RF Acquisition System Based on μTCA for Testing of High-Gradient Acceleration Cavities

The radio frequency (RF) laboratory hosted in the Corpuscular Physics Institute (IFIC) of the University of Valencia is designed to house a high-power and high-repetition-rate facility to test normal conduction RF accelerator cavities in the S-Band (2.9985 GHz) in order to perform R&D activities related to particle accelerator cavities. The system, which manages the entire process of RF signal generation, data acquisition and closed-loop control of the laboratory, is currently based on a modular and compact PXI platform system. This contribution details the development of a platform with similar features, but which is based on open architecture standards at both the hardware and software level. For this purpose, a complete system based on the μTCA platform has been developed. This new system must be able to work with accelerator cavities at other operating frequencies, such as 750 MHz, as well as to explore different options at firmware and software levels based on open-source codes

The Belle II vertex detector integration

Belle II DEPFET, PXD, and SVD Collaborations: et al.The Belle II experiment comes with a substantial upgrade of the Belle detector and will operate at the SuperKEKB energy-asymmetric ee collider with energies tuned to ϒ(4S) resonance s=10.588 GeV. The accelerator has successfully completed the first phase of commissioning in 2016 and the first electron–positron collisions in Belle II took place in April 2018. Belle II features a newly designed silicon vertex detector based on DEPFET pixel and double-sided strip layers. Currently, a subset of the vertex detector is installed (Phase 2 of the experiment). Installation of the full detector (Phase 3) will be completed by the end of 2018. This paper describes the Phase 2 arrangement of the Belle II silicon vertex detector, with focus on the interconnection of detectors and their integration with the software framework of Belle II. Alignment issues are discussed based on detector simulations and first acquired data.This work is supported by MSCA-RISE, European Union project JENNIFER (EU grant n. 644294), MEXT, Japan, WPI, and JSPS (Japan); ARC (Australia); BMWFW (Austria); MSMT, Czech Republic, GAUK 404316 (Czech Republic); AIDA-2020 (Germany); DAE, India and DST (India); INFN (Italy); NRF-2016K1A3A7A09005605 and RSRI (Korea); MNiSW (Poland); Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, Germany); and MINECO, Spain grant FPA2015-71292-C2-1-P (Spain)

High-Gradient RF laboratory at IFIC for medical applications

General interest has been shown over the last years for compact and more affordable facilities for hadron-therapy. The High-Gradient (HG) know-how and technology for normal-conducting accelerating RF (Radio-Frequency) electron linac (linear accelerator) structures recently developed for projects such as CLIC (CERN), has raised the achievable accelerating gradient from 20-30 MV/m up to 100-120 MV/m. This gain has come through a better understanding of the high-power RF vacuum arcs or breakdowns (BD) phenomena, the development of quantitative HG RF design methods and refinements in fabrication techniques. This can allow for more compact linacs also for protons, which is potentially important in the new trend in hadron-therapy of using linacs able to provide protons of 70-230 MeV or light ions of 100-400 MeV/u. Linacs are of particular interest for medical applications because they can provide a high degree of flexibility for treatment, such as running at 100-400 Hz pulse rate and pulse-to-pulse beam energy (and intensity) variations. This kind of accelerator is very well suited to treat moving organs with 4D multi-painting spot scanning technique. HG operation is limited by the BD phenomena and is characterized by the BD-Rate. New fresh structures initially operate at a reduced performance and must be conditioned through extended high-power rf operation until the maximum operational gradient is reached. This process is a time consuming, and consequently costly task (> 350 million pulses) which is important to understand and reduce. The IFIC HG-RF laboratory is designed to host a high-power and high-repetition rate facility for testing S-Band (2.9985 GHz) normal-conducting RF structures. This facility will allow the development, RF conditioning and studies of the BD phenomena in HG structures.General interest has been shown over the last years for compact and more affordable facilities for hadron-therapy. The High-Gradient (HG) know-how and technology for normal-conducting accelerating RF (Radio-Frequency) electron linac (linear accelerator) structures recently developed for projects such as CLIC (CERN), has raised the achievable accelerating gradient from 20-30 MV/m up to 100-120 MV/m. This gain has come through a better understanding of the high-power RF vacuum arcs or breakdowns (BD) phenomena, the development of quantitative HG RF design methods and refinements in fabrication techniques. This can allow for more compact linacs also for protons, which is potentially important in the new trend in hadron-therapy of using linacs able to provide protons of 70-230 MeV or light ions of 100-400 MeV/u. Linacs are of particular interest for medical applications because they can provide a high degree of flexibility for treatment, such as running at 100-400 Hz pulse rate and pulse-to-pulse beam energy (and intensity) variations. This kind of accelerator is very well suited to treat moving organs with 4D multi-painting spot scanning technique. HG operation is limited by the BD phenomena and is characterized by the BD-Rate. New fresh structures initially operate at a reduced performance and must be conditioned through extended high-power rf operation until the maximum operational gradient is reached. This process is a time consuming, and consequently costly task (> 350 million pulses) which is important to understand and reduce. The IFIC HG-RF laboratory is designed to host a high-power and high-repetition rate facility for testing S-Band (2.9985 GHz) normal-conducting RF structures. This facility will allow the development, RF conditioning and studies of the BD phenomena in HG structures

Analytical RF Pulse Heating Analysis for High Gradient Accelerating Structures

The main aim of this work is to present a simple method, based on analytical expressions, for obtaining the temperature increase due to the Joule effect inside the metallic walls of an RF accelerating component. This technique relies on solving the 1-D heat-transfer equation for a thick wall, considering that the heat sources inside the wall are the ohmic losses produced by the RF electromagnetic fields penetrating the metal with finite electrical conductivity. Furthermore, it is discussed how the theoretical expressions of this method can be applied to obtain an approximation to the temperature increase in realistic 3-D RF accelerating structures, taking as an example the cavity of an RF electron photoinjector and a traveling wave linac cavity. These theoretical results have been benchmarked with numerical simulations carried out with commercial finite-element method (FEM) software, finding good agreement among them. Besides, the advantage of the analytical method with respect to the numerical simulations is evidenced. In particular, the model could be very useful during the design and optimization phase of RF accelerating structures, where many different combinations of parameters must be analyzed in order to obtain the proper working point of the device, allowing to save time and speed up the process. However, it must be mentioned that the method described in this article is intended to provide a quick approximation to the temperature increase in the device, which of course is not as accurate as the proper 3-D numerical simulations of the component.European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant 777431 (XLS CompactLight)Valencian Regional Government VALi+D Postdoctoral under Grant APOSTD/2019/155The main aim of this work is to present a simple method, based on analytical expressions, for obtaining the temperature increase due to the Joule effect inside the metallic walls of an RF accelerating component. This technique relies on solving the 1-D heat-transfer equation for a thick wall, considering that the heat sources inside the wall are the ohmic losses produced by the RF electromagnetic fields penetrating the metal with finite electrical conductivity. Furthermore, it is discussed how the theoretical expressions of this method can be applied to obtain an approximation to the temperature increase in realistic 3-D RF accelerating structures, taking as an example the cavity of an RF electron photoinjector and a traveling wave linac cavity. These theoretical results have been benchmarked with numerical simulations carried out with commercial finite-element method (FEM) software, finding good agreement among them. Besides, the advantage of the analytical method with respect to the numerical simulations is evidenced. In particular, the model could be very useful during the design and optimization phase of RF accelerating structures, where many different combinations of parameters must be analyzed in order to obtain the proper working point of the device, allowing to save time and speed up the process. However, it must be mentioned that the method described in this article is intended to provide a quick approximation to the temperature increase in the device, which of course is not as accurate as the proper 3-D numerical simulations of the component

Flipped evaluation: herramientas online para la evaluación participativa

[EN] The evaluation of a subject is a fundamental part of the teaching-learning process and one of the main concerns of our students. This is a complex task that requires a lot of effort from the teacher. This is a growing effort in line with the increased weight of con-tinuous evaluation in the current educational system. In this work, different methodo-logies focused on maximizing the student’s performance are presented, thus minimizing the extra effort for the teacher in the evaluation process. We provide several examples of activities throught Moodle platform such as the workshop, glossary, databases, ques-tionnaires, etc. Some of them allow self-assessment once configured, whereas others promote the participation of students in the correction and/or evaluation.[ES] La evaluación de una asignatura es una parte fundamental del proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje y una de la que más preocupa a nuestros estudiantes. Se trata de una tarea compleja y que requiere un gran esfuerzo por parte del profesor. Un mayor esfuerzo que va parejo al incremento de la evaluación continua, una tendencia en el sistema educativo actual. En este trabajo se presentan diferentes metodologías que maximizan el rendimiento del alumno, tratando a su vez de minimizar el esfuerzo extra por parte del profesor en los procesos de corrección y evaluación. Se proporcionan diversos ejemplos de su uso mediante actividades disponibles en la plataforma Moodle como: taller, glosario, bases de datos, cuestionarios aleatorios, etc. Algunas de estas herramientas permiten la autoevaluación una vez configuradas, en otros casos se presentan metodologías que implican la participación del alumnado en la corrección y/o evaluación.Proyecto de innovación educativa “Explotación de las herramientas online de la Universitat de València para la evaluación a distancia de asignaturas en el área de ciencia” del curso 2020-21 (UV-SFPIE PID-1354708)Amorós López, J.; Ruescas Orient, A.; Esperante Pereira, D.; Girbés-Juan, V.; Fernandez-Moran, R.; Moreno Llácer, M.; Peréz-Suay, A.... (2021). Flipped evaluation: herramientas online para la evaluación participativa. En IN-RED 2021: VII Congreso de Innovación Edicativa y Docencia en Red. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 675-689. https://doi.org/10.4995/INRED2021.2021.13461OCS67568

Commissioning and performance of the Belle II pixel detector

Belle-II DEPFET and PXD Collaboration: et al.The Belle II experiment at the SuperKEKB energy-asymmetric e+ e- collider has completed a series of substantial upgrades and started collecting data in 2019. The experiment is expected to accumulate a data set of 50 ab−1 to explore new physics beyond the Standard Model at the intensity frontier. The pixel detector (PXD) of Belle II plays a key role in vertex determination. It has been developed using the DEpleted P-channel Field Effect Transistor (DEPFET) technology, which combines low power consumption in the active pixel area and low intrinsic noise with a very small material budget. In this paper, commissioning and performance of the PXD measured with first collision data are presented.This work is supported by MEXT, Japan, WPI, Japan, and JSPS (Japan); MSMT, GAUK 404316, MSCA-RISE project JENNIFER-2 (EU grant n. 822070) (Czech Republic); Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, Germany) and MINECO, Spain grant FPA2015-71292-C2-1-P (Spain).Peer reviewe

Fomento del razonamiento crítico mediante la evaluación cruzada: estudio de casos en asignaturas de ciencias

[EN] The peer-reviewing process fosters the participation of students in class by means of the evaluation of the activities carried out by their colleagues. In order for this procedure to be successful, it is necessary to introduce the activity and motivate it properly, as well as to define detailed and specific evaluation rubrics which gather all the learning goals. This study summarizes and analyses several peer-reviewing application cases performed during Sciences courses with the aim of detecting common patterns and differences between them. After comparing the grades obtained by following this process and reviewing several surveys about it, it can be concluded that, although some marginal discrepancies exist between the scores given by the professor and the students, their involvement in the evaluation process has a positive impact in their perception of the learning level and the adequacy of the evaluation system. In this way, the students are able to identify by themselves the strong and weak aspects of their work, which results also in an increase of their critical thinking. In addition, the final grade does not depend only on the criterion of the professor, but also on the interpretation of several previously established criteria done by the participants in the activity.[ES] El procedimiento de evaluación cruzada fomenta la participación en clase de los estudiantes mediante la valoración de las actividades llevadas a cabo por sus compañeros. Para que sea útil, es necesario introducir la actividad y motivarla adecuadamente, así como definir rúbricas detalladas y concretas que recojan todos los objetivos de aprendizaje. Este estudio recopila diferentes casos de aplicación de evaluación cruzada en asignaturas de ciencias, en donde se analizan las particularidades de cada caso con la finalidad de analizar patrones comunes y diferencias, así como plantear mejoras en su aplicación futura. A través de comparativas de notas y encuestas al alumnado se demuestra que, aun existiendo ligeras discrepancias entre las calificaciones otorgadas por los alumnos y el profesor, el nivel de implicación del alumno en el proceso evaluador redunda positivamente en su percepción del nivel aprendizaje y la adecuación del sistema de evaluación. Así, el alumno es capaz de identificar por sí mismo los puntos fuertes y débiles de su trabajo, redundando en un mayor espíritu crítico. Por otra parte, la calificación no depende solo del criterio de una persona, sino de la interpretación de varias personas sobre unos criterios comunes previamente establecidos.*Este trabajo ha sido realizado en el marco del proyecto docente UV-SFPIE PID-1640839: “Docencia y evaluación a distancia: uso de herramientas propias de la UV y externas para mejorar la metodología docente en línea e híbrida en el área de ciencias”.Ruescas, A.; Fernandez-Morán, R.; Moreno-Llácer, M.; Fernández-Torres, M.; Amorós-López, J.; Adsuara, J.; Esperante, D.... (2022). Fomento del razonamiento crítico mediante la evaluación cruzada: estudio de casos en asignaturas de ciencias. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 314-326. https://doi.org/10.4995/INRED2022.2022.1587831432

Avaliação morfológica das lesões meniscais associadas as lesões ligamento do cruzado anterior

Introduction: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction restores the natural knee’s kinematics and protects this joint by decreasing the incidence of meniscal and cartilage injuries. Over the years, the search for better results and lower morbidity has led to the evolution of ACL reconstruction techniques Anatomical reconstruction aims to place the ACL tunnels in the most similar position of the origin and insertion of the ACL footprint. For this, the all-inside reconstruction technique, that preserves femoral and tibial bone cortex, is the first choice. Another advantage is the preservation of the gracilis tendon and lower morbidity to the tendon donor site. Criticisms of this technique include the possibility of progressive graft loosening due to the use of an adjustable-length loop cortical button and graft prepare. The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical and functional results of knee stability after 2 years of anatomical all-inside reconstruction of the ACL. Methods: This is an observational, cross-sectional study conducted in a private clinic in the city of São Paulo that aimed to evaluate patients undergoing anatomical ACL reconstruction using the all inside technique and adjustable-length loop cortical button, from March 2013 to June 2016, performed by the same surgeon. The following outcomes were analyzed: graft diameter, gender, age, time to surgery, presence or absence of meniscal injury and treatment of meniscal injury. Patients were included in the study to assess objective stability using the KT1000™ arthrometer and subjective IKDC questionnaires and Lysholm score. Results: Results were obtained from 49 patients aged 39.7 years (SD = 10.5 years). It was found that 73.5% (n = 36) of the patients were men, 81.6% (n = 40) had surgery in the first 3 months after the initial trauma, 53.0% (n = 26) had no meniscal injury and, when there was injury, most were in the medial meniscus (n = 15). The average graft diameter was 9.0 mm (SD = 0.9 mm). Objective stability assessment with the KT1000™ arthrometer showed that 79.6% of patients (n = 39) had less than 2mm of looseness compared with the contralateral side, 12.2% (n = 6) between 3-5mm and 8.2% (n = 4) between 5-10mm. In the subjective IKDC questionnaire and Lysholm score 2 years after surgery, no correlation was found with the degree of loosening. Conclusions: We found that 39 of the patients (79.6%) who underwent anatomical ACL reconstruction with adjustable-length loop cortical button presented stability with a xv difference less than 2mm of looseness compared to the contralateral side. Lysholm and IKDC scores did not correlate with the degree of objective stability assessed by the KT1000™ arthrometer.Introdução: A reconstrução do ligamento cruzado anterior (LCA) restabelece a cinemática natural do joelho e protege esta articulação, minimizando a incidência de lesão meniscal e de cartilagem. Com o passar dos anos, buscou-se obter melhores resultados e menor morbidade, o que levou à evolução das técnicas de reconstrução do LCA. A reconstrução anatômica visa à colocação dos túneis na posição mais semelhante à de origem e inserção do LCA nativo. Para tanto, podese utilizar a técnica de reconstrução que mantém intacta a cortical óssea, femoral e tibial, conhecida como técnica toda dentro. Outra vantagem dessa técnica é a preservação do tendão do grácil, levando a menor morbidade do sítio doador do enxerto. Entretanto, são críticas a essa técnica a possibilidade de afrouxamento progressivo do enxerto, em virtude da utilização de fixações corticais ajustáveis, e a montagem do enxerto. O objetivo deste estudo é avaliar os resultados clínicos e funcionais da estabilidade do joelho após dois anos da reconstrução anatômica do LCA com dupla fixação cortical ajustável. Métodos: Este é um estudo observacional, transversal, realizado em clínica privada na cidade de São Paulo. Foram avaliados os prontuários de 111 pacientes submetidos à reconstrução anatômica do LCA com a técnica toda dentro e dupla fixação cortical ajustável, no período de março de 2013 a junho de 2016, realizadas pelo mesmo cirurgião. Após os critérios de inclusão e exclusão, foram analisados os resultados de 49 pacientes e nos seguintes desfechos: diâmetro do enxerto, gênero, idade, tempo até a cirurgia, presença ou ausência de lesão meniscal e tratamento da lesão meniscal. Avaliou-se a estabilidade objetiva por meio do artrômetro KT1000™ e a subjetiva, pelos questionários IKDC subjetivo e escore de Lysholm. Resultados: Foram obtidos os resultados de 49 pacientes com idades de 39,7 anos (DP=10,5 anos). Registre-se que 73,5% (n=36) dos pacientes eram homens, 81,6% (n=40) realizaram a cirurgia nos primeiros três meses após o trauma inicial, 53,0% (n=26) não apresentavam lesão meniscal e, na ocorrência desta lesão, a maioria teve acometido o menisco medial (n=15). O diâmetro médio do enxerto confeccionado para reconstrução foi de 9,0 mm (DP=0,9mm). A avaliação objetiva da estabilidade com o artrômetro KT-1000™ mostrou que 79,6% dos pacientes (n=39) apresentaram menos de 2mm de diferença de afrouxamento comparado com o lado contralateral, 12,2% (n=6) de 3-5mm e 8,2% (n=4) entre 5mm e 10mm. xiii No questionário do IKDC subjetivo e no escore de Lysholm após dois anos da cirurgia, não foi encontrada correlação com o grau de afrouxamento. Conclusões: Verificamos que 39 dos pacientes (79,6%) submetidos à reconstrução anatômica do LCA com dupla fixação cortical ajustável apresentaram estabilidade com uma diferença de até 2mm de afrouxamento comparado ao lado contralateral. Os escores de Lysholm e IKDC não apresentaram correlação com o grau de estabilidade objetiva avaliada pelo KT1000™.Dados abertos - Sucupira - Teses e dissertações (2019

Design and Development of Electronics and the Control Software for the Silicon Tracker of LHCb

LHCb is one of the four main experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. The Silicon Tracker of LHCb is a silicon micro-strip detector designed to perform a precise measurement of the particle trajectories produced by the proton-proton interactions. It consists of two sub-detectors, the Tracker Turicensis (TT) and the Inner Tracker (IT) and covers an area of about 12 m2 in the highest occupancy region around the beam axis. The work described in this thesis covers many aspects of the development and construction of the Silicon Tracker detector. The development of a closely similar control and monitoring system for the IT and TT sub-detectors was the main task. The design and development of a common Control Board for IT and TT is one of the corner-stones of this thesis, and a detailed description of it is given. The design and development of the LV and HV systems is also reported as part of the work of this thesis. The design and implementation of the final control software based of the PVSS SCADA and the concept of Finite State Machines is detailed as well. A full system was implemented: from the basic hardware components to the high-level software. The low voltage and high voltage systems, the Control Board, the Digitizer Boards, the readout hybrids, TELL1s... were developed, assembled all together and linked to the Experiment Control System to build the ST detector of LHCb. The work of this thesis has been mainly focused in the construction of the three first items in the list and the Experiment Control System, but an important role has also been taken in the testing and development of other parts of the system and their overall integration giving as a final result the construction of a fully functional Silicon Tracker detector