Traumatic abdominal wall hernias: disruptions of the abdominal wall muscles associated to pelvic bone fractures illustrated by two case reports.

Blunt abdominal traumas are often associated with intra-abdominal injuries and pelvic fractures. Traumatic abdominal wall hernias due to disruption of the abdominal wall muscles may be overlooked. Delayed diagnosis can lead to hernia related complications. We present two cases of high kinetic trauma with pelvic fractures and acute traumatic abdominal wall herniation. Both of these cases suffered from a delayed diagnosis and needed surgery to treat the symptomatic herniation. Clinical reassessment and appropriate medical imaging are mandatory in patients with high kinetic abdominal blunt traumas and associated pelvic fracture, in order to prevent delayed diagnosis and possible complications

Isotopic distribution of fission fragments in collisions between 238U beam and 9Be and 12C targets at 24 MeV/u

Inverse kinematics coupled to a high-resolution spectrometer is used to investigate the isotopic yields of fission fragments produced in reactions between a 238U beam at 24 MeV/u and 9Be and 12C targets. Mass, atomic number and isotopic distributions are reported for the two reactions. These informations give access to the neutron excess and the isotopic distribution widths, which together with the atomic-number and mass distributions are used to investigate the fusion-fission dynamics.Comment: Submitted to PR

Identification of new transitions and mass assignments of levels in 143−153^{143-153}Pr

The previously reported levels assigned to 151,152,153Pr have recently been called into question regarding their mass assignment. The above questioned level assignments are clarified by measuring g-transitions tagged with A and Z in an in-beam experiment in addition to the measurements from 252Cf spontaneous fission (SF) and establish new spectroscopic information from $N=84$ to $N=94$ in the Pr isotopic chain. The isotopic chain 143-153Pr has been studied from the spontaneous fission of 252Cf by using Gammasphere and also from the measurement of the prompt g-rays in coincidence with isotopically-identified fission fragments using VAMOS++ and EXOGAM at GANIL. The latter were produced using 238U beams on a 9Be target at energies around the Coulomb barrier. The g-g-g-g data from 252Cf (SF) and those from the GANIL in-beam A- and Z-gated spectra were combined to unambiguously assign the various transitions and levels in 151,152,153Pr and other isotopes. New transitions and bands in 145,147,148,149,150Pr were identified by using g-g-g and g-g-g-g coincidences and A and Z gated g-g spectra. The transitions and levels previously assigned to 151,153Pr have been confirmed by the (A,Z) gated spectra. The transitions previously assigned to 152Pr are now assigned to 151Pr on the basis of the (A,Z) gated spectra. Two new bands with 20 new transitions in 152Pr and one new band with 7 new transitions in 153Pr are identified from the g-g-g-g coincidence spectra and the (A,Z) gated spectrum. In addition, new g-rays are also reported in 143-146Pr. New levels of 145,147-153Pr have been established, reliable mass assignments of the levels in 151,152,153Pr have been reported and new transitions have been identified in 143-146Pr showing the new avenues that are opened by combining the two experimental approaches.Comment: Accepted in Phys. Rev.

Performance of the improved larger acceptance spectrometer: VAMOS++

International audienceMeasurements and ion optic calculations showed that the large momentum acceptance of the VAMOS spectrometer at GANIL could be further increased from $\sim$ 11% to $\sim$ 30% by suitably enlarging the dimensions of the detectors used at the focal plane. Such a new detection system built for the focal plane of VAMOS is described. It consists of larger area detectors (1000 mm × 150 mm) namely, a Multi-Wire Parallel Plate Avalanche Counter (MWPPAC), two drift chambers, a segmented ionization chamber and an array of Si detectors. Compared to the earlier existing system (VAMOS), we show that the new system (VAMOS++) has a dispersion-independent momentum acceptance . Additionally a start detector (MWPPAC) has been introduced near the target to further improve the mass resolution to $\sim$ 1/220. The performance of the VAMOS++ spectrometer is demonstrated using measurements of residues formed in the collisions of 129Xe at 967 MeV on 197Au

Coercion-resistant Proxy Voting

In general, most elections follow the principle of equality, or as it came to be known, the principle of “one man – one vote”. However, this principle might pose difficulties for voters, who are not well informed regarding the particular matter that is voted on. In order to address this issue, a new form of voting has been proposed, namely proxy voting. In proxy voting, each voter has the possibility to delegate her voting right to another voter, so called proxy, that she considers a trusted expert on the matter. In this paper we propose an end-to-end verifiable Internet voting scheme, which to the best of our knowledge is the first scheme to address voter coercion in the proxy voting setting

A Formal Framework for Modelling Coercion Resistance and Receipt Freeness

Abstract. Coercion resistance and receipt freeness are critical proper-ties for any voting system. However, many different definitions of these properties have been proposed, some formal and some informal; and there has been little attempt to tie these definitions together or identify rela-tions between them. We give here a general framework for specifying different coercion re-sistance and receipt freeness properties using the process algebra CSP. The framework is general enough to accommodate a wide range of defini-tions, and strong enough to cover both randomization attacks and forced abstention attacks. We provide models of some simple voting systems, and show how the framework can be used to analyze these models un-der different definitions of coercion resistance and receipt freeness. Our formalisation highlights the variation between the definitions, and the importance of understanding the relations between them.

Spatio-temporal permanence and plasticity of foraging trails in young and mature leaf-cutting ant colonies (Atta spp.)

The distribution and formation of foraging trails have largely been neglected as factors explaining harvesting patterns of leaf-cutting ants.We applied fractal analysis, circular, and conventional statistics to published and newly recorded trailmaps of seven Atta colonies focusing on three aspects: permanence, spatio-temporal plasticity and colony life stage. In the long term, trail patterns of young and mature Atta colonies revealed that foraging activities were focused on distinct, static sectors that made up only parts of their potentially available foraging range. Within these foraging sectors, trails were typically ephemeral and highly variable in space and time. These ephemeral trails were concentrated around permanent trunk trails in mature and around nest entrances in young colonies. Besides these similarities, the comparison of trail systems between the two life stages indicated that young colonies exploited fewer leaf sources, used smaller and less-complex systems of foraging trails, preferred different life forms as host plants, and switched hosts more often compared with mature colonies. Based on these analyses, we propose a general hypothesis which describes the foraging pattern in Atta as a result of initial foraging experiences, spatio-temporal distribution of suitable host plants, energetic constraints, and other factors such as seasonality and interspecific predatio

Isotopic fission-fragment distributions of U-238, Np-239, Pu-240, Cm-244, and Cf-250 produced through inelastic scattering, transfer, and fusion reactions in inverse kinematics

Transfer- and fusion-induced fission in inverse kinematics has proved to be a powerful tool to investigate nuclear fission, widening information on the fission fragments and access to unstable fissioning systems with respect to other experimental approaches. An experimental campaign is being carried out at GANIL with this technique since 2008. In these experiments, a beam of U-238, accelerated to 6.1 MeV/u, impinges on a C-12 target. Fissioning systems from U to Cf are populated through inelastic scattering, transfer, and fusion reactions, with excitation energies that range from a few MeV up to 46 MeV. The use of inverse kinematics, the SPIDER telescope, and the VAMOS spectrometer allow the characterization of the fissioning system in terms of mass, nuclear charge, and excitation energy, and the isotopic identification of the full fragment distribution. This work reports on new data from the second experiment of the campaign on fission-fragment yields of the heavy actinides U-238, Np-239, Pu-240, Cm-244, and Cf-250, which are of interest from both fundamental and application points of view