3,092 research outputs found
International workshop AWA-PREFACE : "Socio economic impact of climate change in West Africa : insight from modeling and questionnaires" [résumés]
International audienc
Consideration of Abiotic Natural Resources in Life Cycle Assessments
The book contains a collection of articles dealing with how the extraction of mineral resources can be considered in environmental analyses such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The consumption of resources, e.g., metals, is increasing strongly worldwide. This is associated with more energy use; environmental pollution; and social, economic, and political consequences. An increase is also expected for the coming decades. At the same time, modern products and technologies, even in the field of renewable energies, require a large number of critical raw materials. A crucial question here is the exhaustibility of natural resources. What is the relevance of resource depletion today? Must a geological shortage of metals be expected in the foreseeable future? How could such a thing be considered in the LCA of products and weighed against other environmental aspects? The articles in question have been written over the past three years by leading experts in both geology and environmental sciences and show the breadth of the controversial discussion
Overview of the Tevatron Collider Complex: Goals, Operations and Performance
For more than two decades the Tevatron proton-antiproton collider was the
centerpiece of the world's high energy physics program. The collider was
arguably one of the most complex research instruments ever to reach the
operation stage and is widely recognized for numerous physics discoveries and
for many technological breakthroughs. In this article we outline the historical
background that led to the construction of the Tevatron Collider, the strategy
applied to evolution of performance goals over the Tevatron's operational
history, and briefly describe operations of each accelerator in the chain and
achieved performance.Comment: Includes modifications suggested by reviewer
Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Based Assessment of Breast Cancer-Related Lymphoedema Tissue Composition.
OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to propose a magnetic resonance imaging acquisition and analysis protocol that uses image segmentation to measure and depict fluid, fat, and muscle volumes in breast cancer-related lymphoedema (BCRL). This study also aims to compare affected and control (unaffected) arms of patients with diagnosed BCRL, providing an analysis of both the volume and the distribution of the different tissue components. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The entire arm was imaged with a fluid-sensitive STIR and a 2-point 3-dimensional T1W gradient-echo-based Dixon sequences, acquired in sagittal orientation and covering the same imaging volume. An automated image postprocessing procedure was developed to simultaneously (1) contour the external volume of the arm and the muscle fascia, allowing separation of the epifacial and subfascial volumes; and to (2) separate the voxels belonging to the muscle, fat, and fluid components. The total, subfascial, epifascial, muscle (subfascial), fluid (epifascial), and fat (epifascial) volumes were measured in 13 patients with unilateral BCRL. Affected versus unaffected volumes were compared using a 2-tailed paired t test; a value of P < 0.05 was considered to be significant. Pearson correlation was used to investigate the linear relationship between fat and fluid excess volumes. The distribution of fluid, fat, and epifascial excess volumes (affected minus unaffected) along the arm was also evaluated using dedicated tissue composition maps. RESULTS: Total arm, epifascial, epifascial fluid, and epifascial fat volumes were significantly different (P < 0.0005), with greater volume in the affected arms. The increase in epifascial volume (globally, 94% of the excess volume) constituted the bulk of the lymphoedematous swelling, with fat comprising the main component. The total fat excess volume summed over all patients was 2.1 times that of fluid. Furthermore, fat and fluid excess volumes were linearly correlated (Pearson r = 0.75), with the fat excess volume being greater than the fluid in 11 subjects. Differences in muscle compartment volume between affected and unaffected arms were not statistically significant, and contributed only 6% to the total excess volume. Considering the distribution of the different tissue excess volumes, fluid accumulated prevalently around the elbow, with substantial involvement of the upper arm in only 3 cases. Fat excess volume was generally greater in the upper arm; however, the relative increase in epifascial volume, which considers the total swelling relative to the original size of the arm, was in 9 cases maximal within the forearm. CONCLUSIONS: Our measurements indicate that excess of fat within the epifascial layer was the main contributor to the swelling, even when a substantial accumulation of fluid was present. The proposed approach could be used to monitor how the internal components of BCRL evolve after presentation, to stratify patients for treatment, and to objectively assess treatment response. This methodology provides quantitative metrics not currently available during the standard clinical assessment of BCRL and shows potential for implementation in clinical practice
Exile Vol. X No. 2
FICTION
The Fragile Colour of Eyes by Susan Brady 6-17
The Trickster by Ed Brunner 19-26
On Passing by Sharon Haddock 32-42
POETRY
Fishing with Light Tackle by Robert Hoyt 18
Poem by Sharon Haddock 27
On Insects by Robert Hoyt 28
A Chopper of Trees by Jerry Bryce 29
Nefertiti by Peggy Schmidt 31
The Gambler and the Corinthian by Robert Chester 42
Shades of Spring by Jane Cogie 43
GRAPHICS
Monocut by Carol Kubie 5
Monocut by Parker Waite 18
Monocut by Doris Farrington 27
Watercolor by Kathy Koenig 31
Pen and Ink by Karen Gernenz 43
Awarded the semi-annual EXILE-Denison Bookstore Writing Prize: The Fragile Colour of Eyes by Susan Brady 6-17
Page numbers in the published table of contents are off by one. Page numbers given indicate where the works actually appear in the issue
Recommended from our members
Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) Components and Enterprise Component Information System (eCIS)
The purpose of the project was to develop the processes for using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) parts for WR production and to put in place a system for implementing the data management tools required to disseminate, store, track procurement, and qualify vendors. Much of the effort was devoted to determining if the use of COTS parts was possible. A basic question: How does the Nuclear Weapons Complex (NWC) begin to use COTS in the weapon Stockpile Life Extension Programs with high reliability, affordability, while managing risk at acceptable levels? In FY00, it was determined that a certain weapon refurbishment program could not be accomplished without the use of COTS components. The elements driving the use of COTS components included decreased cost, greater availability, and shorter delivery time. Key factors that required implementation included identifying the best suppliers and components, defining life cycles and predictions of obsolescence, testing the feasibility of using COTS components with a test contractor to ensure capability, as well as quality and reliability, and implementing the data management tools required to disseminate, store, track procurement, and qualify vendors. The primary effort of this project then was to concentrate on the risks involved in the use of COTS and address the issues of part and vendor selection, procurement and acceptance processes, and qualification of the parts via part and sample testing. The Enterprise Component Information System (eCIS) was used to manage the information generated by the COTS process. eCIS is a common interface for both the design and production of NWC components and systems integrating information between SNL National Laboratory (SNL) and the Kansas City Plant (KCP). The implementation of COTS components utilizes eCIS from part selection through qualification release. All part related data is linked across an unclassified network for access by both SNL and KCP personnel. The system includes not only NWC part information but also includes technical reference data for over 25 Million electronic and electromechanical commercial and military parts via a data subscription. With the capabilities added to the system through this project, eCIS provides decision support, parts list/BOM analysis, editing, tracking, workflows, reporting, and history/legacy information integrating manufacturer reference, company technical, company business, and design data
Exile Vol. XI No. 1
FICTION
By the Fire of the Chief by Peggy Schmidt 9-17
From the Diary of a Vanishing Man by Ed Brunner 19-29
Dialogue by Ken Booth 35-37
POETRY
Johnny Joe by Bill West 6-7
Caterpillar by Barb Bergantz 17
Poem by Bonnie McCarthy 29
The Queen by Hugh Wilder 31
The Clown by Barb Bergantz 32
Poem by Gretchen Schenck 33
Treatise on Cosmology by P. M. Grout 37
Stimulus by Susan Sherwood 37
Depot by Susan Sherwood 39
GRAPHICS
Pen and Ink by Dave Goodwin 7
Pen and Ink by Ramona Gibbs 8
Pen and Ink by Tod Riddell 18
Charcoal by Dave Goodwin 30
Woodcut by Parker Waite III 34
Woodcut by Lela Giles 3
Towards deterministic optical quantum computation with coherently driven atomic ensembles
Scalable and efficient quantum computation with photonic qubits requires (i)
deterministic sources of single-photons, (ii) giant nonlinearities capable of
entangling pairs of photons, and (iii) reliable single-photon detectors. In
addition, an optical quantum computer would need a robust reversible photon
storage devise. Here we discuss several related techniques, based on the
coherent manipulation of atomic ensembles in the regime of electromagnetically
induced transparency, that are capable of implementing all of the above
prerequisites for deterministic optical quantum computation with single
photons.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure
The Age of the Galactic Disk
I review different methods devised to derive the age of the Galactic Disk,
namely the Radio-active Decay (RD), the Cool White Dwarf Luminosity Function
(CWDLF), old opne clusters (OOC) and the Color Magnitude Diagram (CMD) of the
stars in the solar vicinity. I argue that the disk is likely to be 8-10 Gyr
old. Since the bulk of globulars has an age around 13 Gyr, the possibility
emerges that the Galaxy experienced a minimum of Star Formation at the end of
the halo/bulge formation. This minimum might reflect the time at which the
Galaxy started to acquire material to form the disk inside-out.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure, invited review, in "The chemical evolution of the
Milky Way : Stars vs Clusters, Vulcano (Italy), 20-24 September 199
The possible detection of a binary companion to a Type Ibn supernova progenitor
We present late-time observations of the site of the Type Ibn supernova (SN) 2006jc, acquired with the Hubble
Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys. A faint blue source is recovered at the SN position, with
brightness mF W 435 = 26.76 0.20, mF W 555 = 26.60 0.23 and mF W 625 = 26.32 0.19 mag, although there is
no detection in a contemporaneous narrow-band Ha image. The spectral energy distribution of the late-time source
is well-fit by a stellar-like spectrum (log 3.7 Teff > and log L L > 4), subject to only a small degree of reddening
âconsistent with that estimated for SN 2006jc itself at early-times. The lack of further outbursts after the
explosion of SN 2006jc suggests that the precursor outburst originated from the progenitor. The possibility of the
source being a compact host cluster is ruled out on the basis of the sourceâs faintness; however, the possibility that
the late-time source may be an unresolved light echo originating in a shell or sphere of pre-SN dust (within a radius
1 pc) is also discussed. Irrespective of the nature of the late-time source, these observations rule out a luminous
blue variable as a companion to the progenitor of SN 2006jc
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