The rainfall parameter that expresses the capacity to promote soil erosion is called rainfall erosivity (R), and is commonly represented by the indexes EI30 and KE>25. The calculations of these ...indexes requires pluviographical records, that are difficult to obtain in Brazil. This paper describes the use of synthetic rainfall series to compute EI30 and KE>25 in Espirito Santo State (Brazil). Artificial neural networks (ANNs) were also developed to spatially interpolate R values in Espirito Santo. EI30 and KE>25 indexes values were close to those calculated on a homogeneous area according to the similarity of rainfall distribution; indicating the applicability of the use of synthetic rainfall series to estimate the R factor. ANNs had a better performance than Inverse Distance Weighted and Kriging to spatially interpolate rainfall erosivity values in the State of Espirito Santo.
This paper presents the synthesis of the fullerene hosts based on the calix5arenes and their binding properties. Calix5arenes
1a
,
2
,
3a
bind C
60 or C
70 in organic solvents. The solvent effect of ...the fullerene complexation was clearly observed; the association constant decreases in a solvent with high solubility for C
60. Covalently linked double-calix5arenes
4–
6
were also investigated on their binding properties for fullerenes in organic solvents. Their binding abilities for both C
60 and C
70 are extremely high in toluene solution. Higher binding selectivity toward C
70 is observed by all the double-calix5arenes. The selectivity of
5a
toward C
70/C
60 is highest in toluene with a value of 10. The structures of the supramolecular complexes of the calix5arene hosts and C
60 or C
70 were investigated by using
1H and
13C NMR studies. The molecular mechanics calculation and X-ray structure reveal that the interior of the calix5arene is complementary to the exterior of C
60 molecule. In contrast, the host–guest complexes of C
70 with the simple calix5arenes take many conformational options due to its less symmetric shape. The molecular mechanics calculation and our chemical shift simulation nicely worked to estimate the reliable structures; the calix5arene cavity takes up C
70 molecule, and the C
70 molecule tilts significantly from the C5 axis of the calix5arene. In the case of the host–guest complex of C
70 with the double-calix5arene, the molecular dynamics simulation of the host–guest complex represented the realistic movement of the bound C
70 inside the cavity. The combination of the molecular dynamics simulation and the chemical shift simulation of the host–guest complex suggested that the C
70 molecule rapidly moves inside the cavity.
Graphical Abstract
Epidemiological studies suggest the high fat content of the Western diet to be responsible for atherosclerosis and its thrombotic complications. Despite such a prevailing view, few animal experiments ...have so far succeeded in demonstrating enhanced thrombogenicity due to a high fat diet. Even a high fat and a very high cholesterol (1%) diet has failed to demonstrate an enhanced thrombotic reaction in rodents and rabbits. The aim of the present study was twofold. First, we wanted to establish a new, sensitive and specific in vivo thrombosis model in mice, which can then be used to study the effect of diets. Second, we intended to employ such a thrombosis model in investigations into the effect of high or low fat diets on thrombosis. The technique described uses a laser to induce thrombus formation in the exposed carotid artery of apolipoprotein E-deficient and low-density lipoprotein receptor-deficient mice. Thrombus formation was recorded on video, analysed by computer, and the size of thrombus was calculated by image analysis software. Thrombotic status was evaluated by analysing a total of 61 individual images of the thrombotic reaction, which were taken over 600 s. The severity of atherosclerosis was assessed by image analysis of the stained elastic fibers. Two kinds of diets were usedthe Western type, high fat diet contained 20% fat (w/w) and 0.05% cholesterol (w/w); the low fat diet contained 7% fat, without cholesterol. These diets were on the basis of AIN93G and were given to mice for 4 or 8 weeks. The high fat diet significantly enhanced both the thrombotic reaction and the development of atherosclerosis as compared with the low fat diet.
The ATLAS level-1 muon endcap trigger system is divided into three parts; one off-detector part and two on-detector parts. Application specific ICs (ASICs) and anti-fuse Field Programmable Gate Array ...(FPGAs) are actively used in the on-detector parts. A Low-Voltage Data Signaling (LVDS) serial link is used for the data transfer between the two on-detector parts (15 m apart) and G-Link (Hewlett-Packard 1.4 Gbaud high speed data link) with optical transmission (90 m) is used from one of the on-detector parts to the off-detector part. These components will be exposed to a radiation of approximately 200 Gy (including safety factors) for ten years corresponding to a total ionizing dose (TID) and a hadron fluence of 2/spl times/10/sup 10/ hadrons/cm/sup 2/. We have investigated systematically the radiation susceptibility to both the total ionizing dose and the single event effects for ASIC, FPGA, and Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) serializer and deserializer chipsets for two types of LVDS serial link and one G-Link type. In this documentation we report the result of the irradiation tests for these devices and discuss their validity in the ATLAS system.
The BELLE silicon vertex detector Alimonti, G; Aihara, H; Alexander, J ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
10/2000, Letnik:
453, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
A silicon vertex detector has been developed for the BELLE experiment at the KEK B-factory to be used to determine the relative displacements of B-meson decay vertices for CP violation measurements. ...The device has been successfully installed and operated with high-luminosity beam conditions. The average strip yield is larger than 96%, including the preamplifier electronics yield and the detector is currently working stably with a signal-to-noise ratio of 17–40. The measured impact parameter resolution agrees with expectations based on Monte Carlo simulations, and the measured
D
0
lifetime is in good agreement with the particle data group's average of other measurements. Several B→J/ψK events produced at the ϒ(4S) resonance have been detected and separate decay vertices have been found.
An application-specified integration circuit (ASIC) has been fabricated in order to readout data from a multiwire proportional chamber (MWPC) that is installed in a high-rate environment, 16 channels ...and an ancillary control circuit are packed in a chip, and a channel consists of an LVDS receiver and 100-stage shift register array for delay. Hit data from the chamber is once inputted in the shift register array, and is outputted when the trigger signal is set. If a channel contains a signal during a gate followed by the trigger, the channel is regarded as containing a hit. The primary purpose for constructing the chip is for test beam and cosmic ray test of ATLAS thin gap chambers (TGC), which are used for the muon-trigger signal generation. The architecture of the ASIC is simple and independent from the specific readout scheme of ATLAS TGC. It will be found that the ASTC is adopted easily for any readout scheme of an MWPC like detector.
A remote control system has been developed for versa module Eurocard (VME) modules located in a radiation environment. Two new VME modules-the remote controller (RC) and local interface modules-are ...introduced to mediate between the local host and remote slave modules. These two modules are connected with optical links and the local host can master the remote VME bus to access the slave modules through these intermediate modules. This control system can perform watchdog for field programmable gate array (FPGA)-embedded modules whose configuration data are susceptible to single event upsets (SEUs). The architectural study and first prototyping of this system are discussed.
A slice test system has been constructed for the ATLAS end-cap muon level-1 trigger. ATLAS is one of the four Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiment. Although the system has been constructed using ...prototype application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and electronics modules, the design scheme of the trigger, readout as well as control logic applied to the system is the final one. The size is about 1/300 of the whole number of channels. The purpose of the slice test is to demonstrate the system design and performance in detail prior to production commitment. In this paper, we discuss the validity of the logic through the comparison of the simulation results, the latency measurement and long run tests.
To determine the effect and safety of verteporfin therapy (Visudyne) in Japanese age-related macular degeneration (AMD) patients.
Open-label, multicenter, prospective, noncontrolled study.
The ...setting was five university hospitals in Japan. The study population was patients at least 50 years old, with best-corrected visual acuity of 20/40 to 20/200 inclusive and fluorescein angiography documenting subfoveal, classic-containing choroidal neovascularization (CNV) secondary to AMD and a lesion of greatest linear dimension ≤ 5,400 μm. For the intervention, patients received verteporfin intravenously followed by light administration 15 minutes after the infusion start. Additional treatment was given every 3 months through month 9 if leakage from CNV was observed on angiogram. The main outcome measure was percentage of lesions with progression of classic CNV beyond the area of the baseline lesion.
Sixty-four patients were enrolled at five centers, and 61 patients completed the study. The me-dian number of treatments given during the trial was three. At the 12-month examination, 12 patients (19%; 95% confidence interval: 11%–31%) had progression of classic CNV whereas 32 (50%) and 49 (77%) patients had no leakage from classic or occult CNV, respectively. The median visual acuity score (approximate Snellen equivalent) from baseline to month 12 increased from 50.0 (20/100)–56.5 (20/80
+2) letters. Fourteen patients (22%) had visual disturbances, including two patients (3%) with acute vision decrease considered as serious adverse events and one patient (2%) with infusion-related back pain. No photosensitivity reactions were reported.
Verteporfin therapy for subfoveal CNV in these Japanese patients appeared to have a similar or better angiographic and vision effect as that observed in Caucasian patients, with the same safety profile, supporting its use in Japanese patients.
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