449 research outputs found
Prompt Beta Spectroscopy as a Diagnostic for Mix in Ignited NIF Capsules
The National Ignition Facility (NIF) technology is designed to drive
deuterium-tritium (DT) internal confinement fusion (ICF) targets to ignition
using indirect radiation from laser beam energy captured in a hohlraum.
Hydrodynamical instabilities at interfaces in the ICF capsule leading to mix
between the DT fue l and the ablator shell material are of fundamental physical
interest and can affect the performance characteristics of the capsule. In this
Letter we describe new radiochemical diagnostics for mix processes in ICF
capsules with plastic or Be (0.9%Cu) ablator shells. Reactions of high-energy
tritons with shell material produce high-energy -emitters.
We show that mix between the DT fuel and the shell material enhances
high-energy prompt beta emission from these reactions by more than an order of
magnitude over that expected in the absence of mix
Proceedings of the Near-Earth-Object Interception Workshop
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Headquarters sponsored the Near-Earth-Object Interception Workshop hosted by the Los Alamos National Laboratory on 14-16 Jan. 1992 at the J. Robert Oppenheimer Study Center in Los Alamos, New Mexico. The Workshop evaluated the issues involved in intercepting celestial objects that could hit the Earth. It covered the technologies for acquiring, tracking, and homing, as well as those for sending interceptors to inspect, rendezvous with, land on, irradiate, deflect, or destroy them. This report records the presentations and technical options reviewed
Darwin-Lagrangian Analysis for the Interaction of a Point Charge and a Magnet: Considerations Related to the Controversy Regarding the Aharonov-Bohm and Aharonov-Casher Phase Shifts
The classical electromagnetic interaction of a point charge and a magnet is
discussed by first calculating the interaction of point charge with a simple
model magnetic moment and then suggesting a multiparticle limit. The Darwin
Lagrangian is used to analyze the electromagnetic behavior of the model
magnetic moment (composed of two oppositely charged particles of different mass
in an initially circular orbit) interacting with a passing point charge. The
changing mangetic moment is found to put a force back on a passing charge; this
force is of order 1/c^2 and depends upon the magnitude of the magnetic moment.
It is suggested that in the limit of a multiparticle magnetic toroid, the
electric fields of the passing charge are screened out of the body of the
magnet while the magnetic fields penetrate into the magnet. This is consistent
with our understanding of the penetration of electromagnetic velocity fields
into ohmic conductors. Conservation laws are discussed. The work corresponds to
a classical electromagnetic analysis of the interaction which is basic to
understanding the controversy over the Aharonov-Bohm and Aharonov-Casher phase
shifts and represents a refutation of the suggestions of Aharonov, Pearle, and
Vaidman.Comment: 33 page
Geometric Phases and Mielnik's Evolution Loops
The cyclic evolutions and associated geometric phases induced by
time-independent Hamiltonians are studied for the case when the evolution
operator becomes the identity (those processes are called {\it evolution
loops}). We make a detailed treatment of systems having equally-spaced energy
levels. Special emphasis is made on the potentials which have the same spectrum
as the harmonic oscillator potential (the generalized oscillator potentials)
and on their recently found coherent states.Comment: 11 pages, harvmac, 2 figures available upon request; CINVESTAV-FIS
GFMR 11/9
Coherent X-ray Diffractive Imaging; applications and limitations
The inversion of a diffraction pattern offers aberration-free
diffraction-limited 3D images without the resolution and depth-of-field
limitations of lens-based tomographic systems, the only limitation being
radiation damage. We review our experimental results, discuss the fundamental
limits of this technique and future plans.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure
Weight-based antibiotic dosing in a real-world European study of complicated skin and soft-tissue infections due to methicillin-resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>
AbstractWe aimed to characterize real-world dosing of weight-based intravenous (IV) antibiotic therapy in patients hospitalized for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) complicated skin and soft-tissue infections (cSSTIs). This was a subgroup analysis of a retrospective chart review that captured data from 12 European countries. The study included patients ≥18 years old, hospitalized with an MRSA cSSTI between 1 July 2010 and 30 June 2011 and discharged alive by 31 July 2011. Patients treated with IV vancomycin, teicoplanin or daptomycin at any stage during hospitalization were included in this analysis. Analyses were conducted at the regimen level (dosing in mg/kg or in mg, frequency, and total daily dose (TDD)), with potentially multiple regimens per patient, and the patient level, categorizing patients into low, standard (labelled) and high dosing groups according to their initial MRSA-targeted regimen. Among the 1502 patients in the parent study, 998 patients contributed a total of 1050 daptomycin, teicoplanin or vancomycin regimens. Across all regimens, the mean initial TDDs were 6.3 ± 1.9 mg/kg for daptomycin, 10.5 ± 4.9 mg/kg for teicoplanin and 28.5 ± 11.5 mg/kg for vancomycin. A total of 789 patients received first-line therapy with one of the above antibiotics. The majority of patients receiving first-line teicoplanin and daptomycin (96% and 80%, respectively) received higher than labelled cSSTI doses, whereas vancomycin doses were lower than labelled doses in >40% of patients. These real-world data reveal significant deviation from labelled antibiotic dosing in 12 European countries and the potential for suboptimal outcomes in patients with MRSA cSSTIs
Professional development in teaching and learning for early career academic geographers: Contexts, practices and tensions
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Geography in Higher Education on 16th May 2011, available online: doi: 10.1080/03098265.2011.563380This paper provides a review of the practices and tensions informing approaches to professional development for early career academic geographers who are teaching in higher education. We offer examples from Britain, Canada, Nigeria and the USA. The tensions include: institutional and departmental cultures; models that offer generic and discipline-specific approaches; the credibility of alternative settings for professional development in teaching and learning; the valuing of professional development and of teaching in academic systems of reward and recognition; and the challenges of balancing professional and personal life. We summarize concepts of good practice and suggest opportunities for future research
Identification of a Sex Pheromone Produced by Sternal Glands in Females of the Caddisfly Molanna angustata Curtis
In the caddisfly Molanna angustata, females produce a sex pheromone in glands with openings on the fifth sternite. Gas chromatographic analyses of pheromone gland extracts with electroantennographic detection revealed four major compounds that stimulated male antennae. These compounds were identified by means of gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and enantioselective gas chromatography as heptan-2-one, (S)-heptan-2-ol, nonan-2-one, and (S)-nonan-2-ol in the approximate ratio of 1:1:4:10, respectively. Field tests showed that the mixture of the two alcohols was attractive to males whereas addition of the corresponding ketones reduced trap catches. The sex pheromone of M. angustata, a species in the family Molannidae within the suborder Integripalpia, is similar to the pheromones or pheromone-like compounds previously reported from six other trichopteran families, including members of the basal suborder Annulipalpia. This suggests that minimal evolutionary change of the pheromone chemistry has taken place within the leptoceroid branch of integripalpian Trichoptera compared to the ancestral character state
Comparison of vancomycin and linezolid in patients with peripheral vascular disease and/or diabetes in an observational European study of complicated skin and soft-tissue infections due to methicillin-resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>
AbstractSuboptimal antibiotic penetration into soft tissues can occur in patients with poor circulation due to peripheral vascular disease (PVD) or diabetes. We conducted a real-world analysis of antibiotic treatment, hospital resource use and clinical outcomes in patients with PVD and/or diabetes receiving linezolid or vancomycin for the treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus complicated skin and soft-tissue infections (MRSA cSSTIs) across Europe. This subgroup analysis evaluated data obtained from a retrospective, observational medical chart review study that captured patient data from 12 European countries. Data were obtained from the medical records of patients ≥ 18 years of age, hospitalized with an MRSA cSSTI between 1 July 2010 and 30 June 2011 and discharged alive by 31 July 2011. Hospital length of stay and length of treatment were compared between the treatment groups using inverse probability of treatment weights to adjust for clinical and demographic differences. A total of 485 patients had PVD or diabetes and received treatment with either vancomycin (n = 258) or linezolid (n = 227). After adjustment, patients treated with linezolid compared with vancomycin respectively had significantly shorter hospital stays (17.9 ± 13.6 vs. 22.6 ± 13.6 days; p < 0.001) and treatment durations (12.9 ± 7.9 vs. 16.4 ± 8.3 days; p < 0.001). The proportions of patients prescribed oral, MRSA-active antibiotics at discharge were 43.2% and 12.4% of patients in the linezolid and vancomycin groups, respectively (p < 0.001). The reduction in resource use may result in lower hospital costs for patients with PVD and/or diabetes and MRSA cSSTIs if treated with linezolid compared with vancomycin
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Dirac: A campaign of experiments to study physics and chemistry at ultrahigh magnetic fields
We present an overview of the Dirac experimental campaign conducted at Los Alamos in spring of 1996. The name was chosen in recognition of P.A.M. Dirac`s monumental contributions to quantum theory, which affected every aspect of the science we planned to investigate. We show how the various collaborations were put together, discuss some of the difficulties of collecting data in rapidly changing magnetic fields, describe the motivation, packaging, and integration of experiments, and give an exceedingly preliminary discussion of some of the results
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