AMS status and results after four years of operations on the ISS

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) is the major particle physics experiment in space. In its first four years in orbit, on the International Space Station (ISS), AMS has collected more than 60 billion cosmic ray events up to multi-TeV energies. Status and results will be presented

Moon Mapping Project Results on Solar Wind Ion Flux and Composition

The "Moon Mapping" project is a collaboration between the Italian and Chinese Governments allowing cooperation and exchange between students from both countries. The main aim of the project is to analyze remotely-sensed data collected by the Chinese space missions Chang'E-1/2 over the Moon surface. The Italian Space Agency is responsible for the Italian side and the Center of Space Exploration, while the China Ministry of Education is responsible for the Chinese side. In this article, we summarize the results of the "Moon Mappining" project topic #1: "map of the solar wind ion" using the data collected by Chang'E-1 satellite. Chang'E-1 is a lunar orbiter, its revolution period lasts 2 h, and its orbit is polar. The satellite is equipped with two Solar Wind Ion Detectors (SWIDs) that are two perpendicular electrostatic spectrometers mapping the sky with a field of view of 15° × 6.7° × 24 ch. The spectrometers can measure solar wind flux in the range 40 eV/q–17 keV/q with an energy resolution of 8% and time resolution of ∼3 s. The data collected by the two Solar Wind Ion Detectors are analyzed to characterize the solar wind flux and composition on the Moon surface and to study the time variations due to the solar activity. The data measured by Chang'E-1 compared with the one measured in the same period by the electrostatic spectrometers onboard the ACE satellite, or with another solar activity indicator as the sunspot number, enrich the multi-messenger/multi-particle view of the Sun, gathering valuable information about the space weather outside the Earth magnetosphere

Tidal tilts observations in the Gran Sasso underground laboratory

A new tiltmeter, based on the technology for building a space-borne high-sensitivity accelerometer and manufactured at IFSI/CNR, has been operating during several years in the INFN Gran Sasso underground laboratory. The results of the analysis of a three-year data set, processed with the program package ETERNA, to estimate earthtidal parameters are reported. For the best series of data (1998) tide measurement accuracies are: 0.5–1% for the M2 (lunar principal) amplitude and 3–4% for the O1 (lunar declination) amplitude. The tiltmeter installed at a depth of 1400m shows no clear evidence of meteorological effects. Observed tidal parameters are compared with theoretical tidal parameters predicted for a non-hydrostatic inelastic Earth model and demonstrate good agreement for the M2 component. Due to the high accuracy of the tidal components prediction (better than 1%) tidal measurements were used to estimate the long-term stability of the instrument response

Worsening Renal Function in Patients Hospitalized with Acute Heart Failure: Risk Factors and Prognostic Significances

Objectives. To determine the prevalence, the clinical predictors, and the prognostic significances of Worsening Renal Function (WRF) in hospitalized patients with Acute Heart Failure (AHF). Methods. 394 consecutively hospitalized patients with AHF were evaluated. WRF was defined as an increase in serum creatinine of ≥0.3 mg/dL from baseline to discharge. Results. Nearly 11% of patients developed WRF. The independent predictors of WRF analyzed with a multivariable logistic regression were history of chronic kidney disease (P = .047), age >75 years (P = .049), and admission heart rates ≥100 bpm (P = .004). Mortality or rehospitalization rates at 1 month, 6 months, and 1year were not significantly different between patients with WRF and those without WRF. Conclusion. Different clinical predictors at hospital admission can be used to identify patients at increased risk for developing WRF. Patients with WRF compared with those without WRF experienced no significant differences in hospital length of stay, mortality, or rehospitalization rates

Experimental gravitation and geophysics

Seismic noise is the major obstacle to performing sensitive measurements of the gravitational field on the ground. The INFN (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare) underground laboratory in Gran Sasso, L’Aquila(Italy), seems to be a favourable place from the environmental noise point of view. This paper describes briefly two, relatively low cost, gravity experiments that can be performed in the underground laboratory: a) A measurement of preferred-frame and preferred-location effects. b) A test of the equivalence principle. Preliminary experimental data of the seismic noise are also presented

Deep Sea Gravity Measurements: GEOSTAR-2 Mission Results

A new concept gravity meter with sensitivity close to Hz ms / 10 2 8 − − in the range of 10 -5 −1Hz intended for observation of the vertical component of the Earth gravity and teleseismic waves was implemented at the Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario (IFSI), CNR and successfully operated during the GEOSTAR-2 mission. The gravimeter has demonstrated a capability to operate for long time in an autonomous regime and a good reliability for operation in extreme environments; at the same time the experimental measurements gave the information for the further gravimeter’s implementation. Results of observation and data analysis included the registration of seismic waves excited by global earthquakes and the evaluation of the low frequency modes of free oscillations of the Earth are reported

A Data Driven Approach to the Measurement of 10Be/9Be in Cosmic Rays with Magnetic Spectrometers

Cosmic Rays (CRs) are powerful tools for the investigation of the structure of the magnetic fields in the galactic halo and the properties of the Inter-Stellar Medium. There are two parameters of CR propagation models: The galactic halo (half-) thickness, H, and the diffusion coefficient, D, are loosely constrained by current CR flux measurements; in particular, a large degeneracy exists, as only H/D is well measured. The 10Be/9Be isotopic flux ratio (thanks to the 2 My lifetime of 10Be) can be used as a radioactive clock that provides the measurement of the residence time of CRs in the galaxy. This is an important tool for solving the degeneracy of H/D. Past measurements of the 10Be/9Be isotopic flux ratios in CRs are scarce, limited to low energy, and affected by large uncertainties. Here, a new technique for measuring the 10Be/9Be isotopic flux ratio in magnetic spectrometers with a data-driven approach is presented. As an example, by applying the method to beryllium events that were published by the PAMELA experiment, it is now possible to determine the important 10Be/9Be measurements while avoiding the prohibitive uncertainties coming from Monte Carlo simulations. It is shown how the accuracy of the PAMELA data permits one to infer a value of the halo thickness with a precision of up to 25%