Effects of divalent dopants on the microstructure and conversion efficiency of Cr4+ ions in Cr,Me:YAG (Me – Ca, Mg, Ca/Mg) transparent ceramics

The efficiency of Cr4+:YAG is directly proportional to the transparency and concentration of Cr4+ which can be tuned by changing the divalent dopant. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of different kinds of divalent dopants on the properties of Cr,Me:YAG (Me = Ca, Mg or Ca/Mg) ceramics made by solid-state sintering in vacuum. Pure YAG phases with an in-line transmittance of 80% at 1064nm were prepared. It was revealed that the Cr4+ concentration is directly proportional to the concentration of divalent dopants and it does not depend on the type of dopant. Our experiment proves that the efficiency of high optical quality Cr4+:YAG ceramics preparedby sintering does not change when different kinds of divalent additives are used

Transport Phenomena in Alcator C-Mod H-Modes

Abstract. Several interesting new results have come from studies of ICRF-heated, H-mode plasmas in Alcator C-Mod. Dimensionless scaling studies have found gyro-Bohm-like transport similar to that reported on other devices; however, the dependence on collisionality was surprisingly strong, with BE −1. Despite high edge temperatures and strong edge pressure gradients, type I edge-localized modes (ELMs) are not observed in C-Mod. Instead we obtain a regime that we have dubbed enhanced D (EDA) which is accompanied by high-frequency density fluctuations. For all H-modes, core gradients were found to increase linearly with edge temperature, suggesting the importance of critical gradient/marginal stability behaviour. Comparisons with the IFS-PPPL model have begun, showing quantitative agreement in some cases. Impurity particle transport was studied via the laser blow-off technique with impurity confinement found to be effectively infinite for ELM-free discharges but reduced into the range 0.1–0.2 s for the EDA plasmas. 1

Surface visibility and the validity of settlement patterns in legacy survey datasets

The ground visibility of the terrain that is surveyed has a clear impact on detecting archaeological finds. Because the resulting distortions may influence the quality of the interpretation of single settlements and settlement patterns, various checks of the terrain and the collected data are needed. Therefore, in current survey projects different types of tests and data filtering are increasingly implemented both in the field and in the laboratory as a part of their methodology. However, some of the most important archaeological landscape projects were initiated long before an agreement on a standard methodology for field survey was reached. As a result, legacy datasets have been deemed to be of little value to present-day scholarship due to the current research standards. In this paper, we examine if legacy data can be useful to contemporary research by performing a study comparing legacy data collected by the Forma Italiae survey project to contemporary data collected by the LERC project. The Forma Italiae survey project was carried out in the late 20th century and produced a large dataset of archaeological sites in the area around the ancient town of Venusia (located in Southern Italy). We first analyzed the relationship between surface visibility and the density of identified Hellenistic-period sites by means of a statistical analysis, and then tested the reliability of the legacy site patterns by comparing them with new data recovered from the field in a recent re-survey of this region by our team as a part of the LERC project. We thus assessed the compatibility of the clustered pattern of sites detected by the Forma Italiae and the new LERC field surveys. At odds with more pessimistic estimations, we conclude that on the regional level and coarse scale of analysis the legacy survey data is representative and offers significant evidence to current scholarship for the study of ancient settlement patterns.NWODigital ArchaeologyClassical & Mediterranean ArchaeologyProvincial Roman and Medieval Archaeology, colonial expansio

Linezolid population pharmacokinetic model in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid among patients with tuberculosis meningitis

BACKGROUND: Linezolid is evaluated in novel treatment regimens for tuberculous meningitis (TBM). Linezolid pharmacokinetics have not been characterized in this population, particularly in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) where exposures may be affected by changes in protein concentration. Linezolid co-administration with high-dose rifampicin, has also not been studied. We aimed to characterize linezolid plasma and CSF pharmacokinetics in adults with TBM. METHODS: In LASER-TBM pharmacokinetic-substudy, the intervention groups received high-dose rifampicin (35mg/kg) plus linezolid 1200mg/day for 28days, then reduced to 600mg/day. Plasma sampling was done on day 3 (intensive) and on day 28 (sparse). A lumbar CSF sample was obtained on both visits. RESULTS: 30-participants, median(min-max) age and weight of 40(27-56)years and 58(30-96)kg, contributed 247 plasma and 28 CSF observations. Plasma pharmacokinetics was described by one-compartment model with first-order absorption and saturable elimination. Maximal clearance was 7.25L/h, and Km was 27.2mg/L. Rifampicin co-treatment duration did not affect linezolid pharmacokinetics. CSF-Plasma partitioning correlated with CSF total-protein upto 1.2g/L where the partition-coefficient reached maximal value of 37%. Plasma-CSF equilibration half-life was ∼3.5hours. CONCLUSION: Linezolid was readily detected in CSF despite high-dose rifampicin co-administration. These findings support continued clinical evaluation of linezolid plus high-dose rifampicin for the treatment of TBM in adults

Diagnostic Accuracy of the Frontotemporal Dementia Consensus Criteria in the Late-Onset Frontal Lobe Syndrome

BACKGROUND/AIMS: We aimed to prospectively assess the diagnostic accuracy of the revised criteria for behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) among subjects presenting with a frontal lobe syndrome in middle-late adulthood. METHODS: Patients were included based on a predominant behavioural clinical presentation, a Frontal Behavioural Inventory (FBI) score of ≥11 and/or a Stereotypy Rating Inventory (SRI) score of ≥10. At baseline, the fulfilment of the international consensus criteria for behavioural variant FTD (FTDC) was systematically recorded. The 2-year follow-up consensus diagnosis was used as the gold standard to calculate sensitivity and specificity of the FTDC criteria for possible and probable bvFTD. RESULTS: Two-year follow-up data were available for 116 patients (85%). Two-year follow-up consensus diagnoses consisted of probable/definite bvFTD (n = 27), other dementia (n = 30), psychiatric disorders (n = 46) and other neurological disorders (n = 13). Sensitivity for possible bvFTD was 85% (95% CI 70-95%) at a specificity of 27% (95% CI 19-37%). Sensitivity for probable bvFTD was 85% (95% CI 69-95%), whereas their specificity was 82% (95% CI 73-89%). CONCLUSIONS: We found a good diagnostic accuracy for FTDC probable bvFTD. However, the specificity for FTDC possible bvFTD was low. Our results reflect the symptomatic overlap between bvFTD, other neurological conditions and psychiatric disorders, and the relevance of adding neuroimaging to the diagnostic process

Validation of the Aura Microwave Limb Sounder HNOmeasurements

We assess the quality of the version 2.2 (v2.2) HNO3 measurements from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) on the Earth Observing System Aura satellite. The MLS HNO3 product has been greatly improved over that in the previous version (v1.5), with smoother profiles, much more realistic behavior at the lowest retrieval levels, and correction of a high bias caused by an error in one of the spectroscopy files used in v1.5 processing. The v2.2 HNO3 data are scientifically useful over the range 215 to 3.2 hPa, with single-profile precision of ∼0.7 ppbv throughout. Vertical resolution is 3–4 km in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere, degrading to ∼5 km in the middle and upper stratosphere. The impact of various sources of systematic uncertainty has been quantified through a comprehensive set of retrieval simulations. In aggregate, systematic uncertainties are estimated to induce in the v2.2 HNO3 measurements biases that vary with altitude between ±0.5 and ±2 ppbv and multiplicative errors of ±5–15% throughout the stratosphere, rising to ∼±30% at 215 hPa. Consistent with this uncertainty analysis, comparisons with correlative data sets show that relative to HNO3 measurements from ground-based, balloon-borne, and satellite instruments operating in both the infrared and microwave regions of the spectrum, MLS v2.2 HNO3 mixing ratios are uniformly low by 10–30% throughout most of the stratosphere. Comparisons with in situ measurements made from the DC-8 and WB-57 aircraft in the upper troposphere and lowermost stratosphere indicate that the MLS HNO3 values are low in this region as well, but are useful for scientific studies (with appropriate averaging)