Test beam performance of a CBC3-based mini-module for the Phase-2 CMS Outer Tracker before and after neutron irradiation

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN will undergo major upgrades to increase the instantaneous luminosity up to 5–7.5×10$^{34}$ cm$^{-2}$s$^{-1}$. This High Luminosity upgrade of the LHC (HL-LHC) will deliver a total of 3000–4000 fb-1 of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13–14 TeV. To cope with these challenging environmental conditions, the strip tracker of the CMS experiment will be upgraded using modules with two closely-spaced silicon sensors to provide information to include tracking in the Level-1 trigger selection. This paper describes the performance, in a test beam experiment, of the first prototype module based on the final version of the CMS Binary Chip front-end ASIC before and after the module was irradiated with neutrons. Results demonstrate that the prototype module satisfies the requirements, providing efficient tracking information, after being irradiated with a total fluence comparable to the one expected through the lifetime of the experiment

Population, resources, and environment: Implications of human behavioral ecology for conservation

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43481/1/11111_2005_Article_BF02207996.pd

Multi-depth probe transcranial electrical stimulation modeling in 2-D using finite element method analysis

Multi-depth probe transcranial electrical stimulation yields varying electrical potentials and electrical field values at different probe depths in the head. The purpose of this research was to determine whether a stimulating probe would increase or decrease the voltages required to achieve muscle stimulation via the motor cortex. A finite element model was constructed to analyze the theoretical effects of multi-depth probe transcranial electrical stimulation on a 2-1) circular volume conduction model. Laplace's equation was used to model the electrostatic effects of the system, and boundary conditions were set to reflect realistic tissue, fluid, and bone parameters. A mapping of the electric potentials has been developed to identify changes in electric potential through the various layers of the head and the intracranial region. © 2006 IEEE

Uneven Development of the Sustainable City: Shifting Capital in Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon is renowned as a paradigmatic sustainable city . Yet, despite popular conceptions of the city as a progressive ecotopia and the accolades of planners seeking to emulate its innovations, Portland’s sustainability successes are inequitably distributed. Drawing on census data, popular media, newspaper archives, city planning documents, and secondary-source histories, we attempt to elucidate the structural origins of Portland’s uneven development , exploring how and why the urban core of this paragon of sustainability has become more White and affluent while its outer eastside has become more diverse and poor. We explain how a sustainability fix – in this case, green investment in the city’s core – ultimately contributed to the demarcation of racialized poverty along 82nd Avenue, a major north-south arterial marking the boundary of East Portland. Our account of structural processes taking place at multiple scales contributes to a growing body of literature on eco-gentrification and displacement and inner-ring suburban change while empirically demonstrating how Portland’s advances in sustainability have come at the cost of East Portland’s devaluation. Our 30,000 foot perspective reveals systemic patterns that might then guide more fine-grained analyses of particular political-socio-cultural processes, while providing cautionary insights into current efforts to extend the city’s sustainability initiatives using the same green development model

Ultrasound-Guided Percutaneous Peripheral Nerve Stimulation: A Pragmatic Effectiveness Trial of a Nonpharmacologic Alternative for the Treatment of Postoperative Pain

BackgroundPercutaneous peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) is an analgesic modality involving the insertion of a lead through an introducer needle followed by the delivery of electric current after needle withdrawal. This modality has been used extensively to treat chronic pain, but only small series have been published involving postoperative pain. The ultimate objective of this study is to determine the postoperative effects of percutaneous PNS following moderately to severely painful ambulatory surgery within a real-world clinical practice setting. The primary hypothesis is that surgical pain and opioid consumption during the initial 7 days after surgery will be reduced by percutaneous PNS compared with usual and customary analgesia (dual primary outcome measures).DesignA multicenter pragmatic effectiveness trial. We are randomizing participants having painful orthopedic surgical procedures of the upper and lower extremity to receive 14 days of either 1) electrical stimulation or 2) sham in a double-masked fashion. End points are being assessed at various time points over 12 postoperative months.SummaryThe postoperative experience will be much improved if percutaneous PNS provides potent analgesia while concurrently decreasing opioid requirements following painful surgery. Because this modality can be administered for up to 60 days at home, it may provide postoperative analgesia that outlasts surgical pain yet has relatively few risks and, unlike opioids, has no systemic side effects or potential for abuse, addiction, and overdose. Percutaneous PNS has the potential to revolutionize postoperative analgesia as it has been practiced for the past century. This study will inform key stakeholders regarding an evidence-based nonpharmacologic approach to the management of postoperative pain

Echocardiographic Study of the Paradoxical Arterial Pulse in Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease

SUMMARY In nine subjects with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and pulsus paradoxus, M-mode echocardiograms showed inspiratory augmentation of right ventricular dimensions and inspiratory decrease of left ventricular diastolic dimensions. In five subjects in whom the echocardiographic transistor was in the subxiphoid position, mean right ventricular dimensions increased during inspiration from 1.4 4 0.20 to 2.96 ± 0.38 cm (p < 0.01). With inspiration, mean left ventricular diastolic dimensions decreased from 4.8 + 0.61 to 3.7 ± 0.63 cm (p < 0.01) in these five subjects. Two-dimensional echocardiograms, performed in three subjects, confirmed inspiratory augmentation of right ventricular cross-sectional area. Similar changes were produced in two normal volunteers by artificial obstruction to breathing. Left ventricular ejection time measurements demonstrated an inspiratory decline in left ventricular stroke volume. Inspiratory filling of the right ventricle is not hampered, but rather is exaggerated in patients with COPD and pulsus paradoxus, and left ventricular stroke volume is reduced during inspiration. Exaggerated variations in intrathoracic pressure alone did not explain pulsus paradoxus. Increased right ventricular filling and stroke volume during inspiration probably play a part. IN 1698 Floyer described inspiratory disappearance of the arterial pulse during attacks of bronchial asthma.' Severe degrees of chronic obstructive airway disease are also known to be associated with weakening of the arterial pulse during inspiration (paradoxical pulse, or pulsus paradoxus).2 However, studies of the mechanism of pulsus paradoxus are recent. Echocardiographic investigations of patients with pulsus paradoxus and cardiac tamponade36 have suggested inspiratory diminution of left ventricular filling, but inspiratory augmentation of right ventricular filling during pulsus paradoxus with cardiac tamponade. The echocardiogram has also been evaluated in the setting of paradoxical pulse with pulmonary embolism.6 We previously described echocardiograms of two patients with chronic obstructive airway disease and pulsus paradoxus.5 These two patients also showed inspiratory augmentation of right ventricular dimension and inspiratory diminution of left ventricular dimension. In this paper we report an investigation of pulsus paradoxus in a larger group of patients and explore the mechanism of this phenomenon in obstructive airway disease. For this study, pulsus paradoxus was defined as an inspiratory decrease of systolic blood pressure of 10 mm Hg or more