Pressure-dependent electron attachment and breakdown strengths of unitary gases, and synergism of binary gas mixtures: a relationship

The relationship between the pressure-dependent electron attachment rate constants (k/sub a/) which have been observed in 1-C/sub 3/F/sub 6/ and in several perfluoroalkanes, and the uniform field breakdown strengths (E/N)/sub lim/ in these gases is discussed. Measurements of the pressure dependence of k/sub a/ of OCS in a buffer gas of Ar are presented and the possible pressure dependence of (E/N)/sub lim/ in OCS is discussed. Uniform field breakdown measurements have been performed in C/sub 3/F/sub 8/, n-C/sub 4/F/sub 10/, and SO/sub 2/ over a range of gas pressures (3 less than or equal to P/sub T/ less than or equal to 290 kPa) and are reported. All three molecules have been found to possess pressure-dependent (E/N)/sub lim/ values. The various types of synergistic behavior which have been observed in binary gas dielectric mixtures are summarized and discussed. A new mechanism is outlined which can explain the synergism observed in several gas mixtures where the (E/N)/sub lim/ values of the mixutres are greater than those of the individual gas constituents. Model calculations are presented which support this mechanism, and can be used to explain the pressure-dependent synergistic effects which have been reported in 1-C/sub 3/F/sub 6//SF/sub 6/ gas mixture

Gamma-ray Tracking with Segmented HPGe Detectors

This paper gives a brief overview of the technical progress that can be achieved with the newly available segmented HPGe detectors. Gamma-ray tracking detectors are a new generation of HPGe detectors which are currently being developed to improve significantly the efficiency and resolving power of the 4 … germanium detectors arrays for high-precision ∞-ray spectroscopy. They consist of highly segmented HPGe detectors associated with fast digital front-end electronics. Through the pulse-shape analysis of the signals it is possible to extract the energy, timing and spatial information on the few interactions a ∞-ray undergoes in the HPGe detector. The tracks of the ∞-rays in the HPGe detector can then be reconstructed in three dimensions based on the Compton scattering formula. Such a detector has been used for the first time during an in-beam experiment. The ∞-decay of the Coulomb excitation of a 56 Fe nucleus was measured with the highly segmented MARS prototype positioned at 135 degree. The energy resolution has been improved by a factor of 3 as compared to standard HPGe detectors due to very precise Doppler correction based on knowledge of the ∞-ray track. I Introduction The future facilities for radioactive beams will allow, for the first time, the exploration of a new large area of the nuclear landscape. In connection with the study of the ∞-radiation, it is important to point out that the intensity of such radioactive beams is expected to be much smaller than that of stable beams, Doppler Effects in many experiments are expected to be much stronger and an intense background of X-rays could be present. Consequently, a new generation of powerful HPGe arrays with segmented detectors is being designed. Both in USA and in Europe several projects, based on segmented HPGe detectors, have already started and are in an advanced status of realization. The objective of the more recent R&D efforts is to improve the total efficiency by removing the BGO shields without affecting the P/T ratio with the use of the tracking technique, namely the reconstruction of the ∞-ray path to identify the ∞-incident direction (for the Doppler correction), the removal of the background and to check whether or not the ∞ was fully absorbed in the array. Such development implies unprecedented R&D efforts where completely new technology has to be applied, tested or developed in all the constituents of an HPGe array, from the detector to the front-end electronics. The typical feature of the energy deposition of a ∞-ray is that of interacting in a limited number of positions. ∞-tracking of this hits is a very challenging and ambitious task. First, one has to identify, isolate and localize each hit inside a segmented detector with pulse shape analysis based on the study of the physical mechanism of the pulse generation or with Artificial Intelligence techniques (like Neural Networks or Genetic Algorithm [1]) of the direct and induced electrical pulses produced by every interacting ∞-rays. Second, a tracking algorithm has to reconstruct the real trajectory from the list of interaction points through statistical techniques. The result is expected to be the complete reconstruction of the track of the incident ∞, namely the complete description of the interacting ∞-ray. Worldwide efforts have been done using simulations and proof-of-principle measurements and turned out to be successful. The feasibility of the entire process of ∞ray tracking is demonstrated in this paper based on an experiment, done at the LNL in Italy, using the MARS prototype detector

HAMSTER: visualizing microarray experiments as a set of minimum spanning trees

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Visualization tools allow researchers to obtain a global view of the interrelationships between the probes or experiments of a gene expression (<it>e.g. microarray</it>) data set. Some existing methods include hierarchical clustering and k-means. In recent years, others have proposed applying minimum spanning trees (MST) for microarray clustering. Although MST-based clustering is formally equivalent to the dendrograms produced by hierarchical clustering under certain conditions; visually they can be quite different.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>HAMSTER (Helpful Abstraction using Minimum Spanning Trees for Expression Relations) is an open source system for generating a <b>set </b>of MSTs from the experiments of a microarray data set. While previous works have generated a single MST from a data set for data clustering, we recursively merge experiments and repeat this process to obtain a set of MSTs for data visualization. Depending on the parameters chosen, each tree is analogous to a snapshot of one step of the hierarchical clustering process. We scored and ranked these trees using one of three proposed schemes. HAMSTER is implemented in C++ and makes use of Graphviz for laying out each MST.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We report on the running time of HAMSTER and demonstrate using data sets from the NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) that the images created by HAMSTER offer insights that differ from the dendrograms of hierarchical clustering. In addition to the C++ program which is available as open source, we also provided a web-based version (HAMSTER⁺) which allows users to apply our system through a web browser without any computer programming knowledge.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Researchers may find it helpful to include HAMSTER in their microarray analysis workflow as it can offer insights that differ from hierarchical clustering. We believe that HAMSTER would be useful for certain types of gradient data sets (e.g time-series data) and data that indicate relationships between cells/tissues. Both the source and the web server variant of HAMSTER are available from <url>http://hamster.cbrc.jp/</url>.</p

Probing the nature of particle–core couplings in 49Ca with γ spectroscopy and heavy-ion transfer reactions

This work was supported by the Italian Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare and partially by the Spanish MICINN (ACI2009-1070 bilateral action) and Generalitat Valenciana (Grant Nos. BEST/2009/073 and PROMETEO/2010/101). The work has also been partially supported by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education (Grant No. N N202 309135)

Taxation and market power

"We analyze the incidence and welfare effects of unit sales taxes in experimental monopoly and Bertrand markets. We find, in line with economic theory, that firms with no market power are able to shift a high share of a tax burden on to consumers, independent of whether buyers are automated or human players. In monopoly markets, a monopolist bears a large share of the burden of a tax increase. With human buyers, however, this share is smaller than with automated buyers as the presence of human buyers constrains the pricing behavior of a monopolist." (author's abstract)"Dieser Artikel untersucht Inzidenz- und Wohlfahrtseffekte einer Mengensteuer in experimentellen Monopol- und Bertrand-Märkten. Im Einklang mit der ökonomischen Theorie sind Firmen ohne Marktmacht in der Lage, einen großen Anteil der Last einer Steuererhöhung an die Konsumenten weiterzugeben. Dies gilt unabhängig davon, ob die Käufer simuliert sind oder die Kaufentscheidungen durch reale Käufer getroffen werden. In Monopolmärkten trägt der Monopolist einen großen Anteil der Last einer Steuererhöhung. Werden die Kaufentscheidungen durch reale Käufer getroffen, ist dieser Anteil jedoch kleiner als mit simulierten Käufern, da reale Käufer im Experiment das Preissetzungsverhalten des Monopolisten einschränken." (Autorenreferat

Strategies and performance of the CMS silicon tracker alignment during LHC Run 2

The strategies for and the performance of the CMS silicon tracking system alignment during the 2015–2018 data-taking period of the LHC are described. The alignment procedures during and after data taking are explained. Alignment scenarios are also derived for use in the simulation of the detector response. Systematic effects, related to intrinsic symmetries of the alignment task or to external constraints, are discussed and illustrated for different scenarios

High Diversity, Low Disparity and Small Body Size in Plesiosaurs (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) from the Triassic–Jurassic Boundary

Invasion of the open ocean by tetrapods represents a major evolutionary transition that occurred independently in cetaceans, mosasauroids, chelonioids (sea turtles), ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs. Plesiosaurian reptiles invaded pelagic ocean environments immediately following the Late Triassic extinctions. This diversification is recorded by three intensively-sampled European fossil faunas, spanning 20 million years (Ma). These provide an unparalleled opportunity to document changes in key macroevolutionary parameters associated with secondary adaptation to pelagic life in tetrapods. A comprehensive assessment focuses on the oldest fauna, from the Blue Lias Formation of Street, and nearby localities, in Somerset, UK (Earliest Jurassic: 200 Ma), identifying three new species representing two small-bodied rhomaleosaurids (Stratesaurus taylori gen et sp. nov.; Avalonnectes arturi gen. et sp. nov) and the most basal plesiosauroid, Eoplesiosaurus antiquior gen. et sp. nov. The initial radiation of plesiosaurs was characterised by high, but short-lived, diversity of an archaic clade, Rhomaleosauridae. Representatives of this initial radiation were replaced by derived, neoplesiosaurian plesiosaurs at small-medium body sizes during a more gradual accumulation of morphological disparity. This gradualistic modality suggests that adaptive radiations within tetrapod subclades are not always characterised by the initially high levels of disparity observed in the Paleozoic origins of major metazoan body plans, or in the origin of tetrapods. High rhomaleosaurid diversity immediately following the Triassic-Jurassic boundary supports the gradual model of Late Triassic extinctions, mostly predating the boundary itself. Increase in both maximum and minimum body length early in plesiosaurian history suggests a driven evolutionary trend. However, Maximum-likelihood models suggest only passive expansion into higher body size categories

Dynamic Spatial Coding within the Dorsal Frontoparietal Network during a Visual Search Task

To what extent are the left and right visual hemifields spatially coded in the dorsal frontoparietal attention network? In many experiments with neglect patients, the left hemisphere shows a contralateral hemifield preference, whereas the right hemisphere represents both hemifields. This pattern of spatial coding is often used to explain the right-hemispheric dominance of lesions causing hemispatial neglect. However, pathophysiological mechanisms of hemispatial neglect are controversial because recent experiments on healthy subjects produced conflicting results regarding the spatial coding of visual hemifields. We used an fMRI paradigm that allowed us to distinguish two attentional subprocesses during a visual search task. Either within the left or right hemifield subjects first attended to stationary locations (spatial orienting) and then shifted their attentional focus to search for a target line. Dynamic changes in spatial coding of the left and right hemifields were observed within subregions of the dorsal front-parietal network: During stationary spatial orienting, we found the well-known spatial pattern described above, with a bilateral hemifield representation in the right hemisphere and a contralateral preference in the left hemisphere. However, during search, the right hemisphere had a contralateral preference and the left hemisphere equally represented both hemifields. This finding leads to novel perspectives regarding models of visuospatial attention and hemispatial neglect

Study of Isomeric States in ^{198,200,202,206}Pb and ²⁰⁶Hg Populated in Fragmentation Reactions

Isomeric states in isotopes in the vicinity of doubly-magic 208Pb were populated following reactions of a relativistic 208Pb primary beam impinging on a 9Be fragmentation target. Secondary beams of 198;200;202;206Pb and 206Hg were isotopically separated and implanted in a passive stopper positioned in the focal plane of the GSI Fragment Separator. Delayed γ rays were detected with the Advanced GAmma Tracking Array (AGATA). Decay schemes were re-evaluated and interpreted with shell-model calculations. The momentum-dependent population of isomeric states in the two-nucleon hole nuclei 206Pb/206Hg was found to differ from the population of multi neutron-hole isomeric states in 198;200;202Pb