Comparing traditional geomechanical and remote sensing techniques for rock mass characterization

Analysis of the stability conditions of rock masses starts from detailed geo-structural surveys based on a systematic and quantitative description of the systems of discontinuities. Traditionally, these surveys are performed by implementing the classical geomechanical systems, available in the scientific literature since several decades, through the use of simple tools such as the geological compass to measure dip and dip direction directly on the discontinuity systems, and to fully describe their more significant physical characteristics (length, spacing, roughness, persistence, aperture, filling, termination, etc.). In several cases, this can be difficult because the discontinuities, or even the rock face, cannot be easily accessible. To have a complete survey, very often the involvement of geologists climbers is required, but in many situations this work is not easy to carry out, and in any case it does not cover the whole rock front. Today, to solve these problems, traditional geomechanical surveying is implemented by innovative remote techniques using, individually or in combination, instruments such as terrestrial laser scanners and unmanned aerial vehicles to build a point cloud. This latter permits to extract very accurate data on discontinuities for stability analyses, based on areal and non-point observations. In addition, the point cloud allows to map sub-vertical walls in their entirety in much shorter times than traditional surveying. At this regard, two rock slopes were detected in the Sorrento Peninsula (Campania, southern Italy) with techniques that include traditional mapping, dictated by the guidelines of the International Society for Rock Mechanics, and the remote survey, through laser scanning and drone photogrammetry. The data obtained were processed automatically and manually through the Dips, CloudCompare and Discontinuity Set Extractor softwares. In the present contribution we highlight the limits and advantages of the main data collection and the processing techniques, and provide an evaluation of the software packages currently available for the analysis and evaluation of discontinuities, in order to obtain a better characterization of the rock mass

A Pixel Vertex Tracker for the TESLA Detector

In order to fully exploit the physics potential of a e+e- linear collider, such as TESLA, a Vertex Tracker providing high resolution track reconstruction is required. Hybrid Silicon pixel sensors are an attractive sensor technology option due to their read-out speed and radiation hardness, favoured in the high rate TESLA environment, but have been so far limited by the achievable single point space resolution. A novel layout of pixel detectors with interleaved cells to improve their spatial resolution is introduced and the results of the characterisation of a first set of test structures are discussed. In this note, a conceptual design of the TESLA Vertex Tracker, based on hybrid pixel sensors is presentedComment: 20 pages, 11 figure

High resolution pixel detectors for e+e- linear colliders

The physics goals at the future e+e- linear collider require high performance vertexing and impact parameter resolution. Two possible technologies for the vertex detector of an experimental apparatus are outlined in the paper: an evolution of the Hybrid Pixel Sensors already used in high energy physics experiments and a new detector concept based on the monolithic CMOS sensors.Comment: 8 pages, to appear on the Proceedings of the International Workshop on Linear Colliders LCWS99, Sitges (Spain), April 28 - May 5, 199

High Resolution Hybrid Pixel Sensors for the e+e- TESLA Linear Collider Vertex Tracker

In order to fully exploit the physics potential of a future high energy e+e- linear collider, a Vertex Tracker, providing high resolution track reconstruction, is required. Hybrid Silicon pixel sensors are an attractive option, for the sensor technology, due to their read-out speed and radiation hardness, favoured in the high rate environment of the TESLA e+e- linear collider design but have been so far limited by the achievable single point space resolution. In this paper, a conceptual design of the TESLA Vertex Tracker, based on a novel layout of hybrid pixel sensors with interleaved cells to improve their spatial resolution, is presented.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, to appear in the Proceedings of the Vertex99 Workshop, Texel (The Netherlands), June 199

PEGylation Promotes Hemoglobin Tetramer Dissociation

Hemoglobin conjugated with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) acts as an oxygen carrier free in plasma, substituting red blood cells in supplementing oxygen in hypo-oxygenation pathologies. Given the complexity of oxygen delivery controls, subtle structural and functional differences in PEGylated hemoglobins might be associated with distinct physiological responses and, potentially, adverse effects. We have compared hemoglobin PEGylated under anaerobic conditions, called PEG-Hb(deoxy), with hemoglobin PEGylated under aerobic conditions, called PEG-Hb(oxy), a product that mimics Hemospan, produced by Sangart, Inc. SDS PAGE and MALDI-TOF analyses demonstrated that PEG conjugation yields products characterized by a broad distribution of PEG/hemoglobin ratios. The elution profiles in size-exclusion chromatography indicate that both products exhibit a more homogeneous distribution of molecular weight/hydrodynamic volume under deoxy conditions and at higher concentrations. PEG-Hb(oxy) shows high oxygen affinity, low modulation of allosteric effectors, almost no cooperativity, a fast and monophasic CO binding, and a limited dependence of functional properties on concentration, whereas PEG-Hb(deoxy) exhibits oxygen binding curves that significantly depend on protein concentration, and a slow CO binding, similar to native hemoglobin. PEGylated CO-hemoglobins, probed by flash photolysis, exhibited a lower amplitude for the geminate rebinding phase with respect to native hemoglobin and a negligible T state bimolecular CO rebinding phase. These findings are explained by an increased dissociation of PEGylated hemoglobins into dimers and perturbed T and R states with decreased quaternary transition rates. These features are more pronounced for PEG-Hb(oxy) than PEG-Hb(deoxy). The detected heterogeneity might be a source of adverse effects when PEGylated Hbs are used as blood substitutes

ON THE INTERACTION BETWEEN SEA BREEZE AND SUMMER MISTRAL AT THE EXIT OF THE RHÔNE VALLEY DURING THE ESCOMPTE EXPERIMENT

The abstract investigates experimentally and numerically the structure of a combined Mistral sea breeze event at the exit of the Rhône valley in southeastern France, as well as the near shoreline water variability at the alternation between the Mistral and the sea breeze

The energy dependence of flow in Ni induced collisions from 400 to 1970A MeV

We study the energy dependence of collective (hydrodynamic-like) nuclear matter flow in 400-1970 A MeV Ni+Au and 1000-1970 A MeV Ni+Cu reactions. The flow increases with energy, reaches a maximum, and then gradually decreases at higher energies. A way of comparing the energy dependence of flow values for different projectile-target mass combinations is introduced, which demonstrates a common scaling behaviour among flow values from different systems.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures. Submitted to Physical Review Letter