Youngsters do not pay attention to conversational rules: is this so for nonhuman primates?

The potentiality to find precursors of human language in nonhuman primates is questioned because of differences related to the genetic determinism of human and nonhuman primate acoustic structures. Limiting the debate to production and acoustic plasticity might have led to underestimating parallels between human and nonhuman primates. Adult-young differences concerning vocal usage have been reported in various primate species. A key feature of language is the ability to converse, respecting turn-taking rules. Turn-taking structures some nonhuman primates' adult vocal exchanges, but the development and the cognitive relevancy of this rule have never been investigated in monkeys. Our observations of Campbell's monkeys' spontaneous vocal utterances revealed that juveniles broke the turn-taking rule more often than did experienced adults. Only adults displayed different levels of interest when hearing playbacks of vocal exchanges respecting or not the turn-taking rule. This study strengthens parallels between human conversations and nonhuman primate vocal exchanges

SoLid : Search for Oscillations with Lithium-6 Detector at the SCK-CEN BR2 reactor

Sterile neutrinos have been considered as a possible explanation for the recent reactor and Gallium anomalies arising from reanalysis of reactor flux and calibration data of previous neutrino experiments. A way to test this hypothesis is to look for distortions of the anti-neutrino energy caused by oscillation from active to sterile neutrino at close stand-off (similar to 6-8m) of a compact reactor core. Due to the low rate of anti-neutrino interactions the main challenge in such measurement is to control the high level of gamma rays and neutron background. The SoLid experiment is a proposal to search for active-to-sterile anti-neutrino oscillation at very short baseline of the SCK center dot CEN BR2 research reactor. This experiment uses a novel approach to detect anti-neutrino with a highly segmented detector based on Lithium-6. With the combination of high granularity, high neutron-gamma discrimination using 6LiF:ZnS(Ag) and precise localization of the Inverse Beta Decay products, a better experimental sensitivity can be achieved compared to other state-of-the-art technology. This compact system requires minimum passive shielding allowing for very close stand off to the reactor. The experimental set up of the SoLid experiment and the BR2 reactor will be presented. The new principle of neutrino detection and the detector design with expected performance will be described. The expected sensitivity to new oscillations of the SoLid detector as well as the first measurements made with the 8 kg prototype detector deployed at the BR2 reactor in 2013-2014 will be reported

Substrate-controlled allotropic phases and growth orientation of TiO2 epitaxial thin films

International audienceTiO2 thin films were grown by pulsed laser deposition on a wide variety of oxide single-crystal substrates and characterized in detail by four-circle X-ray diffraction. Films grown at 873 K on (100)-oriented SrTiO3 and LaAlO3 were (001)-oriented anatase, while on (100) MgO they were (100)-oriented. On (110) SrTiO3 and MgO, (102) anatase was observed. On M-plane and R-plane sapphire, (001)- and (101)-oriented rutile films were obtained, respectively. On C-plane sapphire, the coexistence of (001) anatase, (112) anatase and (100) rutile was found; increasing the deposition temperature tended to increase the rutile proportion. Similarly, films grown at 973 K on (100) and (110) MgO showed the emergence, besides anatase, of (110) rutile. All these films were epitaxically grown, as shown by ' scans and/or pole figures, and the various observed orientations were explained on the basis of misfit considerations and interface arrangement

The STAR Silicon Strip Detector (SSD)

The STAR Silicon Strip Detector (SSD) completes the three layers of the Silicon Vertex Tracker (SVT) to make an inner tracking system located inside the Time Projection Chamber (TPC). This additional fourth layer provides two dimensional hit position and energy loss measurements for charged particles, improving the extrapolation of TPC tracks through SVT hits. To match the high multiplicity of central Au+Au collisions at RHIC the double sided silicon strip technology was chosen which makes the SSD a half million channels detector. Dedicated electronics have been designed for both readout and control. Also a novel technique of bonding, the Tape Automated Bonding (TAB), was used to fullfill the large number of bounds to be done. All aspects of the SSD are shortly described here and test performances of produced detection modules as well as simulated results on hit reconstruction are given.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, 1 tabl

Les assemblages de coléoptères saproxyliques des vieux chênes verts en région méditerranéenne : rôle d’une structure-clé dans un paysage hétérogène changeant

A study of spring-summer saproxylic fauna was conducted in a Mediterranean landscape under land use change in order to estimate the relative infl uence of landscape composition vs tree characteristics on beetles’ biodiversity. The composition of the species assemblages and the number of taxa sampled appeared more infl uenced by the characteristics of the sampled Holm oak trees than by the surrounding landscape matrix. The number and the diameter of trunks, the number of cavities and the quantity of visible dead wood were positively correlated either with the total number of taxa or with the observation of specifi c taxa. Mediterranean species did not show an overall preference for open surroundings, and mycetophagous beetles were not particularly selecting woody mesophilous conditions. Our results confi rm the determinant role of old trees as keystone structures for the saproxylic fauna, but, up to now, this role does not seem to be affected by the changes in the landscape that resulted from land abandonment. However, specifi c forest management practices need to be implemented to maintain a population of old Holm oak trees in the absence of the traditional land use practices that favoured themUne étude de la faune saproxylique a été conduite au printemps et en été dans un paysage méditerranéen soumis à des changements d'occupation des terres afin d'estimer l'influence relative de la composition paysagère vs les caractéristiques des arbres sur la biodiversité des coléoptères. La composition des assemblages d'espèces et le nombre de taxons échantillonnés sont apparus plus influencés par les caractéristiques des chênes verts que par la matrice paysagère environnante. Le nombre et le diamètre des troncs, le nombre de cavités et la quantité de bois mort visible étaient positivement corrélés soit avec le nombre total de taxons soit avec l'observation de taxons spécifiques. Les espèces méditerranéennes n'ont pas montré de préférence pour des environnements ouverts et les coléoptères mycétophages ne sélectionnaient pas particulièrement les conditions de boisements mésophiles. Nos résultats confirment le rôle déterminant des vieux arbres en tant que structures-clés pour la faune saproxylique mais jusqu'à présent ce rôle n'apparaît pas affecté par les changements paysagers résultant de l'abandon des terres. Cependant des pratiques spécifiques de gestion forestière demandent à être mises en oeuvre afin de maintenir une population de vieux chênes verts en l'absence des pratiques traditionnelles d'occupation des terres qui les ont favorisés

Online Monitoring of the Osiris Reactor with the Nucifer Neutrino Detector

Originally designed as a new nuclear reactor monitoring device, the Nucifer detector has successfully detected its first neutrinos. We provide the second shortest baseline measurement of the reactor neutrino flux. The detection of electron antineutrinos emitted in the decay chains of the fission products, combined with reactor core simulations, provides an new tool to assess both the thermal power and the fissile content of the whole nuclear core and could be used by the Inter- national Agency for Atomic Energy (IAEA) to enhance the Safeguards of civil nuclear reactors. Deployed at only 7.2m away from the compact Osiris research reactor core (70MW) operating at the Saclay research centre of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), the experiment also exhibits a well-suited configuration to search for a new short baseline oscillation. We report the first results of the Nucifer experiment, describing the performances of the 0.85m3 detector remotely operating at a shallow depth equivalent to 12m of water and under intense background radiation conditions. Based on 145 (106) days of data with reactor ON (OFF), leading to the detection of an estimated 40760 electron antineutrinos, the mean number of detected antineutrinos is 281 +- 7(stat) +- 18(syst) electron antineutrinos/day, in agreement with the prediction 277(23) electron antineutrinos/day. Due the the large background no conclusive results on the existence of light sterile neutrinos could be derived, however. As a first societal application we quantify how antineutrinos could be used for the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement.Comment: 22 pages, 16 figures - Version

TAB Bonded SSD Module for the STAR and ALICE Trackers

Presentation made at LEB99, 20-24 September 1999A novel compact detector module has been produced by the "IReS"-"Subatech"-"Thomson-CSF-Detexis" collaboration. It includes a Double-Sided (DS) Silicon Strip Detector (SSD) and the related Front End Electronics (FEE) located on two hybrids, one for the N side and one for the P side. Bumpless Tape Automated Bonding (TAB) is used to connect the detector to the hybrids by means of microcables with neither wirebonding nor pitch adapter. Each of the six dedicated ALICE128C FE chip [1], located on the hybrid, is TABed on identical single layer microcables, which connect its inputs to the DS SSD and its outputs to the hybrid [2]. These microcables are bent in order to fold over the two hybrids on the DS SSD. This module meets the specifications of two experiments, ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) on the LHC accelerator at CERN [3] and STAR (Solenoid Tracker At Rhic) on the RHIC accelerator at BNL (Brookhaven National Laboratory)[4]. It can be used with air cooling (STAR) as well as with water cooling (ALICE)[5]. This mechanically self-consistent FE module has been tested on the SPS beam at CERN. Preliminary results are presented

A novel application of Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors in MPGD

We present a novel application of Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors in the construction and characterisation of Micro Pattern Gaseous Detector (MPGD), with particular attention to the realisation of the largest triple (Gas electron Multiplier) GEM chambers so far operated, the GE1/1 chambers of the CMS experiment at LHC. The GE1/1 CMS project consists of 144 GEM chambers of about 0.5 m2 active area each, employing three GEM foils per chamber, to be installed in the forward region of the CMS endcap during the long shutdown of LHC in 2108-2019. The large active area of each GE1/1 chamber consists of GEM foils that are mechanically stretched in order to secure their flatness and the consequent uniform performance of the GE1/1 chamber across its whole active surface. So far FBGs have been used in high energy physics mainly as high precision positioning and re-positioning sensors and as low cost, easy to mount, low space consuming temperature sensors. FBGs are also commonly used for very precise strain measurements in material studies. In this work we present a novel use of FBGs as flatness and mechanical tensioning sensors applied to the wide GEM foils of the GE1/1 chambers. A network of FBG sensors have been used to determine the optimal mechanical tension applied and to characterise the mechanical tension that should be applied to the foils. We discuss the results of the test done on a full-sized GE1/1 final prototype, the studies done to fully characterise the GEM material, how this information was used to define a standard assembly procedure and possible future developments.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, presented by Luigi Benussi at MPGD 2015 (Trieste, Italy). arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1512.0848