The teaching profession in Europe : historical and sociological analysis

A possible effect of direct CP violation in D -> K-S(0)pi(+)pi(-) decay on the gamma measurement from B-+/- -> DK +/-, D -> K-S(0)pi(+)pi(-) Dalitz plot analysis is considered. Systematic uncertainty of gamma coming from the current limits on direct CP violation in D -> K-S(0)pi(+)pi(-) is estimated, and a modified model-independent procedure of B-+/- -> DK +/-, D -> K-S(0)pi(+)pi(-) Dalitz plot analysis is proposed that gives an unbiased gamma measurement even in presence of direct CP violation in charm decays. The technique is applicable to other threebody D decays such as D-0 -> (KSK+K-)-K-0, D-0 -> pi(+)pi(-)pi(0), etc

Biomechanical Similarities And Differences Of A. Agassi's First And Second Serves

The purpose of this study was to perform three-dimensional analysis of the instrumentally recorded elements of Andre Agassi's serving technique during competition. A video based analysis system was used to analyze the data provided by two sVHS (60 Hz) back and right side view camcorders. Four successful first and second serves into the deuce court were selected for the analysis. Spatial kinematic characteristics of the defined points and segments were analyzed. The average speed of the ball for the first serve was 45.8±2.2 m/s and angled close to the sideline. The second serve was hit with pronounced topspin and achieved a ball speed of 37.9±2.4 m/s. Kinematic characteristics of the CG in the preparation phase reflects direction, velocity and rotation of the ball. The first serve's CG maximum speed was 1.89±0.10 m/s. Angle ofthe horizontal velocity at the moment of impact was 17±4 degrees. The characteristics of the second serve were 1.71±0.09 m/sand 1l±5 degrees. However, the vertical component of CG velocity of the second serve was 12% higher than the first which most likely provided additional ball rotation. The ball positioning relative to the CG at the moment of impact for the first serve was 0.13±0.02 m forward and 0.12±0.04 m laterally. The second serve had no significant forward shift between the ball and CG. Lateral shift was 0.36±0.04 m. The impact height was relatively the same. Analysis of body segment movements during the first serve gives the following results: high speed right knee extension, hip and shoulder rotation provides pronounced forward body motion. In the second serve extension of the left knee was dominant with less influence by the hip and shoulder rotation, but with more notable lateral trunk action. No significant differences were found between right arm and racquet's relative movements during the first and the second serves. In both cases maximum angular velocities of the elbow extension and a racquet swing were 1185±110 deg/s and 3240±180 deg/sec respectively with the same structure of the velocity changes. It was found that in order to increase consistency of the second serve, Agassi while keeping the relative motion of his arm consistent from serve to serve, makes changes in his vertical and lateral position, and the forward motion of his body which causes changes in the velocity and rotation of the ball. Since the torso and leg muscles are larger than the arm muscles, they are stronger and more stable, thus providing consistency in changes of motion patterns for the second serve

Development of hollow electron beams for proton and ion collimation

Magnetically confined hollow electron beams for controlled halo removal in high-energy colliders such as the Tevatron or the LHC may extend traditional collimation systems beyond the intensity limits imposed by tolerable material damage. They may also improve collimation performance by suppressing loss spikes due to beam jitter and by increasing capture efficiency. A hollow electron gun was designed and built. Its performance and stability were measured at the Fermilab test stand. The gun will be installed in one of the existing Tevatron electron lenses for preliminary tests of the hollow-beam collimator concept, addressing critical issues such as alignment and instabilities of the overlapping proton and electron beams.Comment: 3 pp. 1st International Particle Accelerator Conference: IPAC'10, 23-28 May 2010: Kyoto, Japa

Evidence for microplastics contamination of the remote tributary of the Yenisei River, Siberia - The pilot study results

This study is a pioneering attempt to count microplastics (MPs) in the Yenisei River system to clarify the role of Siberian Rivers in the transport of MPs to the Arctic Ocean. The average MPs content in the surface water of the Yenisei large tributary, the Nizhnyaya Tunguska River, varied from 1.20 ± 0.70 to 4.53 ± 2.04 items/m3, tending to increase along the watercourse (p < 0.05). Concentrations of MPs in bottom sediments of the two rivers were 235 ± 83.0 to 543 ± 94.1 with no tendency of downstream increasing. Linear association (r = 0.952) between average organic matter content and average counts of MPs in bottom sediments occurred. Presumably MPs originated from the daily activities of the in-situ population. Further spatial-temporal studies are needed to estimate the riverine MPs fluxes into the Eurasian Arctic seas

Preliminary screening for microplastic concentrations in the surface water of the Ob and Tom Rivers in Siberia, Russia

This study characterizes the abundance and morphology of microplastics in surface water of the Ob River and its large tributary, the Tom River, in western Siberia. The average number of particles for two rivers ranged from 44.2 to 51.2 items per m3 or from 79.4 to 87.5 μg per m3 in the Tom River and in the Ob River, correspondingly. 93.5% of recovered microplastics were less than 1 mm in their largest dimension, the largest group (45.5% of total counts) consisted of particles with sizes range 0.30-1.00 mm

An evaporation-based model of thermal neutron induced ternary fission of plutonium

Ternary fission probabilities for thermal neutron induced fission of plutonium are analyzed within the framework of an evaporation-based model where the complexity of time-varying potentials, associated with the neck collapse, are included in a simplistic fashion. If the nuclear temperature at scission and the fission-neck-collapse time are assumed to be ~1.2 MeV and ~10^-22 s, respectively, then calculated relative probabilities of ternary-fission light-charged-particle emission follow the trends seen in the experimental data. The ability of this model to reproduce ternary fission probabilities spanning seven orders of magnitude for a wide range of light-particle charges and masses implies that ternary fission is caused by the coupling of an evaporation-like process with the rapid re-arrangement of the nuclear fluid following scission.Comment: 25 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in IJMP

Beam halo dynamics and control with hollow electron beams

Experimental measurements of beam halo diffusion dynamics with collimator scans are reviewed. The concept of halo control with a hollow electron beam collimator, its demonstration at the Tevatron, and its possible applications at the LHC are discussed.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, in Proceedings of the 52nd ICFA Advanced Beam Dynamics Workshop on High-Intensity and High-Brightness Hadron Beams (HB2012), Beijing, China, 17-21 September 201

Hydrobionts of a freshwater oil-polluted northern lake: bioaccumulation of heavy metals in fish and the rate of ecosystem recovery

The response of phytoplankton, zooplankton, benthic and fish community structure to one of the biggest oil spill in history of Komi Republic (north-west part of Russia) was investigated using data from a long-term survey off the polluted lake. The characteristics of aquatic freshwater communities observed in the study area 10, 11 and 22 years after the spill (1994) were compared to find out the rate of natural recovery of the ecosystem after oil decontamination of bottom sediments. The concentrations of fifteen trace metals (Al, Cr, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Mo, Cd, Sb, Pb, U, Bi, Th) were analyzed in the tissues (muscle) of three fish species. The concentrations of Al (3-309 mg/kg), Cr (0,1-3,71 mg/kg), Fe (8,6-317 mg/kg), and Cu (0,09-99 mg/kg) in fishes from polluted lake resulted in most cases higher than reference thresholds. Quantitative and qualitative indicators of aquatic invertebrates from polluted lake reach those one of unpolluted lake but do not fully recover 22 years after the spill, despite that oil concentration in water column and in bottom sediments was lower than reference tresholds. We conclude that natural recovery rate of aquatic freshwater ecosystems in northern regions after oil pollution is extremely low. The purification of water and bottom sediments of oil-polluted northern water bodies is necessary for stimulation of ecosystem restoration