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Undulator Changes Due to Temperature Excursions
The temperature of the LCLS undulators has not been controlled during storage. The effects of the temperature excursions are documented in this note. After a number of LCLS undulators were tuned, fiducialized, and placed in storage anticipating their use, a test was made to ensure that their properties had not changed. The test revealed, however, that indeed the undulators had changed. Detailed study of this problem followed. We now believe that the gap of the undulators changes permanently when the undulators go through temperature excursions. We have tested the other possible cause, transportation, and do not see gap changes. In this note, we document how the undulators have changed since they were originally tuned. The undulators were tuned and fiducialized in the Magnetic Measurement Facility (MMF). Afterward, many of them (approximately 18) were taken to building 750 for storage during summer and fall 2007. Building 750 had no temperature control. The undulator temperatures went from 20 C, used for tuning, down to approximately 11 C during the winter. In January 2008, three of the undulators were brought back to the MMF for a check. All three undulators showed similar changes. Trajectories, phases, and most undulator properties stayed the same, but the fiducialization (beam axis position relative to tooling balls on the undulator) had changed. Further investigation showed that the undulator gap was altered in a periodic way along the magnetic axis with a net average gap change causing the fiducialization change. A new storage location in building 33 was found and future undulators were placed there. A failure in the temperature control, however, caused the undulators to get too hot. Again the gap changed, but with a different periodic pattern. This note documents the measured changes in the undulators. In particular, it shows the detailed history of undulator 39 which went through both negative and positive temperature excursions
The influence of seawater pH on U / Ca ratios in the scleractinian cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa
The increasing pCO2 in seawater is a serious threat for marine calcifiers and alters the biogeochemistry of the ocean. Therefore, the reconstruction of past-seawater properties and their impact on marine ecosystems is an important way to investigate the underlying mechanisms and to better constrain the effects of possible changes in the future ocean. Cold-water coral (CWC) ecosystems are biodiversity hotspots. Living close to aragonite-undersaturation, these corals serve as living laboratories as well as archives to reconstruct the boundary conditions of their calcification under the carbonate system of the ocean.
We investigated the reef-building CWC Lophelia pertusa as a recorder of intermediate ocean seawater pH. This species-specific field calibration is based on a unique sample set of live in-situ collected L. pertusa and corresponding seawater samples. These data demonstrate that uranium speciation and skeletal incorporation for azooxanthellate scleractinian CWCs is pH dependent. However, this also indicates that internal pH up-regulation of the coral does not play a role in uranium incorporation into the majority of the skeleton of L. pertusa. This study suggests L. pertusa provides a new archive for the reconstruction of intermediate water mass pH and hence may help to constrain tipping points for ecosystem dynamics and evolutionary characteristics in a changing ocean
The influence of seawater pH on U / Ca ratios in the scleractinian cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa
The increasing pCO2 in seawater is a serious threat for marine calcifiers and alters the biogeochemistry of the ocean. Therefore, the reconstruction of past-seawater properties and their impact on marine ecosystems is an important way to investigate the underlying mechanisms and to better constrain the effects of possible changes in the future ocean. Cold-water coral (CWC) ecosystems are biodiversity hotspots. Living close to aragonite-undersaturation, these corals serve as living laboratories as well as archives to reconstruct the boundary conditions of their calcification under the carbonate system of the ocean.
We investigated the reef-building CWC Lophelia pertusa as a recorder of intermediate ocean seawater pH. This species-specific field calibration is based on a unique sample set of live in-situ collected L. pertusa and corresponding seawater samples. These data demonstrate that uranium speciation and skeletal incorporation for azooxanthellate scleractinian CWCs is pH dependent. However, this also indicates that internal pH up-regulation of the coral does not play a role in uranium incorporation into the majority of the skeleton of L. pertusa. This study suggests L. pertusa provides a new archive for the reconstruction of intermediate water mass pH and hence may help to constrain tipping points for ecosystem dynamics and evolutionary characteristics in a changing ocean
Environmental boundary conditions of cold-water coral mound growth over the last 3 million years in the Porcupine Seabight, Northeast Atlantic
IODP Expedition 307 made it for the first time possible to investigate the entire body of a cold-water coral carbonate mound. Here we provide new insights into the long-term history of Challenger Mound on the European continental margin off Ireland. This study is based on age determinations (230Th/U, 87Sr/86Sr) and geochemical signals (Mg/Li and Ba/Ca) measured in the scleractinian cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa from IODP Site 1317 in the Porcupine Seabight. The paleoceanographic reconstructions reveal that coral growth in the Porcupine Seabight was restricted to specific oceanographic conditions such as enhanced export of primary production and Bottom-Water Temperatures (BWT) between ∼8 and 10 °C, related to the water mass stratification of the Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW) and Eastern North Atlantic Water (ENAW). The geochemical signals from the coral skeletons can be explained by the close interaction between cold-water coral growth, sea-surface productivity and the surrounding water masses – the boundary layer between MOW and ENAW. Enhanced sea-surface productivity and the build-up of a stable water mass stratification between ENAW and MOW caused enhanced nutrient supply at intermediate water depths and facilitated a steady mound growth between ∼3.0 and 2.1 Ma. With the decrease in sea-surface productivity and related reduced export productivity the food supply was insufficient for rapid coral mound growth between ∼1.7 and 1 Ma. During the late Pleistocene (over the last ∼0.5 Myr) mound growth was restricted to interglacial periods. During glacials the water mass boundary between ENAW/MOW probably was below the mound summit and hence food supply was not sufficient for corals to grow
The poor design of clinical trials of statins in oncology may explain their failure – lessons for drug repurposing
Statins are widely used to treat hypercholesterolaemia. However, by inhibiting the production of mevalonate, they also reduce the production of several isoprenoids that are necessary for the function of small GTPase oncogenes such as Ras. As such, statins offer an attractive way to inhibit an “undruggable” target, suggesting that they may be usefully repurposed to treat cancer. However, despite numerous studies, there is still no consensus whether statins are useful in the oncology arena. Numerous preclinical studies have provided evidence justifying the evaluation of statins in cancer patients. Some retrospective studies of patients taking statins to control cholesterol have identified a reduced risk of cancer mortality. However, prospective clinical studies have mostly not been successful. We believe that this has occurred because many of the prospective clinical trials have been poorly designed. Many of these trials have failed to take into account some or all of the factors identified in preclinical studies that are likely to be necessary for statins to be efficacious. We suggest an improved trial design which takes these factors into account. Importantly, we suggest that the design of clinical trials of drugs which are being considered for repurposing should not assume it is appropriate to use them in the same way as they are used in their original indication. Rather, such trials deserve to be informed by preclinical studies that are comparable to those for any novel drug
Magnetic Measurement Results of the LCLS Undulator Quadrupoles
This note details the magnetic measurements and the magnetic center fiducializations that were performed on all of the thirty-six LCLS undulator quadrupoles. Temperature rise, standardization reproducibility, vacuum chamber effects and magnetic center reproducibility measurements are also presented. The Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) undulator beam line has 33 girders, each with a LCLS undulator quadrupole which focuses and steers the beam through the beam line. Each quadrupole has main quadrupole coils, as well as separate horizontal and vertical trim coils. Thirty-six quadrupoles, thirty-three installed and three spares were, manufactured for the LCLS undulator system and all were measured to confirm that they met requirement specifications for integrated gradient, harmonics and for magnetic center shifts after current changes. The horizontal and vertical dipole trims of each quadrupole were similarly characterized. Each quadrupole was also fiducialized to its magnetic center. All characterizing measurements on the undulator quads were performed with their mirror plates on and after a standardization of three cycles from -6 to +6 to -6 amps. Since the undulator quadrupoles could be used as a focusing or defocusing magnet depending on their location, all quadrupoles were characterized as focusing and as defocusing quadrupoles. A subset of the undulator quadrupoles were used to verify that the undulator quadrupole design met specifications for temperature rise, standardization reproducibility and magnetic center reproducibility after splitting. The effects of the mirror plates on the undulator quadrupoles were also measured
Multiple reassortment events in the evolutionary history of H1N1 influenza A virus since 1918
The H1N1 subtype of influenza A virus has caused substantial morbidity and mortality in humans, first documented in the global pandemic of 1918 and continuing to the present day. Despite this disease burden, the evolutionary history of the A/H1N1 virus is not well understood, particularly whether there is a virological basis for several notable epidemics of unusual severity in the 1940s and 1950s. Using a data set of 71 representative complete genome sequences sampled between 1918 and 2006, we show that segmental reassortment has played an important role in the genomic evolution of A/H1N1 since 1918. Specifically, we demonstrate that an A/H1N1 isolate from the 1947 epidemic acquired novel PB2 and HA genes through intra-subtype reassortment, which may explain the abrupt antigenic evolution of this virus. Similarly, the 1951 influenza epidemic may also have been associated with reassortant A/H1N1 viruses. Intra-subtype reassortment therefore appears to be a more important process in the evolution and epidemiology of H1N1 influenza A virus than previously realized
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Climate updates: what have we learnt since the IPCC 5th Assessment Report?
Nova light curves from the Solar Mass Ejection Imager (SMEI) - II. The extended catalogue
We present the results from observing nine Galactic novae in eruption with the Solar Mass Ejection Imager (SMEI) between 2004 and 2009. While many of these novae reached peak magnitudes that were either at or approaching the detection limits of SMEI, we were still able to produce light curves that in many cases contained more data at and around the initial rise, peak, and decline than those found in other variable star catalogs. For each nova, we obtained a peak time, maximum magnitude, and for several an estimate of the decline time (t2). Interestingly, although of lower quality than those found in Hounsell et al. (2010a), two of the light curves may indicate the presence of a pre-maximum halt. In addition the high cadence of the SMEI instrument has allowed the detection of low amplitude variations in at least one of the nova light curves
Apparent Correction to the Speed of Light in a Gravitational Potential
The effects of physical interactions are usually incorporated into the
quantum theory by including the corresponding terms in the Hamiltonian. Here we
consider the effects of including the gravitational potential energy of massive
particles in the Hamiltonian of quantum electrodynamics. This results in a
predicted correction to the speed of light that is proportional to the fine
structure constant. The correction to the speed of light obtained in this way
depends on the gravitational potential and not the gravitational field, which
is not gauge invariant and presumably nonphysical. Nevertheless, the predicted
results are in reasonable agreement with experimental observations from
Supernova 1987a.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figure
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