Null Strings in Kerr Spacetime

The null string's equations of motion and constraints in the Kerr spacetime are given. We assume a generic ansatz for the null strings in the Kerr spacetime and we present the resulting solutions in quadratures. Some specific string configurations, that follow from the generic one, are considered separately. In each case we also extract the corresponding solutions in the Schwarzschild spacetime.Comment: 11 pages, LaTex, no figures, final version to be published in Phys.Lett.B, references adde

Giant central lumbar disc herniations: a case for the transdural approach.

Giant central lumbar disc protrusions can pose a significant operative challenge. Clinically, these patients are at risk of permanent disability, due not only to preoperative neural compromise caused by the protrusion itself but also to the potential iatrogenic risks associated with the standard extradural microdiscectomy technique. This is the first report to date of a giant central L3/4 disc protrusion being successfully treated through a transdural microdiscectomy approach. Prior to this report, there have been just two cases describing its application in the lumbar spine. However, neither of these reports has described its use below the level of L2/3. We compare our surgical technique with these authors and discuss the pros and cons of this surgical approach relative to the standard extradural microdiscectomy technique. Overall, we have observed encouraging results from this approach and this report would support a role for further investigation into this rarely used technique

Supporting group maintenance through prognostics-enhanced dynamic dependability prediction

Condition-based maintenance strategies adapt maintenance planning through the integration of online condition monitoring of assets. The accuracy and cost-effectiveness of these strategies can be improved by integrating prognostics predictions and grouping maintenance actions respectively. In complex industrial systems, however, effective condition-based maintenance is intricate. Such systems are comprised of repairable assets which can fail in different ways, with various effects, and typically governed by dynamics which include time-dependent and conditional events. In this context, system reliability prediction is complex and effective maintenance planning is virtually impossible prior to system deployment and hard even in the case of condition-based maintenance. Addressing these issues, this paper presents an online system maintenance method that takes into account the system dynamics. The method employs an online predictive diagnosis algorithm to distinguish between critical and non-critical assets. A prognostics-updated method for predicting the system health is then employed to yield well-informed, more accurate, condition-based suggestions for the maintenance of critical assets and for the group-based reactive repair of non-critical assets. The cost-effectiveness of the approach is discussed in a case study from the power industry

Measurement based method for online characterization of generator dynamic behaviour in systems with renewable generation

This paper introduces a hybrid-methodology for online identification and clustering of generator oscillatory behavior, based on measured responses. The dominant modes in generator measured responses are initially identified using a mode identification technique and then introduced, in the next step, as input into a clustering algorithm. Critical groups of generators that exhibit poorly or negatively damped oscillations are identified, in order to enable corrective control actions and stabilize the system. The uncertainties associated with operation of modern power systems, including Renewable Energy Sources (RES) are investigated, with emphasis on the impact of the dynamic behavior of power electronic interfaced RES

Nuclear emulsion readout techniques developed for the CHORUS experiment

The CHORUS experiment is pursuing the study of the production and decay of short lived particles from neutrino interactions in a nuclear emulsion target. The extraction of the full information from the emulsion sheets has been possible only thanks to the development of fully automatic microscopes. The technique of automatic scanning, pioneered in Nagoya, involves precision mechanics, high quality optics and a readout scheme allowing for fast decisions. From the R&D efforts within the various institutes of the CHORUS collaboration, the complementary approaches adopted by the Nagoya and CERN/NIKHEF groups are described here. Both are based on the principle that all information from the emulsion sheets should be extracted at the highest possible rate, limited only by the camera readout and the mechanical stability of the microscope stage. (12 refs)

The POOL Data Storage, Cache and Conversion Mechanism

The POOL data storage mechanism is intended to satisfy the needs of the LHC experiments to store and analyze the data from the detector response of particle collisions at the LHC proton-proton collider. Both the data rate and the data volumes will largely differ from the past experience. The POOL data storage mechanism is intended to be able to cope with the experiment's requirements applying a flexible multi technology data persistency mechanism. The developed technology independent approach is flexible enough to adopt new technologies, take advantage of existing schema evolution mechanisms and allows users to access data in a technology independent way. The framework consists of several components, which can be individually adopted and integrated into existing experiment frameworks.Comment: Talk from the 2003 Computing in High Energy and Nuclear Physics (CHEP03), La Jolla, Ca, USA, March 2003, 5 pages, PDF, 6 figures. PSN MOKT00