Densification during hot-pressing of carbon nanotube–metal–magnesium aluminate spinel nanocomposites

The densification by hot-pressing of ceramic–matrix composites containing a dispersion of carbon nanotubes (CNT), mostly single-walled, is studied for the first time. Fifteen different CNT–Co/Mo–MgAl2O4 composite powders containing between 1.2 and 16.7 vol.% CNT were prepared by catalytic chemical vapour deposition. The in situ growth of CNT within the oxide powder made it possible to obtain a highly homogeneous distribution of CNT. Low contents of CNT (up to 5 vol.%) are beneficial for the first shrinkage step (up to 1100 ◦C), dominated by the rearrangement process, while higher contents are detrimental. At higher temperatures (1100–1300 ◦C), CNT clearly inhibit the shrinkage, and this detrimental effect regularly increases with the CNT content. Several explanations are proposed, in relation with the particular mechanical properties of CNT and their highly connected web-like distribution within the material

Demand-side strategies enable rapid and deep cuts in buildings and transport emissions to 2050

Decarbonization of energy-using sectors is essential for tackling climate change. We use an ensemble of global integrated assessment models to assess CO2 emissions reduction potentials in buildings and transport, accounting for system interactions. We focus on three intervention strategies with distinct emphases: reducing or changing activity, improving technological efficiency and electrifying energy end use. We find that these strategies can reduce emissions by 51–85% in buildings and 37–91% in transport by 2050 relative to a current policies scenario (ranges indicate model variability). Electrification has the largest potential for direct emissions reductions in both sectors. Interactions between the policies and measures that comprise the three strategies have a modest overall effect on mitigation potentials. However, combining different strategies is strongly beneficial from an energy system perspective as lower electricity demand reduces the need for costly supply-side investments and infrastructure

Recommendations for Transitioning Young People with Primary Immunodeficiency Disorders and Autoinflammatory Diseases to Adult Care

Purpose: Significant improvements in the prognosis for young patients with Primary Immunodeficiency Diseases (PID) and Autoinflammatory Disorders (AID), which together make up the majority of Inborn Errors of Immunity (IEI), have resulted in the need for optimisation of transition and transfer of care to adult services. Effective transition is crucial to improve health outcomes and treatment compliance among patients. Evaluations of existing transition programmes in European health centres identified the absence of disease-specific transition guidelines for PID and AID, as a challenge to the transition process. This research aimed to establish expert consensus statements for the transition of young patients with PID and AID to adult services. Methods: This project used the Delphi method to establish mutual agreement for the proposed recommendations. A draft set of statements was developed following a literature review of existing transition programmes. Then the ERN RITA Transition Working Group convened to review the drafted recommendations and develop them into a survey. This survey was circulated among healthcare professionals to determine consensus using a five-point Likert scale, with the level of agreement set to 80% or greater. Statements that did not reach consensus were revised by the Working Group and recirculated among respondents. Results: The initial survey received 93 responses from 68 centres across 23 countries, while the following survey outlining revised recommendations received 66 responses. The respondents agreed upon recommendations detailing the structure and administration of transition programmes, collaborative working with social systems, and contraindications to transfer of care. Conclusion: This paper sets out a comprehensive set of recommendations to optimise transitional care for PID and AID

Acoustic positioning for deep sea neutrino telescopes with a system of piezo sensors integrated into glass spheres

Position calibration in the deep sea is typically done by means of acoustic multilateration using three or more acoustic emitters installed at known positions. Rather than using hydrophones as receivers that are exposed to the ambient pressure, the sound signals can be coupled to piezo ceramics glued to the inside of existing containers for electronics or measuring instruments of a deep sea infrastructure. The ANTARES neutrino telescope operated from 2006 until 2022 in the Mediterranean Sea at a depth exceeding 2000 m. It comprised nearly 900 glass spheres with 432 mm diameter and 15 mm thickness, equipped with photomultiplier tubes to detect Cherenkov light from tracks of charged elementary particles. In an experimental setup within ANTARES, piezo sensors have been glued to the inside of such – otherwise empty – glass spheres. These sensors recorded signals from acoustic emitters with frequencies from 46545 to 60235 Hz. Two waves propagating through the glass sphere are found as a result of the excitation by the waves in the water. These can be qualitatively associated with symmetric and asymmetric Lamb-like waves of zeroth order: a fast (early) one with ve≈5mm/μs and a slow (late) one with vl≈2mm/μs. Taking these findings into account improves the accuracy of the position calibration. The results can be transferred to the KM3NeT neutrino telescope, currently under construction at multiple sites in the Mediterranean Sea, for which the concept of piezo sensors glued to the inside of glass spheres has been adapted for monitoring the positions of the photomultiplier tubes

First measurement of the fraction of top-quark pair production through gluon-gluon fusion

We present the first measurement of sigma(gg -> t (t) over bar)/sigma(p (p) over bar -> t (t) over bar). We use 0.96 fb(-1) of root s = 1.96 TeV p (p) over bar collision data recorded with the CDF II detector at Fermilab. Using charged particles with low transverse momentum in t (t) over bar events, we find sigma(gg -> t (t) over bar)/sigma(p (p) over bar -> t (t) over bar) = 0.07 +/- 0.14(stat) +/- 0.07(syst), corresponding to a 95% confidence level upper limit of 0.33, in agreement with the standard model next-to-leading-order prediction of 0.15 +/- 0.05

Precise measurement of the top-quark mass in the Lepton plus Jets topology at CDF II

We present a measurement of the mass of the top quark from proton-antiproton collisions recorded at the CDF experiment in Run II of the Fermilab Tevatron. We analyze events from the single lepton plus jets final state (t (t) over bar -\u3e W(+)bW(-)(b) over bar -\u3e l nu bq (q) over bar (\u27)(b) over bar). The top-quark mass is extracted using a direct calculation of the probability density that each event corresponds to the t (t) over bar final state. The probability is a function of both the mass of the top quark and the energy scale of the calorimeter jets, which is constrained in situ by the hadronic W boson mass. Using 167 events observed in 955 pb(-1) of integrated luminosity, we achieve the single most precise measurement of the top-quark mass, 170.8 +/- 2.2(stat.) +/- 1.4(syst.) GeV/c(2)

Measurement of the phase difference between short- and long-distance amplitudes in the B+→K+μ+μ− decay.

A measurement of the phase difference between the short- and long-distance contributions to the B+→K+μ+μ− decay is performed by analysing the dimuon mass distribution. The analysis is based on pp collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3fb^-1 collected by the LHCb experiment in 2011 and 2012. The long-distance contribution to the B+→K+μ+μ− decay is modelled as a sum of relativistic Breit-Wigner amplitudes representing different vector meson resonances decaying to muon pairs, each with their own magnitude and phase. The measured phases of the J/ψ and ψ(2S) resonances are such that the interference with the short-distance component in dimuon mass regions far from their pole masses is small. In addition, constraints are placed on the Wilson coefficients, C9 and C10, and the branching fraction of the short-distance component is measured

LHCb upgrade software and computing : technical design report

This document reports the Research and Development activities that are carried out in the software and computing domains in view of the upgrade of the LHCb experiment. The implementation of a full software trigger implies major changes in the core software framework, in the event data model, and in the reconstruction algorithms. The increase of the data volumes for both real and simulated datasets requires a corresponding scaling of the distributed computing infrastructure. An implementation plan in both domains is presented, together with a risk assessment analysis