial College London Pantelis TziveloglouCornell University, New York and CERN, Geneva Angel Uranga CERN, Geneva Dieter Van den Bleeken Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Ernst van Eijk Università di Napoli Federico II Antoine Van Proeyen Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Maaike van ZalkUtrecht University Pierre Vanhove Service de Physique Théorique, CEA Saclay Silvia Vaula Instituto de Física Teórica, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Cristian Vergu Service de Physique Théorique, CEA Saclay Alessandro VichiÉcole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) Marlene WeissCERN, Geneva and Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH), Zürich Sebastian Weiss Université de Neuchâtel Alexander WijnsUniversity of Iceland Linus WulffUniversity of Padova Thomas WyderKatholieke Universiteit Leuven Ahmed YoussefAstroParticule et Cosmologie (APC), Université Paris Diderot Daniela ZanonUniversità Degli Studi di Milano Andrea ZanziPhysikalisches Institut, Universität Bonn Andrey ZayakinInstitute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics (ITEP), Moscow Tobias ZinggUniversity of Iceland Dimitrios ZoakosUniversidade de Santiago de Compostela Emanuele ZorzanUniversità di Milano Konstantinos ZoubosNiels Bohr Institute, København

EDITORIAL: Northern Hemisphere high latitude climate and environmental change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Groisman, Pavel; Soja, Amber

2007-10-01

High Northern Hemisphere latitudes are undergoing rapid and significant change associated with climate warming. Climatic change in this region interacts with and affects the rate of the global change through atmospheric circulation, biogeophysical, and biogeochemical feedbacks. Changes in the surface energy balance, hydrologic cycle, and carbon budget feedback to regional and global weather and climate systems. Two-thirds of the Northern Hemisphere high latitude land mass resides in Northern Eurasia (~20% of the global land mass), and this region has undergone sweeping socio-economic change throughout the 20th century. How this carbon-rich, cold region component of the Earth system functions as a regional entity and interacts with and feeds back to the greater global system is to a large extent unknown. To mitigate the deficiencies in understanding these feedbacks, which may in turn hamper our understanding of the global change rates and patterns, an initiative was formed. Three years ago the Northern Eurasia Earth Science Partnership Initiative (NEESPI) was established to address large-scale and long-term manifestations of climate and environmental change in this region. The NEESPI Science Plan and its Executive Summary have been published at the NEESPI web site (neespi.org). Since 2004, NEESPI participants have been able to seed several waves of research proposals to international and national funding agencies and institutions and also contribute to the International Polar Year. Currently, NEESPI is widely recognized and endorsed by several Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP) programmes and projects: the International Geosphere and Biosphere Programme, the World Climate Research Programme through the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment and Climate and Cryosphere Projects, the Global Water System Project, Global Carbon Project, Global Land Project, and the Integrated Land Ecosystem—Atmosphere Processes Study. Through NEESPI, more than 100 individually funded projects (always with international participation) in the United States, Russian Federation, China, European Union, Japan, and Canada have been mutually united to explore the scientifically significant Northern Eurasian region. NEESPI scientists have been quite productive during the past two years (2005 2006) publishing more than 200 books, book chapters, and papers in refereed journals. NEESPI sessions at international conferences are open to everyone who works on environmental and climate change problems in Northern Eurasia and the circumpolar boreal zone. This thematic issue brings together articles from the authors who presented their latest results at the Annual Fall American Geophysical Union Meeting in San Francisco (December 2006). The research letters in this issue are preceded by two editorial papers (Leptoukh et al and Sherstyukov et al) devoted to informational support of research in the NEESPI domain that is critical to the success of the Initiative. The following papers are quite diverse and are assembled into five groups devoted to studies of climate and hydrology, land cover and land use, the biogeochemical cycle and its feedbacks, the cryosphere, and human dimensions in the NEESPI domain and the circumpolar boreal zone. Focus on Northern Hemisphere High Latitude Climate and Environmental Change Contents The articles below represent the first accepted contributions and further additions will appear in the near future. Editorials NASA NEESPI Data and Services Center for Satellite Remote Sensing Information Gregory Leptoukh, Ivan Csiszar, Peter Romanov, Suhung Shen, Tatiana Loboda and Irina Gerasimov NEESPI Science and Data Support Center for Hydrometeorological Information in Obninsk, Russia B G Sherstyukov, V N Razuvaev, O N Bulygina and P Ya Groisman Climate and hydrology Changes in the fabric of the Arctic's greenhouse blanket Jennifer A Francis and Elias Hunter Spatial variations of summer precipitation trends in South Korea, 1973 2005 Heejun Chang and Won-Tae Kwon Land cover and land use Responses of the circumpolar boreal forest to 20th century climate variability Andrea H Lloyd and Andrew G Bunn The biogeochemical cycle and its feedbacks Sphagnum peatland development at their southern climatic range inWest Siberia: trends and peat accumulation patterns Anna Peregon, Masao Uchida and Yasuyuki Shibata Methane emissions from western Siberian wetlands: heterogeneity and sensitivity to climate change T J Bohn, D P Lettenmaier, K Sathulur, L C Bowling, E Podest, K C McDonald and T Friborg The cryosphere Potential feedback of thawing permafrost to the global climate system through methane emission O A Anisimov Glacier changes in the Siberian Altai Mountains, Ob river basin, (1952 2006) estimated with high resolution imagery A B Surazakov, V B Aizen, E M Aizen and S A Nikitin Human dimensions Food and water security in a changing arctic climate Daniel M White, S Craig Gerlach, Philip Loring, Amy C Tidwell and Molly C Chambers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Igor V. Litvinyuk, and Itzik Ben-Itzhak

Our principal goal was the experimental demonstration of Laser-Induced Electron Diffraction (LIED). Key steps along the development of this experimental technique have been accomplished and reported in the publications listed in this brief report. We started with measuring 3D electron momenta spectra in aligned nitrogen and oxygen molecules. Chakra Maharjan (Ph.D. student of Lew Cocke) was a lead researcher on this project. Although Chakra succeeded in obtaining those spectra, we were scooped by the publication of identical results in Science by the NRC Ottawa group. Our results were never published as a refereed article, but became a part of Chakra'smore » Ph.D. dissertation. That Science paper was the first experimental demonstration of Laser-Induced Electron Diffraction (LIED). Chakra also worked on wavelength dependence of 3D ATI spectra of atoms and molecules using tunable OPA pulses. Another Ph.D. student, Maia Magrakvelidze (her GRA was funded by the grant), started working on COLTRIMS experiments using OPA pulses (1800 nm wavelength). After some initial experiments it became apparent that COLTRIMS did not yield sufficient count rates of electrons in the high-energy part of the spectrum to see diffraction signatures with acceptable statistics (unfavorable scaling of the electron yield with laser wavelength was partly to blame). Nevertheless, Maia managed to use COLTRIMS and OPA to measure the angular dependence of the tunneling ionization rate in D{sub 2} molecules. Following the initial trial experiments, the decision was made to switch from COLTRIMS to VMI in order to increase the count rates by a factor of {approx}100, which may have given us a chance to see LIED. Research Associate Dr. Sankar De (his salary was funded by the grant), in collaboration with Matthias Kling's group (then at MPQ Garching), proceeded to design a special multi-electrode VMI spectrometer for capturing high-energy ATI electrons and to install it in place of COLTRIMS inside our experimental chamber. That apparatus was later used for the first demonstration of field-free orientation in CO using two-color laser pulses as well as for a series of other experiments, such as pump-probe studies of molecular dynamics with few-cycle laser pulses, control of electron localization in dissociating hydrogen molecules using two-color laser pulses, and ATI spectra of Xe ionized by two-color laser pulses. In parallel, Dipanwita Ray (Ph.D. student of Lew Cocke) worked on measuring angle-resolved ATI spectra of noble gases using a stereo-ATI phasemeter as a TOF electron spectrometer. She observed the angular diffraction structures in 3D ATI spectra of Ar, Kr and Xe, which were interpreted in terms of the Quantitative Rescattering theory newly developed by C.D. Lin. We also attempted to use a much more powerful OPA (five times more energy per pulse than the one we had at JRML) available at the Advanced Laser Light Source (ALLS) in Montreal to observe LIED. Two visits to ALLS by the PI, Igor Litvinyuk, and one visit by the PI's Ph.D. student (Irina Bocharova) were funded by the grant. Though we failed to observe LIED (the repetition rate of the ALLS OPA was too low at only 100 Hz), this international collaboration resulted in several publications on other related subjects, such as the wavelength dependence of laser Coulomb explosion of hydrogen, the wavelength dependence of non-sequential double ionization of neon and argon, the demonstration of charge-resonance enhanced ionization in CO{sub 2}, and the study of non-elastic scattering processes in H{sub 2}. Theoretical efforts to account for the hydrogen Coulomb explosion experiment resulted in another paper by Maia Magrakvelidze as lead author. Although for various reasons we failed to achieve our main goal of observing LIED, we salute the recent success in this endeavor by Lou DiMauro's group (with theoretical support from our KSU colleague C.D. Lin) published in Nature, which validates our approach.« less

FOREWORD: 3rd Symposium on Large TPCs for Low Energy Event Detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Irastorza, Igor G.; Colas, Paul; Gorodetzky, Phillippe

2007-05-01

The Third International Symposium on large TPCs for low-energy rare-event detection was held at Carré des sciences, Poincaré auditorium, 25 rue de la Montagne Ste Geneviève in Paris on 11 12 December 2006. This prestigious location belonging to the Ministry of Research is hosted in the former Ecole Polytechnique. The meeting, held in Paris every two years, gathers a significant community of physicists involved in rare event detection. Its purpose is an extensive discussion of present and future projects using large TPCs for low energy, low background detection of rare events (low-energy neutrinos, dark matter, solar axions). The use of a new generation of Micro-Pattern Gaseous Detectors (MPGD) appears to be a promising way to reach this goal. The program this year was enriched by a new session devoted to the detection challenge of polarized gamma rays, relevant novel experimental techniques and the impact on particle physics, astrophysics and astronomy. A very particular feature of this conference is the large variety of talks ranging from purely theoretical to purely experimental subjects including novel technological aspects. This allows discussion and exchange of useful information and new ideas that are emerging to address particle physics experimental challenges. The scientific highlights at the Symposium came on many fronts: Status of low-energy neutrino physics and double-beta decay New ideas on double-beta decay experiments Gamma ray polarization measurement combining high-precision TPCs with MPGD read-out Dark Matter challenges in both axion and WIMP search with new emerging ideas for detection improvements Progress in gaseous and liquid TPCs for rare event detection Georges Charpak opened the meeting with a talk on gaseous detectors for applications in the bio-medical field. He also underlined the importance of new MPGD detectors for both physics and applications. There were about 100 registered participants at the symposium. The successful organization of the Symposium was made possible by the contribution of the members of the organizating Committee and International Advisory Committee. I want to thank in particular the session chairmen, G. Wormser, S. Katsanevas, J. Timmermans, S. Andriamonje, G. Chardin, T. Ebisuzaki, J.-E. Augustin and E. Delagnes for their contribution to the smooth running of the workshop. The symposium was free of fees and was made possible thanks to the financial support from DAPNIA-CEA and IN2P3-CNRS, the two major French research organizations that are gratefully acknowledged. Finally I want to thank the speakers for the high quality of their talks and all participants for coming to Paris and actively contributing in the meeting. The symposium was dedicated to the memory of Mike Ronan who left us a few months before. Mike was organizing in Berkeley a similar series of TPC workshops. David Nygren reviewed Mike Ronan's contribution to physics and especially to the development of new TPCs. Ioannis Giomataris Chair of the Organizing Committee International Advisory Committee Bouchez J. jacques.bouchez@cea.frNygren D-R. DRNygren@lbl.gov Charpak G. charpak@emse.frPaschos E. paschos@physik.uni-dortmund.de Collar J. collar@uchicago.eduShipsey I. shipsey@physics.purdue.edu Garwin R. RSA@watson.ibm.comSinclair D. D.sinclair@physics.carleton.ca Iliopoulos J. ilio@lpt.ens.frSpiro M. mspiro@admin.in2p3.fr Katsanevas S. katsan@admin.in2p3.frSpooner N. n.spooner@sheffield.ac.uk Mansoulié B. bruno.mansoulie@cea.frVergados J-D. vergados@cc.uoi.gr Morales J. jmorales@unizar.esVignaud D. vignaud@cdf.in2p3.fr Local Organizing Committee Busto J. busto@cppm.in2p3.frGiomataris I. ioa@hep.saclay.cea.fr (chairman) Colas P. paul.colas@cea.frGorodetzky Ph. philippe.gorodetzky@cern.ch Coudray Lydia (secretary)Irastorza I.G. Igor.Irastorza@cern.ch Fauvel Patricia (secretary)Vuilleumier J-L. jean-Luc.vuilleumier@unine.ch

Archaeometric study of artefacts from firing places of Longola-Poggiomarino protohystoric settlement site (Naples, Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balassone, G.; di Maio, G.; Barca, D.; Mormone, A.

2009-04-01

The Longola-Poggiomarino protohistoric village was discovered at west of Naples (southern Italy) in the year 2000, during the construction of a purification plant. It is located nearby the harbour of the Roman town of Pompeii and its age spans from the late Middle Bronze Age to the 6th century B.C., when the site was definitely abandoned (Cicirelli et al., 2006). This is a noteworthy discovery in southern Italy and in Europe, due to the peculiarity of its riverine location and the way in which it was constructed. In fact the village was built on many artificial small islands surrounded by a navigable canal network; hence it is surnamed "The prehistoric Venice". It is characterized by numerous evidences of human activities, like houses, pirogues, numerous objects and some handicraft working areas, where artefacts for domestic artisan and ornamental use were made (Salari et al., 2006). A great abundance of ceramics and metallic objects (made of diversified materials like lead, bronze, iron and gold) has been found, pointing to several distinct working/smelting sites throughout the village (Balassone et al., 2009). In these working sites, fair evidences of heating have been detected on several materials. In this work we characterized the compositional features of fifteen samples coming from firing places found at Longola, by means of a multi-analytical approach. Likely use of these findings could be coverings of burnt pavements, bricks or heat resistant vessel. The research aim is to contribute to the scenario reconstruction of this archaeological site by the knowledge of some production techniques, firing temperatures and provenance of raw materials. The microstructural features and modal mineralogy of the findings were determined by optical microscopy. X-ray diffraction, SEM-EDS and FTIR spectroscopy were used to determine and characterize overall mineral constituents and their quantitative composition. Representative findings were also analyzed for their whole-rock major and trace element contents by LA-ICP-MS (Elan DRCe, Perkin Elmer/SCIEX, connected to a New Wave UP213 solid-state Nd-YAG laser probe); particularly, being this method almost non-destructive, it is very useful for "in situ" determination of minor to trace elements of selected areas of archaeological artefacts with a high degree of accuracy and precision and very low detection limits. The investigated artefacts mainly belong to a type of fired mixture, called concotto by Italian archaeologists (Bertelle et al., 2001). They are mostly red-orange, but also grey and whitish in colour; their textures are heterogeneous, with numerous inclusions of waste pottery, lithics (leucitic lava) and loose crystals (leucite, clinopyroxene, feldspar, mica, quartz) into a matrix mainly made of iron-rich amorphous material, with variable amounts of hematite, magnetite, kaolinite and smectite. Locally, vivianite (hydrate iron phosphate), calcite and gypsum were detected. The concotti resulted in sturdy materials, particularly suitable for humid environments. Suggestions on possible temperature production are also given. References Balassone G., Boni M., Di Maio G., Igor M. Villa I.M. (2009) Characterization of metallic artefacts from the Iron Age culture in Campania (Italy): a multi-analytical study. Per. Mineral., in press. Bertelle M., Calogero S., Leotta G., Stievano L. (2001) Firing techniques of the impasti from the protohistric site of Concordia Sagittaria (Venice). J. Archaol. Sci., 28, 197-211. Cicirelli C., Arbore-Livadie C., Boni M. (2006) Dati preliminari sui manufatti metallici dell'insediamento protostorico in loc. Longola (Poggiomarino-Napoli). Atti XXXIX Riun. Scient. Ist. Ital. Preist. Protost. "Materie prime e scambi nella preistoria italiana", I, 1391-1403. Salari L., Bellocci L., Petrucci M., Sardella R. (2006) Poggiomarino (Napoli): archeozoologia di alcuni contesti del "Saggio A". Conv. Naz. Archeozool., Rovereto, Italy, 38.

PREFACE: Strongly Coupled Coulomb Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fortov, Vladimir E.; Golden, Kenneth I.; Norman, Genri E.

2006-04-01

This special issue contains papers presented at the International Conference on Strongly Coupled Coulomb Systems (SCCS) which was held during the week of 20 24 June 2005 in Moscow, Russia. The Moscow conference was the tenth in a series of conferences. The previous conferences were organized as follows. 1977: Orleans-la-Source, France, as a NATO Advanced Study Institute on Strongly Coupled Plasmas (organized by Marc Feix and Gabor J Kalman) 1982: Les Houches, France (organized by Marc Baus and Jean-Pierre Hansen) 1986: Santa Cruz, California, USA (hosted by Forrest J Rogers and Hugh E DeWitt) 1989: Tokyo, Japan (hosted by Setsuo Ichimaru) 1992: Rochester, NY, USA (hosted by Hugh M Van Horn and Setsuo Ichimaru) 1995: Binz, Germany (hosted by Wolf Dietrich Kraeft and Manfred Schlanges) 1997: Boston, Massachusetts, USA (hosted by Gabor J Kalman) 1999: St Malo, France (hosted by Claude Deutsch and Bernard Jancovici) 2002: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA (hosted by John F Benage and Michael S Murillo) After 1995 the name of the series was changed from `Strongly Coupled Plasmas' to the present name in order to extend the topics of the conferences. The planned frequency for the future is once every three years. The purpose of these conferences is to provide an international forum for the presentation and discussion of research accomplishments and ideas relating to a variety of plasma liquid and condensed matter systems, dominated by strong Coulomb interactions between their constituents. Strongly coupled Coulomb systems encompass diverse many-body systems and physical conditions. Each meeting has seen an evolution of topics and emphasis as new discoveries and new methods appear. This year, sessions were organized for invited presentations and posters on dense plasmas and warm matter, astrophysics and dense hydrogen, non-neutral and ultracold plasmas, dusty plasmas, condensed matter 2D and layered charged-particle systems, Coulomb liquids, and statistical theory of SCCS. Within each area new results from theory, simulations and experiments were presented. In addition, a special symposium was held one evening to explore the questions on high-energy-density matter generated by intense heavy ion beams and to discuss the outlook for applications to industry. As this special issue illustrates, the field remains vibrant and challenging, being driven to a great extent by new experimental tools and access to new strongly coupled conditions. This is illustrated by the inclusion of developments in the areas of warm matter, dusty plasmas, condensed matter and ultra-cold plasmas. In total, 200 participants from 17 countries attended the conference, including 42 invited speakers. The individuals giving presentations at the conference, including invited plenary and topical talks and posters, were asked to contribute to this special issue and most have done so. We trust that this special issue will accurately record the contents of the conference, and provide a valuable resource for researchers in this rapidly evolving field. We would like to thank the members of the International Advisory Board and all members of the Programme Committee for their contributions to the conference. Of course, nothing would have been possible without the dedicated efforts of the Local Organizing Committee, in particular Igor Morozov and Valery Sultanov. We wish to thank the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute for High Energy Densities, the Institute of Problems of Chemical Physics, the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, the Moscow Committee of Science and Technologies, the Russian Joint Stock Company `Unified Energy System of Russia', and The International Association for the Promotion of Co-operation with Scientists from the New Independent States (NIS) of the Former Soviet Union for sponsoring this conference.

PREFACE: XVth International Conference on Calorimetry in High Energy Physics (CALOR2012)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akchurin, Nural

2012-12-01

The XVth International Conference on Calorimetry in High Energy Physics, CALOR2012, was held in Santa Fe, New Mexico from 4-8 June 2012. The series of conferences on calorimetry started in 1990 at Fermilab, and they have been the premier event for calorimeter aficionados, a trend that CALOR2012 upheld. This year, several presentations focused on the status of the major calorimeter systems, especially at the LHC. Discussions on new and developing techniques in calorimetry took a full day. Excellent updates on uses of calorimeters or about ideas that are deeply rooted in particle physics calorimetry in astrophysics and neutrino physics were followed by talks on algorithms and special triggers that rely on calorimeters. Finally, discussions of promising current developments and ongoing R&D work for future calorimeters capped the conference. The field of calorimetry is alive and well, as evidenced by the more than 100 attendees and the excellent quality of over 80 presentations. You will find the written contributions in this volume. The presentations can be found at calor2012.ttu.edu. The first day of the conference was dedicated to the LHC. In two invited talks, Guillaume Unal (CERN) and Tommaso Tabarelli de Fatis (Universita' & INFN Milano Bicocca) discussed the critical role electromagnetic calorimeters play in the hunt for the Standard Model Higgs boson in ATLAS and CMS, respectively. The enhanced sensitivity for light Higgs in the two-gamma decay channel renders electromagnetic calorimeters indispensible. Much of the higher mass region was already excluded for the SM Higgs by the time of this conference, and after less than a month, on 4 July, CERN announced the discovery of a new boson at 125 GeV, a particle that seems consistent with the Higgs particle so far. Once again, without the electromagnetic calorimeters, this would not have been possible. Professor Geoffrey West from the Santa Fe Institute gave the keynote address. His talk, 'Universal Scaling Laws from Cells to Cities - a Physicist's Search for Quantitative, Unified Theories of Biological and Social Structure and Dynamics,' inspired many interesting questions from the audience both after the talk and throughout the week during informal conversations. Calorimetry is extremely diverse: many different techniques may be employed in building the detector and also in extracting information from it. The topics of the Calorimeter Techniques sessions included high-rate liquid argon calorimeters, SiPM sensors, highly granular digital calorimeters, new crystals, and beam test and simulation results. In these pages, you will find exciting and sometimes contradicting points of view expressed, for example about fully sampling hadronic calorimeters. A rare astronomical event, the Venus transit, coincided with the second day of the conference. The participants enjoyed viewing Venus' trail across the sun with a solar telescope (H-alpha line at 656 nm). In Santa Fe, the interior ingress was at 16:23:04 and reached center at 19:27:04. The last transit occurred in 2004, and the next one will happen in 2117. In 1627, Johannes Kepler published data about the planetary orbits that predicted that Venus would pass directly between earth and the sun in 1631. Unfortunately Kepler died in 1630 and apparently nobody recorded the 1631 transit. The first recorded observation of a transit was in 1638, which Kepler had not predicted. Later, Jeremiah Horracks, an English astronomer, realized Kepler had made an error in his calculations. It was not until the Venus transit observations of 1769 that scientists measured the distance from the earth to the sun to be 95 million miles (actually 93 million miles or 149.7 million kilometers) based on the 1716 triangulation suggestion from Edmund Halley (of comet fame). It's interesting to remember that before the 18th century, one of the most vexing scientific puzzles, not unlike today's Higgs boson quest, was 'How far away is the Sun?' Although natural media such as Mediterranean water (ANTARES), Arctic ice (ARA, ARIANNA, ANITA, and others) or Utah air (TA) would hardly be choice absorbers in accelerator-based experiments, they are nevertheless successfully exploited in searches for new phenomena, as discussed by the members of these collaborations in several talks. Philippe Bruel (LLR, Ecole Polytechnique) gave an overview of the gamma-ray sky above 20 MeV using the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and the role of the hodoscopic array of CsI(Tl) calorimeter in an invited talk. In a second invited presentation, Sylvie Rosier-Lees (LAPP-Annecy) described the ECAL design (Pb/scintillating fiber sandwich) of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02) that has been operating in the International Space Station since May 2011 and has collected over 15 billion events. The environs of Santa Fe have long been considered sacred by the first nation Americans and have been a source of inspiration for generations of artists, writers, and scientists. Robert Oppenheimer's love of this area played no small role in establishing what is now the nearby Los Alamos National Laboratory during the Second World War. On the third conference day, some participants visited the lab after an awe-inspiring trip to the Bandelier National Monument, where beautiful canyons and mesas show evidence of a human presence for over 11,000 years. Petroglyphs, dwellings carved into the soft rock cliffs, and standing masonry walls in the park mark the early days of a culture that still persists in surrounding communities. We are grateful to the International Advisory Committee for allowing us the opportunity to hold this Conference in these enchanted lands. In addition to making advances in calorimeter design, hardware, and front-end electronics, we in particle physics increasingly find ourselves inventing new algorithms to reconstruct physics objects that use the detector information to its maximum capacity. Several presentations provided details of the reconstruction and trigger of jets, missing transverse energy, electrons, photons, and taus. Pile-up, anomalous signals, and noise mitigation techniques were also discussed in the conference. On the last day, several future R&D initiatives were presented: highly granular CALICE with different technology options and plans for the dual-readout DREAM projects were the main topics. Although these approaches are quite different conceptually, future experiments will certainly benefit from their innovations. Concluding remarks by the chair of the organizing committee, Nural Akchurin (TTU), summarized the highlights of the conference and invited proposals to host the CALOR2014 conference in Europe, as the conference venue rotates between the Americas, Europe, and Asia every two years. We strived hard to keep the cost of this conference as low as possible without sacrificing the scientific mission. I am delighted to report that we were able to provide support for six junior colleagues to participate in this conference. I am also grateful to the institutions, industrial partners, and agencies that provided the support that made a lot possible: Texas Tech University, the University of New Mexico, Los Alamos National Laboratory, the US Department of Energy, CAEN, and the Wiener Plein & Baus, Corp. I also would like to thank the session conveners who organized sessions and reviewed the papers. The members of the local organizing committee were instrumental to the success of this conference: their experience and attention to detail were invaluable. Most of all, I extend my appreciation to the conference participants and to all my other colleagues who continue to enrich the field of calorimetry through their hard work and creativity. The future is bright. Nural Akchurin Chair of the Organizing Committee International Advisory Committee: Mikhail Danilov, ITEP Moscow Marcella Diemoz, INFN Roma I Antonio Ereditato, Univ. of Bern Franco L. Fabbri, INFN Frascati Tomio Kobayashi, ICEPP Tokyo Michele Livan, Pavia Univ. & INFN Pasquale Lubrano, INFN Perugia Steve Magill, ANL Amelia Maio, LIPP Lisbon Horst Oberlack, MPI Munich Adam Para, FNAL Klaus Pretzl, Univ. of Bern Yifang Wang, IHEP Beijing Richard Wigmans, TTU Ren-Yuan Zhu, Caltech Local Organizing Committee: Nural Akchurin, TTU Debra Boyce, TTU (Secretary) Xiadong Jiang, LANL Jon Kapustinsky, LANL Sung-Won Lee, TTU Sally Seidel, UNM Igor Volobouev, TTU Session Conveners: LHC I-III: David Barney (CERN) Ana Henriques (CERN) Sally Seidel (UNM) Calorimetry Techniques I-II: Francesca Tedaldi (ETH-Zurich) Tao Hu (IHEP-Beijing) Calorimetry Techniques III-IV: Craig Woody (BNL) Tohru Takeshita (Shinshu) Astrophysics and Neutrinos: Don Groom (LBNL) Steve Magill (ANL) Operating Calorimeters: Jordan Damgov (TTU) Gabriella Gaudio (INFN-Pavia) Frank Chlebana (FNAL) Algorithms and Simulations: Artur Apresyan (Caltech) Igor Volobouev (TTU) Front-end and Trigger: Chris Tully (Princeton) Kejun Zhu (IHEP-Beijing) Future Calorimetry: Michele Livan (Pavia Univ.) Frank Simon (MPI) Vishnu Zutshi (NICADD) List of Participants: ABOUZEID, Hass University of Toronto AKCHURIN, Nural Texas Tech University ANDEEN, Timothy Columbia University ANDERSON, Jake Fermilab APRESYAN, Artur California Institute of Technology AUFFRAY, Etiennette CERN BARILLARI, Teresa Max-Planck-Inst. fuer Physik BARNEY, David CERN BESSON, Dave University of Kansas BOYCE, Debra Texas Tech University BRUEL, Philippe LLR, Ecole Polytechnique, CNRS/IN2P3 BUCHANAN, Norm Colorado State University CARLOGANU, Cristina LPC Clermont Ferrand / IN2P3 / CNRS CHEFDEVILLE, Maximilien CNRS/IN2P3/LAPP CHLEBANA, Frank Fermilab CLARK, Jonathan Texas Tech University CONDE MUINO, Patricia LIP-Lisboa COWDEN, Christopher Texas Tech University DA SILVA, Cesar Luiz Los Alamos National Lab DAMGOV, Jordan Texas Tech University DAVYGORA, Yuriy University of Heidelberg DEMERS, Sarah Yale University EIGEN, Gerald University of Bergen EUSEBI, Ricardo Texas A&M University FERRI, Federico CEA/Saclay Irfu/SPP FRANCAVILLA, Paolo IFAE Barcelona GATAULLIN, Marat California Institute of Technology GATTO, Corrado INFN-Napoli GAUDIO, Gabriella INFN-Pavia GERMANI, Stefano INFN-Perugia Goldenzweig, Pablo University of Rochester GRAF, Norman SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory GROOM, Don Lawrence Berkeley Lab GUARDINCERRI, Elena Los Alamos National Laboratory HAUPTMAN, John Iowa State University HENRIQUES, Ana CERN HUANG, Jin Los Alamos National Laboratory HU, Tao IHEP-Beijing, CAS JIANG, Xiaodong Los Alamos National Laboratory JUI, Charles University of Utah KAPUSTINSKY, Jon Los Alamos National Laboratory KIBILKO, Mark SE Technical Sales, Inc. KIRSCHENMANN, Henning University of Hamburg KISTENEV, Edouard Brookhaven National Laboratory KLIMEK, Pawel Stockholm Universitet KROEGER, Robert University of Mississippi LECOQ, Paul CERN LEE, Sehwook Texas Tech University LEE, Sung-Won Texas Tech University LIVAN, Michele Pavia University LUTZ, Benjamin DESY MAGILL, Stephen Argonne National Laboratory MATHIS, Mark College of William and Mary MATTHEWS, John University of Utah MENKE, Sven Max-Planck-Institut fuer Physik MOULSON, Matthew INFN-Frascati NAGEL, Martin Max-Planck-Institut fuer Physik NAKAMURA, Isamu KEK NEMECEK, Stanislav FZU AVCR Praha NESSI-TEDALDI, Francesca ETH Zurich NOVOTNY, Rainer 2nd Physics Institute, University Giessen OREGLIA, Mark University of Chicago PERLOFF, Alexx Texas A&M University PETYT, David Rutherford Appleton Laboratory RAHMAT, Rahmat University of Mississippi RAMILLI, Marco Hamburg Universitaet ROSIER LEES, Sylvie LAPP- IN2P3-CNRS RUTHERFOORD, John University of Arizona SAKUMA, Tai Texas A&M University SANTIAGO CERQUEIRA, Augusto Federal University of Juiz de Fora SARRA, Ivano INFN-Frascati SEIDEL, Sally University of New Mexico SEIFERT, Frank TU Dresden, Germany SHAMIM, Mansoora University of Oregon SIMON, Frank Max-Planck-Institute for Physics STAFFAN, Paul Wiener Plein and Baus, Corp Dr. STAROVOITOV, Pavel DESY TABARELLI DE FATIS, Tommaso Universita' & INFN Milano-Bicocca TADEVOSYAN, Vardan AANL TAKESHITA, Tohru Shinshu University TALAGA, Richard Argonne National Laboratory TAPAN, Ilhan Uludag University TERWORT, Mark DESY TSAI, Oleg UCLA TULLY, Christopher Princeton University UNAL, Guillaume CERN VICHOU, Eirini University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign VILASIS-CARDONA, Xavier La Salle - Universitat Ramon Llull VOLOBOUEV, Igor Texas Tech University VOLPI, Matteo The University of Melbourne WANG, Zhigang IHEP-Beijing, CAS WENZEL, Hans Fermilab WHITE, Andy University of Texas at Arlington WIGMANS, Richard Texas Tech University WINN, David Fairfield University WOODY, Craig Brookhaven National Lab YANG, Fan California Institute of Technology ZABI, Alexandre LLR-Ecole Polytechnique ZHANG, Liyuan California Institute of Technoogy ZHAO, Zhiwen University of Virginia ZHU, Kejun IHEP-Beijing, CAS ZHU, Ren-Yuan California Institute of Technology ZUTSHI, Vishnu Northern Illinois University

A Disturbed Galactic Duo

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2011-04-01

The galaxies in this cosmic pairing, captured by the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile, display some curious features, demonstrating that each member of the duo is close enough to feel the distorting gravitational influence of the other. The gravitational tug of war has warped the spiral shape of one galaxy, NGC 3169, and fragmented the dust lanes in its companion NGC 3166. Meanwhile, a third, smaller galaxy to the lower right, NGC 3165, has a front-row seat to the gravitational twisting and pulling of its bigger neighbours. This galactic grouping, found about 70 million light-years away in the constellation Sextans (The Sextant), was discovered by the English astronomer William Herschel in 1783. Modern astronomers have gauged the distance between NGC 3169 (left) and NGC 3166 (right) as a mere 50 000 light-years, a separation that is only about half the diameter of the Milky Way galaxy. In such tight quarters, gravity can start to play havoc with galactic structure. Spiral galaxies like NGC 3169 and NGC 3166 tend to have orderly swirls of stars and dust pinwheeling about their glowing centres. Close encounters with other massive objects can jumble this classic configuration, often serving as a disfiguring prelude to the merging of galaxies into one larger galaxy. So far, the interactions of NGC 3169 and NGC 3166 have just lent a bit of character. NGC 3169's arms, shining bright with big, young, blue stars, have been teased apart, and lots of luminous gas has been drawn out from its disc. In NGC 3166's case, the dust lanes that also usually outline spiral arms are in disarray. Unlike its bluer counterpart, NGC 3166 is not forming many new stars. NGC 3169 has another distinction: the faint yellow dot beaming through a veil of dark dust just to the left of and close to the galaxy's centre [1]. This flash is the leftover of a supernova detected in 2003 and known accordingly as SN 2003cg. A supernova of this variety, classified as a Type Ia, is thought to occur when a dense, hot star called a white dwarf - a remnant of medium-sized stars like our Sun - gravitationally sucks gas away from a nearby companion star. This added fuel eventually causes the whole star to explode in a runaway fusion reaction. The new image presented here of a remarkable galactic dynamic duo is based on data selected by Igor Chekalin for ESO's Hidden Treasures 2010 astrophotography competition. Chekalin won the first overall prize and this image received the second highest ranking of the nearly 100 contest entries [2]. Notes [1] Other much more noticeable points of light, such as the one toward the left end of the spiral arm running underneath of NGC 3169's core, are stars within the Milky Way that happen to fall by chance very close to the line of sight between our telescopes and the galaxies. [2] ESO's Hidden Treasures 2010 competition gave amateur astronomers the opportunity to search through ESO's vast archives of astronomical data, hoping to find a well-hidden gem that needed polishing by the entrants. To find out more about Hidden Treasures, visit http://www.eso.org/public/outreach/hiddentreasures/. More information ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive astronomical observatory. It is supported by 15 countries: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory and VISTA, the world's largest survey telescope. ESO is the European partner of a revolutionary astronomical telescope ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. ESO is currently planning a 42-metre European Extremely Large optical/near-infrared Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky".

Realistic modeling of seismic input for megacities and large urban areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Panza, G. F.; Unesco/Iugs/Igcp Project 414 Team

2003-04-01

The project addressed the problem of pre-disaster orientation: hazard prediction, risk assessment, and hazard mapping, in connection with seismic activity and man-induced vibrations. The definition of realistic seismic input has been obtained from the computation of a wide set of time histories and spectral information, corresponding to possible seismotectonic scenarios for different source and structural models. The innovative modeling technique, that constitutes the common tool to the entire project, takes into account source, propagation and local site effects. This is done using first principles of physics about wave generation and propagation in complex media, and does not require to resort to convolutive approaches, that have been proven to be quite unreliable, mainly when dealing with complex geological structures, the most interesting from the practical point of view. In fact, several techniques that have been proposed to empirically estimate the site effects using observations convolved with theoretically computed signals corresponding to simplified models, supply reliable information about the site response to non-interfering seismic phases. They are not adequate in most of the real cases, when the seismic sequel is formed by several interfering waves. The availability of realistic numerical simulations enables us to reliably estimate the amplification effects even in complex geological structures, exploiting the available geotechnical, lithological, geophysical parameters, topography of the medium, tectonic, historical, palaeoseismological data, and seismotectonic models. The realistic modeling of the ground motion is a very important base of knowledge for the preparation of groundshaking scenarios that represent a valid and economic tool for the seismic microzonation. This knowledge can be very fruitfully used by civil engineers in the design of new seismo-resistant constructions and in the reinforcement of the existing built environment, and, therefore, supply a particularly powerful tool for the prevention aspects of Civil Defense. We present a selection of the main results obtained for the cities of Algiers, Beijing, Bucharest, Cairo, Debrecen, Delhi, Naples, Rome, Russe, Santiago de Cuba, Sofia, Thessaloniki and Zagreb. The UNESCO/IUGS/IGCP PROJECT 414 team members are: Giuliano F. Panza (1,2) (Chairman), Leonardo Alvarez (3), Abdelkrim Aoudia (1,2), Abdelhakim Ayadi (4), Hadj Benhallou (4,5), Djillali Benouar (6), Zoltan Bus (7), Yun-Tai Chen (8), Carmen Cioflan (9), Zhifeng Ding (8), Attia El-Sayed (10), Julio Garcia (3), Bartolomeo Garofalo (11), Alexander Gorshkov (12), Katalin Gribovszki (13), Assia Harbi (4), Panagiotis Hatzidimitriou (14), Marijan Herak (15), Mihaela Kouteva (16), Igor Kuznetzov (12), Ivan Lokmer (15), Said Maouche (4), Gheorghe Marmureanu (9), Margarita Matova (16), Maddalena Natale (11), Concettina Nunziata (11), Imtiyaz Parvez (17,1), Ivanka Paskaleva (16), Ramon Pico (18), Mircea Radulian (9), Fabio Romanelli (2), Alexander Soloviev (12), Peter Suhadolc (2), Gyõzõ Szeidovitz (7), Petros Triantafyllidis (14), Franco Vaccari (2,19). (1) The Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics, SAND Group, Mirarmar, Trieste, Italy. (2) Department of Earth Sciences, University of Trieste, Via E. Weiss 1, 34127 Trieste, Italy. (3) Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Sismologicas, Cuba. (4) Centre de Recherche en Astronomie, Astrophysique et Geophysique, BP. 63, Bouzaréah, Alger, Algérie. (5) Faculté des Sciences de la Terre de l'Aménagment du Territoire et de la Géographie, USTHB, Alger, Algérie. (6) University of Algiers (USTHB), Civil Engineering Dpt., Alger, Algeria. (7) Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Seismological Observatory of GGRI, H-1112 Budapest, Meredek u. 18, Hungary. (8) Institute of Geophysics, China Seismological Bureau, Beijing, 100081, China. (9) National Institute for Earth Physics, Calugareni 12, P.O.Box: MG 2, 76900 Bucharest-Magurele, Romania. (10) Department of Geology, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt. (11) Dipartimento Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Università Federico II, Largo San Marcellino, 10, 80138 Naples, Italy. (12) International Institute of Earthquake Prediction Theory and Mathematical Geophysics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia. (13) Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Geodetic and Geophysical Research Institute H-9400, Sopron, Csatkai E. str. 6-8, Hungary. (14) Aristotle University, Geophysical Laboratory, P.O.Box 111, GR-54006 Thessaloniki, Greece. (15) Department of Geophysics, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Horvatovac bb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia. (16) Central Laboratory for Seismic Mechanics and Earthquake Engineering, BAS, Sofia. (17) CSIR Centre for Mathematical Modeling and Computer Simulation (C-MMACS), NAL Belur Campus, Bangalore - 560 037, India. (18) Instituto de Cibernetica, Matematica y Fisica, Cuba. (19) INGV-Oss. Vesuviano, via Diocleziano 328, 80124 Naples, Italy.

PREFACE 12th International Workshop on Slow Positron Beam Techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buckman, Stephen; Sullivan, James; White, Ronald

2011-01-01

Preface These proceedings arose from the 12th International Workshop on Slow Positron Beam Techniques (SLOPOS12), which was held on Magnetic Island, North Queensland, Australia, between 1-6th August 2010. Meetings in the SLOPOS series are held (roughly) every three years and have now been held on (almost) all continents, indicating the truly international nature of the field. SLOPOS12 marked the second time that the Workshop had been held in the southern hemisphere, and the first time in Australia. SLOPOS12 attracted 122 delegates from 16 countries. Most encouraging was the attendance of 28 student delegates, and that about half of the overall delegates were early career researchers - a good sign for the future of our field. We also enjoyed the company of more than a dozen partners and families of delegates. In a slight departure from previous SLOPOS meetings, the International Advisory Committee approved a broader scope of scientific topics for inclusion in the program for the 2010 Workshop. This broader scope was intended to capture the applications of positrons in atomic, molecular and biomedical areas and was encapsulated in the byeline for SLOPOS-12: The 12th International Workshop on Slow Positron Beam Techniques for Solids, Surfaces, Atoms and Molecules. The scientific and social program for the meeting ran over 6 days with delegates gathering on Sunday August 1st and departing on August 6th. The scientific program included plenary, invited, contributed and student lectures, the latter being the subject of a student prize. In all there were 53 oral presentations during the week. There were also two poster sessions, with 63 posters exhibited, and a prize was awarded for the best poster by a student delegate. The standard of the student presentations, both oral and posters, was outstanding, so much so that the judging panel recommended an additional number of prizes be awarded. Topics that were the focus of invited presentations and contributed papers at SLOPOS-12 included: Positron Interactions with Surfaces Positron Beam and Detector Technology Positron Interactions with Atoms and Molecules Positronium Science Defects and Vacancies in Materials Porosity and Open Volume in Materials Antimatter in Biomedical Science Anti-hydrogen Studies Positron Transport Annihilation On a sad note, delegates paid tribute to the contributions of one of our colleagues, Chris Beling, who tragically passed away shortly before the meeting. Chris' contributions to positron science and to the education of young scientists were noted in a number of the invited presentations. It is an honour for our community to begin these proceedings with a short tribute to Chris' life by Professor Paul Coleman. The Workshop could not have occurred without the generous support of our sponsors: The ARC Centre for Antimatter-Matter Studies, The Australian National University, Flinders University, James Cook University, The Institute of Physics (UK) and the Australian Government's Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research. It would also not have been possible without the hard work of the Local and International Organising Committees and the friendly and efficient staff at the All Seasons Resort, Magnetic Island. We are most grateful for the on-site assistance of Gillian Drew, the CAMS student and postdoc team, the financial wizardry of Chris Kalos, and the post-Workshop editorial assistance of Julia Wee and Adam Edwards. Finally we would like to thank all of the attendees at SLOPOS12 for their scientific contributions to the Workshop, and for the warm spirit of engagement which characterised the scientific discussions and social occasions. SLOPOS13 will be held in Germany in 2013 and we all look forward to the occasion. Stephen Buckman, James Sullivan and Ronald White(Guest Editors) Local Organising CommitteeInternational Committee Stephen Buckman (Chair, ANU, Canberra)G Amarendra (India) James Sullivan (Secretary, ANU, Canberra)M-F Barthe (France) Ronald White (JCU, Townsville)C Beling (Hong Kong) Jim Williams (UWA, Perth)R Brusa (Italy) Suzanne Smith (ANSTO, Sydney)P Coleman (UK) Igor Bray (Curtin U., Perth)C Corbel (France) Casten Makochekanwa (ANU, Canberra)M Fujinami (Japan) Michael Went (ANU, Canberra)R Krause-Rehberg (Germany) Adric Jones (ANU, Canberra)K Lynn (USA) Peter Caradonna (ANU, Canberra)H Schut (Netherlands) Ryan Weed (ANU, Canberra)P Simpson (Canada) Jason Roberts (ANU, Canberra)R Suzuki (Japan) Josh Machacek (ANU, Canberra)F Tuomisto (Finland) A Weiss (USA) SLOPOS photo SLOPOS-12 Delegates, 1-6 August 2010, Magnetic Island, Australia SPONSORS SLOPOS sponsors

Brightness Variations of Sun-like Stars: The Mystery Deepens - Astronomers facing Socratic "ignorance"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2009-12-01

An extensive study made with ESO's Very Large Telescope deepens a long-standing mystery in the study of stars similar to the Sun. Unusual year-long variations in the brightness of about one third of all Sun-like stars during the latter stages of their lives still remain unexplained. Over the past few decades, astronomers have offered many possible explanations, but the new, painstaking observations contradict them all and only deepen the mystery. The search for a suitable interpretation is on. "Astronomers are left in the dark, and for once, we do not enjoy it," says Christine Nicholls from Mount Stromlo Observatory, Australia, lead author of a paper reporting the study. "We have obtained the most comprehensive set of observations to date for this class of Sun-like stars, and they clearly show that all the possible explanations for their unusual behaviour just fail." The mystery investigated by the team dates back to the 1930s and affects about a third of Sun-like stars in our Milky Way and other galaxies. All stars with masses similar to our Sun become, towards the end of their lives, red, cool and extremely large, just before retiring as white dwarfs. Also known as red giants, these elderly stars exhibit very strong periodic variations in their luminosity over timescales up to a couple of years. "Such variations are thought to be caused by what we call 'stellar pulsations'," says Nicholls. "Roughly speaking, the giant star swells and shrinks, becoming brighter and dimmer in a regular pattern. However, one third of these stars show an unexplained additional periodic variation, on even longer timescales - up to five years." In order to find out the origin of this secondary feature, the astronomers monitored 58 stars in our galactic neighbour, the Large Magellanic Cloud, over two and a half years. They acquired spectra using the high resolution FLAMES/GIRAFFE spectrograph on ESO's Very Large Telescope and combined them with images from other telescopes [1], achieving an impressive collection of the properties of these variable stars. Outstanding sets of data like the one collected by Nicholls and her colleagues often offer guidance on how to solve a cosmic puzzle by narrowing down the plethora of possible explanations proposed by the theoreticians. In this case, however, the observations are incompatible with all the previously conceived models and re-open an issue that has been thoroughly debated. Thanks to this study, astronomers are now aware of their own "ignorance" - a genuine driver of the knowledge-seeking process, as the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates is said to have taught. "The newly gathered data show that pulsations are an extremely unlikely explanation for the additional variation," says team leader Peter Wood. "Another possible mechanism for producing luminosity variations in a star is to have the star itself move in a binary system. However, our observations are strongly incompatible with this hypothesis too." The team found from further analysis that whatever the cause of these unexplained variations is, it also causes the giant stars to eject mass either in clumps or as an expanding disc. "A Sherlock Holmes is needed to solve this very frustrating mystery," concludes Nicholls. Notes [1] Precise brightness measurements were made by the MACHO and OGLE collaborations, running on telescopes in Australia and Chile, respectively. The OGLE observations were made at the same time as the VLT observations. More information This research was presented in two papers: one appeared in the November issue of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ("Long Secondary Periods in Variable Red Giants", by C. P. Nicholls et al.), and the other has just been published in the Astrophysical Journal ("Evidence for mass ejection associated with long secondary periods in red giants", by P. R. Wood and C. P. Nicholls). The team is composed of Christine P. Nicholls and Peter R. Wood (Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australia National University), Maria-Rosa L. Cioni (Centre for Astrophysics Research, University of Hertfordshire, UK) and Igor Soszyński (Warsaw University Observatory). ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive astronomical observatory. It is supported by 14 countries: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory. ESO is the European partner of a revolutionary astronomical telescope ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. ESO is currently planning a 42-metre European Extremely Large optical/near-infrared Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky".

PREFACE: ARENA 2006—Acoustic and Radio EeV Neutrino detection Activities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thompson, Lee

2007-06-01

The International Conference on Acoustic and Radio EeV Neutrino Activities, ARENA 2006 was jointly hosted by the Universities of Northumbria and Sheffield at the City of Newcastle Campus of the University of Northumbria in June 2006. ARENA 2006 was the latest in a series of meetings which have addressed, either separately or jointly, the use of radio and acoustic sensors for the detection of highly relativistic particles. Previous successful meetings have taken place in Los Angeles (RADHEP, 2000), Stanford (2003) and DESY Zeuthen (ARENA 2005). A total of 50 scientists from across Europe, the US and Japan attended the conference presenting status reports and results from a number of projects and initiatives spread as far afield as the Sweden and the South Pole. The talks presented at the meeting and the proceedings contained herein represent a `snapshot' of the status of the fields of acoustic and radio detection at the time of the conference. The three day meeting also included two invited talks by Dr Paula Chadwick and Dr Johannes Knapp who gave excellent summaries of the related astroparticle physics fields of high energy gamma ray detection and high energy cosmic ray detection respectively. As well as a full academic agenda there were social events including a Medieval themed conference banquet at Lumley Castle and a civic reception kindly provided by the Lord Mayor of Newcastle and hosted at the Mansion House. Thanks must go to the International Advisory Board members for their input and guidance, the Local Organising Committee for their hard work in bringing everything together and finally the delegates for the stimulating, enthusiastic and enjoyable spirit in which ARENA 2006 took place. Lee Thompson

International Advisory Board

Local Organizing Committee

Participants

List of Participants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2007-11-01

Mohab Abou ZeidVrije Universiteit, Brussel Joke AdamKatholieke Universiteit Leuven Nikolas AkerblomMax-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Luis Fernando Alday Utrecht University Stelios Alexandris University of Patras Antonio Amariti Università di Milano-Bicocca Nicola Ambrosetti Université de Neuchâtel Pascal Anastasopoulos Università di Roma Tor Vergata Laura Andrianopoli Enrico Fermi Center Carlo Angelantonj Università di Torino Lilia Anguelova Queen Mary, University of London Daniel AreanUniversidade de Santiago de Compostela Gleb ArutyunovUtrecht University Spyros Avramis NTU Athens—University of Patras Ioannis Bakas University of Patras Subrata Bal Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies Igor Bandos Valencia University Jessica Barrett University of Iceland Marco Baumgartl Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, Zürich Jacopo Bechi Università di Firenze James Bedford Queen Mary, University of London Jorge Bellorin Universidad Autonoma de Madrid Francesco Benini SISSA, Trieste Eric Bergshoeff Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Groningen Gaetano BertoldiUniversity of Wales, Swansea Adel Bilal Laboratoire de Physique Théorique, École Normale Superieure, Paris Matthias Blau Université de Neuchâtel Johannes BroedelUniversität Hannover Felix Brümmer Universität Heidelberg Julio Cesar Bueno de Andrade São Paulo State University—UNESP Cliff Burgess McMaster University Agostino Butti Laboratoire de Physique Théorique, École Normale Superieure, Paris Marco Caldarelli Universitat de Barcelona Pablo G Camara Centre de Physique Théorique, École Polytechnique, Palaiseau Joan Camps Universitat de Barcelona Felipe Canoura FernandezUniversidade de Santiago de Compostela Luigi Cappiello Università di Napoli Federico II Luca Carlevaro École Polytechnique, Palaiseau Roberto Casero Centre de Physique Théorique, École Polytechnique, Palaiseau Claudio Caviezel Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Alessio Celi Universitat de Barcelona Anna Ceresole Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare and Università di Torino Kang Sin Choi University of Bonn Michele Cirafici University of Patras Andres Collinucci Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Aldo Cotrone Universitat de Barcelona Ben Craps Vrije Universiteit, Brussel Stefano Cremonesi SISSA, Trieste Gianguido Dall'Agata Padova University Sanjit Das Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur Forcella Davide SISSA, Trieste Jose A de Azcarraga Valencia University and Instituto de Fìsica Corpuscular (CSIC-UVEG), Valencia Sophie de BuylInstitut des Hautes Études Scientifiques, Bures-sur-Yvette Jean-Pierre Derendinger Université de Neuchâtel Stephane Detournay Università Degli Studi di Milano Paolo Di Vecchia NORDITA, København Oscar Dias Universitat de Barcelona Vladimir Dobrev Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia Joel Ekstrand Department of Theoretical Physics, Uppsala University Federico Elmetti Università di Milano I Diaconu Eugen University of Craiova Oleg Evnin Vrije Universiteit, Brussel Bo Feng Imperial College, London Livia Ferro Università di Torino Pau Figueras Universitat de Barcelona Raphael Flauger University of Texas at Austin Valentina Forini Università di Perugia Angelos Fotopoulos Università di Torino Denis Frank Université de Neuchâtel Lisa Freyhult Albert-Einstein-Institut, Golm Carlos Fuertes Instituto de Física Teórica, Madrid Matthias Gaberdiel Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, Zürich Maria Pilar Garcia del Moral Università di Torino Daniel Gerber Instituto de Física Teórica, Madrid Valentina Giangreco Marotta Puletti Uppsala University Joaquim Gomis Universitat de Barcelona Gianluca Grignani Università di Perugia Luca Griguolo Università di Parma Umut Gursoy École Polytechnique, Palaiseau and École Normale Supérieure, Paris Michael Haack Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München Troels Harmark Niels Bohr Institute, København Alexander Haupt Imperial College, London Michal Heller Jagiellonian University, Krakow Samuli Hemming University of Iceland Yasuaki Hikida DESY, Hamburg Christian Hillmann Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik, Potsdam Stephan Hoehne Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Gabriele Honecker CERN, Geneva Carlos Hoyos University of Wales, Swansea Mechthild Huebscher Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, Madrid Matthias Ihl University of Texas at Austin Emiliano Imeroni University of Wales, Swansea Nikos Irges University of Crete Negru Iulian University of Craiova Matthias Kaminski Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München Stefanos Katmadas Universiteit Utrecht Shoichi Kawamoto Oxford University Christoph Keller Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, Zürich Arjan Keurentjes Vrije Universiteit, Brussel Sadi Khodaee Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS), Zanjan, Iran Michael Kiermaier Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA Elias Kiritsis Centre de Physique Théorique, École Polytechnique, Palaiseau and University of Crete Ingo KirschEidgenössische Technische Hochschule, Zürich Johanna Knapp CERN, Geneva Paul Koerber Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Simon Koers Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Anatoly Konechny Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh Peter Koroteev Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics (ITEP), Moscow Daniel KreflLudwig-Maximilians-Universität and Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Chethan KrishnanUniversité Libre de Bruxelles Stanislav Kuperstein Université Libre de Bruxelles Alberto Lerda Università del Piemonte Orientale, Alessandria Roman Linares Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, Iztapalapa, México Maria A Lledo Universidad de Valencia Dieter Luest Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität and Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Joseph Lykken Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), Batavia, IL Carlo Maccaferri Vrije Universiteit, Brussel Oscar Macia Universidad de Valencia Tristan Maillard Centre de Physique Théorique, École Polytechnique, Palaiseau Diego Mansi Università Degli Studi di Milano Matteo Marescotti Università del Piemonte Orientale, Alessandria Alberto Mariotti Università di Milano-Bicocca Raffaele Marotta Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Napoli Alessio Marrani Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare and LNF, Firenze Luca Martucci Instituto de Física Teórica, Madrid and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven David Mateos University of California, Santa Barbara Andrea Mauri Università di Milano Liuba Mazzanti Università di Milano-Bicocca Patrick Meessen Instituto de Física Teórica, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Lotta Mether Helsinki Institute of Physics Rene Meyer Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Giuseppe Milanesi SISSA, Trieste Cesar Miquel-Espanya Universitat de Valencia and Instituto de Física Corpuscular, Valencia Alexander Monin Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics (ITEP), Moscow and Moscow State University (MSU) Samuel Monnier Université de Genève Sergio Montero Instituto de Física Teórica, Madrid Nicola Mori Università di Firenze Alexander Marcel Morisse University of California, Santa Cruz Sebastian Moster Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Adele Nasti Queen Mary, University of London Vasilis Niarchos École Polytechnique, Palaiseau Emil Nissimov Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy, Sofia Francesco Nitti École Polytechnique, Palaiseau Eoin O'Colgain Imperial College, London Niels Obers Niels Bohr Institute, København Rodrigo Olea Università Degli Studi di Milano Marta Orselli Niels Bohr Institute, København Enrico PajerLudwig-Maximilians-Universität, München Eran PaltiOxford University Georgios PapathanasiouBrown University, Providence, RI Angel ParedesCentre de Physique Théorique, École Polytechnique, Palaiseau Jeong-Hyuck ParkMax-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Sara PasquettiUniversità di Parma Silvia PenatiUniversità di Milano-Bicocca Igor PesandoUniversità di Torino Marios PetropoulosÉcole Polytechnique, Palaiseau Roberto PettorinoUniversità di Napoli Federico II Franco PezzellaIstituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Napoli Moises Picon PonceIstituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Padova Marco PirroneUniversità di Milano-Bicocca Erik PlauschinnMax-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Andre PloeghCentre for Theoretical Physics, University of Groningen Giuseppe PolicastroLaboratoire de Physique Théorique, École Normale Superieure, Paris Josep PonsUniversitat de Barcelona S Prem KumarUniversity of Wales, Swansea Nikolaos PrezasCERN, Geneva Carlo Alberto RattiUniversità di Milano-Bicocca Riccardo RicciImperial College, London Alejandro RiveroEscuela Universitaria Politécnica de Teruel, Universidad de Zaragoza Irene RodriguezInstituto de Física Teórica, Madrid Maria Jose RodriguezUniversitat de Barcelona Diederik RoestUniversitat de Barcelona Alberto RomagnoniLaboratoire de Physique Théorique d'Orsay, Paris Christian RomelsbergerDublin Institute for Advanced Studies Jan RosseelKatholieke Universiteit Leuven Sebastiano RossiEidgenössische Technische Hochschule, Zürich Felix RustMax-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Cheol RyouPohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) Christian SaemannDublin Institute for Advanced Studies Houman Safaai SISSA, Trieste Alberto SantambrogioIstituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Milano Frank SaueressigUniversiteit Utrecht Ricardo SchiappaCERN, Geneva Cornelius Schmidt-ColinetEidgenössische Technische Hochschule, Zürich Maximilian Schmidt-SommerfeldMax-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Waldemar SchulginMax-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Claudio ScruccaUniversité de Neuchâtel Nathan SeibergInstitute of Advanced Studies, Princeton, NJ Domenico SeminaraUniversità di Firenze Alexander SevrinVrije Universiteit, Brussel Konstadinos SfetsosUniversity of Patras Kostas SiamposUniversity of Patras Christoph SiegUniversità Degli Studi di Milano Vaula Silvia Instituto de Física Teórica, Madrid Aaron Sim Imperial College, London Woojoo Sim Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) Sergey Slizovskiy Department of Theoretical Physics, Uppsala University Paul Smyth Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Corneliu Sochichiu Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati Dmitri Sorokin Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Padova Kellogg Stelle Imperial College, London Piotr Surowka Jagiellonian University, Krakow Yasutoshi Takayama Niels Bohr Institute, København Laura Tamassia Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Radu Tatar University of Liverpool Larus Thorlacius University of Iceland Paavo Tiitola Helsinki Institute of Physics Diego Trancanelli Stony Brook University, NY Michele TraplettiInstitut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Heidelberg Mario Trigiante Politecnico di Torino Angel Uranga CERN, Geneva and Instituto de Física Teórica, Madrid Roberto Valandro SISSA, Trieste Dieter Van den Bleeken Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Antoine Van Proeyen Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Thomas Van Riet Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Groningen Pierre Vanhove Service de Physique Théorique, Saclay Oscar Varela Universidad de Valencia Alessandro Vichi Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa Massimiliano VinconQueen Mary, University of London John Ward Queen Mary, University of London and CERN, Geneva Brian Wecht Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA Marlene Weiss Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, Zürich and CERN, Geneva Sebastian Weiss Université de Neuchâtel Alexander Wijns Vrije Universiteit, Brussel Przemek Witaszczyk Jagiellonian University, Krakow Timm Wrase University of Texas at Austin Jun-Bao Wu SISSA, Trieste Amos Yarom Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München Marco Zagermann Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Daniela Zanon Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Milano Andrea Zanzi University of Bonn Andrey Zayakin Moscow State University (MSU) and Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics (ITEP), Moscow Konstantinos Zoubos Queen Mary, University of London

FFT-split-operator code for solving the Dirac equation in 2+1 dimensions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mocken, Guido R.; Keitel, Christoph H.

2008-06-01

The main part of the code presented in this work represents an implementation of the split-operator method [J.A. Fleck, J.R. Morris, M.D. Feit, Appl. Phys. 10 (1976) 129-160; R. Heather, Comput. Phys. Comm. 63 (1991) 446] for calculating the time-evolution of Dirac wave functions. It allows to study the dynamics of electronic Dirac wave packets under the influence of any number of laser pulses and its interaction with any number of charged ion potentials. The initial wave function can be either a free Gaussian wave packet or an arbitrary discretized spinor function that is loaded from a file provided by the user. The latter option includes Dirac bound state wave functions. The code itself contains the necessary tools for constructing such wave functions for a single-electron ion. With the help of self-adaptive numerical grids, we are able to study the electron dynamics for various problems in 2+1 dimensions at high spatial and temporal resolutions that are otherwise unachievable. Along with the position and momentum space probability density distributions, various physical observables, such as the expectation values of position and momentum, can be recorded in a time-dependent way. The electromagnetic spectrum that is emitted by the evolving particle can also be calculated with this code. Finally, for planning and comparison purposes, both the time-evolution and the emission spectrum can also be treated in an entirely classical relativistic way. Besides the implementation of the above-mentioned algorithms, the program also contains a large C++ class library to model the geometric algebra representation of spinors that we use for representing the Dirac wave function. This is why the code is called "Dirac++". Program summaryProgram title: Dirac++ or (abbreviated) d++ Catalogue identifier: AEAS_v1_0 Program summary URL:http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/AEAS_v1_0.html Program obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen's University, Belfast, N. Ireland Licensing provisions: Standard CPC licence, http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/licence/licence.html No. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 474 937 No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 4 128 347 Distribution format: tar.gz Programming language: C++ Computer: Any, but SMP systems are preferred Operating system: Linux and MacOS X are actively supported by the current version. Earlier versions were also tested successfully on IRIX and AIX Number of processors used: Generally unlimited, but best scaling with 2-4 processors for typical problems RAM: 160 Megabytes minimum for the examples given here Classification: 2.7 External routines: FFTW Library [3,4], Gnu Scientific Library [5], bzip2, bunzip2 Nature of problem: The relativistic time evolution of wave functions according to the Dirac equation is a challenging numerical task. Especially for an electron in the presence of high intensity laser beams and/or highly charged ions, this type of problem is of considerable interest to atomic physicists. Solution method: The code employs the split-operator method [1,2], combined with fast Fourier transforms (FFT) for calculating any occurring spatial derivatives, to solve the given problem. An autocorrelation spectral method [6] is provided to generate a bound state for use as the initial wave function of further dynamical studies. Restrictions: The code in its current form is restricted to problems in two spatial dimensions. Otherwise it is only limited by CPU time and memory that one can afford to spend on a particular problem. Unusual features: The code features dynamically adapting position and momentum space grids to keep execution time and memory requirements as small as possible. It employs an object-oriented approach, and it relies on a Clifford algebra class library to represent the mathematical objects of the Dirac formalism which we employ. Besides that it includes a feature (typically called "checkpointing") which allows the resumption of an interrupted calculation. Additional comments: Along with the program's source code, we provide several sample configuration files, a pre-calculated bound state wave function, and template files for the analysis of the results with both MatLab and Igor Pro. Running time: Running time ranges from a few minutes for simple tests up to several days, even weeks for real-world physical problems that require very large grids or very small time steps. References:J.A. Fleck, J.R. Morris, M.D. Feit, Time-dependent propagation of high energy laser beams through the atmosphere, Appl. Phys. 10 (1976) 129-160. R. Heather, An asymptotic wavefunction splitting procedure for propagating spatially extended wavefunctions: Application to intense field photodissociation of H +2, Comput. Phys. Comm. 63 (1991) 446. M. Frigo, S.G. Johnson, FFTW: An adaptive software architecture for the FFT, in: Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing, vol. 3, IEEE, 1998, pp. 1381-1384. M. Frigo, S.G. Johnson, The design and implementation of FFTW3, in: Proceedings of the IEEE, vol. 93, IEEE, 2005, pp. 216-231. URL: http://www.fftw.org/. M. Galassi, J. Davies, J. Theiler, B. Gough, G. Jungman, M. Booth, F. Rossi, GNU Scientific Library Reference Manual, second ed., Network Theory Limited, 2006. URL: http://www.gnu.org/software/gsl/. M.D. Feit, J.A. Fleck, A. Steiger, Solution of the Schrödinger equation by a spectral method, J. Comput. Phys. 47 (1982) 412-433.

EDITORIAL: Focus on Cloaking and Transformation Optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leonhardt, Ulf; Smith, David R.

2008-11-01

'Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic', as the late Arthur C Clarke wrote. So what does it take to do magic by technology? Transformation optics has developed some tantalizing ideas and the first practical demonstrations of 'pure and applied magic'. Transformation optics gathers an unusual mix of scientists, ranging from practically-minded engineers to imaginative theoretical physicists and mathematicians or hybrids of all three. The engineers have been developing new materials with extraordinary electromagnetic properties, from materials for microwaves, to be used in radar or wireless technology, to materials for terahertz radiation and visible light. These materials typically are composites—they consist of artificial structures much smaller than the wavelength that act like man-made atoms, apart being much larger in size. The properties of these artificial atoms depend on their shapes and sizes and so they are tunable, in contrast to most real atoms or molecules. This degree of control is what makes these materials—called metamaterials—so interesting. Such new-won freedom invites the other side of the spectrum of scientists, the theorists, to dream. Just imagine there are no practical limits on electromagnetic materials—what could we do with them? One exciting application of metamaterials has been Veselago's idea of negative refraction, dating back to the 1960s. Metamaterials have breathed life into Veselago's idea, culminating in recent optical demonstrations (see for example [1,2]). Another application is cloaking, developing ideas and first experimental demonstrations for invisibility devices [3]. It turns out that both negative refraction and cloaking are examples where materials seem to transform the geometry of space. Any optical material appears to change light's perception of space, as countless optical illusions prove, but the materials of transformation optics act in more specific ways: they appear to perform coordinate transformations. If the coordinates they conjure up run backwards one gets negative refraction, if they exclude some region of space one makes anything inside invisible [4]. In physics, general relativity has honed the theoretical tools for understanding curved space and curved-coordinate transformations. In transformation optics, general relativity has become a theoretical tool for solving practical engineering problems [4]. What an unorthodox connection! This focus issue represents a snapshot of this rapidly developing research area. It is not restricted to optics or electromagnetism, though. Metamaterials for acoustics also exist and can be applied in ways similar to optical metamaterials. So transformation optics not only attracts an unusual mix of scientists, but also spans a range of applications in optics and beyond. Transformation optics has the potential to transform optics, for example by visualizing invisibility and making materials beyond materials—metamaterials. But before we transgress the boundaries to the hermeneutics of transformation optics [5], let the papers speak for themselves. References [1] Yao J, Liu Z, Liu Y, Wang Y, Sun C, Bartal G, Stacy A M and Zhang X 2008 Science 321 930 [2] Valentine J, Zhang S, Zentgraf T, Ulin-Avila E, Genov D A, Bartal G and Zhang X 2008 Nature 455 376 [3] Schurig D, Mock J J, Justice B J, Cummer S A, Pendry J B, Starr A F and Smith D R 2006 Science 314 977 [4] Leonhardt U and Philbin T G 2006 New J. Phys. 8 247 [5] Sokal A D 1996 Social Text 14(46/47) 217 Focus on Cloaking and Transformation Optics Contents Transformation optics for the full dielectric electromagnetic cloak and metal-dielectric planar hyperlens D P Gaillot, C Croënne, F Zhang and D Lippens Transmutation of singularities in optical instruments Tomáš Tyc and Ulf Leonhardt Electromagnetic cloaking with canonical spiral inclusions K Guven, E Saenz, R Gonzalo, E Ozbay and S Tretyakov Theory and potentials of multi-layered plasmonic covers for multi-frequency cloaking Andrea Alù and Nader Engheta Electromagnetic cloaking devices for TE and TM polarizations Filiberto Bilotti, Simone Tricarico and Lucio Vegni An aberration-free lens with zero F-number D Schurig Transformational optics of plasmonic metamaterials I I Smolyaninov An acoustic metafluid: realizing a broadband acoustic cloak J B Pendry and Jensen Li On the possibility of metamaterial properties in spin plasmas G Brodin and M Marklund A homogenization route towards square cylindrical acoustic cloaks Mohamed Farhat, Sébastien Guenneau, Stefan Enoch, Alexander Movchan, Frédéric Zolla and André Nicolet Transformation optics: approaching broadband electromagnetic cloaking A V Kildishev, W Cai, U K Chettiar and V M Shalaev Generalized field-transforming metamaterials Sergei A Tretyakov, Igor S Nefedov and Pekka Alitalo Electromagnetic beam modulation through transformation optical structures Xiaofei Xu, Yijun Feng and Tian Jiang Superantenna made of transformation media Ulf Leonhardt and Tomáš Tyc Material parameters and vector scaling in transformation acoustics Steven A Cummer, Marco Rahm and David Schurig Isotropic transformation optics: approximate acoustic and quantum cloaking Allan Greenleaf, Yaroslav Kurylev, Matti Lassas and Gunther Uhlmann Transformation optical designs for wave collimators, flat lenses and right-angle bends Do-Hoon Kwon and Douglas H Werner Alternative derivation of electromagnetic cloaks and concentrators A D Yaghjian and S Maci Solutions in folded geometries, and associated cloaking due to anomalous resonance Graeme W Milton, Nicolae-Alexandru P Nicorovici, Ross C McPhedran, Kirill Cherednichenko and Zubin Jacob Finite wavelength cloaking by plasmonic resonance N-A P Nicorovici, R C McPhedran, S Enoch and G Tayeb

Editorial: Focus on Atom Optics and its Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmidt-Kaler, F.; Pfau, T.; Schmelcher, P.; Schleich, W.

2010-06-01

Atom optics employs the modern techniques of quantum optics and laser cooling to enable applications which often outperform current standard technologies. Atomic matter wave interferometers allow for ultra-precise sensors; metrology and clocks are pushed to an extraordinary accuracy of 17 digits using single atoms. Miniaturization and integration are driven forward for both atomic clocks and atom optical circuits. With the miniaturization of information-storage and -processing devices, the scale of single atoms is approached in solid state devices, where the laws of quantum physics lead to novel, advantageous features and functionalities. An upcoming branch of atom optics is the control of single atoms, potentially allowing solid state devices to be built atom by atom; some of which would be applicable in future quantum information processing devices. Selective manipulation of individual atoms also enables trace analysis of extremely rare isotopes. Additionally, sources of neutral atoms with high brightness are being developed and, if combined with photo ionization, even novel focused ion beam sources are within reach. Ultracold chemistry is fertilized by atomic techniques, when reactions of chemical constituents are investigated between ions, atoms, molecules, trapped or aligned in designed fields and cooled to ultra-low temperatures such that the reaction kinetics can be studied in a completely state-resolved manner. Focus on Atom Optics and its Applications Contents Sensitive gravity-gradiometry with atom interferometry: progress towards an improved determination of the gravitational constant F Sorrentino, Y-H Lien, G Rosi, L Cacciapuoti, M Prevedelli and G M Tino A single-atom detector integrated on an atom chip: fabrication, characterization and application D Heine, W Rohringer, D Fischer, M Wilzbach, T Raub, S Loziczky, XiYuan Liu, S Groth, B Hessmo and J Schmiedmayer Interaction of a propagating guided matter wave with a localized potential G L Gattobigio, A Couvert, B Georgeot and D Guéry-Odelin Analysis of the entanglement between two individual atoms using global Raman rotations A Gaëtan, C Evellin, J Wolters, P Grangier, T Wilk and A Browaeys Spin polarization transfer in ground and metastable helium atom collisions D Vrinceanu and H R Sadeghpour A fiber Fabry-Perot cavity with high finesse D Hunger, T Steinmetz, Y Colombe, C Deutsch, T W Hänsch and J Reichel Atomic wave packets in amplitude-modulated vertical optical lattices A Alberti, G Ferrari, V V Ivanov, M L Chiofalo and G M Tino Atom interferometry with trapped Bose-Einstein condensates: impact of atom-atom interactions Julian Grond, Ulrich Hohenester, Igor Mazets and Jörg Schmiedmayer Storage of protonated water clusters in a biplanar multipole rf trap C Greve, M Kröner, S Trippel, P Woias, R Wester and M Weidemüller Single-atom detection on a chip: from realization to application A Stibor, H Bender, S Kühnhold, J Fortágh, C Zimmermann and A Günther Ultracold atoms as a target: absolute scattering cross-section measurements P Würtz, T Gericke, A Vogler and H Ott Entanglement-assisted atomic clock beyond the projection noise limit Anne Louchet-Chauvet, Jürgen Appel, Jelmer J Renema, Daniel Oblak, Niels Kjaergaard and Eugene S Polzik Towards the realization of atom trap trace analysis for 39Ar J Welte, F Ritterbusch, I Steinke, M Henrich, W Aeschbach-Hertig and M K Oberthaler Resonant superfluidity in an optical lattice I Titvinidze, M Snoek and W Hofstetter Interference of interacting matter waves Mattias Gustavsson, Elmar Haller, Manfred J Mark, Johann G Danzl, Russell Hart, Andrew J Daley and Hanns-Christoph Nägerl Magnetic trapping of NH molecules with 20 s lifetimes E Tsikata, W C Campbell, M T Hummon, H-I Lu and J M Doyle Imprinting patterns of neutral atoms in an optical lattice using magnetic resonance techniques Michal Karski, Leonid Förster, Jai-Min Choi, Andreas Steffen, Noomen Belmechri, Wolfgang Alt, Dieter Meschede and Artur Widera Frequency stability of optical lattice clocks Jérôme Lodewyck, Philip G Westergaard, Arnaud Lecallier, Luca Lorini and Pierre Lemonde Ultracold quantum gases in triangular optical lattices C Becker, P Soltan-Panahi, J Kronjäger, S Dörscher, K Bongs and K Sengstock Cold atoms near superconductors: atomic spin coherence beyond the Johnson noise limit B Kasch, H Hattermann, D Cano, T E Judd, S Scheel, C Zimmermann, R Kleiner, D Koelle and J Fortágh Focusing a deterministic single-ion beam Wolfgang Schnitzler, Georg Jacob, Robert Fickler, Ferdinand Schmidt-Kaler and Kilian Singer Tuning the structural and dynamical properties of a dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate: ripples and instability islands M Asad-uz-Zaman and D Blume Double-resonance lineshapes in a cell with wall coating and buffer gas Svenja Knappe and Hugh G Robinson Transport and interaction blockade of cold bosonic atoms in a triple-well potential P Schlagheck, F Malet, J C Cremon and S M Reimann Fabrication of a planar micro Penning trap and numerical investigations of versatile ion positioning protocols M Hellwig, A Bautista-Salvador, K Singer, G Werth and F Schmidt-Kaler Laser cooling of a magnetically guided ultracold atom beam A Aghajani-Talesh, M Falkenau, V V Volchkov, L E Trafford, T Pfau and A Griesmaier Creation efficiency of nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond S Pezzagna, B Naydenov, F Jelezko, J Wrachtrup and J Meijer Top-down pathways to devices with few and single atoms placed to high precision Jessica A Van Donkelaar, Andrew D Greentree, Andrew D C Alves, Lenneke M Jong, Lloyd C L Hollenberg and David N Jamieson Enhanced electric field sensitivity of rf-dressed Rydberg dark states M G Bason, M Tanasittikosol, A Sargsyan, A K Mohapatra, D Sarkisyan, R M Potvliege and C S Adams

EDITORIAL: Extreme Ultraviolet Light Sources for Semiconductor Manufacturing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Attwood, David

2004-12-01

The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) [1] provides industry expectations for high volume computer chip fabrication a decade into the future. It provides expectations to anticipated performance and requisite specifications. While the roadmap provides a collective projection of what international industry expects to produce, it does not specify the technology that will be employed. Indeed, there are generally several competing technologies for each two or three year step forward—known as `nodes'. Recent successful technologies have been based on KrF (248 nm), and now ArF (193 nm) lasers, combined with ultraviolet transmissive refractive optics, in what are known as step and scan exposure tools. Less fortunate technologies in the recent past have included soft x-ray proximity printing and, it appears, 157 nm wavelength F2 lasers. In combination with higher numerical aperture liquid emersion optics, 193 nm is expected to be used for the manufacture of leading edge chip performance for the coming five years. Beyond that, starting in about 2009, the technology to be employed is less clear. The leading candidate for the 2009 node is extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, however this requires that several remaining challenges, including sufficient EUV source power, be overcome in a timely manner. This technology is based on multilayer coated reflective optics [2] and an EUV emitting plasma. Following Moore's Law [3] it is expected, for example, that at the 2009 `32 nm node' (printable patterns of 32 nm half-pitch), isolated lines with 18 nm width will be formed in resist (using threshold effects), and that these will be further narrowed to 13 nm in transfer to metalized electronic gates. These narrow features are expected to provide computer chips of 19 GHz clock frequency, with of the order of 1.5 billion transistors per chip [1]. This issue of Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics contains a cluster of eight papers addressing the critical issue of available EUV power from electrical discharge pinch plasmas and laser produced plasmas, including the roots of these requirements, the relevant plasma and radiation physics, and current state-of-the-art commercial technology. In the first paper of the cluster, Vadim Banine and Roel Moors of ASML in the Netherlands provide a detailed review of the required EUV power based on an economically viable throughput of one hundred 300 mm diameter wafers per hour, projected resist sensitivity, number of finite reflectivity multilayer coated surfaces and their collective spectral bandwidth, and a collection solid angle set by optical phase-space constraints and plasma source size. Thomas Krücken and his colleagues from Philips and the Fraunhofer Institute in Aachen present a theoretical model of radiation generation and transport based on model density and temperature profiles in an electrical discharge plasma, providing valuable insights into radiation physics and the limits to achievable power. Kenneth Fahy and his colleagues at UCD in Dublin and NIST in the US, in their paper, describe in detail atomic physics calculations of emission from relevant lines and unresolved transition arrays (UTAs) of candidate xenon and tin ions, each of which radiate strongly within the acceptance bandwidth of the multilayer coatings. The different elements, Xe and Sn, however, raise significantly different implications for source debris production and thus of requisite debris mitigation requirements. Björn Hannson and Hans Hertz of KTH University in Stockholm present a substantial review of laser produced plasmas for the EUV, including those based on liquid jet technologies, leading to a path of mass limited target material, and significant stand-off distance from the solid nozzle, which maximize EUV power generation while minimizing debris production. In addition to an extensive review of EUV source related literature, they describe experiments with laser irradiated droplets and filaments, for both Xe and Sn. The embodiment of electrical discharge plasmas and laser-produced plasmas into commercially available EUV sources, with EUV powers that project to suitable levels, is presented in the fifth paper by Uwe Stamm of XTREME Technologies in Göttingen. For discharge produced plasmas, thermal loading and electrode erosion are significant issues. Vladimir Borisov and his colleagues, at the Troitsk Institute outside Moscow, address these issues and provide novel ideas for the multiplexing of several discharge plasmas feeding a single optical system. Igor Fomenkov and his colleagues at Cymer in San Diego describe issues associated with a dense plasma focus pinch, including a comparison of operations with both positive and negative polarity. In the eighth paper, Malcolm McGeoch of Plex in Massachusetts provides a theoretical description of the vaporization and ionization of spherical tin droplets in discharge plasma. Together this cluster of papers provides a broad review of the current status of high power EUV plasma sources for semiconductor manufacturing. This very current topic, of intense interest worldwide, is considered further in a book [4] of collected papers to become available in mid-2005. Additionally, a special journal issue emphasizing coherent EUV sources, albeit at lower average powers, is soon to appear [5]. References [1] http://public.itrsr.net [2] Attwood D 2000 Soft X-Rays and Extreme Ultraviolet Radiation: Principles and Applications (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) www.coe.Berkeley.edu/AST/sxreuv [3] Moore G E 1965 Cramming More Components onto Integrated Circuits Electronics Magazine 114 Moore G E 1995 Lithography and the Future of Moore's Law SPIE 243 2 [4] Bakshi V ed 2005 EUV Sources for Lithography (Bellingham WA:SPIE) at press [5] IEEE J. Special Topics in Quantum Electronics, Short Wavelength and EUV Lasers 10 Dec 2004 at press

Report from the organizers Report from the organizers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kes, Peter

2009-04-01

The 25th International Conference on Low Temperature Physics (LT25) was hosted by the Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratorium of the Leiden Institute of Physics and held in the RAI Convention Center in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 6-13 August 2008. It was the second time that the Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory had the privilege of organizing an LT conference. In 1958, at LT6, 50 years of liquid helium temperatures were commemorated; in 2008 we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the remarkable achievements of Heike Kamerlingh Onnes and his collaborators in Leiden. In 1958 there were 323 participants and 145 papers appeared in the proceedings; in 2008 these numbers increased to 1390 participants and 900 submitted papers, of which eventually 849 were accepted. This large participation required adequate conference and housing facilities. These could not be found in Leiden, but were conveniently available in Amsterdam. The triennial international low temperature conferences are organized under the auspices of the international union of pure and applied physics (IUPAP) through commission C5 on low temperature physics. It is the most important global meeting that brings together the international scientific community in the broad field of low temperature physics. Because the meeting is held only every third year the 11 plenary and 22 half-plenary talks (of 45 or 30 min) generally provide an overview of important new discoveries over the last few years, whereas the 161 short oral presentations (20 min) are mainly focused on very recent and ongoing developments. Since the field is broad, embracing a large section of condensed matter physics, the program is divided into five parallel program lines: A. Quantum gases, fluids and solids. B. Superconductivity. C. Quantum phase transitions and magnetism. D. Electronic quantum transport in condensed matter. E. Cryogenic techniques and applications. This distinction was used both to group the 1625 accepted abstracts, and the short-oral and poster presentations; the number of oral sessions per program line was made in proportion to the number of accepted abstracts per category (A: 323, B: 526, C: 404, D: 276, and E: 96, about the same distribution as at previous LT conferences, e.g. LT22 in Helsinki). Also the papers appearing in the on-line part of the proceedings are grouped according to the same classification. From the 877 submitted papers 826 were accepted, 41 rejected, and 10 were withdrawn. In the five poster sessions altogether 1479 posters were presented (A: 311, B: 463, C: 370, D: 249 and E: 86). Two special evening sessions were organized to address (very) recent developments. In the first place there was a romp session about the surprising discovery of high temperature superconductivity in iron-based compounds with seven rounds of about five short presentations concluded with ten min discussion each. In a parallel session the concern about the demand for and price of liquid helium was discussed in relation to future trends in cryocoolers which may considerably reduce the need for liquid helium. In an outreach evening session, open to the general public, we had two distinguished speakers: Dr Philppe Lebrun (CERN, Geneva, Switzerland), who talked about the cryotechnology of the Large Hadron collider at CERN and Professor Allan Griffin (University of Toronto, Canada) about the intriguing history of superfluidity. The centenary of liquid helium and the birth of low temperature physics were celebrated at the conference excursion to Leiden on 10 August 2008. Lack of space forced us to limit the number of participants to 643, but many others went on their own initiative. They could attend three historical lectures in the former Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory, and visit several museums where special expositions related to '100 years of liquid helium' were arranged. The conference dinner in the center of Amsterdam on Monday evening was attended by 555 people. Traditionally, at the opening session of the LT conferences time is reserved for prize ceremonies. The recipients of the most important prize in low temperature physics, the Fritz London Memorial Prize 2008, were Yuriy M Bunkov (Institute Néel, Grenoble), Vladimir V Dmitriev, and Igor A Fomin (both Kapitza Institute, Moscow). They got the prize for their discovery and understanding of the 'phase coherent spin precession and spin superfluidity of 3He-B'. The Simon Prize 2008 of The Physical Society went to Yasunobu Nakamura and Jaw-Shen Tsai (NEC Laboratories, Tsukuba) for their 'pioneering demonstration of quantum coherent behaviour in a macroscopic object and for their subsequent explorations of quantum coherent physics in a series of novel superconducting devices'. The Nicholas Kurti European Science Prize (sponsored by Oxford Instruments) was awarded to Lieven Vandersypen (Delft University of Technology) for his 'ground-breaking work on the coherent control of nuclear and electron spins, with possible application to quantum information processing'. Finally, the first IUPAP Young Scientist Prizes in Low Temperature Physics went to Kostya Novoselov (University of Manchester) for his 'contribution in the discovery of graphene and for pioneering studies of its extraordinary properties', to Dai Aoki (Tohuko University, Sendai) for his 'discovery of novel heavy fermion superconductivity in actinide compounds', and to Viktor Tsepelin (Lancaster University) for 'the development of new experimental techniques and key discoveries in the fields of 3He crystals and quantum turbulence'. All prize recipients got the opportunity to present their work in an invited oral contribution. As is common practice nowadays all announcements, registrations, paper submissions and communications regarding program and practical matters were done electronically, either by email or via the internet. Nevertheless, the program book was still printed and handed out to all participants at registration and they received an electronic version on a USB stick as well. The stick also contained all of the submitted (but not yet refereed) papers received before 15 July 2008. The final decisions about the scientific program were made in Leiden at a meeting of the program committee members in April 2008. This turned out to be a very efficient and pleasant procedure. The decision to split up the proceedings into two parts had been taken much earlier in consultation with the Chair of C5 and the IUPAP. In order to optimize impact factors it has become common policy of publishing companies to publish proceedings of big conferences like the LT conference in special on-line journals (open access), such as Journal of Physics: Conference Series. We were pleased with the possibility to publish the most important contributions to the program of LT25 in a special issue of Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter. The latter will not only appear in print, but will also be available on-line for a period of one year from publication. Organizing a conference like LT25 could not have been accomplished without the help of many enthusiastic and dedicated colleagues. I like to extend my sincere thanks to all of them, but above all, to my colleagues of the organizing committee.

REPORT FROM THE ORGANIZERS: The 25th International Conference on Low Temperature Physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kes, Peter

2009-03-01

The 25th International Conference on Low Temperature Physics (LT25) was hosted by the Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratorium of the Leiden Institute of Physics and held in the RAI Convention Center in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 6-13 August 2008. It was the second time that the Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory had the privilege of organizing an LT conference. In 1958, at LT6, 50 years of liquid helium temperatures were commemorated; in 2008 we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the remarkable achievements of Heike Kamerlingh Onnes and his collaborators in Leiden. In 1958 there were 323 participants and 145 papers appeared in the proceedings; in 2008 these numbers had increased to 1390 participants and 900 papers, of which eventually 849 were accepted. This large participation required adequate conference and housing facilities. These could not be found in Leiden, but were conveniently available in Amsterdam. The triennial International Low Temperature Conferences are organized under the auspices of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) through Commission C5 on Low Temperature Physics. It is the most important global meeting that brings together the international scientific community in the broad field of Low Temperature Physics. Because the meeting is held only every third year the 11 plenary and 22 half plenary talks (of 45 or 30 min.) generally provide an overview of important new discoveries over the last few years, whereas the 161 short oral presentations (20 min.) are mainly focused on very recent developments. Since the field is broad, embracing a large section of condensed matter physics, the program is divided into five parallel program lines: A. Quantum Gases, Fluids and Solids B. Superconductivity C. Quantum Phase Transitions and Magnetism D. Electronic Quantum Transport in Condensed Matter E. Cryogenic Techniques and Applications This distinction was used both to group the 1625 accepted abstracts, and the short-oral and poster presentations; the number of oral sessions per program line was made in proportion to the number of accepted abstracts per category (A: 323, B: 526, C: 404, D: 276, and E: 96, about the same distribution as at previous LT conferences, e.g. LT22 in Helsinki). Also the papers appearing in the on-line part of the proceedings are grouped according to this classification. From the 877 submitted papers 826 were accepted, 41 rejected, and 10 were withdrawn. In the 5 poster sessions altogether 1479 posters were presented (A: 311, B: 463, C: 370, D: 249 and E: 86). Two special evening sessions were organized to address (very) recent developments. In the first place there was a romp session about the surprising discovery of high temperature superconductivity in iron-based compounds with 7 rounds of about 5 short presentations concluded with 10 min. discussion each. In a parallel session the concern about the demand for and price of liquid helium was discussed in relation to future trends in cryocoolers which may considerably reduce the need for liquid helium. In an outreach evening session, open to the general public, we had two distinguished speakers: Dr Philppe Lebrun (CERN, Geneva), who talked about the cryotechnology of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN and Professor Allan Griffin (University of Toronto) about the intriguing history of superfluidity. The centenary of liquid helium and the birth of low temperature physics were celebrated at the conference excursion to Leiden on Sunday 10 August 2008. Lack of space forced us to limit the number of participants to 643, but many others went on their own initiative. They could attend 3 historical lectures in the former Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory, and visit several museums where special expositions related to '100 years of liquid helium' were arranged. The conference dinner in the center of Amsterdam on Monday evening was attended the by 555 people. Traditionally, at the opening session of the LT conferences time is reserved for prize ceremonies. The recipients of the most important prize in low temperature physics, the Fritz London Memorial Prize 2008, were Yuriy M Bunkov (Institute Neël, Grenoble), Vladimir V Dmitriev, and Igor A Fomin (both Kapitza Institute, Moscow). They got the prize for their discovery and understanding of the 'Phase Coherent Spin Precession and Spin Superfluidity of 3He-B'. The Simon Prize 2008 of The Physical Society went to Yasunobu Nakamura and Jaw-Shen Tsai (NEC Laboratories, Tsukuba) for their 'Pioneering demonstration of quantum coherent behaviour in a macroscopic object and for their subsequent explorations of quantum coherent physics in a series of novel superconducting devices'. The Nicholas Kurti European Science Prize (sponsored by Oxford Instruments) was awarded to Lieven Vandersypen (Delft University of Technology) for his 'Ground-breaking work on the coherent control of nuclear and electron spins, with possible application to quantum information processing'. Finally, the first IUPAP Young Scientist Prizes in Low Temperature Physics went to Kostya Novoselov (University of Manchester) for his 'Contribution in the discovery of graphene and for pioneering studies of its extraordinary properties', to Dai Aoki (Tohuko University, Sendai) for his 'Discovery of novel heavy fermion superconductivity in actinide compounds', and to Viktor Tsepelin (Lancaster University) for 'The development of new experimental techniques and key discoveries in the fields of 3He crystals and quantum turbulence'. All prize recipients got the opportunity to present their work in an invited oral contribution. As is common practice nowadays all announcements, registrations, paper submissions and communications regarding program and practical matters were done electronically, either by email or via internet. Nevertheless, the program book was still printed and handed out to all participants at registration and they received an electronic version on a USB stick as well. The stick also contained all the submitted (but not yet refereed) papers received before 15 July 2008. The final decisions about the scientific program were made in Leiden at a meeting of the program committee members in April 2008. This turned out to be a very efficient and pleasant procedure. The decision to split up the Proceedings in two parts had been taken much earlier in consultation with the Chair of C5 and the IUPAP. In order to optimize impact factors it has become common policy of publishing companies to publish proceedings of big conferences like the LT conference in special on-line journals (open access), such as Journal of Physics: Conference Series. We were pleased with the possibility to publish the most important contributions to the program of LT25 in a special issue of Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter. The latter will not only appear in print, but will also be available on-line for a period of 1 year from publication. Organizing a conference like LT25 could not have been accomplished without the help of many enthusiastic and dedicated colleagues. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all of them, but above all, to my colleagues of the organizing committee. Peter Kes Chairman LT25

Special issue on current research in astrophysical magnetism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kosovichev, Alexander; Lundstedt, Henrik; Brandenburg, Axel

2012-06-01

Much of what Hannes Alfvén envisaged some 70 years ago has now penetrated virtually all branches of astrophysical research. Indeed, magnetic fields can display similar properties over a large range of scales. We have therefore been able to take advantage of the transparency of galaxies and the interstellar medium to obtain measurements inside them. On the other hand, the Sun is much closer, allowing us to obtain a detailed picture of the interaction of flows and magnetic fields at the surface, and more recently in the interior by helioseismology. Moreover, the solar timescales are generally much shorter, making studies of dynamical processes more direct. This special issue on current research in astrophysical magnetism is based on work discussed during a one month Nordita program Dynamo, Dynamical Systems and Topology and comprises papers that fall into four different categories (A)-(D). (A) Papers on small-scale magnetic fields and flows in astrophysics 1. E M de Gouveia Dal Pino, M R M Leão, R Santos-Lima, G Guerrero, G Kowal and A Lazarian Magnetic flux transport by turbulent reconnection in astrophysical flows 2. Philip R Goode, Valentyna Abramenko and Vasyl Yurchyshyn New solar telescope in Big Bear: evidence for super-diffusivity and small-scale solar dynamos? 3. I N Kitiashvili, A G Kosovichev, N N Mansour, S K Lele and A A Wray Vortex tubes of turbulent solar convection The above collection of papers begins with a review of astrophysical reconnection and introduces the concept of dynamos necessary to explain the existence of contemporary magnetic fields both on galactic and solar scales (paper 1). This is complemented by observations with the new Big Bear Solar Observatory telescope, allowing us to see magnetic field amplification on small scales (paper 2). This in turn is complemented by realistic simulations of subsurface and surface flow patterns (paper 3). (B) Papers on theoretical approaches to turbulent fluctuations 4. Nathan Kleeorin and Igor Rogachevskii Growth rate of small-scale dynamo at low magnetic Prandtl numbers 5. Erico L Rempel, Abraham C-L Chian and Axel Brandenburg Lagrangian chaos in an ABC-forced nonlinear dynamo 6. J E Snellman, M Rheinhardt, P J Käpylä, M J Mantere and A Brandenburg Mean-field closure parameters for passive scalar turbulence Research in dynamo theory has been actively pursued for over half a century. It started by trying to understand the large-scale magnetic fields of the Sun and the Earth, and subsequently also in galaxies. Such large-scale fields can nowadays be understood in terms of mean-field dynamo theory that explains the possibility of large-scale field generation under anisotropic conditions lacking mirror symmetry. However, even when none of this is the case, dynamos can still work, and they are called small-scale dynamos that were referred to in paper 2. This was studied originally under the assumption that the flow is smooth compared with the magnetic field, but in the Sun the opposite is the case. This is because viscosity is much smaller than magnetic diffusivity, i.e., their ratio, which is the magnetic Prandtl number, is small. In that case the physics of small-scale dynamos changes, but dynamos still exist even then (paper 4). Tracing the flow lines in nonlinear small-scale dynamos is important for understanding their mixing properties (paper 5). Turbulent mixing is a generic concept that applies not only to magnetic field, but also to passive scalars which are often used as a prototype for studying this. Turbulence simulations have helped tremendously in quantifying the ability of turbulent flows to mix, but the more we know, the more complicated it becomes. It turns out that spatial and temporal coupling is an important consideration for allowing accurate comparison between numerical simulations and mean-field theory (paper 6). (C) The large-scale solar cycle 7. V V Pipin and D D Sokoloff The fluctuating α-effect and Waldmeier relations in the nonlinear dynamo models1 8. Radostin D Simitev and Friedrich H Busse Solar cycle properties described by simple convection-driven dynamos The mean-field concept has helped us constructing detailed models of the solar cycle and to make comparison with observed features of the solar 11-year cycle. One such feature is the Waldmeier relation between growth time and amplitude of the cycle, and there is another relation for the declining part of the cycle. These relations reflect nonlinear aspects of the model and therefore constitute an important test of the model (paper 7). While mean-field theory is a useful concept for modeling solar activity, it must eventually be tested against fully three-dimensional simulations. At present, such simulations are often quite idealized, because only the large scales of the turbulent convection of stars can be resolved. Nevertheless, numerical simulations begin to show many properties that are also seen in the Sun (paper 8). (D) Flow and dynamo properties in spherical shells 9. Maxim Reshetnyak and Pavel Hejda Kinetic energy cascades in quasi-geostrophic convection in a spherical shell 10. Radostin D Simitev and Friedrich H Busse Bistable attractors in a model of convection-driven spherical dynamos As the rotation speed is increased, the flow becomes more strongly constrained by the Coriolis force. In a spherical shell, such a flow is additionally constrained by gravity, or at least by the geometry of the domain. Such flows are called geostrophic. Only now are we beginning to learn about the subtle properties of the kinetic energy cascade in such flows (paper 9). Turbulent systems are highly nonlinear and it is in principle possible to find multiple solutions of the equations even for the same boundary and initial conditions. For turbulent systems, we can only ask about the statistical properties of the solutions, and the question of multiple solutions is then less obvious. However, in turbulent dynamos in convective shells, a nice example has been found where this is possible. A detailed account of this is given in paper 10. Most of the participants of the Nordita program were able to stay for the full month of the program, allowing them to think about new ideas that will be reflected not only in papers on the short term, but also in new projects and collaborations on a larger scale in the years to come. We therefore thank Nordita for providing a stimulating atmosphere and acknowledge the generous support. 1This paper has been published as V V Pipin and D D Sokoloff 2011 Phys. Scr. 84 065903.

EDITORIAL: Focus on Mechanical Systems at the Quantum Limit FOCUS ON MECHANICAL SYSTEMS AT THE QUANTUM LIMIT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aspelmeyer, Markus; Schwab, Keith

2008-09-01

The last five years have witnessed an amazing development in the field of nano- and micromechanics. What was widely considered fantasy ten years ago is about to become an experimental reality: the quantum regime of mechanical systems is within reach of current experiments. Two factors (among many) have contributed significantly to this situation. As part of the widespread effort into nanoscience and nanofabrication, it is now possible to produce high-quality nanomechanical and micromechanical resonators, spanning length scales of millimetres to nanometres, and frequencies from kilohertz to gigahertz. Researchers coupled these mechanical elements to high-sensitivity actuation and readout systems such as single-electron transistors, quantum dots, atomic point contacts, SQUID loops, high-finesse optical or microwave-cavities etc. Some of these ultra-sensitive readout schemes are in principle capable of detection at the quantum limit and a large part of the experimental effort is at present devoted to achieving this. On the other hand, the fact that the groups working in the field come from various different physics backgrounds—the authors of this editorial are a representative sample—has been a constant source of inspiration for helpful theoretical and experimental tools that have been adapted from other fields to the mechanical realm. To name just one example: ideas from quantum optics have led to the recent demonstration (both in theory and experiment) that coupling a mechanical resonator to a high-finesse optical cavity can be fully analogous to the well-known sideband-resolved laser cooling of ions and hence is capable in principle of cooling a mechanical mode into its quantum ground state. There is no doubt that such interdisciplinarity has been a crucial element for the development of the field. It is interesting to note that a very similar sociological phenomenon occurred earlier in the quantum information community, an area which is deeply enriched by the diverse backgrounds and approaches of the researchers. As diverse as the approaches are the manifold of goals and perspectives for operating mechanical systems close to or within the quantum regime. Already now, nanomechanical sensors achieve single-molecule mass detection and magnetic resonance force detection from single-electron spins although they are operated far from quantum. Quantum-limited mechanical devices promise a new technology with hitherto unachieved performance for high-resolution sensing. This is also of high relevance for macroscopic mechanical resonators used in gravitational wave detectors. Furthermore, the increasing capability to couple mechanical modes to individual quantum systems raises the interesting question of whether mechanics can serve as a quantum bus in hybrid implementations of quantum information processing. Finally, the possibility of generating quantum superposition states that involve displacements of a massive macroscopic object (such as the center of mass of a mechanical beam) provides a completely new parameter regime for testing quantum theory over the amazing range from nanomechanical objects of several picograms up to gram-scale mirrors used in gravitational wave interferometers. We are looking forward to these fascinating developments! This Focus Issue is intended to highlight the present status of the field and to provide both introduction and motivation for students and researchers who want to get familiar with this exciting area or even want to join it. It also complements the conference activities of our community during the last year, where a series of dedicated invited sessions at several international conferences (APS March Meeting 2008, CLEO/QELS 2008, OSA Frontiers in Optics 2008, PQE 2008/2009 etc) culminated in the first Gordon Conference on 'Mechanical Systems at the Quantum Limit'. Given the fast development of the field it was not surprising to see that during the collection of the following contributions new progress was reported almost on a monthly basis and new groups entered the field. We intend to keep submission to this Focus Issue open for some time and invite everyone to share their latest results with us. And finally, a note to our fellow colleagues: keep up the good work! We would like to call the next Focus Issue 'Mechanical Systems IN the Quantum Regime'. Focus on Mechanical Systems at the Quantum Limit Contents Parametric coupling between macroscopic quantum resonators L Tian, M S Allman and R W Simmonds Quantum noise in a nanomechanical Duffing resonator E Babourina-Brooks, A Doherty and G J Milburn Creating and verifying a quantum superposition in a micro-optomechanical system Dustin Kleckner, Igor Pikovski, Evan Jeffrey, Luuk Ament, Eric Eliel, Jeroen van den Brink and Dirk Bouwmeester Ground-state cooling of a nanomechanical resonator via a Cooper-pair box qubit Konstanze Jaehne, Klemens Hammerer and Margareta Wallquist Dissipation in circuit quantum electrodynamics: lasing and cooling of a low-frequency oscillator Julian Hauss, Arkady Fedorov, Stephan André, Valentina Brosco, Carsten Hutter, Robin Kothari, Sunil Yeshwanth, Alexander Shnirman and Gerd Schön Route to ponderomotive entanglement of light via optically trapped mirrors Christopher Wipf, Thomas Corbitt, Yanbei Chen and Nergis Mavalvala Nanomechanical-resonator-assisted induced transparency in a Cooper-pair box system Xiao-Zhong Yuan, Hsi-Sheng Goan, Chien-Hung Lin, Ka-Di Zhu and Yi-Wen Jiang High-sensitivity monitoring of micromechanical vibration using optical whispering gallery mode resonators A Schliesser, G Anetsberger, R Rivière, O Arcizet and T J Kippenberg Optomechanical to mechanical entanglement transformation Giovanni Vacanti, Mauro Paternostro, G Massimo Palma and Vlatko Vedral The optomechanical instability in the quantum regime Max Ludwig, Björn Kubala and Florian Marquardt Quantum limits of photothermal and radiation pressure cooling of a movable mirror M Pinard and A Dantan Mechanical feedback in the high-frequency limit R El Boubsi, O Usmani and Ya M Blanter Back-action evasion and squeezing of a mechanical resonator using a cavity detector A A Clerk, F Marquardt and K Jacobs Simultaneous cooling and entanglement of mechanical modes of a micromirror in an optical cavity Claudiu Genes, David Vitali and Paolo Tombesi Dispersive optomechanics: a membrane inside a cavity A M Jayich, J C Sankey, B M Zwickl, C Yang, J D Thompson, S M Girvin, A A Clerk, F Marquardt and J G E Harris Cavity-assisted backaction cooling of mechanical resonators I Wilson-Rae, N Nooshi, J Dobrindt, T J Kippenberg and W Zwerger Cavity cooling of a nanomechanical resonator by light scattering I Favero and K Karrai Probing the quantum coherence of a nanomechanical resonator using a superconducting qubit: II. Implementation M P Blencowe and A D Armour Probing the quantum coherence of a nanomechanical resonator using a superconducting qubit: I. Echo scheme A D Armour and M P Blencowe Nanoelectromechanics of suspended carbon nanotubes A K Hüttel, M Poot, B Witkamp and H S J van der Zant Prospects for cooling nanomechanical motion by coupling to a superconducting microwave resonator J D Teufel, C A Regal and K W Lehnert

Adaptive Optics for Industry and Medicine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dainty, Christopher

2008-01-01

pt. 1. Wavefront correctors and control. Liquid crystal lenses for correction of presbyopia (Invited Paper) / Guoqiang Li and Nasser Peyghambarian. Converging and diverging liquid crystal lenses (oral paper) / Andrew X. Kirby, Philip J. W. Hands, and Gordon D. Love. Liquid lens technology for miniature imaging systems: status of the technology, performance of existing products and future trends (invited paper) / Bruno Berge. Carbon fiber reinforced polymer deformable mirrors for high energy laser applications (oral paper) / S. R. Restaino ... [et al.]. Tiny multilayer deformable mirrors (oral paper) / Tatiana Cherezova ... [et al.]. Performance analysis of piezoelectric deformable mirrors (oral paper) / Oleg Soloviev, Mikhail Loktev and Gleb Vdovin. Deformable membrane mirror with high actuator density and distributed control (oral paper) / Roger Hamelinck ... [et al.]. Characterization and closed-loop demonstration of a novel electrostatic membrane mirror using COTS membranes (oral paper) / David Dayton ... [et al.]. Electrostatic micro-deformable mirror based on polymer materials (oral paper) / Frederic Zamkotsian ... [et al.]. Recent progress in CMOS integrated MEMS A0 mirror development (oral paper) / A. Gehner ... [et al.]. Compact large-stroke piston-tip-tilt actuator and mirror (oral paper) / W. Noell ... [et al.]. MEMS deformable mirrors for high performance AO applications (oral paper) / Paul Bierden, Thomas Bifano and Steven Cornelissen. A versatile interferometric test-rig for the investigation and evaluation of ophthalmic AO systems (poster paper) / Steve Gruppetta, Jiang Jian Zhong and Luis Diaz-Santana. Woofer-tweeter adaptive optics (poster paper) / Thomas Farrell and Chris Dainty. Deformable mirrors based on transversal piezoeffect (poster paper) / Gleb Vdovin, Mikhail Loktev and Oleg Soloviev. Low-cost spatial light modulators for ophthalmic applications (poster paper) / Vincente Durán ... [et al.]. Latest MEMS DM developments and the path ahead at Iris AO (poster paper) / Michael A. Helmbrecht ... [et al.]. Electrostatic push pull mirror improvernents in visual optics (poster paper) / S. Bonora and L. Poletto. 25cm bimorph mirror for petawatt laser / S. Bonora ... [et al.]. Hysteresis compensation for piezo deformable mirror (poster paper) / H. Song ... [et al.]. Static and dynamic responses of an adaptive optics ferrofluidic mirror (poster paper) / A. Seaman ... [et al.]. New HDTV (1920 x 1080) phase-only SLM (poster paper) / Stefan Osten and Sven Krueger. Monomorph large aperture deformable mirror for laser applications (poster paper) / J-C Sinquin, J-M Lurcon, C. Guillemard. Low cost, high speed for adaptive optics control (oral paper) / Christopher D. Saunter and Gordon D. Love. Open loop woofer-tweeter adaptive control on the LAO multi-conjugate adaptive optics testbed (oral paper) / Edward Laag, Don Gavel and Mark Ammons -- pt. 2. Wavefront sensors. Wave front sensorless adaptive optics for imaging and microscopy (invited paper) / Martin J. Booth, Delphine Débarre and Tony Wilson. A fundamental limit for wavefront sensing (oral paper) / Carl Paterson. Coherent fibre-bundle wavefront sensor (oral paper) / Brian Vohnsen, I. Iglesias and Pablo Artal. Maximum-likelihood methods in wave-front sensing: nuisance parameters (oral paper) / David Lara, Harrison H. Barrett, and Chris Dainty. Real-time wavefront sensing for ultrafast high-power laser beams (oral paper) / Juan M. Bueno ... [et al.]. Wavefront sensing using a random phase screen (oral paper) / M. Loktev, G. Vdovin and O. Soloviev. Quadri-Wave Lateral Shearing Interferometry: a new mature technique for wave front sensing in adaptive optics (oral paper) / Benoit Wattellier ... [et al.]. In vivo measurement of ocular aberrations with a distorted grating wavefront sensor (oral paper) / P. Harrison ... [et al.]. Position-sensitive detector designed with unusual CMOS layout strategies for a Hartman-Shack wavefront sensor (oral Paper) / Davies W. de Lima Monteiro ... [et al.]. Adaptive optics system to compensate complex-shaped wavefronts (oral paper) / Miguel Ares, and Santiago Royo. A kind of novel linear phase retrieval wavefront sensor and its application in close-loop adaptive optics system (oral paper) / Xinyang Li ... [et al.]. Ophthalmic Shack-Hatmann wavefront sensor applications (oral paper) / Daniel R. Neal. Wave front sensing of an optical vortex and its correction with the help of bimorph mirror (poster paper) / F. A. Starikov ... [et al.]. Recent advances in laser metrology and correction of high numerical aperture laser beams using quadri-wave lateral shearing-interferometry (poster paper) / Benoit Wattellier, Ivan Doudet and William Boucher. Thin film optical metrology using principles of wavefront sensing and interference (poster paper) / D. M. Faichnie, A. H. Greenaway and I. Bain. Direct diffractive image simulation (poster paper) / A. P. Maryasov, N. P. Maryasov, A. P. Layko. High speed smart CMOS sensor for adaptive optics (poster paper) / T. D. Raymond ... [et al.]. Traceable astigmatism measurements for wavefront sensors (poster paper) / S. R. G. Hall, S. D. Knox, R. F. Stevens -- pt. 3. Adaptive optics in vision science. Dual-conjugate adaptive optics instrument for wide-field retinal imaging (oral paper) / Jörgen Thaung, Mette-Owner Petersen and Zoran Popovic. Visual simulation using electromagnetic adaptive-optics (oral paper) / Laurent Vabre ... [et al.]. High-resolution field-of-view widening in human eye retina imaging (oral paper) / Alexander V. Dubinin, Tatyana Yu. Cherezova, Alexis V. Kudryashov. Psychophysical experiments on visual performance with an ocular adaptive optics system (oral paper) / E. Dalimier, J. C. Dainty and J. Barbur. Does the accommodative mechanism of the eye calibrate itself using aberration dynamics? (oral paper) / K. M. Hampson, S. S. Chin and E. A. H. Mallen. A study of field aberrations in the human eye (oral paper) / Alexander V. Goncharov ... [et al.]. Dual wavefront corrector ophthalmic adaptive optics: design and alignment (oral paper) / Alfredo Dubra and David Williams. High speed simultaneous SLO/OCT imaging of the human retina with adaptive optics (oral paper) / M. Pircher ... [et al.]. Characterization of an AO-OCT system (oral paper) / Julia W. Evans ... [et al.]. Adaptive optics optical coherence tomography for retina imaging (oral paper) / Guohua Shi ... [et al.]. Development, calibration and performance of an electromagnetic-mirror-based adaptive optics system for visual optics (oral paper) / Enrique Gambra ... [et al.]. Adaptive eye model (poster paper) / Sergey O. Galetskzy and Alexty V. Kudryashov. Adaptive optics system for retinal imaging based on a pyramid wavefront sensor (poster paper) / Sabine Chiesa ... [et al.]. Modeling of non-stationary dynamic ocular aberrations (poster paper) / Conor Leahy and Chris Dainty. High-order aberrations and accommodation of human eye (poster paper) / Lixia Xue ... [et al.]. Electromagnetic deformable mirror: experimental assessment and first ophthalmic applications (poster paper) / L. Vabre ... [et al.]. Correcting ocular aberrations in optical coherence tomography (poster paper) / Simon Tuohy ... [et al.] -- pt. 4. Adaptive optics in optical storage and microscopy. The application of liquid crystal aberration compensator for the optical disc systems (invited paper) / Masakazu Ogasawara. Commercialization of the adaptive scanning optical microscope (ASOM) (oral paper) / Benjamin Potsaid ... [et al.]. A practical implementation of adaptive optics for aberration compensation in optical microscopy (oral paper) / A. J. Wright ... [et al.]. Active focus locking in an optically sectioning microscope using adaptive optics (poster paper) / S. Poland, A. J. Wright, J. M. Girkin. Towards four dimensional particle tracking for biological applications / Heather I. Campbell ... [et al.]. Adaptive optics for microscopy (poster paper) / Xavier Levecq -- pt. 5. Adaptive optics in lasers. Improved beam quality of a high power Yb: YAG laser (oral paper) / Dennis G. Harris ... [et al.]. Intracavity adaptive optics optimization of an end-pumped Nd:YVO4 laser (oral paper) / Petra Welp, Ulrich Wittrock. New results in high power lasers beam correction (oral paper) / Alexis Kudryashov ... [et al.]. Adaptive optical systems for the Shenguang-III prototype facility (oral paper) / Zeping Yang ... [et al.]. Adaptive optics control of solid-state lasers (poster paper) / Walter Lubeigt ... [et al.]. Gerchberg-Saxton algorithm for multimode beam reshaping (poster paper) / Inna V. Ilyina, Tatyana Yu. Cherezova. New algorithm of combining for spatial coherent beams (poster paper) / Ruofu Yang ... [et al.]. Intracavity mode control of a solid-state laser using a 19-element deformable mirror (poster paper) / Ping Yang ... [et al.] -- pt. 6. Adaptive optics in communication and atmospheric compensation. Fourier image sharpness sensor for laser communications (oral paper) / Kristin N. Walker and Robert K. Tyson. Fast closed-loop adaptive optics system for imaging through strong turbulence layers (oral paper) / Ivo Buske and Wolfgang Riede. Correction of wavefront aberrations and optical communication using aperture synthesis (oral paper) / R. J. Eastwood ... [et al.]. Adaptive optics system for a small telescope (oral paper) / G. Vdovin, M. Loktev and O. Soloviev. Fast correction of atmospheric turbulence using a membrane deformable mirror (poster paper) / Ivan Capraro, Stefano Bonora, Paolo Villoresi. Atmospheric turbulence measurements over a 3km horizontal path with a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor (poster paper) / Ruth Mackey, K. Murphy and Chris Dainty. Field-oriented wavefront sensor for laser guide stars (poster paper) / Lidija Bolbasova, Alexander Goncharov and Vladimir Lukin.

PREFACE: CEWQO Topical Issue CEWQO Topical Issue

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bozic, Mirjana; Man'ko, Margarita

2009-09-01

This topical issue of Physica Scripta collects selected peer-reviewed contributions based on invited and contributed talks and posters presented at the 15th Central European Workshop on Quantum Optics (CEWQO) which took place in Belgrade 29 May-3 June 2008 (http://cewqo08.phy.bg.ac.yu). On behalf of the whole community took place in Belgrade 29 May-3 June 2008 (http://cewqo08.phy.bg.ac.yu, cewqo08.phy.bg.ac.yu). On behalf of the whole community of the workshop, we thank the referees for their careful reading and useful suggestions which helped to improve all of the submitted papers. A brief description of CEWQO The Central European Workshop on Quantum Optics is a series of conferences started informally in Budapest in 1992. Sometimes small events transform into important conferences, as in the case of CEWQO. Professor Jozsef Janszky, from the Research Institute of Solid State Physics and Optics, is the founder of this series. Margarita Man'ko obtained the following information from Jozsef Janszky during her visit to Budapest, within the framework of cooperation between the Russian and Hungarian Academies of Sciences in 2005. He organized a small workshop on quantum optics in Budapest in 1992 with John Klauder as a main speaker. Then, bearing in mind that a year before Janszky himself was invited by Vladimir Buzek to give a seminar on the same topic in Bratislava, he decided to assign the name 'Central European Workshop on Quantum Optics', considering the seminar in Bratislava to be the first workshop and the one in Budapest the second. The third formal workshop took place in Bratislava in 1993 organized by Vladimir Buzek, then in 1994 (Budapest, by Jozsef Janszky), 1995 and 1996 (Budmerice, Slovakia, by Vladimir Buzek), 1997 (Prague, by Igor Jex), 1999 (Olomouc, Czech Republic, by Zdenek Hradil), 2000 (Balatonfüred, Hungary, by Jozsef Janszky ), 2001 (Prague, by Igor Jex), 2002 (Szeged, Hungary, by Mihaly Benedict), 2003 (Rostock,Germany, by Werner Vogel and Sascha Wallentowitz), 2004 (Trieste, Italy, by Naseem Rahman and Sascha Wallentowitz), 2005 (Bilkent, Ankara, by Alexander Shumovsky), 2006 (Vienna, by Helmut Rauch), 2007 (Palermo, Italy, by Antonino Messina) and 2008 (Belgrade, by Mirjana Bozic). The CEWQO series developed in two directions following the rapid development of quantum optics and the transitional development of the scientific collaboration of Central European researchers with researchers from old and new emerging Central European countries, and from all over the world. The topics discussed at CEWQO 08 were divided into ten groups that aimed to cover the broad scope of modern quantum optics: Fundamental aspects of quantum optics and quantum mechanics Single photons and photon pairs Cavity and circuit QED Atoms in intense fields Neutron, atom and molecular quantum optics Quantum gases and fluids Coherence, entanglement and decoherence Optical properties of condensed matter and nanostructures Open quantum systems and chaos Quantum information processing Central European Workshops on Quantum Optics realize and are consistent with a wider idea, and a social, economical, cultural and political program promoted since 1989 by the Central European Initiative (CEI), the main goal of which was to help transition countries in Central Europe to become closer to the EU. The resulting support of the CEI, first obtained thanks to the scientific reputation, organizing activities, and efforts of Helmut Rauch, has been very important for the organization of the CEWQO in recent years, particularly in 2008. The support of the Sixth and Seventh Framework Programs of the European Commission was also very important. A short review of papers in this topical issue A principal role in this topical issue is played by the photon. Vuletic et al describe the mapping of the photon-polarization state onto a single collective-spin excitation (magnon) shared between two atomic ensembles. A heralded quantum memory based on this mapping is demonstrated. Dodonov derives a formula which predicts a photon generation rate in a cavity due to strong variations of the complex dielectric function in a thin layer near an ideally conducting wall (simulation of the dynamic Casimir effect). Skenderovic reports how photons from two femptosecond laser pulses prepare a large molecule in a coherent superposition of vibrational states. The time evolution of this state is interrogated with a third (delayed) pulse which creates a fourth wave, the signal, giving information on the molecular dynamics. Dimitrova et al present lecture demonstrations of interference and quantum erasing with single photons. By considering electromagnetic energy flow lines as photon paths Davidovic et al explain the emergence of an interference pattern in the process of the accumulation of single photon events behind an interference grating. Atoms in a cavity, atom-atom interactions, interactions of atoms with photons and macroscopic bodies is the next important topic in this topical issue. Khanbekyan et al deal with the problem of the spontaneous emission of an excited atom in a high-Q cavity and investigate the regime when the emitted photon belongs to a wave packet simultaneously located inside and outside the cavity. Sambale et al study the resonant Casimir-Polder potential of an excited atom in front of meta-material half-space and show that for long distances it exhibits attenuated oscillations, while close to the surface the potential becomes attractive or repulsive. Buhmann et al study the nonequilibrium Casimir-Polder force on an atom prepared in an incoherent superposition of internal energy-eigenstates, which is placed in a magnetoelectric environment of nonuniform temperature. Lazarou et al discuss how two atoms, interacting with a single cavity, can be coherently evolved into an entangled state when they are controlled by a sequence of Gaussian pulses, named frequency chirps. Bougouffa et al report on field quantization between two parallel conducting plates (modifications of the decay rate between such plates) and the three-level Jaynes-Cummings dynamics in the single-mode regime. Tomas studies the interaction between two atoms, one excited and the other in its ground state near the interface between two media. It is shown that the nonretarded van der Waals force gets enhanced by almost three orders of magnitude at the surface mode resonance. Vuskovic et al write about the plasma treatment of a bulk Nb surface which is very efficient for producing high-Q factor microwave cavities. Nemeth et al review the theory and experiments of the coherently pumped micromaser. With varied atomic inversion in a coherently pumped micromaser, a sudden switch occurs between two distinctively different field states, with high and low photon numbers. Moi et al show that alkali-metal atoms adsorbed either in organic films or in porous glass are released into the vapor phase (desorbed) under illumination, the action of many photons. Several papers are devoted to matter-wave interference and quantum fluids. By analyzing unavoidable quantum losses as they appear in neutron phase-echo and spin rotation experiments, Rauch concludes that basic quantum irreversibility exists in neutron interferometry. Rauch also shows how entanglement effects in a single particle system demonstrate quantum contextuality, and then argues that a quantum system carries much more information than is usually extracted. The time evolution of the wave function of an atom hit by a photon in a three-grating interferometer is used by Arsenovic et al to interpret the intriguing results of the corresponding experiment by Chapman et al. Grujic et al demonstrate dark Raman resonance due to Ramsey interference in a spatially separated pump and probe laser beams co-propagating through a pure 87Rb vapor cell. Obtained EIT profiles are explained by solving Bloch's equations for an atom in a magnetic field moving through pump and probe laser regions. Gawlik et al present results of experiments on finite-temperature Bose-Einstein condensate of 87Rb atoms in a magnetic trap. In the Thomas-Fermi (TF) regime, the condensate dynamics has a hydrodynamic character. The dynamics of non-TF condensates reflect the interaction between BEC and non-condensed thermal atoms. Atoms in intense fields is the subject of several papers. Gainutdinov et al show that the contribution to the radiative shift of the side bands of the Mollow spectrum is very significant. Using Gell-Mann, Low S-matrix formalism, and QED, Glushkov et al present an approach to study multiphoton processes during the interaction of an atom with a realistic intense laser field. The paper by Khetselius is devoted to two related problems: the calculation of the atomic hyperfine structure of the Li-like ions and an estimation of the effectiveness of the three-step scheme of isotope separation for the case of Cs isotopes. Vvedenskii et al present the results concerning the excitation of a residual quasi-dc current in the plasma, which are based on the solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation for the hydrogen atom in a few-cycle laser pulse. Information processing is one of the important aspects of this issue and it is considered in several papers. M Man'ko et al presented a new notion of tomographic entropy and new entropic uncertainty relations applied to the problem of light propagation in optical fibers. Nonlinearity in the quantum-information processing is considered in the paper by Chirkin et al. D'Arrigo et al investigated a very specific semiclassical Hamiltonian model of a quantum memory channel. They evaluated the performance of the three-qubit code error correcting code by means of entanglement fidelity. The fundamental aspects of quantum optics are the subject of several papers, namely, Bell's inequalities are studied in the paper by Andreev, the star-product quantization scheme was discussed by O Man'ko, and probabilistic representation was investigated in the paper by Adam et al. In the paper by V Man'ko et al the diagonal representation of the density operator (usually called P-function of Glauber-Sudarshan) is related to the star-product quantization method and to the tomographic-probability representation of quantum states. Laskowski et al suggest an elegant geometrical criterion for the separability, which is based on the local correlation measurements readily available in the laboratory. Mizrahi describes a method to derive the Pauli-Schrödinger equation starting from a simple model of a qubit carried by a massive particle. By analyzing unavoidable quantum losses as they appear in neutron phase-echo and spin rotation experiments, Rauch concludes that basic quantum irreversibility exists in neutron interferometry. Rauch also shows how entanglement effects in a single particle system demonstrate quantum contextuality, and then argues that a quantum system carries much more information than is usually extracted. Kupczynski advocates various statistical tests which could be used to search for a fine structure in experimental data in order to answer the question: is quantum theory predictably complete? For an ion confined within a Paul trap, Mihalcea constructs an invariant operator based on the Lews and Riesenfeld approach and determines the spectrum of the quasienergy operator. Popov et al construct pair-coherent states of the Barut-Girardello kind for two noninteracting subsystems of pseudoharmonic oscillators and examine their statistical properties in different regions of parameters. The property of entanglement, considered to be the most intriguing property of composite quantum systems, has been an important research subject in recent years. It is considered to be a possible resource for quantum computation and communication. Therefore, a substantial number of papers in this topical issue is devoted to entanglement. Leon et al write that two-photon emission from two atoms initially excited in a common electromagnetic vacuum may generate atom-atom entanglement. Dömötör et al elucidate a connection between entanglement and coherent states. Earlier they proved that in the symmetric subspace of a system of N qubits a pure state is not globally entangled, if and only if, it is a coherent state. Here they extend this proof to a system of N 'quKits' (subsystems of arbitrary finite dimension K). Napoli et al compute exactly localizable entanglement as a function of temperature for the system of three interacting spins in a thermal state. Isar considers entanglement in open quantum dynamics by studying the system of two independent oscillators interacting with the general environment. He proposes some special parameters of the environment that manifest interesting properties (e.g., the environment is entangling initially separable states). Lindén et al study the decay of entanglement in rings of qubits that live in the Markov environment. They use the entanglement of formation as the measure whose time evolution announces (or not) the decay. Jivulescu et al consider the time evolution of a spin-1/2 particle nonuniformly coupled through the Heisenberg interaction to the environment composed of N spins. Considering arbitrary initial conditions the authors determine a numerically manipulative general solution from which information on full dynamics may be extracted. Ferraro et al investigate the entanglement evolution of two qubits interacting with a common environment through a Heisenberg XX mechanism and show that the phenomena of entanglement hidden death and entanglement hidden revival take place. Stochastic processes have been very important in quantum optics. Pascazio et al review and compare three algorithms for the generation of sequences of symmetric stable Levy random variables. They draw conclusions on the efficiency of the algorithms used and on some applications in quantum optics. Hul et al report on the possibilities of explaining the statistical properties of the spectra of irregular quantum systems by invoking the random matrix theory. The authors calculated the spectra, spectral correlation functions, and the distributions of avoided crossings, for two types of idealized model of one-dimensional quantum wires forming a quantum graph. Sirko et al present the experimental study of microwave networks displaying an irregular hexagonal structure. In a sense, these networks model quantum graphs with special properties. Kiss et al consider the recurrence of quantum walks on lattices by studying the properties of the generalized Polya number. The properties of this number are compared for classical and quantum cases. A number of interesting papers are devoted to the optical properties of condensed matter and nanostructures. Gorelik derives analytical expressions for photonic dispersion law in 3D photonic crystals filled by dielectrics or metal. Nemilentsau et al evaluate the photon density of states near a single-wall finite length carbon nanotube. The authors found definite singularities in the density of photon states that may be observable in light-matter interaction, thermal radiation distribution, and micromechanical phenomena related to Casimir forces. Perinova et al pay attention to the interesting relationship between microscopic and macroscopic approaches to the quantization of the electromagnetic field in the medium. They examine the problem of a source atom radiating into a dielectric. Radovanovic et al present an extended approach for estimating the tunneling times through all linear materials, including metamaterials having a negative refractive index. Vasic et al describe the optical design of 2D confined structures with metamaterial layers which is based on coordinate transformations. Using the Green's functions method, Ilic et al analyze the influence of boundaries of the molecular ultrathin film on exciton dispersion law. Jeknic-Dugic proposes the model of optically induced transitions in an electronic subsystem of a bio-molecule that is able to describe relatively slow conformational transitions of a bio-molecule. Stef et al present their goal to grow good quality YbF3-doped and PbF2-codoped CaF2 crystals with high divalent Ytterbium content for investigating the influence of Pb2+ ions on the valence conversion, on the dielectric and optical absorption spectra. Vasile et al present the fabrication and SEM and photoluminescence characterization of zinc gallate doped with Eu and Er ions. The results could be important for photonic applications of spinels. Vasiljevic et al present the process of production of microlenses by irradiation of a tot'hema eosin sensitized gelatin (TESG) layer with a laser beam (2nd Nd:YAG harmonic, 532 nm). Microlenses chemically processed after production with 10% alum solution had near diffraction limited performance. The production and application of microlenses are fast expanding because they are increasingly used in biomedical and general optics. Prizes for the poster presentations Authors under 35 years of age were invited to take part in the poster competition. Two first prizes EX-AEQUOAE were awarded to Zoran Grujic from the Institute of Physics, Belgrade, Serbia, for the poster 'Numerical simulation of Raman-Ramsey effects induced by thermal motion of rubidium atoms' and to Andrey Popov from Altai State Technical University, Bernaul, Russia, for the poster 'Beryllium atoms in intense fields'. The third prize was awarded to Alex Crosse from Imperial College, London, UK, for the poster 'Quantum electrodynamics in absorbing nonlinear media'. Members of the Jury were: Mirjana Bozic (Chairperson), Victor Dodonov, Margarita Man'ko, Helmut Rauch, Saverio Pascazio, Richard Tanas and Philip Walther. Sponsors of the awards were the Institute of Physics, Belgrade, European Physical Journal (EPJ) and John Wiley and Sons. CEWQO 2009 and 2010 The 16th Central European Workshop on Quantum Optics was held in Turku, Finland, 23-27 May 2009. CEWQO09 was chaired by Professor Kalle-Antti Suominen (http://www.congress.utu.fi/cewqo2009). The conference site is the new ICT building at chaired by Professor Kalle-Antti Suominen (http://www.congress.utu.fi/cewqo2009, www.congress.utu.fi/cewqo2009). The conference site was the new ICT building at the University of Turku campus area and the Viking Line ferry boat. Turku is the central city of historical Finland established on the mouth of the river Aura in the 13th century. It is the birthplace of Finnish academic life, since the Academy of Turku was established there in 1640. In 2011, Turku will be one of the cultural capitals of Europe. The city has a strong maritime tradition and is shielded from the Baltic sea by a large and beautiful archipelago. The 17th Central European Workshop on Quantum Optics will be held in 2010 in St Andrews, UK. It will be chaired by Professors Ulf Leonhardt and Natalia Korolkova from the School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews. St Andrews is home to the first university of Scotland, the third-oldest in the English-speaking world, and is the home of golf. It remains a charming, eccentric seaside town that is sufficiently secluded - the ideal place for a stimulating and thought-provoking conference.

Relativistic Celestial Mechanics of the Solar System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kopeikin, Sergei; Efroimsky, Michael; Kaplan, George

2011-09-01

The general theory of relativity was developed by Einstein a century ago. Since then, it has become the standard theory of gravity, especially important to the fields of fundamental astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology, and experimental gravitational physics. Today, the application of general relativity is also essential for many practical purposes involving astrometry, navigation, geodesy, and time synchronization. Numerous experiments have successfully tested general relativity to a remarkable level of precision. Exploring relativistic gravity in the solar system now involves a variety of high-accuracy techniques, for example, very long baseline radio interferometry, pulsar timing, spacecraft Doppler tracking, planetary radio ranging, lunar laser ranging, the global positioning system (GPS), torsion balances and atomic clocks. Over the last few decades, various groups within the International Astronomical Union have been active in exploring the application of the general theory of relativity to the modeling and interpretation of high-accuracy astronomical observations in the solar system and beyond. A Working Group on Relativity in Celestial Mechanics and Astrometry was formed in 1994 to define and implement a relativistic theory of reference frames and time scales. This task was successfully completed with the adoption of a series of resolutions on astronomical reference systems, time scales, and Earth rotation models by the 24th General Assembly of the IAU, held in Manchester, UK, in 2000. However, these resolutions only form a framework for the practical application of relativity theory, and there have been continuing questions on the details of the proper application of relativity theory to many common astronomical problems. To ensure that these questions are properly addressed, the 26th General Assembly of the IAU, held in Prague in August 2006, established the IAU Commission 52, "Relativity in Fundamental Astronomy". The general scientific goals of the new commission are to: * clarify the geometrical and dynamical concepts of fundamental astronomy within a relativistic framework, * provide adequate mathematical and physical formulations to be used in fundamental astronomy, * deepen the understanding of relativity among astronomers and students of astronomy, and * promote research needed to accomplish these tasks. The present book is intended to make a theoretical contribution to the efforts undertaken by this commission. The first three chapters of the book review the foundations of celestial mechanics as well as those of special and general relativity. Subsequent chapters discuss the theoretical and experimental principles of applied relativity in the solar system. The book is written for graduate students and researchers working in the area of gravitational physics and its applications inmodern astronomy. Chapters 1 to 3 were written by Michael Efroimsky and Sergei Kopeikin, Chapters 4 to 8 by Sergei Kopeikin, and Chapter 9 by George Kaplan. Sergei Kopeikin also edited the overall text. It hardly needs to be said that Newtonian celestial mechanics is a very broad area. In Chapter 1, we have concentrated on derivation of the basic equations, on explanation of the perturbed two-body problem in terms of osculating and nonosculating elements, and on discussion of the gauge freedom in the six-dimensional configuration space of the orbital parameters. The gauge freedom of the configuration space has many similarities to the gauge freedom of solutions of the Einstein field equations in general theory of relativity. It makes an important element of the Newtonian theory of gravity, which is often ignored in the books on classic celestial mechanics. Special relativity is discussed in Chapter 2. While our treatment is in many aspects similar to the other books on special relativity, we have carefully emphasised the explanation of the Lorentz and Poincaré transformations, and the appropriate transformation properties of geometric objects like vectors and tensors, for example, the velocity, acceleration, force, electromagnetic field, and so on. Chapter 3 is devoted to general relativity. It explains the main ideas of the tensor calculus on curved manifolds, the theory of the affine connection and parallel transport, and the mathematical and physical foundations of Einstein's approach to gravity. Within this chapter, we have also included topics which are not well covered in standard books on general relativity: namely, the variational analysis on manifolds and the multipolar expansion of gravitational radiation. Chapter 4 introduces a detailed theory of relativistic reference frames and time scales in an N-body system comprised of massive, extended bodies - like our own solar system. Here, we go beyond general relativity and base our analysis on the scalar-tensor theory of gravity. This allows us to extend the domain of applicability of the IAU resolutions on relativistic reference frames, which in their original form were applicable only in the framework of general relativity. We explain the principles of construction of reference frames, and explore their relationship with the solutions of the gravitational field equations. We also discuss the post-Newtonian multipolemoments of the gravitational field from the viewpoint of global and local coordinates. Chapter 5 discusses the principles of derivation of transformations between reference frames in relativistic celestial mechanics. The standard parameterized post-Newtonian (PPN) formalism by K. Nordtevdt and C. Will operates with a single coordinate frame covering the entire N-body system, but it is insufficient for discussion of more subtle relativistic effects showing up in orbital and rotational motion of extended bodies. Consideration of such effects require, besides the global frame, the introduction of a set of local frames needed to properly treat each body and its internal structure and dynamics. The entire set of global and local frames allows us to to discover and eliminate spurious coordinate effects that have no physical meaning. The basic mathematical technique used in our theoretical treatment is based on matching of asymptotic post-Newtonian expansions of the solutions of the gravity field equations. In Chapter 6, we discuss the principles of relativistic celestial mechanics of massive bodies and particles. We focus on derivation of the post-Newtonian equations of orbital and rotational motion of an extended body possessing multipolar moments. These moments couple with the tidal gravitational fields of other bodies, making the motion of the body under consideration very complicated. Simplification is possible if the body can be assumed spherically symmetric. We discuss the conditions under which this simplification can be afforded, and derive the equations of motion of spherically-symmetric bodies. These equations are solved in the case of the two-body problem, and we demonstrate the rich nature of the possible coordinate presentations of such a solution. The relativistic celestial mechanics of light particles (photons) propagating in a time-dependent gravitational field of an N-body system is addressed in Chapter 7. This is a primary subject of relativistic astrometry which became especially important for the analysis of space observations from the Hipparcos satellite in the early 1990s. New astrometric space missions, orders of magnitude more accurate than Hipparcos, for example, Gaia, SIM, JASMINE, and so on, will require even more complete developments. Additionally, relativistic effects play an important role in other areas of modern astronomy, such as, pulsar timing, very long baseline radio interferometry, cosmological gravitational lensing, and so on. High-precision measurements of gravitational light bending in the solar system are among the most crucial experimental tests of the general theory of relativity. Einstein predicted that the amount of light bending by the Sun is twice that given by a Newtonian theory of gravity. This prediction has been confirmed with a relative precision about 0.01%. Measurements of light bending by major planets of the solar system allow us to test the dynamical characteristics of spacetime and draw conclusions about the ultimate speed of gravity as well as to explore the so-called gravitomagnetic phenomena. Chapter 8 deals with the theoretical principles and methods of the high-precision gravimetry and geodesy, based on the framework of general relativity. A gravitational field and the properties of geocentric and topocentric reference frames are described by the metric tensor obtained from the Einstein equations with the help of post-Newtonian iterations. Bymatching the asymptotic, post-Newtonian expansions of the metric tensor in geocentric and topocentric coordinates, we derive the relationship between the reference frames, and relativistic corrections to the Earth's force of gravity and its gradient. Two definitions of a relativistic geoid are discussed, and we prove that these geoids coincide under the condition of a constant rigid-body rotation of the Earth.We consider, as a model of the Earth's matter, the notion of the relativistic level surface of a self-gravitating perfect fluid. We discover that, under conditions of constant rigid rotation of the fluid and hydrostatic behavior of tides, the post-Newtonian equation of the level surface is the same as that of the relativistic geoid. In the conclusion of this chapter, a relativistic generaisation of the Clairaut's equation is obtained. Chapter 9 is a practical guide to the relativistic resolutions of the IAU, with enough background information to place these resolutions into the context of the late twentieth century positional astronomy. These resolutions involve the definitions of reference systems, time scales, and Earth rotationmodels; and some of the resolutions are quite detailed. Although the recommended Earth rotation models have not been developed ab initio within the relativistic framework presented in the other resolutions (in that regard, there still exist some difficult problems to solve), their relativistic terms are accurate enough for all the current and near-future observational techniques. At that level, the Earth rotation models are consistent with the general relativity framework recommended by the IAU and considered in this book. The chapter presents practical algorithms for implementing the recommended models. The appendices to the book contain a list of astronomical constants and the original text of the relevant IAU resolutions adopted by the IAU General Assemblies in 1997, 2000, 2006, and 2009. Numerous colleagues have contributed to this book in one way or or another. It is a pleasure for us to acknowledge the enlightening discussions which one or more of the authors had on different occasions with Victor A. Brumberg of the Institute of Applied Astronomy (St. Petersburg, Russia); Tianyi Huang and Yi Xie of Nanjing University (China); Edward B. Fomalont of the National Radio Astronomical Observatory (USA); Valeri V. Makarov, William J. Tangren, and James L. Hilton of the US Naval Observatory; Gerhard Schäfer of the Institute of Theoretical Physics (Jena, Germany); Clifford M. Will of Washington University (St. Louis, USA); Ignazio Ciufolini of the Università del Salento and INFN Sezione di Lecce (Italy); and Patrick Wallace, retired from Her Majesty's Nautical Almanac Office (UK). We also would like to thank Richard G. French of Wellesley College (Massachusetts, USA); Michael Soffel and Sergei Klioner of the Technical University of Dresden; Bahram Mashhoon of the University of Missouri-Columbia; John D. Anderson, retired from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (USA); the late Giacomo Giampieri, also of JPL; Michael Kramer, Axel Jessner, and Norbert Wex of the Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie (Bonn, Germany); Alexander F. Zakharov of the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics (Moscow, Russia); the late Yuri P. Ilyasov from Astro Space Center of Russian Academy of Science; Michael V. Sazhin, Vladimir A. Zharov, and Igor Yu. Vlasov of the Sternberg Astronomical Institute (Moscow, Russia); and Vladimir B. Braginsky of Moscow State University (Russia) for their remarks and comments, all of which helped us to properly formulate the theoretical concepts and other material presented in this book. The discussions among themembers of the IAU Worki! ng Group on Relativity in Celestial Mechanics and Astrometry as well as those within the Working Group on Nomenclature for Fundamental Astronomy have also been quite valuable and have contributed to what is presented here. The numerous scientific papers written by Nicole Capitaine of the Paris Observatory and her collaborators have been essential references. Victor Slabinski and Dennis D. McCarthy of the US Naval Observatory, P. Kenneth Seidelmann of the University of Virginia, Catherine Y. Hohenkerk of Her Majesty's Nautical Almanac Office, and E. Myles Standish, retired from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, reviewed early drafts of the material that became Chapter 9 and made many substantial suggestions for improvement. We were, of course, influenced by many other textbooks available in this field. We would like to pay particular tribute to: C.W. Misner, K. S. Thorne and J. A. Wheeler "Gravitation" V.A. Brumberg "Essential Relativistic Celestial Mechanics" B.F. Schutz "Geometrical Methods of Mathematical Physics" M.H. Soffel "Relativity in Celestial Mechanics, Astrometry and Geodesy" C.M. Will "Theory and Experiment in Gravitational Physics". There are many other books and influential papers that are important as well which are referenced in the relevant parts of the present book. Not one of our aforementioned colleagues is responsible for any remaining errors or omissions in this book, for which, of course, the authors bear full responsibility. Last, but by nomeans least,Michael Efroimsky and George Kaplan wish to thank John A. Bangert of the US Naval Observatory for the administrative support which he so kindly provided to the project during all of its stages. Sergei Kopeikin is sincerely grateful to the Research Council of the University of Missouri-Columbia for the generous financial support (grants RL-08-027, URC-08-062B, SRF-09-012) that was essential for the successful completion of the book.