A dip in the UHECR spectrum and the transition from galactic to extragalactic cosmic rays

The dip is a feature in the diffuse spectrum of ultra-high energy (UHE) protons caused by electron-positron pair production on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation. For a power-law generation spectrum $E^{-2.7}$, the calculated position and shape of the dip is confirmed with high accuracy by the spectra observed by the Akeno-AGASA, HiRes, Yakutsk and Fly's Eye detectors. When the particle energies, measured in these detectors, are calibrated by the dip, their fluxes agree with a remarkable accuracy. The predicted shape of the dip is quite robust. The dip is only modified strongly when the fraction of nuclei heavier than protons is high at injection, which imposes some restrictions on the mechanisms of acceleration operating in UHECR sources. The existence of the dip, confirmed by observations, implies that the transition from galactic to extragalactic cosmic rays occurs at E \lsim 1\times 10^{18} eV. We show that at energies lower than a characteristic value $E_{\rm cr}\approx 1\times 10^{18}$ eV, the spectrum of extragalactic cosmic rays flattens in all cases of interest, and it provides a natural transition to a steeper galactic cosmic ray spectrum. This transition occurs at some energy below $E_{\rm cr}$, corresponding to the position of the so-called second knee. We discuss extensively the constraints on this model imposed by current knowledge of acceleration processes and sources of UHECR and compare it with the traditional model of transition at the ankle.Comment: Version Accepted for Publication in Astroparticle Physics (minor changes

Ionospheric effects during first 2 hours after the Chelyabinsk meteorite impact

This paper presents the analysis of ionospheric effects in the region close to the Chelyabinsk meteorite explosion at 03:20UT 2013 February 15 from the Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics of Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences (ISTP SB RAS) EKB radar data, and from the Institute of Geophysics of Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences (IG UB RAS) PARUS ionosonde data. Both instruments are located within the IG UB RAS Arti Observatory approximately 200 km northward from the estimated explosion site. According to the data obtained, the ionospheric disturbance caused by the meteorite flyby, explosion, and impact had high dynamics and amplitude. However, it obviously did not lead to a variation in the ionosphere mean parameters in the region above the disturbance center during the first 2 hours. Essential effects, however, were observed at more than 100-200 km from the explosion site and farther up to 1500 km.Comment: 30 pages, 15 figures, submitted to JAST

Electric Field Effect in Atomically Thin Carbon Films

We report a naturally-occurring two-dimensional material (graphene that can be viewed as a gigantic flat fullerene molecule, describe its electronic properties and demonstrate all-metallic field-effect transistor, which uniquely exhibits ballistic transport at submicron distances even at room temperature

Assessing the quality of medical care and developing the ratings of health services: experience of using Medicare program in the USA

To provide patient's security is the main goal in some spheres of health care, that is why methods of statistical monitoring were developed to detect abnormalities in the course of medical work quickly and confidentially. This includes, for example, excessive intervention even without further damage to a patient's safety. Therefore, it is very important to determine whether the risk to a patient's life exists or how abnormal the situation is. At the present moment health care in Russia has already passed the initial stage of formation of ratings to assess the quality of medical care services. Almost all regions of the Russian Federation have their own ratings. The question is how objectively they reflect the quality of medical services. The article presents main features to assess the quality of health care to rate medical organizations on the example of state program Medicare (USA) in order to compare them with the ones used in Russian ratings