Electric quadrupole transitions of the Bohr Hamiltonian with the Morse potential

Eigenfunctions of the collective Bohr Hamiltonian with the Morse potential have been obtained by using the Asymptotic Iteration Method (AIM) for both gamma-unstable and rotational structures. B(E2) transition rates have been calculated and compared to experimental data. Overall good agreement is obtained for transitions within the ground state band, while some interband transitions appear to be systematically underpredicted in gamma-unstable nuclei and overpredicted in rotational nuclei.Comment: LaTeX, 19 page

Heterogeneous condensation of the Lennard-Jones vapor onto a nanoscale seed particle

The heterogeneous condensation of a Lennard-Jones vapor onto a nanoscale seed particle is studied using molecular dynamics simulations. Measuring the nucleation rate and the height of the free energy barrier using the mean first passage time method shows that the presence of a weakly interacting seed has little effect on the work of forming very small cluster embryos but accelerates the rate by lowering the barrier for larger clusters. We suggest that this results from a competition between the energetic and entropic features of cluster formation in the bulk and at the heterogeneity. As the interaction is increased, the free energy of formation is reduced for all cluster sizes. We also develop a simple phenomenological model of film formation on a small seed that captures the general features of the nucleation process for small heterogeneities. A comparison of our simulation results with the model shows that heterogeneous classical nucleation theory provides a good estimate of the critical size of the film but significantly over-estimates the size of the barrier.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures, In Print J. Chem. Phy

CacheZoom: How SGX Amplifies The Power of Cache Attacks

In modern computing environments, hardware resources are commonly shared, and parallel computation is widely used. Parallel tasks can cause privacy and security problems if proper isolation is not enforced. Intel proposed SGX to create a trusted execution environment within the processor. SGX relies on the hardware, and claims runtime protection even if the OS and other software components are malicious. However, SGX disregards side-channel attacks. We introduce a powerful cache side-channel attack that provides system adversaries a high resolution channel. Our attack tool named CacheZoom is able to virtually track all memory accesses of SGX enclaves with high spatial and temporal precision. As proof of concept, we demonstrate AES key recovery attacks on commonly used implementations including those that were believed to be resistant in previous scenarios. Our results show that SGX cannot protect critical data sensitive computations, and efficient AES key recovery is possible in a practical environment. In contrast to previous works which require hundreds of measurements, this is the first cache side-channel attack on a real system that can recover AES keys with a minimal number of measurements. We can successfully recover AES keys from T-Table based implementations with as few as ten measurements.Comment: Accepted at Conference on Cryptographic Hardware and Embedded Systems (CHES '17

Pattern and Outcome of Chest Injuries at Bugando Medical Centre in Northwestern Tanzania.

Chest injuries constitute a continuing challenge to the trauma or general surgeon practicing in developing countries. This study was conducted to outline the etiological spectrum, injury patterns and short term outcome of these injuries in our setting. This was a prospective study involving chest injury patients admitted to Bugando Medical Centre over a six-month period from November 2009 to April 2010 inclusive. A total of 150 chest injury patients were studied. Males outnumbered females by a ratio of 3.8:1. Their ages ranged from 1 to 80 years (mean = 32.17 years). The majority of patients (72.7%) sustained blunt injuries. Road traffic crush was the most common cause of injuries affecting 50.7% of patients. Chest wall wounds, hemothorax and rib fractures were the most common type of injuries accounting for 30.0%, 21.3% and 20.7% respectively. Associated injuries were noted in 56.0% of patients and head/neck (33.3%) and musculoskeletal regions (26.7%) were commonly affected. The majority of patients (55.3%) were treated successfully with non-operative approach. Underwater seal drainage was performed in 39 patients (19.3%). One patient (0.7%) underwent thoracotomy due to hemopericardium. Thirty nine patients (26.0%) had complications of which wound sepsis (14.7%) and complications of long bone fractures (12.0%) were the most common complications. The mean LOS was 13.17 days and mortality rate was 3.3%. Using multivariate logistic regression analysis, associated injuries, the type of injury, trauma scores (ISS, RTS and PTS) were found to be significant predictors of the LOS (P < 0.001), whereas mortality was significantly associated with pre-morbid illness, associated injuries, trauma scores (ISS, RTS and PTS), the need for ICU admission and the presence of complications (P < 0.001). Chest injuries resulting from RTCs remain a major public health problem in this part of Tanzania. Urgent preventive measures targeting at reducing the occurrence of RTCs is necessary to reduce the incidence of chest injuries in this region

Airway complications after lung transplantation: risk factors, prevention and outcome

PURPOSE: Anastomotic complications following lung transplantation (LuTx) have been described in up to 15% of patients. Challenging to treat, they are associated with high morbidity and a mortality rate of 2-5%. The aim of this study was to analyze the incidence of complications in a consecutive series of bronchial anastomosis after LuTx at our center and to delineate the potential risk factors. METHODS: Between 1992 and 2007, 441 bronchial anastomoses were performed in 235 patients. Indications for transplantation were cystic fibrosis (35.7%) emphysema (28.1%) pulmonary fibrosis (12.8%) and pulmonary hypertension (7.7%). There were 206 sequential bilateral and 28 single transplants including lobar engraftments in 20 cases. The donor bronchus was shortened to the plane of the lobar carina including the medial wall of the intermediate bronchus. Peribronchial tissue was left untouched. Anastomosis was carried out using a continuous absorbable running suture (PDS 4/0) at the membranous and interrupted sutures at the cartilaginous part. Six elective surveillance bronchoscopies were done monthly during the first half-year post-LuTx, with detailed assessment of the pre- and post-anastomotic airways. RESULTS: One-year survival since 2000 was 90.5%. In all 441 anastomoses performed, no significant dehiscence was observed. In one patient, a small fistula was detected and closed surgically on postoperative day five. Fungal membranes were found in 50% of the anastomoses at 1 month and in 14% at 6 months. Discrete narrowing of the anastomotic lumen without need for intervention was found in 4.9% of patients at 1 month and in 2.4% at 6 months. Age, cytomegalovirus status, induction therapy, immunosuppressive regimen, ischemic time, and ventilation time had no influence on bronchial healing. CONCLUSIONS: Clinically relevant bronchial anastomotic complications after LuTx can be avoided by use of a simple standardized surgical technique. Aggressive antibiotic and antifungal therapy might play an important supportive rol

Three-Dimensional Phase Step Profilometry With A Multicore Optical Fiber

This paper demonstrates the feasibility of using phase stepping and a multicore optical fiber to calculate an object\u27s depth profile. An interference pattern is projected by an optical fiber onto the object. The distorted interference pattern containing the object information is captured by a CCD camera and processed using a phase step interferometry method. The phase step method is less computationally intensive compared to two-dimensional Fourier transform profilometry and provides more accuracy when measuring objects of high frequency spatial variations. (C) 2012 Optical Society of Americ

Use of polyethylene glycol coatings for optical fibre humidity sensing

Humidity induced change in the refractive index and thickness of the polyethylene glycol (PEG) coatings are in situ investigated for a range from 10 to 95%, using an optical waveguide spectroscopic technique. It is experimentally demonstrated that, upon humidity change, the optical and swelling characteristics of the PEG coatings can be employed to build a plastic fibre optic humidity sensor. The sensing mechanism is based on the humidity induced change in the refractive index of the PEG film, which is directly coated onto a polished segment of a plastic optical fibre with dip-coating method. It is observed that PEG, which is a highly hydrophilic material, shows no monotonic linear response to humidity but gives different characteristics for various ranges of humidity levels both in index of refraction and in thickness. It undergoes a physical phase change from a semi-crystal line structure to a gel one at around 80% relative humidity. At this phase change point, a drastic decrease occurs in the index of refraction as well as a drastic increase in the swelling of the PEG film. In addition, PEG coatings are hydrogenated in a vacuum chamber. It is observed that the hydrogen has a preventing effect on the humidity induced phase change in PEG coatings. Finally, the possibility of using PEG coatings in construction of a real plastic fibre optic humidity sensor is discussed. (C) 2008 The Optical Society of Japan

Right-invariant Sobolev metrics of fractional order on the diffeomorphism group of the circle

In this paper, we study the geodesic flow of a right-invariant metric induced by a general Fourier multiplier on the diffeomorphism group of the circle and on some of its homogeneous spaces. This study covers in particular right-invariant metrics induced by Sobolev norms of fractional order. We show that, under a certain condition on the symbol of the inertia operator (which is satisfied for the fractional Sobolev norm $H^{s}$ for $s \ge 1/2$), the corresponding initial value problem is well-posed in the smooth category and that the Riemannian exponential map is a smooth local diffeomorphism. Paradigmatic examples of our general setting cover, besides all traditional Euler equations induced by a local inertia operator, the Constantin-Lax-Majda equation, and the Euler-Weil-Petersson equation.Comment: 40 pages. Corrected typos and improved redactio

Detection of florpyrauxifen-benzyl residues in tree nut crop leaves after simulated drift treatment

Abstract: Rice herbicide drift poses a significant challenge in California, where rice fields are near almond, pistachio, and walnut orchards. This research was conducted as part of a stewardship program for a newly registered rice herbicide and specifically aimed to compare the onset of foliar symptoms resulting from simulated florpyrauxifen-benzyl drift with residues in almond, pistachio, and walnut leaves at several time points after exposure. Treatments were applied to one side of the canopy of 1- and 2-yr-old trees at 1/100X and 1/33X of the florpyrauxifen-benzyl rice field use rate of 29.4 g ai ha–1 in 2020 and 2021. Symptoms were observed 3 d after treatment (DAT) for pistachio and 7 DAT for almond and walnut, with peak severity at approximately 14 DAT. While almond and walnut symptoms gradually dissipated throughout the growing season, pistachio still had symptoms at leaf out in the following spring. Leaf samples were randomly collected from each tree for residue analysis at 7, 14, and 28 DAT. At 7 DAT with the 1/33X rate, almond, pistachio, and walnut leaves had florpyrauxifen-benzyl at 6.06, 5.95, and 13.12 ng g–1 fresh weight (FW) leaf, respectively. By 28 DAT, all samples from all crops treated with the 1/33X drift rate had florpyrauxifen-benzyl at less than 0.25 ng g–1 FW leaf. At the 1/100X rate, pistachio, almond, and walnut residues were 1.78, 2.31, and 3.58 ng g–1 FW leaf at 7 DAT, respectively. At 28 DAT with the 1/100X rate, pistachio and almond samples had florpyrauxifen-benzyl at 0.1 and 0.04 ng g–1 FW leaf, respectively, but walnut leaves did not have detectable residues. Together, these data suggest that residue analysis from leaf samples collected after severe symptoms may substantially underestimate actual exposure due to the relatively rapid dissipation of florpyrauxifen-benzyl in nut tree foliage

Tree Nut Crop Response to Simulated Florpyrauxifen-benzyl and Triclopyr Herbicide Drift

California is the nation’s primary producer of almonds, pistachios, and walnuts, and an important producer of rice. Because of California’s diverse cropping systems, off-target herbicide drift can be a considerable problem, particularly from aerial applications that are commonly used in flooded rice production systems. Triclopyr is an auxin-mimic type herbicide that has been commonly used in rice for many years for control of broadleaf weeds and the industry is familiar with symptoms of off-target triclopyr drift. Florpyrauxifen-benzyl is a newly registered auxin-mimic herbicide in California rice with activity on key weeds and is being rapidly adopted. Although symptoms typically are similar among auxinic herbicides, it is important to understand subtle differences and risks among these herbicides as stewardship for newly registered products. This research was conducted in 2020 and 2021 to determine the relative sensitivity of almond, pistachio, and walnut trees to simulated drift rates of florpyrauxifen-benzyl and triclopyr as well as characterize and compare symptoms caused by these two herbicides. The fractional herbicide rates tested were 1/200X, 1/100X, 1/33X, and 1/10X of the florpyrauxifen-benzyl use rate of 29.4 g·ha21 a.i. and 1/200X, 1/100X, and 1/33X of the triclopyr use rate of 420.3 g·ha21 a.e. Florpyrauxifen-benzyl and triclopyr herbicides were applied directly to one side of the canopy of 1- to 2-year-old almond, pistachio, and walnut trees. The general symptoms of florpyrauxifen-benzyl and triclopyr were chlorosis, chlorotic spots, leaf curling, leaf narrowing, leaf distortion, leaf malformation, leaf crinkling, shoot curling, stem coloring, stunting, terminal bud death, and twisting. The florpyrauxifen-benzyl and triclopyr injury symptoms were compared at the same fractional rates and found to be similar to each other. The herbicide injury was observed on the entire pistachio canopy, particularly on developing leaves and terminal buds. In contrast, injury symptoms on almond and walnut were more apparent on the side of the canopy to which the herbicides were applied. Symptom severity peaked at 14 days after treatment with the 1/10X florpyrauxifen-benzyl rate, when the visible injury was 16%, 48%, and 78% on almond, walnut, and pistachio, respectively. Although almond and walnut symptoms from the 1/10X florpyrauxifen-benzyl rate remained visible longer than all other treatments, all trees gradually recovered throughout the growing season. In contrast, pistachio trees did not recover fully and had injury symptoms that persisted for the remainder of the treatment year and at leaf-out the following spring. When drift occurs, it is typically at rates below 1/100X up to 1/33X of herbicide use rates. This research suggested that proper herbicide drift management practices and application precautions are likely to minimize the risk of significant injury from florpyrauxifen-benzyl drift to almond and walnut because of low injury symptoms at the typical drift rates. However, extra precautions may be needed if there are nearby pistachio orchards