14,738 research outputs found
Nonelastic nuclear reactions and accompanying gamma radiation
Several aspects of nonelastic nuclear reactions which proceed through the formation of a compound nucleus are dealt with. The full statistical model and the partial statistical model are described and computer programs based on these models are presented along with operating instructions and input and output for sample problems. A theoretical development of the expression for the reaction cross section for the hybrid case which involves a combination of the continuum aspects of the full statistical model with the discrete level aspects of the partial statistical model is presented. Cross sections for level excitation and gamma production by neutron inelastic scattering from the nuclei Al-27, Fe-56, Si-28, and Pb-208 are calculated and compared with avaliable experimental data
Circumstellar grain extinction properties of recently discovered post AGB stars
The circumstellar grains of two hot evolved post asymptotic giant branch (post AGB) stars, HD 89353 and HD 213985 were examined. From ultraviolet spectra, energy balance of the flux, and Kurucz models, the extinction around 2175 A was derived. With visual spectra, an attempt was made to detect 6614 A diffuse band absorption arising from the circumstellar grains so that we could examine the relationship of these features to the infrared features. For both stars, we did not detect any diffuse band absorption at 6614 A, implying the carrier of this diffuse band is not the carrier of the unidentified infrared features not of the 2175 A bump. The linear ultraviolet extinction of the carbon-rich star HD 89353 was determined to continue across the 2175 A region with no sign of the bump; for HD 213985 it was found to be the reverse: a strong, wide bump in the mid-ultraviolet. The 213985 bump was found to be positioned at 2340 A, longward of its usual position in the interstellar medium. Since HD 213985 was determined to have excess carbon, the bump probably arises from a carbonaceous grain. Thus, in view of the ultraviolet and infrared properties of the two post AGB stars, ubiquitous interstellar infrared emission features do not seem to be associated with the 2175 A bump. Instead, the infrared features seem related to the linear ultraviolet extinction component: hydrocarbon grains of radius less than 300 A are present with the linear HD 89353 extinction; amorphous anhydrous carbonaceous grains of radius less than 50 A might cause the shifted ultraviolet extinction bump of HD 213985
Use of rapid diagnostic tests in malaria school surveys in Kenya: does their under-performance matter for planning malaria control?
Malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) are known to yield false-positive results, and their use in epidemiologic surveys will overestimate infection prevalence and potentially hinder efficient targeting of interventions. To examine the consequences of using RDTs in school surveys, we compared three RDT brands used during a nationwide school survey in Kenya with expert microscopy and investigated the cost implications of using alternative diagnostic approaches in identifying localities with differing levels of infection. Overall, RDT sensitivity was 96.1% and specificity was 70.8%. In terms of classifying districts and schools according to prevalence categories, RDTs were most reliable for the 40% categories and least reliable in the 1-4.9% category. In low-prevalence settings, microscopy was the most expensive approach, and RDT results corrected by either microscopy or polymerase chain reaction were the cheapest. Use of polymerase chain reaction-corrected RDT results is recommended in school malaria surveys, especially in settings with low-to-moderate malaria transmission
Adaptive latitudinal variation in Common Blackbird Turdus merula nest characteristics
Nest construction is taxonomically widespread, yet our understanding of adaptive
intraspecific variation in nest design remains poor. Nest characteristics are
expected to vary adaptively in response to predictable variation in spring temperatures
over large spatial scales, yet such variation in nest design remains largely
overlooked, particularly amongst open-cup-nesting birds. Here, we systematically
examined the effects of latitudinal variation in spring temperatures and precipitation
on the morphology, volume, composition, and insulatory properties of
open-cup-nesting Common Blackbirds’ Turdus merula nests to test the hypothesis
that birds living in cooler environments at more northerly latitudes would build
better insulated nests than conspecifics living in warmer environments at more
southerly latitudes. As spring temperatures increased with decreasing latitude, the
external diameter of nests decreased. However, as nest wall thickness also
decreased, there was no variation in the diameter of the internal nest cups. Only
the mass of dry grasses within nests decreased with warmer temperatures at lower
latitudes. The insulatory properties of nests declined with warmer temperatures at
lower latitudes and nests containing greater amounts of dry grasses had higher insulatory
properties. The insulatory properties of nests decreased with warmer temperatures
at lower latitudes, via changes in morphology (wall thickness) and
composition (dry grasses). Meanwhile, spring precipitation did not vary with latitude,
and none of the nest characteristics varied with spring precipitation. This suggests
that Common Blackbirds nesting at higher latitudes were building nests with
thicker walls in order to counteract the cooler temperatures. We have provided evidence
that the nest construction behavior of open-cup-nesting birds systematically
varies in response to large-scale spatial variation in spring temperatures
A Current Mode Detector Array for Gamma-Ray Asymmetry Measurements
We have built a CsI(Tl) gamma-ray detector array for the NPDGamma experiment
to search for a small parity-violating directional asymmetry in the angular
distribution of 2.2 MeV gamma-rays from the capture of polarized cold neutrons
by protons with a sensitivity of several ppb. The weak pion-nucleon coupling
constant can be determined from this asymmetry. The small size of the asymmetry
requires a high cold neutron flux, control of systematic errors at the ppb
level, and the use of current mode gamma-ray detection with vacuum photo diodes
and low-noise solid-state preamplifiers. The average detector photoelectron
yield was determined to be 1300 photoelectrons per MeV. The RMS width seen in
the measurement is therefore dominated by the fluctuations in the number of
gamma rays absorbed in the detector (counting statistics) rather than the
intrinsic detector noise. The detectors were tested for noise performance,
sensitivity to magnetic fields, pedestal stability and cosmic background. False
asymmetries due to gain changes and electronic pickup in the detector system
were measured to be consistent with zero to an accuracy of in a few
hours. We report on the design, operating criteria, and the results of
measurements performed to test the detector array.Comment: 33 pages, 20 figures, 2 table
Performance of an Operating High Energy Physics Data Grid: D0SAR-Grid
The D0 experiment at Fermilab's Tevatron will record several petabytes of
data over the next five years in pursuing the goals of understanding nature and
searching for the origin of mass. Computing resources required to analyze these
data far exceed capabilities of any one institution. Moreover, the widely
scattered geographical distribution of D0 collaborators poses further serious
difficulties for optimal use of human and computing resources. These
difficulties will exacerbate in future high energy physics experiments, like
the LHC. The computing grid has long been recognized as a solution to these
problems. This technology is being made a more immediate reality to end users
in D0 by developing a grid in the D0 Southern Analysis Region (D0SAR),
D0SAR-Grid, using all available resources within it and a home-grown local task
manager, McFarm. We will present the architecture in which the D0SAR-Grid is
implemented, the use of technology and the functionality of the grid, and the
experience from operating the grid in simulation, reprocessing and data
analyses for a currently running HEP experiment.Comment: 3 pages, no figures, conference proceedings of DPF04 tal
Unusually Weak Diffuse Interstellar Bands toward HD 62542
As part of an extensive survey of diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs), we have
obtained optical spectra of the moderately reddened B5V star HD 62542, which is
known to have an unusual UV extinction curve of the type usually identified
with dark clouds. The typically strongest of the commonly catalogued DIBs
covered by the spectra -- those at 5780, 5797, 6270, 6284, and 6614 A -- are
essentially absent in this line of sight, in marked contrast with other lines
of sight of similar reddening. We compare the HD 62542 line of sight with
others exhibiting a range of extinction properties and molecular abundances and
interpret the weakness of the DIBs as an extreme case of deficient DIB
formation in a dense cloud whose more diffuse outer layers have been stripped
away. We comment on the challenges these observations pose for identifying the
carriers of the diffuse bands.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures; aastex; accepted by Ap
Pressure-Tuned Collapse of the Mott-Like State in Ca_{n+1}Ru_nO_{3n+1} (n=1,2): Raman Spectroscopic Studies
We report a Raman scattering study of the pressure-induced collapse of the
Mott-like phases of Ca_3Ru_2O_7 (T_N=56 K) and Ca_2RuO_4 (T_N=110 K). The
pressure-dependence of the phonon and two-magnon excitations in these materials
indicate: (i) a pressure-induced collapse of the antiferromagnetic (AF)
insulating phase above P* ~ 55 kbar in Ca_3Ru_2O_7 and P* ~ 5-10 kbar in
Ca_2RuO_4, reflecting the importance of Ru-O octahedral distortions in
stabilizing the AF insulating phase; and (ii) evidence for persistent AF
correlations above the critical pressure of Ca_2RuO_4, suggestive of phase
separation involving AF insulator and ferromagnetic metal phases.Comment: 3 figure
Precision neutron interferometric measurement of the nd coherent neutron scattering length and consequences for models of three-nucleon forces
We have performed the first high precision measurement of the coherent
neutron scattering length of deuterium in a pure sample using neutron
interferometry. We find b_nd = (6.665 +/- 0.004) fm in agreement with the world
average of previous measurements using different techniques, b_nd = (6.6730 +/-
0.0045) fm. We compare the new world average for the nd coherent scattering
length b_nd = (6.669 +/- 0.003) fm to calculations of the doublet and quartet
scattering lengths from several modern nucleon-nucleon potential models with
three-nucleon force (3NF) additions and show that almost all theories are in
serious disagreement with experiment. This comparison is a more stringent test
of the models than past comparisons with the less precisely-determined nuclear
doublet scattering length of a_nd = (0.65 +/- 0.04) fm.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Elective Modernism and the Politics of (Bio) Ethical Expertise
In this essay I consider whether the political perspective of third wave science studies – ‘elective modernism’ – offers a suitable framework for understanding the policy-making contributions that (bio)ethical experts might make. The question arises as a consequence of the fact that I have taken inspiration from the third wave in order to develop an account of (bio)ethical expertise. I offer a précis of this work and a brief summary of elective modernism before considering their relation. The view I set out suggests that elective modernism is a political philosophy and that although its use in relation to the use of scientific expertise in political and policy-making process has implications for the role of (bio)ethical expertise it does not, in the final analysis, provide an account that is appropriate for this latter form of specialist expertise. Nevertheless, it is an informative perspective, and one that can help us make sense of the political uses of (bio)ethical expertise
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