Monday, Jan. 28, 2013
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Monday, Jan. 28

THERE WILL BE NO PARTICLE ASTROPHYSICS SEMINAR THIS WEEK

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

THERE WILL BE NO ALL EXPERIMENTERS' MEETING THIS WEEK

Tuesday, Jan. 29

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

THERE WILL BE NO ACCELERATOR PHYSICS AND TECHNOLOGY SEMINAR TODAY

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45°/41°

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Current Security Status

Secon Level 3

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Flags at full staff

Wilson Hall Cafe

Monday, Jan. 28

- Breakfast: apple cinnamon multigrain pancakes
- Spicy Thai beef noodle soup
- Bayou tuna chicken sandwich
- Garam masala salmon
- Smart cuisine: sweet and sour apricot chicken
- Asian chicken wrap
- Assorted pizza by the slice
- Stir fry sensations

Wilson Hall Cafe Menu

Chez Leon

Wednesday, Jan. 30
Lunch
- Chicken satay with peanut sauce
- Pea pods
- Jasmine rice
- Coconut flan

Friday, Feb. 1
Dinner
Menu unavailable

Chez Leon Menu
Call x3524 to make your reservation.

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Profile

One minute with Francisco Rios, senior mechanical technician, AD

Francisco Rios maintains and monitors water cooling systems for machines in the Linac and Booster. Photo: Reidar Hahn

How long have you been at Fermilab?
I've been here 22 years.

Describe a typical workday.
My team and I are responsible for maintaining and monitoring water cooling systems for many of the lab's machines, including the Linac, Main Injector Booster and NML. About 80 percent of our job is ensuring operations for these cooling systems are functioning properly, and we check the monitor systems every hour each day. The other 20 percent of our job is spent building new or additional cooling systems and making sure they operate as efficiently as possible.

We're kind of like the radiators of your car. If your radiator is not working, then your car will overheat, which isn't good for the car, and isn't good for the machines here at Fermilab either.

What's the best part of your job?
Teamwork. The job can get hard sometimes and one guy can't do it alone, so it's always good to work as a team. We have safety meetings to prepare for our job, and we always work in groups of at least two. That way we can watch out for each other when working.

Also, we get to work with some complex, high-tech equipment such as laser alignment tools and ultrasonic flow meters. These sophisticated tools help to make our jobs easier and safer, and so we learn about how this technology works, which is a bonus for me.

How did you become interested in your field of work?
I was mechanically inclined since I was a little kid. I was always tinkering with bicycles, and I had a lot of fun with tools and learning how things worked and how to fix them. I am very happy to have a job where I can use my hands.

I live by this golden rule: When you love what you do, you don't work a day in your life.

What's next for you?
I'm attending Fermilab management classes and am working toward a supervising management position in the near future.

Do you have any hobbies?
I like to play the guitar. I used to be in a band where I drew my inspiration from some of my favorite bands, including Van Halen.

Jessica Orwig

If there is an employee you'd like to see profiled in an upcoming issue of Fermilab Today, please e-mail today@fnal.gov.

Photo of the Day

Moons of Earth and Jupiter

On the night of Jan. 21, the Moon and Jupiter came within about a degree of one another. Jupiter is visible at the top of this picture. Click to enlarge, then zoom in to view Jupiter and its moons Ganymede (left of Jupiter) and Io and Callisto (to the right, respectively). Photo: Marty Murphy, AD
In the News

In Memoriam: Al Mann

From Sanford Underground Research Laboratory Newsletter, January 2013

Editor's note: Former Fermilab user Alfred Mann passed away on Jan. 13. In addition to this In Memoriam, written by Kevin Lesko, you can read more about him in this Philadelphia Inquirer article and on this University of Pennsylvania Physics and Astronomy Web page.

It is with heartfelt sorrow that I report the passing of Dr. Al Mann. Al was an early and strong supporter of the U.S. Underground Laboratory effort. He served as an advisor and mentor to me as we developed and matured the DUSEL program. Al was never shy in expressing his opinions or suggesting how we could improve our proposal (or telling me how I was messing up!). While it was not always pleasant to hear this from Al, his batting average for being correct with his advice was very high.

Read more
Tip of the Week: Health

Bean jumpy?

Coffee is perhaps the best known source of caffeine, but the amount of caffeine in energy drinks usually surpasses that in coffee. Photo: eyeore2710

An estimated 90 percent of North American adults consume caffeine. Increased caffeine intake can cause irritability, jumpiness and, more seriously, heart rhythm disturbances.

Although consuming too much coffee can lead to unhealthy caffeine levels, coffee isn't the only culprit. Drugs such as Luvox, used to treat depression, or quinolone antibiotics, used to treat infection, amplify caffeine blood levels five-fold by tying up an enzyme pathway shared with caffeine.

Then there are energy drinks. These typically contain larger amounts of caffeine does coffee. Ingredients that contribute caffeine are yerba mate, guarana and ilex guayusa plants. Mateine and guaranine, which may also be among the ingredients in your pick-me-up beverage, are just caffeine derived from their respective plants. Energy drinks reported caffeine levels ranging from 80 to 300 mg per 16-ounce serving; a similar serving of coffee contains between 70 and 200 mg.

More may not be better if your goal is to be more alert. Although causality could not be established, a military study noted a paradoxical association of intake of three or more energy drinks with daytime sleepiness among respondents drinking that amount and reporting less than four hours of sleep.

Getting to high caffeine levels quickly is also dangerous. There are now caffeine dispensing strips, powders and gums that deliver the caffeine they contain directly through the mouth membranes. This results in near-instant absorption, as contrasted with the 45-minute delay measured in caffeinated beverages.

Then there are the dangers of "mixers." Alcohol, a depressant, offsets the stimulant properties of an energy drink. Alcohol in combination with an energy drink can lead to an underestimation of both alcohol and caffeine intake. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration tracks emergency room visits attributed to different drugs. It saw an increase in energy-drink-related admissions from 1,128 to 13,114 per year between 2005 and 2009—a 10-fold increase!

A lethal dose is estimated to be the equivalent of 80 to 100 cups of coffee for an adult. However if your liver is not healthy or is tied up by medications, the lethal amount is less.

The FDA is investigating a number of deaths that occurred in a four-year period tied to two different energy drinks. Although currently regulated as a food supplement, these drinks can cause adverse health effects if taken in combination with certain medications, with alcohol or in rapid succession.

Brian Svazas, M.D., M.P.H.

Milestone

New employees - January

The following regular employees started at Fermilab in January:

Christophe Bonnaud, SCD; Santo Campione, CCD; David Lowell, CCD; Lisa Peters, BSS; Timothy Skirvin, SCD; Valeriy Zhezher, APC.

Fermilab welcomes them to the laboratory.

In the News

Shrunken proton baffles scientists

From Nature, Jan. 24, 2013

One of the universe's most common particles has left physicists completely stumped. The proton, a fundamental constituent of the atomic nucleus, seems to be smaller than thought. And despite three years of careful analysis and reanalysis of numerous experiments, nobody can figure out why.

Read more
Announcements

Today's New Announcements

Financial and procurement systems down - Feb. 6-11

Fermilab Lecture Series: Engineering Biology - Feb. 22

Fermilab Gallery Series: Dios no Choro (Brazilian flute and guitar)

Budgeting Basics for 2013 - Jan. 30, Feb. 2

Service Desk Web interface upgrade - Jan. 31

January 2013 float holiday for timecard use

UChicago panel discussion on Higgs discovery - Feb. 7

URA Visiting Scholars Program deadline - Feb. 25

2013 FRA scholarship applications accepted until April 1

Professional development courses

Abri Credit Union - member appreciation

Scottish country dancing Tuesday evenings in Kuhn Barn

International Folk Dancing Thursday evenings in Kuhn Barn

Indoor soccer

Employee discounts