Integration of the End Cap TEC+ of the CMS Silicon Strip Tracker

The silicon strip tracker of the CMS experiment has been completed and inserted into the CMS detector in late 2007. The largest sub-system of the tracker is its end cap system, comprising two large end caps (TEC) each containing 3200 silicon strip modules. To ease construction, the end caps feature a modular design: groups of about 20 silicon modules are placed on sub-assemblies called petals and these self-contained elements are then mounted into the TEC support structures. Each end cap consists of 144 petals, and the insertion of these petals into the end cap structure is referred to as TEC integration. The two end caps were integrated independently in Aachen (TEC+) and at CERN (TEC--). This note deals with the integration of TEC+, describing procedures for end cap integration and for quality control during testing of integrated sections of the end cap and presenting results from the testing

Reception Test of Petals for the End Cap TEC+ of the CMS Silicon Strip Tracker

The silicon strip tracker of the CMS experiment has been completed and was inserted into the CMS detector in late 2007. The largest sub system of the tracker are its end caps, comprising two large end caps (TEC) each containing 3200 silicon strip modules. To ease construction, the end caps feature a modular design: groups of about 20 silicon modules are placed on sub-assemblies called petals and these self-contained elements are then mounted onto the TEC support structures. Each end cap consists of 144 such petals, which were built and fully qualified by several institutes across Europe. Fro

Deterministic annealing for vertex finding at CMS

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Toward the characterization of a visual form of developmental dyslexia: Reduced visuo-attentional capacity for processing multiple stimuli made of separable features

International audienceSome dyslexics cannot process multiple letters simultaneously. It has been argued that this reduced visuo-attentional (VA) letter span could result from poor reading ability and experience. Here, moving away from reading context, we showed that dyslexic group exhibited slower visual search than normal readers group for "symbols", defined as graphic stimuli made up of separable visual features, but not for filled objects. Slowness in symbol visual search was explained by reduced VA field and atypical ocular behaviour when processing those letter-like stimuli and was associated with reduced VA letter span and impaired elementary visuo-spatial perception. Such a basic visual search deficit can hardly be attributed to poor reading ability and experience. Moreover, because it is specific to letter-like stimuli (i.e., "symbols"), it can specifically hinder reading acquisition. Symbol visual search can easily be tested in the prereading phase, opening up prospects for early risk detection and prevention of VA dyslexia

What Do Spatial Distortions in Patients’ Drawing After Right Brain Damage Teach Us About Space Representation in Art?

International audienceThe right cerebral hemisphere plays a crucial rule in spatial cognition, spanning from perception of elementary features, such as location, color, line orientation or shape to representation of different spaces (3D space, allocentric, egocentric, face, personal, peri-personal, or imaginal). One important aspect of its contribution concerns the perception of space symmetry and the representation of objects and scenes, with reference to the midline or body axis. This representation results from a balance between spatial attention processes depending from the two hemispheres. Healthy participants tend to show a discrete deviation of the midline plane representation toward the left side, that is likely to result from the predominance of the activity of the right cerebral hemisphere, mainly oriented toward the contralateral side of space. The visuospatial abilities of the right hemisphere, especially for the representation of the midline plane are crucially engaged in painting and drawing processes in artists. Interestingly, the distortions created by painters of the Cubism period, characterized byan asymmetry of objects and body representations, a specific enlargement or reduction of parts of space, or even by complex distortions of 3D space are analogous to those classically reported in right-brain-damaged patients (unilateral spatial neglect, hyperschematia, constructional apraxia). Understanding the pathological mechanisms of these representation disorders provides meaningful information to apprehend visual artist creations and esthetic perception of space

Impact of noise covariance and nonlinearities in NIR H2RG detectors

International audienceWe characterize at pixel level a NIR H2RG detector read with SIDECAR ASIC, similar to the detectors used in Euclid's Near IR Spectrometer Photometer (NISP). We derive the full covariance matrix formulae, extending the results from previous publications, and compare them to data and simulations for NISP baseline operating modes. The nonlinear response of the detector is measured and high precision maps are derived for in-flight or on-ground correction. High precision maps of the conversion gain are also determined using the Photon Transfer Curve technique

Impact of common modes correlations and time sampling on the total noise of a H2RG near-IR detector

International audienceWe present the readout noise reduction methods and the 1/f noise response of an 2K × 2K HgCdTe detector similar to the detectors that will be used in the Near Infrared Spectrometer Photometer - one of the instruments of the future ESA mission named Euclid. Various algorithms of common modes subtraction are defined and compared. We show that the readout noise can be lowered by 60% using properly the references provided within the array. A predictive model of the 1/f noise with a given frequency power spectrum is defined and compared to data taken in a wide range of sampling frequencies. In view of this model the definition of ad-hoc readout noises for different sampling can be avoided

Unilateral chronic pain may neglect the healthy side

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Optimization of the multiple sampling and signal extraction in nondestructive exposures

International audienceWe derive the full covariance matrix equations for proper treatment of correlations in signal fitting procedures, extending the results from previous publications. The straight line fits performed with these matrices demonstrate that a significantly higher signal to noise is obtained when the fluence exceeds 1  e−/s/pixel, in particular in long (several hundreds of seconds) spectroscopic exposures. The improvement arising from the covariance matrix is particularly significant for the initial intercept of the fit at t=0, a quantity which provides a useful redundancy to cross check the signal quality. We demonstrate that the mode that maximizes the signal-to-noise ratio in all ranges of fluxes studied is the one that uses all the frames sampled during the exposure. While there is no restriction on the organization of frames within groups for fluences lower than 1  e−/s/pixel, the co-adding of frames should be avoided whenever the fluence exceeds this value

Enhancing reading accuracy through visual search training using symbols

Abstract Children with reading disorders present with inaccurate and/or delayed printed word identification. Regarding visual-attentional processing, printed words are letter strings, and each letter is a symbol made of separable features. Simultaneous processing of separable features has been evidenced to be specifically impaired in visual search tasks using symbols in poor readers as well as in a patient with superior parietal lobules (SPL) lesion. Additionally, activation in the SPL has been shown to be abnormally low in dyslexic readers displaying a reduced span of letter strings processing. This deficit has been assumed to impair visual-attentional sampling of printed words. An experiment conducted with 21 dyslexic children tested the hypothesis that a training program based on visual symbol search may stimulate the SPL, leading to a potential benefit transferred to reading performance. We designed the VisioCogLetters serious game and introduced it at random for one month (10 min every day) between four monthly reading sessions. No training was provided between the other (control) reading sessions. Reading accuracy increased without any speed-accuracy trade-off specifically in the session after training. Moreover, the percentage of improvement correlated with the individual time spent at home on training. These results show that improved visual search skills on symbols can translate into enhanced reading performance, and pave a new avenue for future rehabilitation tools