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We describe two unprecedented large (100-member), longterm (61-year) ensembles based on MRI-AGCM3.2, which were driven by historical and non-warming climate forcing. These ensembles comprise the "Database for Policy Decision making for Future climate change (d4PDF)". We compare these ensembles to large ensembles based on another climate model, as well as to observed data, to investigate the influence of anthropogenic activities on historical changes in the numbers of record-breaking events, including: the annual coldest daily minimum temperature (TNn), the annual warmest daily maximum temperature (TXx) and the annual most intense daily precipitation event (Rx1day). These two climate model ensembles indicate that human activity has already had statistically significant impacts on the number of record-breaking extreme events worldwide mainly in the Northern Hemisphere land. Specifically, human activities have altered the likelihood that a wider area globally would suffer record-breaking TNn, TXx and Rx1day events than that observed over the 2001- 2010 period by a factor of at least 0.6, 5.4 and 1.3, respectively. However, we also find that the estimated spatial patterns and amplitudes of anthropogenic impacts on the probabilities of record-breaking events are sensitive to the climate model and/or natural-world boundary conditions used in the attribution studies.

The record low sunshine over Japan during August 20/7 was mainly attributed to a blocking high and Pacific-Japan pattern. Anthropogenic warming and decaying El Nino contributed to an increase in [...]

Herein, Cs2NaY1−xPrxCl6 crystalline scintillators have newly been fabricated and characterized. The crystals exhibited emission bands at ∼300 and ∼500 nm, which originated from the 5d–4f and 4f–4f transitions of Pr3+ ions, respectively, and the scintillation decay time constants were 19–29 and 170–370 ns, respectively. The former was attributed to the emissions from the 5d–4f transitions of Pr3+ ions, whereas the latter was attributed to the host materials. The light yields of these crystals were higher than those of undoped Cs2NaYCl6 crystals. The Cs2NaY0.4Pr0.6Cl6 crystal exhibited the highest light yield (7100 photons MeV−1), which is approximately four times higher than that of the undoped Cs2NaYCl6 crystal (1800 photons MeV−1). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photoluminescence (PL) and scintillation properties are reported for SrCl2−xBrx:Yb2+ (x = 0, 1.6, 2.0) crystals grown by a self-seeding solidification method. Two emission peaks centered at approximately (380–390) nm and (410–420) nm were observed in PL and scintillation spectra and are attributed to spin-allowed and spin-forbidden Yb2+ 5d–4f transitions, respectively. SrCl0.4Br1.6:Yb2+ showed the highest light yield of 71 000 photons MeV−1 with a scintillation decay time constant of 490 ns. The developed SrCl0.4Br1.6:Yb2+ materials have the potential to replace conventional SrI2:Eu2+ scintillators used in pulse counting mode detectors owing to their high light yields and low deliquescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Luminescence and scintillation properties of Eu2+- and Ce3+-doped TlSr2Cl5 crystals are reported for large effective atomic number (Zeff = 63.7) that have potential applications in X-ray and gamma ray detection. We have previously developed TlSr2Cl5 crystalline scintillators. To improve the scintillation properties of TlSr2Cl5, Ce3+ and Eu2+ were doped into the crystals in this study. The scintillation emission bands of Eu2+-doped TlSr2Cl5 were observed at 420 nm and those for Ce3+-doped TlSr2Cl5 were observed at 380, 450, and 500 nm. Band peaks at 450 and 500 nm were similar to those of undoped TlSr2Cl5, which are characteristic of self-activated thallium-based chloride crystals. The light yields of Ce3+- and Eu2+-doped TlSr2Cl5 were estimated to be approximately 16,000 and 21,000 photons/MeV, respectively. The light yield of Eu2+-doped TlSr2Cl5 is higher than that of undoped TlSr2Cl5 crystals (19,000 photons/MeV). It was suggested that Eu2+ is more suitable dopant for TlSr2Cl5 than Ce3+. The higher light yield of Eu2+-doped TlSr2Cl5 is due to the emissions by Eu2+ ions, which makes it easier to distinguish peaks from noise and improve the energy resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fast scintillation materials based on the ternary halide crystals of Cs2ZnCl4 and Cs3ZnCl5 were synthesized. Under X-ray irradiation, an emission band at 310 nm with shoulders at 260 and 410 nm was observed for Cs2ZnCl4, and emission bands at 240, 290, and 390 nm were observed for Cs3ZnCl5. The observed bands were primarily attributable to Auger-free luminescence (AFL). In the temporal scintillation profiles, scintillation decay time constants of 1.7 and 1.1 ns were found for Cs2ZnCl4 and Cs3ZnCl5, respectively. These fast components are attributed to AFL and constituted greater than 88% of the total scintillation amount. On the basis of the pulse height spectra, the light yields of Cs2ZnCl4 and Cs3ZnCl5 were estimated to be 1280 and 440 photons MeV−1, respectively. The light yield of the fast component of Cs2ZnCl4 was slightly lower than that of BaF2, which is a commercially available fast scintillator exhibiting AFL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conclusions: Improvement in sleep, emotional distress, and health-related quality-of-life (QoL) accompanied the improvement in dizziness symptoms after vestibular rehabilitation. Persistent sleep disturbance could prevent improvements in self-perceived handicap due to chronic dizziness and anxiety. Objective: The present study investigated prospectively the effects of intervention for dizziness (vestibular rehabilitation) on sleep disturbance, and the relationship between improvements in dizziness symptoms and improvements in sleep disturbance after the intervention. Methods: The participants of this study were 127 chronic dizziness inpatients with comorbid sleep disturbance (Pittsburgh sleep quality index [PSQI-J] global score ≥6). Participants completed the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI, three sub-scales: Physical, Emotional, and Functional), PSQI-J, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and SF-8 (health-related QoL), and underwent gravity center fluctuation measurement before (time 1) and 1 month after (time 2) an in-hospital rehabilitation program. Results: All measured variables were significantly improved at time 2, compared to time 1. At time 2, 80.31% of patients still reported sleep disturbance. Analysis of covariance showed that chronic dizziness patients with sleep disturbance at time 2 had significantly higher DHI total, DHI-physical, and HADS-anxiety scores at time 2 than patients without sleep disturbance at time 2, after adjusting for these scores at time 1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]