Deceleration of the solar wind in the Earth foreshock region: ISEE 2 and IMP 8 observations

The deceleration of the solar wind in the region of the interplanetary space filled by ions backstreaming from the Earth bow shock was studied using a two spacecraft technique. This deceleration, which is correlated with the "diffuse" but not with the "reflected" ion population, depends on the solar wind bulk velocity: at low velocities (below 300 km/sec) the velocity decrease is about 5 km/sec, while at higher velocities (above 400 km/sec) the decrease may be as large as 30 km/sec. Along with this deceleration, the solar wind undergoes a deflection of about 1 deg away from the direction of the Earth bow shock. The energy balance shows that the kinetic energy loss far exceeds the thermal energy which is possibly gained by the solar wind, therefore, at least part of this energy must go into waves and/or into the backstreaming ions

Successful private–public funding of paediatric medicines research: lessons from the EU programme to fund research into off-patent medicines

The European Paediatric Regulation mandated the European Commission to fund research on off-patent medicines with demonstrated therapeutic interest for children. Responding to this mandate, five FP7 project calls were launched and 20 projects were granted. This paper aims to detail the funded projects and their preliminary results. Publicly available sources have been consulted and a descriptive analysis has been performed. Twenty Research Consortia including 246 partners in 29 European and non-European countries were created (involving 129 universities or public funded research organisations, 51 private companies with 40 SMEs, 7 patient associations). The funded projects investigate 24 medicines, covering 10 therapeutic areas in all paediatric age groups. In response to the Paediatric Regulation and to apply for a Paediatric Use Marketing Authorisation, 15 Paediatric Investigation Plans have been granted by the EMAPaediatric Committee, including 71 studies of whom 29 paediatric clinical trials, leading to a total of 7,300 children to be recruited in more than 380 investigational centres. Conclusion: Notwithstanding the EU contribution for each study is lower than similar publicly funded projects, and also considering the complexity of paediatric research, these projects are performing high-quality research and are progressing towards the increase of new paediatric medicines on the market. Private–public partnerships have been effectively implemented, providing a good example for future collaborative actions. Since these projects cover a limited number of offpatent drugs and many unmet therapeutic needs in paediatrics remain, it is crucial foreseeing new similar initiatives in forthcoming European funding programmes

Consideraciones sobre la educación en ingeniería geotécnica

La ingeniería en general, y la geotecnia quizás más, es una disciplina no bien difundida en cuanto a su rol frente a la sociedad a la que sirve. Esta situación es bastante curiosa siendo como es, una especialidad vinculada a la seguridad y al ambiente. En este trabajo se desarrollan y reseñan algunas ideas que tienen que ver con los objetivos y métodos de enseñanza y su futuro. Se trata de generar un debate sobre los conceptos de “enseñanza-aprendizaje” o, “enseñanza-entrenamiento”, siempre desde la óptica de la situación de nuestra Nación

Materials and technological processes for High-Gradient accelerating structures: new results from mechanical tests of an innovative braze-free cavity

Pure oxygen-free high-conductivity copper is a widely used material for manufacturing accelerating cavities working at room temperature. Several studies attempted to explain limitations associated with the maximum allowed field gradients and the behaviour of vacuum RF breakdown in copper accelerating structures through generation and movement of dislocations under stresses associated with RF electric and magnetic fields. Pure copper and also copper alloys undergo mechanical and thermal treatments to be hardened and strengthened during manufacturing, although their mechanical properties significantly change after heating above 590ˆC. High temperature brazing and diffusion bonding are assembly methods widely used to manufacture ultra-high vacuum accelerating devices. However, these processes, occurring at about 800-1000ˆC, significantly affect the mechanical properties of copper and copper alloys. We present here a novel Tungsten Inert Gas welding procedure, which is fast and keeps the high-gradient surfaces of the cavity and other components well below the copper annealing temperature. This process may be successfully used to manufacture copper-based accelerating components. This technology preserves the hardness and cleanliness of copper in order to achieve the maximum accelerating gradient

Deep shower interpretation of the cosmic ray events observed in excess of the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin energy

We consider the possibility that the ultra-high-energy cosmic ray flux has a small component of exotic particles which create showers much deeper in the atmosphere than ordinary hadronic primaries. It is shown that applying the conventional AGASA/HiRes/Auger data analysis procedures to such exotic events results in large systematic biases in the energy spectrum measurement. SubGZK exotic showers may be mis-reconstructed with much higher energies and mimick superGZK events. Alternatively, superGZK exotic showers may elude detection by conventional fluorescence analysis techniques.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figure

Conventional Drills Versus Piezoelectric Surgery Preparation for Placement of Four Immediately Loaded Zygomatic Oncology Implants in Edentulous Maxillae: 3 Year Results of a Within Person Randomised Controlled Trial

PURPOSE. A within-person randomised controlled trial to compare the outcome of site preparation for two zygomatic oncology implants per zygoma using conventional preparation with rotary drills or piezoelectric surgery with dedicated inserts. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Twenty edentulous patients with severely atrophic maxillae and insufficient bone volumes for placing dental implants with less than 4 mm of bone height subantrally had their hemi-maxillae randomised according to a within-patient study design into implant site preparation with either conventional rotational drills or piezoelectric surgery. Two zygomatic oncology implants (unthreaded coronal portion) were placed in each hemi-maxilla. Implants that achieved an insertion torque of greater than 40 Ncm were immediately loaded with provisional screw-retained metal-reinforced acrylic prostheses. Outcome measures were: prosthesis and implant failures, any com-plications, time to place the implants, presence of post-operative haematoma, and patient preference, as assessed by blinded assessors when possible. All patients were followed up for 3 years after loading. RESULTS. In two patients, drills had to be used in the piezoelectric surgery arm in order to prepare implant sites properly. One implant from the conventional drill group did not achieve an insertion torque of greater than 40 Ncm since the zygoma fractured. Three patients dropped out. Two distal oncology implants failed in the same patient (one per group), who was not prosthetically rehabilitated. Six patients experienced at least one complication at drilled sites and five at piezoelectric surgery sites (three patients had bilateral complications), the difference not being statistically significant (odds ratio = 1.5; P [McNemar’s test] = 1.0; 95% CI of odds ratio: 0.25 to 8.98). Implant placement with con-vention drills took on average 14.35±1.76 minutes vs. 23.50±2.26 minutes with piezoelectric surgery, the implant placement time being significantly shorter with conventional drilling (difference = 9.15±1.69 minutes; 95%CI: 8.36 to 9.94 minutes; P = 0.000). Post-operative haematomas were larger at drilled sites in 11 patients and similar at both sides in nine patients (chi-square = 20.4; df = 3; P = 0.0001), and 16 patients found both techniques equally acceptable while four preferred piezoelectric surgery (chi-square = 34.4; df = 3; P<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS. Although these results may be system-dependent, and therefore cannot be generalised to other zygomatic systems with confidence, both drilling techniques achieved similar clinical outcomes. However, conventional drilling required 9 minutes less and could be used in all instances, though it was more aggressive