4,464 research outputs found
The GAP-TPC
Several experiments have been conducted worldwide, with the goal of observing
low-energy nuclear recoils induced by WIMPs scattering off target nuclei in
ultra-sensitive, low-background detectors. In the last few decades noble liquid
detectors designed to search for dark matter in the form of WIMPs have been
extremely successful in improving their sensitivities and setting the best
limits. One of the crucial problems to be faced for the development of large
size (multi ton-scale) liquid argon experiments is the lack of reliable and low
background cryogenic PMTs: their intrinsic radioactivity, cost, and borderline
performance at 87 K rule them out as a possible candidate for photosensors. We
propose a brand new concept of liquid argon-based detector for direct dark
matter search: the Geiger-mode Avalanche Photodiode Time Projection Chamber
(GAP-TPC) optimized in terms of residual radioactivity of the photosensors,
energy and spatial resolution, light and charge collection efficiencyComment: 7 pages, 5 figures, Accepted for publication on JINS
A multilayer microperforated panel prototype for broadband sound absorption at low frequencies
Microperforated panel (MPP) absorbers are one of the most promising alternatives to porous sound absorbing materials. However, these structures cannot achieve high and broadband absorption at low frequencies. To be effective, once defined the material properties the geometrical parameters of the absorber need to be optimized to match the prescribed absorption level. This paper presents a multiple layer MPP absorber with a high sound absorption coefficient and broadband absorption at low frequencies. An electro-acoustical equivalent circuit model was used for a parametric analysis to study the relationships between the absorption mechanism and the absorbers geometrical parameters in the proposed multilayer MPP. A prototype of this absorber was machined and tested in an impedance tube test ring and the experimental acoustical properties in terms of absorption coefficient were extracted using the transfer function method. It was demonstrated that the five-layer MPP absorber was capable of guaranteeing a high absorption (constantly over 90%) in a frequency range from 400 to 2000 Hz. The results indicate that the proposed multilayer MPP absorber provides a good alternative for sound absorption applications.</p
Usefulness and perceived usefulness of decision support systems (DSSs) in participatory forest planning: the final user's point of view
In recent decades, the focus of forestry Decision Support Systems (DSSs) has expanded
to consider the social dimension of forestry and to support participatory decision-making.
A large number of models and tools have become available to solve forest management
planning problems. The Usefulness of a DSS depends on the range of tools that
it incorporates, and many researches have been developed to evaluate DSSs using Usefulness
as parameter. The assessment of Usefulness concerns the effectiveness of a
DSS. Furthermore, most assessments take into account the degree of Perceived Usefulness,
which is considered an indicator of the impact a system has on job performance.
The present study focuses on the analysis of final users’ point of view on the Usefulness
and Perceived Usefulness of DSSs in participatory forest planning. The research
investigates how forest users’ characteristics and context influence their views on the
potentialities of DSSs to enhance both the various phases of the participatory planning
process (Usefulness) and job performance (Perceived Usefulness). The study is based
on quantitative data collected through two questionnaires e-mailed to a sample of 150
DSSs end users. The questionnaires focused on Usefulness and on Perceived Usefulness
topics, respectively. Results indicate that special attention must be given to motivating
respondents with a clear explanation of the survey objectives when e-mailing questionnaires.
Moreover, results show that, in general, respondents consider DSSs useful at
each step of the participatory process, despite differences emerge among steps. The
research also shows that respondents’ Perceived Usefulness of DSSs was higher before
actually engaging with DSSs. Furthermore, the results highlight differences in Perceived
Usefulness to improve job performance, suggesting that the use of DSSs may actually
improve job performance more than expected. Specifically, results indicate that
improving the technical descriptions of methodologies incorporated in a DSS may contribute
to increasing the Perceived Usefulness. The information provided within this
research contributes to the advancement of knowledge regarding the Usefulness of
DSSs as perceived by forest stakeholders, which in turn supports the improvement of
DSS architectures and the development of participatory processes in forest management
planninginfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Distributed energy-aware resource allocation in multi-antenna multi-carrier interference networks with statistical CSI
Resource allocation for energy efficiency optimization in multi-carrier interference networks with multiple receive antennas is tackled. First, a one-hop network is considered, and then, the results are extended to the case of a two-hop network in which amplify-and-forward relaying is employed to enable communication. A distributed algorithm which optimizes a system-wide energy-efficient performance function, and which is guaranteed to converge to a stable equilibrium point, is provided. Unlike most previous works, in the definition of the energy efficiency, not only the users' transmit power but also the circuit power that is required to operate the devices is taken into account. All of the proposed procedures are guaranteed to converge and only require statistical channel state information, thus lending themselves to a distributed implementation. The asymptotic regime of a saturated network in which both the active users and the number of receive antennas deployed in each receiver grow large is also analyzed. Numerical results are provided to confirm the merits of the proposed algorithms
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