Summary report of working group 5: Beam and radiation generation, monitoring, and control

This paper summarizes the activities and presentations of Working Group 5 of the Advanced Accelerator Concepts Workshop held at Annapolis, Maryland in June 2010. Working Group 5 touched on a broad range of topics in the fields of beam and radiation generation and their monitoring and control. These topics were not comprehensively covered in this Workshop, but rather the Working Group concentrated on specific new developments and recent investigations. The Working Group divided its sessions into four broad categories: cathodes and electron guns, radiation generation, beam diagnostics, and beam control and dynamics. This summary is divided into the same structure.Comment: 6 pp. 14th Advanced Accelerator Concepts Workshop 13-19 Jun 2010. Annapolis, Marylan

A facility for accelerator research and education at Fermilab

Fermilab is currently constructing the 'SRF Test Accelerator at the New Muon Lab' (NML). NML consists of a photo-emitted RF electron gun, followed by a bunch compressor, low energy test beamlines, SCRF accelerating structures, and high energy test beamlines. The initial primary purpose of NML will be to test superconducting RF accelerating modules for the ILC and for Fermilab's 'Project X' - a proposal for a high intensity proton source. The unique capability of NML will be to test these modules under conditions of high intensity electron beams with ILC-like beam parameters. In addition NML incorporates a photoinjector which offers significant tunability and especially the possibility to generate a bright electron beam with brightness comparable to state-of-the-art accelerators. This opens the exciting possibility of also using NML for fundamental beams research and tests of new concepts in beam manipulations and acceleration, instrumentation, and the applications of beams

Getting to the root of the problem: new evidence for the use of plant root foods in Mesolithic Khunter-gatherer subsistence in Europe

This paper presents new evidence for the harvesting of edible plant roots and tubers at Northton, a Mesolithic hunter-gatherer site on Harris, in the Western Isles of Scotland, in the north-west corner of Europe. The excavations uncovered abundant root tuber remains of Ficaria verna Huds. (lesser celandine), an excellent high energy and carbohydrate-rich food source, and produced the first evidence for the use of tubers of Lathyrus linifolius (Reichard) Bässler (bitter-vetch) at a hunter-gatherer site in Europe. Here we report on the analysis of the charred root and tuber remains and other charred plant macrofossils from the site and consider the significance of these results within the wider context of European hunter-gatherer subsistence. The wide range of root and tuber taxa recovered from European hunter-gatherer sites and the importance of appropriate sampling on hunter-gatherer sites are highlighted.publishedVersio

Mast cell desensitization inhibits calcium flux and aberrantly remodels actin

Rush desensitization (DS) is a widely used and effective clinical strategy for the rapid inhibition of IgE-mediated anaphylactic responses. However, the cellular targets and underlying mechanisms behind this process remain unclear. Recent studies have implicated mast cells (MCs) as the primary target cells for DS. Here, we developed a murine model of passive anaphylaxis with demonstrated MC involvement and an in vitro assay to evaluate the effect of DS on MCs. In contrast with previous reports, we determined that functional IgE remains on the cell surface of desensitized MCs following DS. Despite notable reductions in MC degranulation following DS, the high-affinity IgE receptor FcεRI was still capable of transducing signals in desensitized MCs. Additionally, we found that displacement of the actin cytoskeleton and its continued association with FcεRI impede the capacity of desensitized MCs to evoke the calcium response that is essential for MC degranulation. Together, these findings suggest that reduced degranulation responses in desensitized MCs arise from aberrant actin remodeling, providing insights that may lead to improvement of DS treatments for anaphylactic responses

Landscapes of Settlement in Northern Iceland: Historical Ecology of Human Impact and Climate Fluctuation on the Millennial Scale

Early settlement in the North Atlantic produced complex interactions of culture and nature. The sustained program of interdisciplinary collaboration is intended to focus on ninth- to 13th-century sites and landscapes in the highland interior lake basin of M´yvatn in Iceland and to contribute a long-term perspective to larger issues of sustainable resource use, soil erosion, and the historical ecology of global change

A summary of the 2012 JHU CLSP Workshop on Zero Resource Speech Technologies and Models of Early Language Acquisition

We summarize the accomplishments of a multi-disciplinary workshop exploring the computational and scientific issues surrounding zero resource (unsupervised) speech technologies and related models of early language acquisition. Centered around the tasks of phonetic and lexical discovery, we consider unified evaluation metrics, present two new approaches for improving speaker independence in the absence of supervision, and evaluate the application of Bayesian word segmentation algorithms to automatic subword unit tokenizations. Finally, we present two strategies for integrating zero resource techniques into supervised settings, demonstrating the potential of unsupervised methods to improve mainstream technologies.5 page(s

Puffins, Pigs, Cod, and Barley: Palaeoeconomy at Undir Junkarinsfløtti, Sandoy, Faroe Islands

This paper reports on the zooarchaeological and archaeobotanical remains from the initial season of excavations at the Norse period site at Undir Junkarinsfløtti in the Faroe islands. These remains represent the first zooarchaeological analysis undertaken for the Faroes and only the third archaeobotanical assemblage published from the islands. The excavated deposits are described and the key findings from the palaeoenvironmental remains highlighted within the context of the wider North Atlantic environmental archaeology of the Norse period

Puffins, Pigs, Cod, and Barley: Palaeoeconomy at Undir Junkarinsfløtti, Sandoy, Faroe Islands

This paper reports on the zooarchaeological and archaeobotanical remains from the initial season of excavations at the Norse period site at Undir Junkarinsfløtti in the Faroe islands. These remains represent the first zooarchaeological analysis undertaken for the Faroes and only the third archaeobotanical assemblage published from the islands. The excavated deposits are described and the key findings from the palaeoenvironmental remains highlighted within the context of the wider North Atlantic environmental archaeology of the Norse period