Radiation environment for rendezvous and docking with nuclear rockets

Radiation environment data for the NERVA engine are provided which may be utilized in estimating radiation exposures associated with various space maneuvers. Spatial distributions of neutron and gamma tissue kerma rates produced during full thrust operation of the engine are presented. Final rendezvous with an orbiting space station would be achieved subsequent to full thrust operation during a period of 10 or more hours duration in which impulse is delivered by the propellant used for removal of decay heat. Consequently, post operation radiation levels are of prime importance in estimating space station exposures. Maps of gamma kerma rates around the engine are provided for decay times of 4 and 24 hours after a representative firing. Typical decay curves illustrating the dependence of post operation kerma rates on decay time and operating history are included. Examples of the kerma distributions around the engine which result from integration over specific exposure periods are shown

A Basin Analysis of the Wabigoon Area of Lake Agassiz, a Quaternary Clay Basin in Northwerstern Ontario

Information from a wide range of sources is integrated in a basin analysis of the Wabigoon Basin, a Quaternary clay basin located on the Canadian Shield in northwestern Ontario. The basin sediments were deposited between 10.9 ka and 9.5 ka, along the margin of the Rainy Lobe of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, which formed the northern boundary of proglacial Lake Agassiz. The basin architecture is dominated by four major elements: end moraines, eskers, kames and a clay plain, all of which overlie irregular bedrock topography. End moraines, eskers and kames are composed mainly of a fining upward sequence of gravels and sands. The geometry of these sedimentary units, and their sedimentary structures indicates they were deposited mainly by high and low-density turbidity currents, on ice-marginal subaqueous outwash fans. Eskers contain a core of coarse gravel and sand deposited within subglacial meltwater conduits, overlain by subaqueous fan sediments deposited at the conduit mouth. Esker ridges were formed during conduit filling events and flanking deposits were formed when a conduit remained in use during ice-marginal retreat. Where conduits were shortlived, isolated subaqueous fans (kames) were formed. A depositional model is proposed which relates moraine formation to catastrophic releases of subglacial meltwater and sediment simultaneously along the entire margin of the Rainy Lobe. The clay plain forms a broad blanket of fine-grained, rhythmically-bedded sediment which obscures bedrock topography, and often buries esker and kame deposits. Seismic profiles and overburden drilling reveal deep (50-70 m) bedrock lows beneath the clay plain. These lows, oriented sub-parallel to the ice margin, acted as sediment traps, and were infilled by the deposits of underflows generated at the ice margin.Les renseignements tirés d'un grand nombre de sources sont intégrés en vue de l'analyse du bassin de Wabigoon, situé sur le Bouclier canadien. Les sédiments qui le composent ont été déposés entre 10,9 et 9,5 ka, le long de la marge du lobe Rainy de l'Inlandsis laurentidien, qui formait la limite nord du Lac Agassiz. Les quatre formes principales qu'on y trouve sont les moraines frontales, les eskers, les kames et une plaine argileuse; ces formes recouvrent le relief irrégulier du substratum. Les moraines frontales, les eskers et les kames sont surtout composés d'une séquence de graviers et de sables s'affinant vers le haut. La géométrie de ces unités sédimentaires et leur structure montrent qu'elles ont en grande partie été déposées sur des épandages fluvioglaciaires sous-aquatiques de marge glaciaire par des courants de turbidité de haute et de basse densité. Les eskers renferment un noyau de gravier et de sable grossier déposés à l'intérieur des chenaux de fonte sous-glaciaires, recouverts par les sédiments de cône sous-aquatique déposés à l'embouchure des chenaux. Les crêtes d'eskers ont été édifiées en même temps que s'effectuait le remplissage des chenaux et les dépôts latéraux ont été formés alors qu'un chenal demeurait actif pendant le retrait glaciaire. Là où l'activité a été de courte durée, des cônes sous-aquatiques isolés (kames) se sont formés. On propose ici un modèle de mise en place des sédiments qui lie la formation des moraines à des écoulements sous-glaciaires catastrophiques et simultanés d'eau de fonte et de sédiments tout le long de la marge du lobe Rainy. La plaine argileuse forme une couverture étendue de sédiments à grains fins, à stratification rythmique, qui cache le relief du substratum et enfouit souvent les eskers et les kames. Les profils sismiques et les forages dans les dépôts meubles révèlent des dépressions profondes (50-70 m) dans le substratum sous Ia plaine argileuse.Informationen aus einer Vielfalt von Quellen sind fur die Analyse des Wabigoon-Beckens vereinigt, ein Quaternàr-Lehm-Becken, das sich auf dem kanadischen Schild befindet. Die Beckensedimente wurden zwischen 10.9 ka und 9.5 ka abgela-gert, entlang dem Rand der Rainy-Lobe der laurentidischen Eisdecke, welche die nôrdli-che Grenzlinie des proglazialen Agassiz-Sees bildete. Die Becken-Architektur wird von vier Hauptelementen beherrscht: Endmoràne, Eskers, Kames und eine Lehmebene. Die drei ersteren bestehen vor allem aus einer nach oben hin feiner werdenden Sequenz von Kies und Sand. Die Géométrie dieser Sediment-Einheiten und ihre Sediment-Strukturen zeigen, daB sie haupt-àchlich durch Dichtigkeitsstrômungen mit hoher und niedriger Dichte abgelagert wurden auf Unterwasser-Eisrand-Schwemmfàchern. Die Eskers enthalten einen Kern von grobem Kies und Sand, der innerhalb subgla-zialer Schmelzwasserkanàle abgelagert wurde, ùberlagert von Unterwasser-Fàcher-sedimenten, die an der Mùndung der Kanàle abgelagert wurden. Die Esker-Rùcken wurden wàhrend der Fùllung der Kanàle gebildet und seitliche Ablagerungen wurden gebildet, wenn ein Kanal wàhrend des Rùckzugs des Eisrands aktiv blieb. Wo Kanàle kurzlebig waren, bildeten sich isolierte Unterwasser-Fàcher (Kames). Ein Ablagerungsmodell wird vorgeschlagen, das die Bildung der Morâne mit katastrophenartigem gleichzeiti-gem Freiwerden von subglazialem Schmelz-wasser und Sedimenten entlang des ganzen RandsderRainy-Lobeverbindet. DieLehmebene bildet eine breite Decke von feinkôrnigem, rhythmisch gelagertem Sediment, welches die Topographie des anstehenden Gesteins verdeckt und hâufig Esker- und Kame-Ablagerungen ùberlagert. Die seismischen Profile und Bohrungen in den lockeren Ablagerungen lassen tiefe Niederungen (50-70 m) unter der Lehmebene im anstehenden Gestein erkennen

Spin Dynamics of the Triangular Heisenberg Antiferromagnet: A Schwinger Boson Approach

We have analyzed the two-dimensional antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model on the triangular lattice using a Schwinger boson mean-field theory. By expanding around a state with local $120^\circ$ order, we obtain, in the limit of infinite spin, results for the excitation spectrum in complete agreement with linear spin wave theory (LSWT). In contrast to LSWT, however, the modes at the ordering wave vectors acquire a mass for finite spin. We discuss the origin of this effect.Comment: 15 pages REVTEX 3.0 preprint, 6 postscript figures ( uuencoded and compressed using the script uufiles ) are submitted separately

Possible Quantum Spin Liquid States on the Triangular and Kagome Lattices

The frustrated spin-one-half Heisenberg model on triangualr and Kagome Lattices is mapped onto a single specis of fermion carrying statistical flux. The corresponding Chern-Simons gauge theory is analyzed at the Gaussian level and found to be massive. This provides a new motivation for the spin-liquid Kalmeyer-Laughlin wave function. Good overlap of this wave function with the numerical ground state is found for small clusters.Comment: 13 pages, revtex. IUCM-920

Professionally responsible coronavirus disease 2019 vaccination counseling of obstetrical and gynecologic patients

© 2021 Elsevier Inc. The development of coronavirus disease 2019 vaccines in the current and planned clinical trials is essential for the success of a public health response. This paper focuses on how physicians should implement the results of these clinical trials when counseling patients who are pregnant, planning to become pregnant, breastfeeding or planning to breastfeed about vaccines with government authorization for clinical use. Determining the most effective approach to counsel patients about coronavirus disease 2019 vaccination is challenging. We address the professionally responsible counseling of 3 groups of patients—those who are pregnant, those planning to become pregnant, and those breastfeeding or planning to breastfeed. We begin with an evidence-based account of the following 5 major challenges: the limited evidence base, the documented increased risk for severe disease among pregnant coronavirus disease 2019-infected patients, conflicting guidance from government agencies and professional associations, false information about coronavirus disease 2019 vaccines, and maternal mistrust and vaccine hesitancy. We subsequently provide evidence-based, ethically justified, practical guidance for meeting these challenges in the professionally responsible counseling of patients about coronavirus disease 2019 vaccination. To guide the professionally responsible counseling of patients who are pregnant, planning to become pregnant, and breastfeeding or planning to breastfeed, we explain how obstetrician-gynecologists should evaluate the current clinical information, why a recommendation of coronavirus disease 2019 vaccination should be made, and how this assessment should be presented to patients during the informed consent process with the goal of empowering them to make informed decisions. We also present a proactive account of how to respond when patients refuse the recommended vaccination, including the elements of the legal obligation of informed refusal and the ethical obligation to ask patients to reconsider. During this process, the physician should be alert to vaccine hesitancy, ask patients to express their hesitation and reasons for it, and respectfully address them. In contrast to the conflicting guidance from government agencies and professional associations, evidence-based professional ethics in obstetrics and gynecology provides unequivocal and clear guidance: Physicians should recommend coronavirus disease 2019 vaccination to patients who are pregnant, planning to become pregnant, and breastfeeding or planning to breastfeed. To prevent widening of the health inequities, build trust in the health benefits of vaccination, and encourage coronavirus disease 2019 vaccine and treatment uptake, in addition to recommending coronavirus disease 2019 vaccinations, physicians should engage with communities to tailor strategies to overcome mistrust and deliver evidence-based information, robust educational campaigns, and novel approaches to immunization

Efficiency of Exciton and Charge Carrier Photogeneration in a Semiconducting Polymer

Euan Hendry, Juleon M. Schins, L. P. Candeias, L. D. A. Siebbeles, and Mischa Bonn, Physical Review Letters, Vol. 92, article 196601 (2004). "Copyright © 2004 by the American Physical Society."We determine the efficiencies for the formation of excitons and charge carriers following ultrafast photoexcitation of a semiconducting polymer (MEH-PPV). The simultaneous, quantitative determination of exciton and charge photoyields is achieved through subpicosecond studies of both the real and the imaginary components of the complex conductivity over a wide frequency range. Predominantly excitons, with near-unity quantum efficiency, are generated on excitation, while only a very small fraction (<10-2) of free charges are initially excited, consistent with rapid (∼100  fs) hot exciton dissociation. These initial charges are very short lived, decaying on subpicosecond time scales

Exome Sequencing as a Diagnostic Tool for Pediatric-Onset Ataxia

Ataxia demonstrates substantial phenotypic and genetic heterogeneity. We set out to determine the diagnostic yield of exome sequencing in pediatric patients with ataxia without a molecular diagnosis after standard-of-care assessment in Canada. FORGE (Finding Of Rare disease GEnes) Canada is a nation-wide project focused on identifying novel disease genes for rare pediatric diseases using whole-exome sequencing. We retrospectively selected all FORGE Canada projects that included cerebellar ataxia as a feature. We identified 28 such families and a molecular diagnosis was made in 13; a success rate of 46%. In 11 families, we identified mutations in genes associated with known neurological syndromes and in two we identified novel disease genes. Exome analysis of sib pairs and/or patients born to consanguineous parents was more likely to be successful (9/13) than simplex cases (4/15). Our data suggest that exome sequencing is an effective first line test for pediatric patients with ataxia where a specific single gene is not immediately suspected to be causative. © 2013 The Authors. *Human Mutation published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc