Simulations of a Scintillator Compton Gamma Imager for Safety and Security

We are designing an all-scintillator Compton gamma imager for use in security investigations and remediation actions involving radioactive threat material. To satisfy requirements for a rugged and portable instrument, we have chosen solid scintillator for the active volumes of both the scatter and absorber detectors. Using the BEAMnrc/EGSnrc Monte Carlo simulation package, we have constructed models using four different materials for the scatter detector: LaBr_3, NaI, CaF_2 and PVT. We have compared the detector performances using angular resolution, efficiency, and image resolution. We find that while PVT provides worse performance than that of the detectors based entirely on inorganic scintillators, all of the materials investigated for the scatter detector have the potential to provide performance adequate for our purposes.Comment: Revised text and figures, Presented at SORMA West 2008, Published in IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Scienc

Scottish theme towns: have new identities enhanced development?

Three small towns in southwest Scotland have recently been branded as distinct theme towns, based on books, artists and food. This is an attempt to make them more attractive to visitors and thereby improve their economy. The objective of this research is to establish whether the new identities possessed by the towns have enhanced their development. It is argued, using data reviewing the past decade, that they have all developed, albeit at different rates, in terms of the economy and culture. Moreover, it is maintained that social capital has been enhanced and is a factor whose importance has been under-appreciated by planners and observers of this type of process. The relevance of the new identity to the pre-branding identity is also seen as a factor in successful development and ideas of authenticity and heritage are brought to bear on the relationship

Paraoxonase gene polymorphisms and haplotype analysis in a stroke population

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Development of probabilistic models for quantitative pathway analysis of plant pest introduction for the EU territory

This report demonstrates a probabilistic quantitative pathway analysis model that can be used in risk assessment for plant pest introduction into EU territory on a range of edible commodities (apples, oranges, stone fruits and wheat). Two types of model were developed: a general commodity model that simulates distribution of an imported infested/infected commodity to and within the EU from source countries by month; and a consignment model that simulates the movement and distribution of individual consignments from source countries to destinations in the EU. The general pathway model has two modules. Module 1 is a trade pathway model, with a Eurostat database of five years of monthly trade volumes for each specific commodity into the EU28 from all source countries and territories. Infestation levels based on interception records, commercial quality standards or other information determine volume of infested commodity entering and transhipped within the EU. Module 2 allocates commodity volumes to processing, retail use and waste streams and overlays the distribution onto EU NUTS2 regions based on population densities and processing unit locations. Transfer potential to domestic host crops is a function of distribution of imported infested product and area of domestic production in NUTS2 regions, pest dispersal potential, and phenology of susceptibility in domestic crops. The consignment model covers the several routes on supply chains for processing and retail use. The output of the general pathway model is a distribution of estimated volumes of infested produce by NUTS2 region across the EU28, by month or annually; this is then related to the accessible susceptible domestic crop. Risk is expressed as a potential volume of infested fruit in potential contact with an area of susceptible domestic host crop. The output of the consignment model is a volume of infested produce retained at each stage along the specific consignment trade chain

SDSSJ14584479+3720215: A Benchmark JHK Blazar Light Curve from the 2MASS Calibration Scans

Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are well-known to exhibit flux variability across a wide range of wavelength regimes, but the precise origin of the variability at different wavelengths remains unclear. To investigate the relatively unexplored near-IR variability of the most luminous AGNs, we conduct a search for variability using well sampled JHKs-band light curves from the 2MASS survey calibration fields. Our sample includes 27 known quasars with an average of 924 epochs of observation over three years, as well as one spectroscopically confirmed blazar (SDSSJ14584479+3720215) with 1972 epochs of data. This is the best-sampled NIR photometric blazar light curve to date, and it exhibits correlated, stochastic variability that we characterize with continuous auto-regressive moving average (CARMA) models. None of the other 26 known quasars had detectable variability in the 2MASS bands above the photometric uncertainty. A blind search of the 2MASS calibration field light curves for AGN candidates based on fitting CARMA(1,0) models (damped-random walk) uncovered only 7 candidates. All 7 were young stellar objects within the {\rho} Ophiuchus star forming region, five with previous X-ray detections. A significant {\gamma}-ray detection (5{\sigma}) for the known blazar using 4.5 years of Fermi photon data is also found. We suggest that strong NIR variability of blazars, such as seen for SDSSJ14584479+3720215, can be used as an efficient method of identifying previously-unidentified {\gamma}-ray blazars, with low contamination from other AGN.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, ApJ Accepte

Mechanisms to improve integrative research at the science-policy interface for sustainable catchment management

Greater integration between researchers and policy makers is required to provide an evidence base that is transparent, integrated, and adaptive to support the complexities of sustainable catchment management. Opening-up and closing-down mechanisms are equally important in creating and establishing such an evidence base. We provide examples of both types based on our recent research and knowledge-transfer activities at the science-policy interface. Through our coordination role for the United Kingdom government we provide opening up physical and virtual forums for researchers and government science and policy staff to learn about and assess the gaps and uncertainties of the evidence base. Closing-down mechanisms are vital to policy cycles, in that they distil what is known and what is unknown. The Diffuse Pollution User Manual provides a valuable tool for policy and catchment management staff to assess the potential effectiveness of different combinations of remedial diffuse-pollution mitigation methods. It is vital that that opening-up and closing-down mechanisms are iteratively linked given the complexity and uncertainty of the science and policy cycles. Advances in integrative research at the science-policy interface are vital if there is to be a move to more deliberative policy making

Measured Sensitivity of the First Mark II Phased Array Feed on an ASKAP Antenna

This paper presents the measured sensitivity of CSIRO's first Mk. II phased array feed (PAF) on an ASKAP antenna. The Mk. II achieves a minimum system-temperature-over-efficiency $T_\mathrm{sys}/\eta$ of 78 K at 1.23 GHz and is 95 K or better from 835 MHz to 1.8 GHz. This PAF was designed for the Australian SKA Pathfinder telescope to demonstrate fast astronomical surveys with a wide field of view for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA).Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in Electromagnetics in Advanced applications (ICEAA), 2015 International Conference o

A Consistent Picture Emerges: A Compact X-ray Continuum Emission Region in the Gravitationally Lensed Quasar SDSS J0924+0219

We analyze the optical, UV, and X-ray microlensing variability of the lensed quasar SDSS J0924+0219 using six epochs of Chandra data in two energy bands (spanning 0.4-8.0 keV, or 1-20 keV in the quasar rest frame), 10 epochs of F275W (rest-frame 1089A) Hubble Space Telescope data, and high-cadence R-band (rest-frame 2770A) monitoring spanning eleven years. Our joint analysis provides robust constraints on the extent of the X-ray continuum emission region and the projected area of the accretion disk. The best-fit half-light radius of the soft X-ray continuum emission region is between 5x10^13 and 10^15 cm, and we find an upper limit of 10^15 cm for the hard X-rays. The best-fit soft-band size is about 13 times smaller than the optical size, and roughly 7 GM_BH/c^2 for a 2.8x10^8 M_sol black hole, similar to the results for other systems. We find that the UV emitting region falls in between the optical and X-ray emitting regions at 10^14 cm < r_1/2,UV < 3x10^15 cm. Finally, the optical size is significantly larger, by 1.5*sigma, than the theoretical thin-disk estimate based on the observed, magnification-corrected I-band flux, suggesting a shallower temperature profile than expected for a standard disk.Comment: Replaced with accepted version to Ap