Rethinking the neonatal transport ground ambulance

Objectives: This article describes the detailed project aimed to realize a dedicated ground ambulance for neonatal emergency transport service (NETS). To date, the European Community rules specify requirements for the design, testing, performance, and equipping of road ambulance used for transport and care of adult injured or ill patients, completely ignoring neonatal transport. Methods: The project consisted of electric and gas supply planning, interior design taking into account ergonomic and occupant protection principles, both during travel and during medical care performances. Results: A detailed project is presented. Main differences between European Type C ambulance and the new proposed Type D neonatal ground ambulance are the presence on board of air compressed cylinder, iNO cylinders and delivery system, phototheraphy, shock adsorbing stretcher support, cooling device, patient's placenta (refrigeration box), and transcutaneous gas analyzer. Conclusion: The European Community rules specify requirements for road ambulance used for transport and care of adult injured or ill patients, completely ignoring neonatal transport. This study describes the detailed project aimed to realize a dedicated ground ambulance for neonatal emergency transport service. This study demonstrated that it is not possible simply to adapt the currently dedicated ambulance for mobile intensive care and resuscitation services (actual type C European Community) in a modern dedicated NETS ambulance; it is of paramount importance suggesting to European Community to introduce a further ambulance type, to be identified type D, strictly reserved to neonatal transport activities

Seismic structure of an oceanic core complex at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, 22°19′N

We present results from a seismic refraction and wide-angle experiment surveying an oceanic core complex on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 22°19′N. Oceanic core complexes are settings where petrological sampling found exposed lower crustal and upper mantle rocks, exhumed by asymmetric crustal accretion involving detachment faulting at magmatically starved ridge sections. Tomographic inversion of our seismic data yielded lateral variations of P wave velocity within the upper 3 to 4 km of the lithosphere across the median valley. A joint modeling procedure of seismic P wave travel times and marine gravity field data was used to constrain crustal thickness variations and the structure of the uppermost mantle. A gradual increase of seismic velocities from the median valley to the east is connected to aging of the oceanic crust, while a rapid change of seismic velocities at the western ridge flank indicates profound differences in lithology between conjugated ridge flanks, caused by un-roofing lower crust rocks. Under the core complex crust is approximately 40% thinner than in the median valley and under the conjugated eastern flank. Clear PmP reflections turning under the western ridge flank suggest the creation of a Moho boundary and hence continuous magmatic accretion during core complex formation

Terahertz Radar Cross Section Characterization using Laser Feedback Interferometry with a Quantum Cascade Laser

Radar cross section (RCS) measurements of complex, large objects are usually performed on scale models so that the measurement is carried out in a well-controlled environment. This letter explores the feasibility of RCS measurement using a terahertz quantum cascade laser via laser feedback interferometry. Numerical simulations show that the RCS information embedded in the non-linear interferometric signals obtained from simple targets can be retrieved through numerical fitting of the well-known excess phase equation. The method is validated experimentally using a terahertz quantum cascade laser and the results are well matched with those obtained from numerical simulations

Crustal structure of the propagating TAMMAR ridge segment on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, 21.5°N

Active ridge propagation frequently occurs along spreading ridges and profoundly affects ridge crest segmentation over time. The mechanisms controlling ridge propagation, however, are poorly understood. At the slow spreading Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 21.5°N a seismic refraction and wide-angle reflection profile surveyed the crustal structure along a segment controlled by rapid ridge propagation. Tomographic traveltime inversion of seismic data suggests that the crustal structure along the ridge axis is controlled by melt supply; thus, crust is thickest, 8 km, at the domed segment center and decreases in thickness toward both segment ends. However, thicker crust is formed in the direction of ridge propagation, suggesting that melt is preferentially transferred toward the propagating ridge tip. Further, while seismic layer 2 remains constant along axis, seismic layer 3 shows profound changes in thickness, governing variations in total crustal thickness. This feature supports mantle upwelling at the segment center. Thus, fluid basaltic melt is redistributed easily laterally, while more viscose gabbroic melt tends to crystallize and accrete nearer to the locus of melt supply. The onset of propagation seems to have coincided with the formation of thicker crust, suggesting that propagation initiation might be due to changes in the melt supply. After a rapid initiation a continuous process of propagation was established. The propagation rate seems to be controlled by the amount of magma that reaches the segment ends. The strength of upwelling may govern the evolution of ridge segments and hence ultimately controls the propagation length

Constructing the crust along the Galapagos Spreading Center 91.3°–95.5°W : correlation of seismic layer 2A with axial magma lens and topographic characteristics

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2004. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research 109 (2004): B10310, doi:10.1029/2004JB003066.Multichannel seismic reflection data are used to infer crustal accretion processes along the intermediate spreading Galapagos Spreading Center. East of 92.5°W, we image a magma lens beneath the ridge axis that is relatively shallow (1.0–2.5 km below the seafloor) and narrow (∼0.5–1.5 km, cross-axis width). We also image a thin seismic layer 2A (0.24–0.42 km) that thickens away from the ridge axis by as much as 150%. West of 92.7°W, the magma lens is deeper (2.5–4.5 km) and wider (0.7–2.4 km), and layer 2A is thicker (0.36–0.66 km) and thickens off axis by <40%. The positive correlation between layer 2A thickness and magma lens depth supports the interpretation of layer 2A as the extrusive volcanic layer with thickness controlled by the pressure on the magma lens and its ability to push magma to the surface. Our findings also suggest that narrower magma lenses focus diking close the ridge axis such that lava flowing away from the ridge axis will blanket older flows and thicken the extrusive crust off axis. Flow of lava away from the ridge axis is probably promoted by the slope of the axial bathymetric high, which is largest east of 92.5°W. West of ∼94°W the “transitional” axial morphology lacks a prominent bathymetric high and layer 2A no longer thickens off axis. We detect no magma lens west of 94.7°W where a small axial valley appears. The above changes can be linked to the westward decrease in the magma and heat flux associated with the fading influence of the Galapagos hot spot on the Galapagos Spreading Center.This project was funded by NSF-OCE- 0002189

Accretion, structure and hydrology of intermediate spreading-rate oceanic crust from drillhole experiments and seafloor observations

Downhole measurements recorded in the context of the Ocean Drilling Program in Hole 504B, the deepest hole drilled yet into the oceanic crust, are analyzed in terms of accretion processes of the upper oceanic crust at intermediate spreading-rate. The upper part of the crust is found to support the non steady-state models of crustal accretion developed from seafloor observations (Kappel and Ryan, 1986; Gente, 1987). The continuous and vertical nature of borehole measurements provides stratigraphic and structural data that cannot be obtained solely from seafloor studies and, in turn, these models define a framework to analyze the structural, hydrological, and mineralogical observations made in the hole over the past decade.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43190/1/11001_2005_Article_BF01204282.pd