879 research outputs found
Experimental results on cosmic ray composition and energy spectrum around the knee from EAS experiments
The most recent experimental results on cosmic ray composition and energy spectrum from Extensive Air Shower arrays are reviewed and discussed. All experiments agree on the presence of the knee in the energy spectrum at an
energy Ek 3 · 1015 eV; the bend is seen in all the shower components, whose study gives consistent results and do not suggest any change in hadronic interactions at these energies. An astrophysical origin for the knee is thus favoured. Most experiments agree on a primary mass composition getting heavier above the knee, but contradicting data also exist. In particular the results based on the observation of the atmospheric ˇCerenkov light, the component more strictly related to the total
primary energy, seem to suggest an opposite trend
Eye Tracking Impact on Quality-of-Life of ALS Patients
Chronic neurological disorders in their advanced phase are characterized by a progressive loss of mobility (use of upper and lower limbs), speech and social life. Some of these pathologies, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and multiple sclerosis, are paradigmatic of these deficits. High technology communication instruments, such as eye tracking, can be an extremely important possibility to reintroduce these patients in their family and social life, in particular when they suffer severe disability. This paper reports and describes the results of an ongoing experimentation about Eye Tracking impact on the quality of life of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients. The aim of the experimentation is to evaluate if and when eye tracking technologies have a positive impact on patients' live
Ground-based cosmic ray experiments: A review
A brief overview is given of progress in the knowledge of the cosmic ray origin and nature obtained in recent years by means of ground-based experiments, in the energy region above 1014 eV and up to the highest energies. The information obtained from the study of the shape and composition of the primary spectrum are described, with special emphasis on the multi-messenger approach
Air Shower Simulation and Hadronic Interactions
The aim of this report of the Working Group on Hadronic Interactions and Air
Shower Simulation is to give an overview of the status of the field,
emphasizing open questions and a comparison of relevant results of the
different experiments. It is shown that an approximate overall understanding of
extensive air showers and the corresponding hadronic interactions has been
reached. The simulations provide a qualitative description of the bulk of the
air shower observables. Discrepancies are however found when the correlation
between measurements of the longitudinal shower profile are compared to that of
the lateral particle distributions at ground. The report concludes with a list
of important problems that should be addressed to make progress in
understanding hadronic interactions and, hence, improve the reliability of air
shower simulations.Comment: Working Group report given at UHECR 2012 Symposium, CERN, Feb. 2012.
Published in EPJ Web of Conferences 53, 01007 (2013
Primary cosmic ray spectrum in the 10 to the 12th power - 10 to the 16th power eV energy range from the NUSEX experiment
A primary cosmic ray spectrum was derived which fits both experimental multiple muon rates and the all-nucleon flux derived from the single muon intensities underground. In the frame of the interaction model developed by Gaisser, Elbert and Stanev, it is possible to reproduce NUSEX muon data with a primary composition in which the iron spectrum is only slightly flatter than the proton one. This result rules out the popular idea that the primary composition varies drastically with increasing energy, leading to the dominance of heavier nuclei at energies 10 to the 15th power to 10 to the 16th power eV
Muons enhancements at sea level in association with Swift-BAT and MILAGRO triggers
Recently, triggers occurring during high background rate intervals have been
reporter by Swift-BAT Gamma Ray Burst (GRB) detector. Among them, there were
two on January 24, two on January 25, and two on February 13, and 18, all in
2008. These Swift-BAT triggers in most cases are probably noise triggers that
occurred while Swift was entering the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA). In fact, we
show that they happen during a plentiful precipitation of high energy particles
in the SAA, producing muons in the atmosphere detected by two directional
telescopes at sea level, inside the SAA region (Tupi experiment). They look
like sharp peaks in the muon counting rate. In the same category are two
triggers from MILAGRO ground based detector, on January 25 and 31, 2008
respectively. In addition, the trigger coordinates are close to (and, in two
cases, inside) the field of view of the telescopes. From an additional analysis
in the behavior of the muon counting rate, it is possible to conclude that the
events are produced by precipitation of high energy charged particles in the
SAA region. Thus, due to its localization, the Tupi experiment constitutes a
new sensor of high energy particle precipitation in the SAA, and it can be
useful in the identification of some triggers of Gamma Ray Burst detectors.Comment: 7pages, 5 figure
Beam test calibration of the balloon-borne imaging calorimeter for the CREAM experiment
CREAM (Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass) is a multi-flight balloon mission
designed to collect direct data on the elemental composition and individual
energy spectra of cosmic rays. Two instrument suites have been built to be
flown alternately on a yearly base. The tungsten/Sci-Fi imaging calorimeter for
the second flight, scheduled for December 2005, was calibrated with electron
and proton beams at CERN. A calibration procedure based on the study of the
longitudinal shower profile is described and preliminary results of the beam
test are presented.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. To be published in the Proceedings of 29th
International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC 2005), Pune, India, August 3-10,
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A blueprint for integrated eye-controlled environments
Eye-based environmental control requires innovative solutions for supporting effective user interaction, for allowing home automation and control, and for making homes more "attentive" to user needs. Several approaches have already been proposed, which can be seen as isolated attempts to address only partial issues and specific sub-sets of the general problem.
This paper aims at tackling gaze-based home automation as a whole, exploiting state of the art technologies and trying to integrate interaction modalities than are currently supported and that may supported in a near future. User-home interaction is sought through two, complementary, interaction patterns: direct interaction and mediated interaction. Integration between home appliances/devices and user interfaces is granted by a central
point of abstraction/harmonization called House Manager.
Innovative points can be identified in the wide flexibility of the approach
which allows on one side to integrate virtually all home devices having a
communication interface, and, on the other side, mixes-up direct and mediated user interaction exploiting the advantages of both. A complete discussion about interaction and accessibility issues is provided, justifying the presented approach from the point of view of human-environment interaction
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