Measurements and Analysis of Longitudinal HOM Driven Coupled Bunch Modes in PEP-II Rings

The growth rates of the longitudinal higher-order impedance-driven beam modes have greatly increased since the initial PEP-II design and commissioning. This increase is attributed to the addition of 6 1.2MW RF stations with 8 accelerating cavities in the HER and 2 1.2MW RF stations with 4 accelerating cavities in the LER, which allowed operations at twice the design current and almost four times the luminosity. As a result, the damping requirements for the longitudinal feedback have greatly increased since the design, and the feedback filters and control schemes have evolved during PEP-II operations. In this paper, growth and damping rate data for the higher-order mode (HOM) driven coupled-bunch modes are presented from various PEP-II runs and are compared with historical estimates during commissioning. The effect of noise in the feedback processing channel is also studied. Both the stability and performance limits of the system are analyzed

LHC Beam Diffusion Dependence on RF Noise: Models and Measurements

Radio Frequency (RF) accelerating system noise and non-idealities can have detrimental impact on the LHC performance through longitudinal motion and longitudinal emittance growth. A theoretical formalism has been developed to relate the beam and RF loop dynamics with the bunch length growth [1]. Measurements were conducted at LHC to validate the formalism, determine the performance limiting RF components, and provide the foundation for beam diffusion estimates for higher energies and intensities. A brief summary of these results is presented in this work

Modeling and Simulation of Longitudinal Dynamics for LER-HER PEP II Rings

A time domain modeling and simulation tool for beam-cavity interactions in LER and HER rings at PEP II are presented. The motivation for this tool is to explore the stability margins and performance limits of PEP II RF systems at higher currents and upgraded RF configurations. It also serves as test bed for new control algorithms and can define the ultimate limits of the architecture. The time domain program captures the dynamical behavior of the beam-cavity interaction based on a reduced model. The ring current is represented by macro-bunches. Multiple RF station in the ring are represented via one or two macro-cavities. Each macro-cavity captures the overall behavior of all the 2 or 4 cavity RF station. Station models include nonlinear elements in the klystron and signal processing. This allows modeling the principal longitudinal impedance control loops interacting with the longitudinal beam model. Validation of simulation tool is in progress by comparing the measured growth rates for both LER and HER rings with simulation results. The simulated behavior of both machines at high currents are presented comparing different control strategies and the effect of non-linear klystrons in the growth rates

Airborne rhinovirus detection and effect of ultraviolet irradiation on detection by a semi-nested RT-PCR assay

BACKGROUND: Rhinovirus, the most common cause of upper respiratory tract infections, has been implicated in asthma exacerbations and possibly asthma deaths. Although the method of transmission of rhinoviruses is disputed, several studies have demonstrated that aerosol transmission is a likely method of transmission among adults. As a first step in studies of possible airborne rhinovirus transmission, we developed methods to detect aerosolized rhinovirus by extending existing technology for detecting infectious agents in nasal specimens. METHODS: We aerosolized rhinovirus in a small aerosol chamber. Experiments were conducted with decreasing concentrations of rhinovirus. To determine the effect of UV irradiation on detection of rhinoviral aerosols, we also conducted experiments in which we exposed aerosols to a UV dose of 684 mJ/m(2). Aerosols were collected on Teflon filters and rhinovirus recovered in Qiagen AVL buffer using the Qiagen QIAamp Viral RNA Kit (Qiagen Corp., Valencia, California) followed by semi-nested RT-PCR and detection by gel electrophoresis. RESULTS: We obtained positive results from filter samples that had collected at least 1.3 TCID(50 )of aerosolized rhinovirus. Ultraviolet irradiation of airborne virus at doses much greater than those used in upper-room UV germicidal irradiation applications did not inhibit subsequent detection with the RT-PCR assay. CONCLUSION: The air sampling and extraction methodology developed in this study should be applicable to the detection of rhinovirus and other airborne viruses in the indoor air of offices and schools. This method, however, cannot distinguish UV inactivated virus from infectious viral particles

Dissecting the Shared Genetic Architecture of Suicide Attempt, Psychiatric Disorders, and Known Risk Factors

Background Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide, and nonfatal suicide attempts, which occur far more frequently, are a major source of disability and social and economic burden. Both have substantial genetic etiology, which is partially shared and partially distinct from that of related psychiatric disorders. Methods We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 29,782 suicide attempt (SA) cases and 519,961 controls in the International Suicide Genetics Consortium (ISGC). The GWAS of SA was conditioned on psychiatric disorders using GWAS summary statistics via multitrait-based conditional and joint analysis, to remove genetic effects on SA mediated by psychiatric disorders. We investigated the shared and divergent genetic architectures of SA, psychiatric disorders, and other known risk factors. Results Two loci reached genome-wide significance for SA: the major histocompatibility complex and an intergenic locus on chromosome 7, the latter of which remained associated with SA after conditioning on psychiatric disorders and replicated in an independent cohort from the Million Veteran Program. This locus has been implicated in risk-taking behavior, smoking, and insomnia. SA showed strong genetic correlation with psychiatric disorders, particularly major depression, and also with smoking, pain, risk-taking behavior, sleep disturbances, lower educational attainment, reproductive traits, lower socioeconomic status, and poorer general health. After conditioning on psychiatric disorders, the genetic correlations between SA and psychiatric disorders decreased, whereas those with nonpsychiatric traits remained largely unchanged. Conclusions Our results identify a risk locus that contributes more strongly to SA than other phenotypes and suggest a shared underlying biology between SA and known risk factors that is not mediated by psychiatric disorders.Peer reviewe

LHC RF System Time-Domain Simulation

Non-linear time-domain simulations have been developed for the Positron-Electron Project (PEP-II) and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). These simulations capture the dynamic behavior of the RF station-beam interaction and are structured to reproduce the technical characteristics of the system (noise contributions, non-linear elements, and more). As such, they provide useful results and insight for the development and design of future LLRF feedback systems. They are also a valuable tool for the study of diverse longitudinal beam dynamics effects such as coupled-bunch impedance driven instabilities and single bunch longitudinal emittance growth. Results from these studies and related measurements from PEP-II and LHC have been presented in multiple places. This report presents an example of the time-domain simulation implementation for the LHC

Studying teachers' mathematical argumentation in the context of refuting students' invalid claims

This study investigates teachers' argumentation aiming to convince students about the invalidity of their mathematical claims in the context of calculus. 18 secondary school mathematics teachers were given three hypothetical scenarios of a student's proof that included an invalid algebraic claim. The teachers were asked to identify possible mistakes and explain how they would refute the student's invalid claims. Two of them were also interviewed. The data were analysed in terms of the content and structure of argumentation and the types of counterexamples the teachers generated. The findings show that teachers used two main approaches to refute students' invalid claims, the use of theory and the use of counterexamples. The role of these approaches in the argumentation process was analysed by Toulmin's model and three types of reasoning emerged that indicate the structure of argumentation in the case of refutation. Concerning the counterexamples, the study shows that few teachers use them in their argumentation and in general they underestimate their value as a proof method. © 2010 Elsevier Inc

RF System Models for the CERN Large Hadron Collider with Application to Longitudinal Dynamics

The LHC RF station-beam interaction strongly influences the longitudinal beam dynamics, both single bunch and collective effects. Non-linearities and noise generated within the Radio Frequency (RF) accelerating system interact with the beam and contribute to beam motion and longitudinal emittance blowup. Thus, the noise power spectrum of the RF accelerating voltage strongly affects the longitudinal beam distribution. Furthermore, the coupled-bunch instabilities are also directly affected by the RF components and the configuration of the Low Level RF (LLRF) feedback loops. In this work we present a formalism relating the longitudinal beam dynamics with the RF system configurations, an estimation of collective effects stability margins, and an evaluation of longitudinal sensitivity to various LLRF parameters and configurations

Klystron Linearizer for Use with 1.2 MW 476 MHz Klystrons in PEP-II RF Systems

The direct and comb loop feedback around the RF cavities in PEP-II is critical in reducing longitudinal instabilities driven by the cavity impedance. The non-linear 1.2 MW klystron is in the signal path for these feedback loops. As a result, the effective small-signal gain of the klystron at 85% saturation reduces the impedance control by factors of 5 to 20 as compared to a linear power amplifier. A klystron linearizer circuit has been developed which operates in series with the power amplifier and acts to equalize the small and large signal gains through the combination. The technique must implement a 1 MHz linear control bandwidth over roughly 15 dB of RF signal level variation. The dynamics of this system is operating point dependent, and the channel must have dynamic gain compensation to keep the linearity compensation loop stable over changes in operating point. The design of this non-linear signal processing channel (incorporating RF and DSP techniques) and measured results from full-power klystron testing are presented