Marine Biotechnology: A New Vision and Strategy for Europe

Marine Board-ESF The Marine Board provides a pan-European platform for its member organisations to develop common priorities, to advance marine research, and to bridge the gap between science and policy in order to meet future marine science challenges and opportunities. The Marine Board was established in 1995 to facilitate enhanced cooperation between European marine science organisations (both research institutes and research funding agencies) towards the development of a common vision on the research priorities and strategies for marine science in Europe. In 2010, the Marine Board represents 30 Member Organisations from 19 countries. The Marine Board provides the essential components for transferring knowledge for leadership in marine research in Europe. Adopting a strategic role, the Marine Board serves its Member Organisations by providing a forum within which marine research policy advice to national agencies and to the European Commission is developed, with the objective of promoting the establishment of the European Marine Research Area

Tune Measurements in the SPS as a Multicycling Machine

Throughout the operation cycle of the SPS different particles are accelerated : High intensity protons, leptons and heavy ions. For each particle type a measurement of the betatron tunes along the acceleration cycle is required. The paper describes the different excitation and data analysis methods used in order to minimize beam blow-up during the measurements (protons) or in order to optimize the time resolution (leptons). Measurement examples are given

HIGH-FREQUENCY 3D GEOMORPHIC OBSERVATION USING HOURLY TERRESTRIAL LASER SCANNING DATA OF A SANDY BEACH

Geomorphic processes occur spatially variable and at varying magnitudes, frequencies and velocities, which poses a great challenge to current methods of topographic change analysis. For the quantification of surface change, permanent terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) can generate time series of 3D point clouds at high temporal and spatial resolution. We investigate how the temporal interval influences volume change observed on a sandy beach regarding the temporal detail of the change process and the total volume budget, on which accretion and erosion counteract. We use an hourly time series of TLS point clouds acquired over six weeks in Kijkduin, the Netherlands. A raster-based approach of elevation differencing provides the volume change over time per square meter. We compare the hourly analysis to results of a three- and six-week observation period. For the larger period, a volume increase of 0.3 m3/ m2 is missed on a forming sand bar before it disappears, which corresponds to half its volume. Generally, a strong relationship is shown between observation interval and observed volume change. An increase from weekly to daily observations leads to a five times larger volume change quantified in total. Another important finding is a temporally variable measurement uncertainty in the 3D time series, which follows the daily course of air temperature. Further experiments are required to fully understand the effect of atmospheric conditions on high-frequency TLS acquisition in beach environments. Continued research of 4D geospatial analysis methods will enable automatic identification of dynamic change and improve the understanding of geomorphic processes

Nominal LHC Beam Instability Observations in the CERN Proton Synchrotron

The nominal LHC beam has been produced successfully in the CERN Proton Synchrotron since 2003. However, after having restarted the CERN PS in spring 2006, the LHC beam was set-up and observed to be unstable on the 26 GeV/c extraction flat top. An intensive measurement campaign was made to understand the instability and to trace its source. This paper presents the observations, possible explanations and the necessary measures to be taken in order to avoid this instability in the future

Automated Classification of Airborne Laser Scanning Point Clouds

Making sense of the physical world has always been at the core of mapping. Up until recently, this has always dependent on using the human eye. Using airborne lasers, it has become possible to quickly "see" more of the world in many more dimensions. The resulting enormous point clouds serve as data sources for applications far beyond the original mapping purposes ranging from flooding protection and forestry to threat mitigation. In order to process these large quantities of data, novel methods are required. In this contribution, we develop models to automatically classify ground cover and soil types. Using the logic of machine learning, we critically review the advantages of supervised and unsupervised methods. Focusing on decision trees, we improve accuracy by including beam vector components and using a genetic algorithm. We find that our approach delivers consistently high quality classifications, surpassing classical methods

N-Methylimidazole Promotes The Reaction Of Homophthalic Anhydride With Imines

The addition of N-methylimidazole (NMI) to the reaction of homophthalic anhydride with imines such as pyridine-3-carboxaldehyde-N-trifluoroethylimine (9) reduces the amount of elimination byproduct and improves the yield of the formal cycloadduct, tetrahydroisoquinolonic carboxylate 10. Carboxanilides of such compounds are of interest as potential antimalarial agents. A mechanism that rationalizes the role of NMI is proposed, and a gram-scale procedure for the synthesis and resolution of 10 is also described