Fermilab Today Monday, April 28, 2008
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Layoff Information

New information on Fermilab layoffs, including an up-to-date Q&A section, appears on the layoff Web pages daily.

Calendar

Monday, April 28
2:30 p.m.
Particle Astrophysics Seminar - Curia II
Speaker: M. Kavic, Virginia Tech
Title: Transient Pulses from Exploding Primordial Black Holes as a Signature of an Extra Dimension
3:30 p.m.
DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over
4 p.m.
All Experimenters' Meeting - Curia II
Special Topics: Rapid Transfer Progress and Plans; Blowing Up Pbar Emittances

Tuesday, April 29
3:30 p.m.
DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over

THERE WILL BE NO ACCELERATOR PHYSICS AND TECHNOLOGY SEMINAR TODAY

Click here for NALCAL,
a weekly calendar with links to additional information.

Weather

WeatherRain/Snow Showers
44°/30°

Extended Forecast
Weather at Fermilab

Current Security Status

Secon Level 3

Wilson Hall Cafe

Monday, April 28
- Minestrone
- Parmesan Quesadilla
- Baked Chicken Enchiladas
- Herbed Pot Roast
- Chicken Melt
- Assorted Pizza Slices
- Szechuan Green Beans with Chicken

Wilson Hall Cafe Menu

Chez Leon

Wednesday, April 30
Lunch
- Grilled vegetable salad w/queso fresco & tortilla thread
- Chocolate bourbon pecan tart w/ice cream

Thursday, May 1
Dinner
- Sea scallops w/maple cream
- Grilled pork tenderloin w/Madeira cream sauce
- Steamed asparagus
- Roasted garlic mashed potatoes
- Profiteroles w/strawberries

Chez Leon Menu
Call x4598 to make your reservation.

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Fermilab Today
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Feature

SCRF meeting establishes compatibility framework

Attendees during the week-long international meeting on superconducting radiofrequency technology discuss compatibility.

Scientists from around the world work to develop components for future linear accelerators that use superconducting radiofrequency cavities. Research efforts should allow for a more efficient and cost-effective approach to furthering this technology.

But only if those individual components, in particular the SCRF cavities, will work together.

Last week’s SCRF meeting held at Fermilab focused on creating needed compatibility.

“The thing that binds this group together is the R&D that is done at the laboratories,” said Chris Adolphsen, SLAC, head of the US RF System program for the ILC. “But trying to meld these is hard to do.”

About 50 experts in various areas of SCRF technology from across the globe met to discuss and develop a set of guidelines that they could use in developing the linacs.

“The purpose of this meeting is to have a real direction,” said KEK’s Akira Yamamoto, co-project manager for the ILC Global Design Effort, SCRF, and meeting organizer. “Three regions, the Americas, Europe and Asia, have to collaborate. Their approaches are so different. It is not adequate to require them just to follow unified designs. People may lose motivation; it may be wise to leave some freedom for them to create their own ideas.”

Marc Ross, Fermilab, co-project manager for the Global Design Effort, said it was equally as important to come together as a global community so that each partner was seen as equal. Once together, each person could share their expertise on how to solve problems or work on a difficult project.

“The Japanese have a metaphor for the consensus building process – circling the tree,” Ross said. “To transplant a tree you first circle it, trimming each root except the main root, in order to foster development.”

Attendees discussed using plug-compatible designs, which is the idea that institutions and individuals work within design guidelines so that parts from across the globe can work together or interchangeably, even though designs vary.

“That way, they can focus on what they are working on,” Ross said. “They’ll have a set of guidelines that allows them to spend R&D money more effectively.”

-- Rhianna Wisniewski

 

In the News

The Promise of Proton-Beam Therapy

From U.S. News and World Report, April 25, 2008

There's plenty of time for patients to mingle in the waiting room of the $125 million Proton Therapy Center in Houston. In one corner, Alexander Glaros, a 16-year-old with Ewing's sarcoma, plays cards with his mom. In another, a prostate cancer patient in his 60s entertains a toddler who is awaiting treatment for the tumor in her brain. Nearby, a middle-aged woman with lung cancer pages through a newspaper. While they have different types of cancer, all are counting on the same technology, a high-tech radiation treatment called proton beam therapy.

In an ideal world, some oncologists say, most cancer patients would get this rare type of treatment, in which doctors use nuclear technology and magnets to fire protons into tumors at about two thirds the speed of light. But just five medical facilities currently offer the therapy, including the one in Houston, which is part of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Even with eight more of the expensive facilities planned, there will be nowhere near the number of centers needed to treat every patient who might benefit, proponents of the technology say. ProCure Treatment Centers, a company that partners with hospitals to plan, install, and run the complex facilities, estimates that proton therapy could help a quarter of a million patients. Nationwide, however, only about 6,000 treatment slots are available each year. As a result, doctors face agonizing decisions about whom to treat—and some patients are lucky if they're in a waiting room rather than on a waiting list.

Proton therapy's promise lies in its ability to destroy cancerous cells while sparing healthy cells half a millimeter away, reducing side effects. It also allows doctors to ramp up the radiation dose, theoretically improving cure rates. The precise targeting is possible because the subatomic particles release the bulk of their destructive energy beneath the skin, at the tumor's depth, rather than near the surface, as X-rays do. (Doctors set that depth by controlling the speed at which a proton is blasted at the skin.) And while standard radiation tends to cause damage to healthy tissues on the far side of tumor, protons slow and stop as they release their energy pulse, eliminating a harmful exit dose.

Read more

Safety Tip of the Week

Wild Fermilab

This adult snapping turtle suffered a fractured shell when it was hit by a car while trying to cross a busy road. Click here to read the complete rehabilitation story posted at the Willowbrook Wildlife Center Web site. (Photo credit: Willowbrook Wildlife Center)

With all of Fermilab’s open spaces and natural areas, crossing paths with a wild animal is not unusual. Most of the time, these situations result in mutual observation and both parties part ways, uneventfully. Sometimes, however, creatures need a “hands-on” intervention.

This can occur if an animal takes up residence in a space that’s intended for people or equipment. At other times, we might feel compelled to help an injured animal or one in harm’s way. Other times, such as spring, when most animals mate, nest and raise their young, they can become a nuisance. This can happen particularly when animals conduct these activities in locations intended for people or equipment or when they get aggressive, such as during mating season.

Whatever the trouble, wildlife group leader Dave Shemanske advises employees and users to call Roads & Grounds at x3303 for help dealing with wild animals. Jim Kalina has a reputation as Fermilab’s animal control expert, but anyone on the crew can handle most situations. Roads & Grounds has traps for small-to medium-sized animals such as chipmunks, squirrels, possums, raccoons, skunks and beavers. Sometimes Roads & Grounds uses a large net or adjustable pole with noose to secure an animal for transportation back to a remote area where it can be released. They use a mechanical extension hand grabber or a good pair of leather gloves to handle snakes.

No matter what you encounter, act carefully. Watch roads for killdeer anywhere there are rock-covered shoulders and for turtles around the Main Ring. If you come across a turtle in the road, exercise patience or, if you need it to move, call Roads & Grounds. Don’t attempt to handle the turtles. They can bite.

Safety Tip of the Week Archive

Announcements

Have a safe day!

2008 CTEQ-MCnet School
The application deadline for the 2008 CTEQ-MCnet Summer School on QCD Phenomenology and Monte Carlo Event Generators is May 14, 2008. The school, co-sponsored by Fermilab, will be held in Debrecen, Hungary from August 8-16. The program includes lectures on QCD theory, phenomenology and analysis as well as hands-on sessions on event generator physics and techniques. Enrollment is limited to 80 participants. Applications from postdocs are particularly encouraged. More information

Tickets still available for The Reduced Shakespeare Company
Tickets still are available for The Reduced Shakespeare Company show at 8 p.m. on Saturday, May 3. Tickets cost $25 for adults and $13 for ages 18 and under. The comedy troupe presents a 98-minute rendition of all of Shakespeare's major works. More information

Cross-step waltz workshops
Fermilab's dance groups will sponsor workshops on cross-step waltz, an accessible vernacular, vintage waltz style from 7:30-10 p.m. on Friday, May 2, at Kuhn Barn on the Fermilab site and on Saturday, May 3, at the Harvard Congregational Church, 1045 S Kenilworth Ave. in Oak Park. Jeanette Watts, a professional dance instructor from Dayton, Ohio, will teach both workshops. Organizers request a $5 donation for the Fermilab workshop and a $10 donation for the Oak Park workshop.

Flexible Spending Accounts
To get reimbursed, you must submit 2007 Flexible Spending Account claims by April 30, 2008. Fax claims to Cigna at (570) 496-2945. Include a signed and dated claim form with your submission for reimbursement.

Introduction to LabVIEW
Learn how to build and custom test, measurement and control applications from scratch, using intuitive, measurement-specific graphical programming. Learn more and enroll

HEP job opening available
The U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of High Energy Physics (HEP), is seeking to fill a position with a physicist who will assist the associate director for high-energy physics in the planning, coordination, implementation and evaluation of national and international research programs in this field.

This position involves strategic planning, implementation planning, multi-year program planning and annual budget-scenario exercises.  This position will develop and coordinate the annual performance measurement requirements for the scientific user facilities and establish an effective database for analyzing and better articulating the accomplishments and benefits of these national resources.  The salary range of this position is $115,317-$149,000.

For further information about this position and the instructions on how to apply and submit an application, please go to http://www.science.doe.gov/hep/, click on the Employment Opportunities section, and then click on the Physicist link.  It is imperative that you follow the instructions as stated on the announcement (DE-SC-HQ-086(jam)). To be considered for this position, you must apply online before July 23.

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