Resistive Plate Chambers for the RE4 upgrade of the CMS endcap system

It is proposed to install the fourth endcap (RE4) consisting of Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs) for the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) muon endcap system, in order to improve its Level-1 trigger efficiency and thereby completing the full implementation of the Technical Design Report (TDR). This station will be installed in the first long shutdown of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) during 2013-2014. With lessons learnt from the earlier installation of the RPCs, several modifications in the new construction and test procedures have been recommended for this upgrade. The prototypes for the upgrade were assembled in 2011, thereby giving the green signal for mass production for bakelite and gas gaps. This paper also discusses the standardisation of leak and spacer tests for the bakelite gas-gaps, the new design for the Cu cooling system, the data base and the preparedness at the three assembly sites at CERN, Mumbai and Ghent

Water poverty in the northeastern hill region (India): potential alleviation through multiple-use water systems: cross-learnings from Nepal Hills

Water poverty index / Construction / Multiple use / Water storage / Farming systems / Villages / Social aspects / Drip irrigation / India / Nepal / Nagaland / Mon district / Lampong Sheanghah

Feeding habits of anophelines (Diptera: Culicidae) in 1971-78, with reference to the human blood index: a review

A synoptic view is given of the data amassed by WHO, with technical assistance from the Imperial College of Science and Technology, on the origins of blood-meals in Anopheles samples collected from 1971 to 1978. Attention is focused on the proportion of each sample found to contain human blood and on the problems of interpreting from this the human blood index or degree of biting-contact with man exhibited by vector populations. The difficulties of overcoming bias in sampling, which are formidable in unsprayed areas, are further compounded where the dwellings are treated with a slow-acting residual insecticide which knocks down many engorged mosquitoes before they can be collected from their daytime resting places. There is evidence to suggest that the host-selection patterns of those vectors which are ‘opportunistic' feeders may be heavily influenced, even from village to village or from month to month, by the changing availability of alternative hosts, particularly cattle. This suggests in turn that the possibilities of manipulating the degree of mosquito-man contact by encouraging deflection to animals (zooprophylaxis) or by measures to afford a degree of personal protection should not be under-estimated by malaria strategists. It may sometimes be found less difficult to reduce the vector's human blood index than it is to measure it, but in view of the epidemiological importance of this parameter, suggestions are put forward for improving entomological field practice in this area. They include a quantitative survey of the biotopes available to the mosquito population as diurnal shelters, a longitudinal survey of the densities of blood-fed females per biotope, and a survey of the numbers and the respective distribution of people and domestic animals available as hosts. The work-load entailed by such a thorough form of investigation, to be repeated where necessary at different seasons of the year, underlines the necessity to concentrate efforts on a small number of localities, carefully chosen for the malaria situations they represent and the vector populations they support. A large-scale blood-meal sampling programme, confined to these selected localities, is most likely in our estimation to yield information of value for controlling malaria vector

Climate change vulnerability of Asia’s most iconic megaherbivore: greater one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis)

Climate change is an emerging threat for biodiversity conservation. It has already started impacting species assemblages and ecosystem dynamics. The greater one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) is an iconic and globally threatened megaherbivore. Once widespread across the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, there were fewer than 500 rhinoceros during the early 1960s, confined to isolated patches of suitable habitats in the southern part of Nepal and northern foothills of India, including Brahmaputra floodplains. Following both governments’ successful conservation strategies, the species has been recovering, and its global population at present is over 3500. However, the likely impacts of climate change has not been adequately incorporated into conservation plans for the species and may challenge this success. In this study, we developed a set of 21 vulnerability indicators and assessed the vulnerability of rhinoceros to climate change in Nepal through a review of literature, site observations of prime rhinoceros habitat, key informant interviews, a two-day stakeholders’ consultation workshop, and expert elucidation. Our findings suggest that rhinoceros in Nepal is likely to be ‘moderately vulnerable’ to the impacts of climate change, mainly due to (1) the likelihood of invasive plant species and severe floods in its prime habitat ‘Chitwan National Park’, and (2) fragmented habitat, small population size, droughts and forest fires in Bardia and Shuklaphanta National Parks. We further identified and recommended adaptation measures intended to enhance the resilience of rhinoceros to these likely threats

Cell transformation assays for prediction of carcinogenic potential: State of the science and future research needs

Copyright @ 2011 The Authors. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Cell transformation assays (CTAs) have long been proposed as in vitro methods for the identification of potential chemical carcinogens. Despite showing good correlation with rodent bioassay data, concerns over the subjective nature of using morphological criteria for identifying transformed cells and a lack of understanding of the mechanistic basis of the assays has limited their acceptance for regulatory purposes. However, recent drivers to find alternative carcinogenicity assessment methodologies, such as the Seventh Amendment to the EU Cosmetics Directive, have fuelled renewed interest in CTAs. Research is currently ongoing to improve the objectivity of the assays, reveal the underlying molecular changes leading to transformation and explore the use of novel cell types. The UK NC3Rs held an international workshop in November 2010 to review the current state of the art in this field and provide directions for future research. This paper outlines the key points highlighted at this meeting

Seasonal Abundance of Adult and Immature Aedes Aegypti (L.) in Jakarta

Dari bulan Mei 1973 sampai bulan Juni 1974 telah dilakukan pengamatan nyamuk Aedes aegypti stadium dewasa dan larva di keempat daerah kota yang berpenduduk padat di Jakarta Raya. Pengamatan dikerjakan 2 kali dalam satu bulan Daya tarik nyamuk terhadap manusia rata-rata 1.2 induk betina dan 1.6 untuk nyamuk jantan tiap orang tiap jam. Dalam 100 rumah diketemukan rata-rata 180 buah bejana berisi air, dimana 58 buah positif; Container index (persentasi bejana yang tositif) 32 persen House index (persentasi rumah yang positif) adalah 47 persen dan Breteau index jumlah bejana positif dalam 100 rumah) adalah 58. Kepadatan nyamuk baik larva maupun dewasa rata-rata hampir sama sepanjang tahun, (tidak ada perbedaan pada musim hujan dan musim panas), temperatur dan kelembaban juga rata-rata hampir sama sepanjang tahun. hampir semua tempat perindukan terdapat didalam rumah, hingga sedikit sekali bejana diluar rumah yang terisi oleh air hujan dalam musim hujan