Performance study of large-area glass resistive plate chambers with different spacer configurations

Optimization of spacer and gas distribution inside the glass resistive plate chamber (RPC) is reported. Simulation studies demonstrate improvements on the gas flow velocity homogeneity and lower vorticity inside the gas chamber. The optimized spacer configuration (76 spacers) decreases the number of spacers by 24% compared to the original design (100 spacers), thus helps significantly reduce the non-active or low-efficiency area caused by spacers while maintaining similar deformation uniformity of the electrodes. Large area glass RPCs with 1×1 m^2 size using two types of spacer configurations are constructed and tested with cosmic muons events. The muon detection efficiencies for RPCs are greater than 95%.

Deformation Source Revealed From Leveling Survey in Jigokudani Valley, Tateyama Volcano, Japan

We modeled vertical deformation detected from leveling survey in Jigokudani valley, Tateyama volcano, central Japan. In Jigokudani valley, uplift of 4 cm/year was previously detected during the period from 2007 to 2010 by Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR). To confirm whether this inflation has continued to the present, we conducted leveling survey in Jigokudani valley since 2015. Most bench marks showed subsidence up to 5.6 cm during the four-year period from October 2016 to September 2020, while a bench mark locates at the center of the leveling route uniquely showed uplift of 1.6 cm. We applied a dislocation source model to the deformation using a grid search method. A crack with a length of 350 m, a width of 100 m, a strike of N117°E and a dip of 61° is located at a depth of 50 m near the center of Jigokudani valley (Koya jigoku and the new fumarolic area) where highly activating recently. Closing of the crack of 344 cm yields volume decreases of 120,400 m3. Striking direction of the crack is parallel to the line of which are old explosion craters (Mikurigaike and Midorigaike ponds) and corresponds to current maximum compressive stress field in the region of Hida Mountains including Tateyama volcano. The deformation source of the previous period from 2007 to 2010 detected from InSAR was estimated to be at a depth of 50 m and a gas chamber was correspondingly found from the audio-frequency magnetotelluric (AMT) survey. The estimated crack in this study is also located at a similar position of the gas chamber which was also identified from AMT survey. During the period from 2015 to 2016, the crack opened (i.e., inflated) and the inflation stopped during the next one-year period from 2016 to 2017. During the period from 2017 to 2020, the crack turned to closing (i.e., deflation), probably because of the increase in emission of volcanic fluid or gas with a formation of a new crater at the western side of Jigokudani valley (Yahata jigoku) during the period from 2017 to 2018.

Carbon Dioxide Sensor Module Based on NDIR Technology

In this paper, a gas detection system with an environmental compensation algorithm based on nondispersive infrared (NDIR) technology was designed. The prepared infrared pyroelectric detector was a dual-channel type based on the lithium tantalate (LiTaO3) wafer. The design of the optical gas chamber adopted a combination of two ellipsoids and a spherical top surface, which not only enhanced the coupling efficiency of the light propagation but also facilitated the miniaturization of the sensor module. In addition to this, a temperature and humidity compensation algorithm based on the least square method was proposed to make the measurement accuracy up to ±0.9% full scale (FS).

Five new species of Western Atlantic stardrums, Stellifer (Perciformes: Sciaenidae) with a key to Atlantic Stellifer species

Five new species of Stellifer are described from the Caribbean Sea and tropical southwestern Atlantic. Among the previously recognized stelliferine genera, Stellifer is unique by having a pair of variably developed appendages on the posterior margin of the anterior gas chamber, which is lacking in Bairdiella, Corvula, Elattarchus, Odontoscion and Ophioscion. However, recent genetic studies indicated that Stellifer and Ophioscion are not monophyletic. The genus Ophioscion Gill, 1863 is recognized herein as a junior synonym of Stellifer Oken, 1817. Of the five new species described, Stellifer cervigoni n. sp., S. collettei n. sp., and S. musicki n. sp. have a pair of knob-like diverticula along the posterior margin of the anterior gas chamber, which is absent in S. macallisteri n. sp., and S. menezesi n. sp. Stellifer cervigoni n. sp. is found along the southern Caribbean coast of Colombia and Venezuela; it can be distinguished from other species by having a jet-black roof of mouth and inner opercular lining. Stellifer collettei n. sp. is found from Surinam to southeastern Brazil, while S. musicki n. sp. is endemic to northern Brazil. Stellifer macallisteri n. sp. has an oblique, terminal mouth and it is found in Colombia, Venezuela and Dominican Republic. Stellifer menezesi n. sp. has a subterminal mouth and is found from northeastern to southeastern Brazil. These results bring the number of valid species of Stellifer in the Atlantic to 18, and a key to the identification of these species is included.

Gruesome Spectacles Revisited: News Coverage of Botched Lethal Injections Since 2010

This research is a continuation of the work done by one of the authors (Austin Sarat) in Gruesome Spectacles: Botched Executions and America’s Death Penalty. That book examined newspaper coverage of botched executions, from hangings, the electric chair, and the gas chamber firing to the early usage of lethal injection. It covered the period 1890 to 2010 and paid particular attention to changes in newspapers’ reporting of botched executions. It argued that the treatment of botched executions as “mishaps” rather than injustices blunted botched executions’ impact on the death penalty abolitionist movement. In this paper, we discuss newspaper coverage of botched lethal injections since 2010, looking closely at nine such executions identified by the Death Penalty Information Center website. Recent news reporting has mainly confirmed Sarat’s findings. However, a new component of the coverage of botched executions— interviews with the victims’ families— further dampens the impact of botched executions on support for the abolition of the death penalty.