Time calibration of the ANTARES neutrino telescope

The ANTARES deep-sea neutrino telescope comprises a three-dimensional array of photomultipliers to detect the Cherenkov light induced by upgoing relativistic charged particles originating from neutrino interactions in the vicinity of the detector. The large scattering length of light in the deep sea facilitates an angular resolution of a few tenths of a degree for neutrino energies exceeding 10 TeV. In order to achieve this optimal performance, the time calibration procedures should ensure a relative time calibration between the photomultipliers at the level of similar to 1 ns. The methods developed to attain this level of precision are described

Strategy for population triage based on dicentric analysis

After large-scale accidental overexposure to ionizing radiation, a rapid triage of the exposed population can be performed by scoring dicentrics and ring chromosomes among 50 metaphases. This is rapid but is not accurate because the sensitivity is around 0.5 Gy. After the triage step, dose can be estimated by scoring 500 metaphases. This is lengthy but very accurate because the sensitivity is between 0.1 and 0.2 Gy. To improve the methodology, we propose the use of software for automatic dicentric scoring that was tested on victims of an accident in Dakar. Manual scoring of 50 metaphases was carried out, then manual scoring of 500 metaphases, and automatic scoring. Comparison between the dose classifications obtained with manual scoring on 50 metaphases and 500 metaphases showed 50 misclassification with the manual scoring on 50 metaphases. Comparison between the dose classifications obtained with the automatic scoring and manual scoring on 500 metaphases showed only 4.35 misclassification with the automatic scoring. The automatic scoring method is more accurate than the manual scoring on 50 metaphases and can therefore be used for triage, and in place of the manual scoring on 500 metaphases method for individual dose estimation, because it is as accurate and much faster. © 2009 The Radiation Research Society

Produção de porcelana de ossos e caracterização de suas propriedades técnicas Production of bone porcelain and characterization of its technical properties

A porcelana de cinza de ossos é amplamente aceita e alcança alto valor de mercado, entretanto, sua produção ainda é pouco difundida, de modo que sua fabricação e pesquisa são restritas a poucos países. Sendo o Brasil grande produtor de gado, apresenta grande potencial para a reciclagem de ossos, podendo-se encontrar aplicação destes em materiais cerâmicos. Neste trabalho foi feita uma análise comparativa das características técnicas entre uma formulação de porcelana obtida com cinzas de ossos conforme a receita tradicional inglesa e uma formulação de porcelana tradicional. Os resultados mostraram que a sinterização de porcelana de cinzas de ossos requer cuidados extras em ciclos rápidos de queima quando comparada à porcelana tradicional, devido a um menor intervalo de gresificação. No entanto, a maior resistência mecânica e as qualidades estéticas, destacando-se a elevada alvura, fazem desta porcelana bastante atrativa em termos de potencial de aplicações industriais.<br>Porcelains from bone ash are widely accepted and present high market value, however, their manufacture and research are still restricted to few countries. As a great producer of cattle, Brazil presents great potential for the recycling of cattle bone into ceramic materials. In this work, it was realized a comparative investigation of technical properties of a typical porcelain composition manufactured from bone ash according to English traditional composition and a traditional porcelain. The results revealed that it is more difficult to sinter bone porcelain in fast firing cycles, once it showed shorter firing intervals compared to traditional porcelains. However, the higher mechanical strength and better aesthetic qualities, especially its whiteness, make bone porcelains very attractive materials in terms of industrial applications potential

Species diversification – which species should we use?

Large detector systems for particle and astroparticle physics; Particle tracking detectors; Gaseous detectors; Calorimeters; Cherenkov detectors; Particle identification methods; Photon detectors for UV. visible and IR photons; Detector alignment and calibration methods; Detector cooling and thermo-stabilization; Detector design and construction technologies and materials. The LHCb experiment is dedicated to precision measurements of CP violation and rare decays of B hadrons at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN (Geneva). The initial configuration and expected performance of the detector and associated systems. as established by test beam measurements and simulation studies. is described. © 2008 IOP Publishing Ltd and SISSA

The ATLAS hadronic tile calorimeter: From construction toward-physics

The Tile Calorimeter, which constitutes the central section of the ATLAS hadronic calorimeter, is a non-compensating sampling device made of iron and scintillating tiles. The construction phase of the calorimeter is nearly complete, and most of the effort now is directed toward the final assembly and commissioning in the underground experimental hall. The layout of the calorimeter and the tasks carried out during construction are described, first with a brief reminder of the requirements that drove the calorimeter design. During the last few years a comprehensive test-beam program has been followed in order to establish the calorimeter electromagnetic energy scale, to study its uniformity, and to compare real data to Monte Carlo simulation. The test-beam setup and first results from the data are described. During the test-beam period in 2004, lasting several months, data have been acquired with a complete slice of the central ATLAS calorimeter. The data collected in the test-beam are crucial in order to study algorithms for hadronic energy reconstruction using single particles. The generalization of these algorithms to reconstruct jet energies will be the starting point for numerous physics studies in which jets play a leading role. The results obtained in applying these algorithms to simulated di-jet events are given in the last section of the note

Search for the rare decay B+→ µ+µ−µ+νµ

A search for the rare leptonic decay B+→μ+μ−μ+νμ is performed using proton-proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.7fb−1 collected by the LHCb experiment. The search is carried out in the region where the lowest of the two μ+μ− mass combinations is below 980MeV/c2 . The data are consistent with the background-only hypothesis and an upper limit of 1.6×10−8 at 95% confidence level is set on the branching fraction in the stated kinematic region