High gradient experiments on NLCTA accelerator structures

This paper presents new results of high-gradient studies performed on a 1.8 m traveling-wave accelerator section with detuned high-order deflecting modes. This structure was designed initially for studies of detuned structures and will be installed in the Next Linear Collider Test Accelerator (NLCTA). The paper describes the test set-up in the Accelerator Structure Test Area (ASTA) including electron gun, prebuncher, pre-accelerator, spectrometer, Faraday cups, 200 MW SLED-II power compression system, Magic-T type phase shifters and attenuators. Rf processing, detailed dark current analysis, radiation problems, and beam acceleration measurements are discussed

Implementing Pharmacy Informatics in College Curricula: The AACP Technology in Pharmacy Education and Learning Special Interest Group

Many professional organizations have initiatives to increase the awareness and use of informatics in the practice of pharmacy. Within education we must respond to these initiatives and make technology integral to all aspects of the curriculum, inculcating in students the importance of technology in practice. This document proposes 5 central domains for organizing planning related to informatics and technology within pharmacy education. The document is intended to encourage discussion of informatics within pharmacy education and the implications of informatics in future pharmacy practice, and to guide colleges of pharmacy in identifying and analyzing informatics topics to be taught and methods of instruction to be used within the doctor of pharmacy curriculum

Effect of formant frequency spacing on perceived gender in pre-pubertal children's voices

<div><p>Background</p><p>It is usually possible to identify the sex of a pre-pubertal child from their voice, despite the absence of sex differences in fundamental frequency at these ages. While it has been suggested that the overall spacing between formants (formant frequency spacing - ΔF) is a key component of the expression and perception of sex in children's voices, the effect of its continuous variation on sex and gender attribution has not yet been investigated.</p><p>Methodology/Principal findings</p><p>In the present study we manipulated voice ΔF of eight year olds (two boys and two girls) along continua covering the observed variation of this parameter in pre-pubertal voices, and assessed the effect of this variation on adult ratings of speakers' sex and gender in two separate experiments. In the first experiment (sex identification) adults were asked to categorise the voice as either male or female. The resulting identification function exhibited a gradual slope from male to female voice categories. In the second experiment (gender rating), adults rated the voices on a continuum from “masculine boy” to “feminine girl”, gradually decreasing their masculinity ratings as ΔF increased.</p><p>Conclusions/Significance</p><p>These results indicate that the role of ΔF in voice gender perception, which has been reported in adult voices, extends to pre-pubertal children's voices: variation in ΔF not only affects the perceived sex, but also the perceived masculinity or femininity of the speaker. We discuss the implications of these observations for the expression and perception of gender in children's voices given the absence of anatomical dimorphism in overall vocal tract length before puberty.</p></div

Relativistic klystrons

Experimental work is underway by a SLAC-LLNL-LBL collaboration to investigate the feasibility of using relativistic klystrons as a power source for future high gradient accelerators. Two different relativistic klystron configurations have been built and tested to date: a high grain multicavity klystron at 11.4 GHz and a low gain two cavity subharmonic buncher driven at 5.7 GHz. In both configurations power is extracted at 11.4 GHz. In order to understand the basic physics issues involved in extracting RF from a high power beam, we have used both a single resonant cavity and a multi-cell traveling wave structure for energy extraction. We have learned how to overcome our previously reported problem of high power RF pulse shortening, and have achieved peak RF power levels of 170 MW with the RF pulse of the same duration as the beam current pulse. 6 refs., 3 figs., 3 tabs

Correlation of umbilical cord blood haematopoietic stem and progenitor cell levels with birth weight: implications for a prenatal influence on cancer risk

We examined the relation with birth weight and umbilical cord blood concentrations of haematopoietic stem and progenitor populations in 288 singleton infants. Across the whole range of birth weight, there was a positive relation between birth weight and CD34+CD38− cells, with each 500 g increase in birth weight being associated with a 15.5% higher (95% confidence interval: 1.6–31.3%) cell concentration. CD34+ and CD34+c-kit+ cells had J-shaped relations and CFU-GM cells had a U-shaped relation with birth weight. Among newborns with ⩾3000 g birth weights, concentrations of these cells increased with birth weight, while those below 3000 g had higher stem cell concentrations than the reference category of 3000–3499 g. Adjustment for cord blood plasma insulin-like growth factor-1 levels weakened the stem and progenitor cell–birth weight associations. The positive associations between birth weight and stem cell measurements for term newborns with a normal-to-high birth weight support the stem cell burden hypothesis of cancer risk

Climate and southern Africa's water-energy-food nexus

In southern Africa, the connections between climate and the water-energy-food nexus are strong. Physical and socioeconomic exposure to climate is high in many areas and in crucial economic sectors. Spatial interdependence is also high, driven for example, by the regional extent of many climate anomalies and river basins and aquifers that span national boundaries. There is now strong evidence of the effects of individual climate anomalies, but associations between national rainfall and Gross Domestic Product and crop production remain relatively weak. The majority of climate models project decreases in annual precipitation for southern Africa, typically by as much as 20% by the 2080s. Impact models suggest these changes would propagate into reduced water availability and crop yields. Recognition of spatial and sectoral interdependencies should inform policies, institutions and investments for enhancing water, energy and food security. Three key political and economic instruments could be strengthened for this purpose; the Southern African Development Community, the Southern African Power Pool, and trade of agricultural products amounting to significant transfers of embedded water

Dynamic acoustic-articulatory relations in back vowel fronting:Examining the effects of coda consonants in two dialects of British English

This study examines dynamic acoustic-articulatory relations in back vowels, focusing on the effect of different coda consonants on acoustic-articulatory dynamics in the production of vowel contrast. This paper specifically investigates the contribution of the tongue and the lips in modifying F2 in the FOOT-GOOSE contrast in English, using synchronized acoustic and electromagnetic articulography data collected from 16 speakers. The vowels FOOT and GOOSE were elicited in pre-coronal and pre-lateral contexts from two dialects that are reported to be at different stages of back vowel fronting: Southern Standard British English and West Yorkshire English. The results suggest similar acoustic and articulatory patterns in pre-coronal vowels, but there is stronger evidence of vowel contrast in articulation than acoustics for pre-lateral vowels. The lip protrusion data do not help to resolve these differences, suggesting that the complex gestural makeup of a vowel-lateral sequence problematizes straightforward accounts of acoustic-articulatory relations. Further analysis reveals greater between-speaker variability in lingual advancement than F2 in pre-lateral vowels

The Next Linear Collider Test Accelerator

During the past several years, there has been tremendous progress on the development of the RF system and accelerating structures for a Next Linear Collider (NLC). Developments include high-power klystrons, RF pulse compression systems and damped/detuned accelerator structures to reduce wakefields. In order to integrate these separate development efforts into an actual X-band accelerator capable of accelerating the electron beams necessary for an NLC, we are building an NLC Test Accelerator (NLCTA). The goal of the NLCTA is to bring together all elements of the entire accelerating system by constructing and reliably operating an engineered model of a high-gradient linac suitable for the NLC. The NLCTA will serve as a testbed as the design of the NLC evolves. In addition to testing the RF acceleration system, the NLCTA is designed to address many questions related to the dynamics of the beam during acceleration. In this paper, we will report on the status of the design, component development, and construction of the NLC Test Accelerator