Height Discrimination Research Articles

Characterization of EJ-270 and Ce-doped LiCAF scintillators for the development of high-rate neutron reflectometer detectors

The Second Target Station of the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is anticipated to provide a neutron source with ∼20 times increase in peak brightness than the First Target Station. The neutron reflectometers currently in operation at the First Target Station need to be upgraded due to the increased neutron flux. A prototype neutron detector module based upon a pixelated scintillator array readout by silicon photomultipliers is being developed to address the high-rate challenge faced with future neutron reflectometer instruments at the Second Target Station. Two types of scintillator materials were considered for this detector development, i.e., 6Li-loaded EJ-270 plastic scintillator and Ce-doped LiCAF single crystal. This paper reports the scintillator characterization results, including light yield, pulse shape discrimination performance, capability to detect thermal neutrons in a high γ-ray field, and γ-ray sensitivity. The number of photons produced per neutron capture by EJ-270 and LiCAF:Ce was measured to be 2176 ± 91 and 2651 ± 108, respectively. EJ-270 demonstrated a good capability to discriminate between neutrons and γ-rays by employing the commonly used charge comparison method (figure-of-merit: 1.13 ± 0.01 for an energy cut of 292–426 keVee) and a reasonable performance when using the time-over-threshold techniques; however, no discrimination was observed from LiCAF:Ce regardless of the pulse shape discrimination approaches utilized, making pulse height discrimination necessary for LiCAF:Ce to differentiate between neutrons and γ-rays. Both EJ-270 and LiCAF:Ce exhibited an acceptable capacity to detect thermal neutrons at high exposure rates up to approximately 584 mR/h. The γ-ray sensitivities measured with a60Co source at an exposure rate of around 1145 mR/h were determined to be (6.11 ± 0.87) × 10−6 and (7.64 ± 1.08) × 10−7 for EJ-270 and LiCAF:Ce, respectively.

Enhancement of alpha/beta ratio in NaI:Tl,6Li neutron-gamma scintillators by rare earth co-doping

NaI:Tl,6Li bulk crystals are regarded as promising neutron-gamma (n-γ) scintillators because of low production cost and superior n-γ pulse shape discrimination (PSD) performance. In this work, some rare earth elements (Gd, Y, Lu and Sc) co-doped NaI:Tl,6Li single crystals were grown by the multi-ampoule Bridgman method. It was found that the rare earth co-doping significantly improves the pulse height discrimination (PHD) capability of NaI:Tl,6Li with high alpha/beta (α/β) ratio, approaching to 100%. The optimal α/β ratios achieved for Gd, Y, Lu and Sc co-doped NaI:Tl,6Li are 0.85, 0.93, 0.95, and 0.83, respectively. Electron equivalent energy per neutron interaction is above 3.96 MeV and can be as high as 4.54 MeV, close to the Q value of 4.78 MeV for 6Li(n, α)3H interaction. Moreover, the rare earth co-doped NaI:Tl,6Li crystals still maintain the superior PSD capability with figure of merit (FoM) in the range of 2.1–3.3. These results highlight the great potential of rare-earth co-doped NaI:Tl,6Li crystals serving as high-performance n-γ scintillators.

Perception of dynamic pitch and prominence in speech

The perception of dynamic – constantly changing – pitch in speech has been extensively studied in psychoacoustics and linguistics. In psychoacoustic studies, listeners are usually presented with short stimuli such as vowels or syllables, and their ability to discriminate a pair of stimuli is assessed. On the other hand, linguistic studies concern intonation over an utterance. Intonation entails not only acoustic prominence realised by pitch, duration, and loudness, but also listeners’ knowledge about the relative prominence between syllables or between words in their language. This paper discusses a series of speech perception experiments using both psychoacoustic and linguistic tasks. Participants judged either relative pitch height or prominence between two pitch peaks or valleys in an utterance. Native English speakers in different age and dialectal groups were tested. The results showed that, first, listeners’ pitch height discrimination in the utterance context seems to be more accurate than previously reported. Second, there is a robust perceptual asymmetry between pitch peaks and valleys, the valleys posing significant challenges in perception. Third, listeners’ perception of pitch height and prominence is disassociated. The findings taken together suggest an intricate interaction between the physical properties of the stimuli and listeners’ top-down knowledge in the perception of speech intonation.

Three-Dimensional Position Presentation via Head and Waist Vibrotactile Arrays.

This article introduces a novel system designed to convey the three-dimensional positions surrounding the user. The system incorporates circumferential vibrotactile arrays strategically positioned on both the user's head and waist. Through the synergy of this two-dimensional arrangement and modulations in vibration amplitude, the system adeptly presents comprehensive three-dimensional positional information. Two prototypes, namely a spherical model and a cylindrical model, were employed as mappings between three-dimensional positions and vibration amplitudes. In Experiment 1, we evaluated the system's performance in indicating positions in depth, orientation, and height. Notably, discrimination rates for depth (Task 1) and orientation (Task 2) were 60% and 54%, respectively. Regarding height discrimination in the head-to-waist condition (Tasks 3 and 4), the cylindrical model outperformed the spherical model (54% and 52% vs. 32% and 36%). Conversely, in the head-above and waist-below condition (Task 5), the cylindrical model achieved a discrimination rate of 45%, while the spherical model did not. In Experiment 2, we explored the use of the cylindrical model to convey a moving three-dimensional position. The results showed an impressive 81% correct response rate, affirming the system's effectiveness in presenting three-dimensional motion stimuli.

Beyond ‘heightism’ and ‘height premium’: An anthropology and sociology of human stature

AbstractThis review article examines the meanings and materialities of human stature, from serving as a marker of human difference to shaping the socio‐spatial experiences of individuals. I introduce existing perspectives on height from various disciplines, including biomedical discourses on the factors (e.g. nutrition, genetics) that determine height, economic discourses on how the average heights of populations have changed over time, sociobiological and psychological discourses that assume a pre‐cultural, evolutionary “height premium”, and popular discourses on heightism and height discrimination. Drawing from a diverse range of scholarship since Saul Feldman called for a “sociology of stature” in the 1970s, I then present ways in which height and height differences have figured in various domains of human experience, from employment and education to sports and social relationships. Finally, I survey people's attempts to become taller or shorter, and the implicit values that inform such height‐making practices. What these figurations and practices show, I argue, is that height intersects with notions of race, class, gender, and beauty – but is irreducible to any of them, and is thus best viewed as a distinct, embodied form of distinction, difference, and inequality. I conclude by proposing a research agenda for future work.

Body Perception From Connected Speech: Speaker Height Discrimination from Natural Sentences and Sine-Wave Replicas with and without Pitch.

In addition to language, the human voice carries information about the physical characteristics of speakers, including their body size (height and weight). The fundamental speaking frequency, perceived as voice pitch, and the formant frequencies, or resonators of the vocal tract, are the acoustic speech parameters that have been most intensely studied for perceiving a speaker's body size. In this study, we created sine-wave (SW) replicas of connected speech (sentences) uttered by 20 male and 20 female speakers, consisting of three time-varying sinusoidal waves matching the frequency pattern of the first three formants of each sentence. These stimuli only provide information about the formant frequencies of a speech signal. We also created a new experimental condition by adding a sinusoidal replica of the voice pitch of each sentence. Results obtained from a binary discrimination task revealed that (a) our SW replicas provided sufficient useful information to accurately judge the speakers' body height at an above chance level; (b) adding the sinusoidal replica about the voice pitch did not significantly increase accuracy; and (c) stimuli from female speakers were more informative for body height detection and allowed higher perceptual accuracy, due to a stronger correlation between formant frequencies and actual body height than stimuli from male speakers.

P31-019-23 Weight and Height Discrimination and Access to Health Services in Mexico

P31-019-23 Weight and Height Discrimination and Access to Health Services in Mexico

Uwarunkowania przeciwdziałania zjawisku dyskryminacji osób niskich w przestrzeni publicznej i projektowaniu użytkowym – w perspektywie stanowienia i stosowania prawa

The study is devoted to legal and factual conditions of the social situation of short people, in particular, in terms of actual and potential areas of risk of discrimination based on height, that does not correspond to the average in a given society. The article indicates the extent of height discrimination, referred to as heightism, and deals with social behaviours that can be classified as unfair and violating the subjective rights of a group of people who are characterized by their below-average height compared to the social average. This manifests itself in various aspects, including communication practices established in society, such as the infantilization of short people, which in turn negatively affects other spheres of these people’s social functioning. Moreover, discrimination in the social sphere is also evident in the employment opportunities offered to people of short stature – they are perceived as less experienced and less competent. It is also a problem that employers set requirements regarding the parameters of job applicants in situations where these is not actually necessary for the proper performance of the tasks required. What’s more, there is discrimination hindering, and sometimes severely limiting, the possibility of using public utility facilities (functioning in the public sphere), and utility items referring to the private sphere.Based on the analysis of case-law related to the situation of people of short stature and also anti-discriminatory solutions functioning in other countries, specific remedies for discrimination against short people have been proposed, which should be applied both in Polish legislation and in the implementation of existing law. The idea here is to expand the guarantee norms contained in the Polish constitution so that they explicitly prohibit discrimination on the grounds of height.

Recent Trends in Elpasolite Single Crystal Scintillators for Radiation Detection

Scintillation detection has attracted great interest in nuclear medicine, nuclear radiation detection, high-energy physics, and non-destructive inspection. The elpasolite crystals with Ce3+ dopants are promising for these endeavors due to their modest light yield and extremely good proportionality when excited by the gamma ray. Moreover, the 6Li and 35Cl isotopes in elpasolite crystals endow them with excellent neutron detection capability. These features allow not only a high energy resolution but also a high detection sensitivity. The elpasolite scintillators also enable the precisely dual detection of gamma/neutron signals through pulse height discrimination (PHD) or pulse shape discrimination (PSD). In this work, we review recent investigations on using the typical elpasolite scintillators, including Ce3+-doped Cs2LiYCl6 (CLYC), Cs2LiLaCl6 (CLLC), and Cs2LiLaBr6 (CLLB), for the monitoring of gamma rays and neutrons. The scintillation properties, detection mechanism, and elpasolite crystal structure are also discussed with the aim of improving high-energy ray detection ability.

Three-dimensional transfer function of optical microscopes in reflection mode.

Three-dimensional (3D) transfer functions build the basis for a comprehensive characterization of optical imaging systems in the spatial frequency domain. Utilizing the projection-slice theorem, the 2D modulation transfer function of an incoherent imaging system can be derived from a 3D transfer function by integration with respect to the axial spatial frequency. For a diffraction limited microscope with homogeneous incoherent pupil illumination, the modulation transfer function equals the 2D autocorrelation function of a circular disc. However, until now to the best of our knowledge no 3D transfer function has been published, which exactly leads to the 2D modulation transfer function of a diffraction limited microscope in reflection mode. In this article, we derive a formula, which after integration with respect to the axial spatial frequency coordinate perfectly fits to the diffraction limited 2D modulation transfer function. The inverse three-dimensional Fourier transform of the 3D transfer function results in a complex-valued 3D point spread function, from which the depth of field, the lateral resolution and, in addition, the corresponding 3D point spread function of both, a conventional and an interference microscope, can beobtained.

Floodwater Depth Causes Different Physiological Responses During Post-flooding in Willows.

Willows are widely planted in areas under risk of flooding. The physiological responses of willows to flooding have been characterized, but little is known about their responses during the post-flooding period. After the end of the stress episode, plants may modify some traits to compensate for the biomass loss during flooding. The aim of this work was to analyze the post-flooding physiological responses of willow under two different depths of stagnant floodwater. Cuttings of Salix matsudana NZ692 clone were planted in pots in a greenhouse. The experiment started when the plants were 2 months old with the following treatments: Control plants (watered to field capacity); plants partially flooded 10 cm above soil level (F10) and plants partially flooded 40 cm above soil level (F40). The flooding episode lasted 35 days and was followed by a recovery period of 28 days (post-flooding period). After the flooding period, height, diameter and total biomass were higher in F10, while F40 plants showed an increase in plant adventitious root production and leaf nitrogen content. During the post-flooding period, the photosynthetic rate, nitrogen, chlorophyll and soluble sugar contents were significantly higher in leaves of F40 than in Control and F10 treatments. Stomatal conductance and specific leaf area were higher in the previously flooded plants compared to Control treatment. Plants from F10 treatments showed a higher growth in height, root-to-shoot ratio, and carbon isotope discrimination than F40, while the opposite occurred for growth in diameter, vessel size and leaf area. We conclude that depth of floodwater not only causes different responses during flooding, but that its effects are also present in the post-flooding recovery period, affecting the growth and physiology of willows once the stress episode has ended. Even when flooding impacted growth negatively in F40, in the post-flooding period these plants compensated by increasing the photosynthetic rate, plant leaf area and xylem vessel size. Willows endurance to flooding is the result of both responses during flooding, and plastic responses during post-flooding.

Preliminary measurements using a Triple to Double Coincidence Ratio (TDCR) Liquid Scintillator Counter System

The preliminary measurements using a Triple to Double Coincidence Ratio (TDCR) Liquid Scintillator Counter System developed by the Nuclear Metrology Laboratory (LMN) at IPEN, is presented. The TDCR system makes use of three photomultipliers positioned at 120° relative angle, operating in coincidence. For this preliminarymeasurement, 14C was selected to be standardized; 14C was chosen due to be a pure beta emitter with low end-point energy of 156 keV, which is suitable to be measured by the TDCR system. This solution was previously calibrated by the efficiency tracing technique using a 4p(PC)b-g coincidence system, employing 60Co as a tracer. The activity of the 14C solution by efficiency tracing technique was determined by using the extrapolation technique, changing the beta efficiency by pulse height discrimination. In order to determine the final activity, a Monte Carlo simulation was used to generate the extrapolation curve. The Software Coincidence System (SCS) developed by the LMN was used for both systems to register the events. MICELLE 2 code was used to calculate the theoretical TDCR efficiency. Measurements using HIDEX, a commercial liquid scintillator system, were also carried out and the results from the three methods were compared, showing a good agreement.

A staggered 3-layer DOI PET detector using BaSO4 reflector for enhanced crystal identification and inter-crystal scattering event discrimination capability

The spatial resolution of small animal positron emission tomography (PET) scanners can be improved by the use of crystals with fine pitch and rejection of inter-crystal scattering (ICS) events, which leads to a better quantification of radiopharmaceuticals. On the other hand, depth-of-interaction (DOI) information is essential to preserve the spatial resolution at the PET field-of-view (FOV) periphery while keeping the sensitivity. In this study we proposed a novel staggered 3-layer DOI detector using BaSO4 reflector material for an enhanced crystal identification performance as well as ICS event rejection capability over those of ESR reflector based DOI detectors. The proposed staggered 3-layer DOI detector had 3-layer staggered LYSO crystal arrays (crystal pitch = 1 mm), an acrylic light guide, and a 4 × 4 SiPM array. The 16 SiPM anode signals were read out by using a resistive network to encode the crystal position and energy information while the timing signal was extracted from the common cathode. The crystal map quality was substantially enhanced by using the BaSO4 reflector material as compared to that of the ESR reflector due to the low optical crosstalk between the LYSO crystals. The ICS events can be rejected with BaSO4 by using simple pulse height discrimination thanks to the light collection efficiency difference that depends on the crystal layers. As a result, the total number of events was decreased around 26% with BaSO4 as compared to that of ESR. The overall energy resolution and coincidence timing resolution with BaSO4 were 19.7 ± 5.6% and 591 ± 160 ps, respectively which were significantly worse than 10.9 ± 2.2% and 308 ± 23 ps values of ESR because of the relatively low light collection efficiency with BaSO4 (1057 ± 308 ADC) compared to that of ESR (1808 ± 118 ADC). In conclusion, we found the proposed staggered 3-layer DOI detector using the BaSO4 reflector material with ICS event rejection capability can be a cost-effective solution for realizing high resolution and highly sensitive small animal PET scanners while minimizing the complexity of the SiPM readout circuit.

Genetic variation in carbon isotope discrimination-based water use efficiency of teak (Tectona grandis L. f.) and its association with growth and wood quality traits

Teak (Tectona grandis L. f.) is one of the most preferred tropical timber species for afforestation, reforestation, and commercial plantation in the world. In the event of global warming caused by projected climate change, water-use-efficient teak planting stock would become essential for breeding and plantation activities. To characterize and to evaluate the association of water-use efficiency (WUE) with other growth and wood quality traits, we measured height, girth at breast height (GBH), wood density (WD), and carbon isotope discrimination (CID) values of 162 teak plus trees in a national teak germplasm bank (NTGB). The genetic diversity and structure of these accessions were also confirmed through 21 microsatellite markers for confirmation of their representation of teak meta-population in India. Results indicate 30.43% variation in average height (11.17 ± 3.40 m), 25.51% variation in GBH (67.18 ± 17.14 cm), and 7.48% variation in WD (789.24 ± 59.04 kg/m3) among the accessions. The accessions exhibited a significantly high level of genetic polymorphism (88.74%) with a moderate level of Shannon’s diversity index (0.53) and comparatively low heterozygosity (0.27). No significant correlation was found between height and GBH with the CID values. This confirms that the measurement of growth and wood quality traits in teak alone is not helpful to tree breeders for indirect selection of water-use efficient trees. Rather, assessment of more specific traits related to growth, wood quality, and WUE of teak in different locales will be required to improve the teak germplasm in India.

Neutron-gamma separation study for ZnS(Ag)/6LiF scintillator and silicon photomultipliers

Registration of thermal neutrons while simultaneously suppressing or rejecting accompanying gamma-ray background is an important task for many fields. We report on two different experimental neutron-gamma separation studies, utilizing a ZnS(Ag)/6LiF scintillator and pulse height discrimination technique: one is a comparison of the responses of a ZnS(Ag)/6LiF scintillator and a ‘reference’ GAGG(Ce) scintillator when irradiated by gamma sources 137Cs and 241Am; and the second is testing a dual readout, where a photosensor coupled to the ZnS(Ag)/6LiF scintillator screen on each side was irradiated by neutrons (252Cf neutron source). For all measurements the silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) PM3315-WB-A0 (3x3 mm2 sensitive area, 15 μm cell pitch) manufactured by KETEK were used as a photosensor. High-speed digital oscilloscope LeCroyWR 620zi with a sample rate of 10 GS/s was used as a data acquisition system.

BMI, Weight Discrimination, and the Trajectory of Distress and Well-Being Across the Coronavirus Pandemic.

The purpose of this study was to examine the trajectory of psychological distress and well-being across the coronavirus pandemic by BMI category and weight discrimination. Participants (N = 1,590) were assessed three times: early February 2020 before the coronavirus crisis in the United States and again in mid-March and late April 2020. Participants reported their weight, height, and weight discrimination in February. Depressed affect, loneliness, purpose in life, life satisfaction, and perceived support were assessed in all surveys; anxiety and stress were assessed in the March/April surveys. Prior to the pandemic, reporting weight discrimination or being in the underweight or obesity 2 to 3 categories was associated with more distress and lower well-being. Weight discrimination, not BMI, was associated with a twofold increased risk of incident depression from before to during the pandemic. Weight discrimination was associated with declines in purpose in life and life satisfaction across the pandemic. BMI categories were unrelated to changes in distress/well-being across the pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, BMI and weight discrimination were vulnerabilities for greater distress and lower well-being. Weight discrimination, but not BMI, increased risk for incident depression and declines in well-being during the coronavirus pandemic.

BMI, Weight Discrimination, and Psychological, Behavioral, and Interpersonal Responses to the Coronavirus Pandemic.

ObjectiveThis study aimed to examine whether BMI and weight discrimination are associated with psychological, behavioral, and interpersonal responses to the coronavirus pandemic.MethodsUsing a prospective design, participants (N = 2,094) were first assessed in early February 2020 before the coronavirus crisis in the United States and again in mid‐March 2020 during the President’s “15 Days to Slow the Spread” guidelines. Weight, height, and weight discrimination were assessed in the February survey. Psychological, behavioral, and interpersonal responses to the coronavirus were assessed in the March survey.ResultsPrepandemic experiences with weight discrimination were associated with greater concerns about the virus, engaging in more preventive behaviors, less trust in people and institutions to manage the outbreak, and greater perceived declines in connection to one’s community. BMI tended to be unrelated to these responses.ConclusionsDespite the risks of complications of coronavirus disease associated with obesity, individuals with higher BMI were neither more concerned about the virus nor taking more behavioral precautions than individuals in other weight categories. Weight discrimination, in contrast, may heighten vigilance to threat, which may have contributed to both positive (greater concern, more precautionary behavior) and negative (less trust, declines community connection) responses to the pandemic.

Silver-Doped LiI Crystal: A Sensitive Thermal Neutron Detector With Pulse Shape Discrimination

Single crystals of LiI with different Ag concentrations are investigated for dual-mode thermal neutron and $\gamma $ -ray detection. The crystal growth and scintillation properties of these crystals have been studied and reported in our recent communication. On the other hand, a LiI crystal with Eu2+ dopant was used for thermal neutron detection using pulse height discrimination (PHD). However, the LiI:Eu crystal has a disadvantage in the case of high-energetic gamma background which is usually accompanied with neutrons in practical applications. In this case, LiI:Ag might be a better option since it can distinguish neutrons and $\gamma $ -signals by both pulse shape discrimination (PSD) and PHD. The PSD capability of LiI:Ag was checked for alpha and gamma signals. The figure-of-merit (FOM) value was estimated to be 1.7 using the charge comparison method. LiI:Ag crystals were encapsulated for neutron measurements using 252Cf and Am–Be sources. The best FOM value was obtained to be 1.5 for the LiI:0.1%Ag crystal. The current investigation reveals that LiI:Ag can be a promising candidate for the dual-mode thermal neutron and $\gamma $ -ray spectroscopy applications.

Discriminable Height Differences of Raised Lines

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to determine the discriminable height differences of raised lines printed on paper, as assessed by people who are blind, with or without years of tactile experience. Methods: Ten younger and 10 older tactile readers with blindness and with rich tactile experience; and 10 blindfolded, older, sighted participants with little tactile experience discriminated paired raised-line stimuli of different heights using the fingers of their preferred hand by active touch in a psychophysical experiment. Results: There was a significant main effect of the height of the stimulus, F(2, 54) = 56.446, MS = .060, p < .001, [Formula: see text] = .676, [Formula: see text] = .341, and participant group, F(2, 27) = 13.717, MS = .064, p < .001, [Formula: see text] = .504, [Formula: see text] = .357; however, there was no significant main effect of the width of the lines, or any interactions. The younger and older tactile readers had virtually similar thresholds and Weber fractions, and they could discriminate paired stimuli more accurately and efficiently than the older, sighted participants. We provided the discriminable height data of the raised lines based on the mean and 95th percentile values of the Weber fractions. Discussion: The results indicate the importance of tactile experiences for height discrimination in active touch. For older persons with recently developed blindness, raised lines with larger height differences should be used. Information for practitioners: These data will be helpful for developing new braille embossers that can print raised-line graphics for people with visual impairments, with or without years of tactile experience.

Does a Common Ingroup Identity Reduce Weight Bias? Only When Weight Discrimination Is Salient.

Compared to many other forms of social bias, weight bias is pervasive, socially accepted, and difficult to attenuate. According to the common ingroup identity model, strategies that expand group inclusiveness may promote more positive intergroup attitudes and behaviors, particularly when people are aware of unjust treatment of others included within their shared identity. Considering that most people are not aware of the social justice issue of weight discrimination, we hypothesized that a common ingroup identity would be effective in reducing weight bias primarily when unfair weight-based treatment was made salient (i.e., that fat people experience discrimination in employment). Participants were randomly assigned to conditions following a 3 (discrimination salience: weight discrimination, height discrimination, control) × 2 (group identity: common ingroup, control) design and completed an evaluative measure of weight bias. Results revealed a significant interaction, showing that when weight discrimination was salient, participants in the common ingroup identity condition reported less weight bias than participants in the group identity control condition. When a common ingroup identity was emphasized, weight bias was lower when weight discrimination was salient compared to when height discrimination was salient and the control condition in which nothing about discrimination was mentioned. These results were not moderated by participant weight. This study demonstrates that a common ingroup identity can be effective in reducing weight bias if a cue is provided that fat people experience disparate and unjust outcomes in employment. Given the serious consequences of weight bias for health and well-being, and the relative ease of implementing this prejudice-reduction intervention, the common ingroup identity model has potential application for reducing weight bias in a range of real-world settings. However, these findings should be considered preliminary until they are replicated in well-powered and pre-registered future research.