Multi-core job submission and grid resource scheduling for ATLAS AthenaMP

AthenaMP is the multi-core implementation of the ATLAS software framework and allows the efficient sharing of memory pages between multiple threads of execution. This has now been validated for production and delivers a significant reduction on the overall application memory footprint with negligible CPU overhead. Before AthenaMP can be routinely run on the LHC Computing Grid it must be determined how the computing resources available to ATLAS can best exploit the notable improvements delivered by switching to this multi-process model. A study into the effectiveness and scalability of AthenaMP in a production environment will be presented. Best practices for configuring the main LRMS implementations currently used by grid sites will be identified in the context of multi-core scheduling optimisation

Percutaneous sentinel node removal using a vacuum-assisted needle biopsy in women with breast cancer:a feasibility and acceptability study

AIMS: To assess the feasibility and acceptability of large-gauge percutaneous removal of the axillary sentinel lymph node (SLN) using dual gamma probe and ultrasound guidance.MATERIALS AND METHODS: Technetium nanocolloid was administered the day before surgery. On the day of surgery, potential SLNs were identified with gamma probe and ultrasound scanning. A 7 G vacuum-assisted biopsy (VAB) device was inserted percutaneously deep to the target node and the node(s) removed. The gamma probe was used to confirm removal of radiolabelled tissue. At surgery, any residual radiolabelled or blue nodes were removed. Morbidity was assessed via (1) a pain questionnaire immediately after the percutaneous procedure, (2) relevant items from the FACT B+4 questionnaire 7-10 days after surgery, and (3) case note review 1 month after surgery.RESULTS: Twenty-two patients consented and 20 patients underwent the procedure. Radiolabelled nodal tissue was obtained in 18/20 (90%). The mean procedure time was 11 minutes. Four of 18 patients had metastatic disease identified in the VAB excision tissue with 100% sensitivity for axillary metastasis. At axillary surgery, additional intact SLN or fragments were found in 14 patients. No additional metastatic disease was found at surgery. One patient suffered a pneumothorax during instillation of local anaesthetic. The median pain score was 10/100 by visual analogue scale. Immediate post-procedure haematoma was common (14 of 20) and prolonged manual compression frequent.CONCLUSION: VAB removal of sentinel nodes using dual scanning is feasible. Although preliminary sensitivity and specificity levels are encouraging, complications may discourage widespread implementation.</p

Optimised conditions for the synthesis of 17O and 18O labelled cholesterol

Conditions are described for the preparation of cholesterol with 17O and 18O labels from i-cholesteryl methyl ether using minimal amounts of isotopically enriched water. Optimum yields employed trifluoromethanesulfonic acid as catalyst in 1,4-dioxane at room temperature with 5 equivalents of water. An isotopic enrichment >90% of that of the water used for the reaction could be attained. Tetrafluoroboric acid could also be used as catalyst, at the expense of a lower overall reaction yield. Byproducts from the reaction included dicholesteryl ether, methyl cholesteryl ether, compounds formed by ether hydrolysis, and olefins arising from elimination reactions. Reactions in tetrahydrofuran yielded significant amounts of cholesteryl ethers formed by reaction with alcohols arising from hydrolysis of the solvent

Localized Nanoresonator Mode in Plasmonic Microcavities.

Submicron-thick hexagonal boron nitride crystals embedded in noble metals form planar Fabry-Perot half-microcavities. Depositing Au nanoparticles on top of these microcavities forms previously unidentified angle- and polarization-sensitive nanoresonator modes that are tightly laterally confined by the nanoparticle. Comparing dark-field scattering with reflection spectroscopies shows plasmonic and Fabry-Perot-like enhancements magnify subtle interference contributions, which lead to unexpected redshifts in the dark-field spectra, explained by the presence of these new modes

Lifetime of d-holes at Cu surfaces: Theory and experiment

We have investigated the hole dynamics at copper surfaces by high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission experiments and many-body quasiparticle GW calculations. Large deviations from a free-electron-like picture are observed both in the magnitude and the energy dependence of the lifetimes, with a clear indication that holes exhibit longer lifetimes than electrons with the same excitation energy. Our calculations show that the small overlap of d- and sp-states below the Fermi level is responsible for the observed enhancement. Although there is qualitative good agreement of our theoretical predictions and the measured lifetimes, there still exist some discrepancies pointing to the need of a better description of the actual band structure of the solid.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, 1 table, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Surface characterization and surface electronic structure of organic quasi-one-dimensional charge transfer salts

We have thoroughly characterized the surfaces of the organic charge-transfer salts TTF-TCNQ and (TMTSF)2PF6 which are generally acknowledged as prototypical examples of one-dimensional conductors. In particular x-ray induced photoemission spectroscopy turns out to be a valuable non-destructive diagnostic tool. We show that the observation of generic one-dimensional signatures in photoemission spectra of the valence band close to the Fermi level can be strongly affected by surface effects. Especially, great care must be exercised taking evidence for an unusual one-dimensional many-body state exclusively from the observation of a pseudogap.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figures, v2: minor changes in text and figure labellin

Bolstering trust and reducing discipline incidents at a diverse middle school: How self-affirmation affects behavioral conduct during the transition to adolescence

A three-year field experiment at an ethnically diverse middle school (N = 163) tested the hypothesis that periodic self-affirmation exercises delivered by classroom teachers bolsters students' school trust and improves their behavioral conduct. Students were randomly assigned to either a self-affirmation condition, where they wrote a series of in-class essays about personally important values, or a control condition, where they wrote essays about personally unimportant values. There were no behavioral effects of affirmation at the end of 6th grade, after students had completed four writing exercises. However, after four additional exercises in 7th grade, affirmed students had a significantly lower rate of discipline incidents than students in the control condition. The effect continued to grow and did not differ across ethnic groups, such that during 8th grade students in the affirmation condition on average received discipline at a 69% lower rate than students in the control condition. Analyses of student climate surveys revealed that affirmation was associated with higher school trust over time, a tendency that held across ethnic groups and partially mediated the affirmation effect on discipline. Repeated self-affirmation can bolster students' school trust and reduce the incidence of discipline in middle school, findings with both theoretical and practical implications

DIE BIOETHIK UND ANTHROPOLOGIE

Budući da je i bioetika, kako je već naznačeno i u njezinu imenu, posebna, specijalna etika (sadržana i u koncepciji bioetike kao nove, transdisciplinarne znanosti), prvo je rečeno ono osnovno o etici kao disciplini praktičke filozofije, da bi tako postao razgovjetniji i smisao, zadaća i mogućnosti bioetike kao primijenjene etike na područje života općenito, prvenstveno na čovjekov život i zdravlje. Kako je etika kao refleksija o ispravnom i dobrom ljudskom djelovanju bitno povezana s antropologijom kao filozofijskim i znanstvenim promišljanjem naravi, položaja u svijetu i biti čovjekova bića uopće (prirodnoga, društvenoga i duhovnog), to je u drugom dijelu ovoga konspekta pokazana i »pupčana« sveza bioetike s antropologijom, s posebnim obzirom na suvremene ekološke uvjete života, tj. na prijeteću globalnu i strukturalnu ekološku krizu.Since bioethics, as the name itself indicates, is a special kind of ethics (contained in the concept of bioethics as a new, transdisciplinary science), in the beginning, the basic thing about ethics as a discipline of practical philosophy is said, to make, therefore, more comprehensible the sense, task and possibilities of bioethics as applied ethics in the field of life in general, first of all, in human\u27s life and health. And since ethics as a reflection on right and good human activity is essentially connected with anthropology as philosophical and scientific reflexion on nature, on the position in the world and on the essence of human being in general (natural, social and spiritual) , thus, in the second part of this conspectus, the "umbilical" connection between bioethics and anthropology has been shown, with the special regard to contemporary ecological conditions of life, i.e. to the threatening global and ecological crisis.Da auch die Bioethik wie schon aus ihrem Namen hervorgeht eine besondere spezielle Ethik ist (das ist auch in der Konzeption der Bioethik als einer neuen transdisziplinaren Wisenschaft enthalten), wurde zuerst das Grundlegende über Ethik als einer Disziplin der praktischen Philosophie gesagt, damit so auch der Sinn deutlich wird, die Aufgabe und die Möglichkeiten der Bioethik als einer auf dem Gebiet des Lebens allgemein angewandten Ethik, vor allem angewandt auf das menschliche Leben und Gesundheit. Da die Ethik als eine Reflexion über die gute und richtige Wirkung des Menschen im Wesentlichen mit der Anthropologie als philosophische und wissenschaftliche Überlegung der menschlichen Natur verbunden ist, mit der Stellung in der Welt und dem Kern des menschlichen Wesens (natürlichem, gesellschaftlichem und geistigem), so ist im zweiten Teil dieses Konspekts die "Nabelschnurr" — Verbindung der Bioethik mit der Anthropologie dargelegt, und daß mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der heutigen ökologischen Umweltbediengungen., d.h. der droheneden globalen und strukturalen ökologischen Krise