scholarly journals Research and Development of the Artemis 14C AMS Facility: Status Report

Radiocarbon ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 331-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Moreau ◽  
I Caffy ◽  
C Comby ◽  
E Delqué-Količ ◽  
J-P Dumoulin ◽  
...  

The Artemis accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) facility is dedicated to high-precision radiocarbon measurements. It routinely measures over 4500 samples a year for French laboratories. This paper is a status report, showing the measurements of standard, blank, and FIRI intercomparison samples. Since 2008, research and development programs have been established by the Artemis team. During the collaborations with other research laboratories, intercomparisons on archaeological samples were performed and are listed here to show the quality of the Artemis measurements. Three areas of specific research and development are investigated: technical development, beam optic simulations, and specific archaeological studies. The technical developments of the facility are based on the setup of a new bench for water sample preparation and routine microsample preparation and measurement. Beam optic simulations are carried out to control the quality of the measurement related to the tuning of the facility. International collaborations are always in progress. In 2012, the programs include improving the accuracy of reigns for the dynastic Egypt period and the 14C dating of ancient iron.

1995 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 448-481 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. S. Mac Macpherson ◽  
Margaret Taplin

In this paper, we examine the policy preferences of Tasmania's principals concerning accountability criteria and processes, compare their views to other stakeholder groups, and identify issues that warrant attention in principals’ professional development programs. We show that there are many criteria and processes related to the quality of learning, teaching, and leadership that are valued by all stakeholder groups, including principals. We conclude that Tasmanian state schools probably need to review and develop their accountability policies, and that the professional development will need to prepare leaders for specific forms of performance and generate key competencies if more educative forms of accountability practices are to be realised in practice.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nataša Rebernik ◽  
Marek Szajczyk ◽  
Alfonso Bahillo ◽  
Barbara Goličnik Marušić

Cities are exposed to a growing complexity, diversity and rapid socio-technical developments. One of the greatest challenges is as of how to become fully inclusive to fit the needs of all their citizens, including those with disabilities. Inclusive city, both in theory and practice, still lacks attention. Even in the context of ambitious contemporary concepts, such as smart and sustainable city, the question remains: Do smart and sustainable cities consider inclusiveness of all their inhabitants? Among numerous evaluation systems that measure city’s smartness, sustainability or quality of life, those tackling inclusion are very rare. Specifically, disability inclusion is hardly covered. This may be one of the reasons why cities struggle with applying disability inclusion to practice in a holistic and integrative way. This paper proposes a Disability Inclusion Evaluation Tool (DIETool) and Disability Inclusion Performance Index (DIPI), designed to guide cities through a maze of accessibility and disability inclusion related requirements set within the political, legislative and standardization frameworks. The testing in two European cities shows that the tool is beneficial for providing diagnosis as to how disability friendly a city is, and as such offers an opportunity for designing informed corrective measures towards disability inclusive city design.


The feasibility and utility of long-distance communication via Earth-orbiting satellites has been demonstrated during recent years and it is appropriate therefore to focus attention on the more important scientific studies and technical developments that will be needed if full use is to be made of this valuable mode of communication in the future. The early communication satellites (the Telstar and Relay series) were pioneers in a relatively unknown propagation environment. The satellites themselves were conceptually simple and the communication equipment consisted essentially of a frequency-changing transponder with an r. f. power output of a few watts and a bandwidth some tens of megahertz. Carrier frequencies in the range 2 to 6 GHz were employed; typically either 2 or 6 GHz was used for transmission and 4 GHz for reception at the Earth station. To obtain an adequate signal/noise ratio at the output of the Earth station receiver, frequency modulation was employed, the frequency deviations being greater than those used on terrestrial microwave links. Launcher limitations and other factors meant that the satellites had to be placed in inclined elliptical orbits (see figure 1) with maximum heights of only a few thousand miles. Nevertheless, these satellites demonstrated that some hundreds of frequency-division multiplex telephony circuits, or a television channel, could be achieved with generally satisfactory quality of transmission. It is to be noted, however, that the satellite transponders accommodated only one, or at the most two, r. f. carriers at any time, and that the transmission performance was at times marginal due to limitations of the satellite effective radiated power. Furthermore, these relatively low orbit satellites provided communication in periods of generally less than an hour at a time and required continuous tracking by the Earth station aerials, due to movement of the satellites relative to the Earth.


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 83-87
Author(s):  
ALEXANDER KVASHIN ◽  

Analysis of the main trends in the development of the market for higher education services, affecting the transformation of university financing models, shows that improving the quality of educational services in Russian universities directly depends on an increase in the share of revenues received from research and development, as well as the ability of universities to present the results of their research and development in the form of a complete product from a marketing point of view and build a competent strategy for promoting innovations in the market. In the context of creating a long-term strategy for increasing the competitive advantages of leading universities, the author pays special attention to Project 5–100 of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, the purpose of which is to maximize the competitive position of a group of leading Russian universities in the global market of educational services and research programs. It is noted that university funding comes from various sources, while budgetary revenues dominate the structure of income, and the reduction in budgetary provision significantly affects the financial condition of Russian universities. The author comes to the conclusion that the forms and mechanisms of financial management of universities and research organizations are not strictly regulated, they independently choose the sources of funding.


Author(s):  
Gabriela de Oliveira Fernandes ◽  
Marcella Pecora Milazzotto ◽  
Andrei Antonioni Guedes Fidelis ◽  
Taynan Stonoga Kawamoto ◽  
Ligiane de Oliveira Leme ◽  
...  

Abstract The present study aimed to identify biomarkers to assess the quality of in vitro produced (IVP) bovine embryos in the culture media. IVP embryos on Day (D) 5 of development were transferred to individual drops, where they were maintained for the last 48 h of culture. Thereafter, the medium was collected and the embryos were transferred to the recipients. After pregnancy diagnosis, the media were grouped into the pregnant and nonpregnant groups. The metabolic profiles of the media were analyzed via electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, and the concentrations of pyruvate, lactate, and glutamate were assessed using fluorimetry. The spectrometric profile revealed that the media from embryos from the pregnant group presented a higher signal intensity compared to that of the nonpregnant group; the ions 156.13 Da [M + H]+, 444.33 Da [M + H]+, and 305.97 Da [M + H]+ were identified as biomarkers. Spent culture medium from expanded blastocysts (Bx) that established pregnancy had a greater concentration of pyruvate (p = 0.0174) and lesser concentration of lactate (p = 0.042) than spent culture medium from Bx that did not establish pregnancy. Moreover, pyruvate in the culture media of Bx can predict pregnancy with 90.9% sensitivity and 75% specificity. In conclusion, we identified markers in the culture media that helped in assessing the most viable IVP embryos with a greater potential to establish pregnancy.


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