The Forward Physics Facility: Sites, Experiments, and Physics Potential

The Forward Physics Facility (FPF) is a proposal to create a cavern with thespace and infrastructure to support a suite of far-forward experiments at theLarge Hadron Collider during the High Luminosity era. Located along the beamcollision axis and shielded from the interaction point by at least 100 m ofconcrete and rock, the FPF will house experiments that will detect particlesoutside the acceptance of the existing large LHC experiments and will observerare and exotic processes in an extremely low-background environment. In thiswork, we summarize the current status of plans for the FPF, including recentprogress in civil engineering in identifying promising sites for the FPF andthe experiments currently envisioned to realize the FPF's physics potential. Wethen review the many Standard Model and new physics topics that will beadvanced by the FPF, including searches for long-lived particles, probes ofdark matter and dark sectors, high-statistics studies of TeV neutrinos of allthree flavors, aspects of perturbative and non-perturbative QCD, andhigh-energy astroparticle physics.<br

Оптимизация конструкции захвата для детали «Барабан»

Грузозахватные приспособления обычно применяются при производстве работ по подъему и перемещению грузов с применением грузоподъемных машин. Использование приспособлений позволяет реализовать максимальное удобство и безопасность производственного процесса. Грузозахватные приспособления конструируются для определенного этапа технологического процесса, для конкретного изделия. При проектировании таких приспособлений необходимо учитывать основные показатели оптимальности конструкции: прочность, надежность, простота, удобство и безопасность при эксплуатации, эргономичность. Кроме того, нужно стремиться к наименьшей массе и, соответственно, металлоемкости захвата. Конструкция грузозахватного приспособления, в основном, будет зависеть от назначенных технологом поверхностей, за которые можно крепиться и от максимальной высоты подъема крюка крана. В статье описана задача по конструированию захвата для детали «Барабан¬ в новом технологическом процессе. Рассмотрена конструкция существующего захвата, взятого за прототип. Приведен анализ различных вариантов конструктивных решений, созданных в процессе проектирования. Выбран вариант конструкции захвата, который в наибольшей степени соответствует требованиям технического задания. Конструкция этого модернизированного приспособления представляет собой захват с тремя лапами, удерживающими деталь, и подвес в виде траверсы. Разработанная конструкторская документация утверждена производством и отделом промышленной безопасности

Determining conversion factors for medium-sized pine and spruce wood

The aim of the study was to verify the commonly used conversion factors, their realignment and adaptation to current requirements for wood group S2. Our re-evaluation was based on medium-sized pine and spruce wood between 1 m and 3 m long, with an upper diameter of 5 cm to 24 cm without bark. Measurements were carried out on individual raw material pieces (rollers) as well as entire stacks. In total, 1092.026 steres of pine wood and 482.430 steres of spruce wood from five different forest districts were measured. The conversion factors for both pine and spruce were observed to be generally lower than those currently used in PN-D-95000-2002 and the directives of the General Director of State Forests regarding technical requirements on medium-sized round wood. We also confirmed the dependence between the value of the conversion factor and the average diameter of the roller in the stack, although this was not consistently statistically significant due to the influence of a multitude of factors that potentially cancel each other out. The differences of conversion factors obtained for the S2A and S2B groups suggest that more extensive research for pine and spruce wood as well as the development of separate conversion factors is necessary. However, developing appropriate conversion factors for wood of the S2A group (S2AC and S2AP), especially pine wood, will be challenging due to the large range of diameters and curvature permitted by the regulations

Current possibilities of mechanized logging in mountain areas

Modern technologies allow wood harvest in almost all terrains, including hard-to-reach mountain areas. Each of the technical measures used, however, has limitations due to its construction and the nature of the work. The present study discusses issues related to the selection of machinery and technology as well as planning work in mountainous terrain, taking into account factors such as accessibility of the stand and terrain properties (slope, ground bearing capacity). Adaptive changes of forest machinery for work in mountain stands are also presented. This article furthermore discusses possibilities of applying machinery and technologies already used in other countries to harvest wood in mountainous forests in Poland

Determination of conversion factors for pine and spruce logs in stacks

The aim of this article was to determine the conversion factors for stacked pine and spruce logs with a length of 3–6 m. To this end, we measured stacks and their logs of a total of 3322.12 steres of pine logs and 1468.46 steres of spruce logs. The conversion factors obtained in this work for pine logs of varying lengths negatively correlate with log length. However, statistically significant (p<0.05) differences were only observed between the longest logs as well as logs of 3 and 4 m in length. This may be due to various factors (mainly curvature, the presence of buttresses on butt logs and taper) influencing the stacking process of logs of increasing length. For logs with a length of 3, 4 and 5 m, the average value of the conversion factor increased with the log thickness class, although this dependence was not statistically significant. In the case of spruce raw material, the obtained conversion factors are similar to the values determined in previous studies. There was no significant correlation between the length of the log and its average diameter. A prerequisite for using conversion factors for large-sized logs is accurate stacking, where special attention should be paid to the parallel stacking of individual logs, aligning their front and back sides to be flush and forming the stack so that its top plane is parallel to the ground

Formation continue, conseil et transfert de connaissances en forêt privée : Un aperçu de la diversité et des évolutions en Europe

International audienceChange in forest management is facilitated through communication between stakeholders who encourage, advise, inform, warn, guide, exhort, and educate each other. Traditionally in many countries government extension officers have advised and instructed forest owners. ‘Advice’ in these cases is the link between policy (government and others’ desired outcomes) and (land managers’) practice. While there are some parallels with agricultural extension, the situation with forestry is more diverse and complex, partly because a majority of forest owners have no formal background or education in forestry. We propose that the term ‘forest advisory system’ can be applied to a concept which takes a systemic approach to analysing the stakeholders and their interactions, in forestry advice. The ‘forest advisory system’ (FAS) is more than the conventional extension model, and involves a range of private, public and NGO stakeholders who may or may not be collaborating with each other. Our paper is descriptive and analytical, based on a development of three organising ideas: (1) knowledge and information as a system; (2) the distinction between knowledge transfer and knowledge exchange; (3) choice of instruments in environmental policy (Böcher, 2012). The paper addresses three questions: How FAS are evolving and what affects that? Will FAS be more similar in future between regions and if so why? Will the need for type of advice change in future

miR-21 mediates hematopoietic suppression in MDS by activating TGF-beta signaling

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are characterized by ineffective hematopoiesis that leads to peripheral cytopenias. We observed that SMAD7, a negative regulator of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) receptor-I kinase, is markedly reduced in MDS and leads to ineffective hematopoiesis by overactivation of TGF-β signaling. To determine the cause of SMAD7 reduction in MDS, we analyzed the 3'UTR of the gene and determined that it contains a highly conserved putative binding site for microRNA-21. We observed significantly elevated levels of miR-21 in MDS marrow samples when compared with age-matched controls. miR-21 was shown to directly bind to the 3'UTR of SMAD7 and reduce its expression in hematopoietic cells. Next, we tested the role of miR-21 in regulating TGF-β signaling in a TGF-β-overexpressing transgenic mouse model that develops progressive anemia and dysplasia and thus serves as a model of human bone marrow failure. Treatment with a chemically modified miR-21 inhibitor led to significant increases in hematocrit and led to an increase in SMAD7 expression in vivo. Inhibition of miR-21 also led to an increase in erythroid colony formation from primary MDS bone marrow progenitors, demonstrating its ability in stimulating hematopoiesis in vitro. Taken together, these studies demonstrate the role of miR-21 in regulating overactivated TGF-β signaling in MDS