The NA62 RICH detector

The RICH detector of the NA62 experiment is proposed for pion - muon separation and to contribute to the first level of the trigger. The design parameters of the detector and the results of test beams performed at CERN in 2007 and 2009 with a prototype are presented.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, To appear in the proceedings of 12th Topical Seminar on Innovative Particle and Radiation Detectors (IPRD10), Siena, Italy, 7-10 June 201

The pion and proton mass in finite volume

We calculate the finite volume effects for the pion and nucleon mass. For the pion mass we present the results of a full two-loop calculation in chiral perturbation theory. The outcome shows that the resummed version of the Luscher formula we presented in an earlier work does indeed give an excellent approximation to the two-loop result. In view of this result we apply the same resummed formula to the nucleon mass. In the nucleon sector the extension of the chiral expansion to higher quark masses appears to be more problematic and it is therefore more difficult to make reliable predictions for the size of the finite volume effects. We present some preliminary numerical estimates.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, Talk given at the Workshop on Computational Hadron Physics, Cyprus, September 14-17, 200

Public Transport in Bielefeld (Germany) and Berne (Switzerland) since 1950

The case studies of Berne and Bielefeld show two cities, that are in many regards quite comparable but with enormous differences in their transport sector. In the agglomeration of Berne 26% of all trips are made by public transport compared with only 15% in Bielefeld. This questions some of the well-established results of international comparative research on urban transport policies. Without denying the importance of land-use patterns and other often used explanations such as gas prices, income or car ownership, it seems obvious that these factors cannot sufficiently explain why transport systems in Berne and Bielefeld differ so much. More attention should be paid to historical and institutional explanations. The case studies show that the most important decisions for the development and efficiency of the future transport sector were made in the mid 60s, years before the so-called “environmental turn” of 1970. External incentives to build costly and inefficient infrastructure were much stronger in Bielefeld, with the result that the uncovered costs per ride were several times higher than in Berne in 1995. These results underline the importance of comparative in-depth case studies of urban transport policy

Der finanzielle Handlungsspielraum städtischer Verkehrspolitik: Eine akteurorientierte Analyse am Beispiel Bielefelds 1950 - 1994

Die finanziellen Handlungsspielräume städtischer Verkehrspolitik sind bisher nicht über län-gere Zeiträume untersucht worden. Die vorliegende Untersuchung will anhand einer Haus-haltsanalyse der Stadt Bielefeld über den Zeitraum 1950-1994 zur Schliessung dieser Forschungslücke beitragen. Einbezogen wurden alle relevanten Einnahmen und Ausgaben der Stadtsowie der Zuschussbedarf der Stadtwerke (Betreiberin des öffentlichen Personennahverkehrs).Insgesamt blieben die kommunalen Handlungsspielräume abgesehen von einem Zeitfenster inder ersten Hälfte der 60er Jahre klein. Dieses Zeitfenster fiel mit dem absoluten Höhepunktvon Automobilkonsens und Wachstumseuphorie in der Stadt zusammen, weshalb die politi-schen Entscheide in dieser Zeit demokratisch gut abgestützt praktisch ausschliesslich zugun-sten einer oft überdimensionierten Autoinfrastruktur getroffen wurden. Als sich nach 1970 eine kritischere Haltung gegenüber dem Auto verbreitete, fehlten der Stadt die finanziellenMittel zur Einleitung einer Verkehrswende. Auf den ersten Blick scheint die Stadt ihre nach 1970 bescheidenen Handlungsspielräume durchaus im Einklang mit den nach aussen verkün-deten Zielsetzungen der Verkehrspolitik genutzt zu haben. Eine genauere Betrachtung zeigt aber, dass de facto weiterhin eine MIV-freundliche Politik betrieben wurde. Dies gilt in besonderem Masse, wenn Schattensubventionen bzw. externe Kosten in die Betrachtung einbezogen werden. Das Kostenbewusstsein in Politik und Öffentlichkeit blieb insgesamt v.a. inbezug auf den motorisierten Individualverkehr erstaunlich gering.Zur nachhaltigen Gestaltung städtischer Verkehrspolitik bedarf es dringend neuer Finanzierungsinstrumente. Als eine wichtige Voraussetzung zur optimalen Ausgestaltung solcher Instrumente sollte eine transparente Verkehrsrechnung erarbeitet werden, welche die in den heutevorliegenden Haushalten oft versteckten verkehrsrelevanten Konten erfasst und auchSchattensubventionen bzw. externe Kosten einbezieht. --

Pain assessment

Pain usually is the major complaint of patients with problems of the back, thus making pain evaluation a fundamental requisite in the outcome assessment in spinal surgery. Pain intensity, pain-related disability, pain duration and pain affect are the aspects that define pain and its effects. For each of these aspects, different assessment instruments exist and are discussed in terms of advantages and disadvantages. Risk factors for the development of chronic pain have been a major topic in pain research in the past two decades. Now, it has been realised that psychological and psychosocial factors may substantially influence pain perception in patients with chronic pain and thus may influence the surgical outcome. With this background, pain acceptance, pain tolerance and pain-related anxiety as factors influencing coping strategies are discussed. Finally, a recommendation for a minimum as well as for a more comprehensive pain assessment is give

Refined sensory measures of neural repair in human spinal cord injury: bridging preclinical findings to clinical value

Sensory input from the periphery to the brain can be severely compromised or completely abolished after an injury to the spinal cord. Evidence from animal models suggests that endogenous repair processes in the spinal cord mediate extensive sprouting and that this might be further attenuated by targeted therapeutic interventions. However, the extent to which sprouting can contribute to spontaneous recovery after human spinal cord injury (SCI) remains largely unknown, in part because few measurement tools are available in order to non-invasively detect subtle changes in neurophysiology. The proposed application of segmental sensory evoked potentials (e.g., dermatomal contact heat evoked potentials and somatosensory evoked potentials) to assess conduction in ascending pathways (i.e., spinothalamic and dorsal column, respectively) differs from conventional approaches in that individual spinal segments adjacent to the level of lesion are examined. The adoption of these approaches into clinical research might provide improved resolution for measuring changes in sensory impairments and might determine the extent by which spontaneous recovery after SCI is mediated by similar endogenous repair mechanisms in humans as in animal model

Technology requirements for advanced earth-orbital transportation systems, dual-mode propulsion

The application of dual-mode propulsion concepts to fully reusable single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) vehicles is discussed. Dual-mode propulsion uses main rocket engines that consume hydrocarbon fuels as well as liquid hydrogen fuel. Liquid oxygen is used as the oxidizer. These engine concepts were integrated into transportation vehicle designs capable of vertical takeoff, delivering a payload to earth orbit, and return to earth with a horizontal landing. Benefits of these vehicles were assessed and compared with vehicles using single-mode propulsion (liquid hydrogen and oxygen engines). Technology requirements for such advanced transportation systems were identified. Figures of merit, including life-cycle cost savings and research costs, were derived for dual-mode technology programs, and were used for assessments of potential benefits of proposed technology activities. Dual-mode propulsion concepts display potential for significant cost and performance benefits when applied to SSTO vehicles