High fidelity simulations of ion trajectories in miniature ion traps using the boundary-element method

In this paper we present numerical modeling results for endcap and linear ion traps, used for experiments at the National Physical Laboratory in the UK and Innsbruck University respectively. The secular frequencies for Strontium-88 and Calcium-40 ions were calculated from ion trajectories, simulated using boundary-element and finite-difference numerical methods. The results were compared against experimental measurements. Both numerical methods showed high accuracy with boundary-element method being more accurate. Such simulations can be useful tools for designing new traps and trap arrays. They can also be used for obtaining precise trapping parameters for desired ion control when no analytical approach is possible as well as for investigating the ion heating rates due to thermal electronic noise.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, changes made to the text according to the editor's and referee's comment

Spatially-resolved potential measurement with ion crystals

We present a method to measure potentials over an extended region using one-dimensional ion crystals in a radio frequency (RF) ion trap. The equilibrium spacings of the ions within the crystal allow the determination of the external forces acting at each point. From this the overall potential, and also potentials due to specific trap features, are calculated. The method can be used to probe potentials near proximal objects in real time, and can be generalized to higher dimensions.Comment: 7 pages (double spaced), 3 figure

Challenges and opportunities for ELSI early career researchers

Background: Over the past 25 years, there has been growing recognition of the importance of studying the Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (ELSI) of genetic and genomic research. A large investment into ELSI research from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Human Genomic Project budget in 1990 stimulated the growth of this emerging field; ELSI research has continued to develop and is starting to emerge as a field in its own right. The evolving subject matter of ELSI research continues to raise new research questions as well as prompt re-evaluation of earlier work and a growing number of scholars working in this area now identify themselves as ELSI scholars rather than with a particular discipline. Main text: Due to the international and interdisciplinary nature of ELSI research, scholars can often find themselves isolated from disciplinary or regionally situated support structures. We conducted a workshop with Early Career Researchers (ECRs) in Oxford, UK, and this paper discusses some of the particular challenges that were highlighted. While ELSI ECRs may face many of the universal challenges faced by ECRs, we argue that a number of challenges are either unique or exacerbated in the case of ELSI ECRs and discuss some of the reasons as to why this may be the case. We identify some of the most pressing issues for ELSI ECRs as: interdisciplinary angst and expertise, isolation from traditional support structures, limited resources and funding opportunities, and uncertainty regarding how research contributions will be measured. We discuss the potential opportunity to use web 2.0 technologies to transform academic support structures and address some of the challenges faced by ELSI ECRs, by helping to facilitate mentoring and support, access to resources and new accreditation metrics. Conclusion: As our field develops it is crucial for the ELSI community to continue looking forward to identify how emerging digital solutions can be used to facilitate the international and interdisciplinary research we perform, and to offer support for those embarking on, progressing through, and transitioning into an ELSI research career

Patch-level spatial layout for classification and weakly supervised localization

International audienceWe propose a discriminative patch-level spatial layout model suitable for training with weak supervision. We start from a block-sparse model of patch appearance based on the normalized Fisher vector representation. The appearance model is responsible for i) selecting a discriminative subset of visual words, and ii) identifying distinctive patches assigned to the selected subset. These patches are further filtered by a sparse spatial model operating on a novel representation of pairwise patch layout. We have evaluated the proposed pipeline in image classification and weakly supervised localization experiments on a public traffic sign dataset. The results show significant advantage of the proposed spatial model over state of the art appearance models

Investigation of crane operation safety by analysing main accident causes

associated with crane- related operations in different industrial fields. We used survey methods to analyse hundreds of worldwide data records over five years. A database has been made with the aim to focus on the main causes of accidents in various industrial contexts and in different countries. The outcomes actually indicated that most of the events arise due to wrong load handlings and placement, poor visibility while moving loads, etc. Cranes' dangerousness has significant relevance in chemical process industry and the intermodal transport, where accidental events could generate domino effects plus undesired release of hazardous substances. This complex analysis presented will allow commenting about future research trends and safety aspects in this area. We also expect that the outcomes can help in the area of risk prediction and of risk characteristics estimation