New Working Conditions for the SPS from 2000

After the long shutdown (December 2000 to May 2001), the SPS complex will work with the main water-cooling loop in closed circuit. This will affect the working conditions because of the higher temperature of the supplied water (24 ° C, i.e. 15 K higher) and therefore of the air in the tunnel. The cooling installations will consequently be upgraded or replaced to meet the new needs, and several new chilled-water stations will be installed to supply the present users. The author will thoroughly explain the main aspects of all these modifications and report the results of the preliminary tests carried out in September 1996. Finally, an overview of the global costs (operational and linked to the project) will be given, taking into account the different consumption of water, electricity and the effects on the magnet components

Construction Progress of the Cooling and Ventilation in the LHC Project

The Cooling and Ventilation Group has started the LHC construction work in September 1999 and will get into full activity when LEP will be stopped and dismantled: in total 12 major contracts for an amount of about 120 MCHF will be established to build the needed installations for the LHC. The author will report on the current works that are in progress on the different LEP Points distinguishing between the Ventilation and the Water Cooling installations. The Ventilation work, completed in the new surface buildings in Points 18, is currently held in Points 4 and 5. Point 1 will follow in the near future. The work for the Cooling plants comprehend the pumping stations, the cooling towers and the chilled water production stations in Points 1 and 5, the buried pipes in Points 1 and 4. For all of these activities, an updated report of the progress of the work, of the planning and of the expenses is given. Finally, a short overview of the future activities is presented

Simulated natural lighting and constant 14-hour photoperiods for broiler breeders during the rearing period, and interactions of lighting with body weight

No Abstract. South African Journal of Animal Science Vol. 35 (1) 2005: pp.1-1

Consolidation on civil engineering and technical infrastructure

The use and age of the civil engineering structure (office buildings, halls, tunnels) and of tertiary technical equipment (mainly HVAC and electricity) at CERN is such that their renovation must be considered in the near future. Due to the large number of buildings and equipment in these conditions, and the restricted budget available it is extremely important to define priorities. The aim of this paper is to give an overview of the current conditions and the related problems, based on data analysis of CERN database and confronting it with the inventory made at CERN by an external company. After having identified the most frequent problems and repairs to carry out, a planning for intervention is therefore presented optimizing the safety aspects, maintenance costs and comfort for the users. The timescale of this intervention is related to the money that will be available in the coming years

Variability of serum markers of erythropoiesis during 6 days of racing in highly trained cyclists

The athlete biological passport for the fight against doping is currently based on longitudinal monitoring for abnormal changes in cellular blood parameters. Serum parameters related to altered erythropoiesis could be considered for inclusion in the passport. The aim of this study was to quantify the changes in such parameters in athletes during a period of intense exercise. 12 highly trained cyclists tapered for 3 days before 6 days of simulated intense stage racing. Morning and afternoon blood samples were taken on most days and analysed for total protein, albumin, soluble transferrin receptor and ferritin concentrations. Plasma volume was determined via total haemoglobin mass measured by carbon-monoxide rebreathing. Percent changes in means from baseline and percent standard errors of measurement (analytical error plus intra-athlete variation) on each measurement occasion were estimated with mixed linear modelling of log-transformed measures. Means of all variables changed substantially in the days following the onset of racing, ranging from −13% (haemoglobin concentration) to +27% (ferritin). After the second day, errors of measurement were generally twice those at baseline. Plasma variables were affected by heavy exercise, either because of changes in plasma volume (total protein, albumin, haemoglobin), acute phase/inflammatory reactions (ferritin) or both (soluble transferrin receptor). These effects need to be taken into consideration when integrating a plasma parameter into the biological passport model for athletes

Setting up high-content applications for detection of mRNAs and miRNAs in plants

n/

The BTZ black hole with a time-dependent boundary

The non-rotating BTZ solution is expressed in terms of coordinates that allow for an arbitrary time-dependent scale factor in the boundary metric. We provide explicit expressions for the coordinate transformation that generates this form of the metric, and determine the regions of the complete Penrose diagram that are convered by our parametrization. This construction is utilized in order to compute the stress-energy tensor of the dual CFT on a time-dependent background. We study in detail the expansion of radial null geodesic congruences in the BTZ background for various forms of the scale factor of the boundary metric. We also discuss the relevance of our construction for the holographic calculation of the entanglement entropy of the dual CFT on time-dependent backgrounds.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures, title changed in journal, conformal diagrams added, references added, final version to appear in Classical and Quantum Gravit

Blood Vitamin C Levels of Patients Receiving Immunotherapy and Relationship to Monocyte Subtype and Epigenetic Modification

The treatment of metastatic melanoma has been revolutionised by immunotherapy, yet a significant number of patients do not respond, and many experience autoimmune adverse events. Associations have been reported between patient outcome and monocyte subsets, whereas vitamin C (ascorbate) has been shown to mediate changes in cancer-stimulated monocytes in vitro. We therefore investigated the relationship of ascorbate with monocyte subsets and epigenetic modifications in patients with metastatic melanoma receiving immunotherapy. Patients receiving immunotherapy were compared to other cancer cohorts and age-matched healthy controls. Ascorbate levels in plasma and peripheral blood-derived mononuclear cells (PBMCs), monocyte subtype and epigenetic markers were measured, and adverse events, tumour response and survival were recorded. A quarter of the immunotherapy cohort had hypovitaminosis C, with plasma and PBMC ascorbate levels significantly lower than those from other cancer patients or healthy controls. PBMCs from the immunotherapy cohort contained similar frequencies of non-classical and classical monocytes. DNA methylation markers and intracellular ascorbate concentration were correlated with monocyte subset frequency in healthy controls, but correlation was lost in immunotherapy patients. No associations between ascorbate status and immune-related adverse events or tumour response or overall survival were apparent.</p

Entanglement Entropy from a Holographic Viewpoint

The entanglement entropy has been historically studied by many authors in order to obtain quantum mechanical interpretations of the gravitational entropy. The discovery of AdS/CFT correspondence leads to the idea of holographic entanglement entropy, which is a clear solution to this important problem in gravity. In this article, we would like to give a quick survey of recent progresses on the holographic entanglement entropy. We focus on its gravitational aspects, so that it is comprehensible to those who are familiar with general relativity and basics of quantum field theory.Comment: Latex, 30 pages, invited review for Classical and Quantum Gravity, minor correction