Searching for Elko dark matter spinors at the CERN LHC

The aim of this work is to explore the possibility to discover a fermionic field with mass dimension one, the Elko field, in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Due to its mass dimension, an Elko can only interact either with Standard Model (SM) spinors and gauge fields at 1-loop order or at tree level through a quartic interaction with the Higgs field. In this Higgs portal scenario, the Elko is a viable candidate to a dark matter constituent which has been shown to be compatible with relic abundance measurements from WMAP and direct dark matter--nucleon searches. We propose a search strategy for this dark matter candidate in the channel $pp \rightarrow l^+ l^- + \not\!\! E_T$ at the $\sqrt{s}=14$ TeV LHC. We show the LHC potential to discover the Elko considering a triple Higgs-Elko coupling as small as $\sim 0.5$ after 1 pb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity. Some phenomenological consequences of this new particle and its collider signatures are also discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

Fitness participants perceived quality by age and practiced activity

The fitness participants could have a specific and critical role in the service provision and, with that, contribute to the service quality improvement. The aim of this research is characterize and compare the quality indicators of the group exercise fitness instructor - through the participant’s perception, evaluated by QIF-AG questionnaire - considering their age and practiced activity. The data were collected from 622 group exercise participants (all from female gender, participants in fitness centers of Coimbra - Portugal, with 18 years old or more). After the application of the ANOVA one-way test is possible to conclude that, considering their age, there are statistical significant differences in 9 of the 11 items of the relational quality dimension and 9 of the 14 categories of the technical-pedagogical quality dimension. In accordance to the different dimensions [relational (F=11,820; p=0,001; ƞ2=0,037, small effect size); technical-pedagogical (F=8,029; p=0,001; ƞ2=0,025, small effect size)] and general construct (F=10,211; p=0,001; ƞ2=0,032, small effect size) is possible to conclude that are statistical significant differences considering the age of the fitness participants. In accordance to the activity, there are statistical significant differences in 8 of the 11 categories of the relational quality dimension and in 9 of the 14 categories of the technical-pedagogical quality dimension. Considering different dimensions [relational (F=6,106; p=0,001; ƞ2=0,038, small effect size); technical-pedagogical (F=4,207; p=0,006; ƞ2=0,027, small effect size)] and general construct (F=5,199; p=0,001; ƞ2=0,033, small effect size) also is possible to conclude that are statistical significant differences in the practiced activity.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Understanding the relation between serious surfing, surfing profile, surf travel behaviour and destination attributes preferences

Surfing is a sportingactivity that has become a major business, integrated in the leisure and tourism industries. Due to the impact of surf tourism and to the surfers’ characteristics featured by the time and effort they invest in surfingand their propensity to travel in search for the perfect wave, it is importantto understand if the six serious leisure qualities(perseverance, career, effort, benefits, ethos andidentity) are related with socio-demographic characteristics, surfing profile, surf travel behaviour and surfing destination attributes preferences. Aimingtoachieve these goals, an online survey (in the form of a questionnaire) was applied to a casual sample of 200 surfers in Portugal. The results of this study demonstrate that surfers exhibit the six serious leisure qualities and have a strong disposition to travel for surfing. Moreover, the results highlight that surfers value mainly the surfing natural conditions when choosing a surfing travel destination. Statistical tests also allowed concluding that socio-demographic variables are not good predictors of serious surfing, although serious surfingis correlated with surfing profile, surf travel behaviour and surfing destination attributes preferences.This data enables to provide important information that can be used to strengthen management strategies by surf tourism industry providers.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Photopedology and orbital spectral pedology on the evaluation of soils developed from basalt

O Estado do Mato Grosso do Sul (MS) é um dos principais produtores do setor agropecuário brasileiro. Entretanto, para manter essa condição, terá que ter à disposição metodologias que auxiliem no planejamento do uso racional de suas terras. Desta forma, tornam-se necessárias pesquisas que visem obter métodos de investigação dos solos que atuem de forma rápida, sejam eficazes e, principalmente, de baixo custo. Sabendo-se que o relevo é importante fator de formação dos solos e que fotos aéreas detectam a variação de superfície, espera-se que, juntamente com informações espectrais quantitativas da superfície, possam caracterizar e discriminar solos ou grupamento de solos na paisagem. Assim, este estudo teve por objetivos: (a) identificar diferentes classes de solos e verificar suas relações com os aspectos qualitativos e quantitativos da paisagem; (b) utilizar dados radiométricos de imagens de satélite para discriminar classes ou grupamento de solos. Para tal, foi avaliada a relação entre a classificação dos solos e os aspectos da rede de drenagem, obtidos através da interpretação de fotografias aéreas, e dados espectrais, conseguidos através da análise de imagens de satélite, de 14 amostras circulares (ACs) da região de Maracaju (MS), onde os solos são desenvolvidos a partir de basaltos. A densidade de drenagem (Dd) apresentou correlação com o índice de intemperismo (Ki) e com a saturação de bases do solo (V%), permitindo discriminar classes de solos dentro da área de estudo com 85,7 % de certeza, enquanto os dados espectrais somente discriminaram solos quanto às classes texturais da camada superficial. Além disso, observou-se que nos solos com teores de Fe2O3 acima de 180 g kg-1 a diferenciação por classes texturais foi prejudicada mediante o do uso das imagens de satélite.The state of Mato Grosso do Sul (MS) is one of the main Brazilian producers in the agricultural sector. To maintain this status, however, it will be necessary both to know and use rationally its soil resources. This way, it will be necessary methods of soil research that are efficient and fast in obtain information, as well as of low-cost to support land use planning. Since relief is an important factor of soil formation, aerial photos and satellite images analysis can be used to detect landscape features that help to characterize and discriminate soils. Therefore, the goals of this study were: (a) to identify different soil classes and verify their relationships with landscape aspects by the interpretation of aerial photos; and (b) to use radiometric data, obtained from satellite images analysis, to discriminate soils or groups of soils on landscape. To do so, it was evaluated the relationship between soil classes and relief and drainage aspects, obtained by the interpretation of aerial photos in conjunction with spectral data obtained by satellite image analysis of 14 circular samples (CS) of the Maracaju city in the MS state. The drainage density (Dd), determined in the CS, showed positive correlation with the soil Ki index and base saturation (V%) index, thus allowing discriminate soil classes of the studied area with 85.7 % of certainty, whereas the spectral data only discriminated soils by the textural classes of their surface layer. On the other hand, it was also observed that soils with Fe2O3 content higher than 180 g kg-1 had their textural classes poorly differentiated by using the spectral data

Building and exploiting a Digital Twin for the management of drinking water distribution networks

[EN] Digital Twins (DTs) are starting to be exploited to improve the management of water distribution systems (WDSs) and, in the future, they will be crucial for decision making. In this paper, the authors propose several requirements that a DT of a water distribution system should accomplish. Developing a DT is a challenge, and a continuous process of adjustments and learning is required. Due to the advantages of having a DT of the WDS always available, during the last years a strategy to build and maintain a DT of the water distribution network of Valencia (Spain) and its Metropolitan Area (1.6 million inhabitants) was developed. This is one of the first DTs built of a water utility, being currently in operation. The great benefits of their use in the daily operation of the system ensure that they will begin to be usual in the most advanced smart cities.Conejos Fuertes, P.; Martínez Alzamora, F.; Hervás-Carot, M.; Alonso Campos, JC. (2020). Building and exploiting a Digital Twin for the management of drinking water distribution networks. Urban Water Journal. 17(8):704-713. https://doi.org/10.1080/1573062X.2020.1771382S704713178Chacón Ramírez, E., Albarrán, J. C., & Cruz Salazar, L. A. (2019). The Control of Water Distribution Systems as a Holonic System. Studies in Computational Intelligence, 352-365. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-27477-1_27Grieves, M., et al. 2015. Virtually Intelligent Product Systems: Digital and Physical Twins. In Complex Systems Engineering: Theory and Practice, edited by S. Flumerfelt, et al., 175–200. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.Hatchett, S., J. Uber, D. Boccelli, T. Haxton, R. Janke, A. Kramer, A. Matracia, and S. Panguluri. 2011. “Real-Time Distribution System Modeling: Development, Application, and Insights.” Urban Water Management: Challenges and Oppurtunities - 11thInternational Conference on Computing and Control for the Water Industry, CCWI 2011 July.Kartakis, S., Abraham, E., & McCann, J. A. (2015). WaterBox. Proceedings of the 1st ACM International Workshop on Cyber-Physical Systems for Smart Water Networks. doi:10.1145/2738935.2738939Lin, J., Sedigh, S., & Miller, A. (2009). Towards Integrated Simulation of Cyber-Physical Systems: A Case Study on Intelligent Water Distribution. 2009 Eighth IEEE International Conference on Dependable, Autonomic and Secure Computing. doi:10.1109/dasc.2009.140Qi, Q., & Tao, F. (2018). Digital Twin and Big Data Towards Smart Manufacturing and Industry 4.0: 360 Degree Comparison. IEEE Access, 6, 3585-3593. doi:10.1109/access.2018.2793265Alac, M. (2008). Working with Brain Scans. Social Studies of Science, 38(4), 483-508. doi:10.1177/0306312708089715Shi, Y., Xu, J., & Du, W. (2019). Discussion on the New Operation Management Mode of Hydraulic Engineering Based on the Digital Twin Technique. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1168, 022044. doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1168/2/022044Tao, F., Zhang, H., Liu, A., & Nee, A. Y. C. (2019). Digital Twin in Industry: State-of-the-Art. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, 15(4), 2405-2415. doi:10.1109/tii.2018.2873186Tao, F., Cheng, J., Qi, Q., Zhang, M., Zhang, H., & Sui, F. (2017). Digital twin-driven product design, manufacturing and service with big data. The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 94(9-12), 3563-3576. doi:10.1007/s00170-017-0233-1Tao, F., & Qi, Q. (2019). Make more digital twins. Nature, 573(7775), 490-491. doi:10.1038/d41586-019-02849-1Uber, J., S. Hatchett, S. Hooper, D. Boccelli, H. Woo, and R. Janke. 2014. Water Utility Case Study of Real-Time Network Hydaulic and Water Qualilty Modeling Using EPANET-RTX Libraries. EPA 6007R-14/350 Report. Cincinnati, Ohio: Environmental Protection Agency.Wang, Z., Song, H., Watkins, D. W., Ong, K. G., Xue, P., Yang, Q., & Shi, X. (2015). Cyber-physical systems for water sustainability: challenges and opportunities. IEEE Communications Magazine, 53(5), 216-222. doi:10.1109/mcom.2015.710566

Higher longevity and fecundity of Chrysoperla carnea, a predator of olive pests, on some native flowering Mediterranean plants

International audienceAbstractBiological control is the use of natural enemies, such as predators, of crop pests. For instance, Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens) is a major predator of olive grove pests. To favor the abundance of C. carnea, flowering plants should provide them with carbohydrates. However, there is a lack of knowledge on the biology of flowering plants that grow in olive groves. Therefore, we studied in the laboratory 11 native Mediterranean plants commonly found in traditional olive orchards as food sources for C. carnea adults. Male and female longevity and female lifetime fecundity were measured on a daily base. Plant nectar and pollen were quantified by high-performance anion-exchange chromatography analysis (HPAEC-PAD). Our results show that the longevity of C. carnea females was higher, of 17 days, when fed with Conopodium majus flowers, and of 14 days when fed with Lonicera hispanica flowers. Female fecundity was higher for C. carnea individuals fed with C. majus, giving 71 eggs, and with Foeniculum vulgare, giving 66 eggs, than for C. carnea individuals fed with L. hispanica (19 eggs) and Asparagus acutifolius (4 eggs). These findings are explained by the higher concentration of trehalose in plant nectar and pollen. To our knowledge, this is the first study evaluating the sugar profile and content of Mediterranean flower plants as food resource of C. carnea adults indicating that trehalose content in pollen and nectar has a key role in C. carnea fecundity and longevity

Variation of larval size and adult emergence period of Boyeria irene (Fonscolombe, 1838) (Odonata: Aeshnidae) in the Francia River of western Spain

Boyeria irene (Fonscolombe, 1838) is a large dragonfly common in rivers and streams in southern Europe, but it is little known about the biometrical variations of their populations. In this paper, we test whether the time of the emergence period of this species differs in the same river, whether the larval size varies during the emergence period, and whether the distinct size variations are associated with the different river sections. Results have revealed that 1) female exuviae are larger than those of males, 2) except for the paraproct length, the exuviae have similar size across the entire river length, 3) size of the exuviae is larger in the first period of emergence than in the second one. A difference in emergence duration across the three river sections has been recorded.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Lugar, vivienda y urbanidad

The concept of place has multiple meanings. This is clear when reviewing the different meanings of the term in Spanish, including those that refer to a physical, imaginary or abstract space (space, site, territory); those that evoke the notion of time (occasion, moment, opportunity); or those colloquial expressions that refer to experience (“me in your place”).Place has multiple meanings derived from the different disciplines and theories that use the term as their ‘object of inquiry’; philosophy, geography, architecture and urbanism provide different ways of understanding the term, giving account of the various angles that it possess. Each discipline collaborates to the vision of place due to the concrete dynamics that it assumes in the academic and professional practice.In addition, the term has experienced an historical evolution of important transformations driven by the rise of the enlightenment and the influence of the existentialist philosophy during the first half of the twentieth century. It is possible to declare that the notion of place is being built as a collage where we can discover different focuses and tensions that vary depending on the point of view of a particular time or discipline.El concepto de lugar revierte múltiples significados. Basta con observar las distintas acepciones que este término comporta en la lengua española, entre las que se encuentran aquellas que remiten a un espacio físico real, imaginario o abstracto (espacio, sitio, terruño y territorio), las que remiten a la noción de tiempo (ocasión, momento y oportunidad), o en referencia al uso cotidiano del lenguaje para hablar de la experiencia ( "yo en tu lugar...").El lugar tiene una multiplicidad de significados provenientes de las distintas disciplinas o teorías que lo abordarán como su "objeto de estudio", de manera que la filosofía, la geografía, la arquitectura y el urbanismo aportan distintas formas de comprenderlo, dando cuenta de las diferentes aristas que reviste su noción. Cada disciplina, realiza aportes a la visión de lugar dada las dinámicas concretas que asume en su ejercicio académico y profesional.A ello, se suma la evolución histórica que ha sufrido el concepto, experimentando transformaciones importantes con el despliegue de la ilustración y con la influencia de la filosofía existencialista en la primera mitad del siglo XX. Se puede decir que, la noción de lugar se construye como un collage en el que se descubren diferentes focos y tensiones, según el tiempo o la disciplina desde la cual se asuma un determinado punto de vista