Trigger Monitoring at ATLAS

The Trigger and Data Acquisition system for the ATLAS experiment has to reduce the 40 MHz of LHC bunch crossing rate to ~200 Hz of recording rate. This is achieved through a complex distributed system composed by $sim$ 1.000 CPUs, about a third of the expected final size of the system. Monitoring the trigger behavior through all the trigger level is of fundamental importance to assess the quality of the data taken, to give fast feedback for the trigger configuration design and to monitor the stability of the HLT farm components. In this paper we will present the online monitoring framework and the various tools available in the ATLAS trigger system going from the ones that build the basic monitoring infrastructure and test the basic functionalities of the system to the more elaborated ones that checks the quality of the data taking looking at physics variables reconstructed online. The early experience in the 2009 cosmics data taking period will also be shown

Totem: a case study in HEP

It is being proved that the neurochip \Totem{} is a viable solution for high quality and real time computational tasks in HEP, including event classification, triggering and signal processing. The architecture of the chip is based on a "derivative free" algorithm called Reactive Tabu Search (RTS), highly performing even for low precision weights. ISA, VME or PCI boards integrate the chip as a coprocessor in a host computer. This paper presents: 1) the state of the art and the next evolution of the design of \Totem{}; 2) its ability in the Higgs search at LHC as an example.Comment: Latex, elsart.sty, 5 pages, talk presented by I.Lazzizzera at CHEP97 (Berlin, April 1997

Grapevine death caused by Nattrassia toruloidea

Severe decline has been observed on different grapevine cultivars (Vitis vinifera L.) grafted on rootstock hybrid 140 R.(V. berlandieri PLANCHON x V. rupestris SCHEELE) in various plantations in eastern and central Sicily. The affected grapevines presented chlorotic leaf spots and necrosis. Early leaf cast was followed by drying of the shoots from the apex and darkening of subcortical tissues. The whole grapevine died 2 or 3 years after onset of leaf symptoms. The fungus Nattrassia toruloidea (NATTRASS) DYKO and SUTTON was constantly isolated from the infected wood. Artificial inoculation of the isolate on rooted cuttings of the local cultivars Nerello Mascalese and Frappato di Vittoria reproduced the disease observed in the field. The fungus was reisolated from the artificially inoculated plants, confirming that N. toruloidea is the specific pathogenic agent responsible for the grapevine death observed by us. The most suitable temperature range for growth of this pathogen is 30-35°C which explains its distribution in hot African and Asian countries, its presence in Sicily and its widespread diffusion during the summer season

THE IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC ON QUALITY OF LIFE

This paper aims to highlight how the situation related to the spread of Covid-19 infection has disrupted the lives of all citizens, changing their lifestyles. A year ago, the World Health Organisation declared the spread of the virus, which established the start of the pandemic. This situation has had major repercussions on people’s lives, affecting not only their mental and physical wellbeing but also brought about various effects of social isolation. Social distancing has forced people to change their habits and experiment with new ways of working, going to school and relating to each other. New technologies have proved very useful in this respect, as they have been able to make people feel close and united despite distance. However, while the new technological means have made it possible to move our lives forward, at the same time they can be very harmful if not used in a conscious and responsible manner. This is why it is essential that students, teachers, parents and educators become skilled in the use of these technologies, so as to extrapolate from them their strengths, without them changing the true essence of human relationships

A survey on planning, expectations and factors influencing the stabilization process of migrating people in Palermo, Western Sicily

Background. Europe constitutes a major pole of attraction for the migratory fluxes. The migrating population is made up of many different individuals, carrying different projects of life and expectations. The consistence of the phenomena, in few decades, will be responsible for deep changes in the demographic structure of the European population. The purpose of this investigation was to attempt to draw an identikit of migrating people and to evaluate those factors which may be considered important to positively influence the process of stabilization. Moreover, the research tried to evaluate the differences among those migrating people who have recently arrived, still considering this country as a landing shore, and those who have definitely settled in Sicily. Methods. The research was carried out through a 42 items multiple choice answer questionnaire administered to two groups of individuals who were born in a non European Union (EU) country. Individuals, who were still trying to settle (group A), were chosen at random in the streets of the city, while individu- als with a solid and integrated family were chosen at random from the municipality of Palermo, Sicily. To compare the two different groups of individuals Student?s t and Chi square tests were used together with standard descriptive statistics and linear regression analysis. Results. Results seem to indicate that positive factors for integra- tion are years of residence in the same place, support from the family since the very beginning of the migratory project, stable interethnic social structure. What did not seem to constitute determining factors in the territory analysed are: age, gender, country of origin, religion. Higher education levels apparently play a negative role. Child bearing indexes are higher than European levels. Birth rate was use in the attempt of modelling a projection of population growth. Discussion. The collected data brings forth the snapshot of the typical immigrant as a young strong healthy individual, longing to start a family on safe values, who accepts transitory precari- ous living conditions in order to improve them. The major nega- tive factors in the migratory project are those of social nature. Governments have generally adopted a politics of control on entry and of managing the emergency. There is a need for a politics of empowerment and exploitation of the capacity of the migrants. Deep changes occurring in the demographic structure of the European population might influence the social contest. Decrease European birth rate and increasing immigration may create a melting pot, where Europeans may take a role of an endangered species

Searching the Higgs with the Neurochip TOTEM

We show that neural network classifiers can be helpful in discriminating Higgs production events from the huge background at LHC, assuming the case of a mass value $M_H \sim 200$ GeV. We use the high performance neurochip TOTEM, trained by the Reactive Tabu Search algorithm (RTS), which could be used for on-line purposes. Two different sets of input variables are compared.Comment: 4 pages,1 figure, requres espcrc2.sty and epsfig.sty. Work prsented in The 5th Topical Seminar on ``The irresistible rise of the Standard Model'', San Miniato, Tuscany, Italy, April 21-25 199

Challenges in the detection of long lived particles: the Hidden Valley Scenario

Neutral particles with long decay paths and many particles in the final state represent, from an experimental point of view, a challenge both for the trigger and for the reconstruction capabilities of the ATLAS detector. The Hidden Valley scenario is an excellent framework to explore the challenges posed by long-lived neutral particles. In this paper we present strategies to select such events focusing in particular at the trigger level

Trigger Monitoring at ATLAS

Monitoring the trigger behavior through all the trigger level is of fundamental importance to assess the quality of the data taken, to give fast feedback for the trigger configuration design and to monitor the stability of the HLT farm components. In this paper we will present the online monitoring framework and the various tools available in the ATLAS trigger system going from the ones that build the basic monitoring infrastructure and test the basic functionalities of the system to the more elaborated ones that checks the quality of the data taking looking at physics variables reconstructed online. The early experience in the 2009 cosmics data taking period will also be shown