4,956 research outputs found
The impact of historical land use change from 1850 to 2000 on particulate matter and ozone
Anthropogenic land use change (LUC) since pre-industrial (1850) has altered the vegetation distribution and density around the world. We use a global model (GEOS-Chem) to assess the attendant changes in surface air quality and the direct radiative forcing (DRF). We focus our analysis on secondary particulate matter and tropospheric ozone formation. The general trend of expansion of managed ecosystems (croplands and pasturelands) at the expense of natural ecosystems has led to an 11 % decline in global mean biogenic volatile organic compound emissions. Concomitant growth in agricultural activity has more than doubled ammonia emissions and increased emissions of nitrogen oxides from soils by more than 50 %. Conversion to croplands has also led to a widespread increase in ozone dry deposition velocity. Together these changes in biosphere-atmosphere exchange have led to a 14 % global mean increase in biogenic secondary organic aerosol (BSOA) surface concentrations, a doubling of surface aerosol nitrate concentrations, and local changes in surface ozone of up to 8.5 ppb. We assess a global mean LUC-DRF of +0.017 Wm−2, −0.071 Wm−2, and −0.01 Wm−2 for BSOA, nitrate, and tropospheric ozone, respectively. We conclude that the DRF and the perturbations in surface air quality associated with LUC are substantial and should be considered alongside changes in anthropogenic emissions and climate feedbacks in chemistry-climate studies.https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/16/14997/2016/acp-16-14997-2016.pdfhttps://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/16/14997/2016/acp-16-14997-2016.pdfPublished versio
Modeling laser wakefield accelerators in a Lorentz boosted frame
Modeling of laser-plasma wakefield accelerators in an optimal frame of
reference \cite{VayPRL07} is shown to produce orders of magnitude speed-up of
calculations from first principles. Obtaining these speedups requires
mitigation of a high-frequency instability that otherwise limits effectiveness
in addition to solutions for handling data input and output in a
relativistically boosted frame of reference. The observed high-frequency
instability is mitigated using methods including an electromagnetic solver with
tunable coefficients, its extension to accomodate Perfectly Matched Layers and
Friedman's damping algorithms, as well as an efficient large bandwidth digital
filter. It is shown that choosing the frame of the wake as the frame of
reference allows for higher levels of filtering and damping than is possible in
other frames for the same accuracy. Detailed testing also revealed
serendipitously the existence of a singular time step at which the instability
level is minimized, independently of numerical dispersion, thus indicating that
the observed instability may not be due primarily to Numerical Cerenkov as has
been conjectured. The techniques developed for Cerenkov mitigation prove
nonetheless to be very efficient at controlling the instability. Using these
techniques, agreement at the percentage level is demonstrated between
simulations using different frames of reference, with speedups reaching two
orders of magnitude for a 0.1 GeV class stages. The method then allows direct
and efficient full-scale modeling of deeply depleted laser-plasma stages of 10
GeV-1 TeV for the first time, verifying the scaling of plasma accelerators to
very high energies. Over 4, 5 and 6 orders of magnitude speedup is achieved for
the modeling of 10 GeV, 100 GeV and 1 TeV class stages, respectively
Continued monitoring of acute kidney injury survivors might not be necessary in those regaining an estimated glomerular filtration rate > 60 mL/min at 1 year
Background. Severe acute kidney injury (AKI) among hospitalized patients often necessitates initiation of short-term dialysis. Little is known about the long-term outcome of those who recover to normal renal function. The aim of this study was to determine the long-term renal outcome of patients experiencing AKI requiring dialysis secondary to hypoperfusion injury and/or sepsis who recovered to apparently normal renal function.
Methods. All adult patients with AKI requiring dialysis in our centre between 1 January 1980 and 31 December 2010 were identified. We included patients who had estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) >60 mL/min/1.73 m2 12 months or later after the episode of AKI. Patients were followed up until 3 March 2015. The primary outcome was time to chronic kidney disease (CKD) (defined as eGFR persistently <60 mL/min/1.73 m2) from first dialysis for AKI.
Results. Among 2922 patients with a single episode of dialysis-requiring AKI, 396 patients met the study inclusion criteria. The mean age was 49.8 (standard deviation 16.5) years and median follow-up was 7.9 [interquartile range (IQR) 4.8–12.7] years. Thirty-five (8.8%) of the patients ultimately developed CKD after a median of 5.3 (IQR 2.8–8.0) years from first dialysis for AKI giving an incidence rate of 1 per 100 person-years. Increasing age, diabetes and vascular disease were associated with higher risk of progression to CKD [adjusted hazard ratios (95% confidence interval): 1.06 (1.03, 1.09), 3.05 (1.41, 6.57) and 3.56 (1.80, 7.03), respectively].
Conclusions. Recovery from AKI necessitating in-hospital dialysis was associated with a very low risk of progression to CKD. Most of the patients who progressed to CKD had concurrent medical conditions meriting monitoring of renal function. Therefore, it seems unlikely that regular follow-up of renal function is beneficial in patients who recover to eGFR >60 mL/min/1.73 m2 by 12 months after an episode of AKI
Speeding up simulations of relativistic systems using an optimal boosted frame
It can be computationally advantageous to perform computer simulations in a
Lorentz boosted frame for a certain class of systems. However, even if the
computer model relies on a covariant set of equations, it has been pointed out
that algorithmic difficulties related to discretization errors may have to be
overcome in order to take full advantage of the potential speedup. We summarize
the findings, the difficulties and their solutions, and show that the technique
enables simulations important to several areas of accelerator physics that are
otherwise problematic, including self-consistent modeling in three-dimensions
of laser wakefield accelerator stages at energies of 10 GeV and above.Comment: To be published in the proceedings of DPF-2009, Detroit, MI, July
2009, eConf C09072
Effects of Hyperbolic Rotation in Minkowski Space on the Modeling of Plasma Accelerators in a Lorentz Boosted Frame
Laser driven plasma accelerators promise much shorter particle accelerators
but their development requires detailed simulations that challenge or exceed
current capabilities. We report the first direct simulations of stages up to 1
TeV from simulations using a Lorentz boosted calculation frame resulting in a
million times speedup, thanks to a frame boost as high as gamma=1300. Effects
of the hyperbolic rotation in Minkowski space resulting from the frame boost on
the laser propagation in the plasma is shown to be key in the mitigation of a
numerical instability that was limiting previous attempts
Quasi-monoenergetic femtosecond photon sources from Thomson Scattering using laser plasma accelerators and plasma channels
Narrow bandwidth, high energy photon sources can be generated by Thomson
scattering of laser light from energetic electrons, and detailed control of the
interaction is needed to produce high quality sources. We present analytic
calculations of the energy-angular spectra and photon yield that parametrize
the influences of the electron and laser beam parameters to allow source
design. These calculations, combined with numerical simulations, are applied to
evaluate sources using conventional scattering in vacuum and methods for
improving the source via laser waveguides or plasma channels. We show that the
photon flux can be greatly increased by using a plasma channel to guide the
laser during the interaction. Conversely, we show that to produce a given
number of photons, the required laser energy can be reduced by an order of
magnitude through the use of a plasma channel. In addition, we show that a
plasma can be used as a compact beam dump, in which the electron beam is
decelerated in a short distance, thereby greatly reducing radiation shielding.
Realistic experimental errors such as transverse jitter are quantitatively
shown to be tolerable. Examples of designs for sources capable of performing
nuclear resonance fluorescence and photofission are provided
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