No abstract available

[en] Large gaseous drift volumes followed by a bidimensional multiwire chamber and a sophisticated electron storage of track topology and energy loss make a very promising detector for complex geometry events. However, the positive ions produced in the avalanche process at the anodes induce non-negligible electric field distortions that may result in a substantial loss of information. The different levels at which this may happen are briefly analysed here. (Auth.)

No abstract available

[en] Highlights: • An integrated framework for the optimal design of low carbon heating systems. • Development of a synthetic heat demand model with occupancy profiles. • Linear model of a heat pump with thermal energy storage heating system. • Evaluation of domestic heating system from generally available input parameters. • The lower carbon heating system can be cost competitive with conventional systems. - Abstract: Domestic heating has a large share in the UK total energy consumption and significant contribution to the greenhouse gas emissions since it is mainly fulfilled by fossil fuels. Therefore, decarbonising the heating system is essential and an option to achieve this is by heating system electrification through heat pumps (HP) installation in combination with renewable power generation. A potential increase in performance and flexibility can be achieved by pairing HP with thermal energy storage (TES), which allows the shifting of heat demand to off peak periods or periods with surplus renewable electricity. We present a design and operational optimisation model which is able to assess the performance of HP–TES relative to conventional heating systems. The optimisation is performed on a synthetic heat demand model which requires only the annual heat demand, temperature and occupancy profiles. The results show that the equipment and operational cost of a HP system without TES are significantly higher than for a conventional system. However, the integration of TES and time-of-use tariffs reduce the operational cost of the HP systems and in combination with the Renewable Heating Incentive make the HP systems cost competitive with conventional systems. The presented demand model and optimisation procedure will enable the design of low carbon district heating systems which integrate the heating system with the variable renewable electricity supply.

[en] This paper describes a very fast, high density, time and pulse height digitizer using a novel zero suppressing technique which significantly reduces the amount of data produced by the detectors requiring a long memory time. The above described pulse shape digitizer does not have the accuracy of CCDs or the SLAC Microstore Analog Memory Unit. It is designed for experiments with a large number of channels and significantly outperforms other designs on the grounds of memory time and sampling rate. It has now passed systematic laboratory tests and it will be evaluated on the prototype of the OPAL central detector at CERN. The manufacturing cost should not exceed $100 per channel and its modularity should minimize the maintenance problems

[en] This paper describes the performance of X-ray exposure and the resist system with regard to mask pattern placement accuracy, overlay and linewidth control. A total overlay of about 130 nm (1σ) in x and y direction and overall linewidth variation of 23 nm (1σ) within a 4 inch wafer on etched poly-Si structures have been achieved. Electrical results of 0.5 μm N-MOS transistors with long channel behavior up to 3.5 V supply voltage are shown

No abstract available

[en] We propose thin single-layer grating waveguide structures to be used as high reflectivity, but low thermal noise, alternative to conventional coatings for gravitational wave detector test mass mirrors. Grating waveguide (GWG) coatings can show a reflectivity of up to 100% with an overall thickness of less than a wavelength. We theoretically investigate GWG coatings for 1064 nm based on tantala (Ta₂O₅) on a silica substrate focusing on broad spectral response and low thickness

[en] Following coronary angioplasty and stent implantation, restenosis remains common and its outcome difficult to predict. We set out to determine the diagnostic accuracy of electron-beam computed tomography (EBCT) for the non-invasive detection of stent obstruction. In a prospective, blinded investigation, we included 152 coronary artery segments in 117 patients treated with a stent implant. All segments were evaluated by a dynamic EBCT study that depicted contrast bolus passage distal to the stent and a CT angiographic study of the entire coronary arteries. It was found that delayed contrast enhancement in the distal segment correlated with angiographic stent obstruction (Spearman's rank correlation, P=0.008), while all other indicators of stent occlusion did not correlate with angiographic diagnosis. However, direct comparison of patients with obstruction of less vs. more than 75% of luminal diameter did not yield any statistically significant differences of distal enhancement delay, and for the detection of >90% occlusion, the sensitivity was 72% at a specificity of 60%. Although delayed contrast enhancement distal to the stent upon EBCT did correlate with angiographical obstruction, the correlation did not suffice to appear clinically satisfactory. (orig.)

[en] The influences of varying charge storage capabilities of EEPROM transistors in a MemFlash configuration are presented. The effect a thinning of the tunnelling oxide has on the retention and the corresponding hysteretic current–voltage curves of MemFlash cells is investigated through measurements as well as simulations. Furthermore, the variation of charging and discharging voltages along with different cycle frequencies is explored in respect to the change in hysteretic behavior. Finally, the influences of changing device parameters on the behavior as artificial synapses were investigated by emulating LTP for different MemFlash cells. Here, we found a strong dependency of the learning rate and the memory capabilities from the tunnel oxide thickness, which allows flexible application in neuromorphic computing schemes. (paper)