High-repetition-rate combustion thermometry with two-line atomic fluorescence excited by diode lasers

We report on kilohertz-repetition-rate flame temperature measurements performed using blue diode lasers. Two-line atomic fluorescence was performed by using diode lasers emitting at around 410 and 451 nm to probe seeded atomic indium. At a repetition rate of 3.5 kHz our technique offers a precision of 1.5% at 2000 K in laminar methane/air flames. The spatial resolution is better than 150 mu m, while the setup is compact and easy to operate, at much lower cost than alternative techniques. By modeling the spectral overlap between the locked laser and the probed indium lines we avoid the need for any calibration of the measurements. We demonstrate the capability of the technique for time-resolved measurements in an acoustically perturbed flame. The technique is applicable in flames with a wide range of compositions including sooting flames

Pulse shape discrimination performance of Inverted Coaxial Ge detectors

We report on the characterization of two inverted coaxial Ge detectors in the context of being employed in future $^{76}$Ge neutrinoless double beta ($0\nu\beta\beta$) decay experiments. It is an advantage that such detectors can be produced with bigger Ge mass as compared to the planar Broad Energy Ge detectors (BEGe) that are currently used in the GERDA $0\nu\beta\beta$ decay experiment. This will result in lower background for the search of $0\nu\beta\beta$ decay due to a reduction of cables, electronics and holders. The measured resolution near the $^{76}$Ge Q-value at 2039 keV is 2.5 keV and their pulse-shape characteristics are similar to BEGe-detectors. It is concluded that this type of Ge-detector is suitable for usage in $^{76}$Ge $0\nu\beta\beta$ decay experiments

Search for α\alpha decay of 151^{151}Eu to the first excited level of 147^{147}Pm using underground γ\gamma-ray spectrometry

The alpha decay of $^{151}$Eu to the first excited level of $^{147}$Pm ($J^\pi = 5/2^+$, $E_{exc}=91.1$ keV) was searched for at the HADES underground laboratory ($\approx 500$ m w.e.). A sample of high purity europium oxide with mass of 303 g and a natural isotopic composition has been measured over 2232.8 h with a high energy resolution ultra-low background n-type semi-planar HPGe detector (40 cm$^3$) with sub-micron deadlayer. The new improved half-life limit has been set as $T_{1/2} \geq 3.7\times 10^{18}$ yr at 68% C.L. Possibilities to improve the sensitivity of the experiment, which is already near the theoretical predictions, are discussed. New half-life limit for $\alpha$ decay of $^{153}$Eu is also set as $T_{1/2} \geq 5.5\times 10^{17}$ yr.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables, 18 reference

Revisiting Orientations in Language Planning: Problem, Right, and Resource as an Analytical Heuristic

In 1984, Richard Ruiz set forth three orientations to language planning: language as problem, language as right, and language as resource. Since that time, the orientations have only become more powerful, rising to the level of paradigm in the field of language policy and planning (LPP). In this paper, we revisit Ruiz’s orientations. By drawing upon Ruiz’s own work as well as the work of other scholars who have been inspired by him, we unpack the ideas aligned with each orientation in order to reflect upon the application of the three orientations as a heuristic for LPP. In contrast to critiques that the three orientations do not map onto the political reality of policy situations, we argue that they are analytically useful as both etic concepts that can be used by researchers to guide deductive analysis about the values that emerge from messy policy debate and negotiation and as (latent) emic concepts in situations when people express their beliefs about language

Institutionalizing Organized Citizen Participation: Challenges and Opportunities.

Changes in citizen participation in Minneapolis were studied and analyzed over a four-year period: 1980-84

A pathologic twoâ way street: how innate immunity impacts lung fibrosis and fibrosis impacts lung immunity

Lung fibrosis is characterised by the accumulation of extracellular matrix within the lung and is secondary to both known and unknown aetiologies. This accumulation of scar tissue limits gas exchange causing respiratory insufficiency. The pathogenesis of lung fibrosis is poorly understood, but immunologicâ based treatments have been largely ineffective. Despite this, accumulating evidence suggests that innate immune cells and receptors play important modulatory roles in the initiation and propagation of the disease. Paradoxically, while innate immune signalling may be important for the pathogenesis of fibrosis, there is also evidence to suggest that innate immune function against pathogens may be impaired, leading to dysregulated and/or impaired host defence. This review summarises the evidence for this pathologic twoâ way street, highlights new concepts of pathogenesis and recommends future directions for research emphasis.Innate immunity has been shown to promote the development of lung injury and fibrosis through a myriad of mechanisms. New information also suggests that the fibrotic milieu can impair the function of innate immune cells, leading to further infection, dysbiosis and fibrotic progression.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149765/1/cti21065.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149765/2/cti21065_am.pd

Improving sensitivity of a BEGe-based high-purity germanium spectrometer through pulse shape analysis

Abstract We performed Pulse Shape Analysis to separate single-scattered gamma energy deposition events from multiple-scattered photons in a high-sensitivity $$\gamma$$ γ -ray spectrometer. The spectrometer is based on a Broad Energy High Purity Germanium detector and the developed technique uses multivariate analysis by an application of the Multi-Layer Perceptron Neural Network. A very good separation of the single-site- and multi-site events was achieved leading to a significant reduction of the background level of the investigated spectrometer – the double escape peak, rich in single-site events, was reduced by 95%, while the full energy peaks lost at most 25% of their counts. The peak to Compton ratio, calculated for the 2614.5 keV gamma line from $$^{208}$$ 208 Tl, was improved by 114.3%

Nursing assistants matters—An ethnographic study of knowledge sharing in interprofessional practice

© 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Interprofessional collaboration involves some kind of knowledge sharing, which is essential and will be important in the future in regard to the opportunities and challenges in practices for delivering safe and effective health care. Nursing assistants are seldom mentioned as a group of health care workers that contribute to interprofessional collaboration in health care practice. The aim of this ethnographic study was to explore how the nursing assistants’ knowledge can be shared in a team on a spinal cord injury rehabilitation ward. Using a sociomaterial perspective on practice, we captured different aspects of interprofessional collaboration in health care. The findings reveal how knowledge was shared between professionals, depending on different kinds of practice architecture. These specific cultural–discursive, material–economic, and social–political arrangements enabled possibilities through which nursing assistants’ knowledge informed other practices, and others’ knowledge informed the practice of nursing assistants. By studying what health care professionals actually do and say in practice, we found that the nursing assistants could make a valuable contribution of knowledge to the team