The Comet Interceptor Mission

Here we describe the novel, multi-point Comet Interceptor mission. It is dedicated to the exploration of a little-processed long-period comet, possibly entering the inner Solar System for the first time, or to encounter an interstellar object originating at another star. The objectives of the mission are to address the following questions: What are the surface composition, shape, morphology, and structure of the target object? What is the composition of the gas and dust in the coma, its connection to the nucleus, and the nature of its interaction with the solar wind? The mission was proposed to the European Space Agency in 2018, and formally adopted by the agency in June 2022, for launch in 2029 together with the Ariel mission. Comet Interceptor will take advantage of the opportunity presented by ESA’s F-Class call for fast, flexible, low-cost missions to which it was proposed. The call required a launch to a halo orbit around the Sun-Earth L2 point. The mission can take advantage of this placement to wait for the discovery of a suitable comet reachable with its minimum ΔV capability of 600 ms−1. Comet Interceptor will be unique in encountering and studying, at a nominal closest approach distance of 1000 km, a comet that represents a near-pristine sample of material from the formation of the Solar System. It will also add a capability that no previous cometary mission has had, which is to deploy two sub-probes – B1, provided by the Japanese space agency, JAXA, and B2 – that will follow different trajectories through the coma. While the main probe passes at a nominal 1000 km distance, probes B1 and B2 will follow different chords through the coma at distances of 850 km and 400 km, respectively. The result will be unique, simultaneous, spatially resolved information of the 3-dimensional properties of the target comet and its interaction with the space environment. We present the mission’s science background leading to these objectives, as well as an overview of the scientific instruments, mission design, and schedule

Bio-Based Materials for the Italian Construction Industry: Buildings as Carbon Sponges

This work brings together some recent research and results activities aiming at investigating the environmental benefits of using bio-based materials for the construction and refurbishment of residential buildings. The positive environmental effects of wood and other biogenic materials replacing other, more important, conventional ones, analysed through the application of Life Cycle Assessment methods, are here reported. Moreover, the investigated strategies for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) are here discussed, to evaluate the potential of carbon uptake of fast-growing biogenic materials when used as insulation systems. The results show the effectiveness of bio-based materials in contributing to the mitigation strategies of the impacts due to climate change

Commissioning the New CERN Beam Instrumentation Following the Upgrade of the LHC Injector Chain

The LHC injectors Upgrade (LIU) program has been fully implemented during the second long shutdown (LS2), which took place in 2019-20. In this context, new or upgraded beam instrumentation was developed to cope with H⁻ beam in LINAC4 and the new Proton Synchrotron Booster (PSB) injection systems which would provide high brightness proton beams in the rest of the injector complex. After a short overview of the newly installed diagnostics, the main focus of this paper will move to the instruments already commissioned with the beam. This will include LINAC4 diagnostics, the PSB H⁰/H⁻ monitor, the PSB Trajectory Measurement System, and the PS beam gas ionization monitor. In addition, particular emphasis will be given to the first operational experience with the new generation of fast wire scanners installed in all injector synchronous

Baseline Performance of Real-World Clinical Practice Within a Statewide Emergency Medicine Quality Network: The Michigan Emergency Department Improvement Collaborative (MEDIC).

STUDY OBJECTIVE: Large-scale quality and performance measurement across unaffiliated hospitals is an important strategy to drive practice change. The Michigan Emergency Department Improvement Collaborative (MEDIC), established in 2015, has baseline performance data to identify practice variation across 15 diverse emergency departments (EDs) on key emergency care quality indicators. METHODS: MEDIC is a unique physician-led partnership supported by a major third-party payer. Member sites contribute electronic health record data and trained abstractors add supplementary data for eligible cases. Quality measures include computed tomography (CT) appropriateness for minor head injury, using the Canadian CT Head Rule for adults and Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Network rules for children; chest radiograph use for children with asthma, bronchiolitis, and croup; and diagnostic yield of CTs for suspected pulmonary embolism. Baseline performance was established with statistical process control charts. RESULTS: From June 1, 2016, to October 31, 2017, the MEDIC registry contained 1,124,227 ED visits, 23.2% for children (\u3c18 \u3eyears). Overall baseline performance included the following: 40.9% of adult patients with minor head injury (N=11,857) had appropriate CTs (site range 24.3% to 58.6%), 10.3% of pediatric minor head injury cases (N=11,183) exhibited CT overuse (range 5.8% to 16.8%), 38.1% of pediatric patients with a respiratory condition (N=18,190) received a chest radiograph (range 9.0% to 62.1%), and 8.7% of pulmonary embolism CT results (N=16,205) were positive (range 7.5% to 14.3%). CONCLUSION: Performance varied greatly, with demonstrated opportunity for improvement. MEDIC provides a robust platform for emergency physician engagement across ED practice settings to improve care and is a model for other states