Comments concerning the paper "Measurement of negatively charged pion spectra in inelastic p+p interactions at 20, 31, 40, 80 and 158 GeV/c" by the NA61 collaboration

New data from the NA61 collaboration on the production of negative pions in p+p interactions at beam momenta between 20 and 158 GeV/c are critically compared to available results in the same energy range. It is concluded that the NA61 data show some discrepancies with the previous results. This concerns in particular the total yields, the $p_T$ integrated rapidity distributions and the double differential cross sections.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figure

Intercontinental transport of nitrogen oxide pollution plumes

We describe the first satellite observation of intercontinental transport of nitrogen oxides emitted by power plants, verified by simulations with a particle tracer model. The analysis of such episodes shows that anthropogenic NO_x plumes may influence the atmospheric chemistry thousands of kilometers away from its origin, as well as the ocean they traverse due to nitrogen fertilization. This kind of monitoring became possible by applying an improved algorithm to extract the tropospheric fraction of NO₂ from the spectral data coming from the GOME instrument.<br> <br> As an example we show the observation of NO₂ in the time period 4--14 May, 1998, from the South African Plateau to Australia which was possible due to favourable weather conditions during that time period which availed the satellite measurement. This episode was also simulated with the Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART which uses NO_x emissions taken from an inventory for industrial emissions in South Africa and is driven with analyses from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. Additionally lightning emissions were taken into account by utilizing Lightning Imaging Sensor data. Lightning was found to contribute probably not more than 25% of the resulting concentrations. Both, the measured and simulated emission plume show matching patterns while traversing the Indian Ocean to Australia and show great resemblance to the aerosol and CO₂ transport observed by Piketh et al. (2000)

A survey of backward proton and pion production in p+C interactions at beam momenta from 1 to 400 GeV/c

New data on proton and pion production in p+C interactions from the CERN PS and SPS accelerators are used in conjunction with other available data sets to perform a comprehensive survey of backward hadronic cross sections. This survey covers the complete backward hemisphere in the range of lab angles from 10 to 180 degrees, from 0.2 to 1.4 GeV/c in lab momentum and from 1 to 400 GeV/c in projectile momentum. Using the constraints of continuity and smoothness of the angular, momentum and energy dependences a consistent description of the inclusive cross sections is established which allows the control of the internal consistency of the nineteen available data sets.Comment: 52 pages 47 figure

Overvoltage characteristics in symmetrical monopolar HB MMC-HVDC configuration comprising long cable systems

This contribution focuses on high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission systems comprising modular multilevel converters (MMC) equipped with half-bridge (HB) submodules and analyses cable voltage stresses during various station internal as well as dc side faults. In order to examine relevant overvoltage characteristics affecting HVDC cable systems, a systematic approach to evaluate overvoltage stresses is presented and an extensive set of time-domain simulations is analysed for schemes operating in symmetrical monopolar configuration. Obtained results are relevant for considerations on insulation co-ordination of HVDC cable systems and for a comprehensive definition of high voltage testing requirements

Hydrodynamical analysis of single inclusive spectra and Bose-Einstein correlations for Pb+PbPb+Pb at 160 AGeV

We present the first analysis of preliminary data for $Pb+Pb$ at 160 $AGeV$ using 3+1-dimensional relativistic hydrodynamics. We find excellent agreement with the rapidity spectra of negative hadrons and the correlation measurements. The data indicates a large amount of stopping; $65\%$ of the invariant energy of the collision is thermalized and $73\%$ of the baryons are contained in the central fireball. Within our model this implies that a quark-gluon-plasma of lifetime 3.4 $fm/c$ was formed.Comment: 13 pages, 5 Postscript figures (attached to this file as compressed and uuencoded Postscript file

Advanced materials design based on waste wood and bark

Trees belong to the largest living organisms on Earth and plants in general are one of our main renewable resources. Wood as a material has been used since the beginning of humankind. Today, forestry still provides raw materials for a variety of applications, for example in the building industry, in paper manufacturing and for various wood products. However, many parts of the tree, such as reaction wood, branches and bark are often discarded as forestry residues and waste wood, used as additives in composite materials or burned for energy production. More advanced uses of bark include the extraction of chemical substances for glues, food additives or healthcare, as well as the transformation to advanced carbon materials. Here, we argue that a proper understanding of the internal fibrous structure and the resulting mechanical behaviour of these forest residues allows for the design of materials with greatly varying properties and applications. We show that simple and cheap treatments can give tree bark a leather-like appearance that can be used for the construction of shelters and even the fabrication of woven textiles. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Bio-derived and bioinspired sustainable advanced materials for emerging technologies (part 1)’

Development of a custom OMI NO2 data product for evaluating biases in a regional chemistry transport model

In this paper, we present the custom Hong Kong NO2 retrieval (HKOMI) for the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on board the Aura satellite which was used to evaluate a high-resolution chemistry transport model (CTM) (3 km x 3 km spatial resolution). The atmospheric chemistry transport was modelled in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region in southern China by the Models-3 Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) modelling system from October 2006 to January 2007. In the HKOMI NO2 retrieval, tropospheric air mass factors (AMFs) were recalculated using high-resolution ancillary parameters of surface reflectance, a priori NO2 and aerosol profiles, of which the latter two were taken from the CMAQ simulation. We tested the influence of the ancillary parameters on the data product using four different aerosol parametrizations. Ground-level measurements by the PRD Regional Air Quality Monitoring (RAQM) network were used as additional independent measurements. The HKOMI retrieval increases estimated tropospheric NO2 vertical column densities (VCD) by (+31 +/- 38) %,when compared to NASA's standard product (OMNO2-SP),and improves the normalized mean bias (NMB) between satellite and ground observations by 26 percentage points from -41 to -15 %. The individual influences of the parameters are (+11.4 +/- 13.4)% for NO2 profiles,(+11.0 +/- 20.9)% for surface reflectance and (+6.0 +/- 8.4)% for the best aerosol parametrization. The correlation coefficient r is low between ground and satellite observations (r = 0.35). The low r and the remaining NMB can be explained by the low model performance and the expected differences when comparing point measurements with area-averaged satellite observations. The correlation between CMAQ and the RAQM network is low (r approximate to 0.3) and the model underestimates the NO2 concentrations in the northwestern model domain (Foshan and Guangzhou). We compared the CMAQ NO2 time series of the two main plumes with our best OMI NO2 data set (HKOMI-4). The model overestimates the NO2 VCDs by about 15% in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, while the correlation coefficient is satisfactory (r = 0.56). In Foshan and Guangzhou, the correlation is low (r = 0.37) and the model underestimates the VCDs strongly (NMB = -40 %). In addition, we estimated that the OMI VCDs are also underestimated by about 10 to 20% in Foshan and Guangzhou because of the influence of the model parameters on the AMFs. In this study, we demonstrate that the HKOMI NO2 retrieval reduces the bias of the satellite observations and how the data set can be used to study the magnitude of NO2 concentrations in a regional model at high spatial resolution of 3 x 3 km(2). The low bias was achieved with recalculated AMFs using updated surface reflectance, aerosol profiles and NO2 profiles. Since unbiased concentrations are important, for example, in air pollution studies, the results of this paper can be very helpful in future model evaluation studies

Microscopic calculations of stopping and flow from 160AMeV to 160AGeV

The behavior of hadronic matter at high baryon densities is studied within Ultrarelativistic Quantum Molecular Dynamics (URQMD). Baryonic stopping is observed for Au+Au collisions from SIS up to SPS energies. The excitation function of flow shows strong sensitivities to the underlying equation of state (EOS), allowing for systematic studies of the EOS. Effects of a density dependent pole of the $\rho$-meson propagator on dilepton spectra are studied for different systems and centralities at CERN energies.Comment: Proceedings of the Quark Matter '96 Conference, Heidelberg, German

Static behavior of weighing cells

Compliant mechanisms in precision weighing technology are highly sensitive mechanical systems with continuously rising demands for performance in terms of resolution and measurement uncertainty. The systematic combination of adjustment measures represents a promising option for the enhancement of weighing cells which is not yet fully exhausted. A novel adjustment concept for electromagnetic force compensated weighing cells designed for 1&thinsp;kg mass standards is introduced. The effect on the mechanical behavior is analyzed in detail using a planar compliant mechanism with semi-circular flexure hinges. Design equations for a first layout of the mechanical system are derived from a linearized rigid body model. Existing adjustment concepts for the stiffness characteristic and the sensitivity to quasi-static ground tilt are included. They are extended by the novel approach to attach trim weights to the levers of the linear guide. Based on this concept, an optimal design for the weighing cell is determined. The comparison with a finite element model reveals further effects given by the more precise description of the mechanical behavior. By parametric studies of the adjustment parameters in the mechanical models, it is shown that the stiffness and tilt sensitivity can be reduced significantly compared to the non-adjusted weighing cell. The principal correlation of the trim weights and their effect on the mechanical properties is experimentally verified using a commercially available weighing cell.</p

Smoking and health-related quality of life in English general population: Implications for economic evaluations

Copyright @ 2012 Vogl et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Background: Little is known as to how health-related quality of life (HRQoL) when measured by generic instruments such as EQ-5D differ across smokers, ex-smokers and never-smokers in the general population; whether the overall pattern of this difference remain consistent in each domain of HRQoL; and what implications this variation, if any, would have for economic evaluations of tobacco control interventions. Methods: Using the 2006 round of Health Survey for England data (n = 13,241), this paper aims to examine the impact of smoking status on health-related quality of life in English population. Depending upon the nature of the EQ-5D data (i.e. tariff or domains), linear or logistic regression models were fitted to control for biology, clinical conditions, socio-economic background and lifestyle factors that an individual may have regardless of their smoking status. Age- and gender-specific predicted values according to smoking status are offered as the potential 'utility' values to be used in future economic evaluation models. Results: The observed difference of 0.1100 in EQ-5D scores between never-smokers (0.8839) and heavy-smokers (0.7739) reduced to 0.0516 after adjusting for biological, clinical, lifestyle and socioeconomic conditions. Heavy-smokers, when compared with never-smokers, were significantly more likely to report some/severe problems in all five domains - mobility (67%), self-care (70%), usual activity (42%), pain/discomfort (46%) and anxiety/depression (86%) -. 'Utility' values by age and gender for each category of smoking are provided to be used in the future economic evaluations. Conclusion: Smoking is significantly and negatively associated with health-related quality of life in English general population and the magnitude of this association is determined by the number of cigarettes smoked. The varying degree of this association, captured through instruments such as EQ-5D, may need to be fed into the design of future economic evaluations where the intervention being evaluated affects (e.g. tobacco control) or is affected (e.g. treatment for lung cancer) by individual's (or patients') smoking status