Uniformity Studies of Scintillator Tiles directly coupled to SiPMs for Imaging Calorimetry

We present a novel geometry of scintillator tiles developed for fiberless coupling to silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) for applications in highly granular calorimeters. A high degree of uniformity of the tile response over the full active area was achieved by a drilled slit at the coupling position of the photon sensor with 2 mm, 4 mm and 5.5 mm in height, width and depth. Detailed measurements of the response to penetrating electrons were performed for tiles with a lateral size of 3 x 3 cm^2 and thicknesses of 5 mm and 3 mm.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures, accepted by NIM

The role of Cdc48 adapter proteins Npl4 & Ufd1 in chloroplast associated protein degradation

The vast bulk of the chloroplast proteome is imported post-translationally through protein translocation complexes called TOCs (translocon at the outer envelope of chloroplasts). The regulation of such an import system offers a key mechanism to impact chloroplast metabolism and plastid development, both through the modulation of the proteome. In response to biotic, abiotic, and developmental cues, the TOC proteins are targeted by the ubiquitin-proteasome system for degradation. Membrane-embedded TOC proteins must first be extracted from the outer membrane before degradation by the cytosolic UPS. This is accomplished by retrotranslocation through a protein channel, with the motive force provided by an ATPase called CDC48 — this pathway has been termed CHLORAD (chloroplast associated protein degradation). CDC48 functions in a variety of cellular processes at different subcellular locations. The localisation and activity of CDC48 is determined by a wide range of adapter proteins. In UPS processes, CDC48 is typically recruited by a heterodimer of NPL4 and UFD1. There are two NPL4, and four UFD1 isoforms in the model higher plant Arabidopsis thaliana. To examine their potential role in CHLORAD, I performed bioinformatic analysis on protein sequences and predicted structures; interaction and localisation experiments, using microscopy and immunoprecipitation; and finally conducted a mutant analysis of knockout and overexpressing lines, looking at developmental and stress responses. Three UFD1 and two NPL4 proteins can participate within the CHLORAD system by recruitment of CDC48. While the proteins are nucleocytosolic, interactions with TOC proteins were sustained at the chloroplast outer envelope membrane. There appears to be a degree of functional redundancy between sets of the isoforms; this is supported by phylogenetic reconstruction showing isolated clades in the Arabidopsis family. Few phenotypes were observed in the analysis of single mutants. One significant one on TOC protein abundance may be the product of a dominant negative mutation generated through a translational fusion with an epitope tag. The functional significance of NPL4 and UFD1 in CHLORAD requires much additional consideration in the future, with particular emphasis on the analysis of additional genetic lines. Phenotypes may be masked by functional redundancy between NPL4 and UFD1 isoforms, so the investigation of appropriate multiple mutants would be highly informative. Additionally, analysis of crosses to plastid protein import mutants would determine if there are suppressive genetic interactions, which would support a function in CHLORAD. Additional focus should be placed on the generation of domain deletion mutants to validate bioinformatic predictions of function — Ufd1C should be the prime candidate in this regard, to assess how interactions are sustained with a remarkably unique predicted structure. Finally, consideration should also be given to the potential role in biotic stress tolerance, as both CHLORAD and CDC48-NPL4-UFD1 have independently understood contributions to the immune system

Manuscript stability and literary corruption: Our failure to understand the Beowulf manuscript

The Nowell codex, bound into BL MS Cotton Vitellius A.xv, now contains five Old English texts: The Passion of St Christopher, The Wonders of the East, The Letter of Alexander to Aristotle, Beowulf, and Judith. Damaged by fire in 1731, and distorted by subsequent treatment, many readings in all of the texts are corrupted or lost; significant efforts have been made to restore readings by, for instance, the use of UV photography by Kevin Kiernan and Joseph McGowan. Despite the work of Kiernan in particular, relatively little attention has been paid to the manuscript's presentation its texts, and still less to how the scribes expected their work to be read. Recently, the texts have been published together for the first time since the eleventh century by Robert Fulk in the Dumbarton Oaks series, and the British Library's Digitised Manuscripts project has made extremely detailed examination of the manuscript possible. Based on the use of this facsimile, this paper will suggest that the most profound corruption is in the loss in understanding of the subtleties of manuscript presentation. I will share some of the previously unrecorded scribal indications of how the texts in the manuscript could be read that can be seen when using extreme close-up images. These include a possibly runic sign; crosses and letter-shaped signs in text and margin; and a complex heirarchy of capitals which varies across the texts. Some of these evidences of scribal practice provide clear evidence of expected reading processes others are not so easily decoded and point instead to the corruption in readers' understanding despite the preservation - indeed, the digital clarification - of the literary object

Solving design problems to add value

Value management is well established in construction to structure early project briefing and to agree satisficing project values and objectives among project stakeholders. Current practice concentrates on the consideration of value during project definition. This paper proposes Integral Value Engineering as a design management practice that considers value in design throughout project resolution and delivery. An expansion of value management principles is proposed to include the adoption of a problem-solving approach and value-adding tools. These can help assemble value-adding frameworks in which design activity is more explicitly focused on project values. The use of problem solving frameworks to relate design method and outcome to project values is described and the notion of documenting these relationships to create a value-adding audit trail introduced. Integral Value Engineering is defined as the consideration of value when solving design problems, irrespective of the project stage in which they occur or their technical nature. The adaptability of the problem solving approach is discussed, together with its ability to accommodate the extensive variability in problem scope and concurrency in construction projects. The role of individual design engineers as practitioners of Integral Value Engineering is also described; this focuses on collaborative forums to incorporate the expertise of specialised suppliers. A web-based Value-Adding Toolbox is described to disseminate value-adding tool descriptions, methods and examples within a single organisation or managed value chain. The paper concludes that, for integral value engineering to be effective, suitable metrics must be identified to monitor the extent to which technical design solutions satisfy overall project values. This would allow responsive mechanisms to be defined so that design development can be managed throughout project duration to ensure that the satisficing values initially defined by value management at project outset will be delivered

Weather forecasts: up to one week in advance

In this chapter, we examine how weather forecasts are made and how they may be used by the health sector. We explore why, where and when we might obtain good forecasts and why sometimes the forecasts go wrong. We consider the theoretical and practical constraints on weather forecasts and why their accuracy declines rapidly after only a few days. Knowing the limitations of weather forecasts helps us to learn how to make best use of such information

Climate information for public health action: challenges and opportunities

Throughout this book, we have sought to identify how, when and where climate information, based on historical data, monitoring products and predictions of future weather and climate can be used to inform health policy and practice. We have prioritized operational information over research opportunities to ensure a focus on practical outcomes. In this chapter, we provide a short review of climate information currently available, as described in detail in Chapters 4-9. We then explore how developments in technologies, institutional arrangements and the education of health professionals are providing new opportunities for translating climate information into a new resource for health-sector decision-making

Using VALiD to understand value from the stakeholder perspective

A “value agenda” has arisen in the UK’s cultural development in recent years. In the construction sector, a desire to make worthwhile building investments that are socially beneficial as well as commercially successful has become commonplace. This value agenda has become embodied in government policy which has, in turn, shaped the investment strategies of public bodies. Construction projects are becoming concerned with engaging directly with stakeholders to understand and reflect their attitudes, opinions and values in the final solution. In the private sector, the value agenda has stimulated business and societal debate to the stage where fulfilment of stakeholders’ expectations is seen as a precursor to commercial success. It is increasingly held that people seek to use buildings and facilities that reflect their values and which, therefore, they feel at ease with. In response to the above, VALiD (Value in Design) has been developed as a flexible framework that helps construction project teams explore and understand stakeholders’ values as a precursor to delivering value. Within this framework, VALiD defines value as the relationship of stakeholder benefits sought, sacrifices accepted, and resources expended. It is defined individually for every stakeholder in recognition that each has different underlying values and, therefore, a different perception of value. The use of VALiD to define project objectives and assess value delivery performance is described. The paper presents a summary of construction organisations’ response to this treatment of value, including the status of its development through continuing industry and academic research in the UK

Integral value engineering in design

Construction industry clients demand certainty in project cost, quality and time. The inability of traditionally composed design teams to consistently deliver this suggests that their expertise is sometimes inadequate. As clients become more dynamic in the next millennium, they are likely to demand greater certainty when construction projects are implemented to support frequent revisions in their short term function. By establishing a collaborative working framework it is proposed that supply chains can be better managed to identify and design out potential problems using integrated, collaborative design processes. This proposal is being investigated by the Integrated Collaborative Design (ICD) research project, a collaboration of AMEC Construction, Loughborough University and eleven supply organisations, supported by the EPSRC and DETR through the IDAC Link programme. Focusing on one component of the ICD project, this paper reviews existing, reactive, value engineering methods and by identifying their inadequacies establishes the need for an integrated approach. A value management context is described which integrates value engineering into continuous design processes. The paper discusses the opportunities for utilising supplier design expertise by modelling design process information flows. It also identifies potential cultural barriers to the use of design processes incorporating integral value engineering techniques and describes the linkage to other ICD components that are addressing these issues