Infrared spectra of van de Waals complexes of importance in planetary atmospheres

It has been suggested that (CO2)2 and Ar-CO2 are important constituents of the planetary atmospheres of Venus and Mars. Recent results on the laboratory spectroscopy of CO2 containing van der Waals complexes which may be of use in the modeling of the spectra of planetary atmospheres are presented. Sub-Doppler infrared spectra were obtained for (CO2)2, (CO2)3, and rare-gas-CO2 complexes in the vicinity of the CO2 Fermi diad at 2.7 micrometers using a color-center-laser optothermal spectrometer. From the spectroscopic constants the geometries of the complexes have been determined and van der Waals vibrational frequencies have been estimated. The equilibrium configurations are C2h, C3h, and C2v, for (CO2)2, (CO2)3, and the rare-gas-CO2 complexes, respectively. Most of the homogeneous linewidths for the revibrational transitions range from 0.5 to 22 MHz, indicating that predissociation is as much as four orders of magnitude faster than radiative processes for vibrational relaxation in these complexes

Sex, drugs and superbugs: The rise of drug resistant STIs

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) presents a swiftly advancing challenge to a wide range of healthcare and health promotion practices. While rising rates of AMR share some dimensions across contexts, the specificities of field, practice, place and population shape – and at times hinder attempts to stem – the rising tide of this health threat. Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are one area of healthcare where the threat of AMR has traditionally been met with lethargy. In this paper, we draw on a range of stakeholder perspectives across practice, innovation and regulatory systems in Australia, the US and the UK to understand and examine the evolving nexus of STIs and AMR, including the roles of cultural reception, professional practice and political traction. We argue for a critical sociology of the nexus of sexual health and evolving resistance, which will be instructive for comprehending inaction and informing future developments. We also note that part of this critical sociology must involve challenging stigma concerning sexual practices and people/groups, and recognising the role of communities in driving positive change

All roads lead to Rome, but Rome wasn’t built in a day. Advice on QSEP navigation from the ‘Roman Gods’ of assessment!

Rome was the point of convergence of all the main roads of the Roman Empire. When Roman emperor Caesar Augustus erected the ‘Milliarium Aureum’ (Golden Milestone) in the heart of Ancient Rome, all roads were designed to begin at the monument. Metaphorically, the ancient proverb ‘All roads lead to Rome’ means there are many different ways of reaching the same goal or conclusion. QSEP training is a bit like that, with trainees engaging with so many different types of clients, settings, cultures, approaches and interventions that no two portfolios of work look alike. Yet, the competency demonstration ‘end goal’ is the same. The ancient Romans were also wise; they knew that in building their Roman empire (or for us building relationships and competence as Sport and Exercise Psychologists), doing something important or creating a masterpiece takes the time it takes; ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’ and, metaphorically, QSEP is not something to rush or smear with impatience either

Using Part-of-Speech N-grams for Sensitive-Text Classification

Freedom of Information legislations in many western democ- racies, including the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States of America (USA), state that citizens have typically the right to access government documents. However, certain sensitive information is exempt from release into the pub- lic domain. For example, in the UK, FOIA Exemption 27 (International Relations) excludes the release of Informa- tion that might damage the interests of the UK abroad. Therefore, the process of reviewing government documents for sensitivity is essential to determine if a document must be redacted before it is archived, or closed until the infor- mation is no longer sensitive. With the increased volume of digital government documents in recent years, there is a need for new tools to assist the digital sensitivity review process. Therefore, in this paper we propose an automatic approach for identifying sensitive text in documents by measuring the amount of sensitivity in sequences of text. Using government documents reviewed by trained sensitivity reviewers, we fo- cus on an aspect of FOIA Exemption 27 which can have a major impact on international relations, namely information supplied in con�dence. We show that our approach leads to markedly increased recall of sensitive text, while achieving a very high level of precision, when compared to a baseline that has been shown to be e�ective at identifying sensitive text in other domains

Magnetostrictive materials for aerospace applications

Structural health monitoring of composite structures to detect barely visible damage is vitally important for the aerospace industry. This research has investigated amorphous magnetostrictive wires (Fe77.5Si7.5B15 and Co72.5Si12.5B15), as a possible solution to monitoring aerospace composites. The different amorphous wires were either embedded into the composite or epoxied on to the surface. How the wires effected the structure of the composite along with ultimate tensile strength was studied. Inductance measurements were used to study the strain within the composite, which provided a non-intrusive method of monitoring the composite

Radiation damage in the LHCb vertex locator

The LHCb Vertex Locator (VELO) is a silicon strip detector designed to reconstruct charged particle trajectories and vertices produced at the LHCb interaction region. During the first two years of data collection, the 84 VELO sensors have been exposed to a range of fluences up to a maximum value of approximately 45 × 1012 1 MeV neutron equivalent (1 MeV neq). At the operational sensor temperature of approximately −7 °C, the average rate of sensor current increase is 18 μA per fb−1, in excellent agreement with predictions. The silicon effective bandgap has been determined using current versus temperature scan data after irradiation, with an average value of Eg = 1.16±0.03±0.04 eV obtained. The first observation of n+-on-n sensor type inversion at the LHC has been made, occurring at a fluence of around 15 × 1012 of 1 MeV neq. The only n+-on-p sensors in use at the LHC have also been studied. With an initial fluence of approximately 3 × 1012 1 MeV neq, a decrease in the Effective Depletion Voltage (EDV) of around 25 V is observed. Following this initial decrease, the EDV increases at a comparable rate to the type inverted n+-on-n type sensors, with rates of (1.43±0.16) × 10−12 V/ 1 MeV neq and (1.35±0.25) × 10−12 V/ 1 MeV neq measured for n+-on-p and n+-on-n type sensors, respectively. A reduction in the charge collection efficiency due to an unexpected effect involving the second metal layer readout lines is observed

Middle Holocene environmental change and archaeology in coastal wetlands: further implications for our understanding of the history of Taxus woodland

A radiocarbon-dated multi-proxy palaeoenvironmental record from Beckton in the Lower Thames Valley, Southern England, has permitted a detailed reconstruction of human activities and environmental change during the middle-Holocene. Peat accumulation occurred over river terrace gravels from ca. 7200 to 6600 until at least 3450–3240 cal. BP, and in the later period a trackway and platform structure provide unequivocal evidence for human exploitation of the floodplain environment during the Bronze Age. The site is unique in offering the first certain evidence of the utilisation of Taxus in the construction of a wooden prehistoric platform. Across north-west Europe during the middle-Holocene, the colonisation of Taxus on peat is well documented; at Beckton, it occurred between ca. 5220–4940 and 4410–4220 cal. BP. This research provides important insights into the former distribution of Taxus, and reasons for its expansion and decline during the Holocene, which has relevance to present-day concerns over the conservation and management of Taxus woodland. Abandonment of the site occurred in response to environmental change to wetter conditions. The study employed multi-proxy analyses, including pollen, plant and wood macrofossils, and uniquely Coleoptera; Coleopteran analysis has significant potential to enhance understandings of environmental change and human–environment interactions in coastal wetland research

Performance of the LHCb vertex locator

The Vertex Locator (VELO) is a silicon microstrip detector that surrounds the proton-proton interaction region in the LHCb experiment. The performance of the detector during the first years of its physics operation is reviewed. The system is operated in vacuum, uses a bi-phase CO2 cooling system, and the sensors are moved to 7 mm from the LHC beam for physics data taking. The performance and stability of these characteristic features of the detector are described, and details of the material budget are given. The calibration of the timing and the data processing algorithms that are implemented in FPGAs are described. The system performance is fully characterised. The sensors have a signal to noise ratio of approximately 20 and a best hit resolution of 4 μm is achieved at the optimal track angle. The typical detector occupancy for minimum bias events in standard operating conditions in 2011 is around 0.5%, and the detector has less than 1% of faulty strips. The proximity of the detector to the beam means that the inner regions of the n+-on-n sensors have undergone space-charge sign inversion due to radiation damage. The VELO performance parameters that drive the experiment's physics sensitivity are also given. The track finding efficiency of the VELO is typically above 98% and the modules have been aligned to a precision of 1 μm for translations in the plane transverse to the beam. A primary vertex resolution of 13 μm in the transverse plane and 71 μm along the beam axis is achieved for vertices with 25 tracks. An impact parameter resolution of less than 35 μm is achieved for particles with transverse momentum greater than 1 GeV/c

Precision luminosity measurements at LHCb

Measuring cross-sections at the LHC requires the luminosity to be determined accurately at each centre-of-mass energy √s. In this paper results are reported from the luminosity calibrations carried out at the LHC interaction point 8 with the LHCb detector for √s = 2.76, 7 and 8 TeV (proton-proton collisions) and for √sNN = 5 TeV (proton-lead collisions). Both the "van der Meer scan" and "beam-gas imaging" luminosity calibration methods were employed. It is observed that the beam density profile cannot always be described by a function that is factorizable in the two transverse coordinates. The introduction of a two-dimensional description of the beams improves significantly the consistency of the results. For proton-proton interactions at √s = 8 TeV a relative precision of the luminosity calibration of 1.47% is obtained using van der Meer scans and 1.43% using beam-gas imaging, resulting in a combined precision of 1.12%. Applying the calibration to the full data set determines the luminosity with a precision of 1.16%. This represents the most precise luminosity measurement achieved so far at a bunched-beam hadron collider

Mathematical model of a telomerase transcriptional regulatory network developed by cell-based screening: analysis of inhibitor effects and telomerase expression mechanisms

Cancer cells depend on transcription of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT). Many transcription factors affect TERT, though regulation occurs in context of a broader network. Network effects on telomerase regulation have not been investigated, though deeper understanding of TERT transcription requires a systems view. However, control over individual interactions in complex networks is not easily achievable. Mathematical modelling provides an attractive approach for analysis of complex systems and some models may prove useful in systems pharmacology approaches to drug discovery. In this report, we used transfection screening to test interactions among 14 TERT regulatory transcription factors and their respective promoters in ovarian cancer cells. The results were used to generate a network model of TERT transcription and to implement a dynamic Boolean model whose steady states were analysed. Modelled effects of signal transduction inhibitors successfully predicted TERT repression by Src-family inhibitor SU6656 and lack of repression by ERK inhibitor FR180204, results confirmed by RT-QPCR analysis of endogenous TERT expression in treated cells. Modelled effects of GSK3 inhibitor 6-bromoindirubin-3′-oxime (BIO) predicted unstable TERT repression dependent on noise and expression of JUN, corresponding with observations from a previous study. MYC expression is critical in TERT activation in the model, consistent with its well known function in endogenous TERT regulation. Loss of MYC caused complete TERT suppression in our model, substantially rescued only by co-suppression of AR. Interestingly expression was easily rescued under modelled Ets-factor gain of function, as occurs in TERT promoter mutation. RNAi targeting AR, JUN, MXD1, SP3, or TP53, showed that AR suppression does rescue endogenous TERT expression following MYC knockdown in these cells and SP3 or TP53 siRNA also cause partial recovery. The model therefore successfully predicted several aspects of TERT regulation including previously unknown mechanisms. An extrapolation suggests that a dominant stimulatory system may programme TERT for transcriptional stability