1,022 research outputs found
Control Infrastructure for a Pulsed Ion Accelerator
We report on updates to the accelerator controls for the Neutralized Drift
Compression Experiment II, a pulsed induction-type accelerator for heavy ions.
The control infrastructure is built around a LabVIEW interface combined with an
Apache Cassandra backend for data archiving. Recent upgrades added the storing
and retrieving of device settings into the database, as well as ZeroMQ as a
message broker that replaces LabVIEW's shared variables. Converting to ZeroMQ
also allows easy access via other programming languages, such as Python
Xenon in Mercury-Manganese Stars
Previous studies of elemental abundances in Mercury-Manganese (HgMn) stars have occasionally reported the presence of lines of the ionized rare noble gas Xe II, especially in a few of the hottest stars with Teff ~ 13000--15000 K. A new study of this element has been undertaken using observations from Lick Observatory's Hamilton Echelle Spectrograph. In this work, the spectrum synthesis program UCLSYN has been used to undertake abundance analysis assuming LTE. We find that in the Smith & Dworetsky sample of HgMn stars, Xe is vastly over-abundant in 21 of 22 HgMn stars studied, by factors of 3.1--4.8 dex. There does not appear to be a significant correlation of Xe abundance with Teff. A comparison sample of normal late B stars shows no sign of Xe II lines that could be detected, consistent with the expected weakness of lines at normal abundance. The main reason for the previous lack of widespread detection in HgMn stars is probably due to the strongest lines being at longer wavelengths than the photographic blue. The lines used in this work were 4603.03A, 4844.33A and 5292.22A
Absolute calibration of GafChromic film for very high flux laser driven ion beams.
We report on the calibration of GafChromic HD-v2 radiochromic film in the extremely high dose regime up to 100 kGy together with very high dose rates up to 7 × 1011 Gy/s. The absolute calibration was done with nanosecond ion bunches at the Neutralized Drift Compression Experiment II particle accelerator at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and covers a broad dose dynamic range over three orders of magnitude. We then applied the resulting calibration curve to calibrate a laser driven ion experiment performed on the BELLA petawatt laser facility at LBNL. Here, we reconstructed the spatial and energy resolved distributions of the laser-accelerated proton beams. The resulting proton distribution is in fair agreement with the spectrum that was measured with a Thomson spectrometer in combination with a microchannel plate detector
Careif Position Statement on Migration and Mental Health
People have moved from one place to another within the same country or across national borders for millennia. The reasons for such movements have varied, as does the duration for which people migrate. With globalisation and global connections across countries, migration has increased. The process of migration and its impact on the mental health of individuals has been and will remain heterogeneous. The responses of migrants to the process vary, depending upon a number of factors. Individuals may migrate individually, with their families or in groups. They may move to avoid political or religious persecution and seek political asylum in another country (forced migration) or migrate for personal, employment, economic or educational reasons (voluntary migration). Although these two categorisations are often a little more complex than this. Not all migrants will feel negatively affected by migration. People may migrate on a seasonal, recurrent, permanent or temporary basis. It may be within or across generations. Many migrants will never access mental health services, whilst others may use these in varying ways and with diverse requirements or presentations. The experiences and requirements of voluntary and involuntary migrants may differ. Mental health Services may need to ensure that they are accessible and appropriate to all members of society including those who have migrated. This paper makes some suggestions in relation to this
Updating Outdated Predictive Accident Models
Reliable predictive accident models (PAMs) (also referred to as safety performance functions (SPFs)) are essential to design and maintain safe road networks however, ongoing changes in road and vehicle design coupled with road safety initiatives, mean that these models can quickly become dated. Unfortunately, because the fitting of sophisticated PAMs including a wide range of explanatory variables is not a trivial task, available models tend to be based on data collected many years ago and seem unlikely to give reliable estimates of current accidents. Large, expensive studies to produce new models are likely to be, at best, only a temporary solution. This paper thus seeks to develop a practical and efficient methodology to allow currently available PAMs to be updated to give unbiased estimates of accident frequencies at any point in time. Two principal issues are examined: the extent to which the temporal transferability of predictive accident models varies with model complexity; and the practicality and efficiency of two alternative updating strategies. The models used to illustrate these issues are the suites of models developed for rural dual and single carriageway roads in the UK. These are widely used in several software packages in spite of being based on data collected during the 1980s and early 1990s. It was found that increased model complexity by no means ensures better temporal transferability and that calibration of the models using a scale factor can be a practical alternative to fitting new models
Electrical activation and electron spin coherence of ultra low dose antimony implants in silicon
We implanted ultra low doses (2x10^11 cm-2) of 121Sb ions into isotopically
enriched 28Si and find high degrees of electrical activation and low levels of
dopant diffusion after rapid thermal annealing. Pulsed Electron Spin Resonance
shows that spin echo decay is sensitive to the dopant depths, and the interface
quality. At 5.2 K, a spin decoherence time, T2, of 0.3 ms is found for profiles
peaking 50 nm below a Si/SiO2 interface, increasing to 0.75 ms when the surface
is passivated with hydrogen. These measurements provide benchmark data for the
development of devices in which quantum information is encoded in donor
electron spins
Drift compensation of gas sensor array data by Orthogonal Signal Correction
Drift is an important issue that impairs the reliability of gas sensing systems. Sensor aging, memory effects and environmental disturbances produce shifts in sensor responses that make initial statistical models for gas or odor recognition useless after a relatively short period (typically few weeks). Frequent recalibrations are needed to preserve system accuracy. However, when recalibrations involve numerous samples they become expensive and laborious. An interesting and lower cost alternative is drift counteraction by signal processing techniques. Orthogonal Signal Correction (OSC) is proposed for drift compensation in chemical sensor arrays. The performance of OSC is also compared with Component Correction (CC). A simple classification algorithm has been employed for assessing the performance of the algorithms on a dataset composed by measurements of three analytes using an array of seventeen conductive polymer gas sensors over a ten month period
Geopolitical determinants of mental health and global health inequities
Geopolitical determinants of health have been well recognized by the World Health Organization and are increasingly being discussed across governments, institutions, academics, policy makers, and across global health sector. Geopolitical determinants of health are events, structures, processes, and factors that influence individual health including mental health, public and population mental health both directly and indirectly. Consequently, nation’s responses to these factors will affect short-term and long-term health outcomes. Geopolitical factors are becoming increasingly more important as they influence directly and indirectly social determinants of health. These factors clearly impact both physical and mental health leading to health inequities and inequalities. It is important to factor in geopolitical determinants in resource allocation and funding as well as policy making as has been highlighted by the recent pandemic and variable access to vaccines. Geopolitical determinants would be integral when addressing all global health inequities. These play a major role in resource allocation, policy and planning to meet today’s global health challenges
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