Beam Scraping to detect and remove Halo in LHC Injection

Fast scrapers are installed in the SPS to detect and remove beam halo before extraction of beams to the LHC, to minimize the probability for quenching of superconducting magnets in the LHC. We shortly describe the current system and then focus on our recent work, which aims at providing a system which can be used as operational tool for standard LHC injection. A new control application was written and tested with the beam. We describe the current status and results and compare these with detailed simulations

Interim report on visioning. BRAID, EC FP7 Coordinated action project 248485, deliverable D4.1

The ageing population of Europe is growing very fast. The Bridging Research in Ageing and ICT Development (BRAID) project aims at approaching this phenomenon and many of its arisen challenges. BRAID develops a comprehensive RTD roadmap for "ageing well" which identifies advanced ICT-based approaches and mechanisms to support the ageing European citizens. At its base, the BRAID roadmap consolidates the results from four previous roadmapping projects, the so-called feeder projects, namely the AALIANCE, CAPSIL, ePAL, and SENIOR, which have each focused on different specific aspects of ageing and technology. As such, BRAID creates one holistic roadmap for ageing challenges in European society. The first part of the work done in WP4 of BRAID is presented in this deliverable. Encompassing the analysis of both the input from the four feeder projects and the results produced by WP1 of BRAID, in WP4 so far a 1st general vision statement for BRAID is produced and it is instantiated into the four introduced "life settings" for ageing population, i.e. the independent living, healthy living, profession in life, and occupation in life. These life settings represent the main areas of life which are identified in BRAID as candidates for specific support when ageing. To develop the BRAID vision, a systematic approach is applied addressing: (i) the life settings and a large set of scenarios defined in relation to each life setting, as well as (ii) introducing five main driving forces which influence the achievement of the BRAID vision, namely the technological, societal, organizational, economic, and regulatory driving forces, and identification of a large set of trends in relation to each driving force. This document first introduces the systematic approach which is applied to building a consolidated well-conceived vision for BRAID from the four feeder projects. Following this approach, a first vision for BRAID is step by step developed through: setting the analysis framework of "life settings", building representative scenarios for the life settings, analysis of influencing drivers and trends, and then consolidation of these inputs into the 1st general vision and its four instantiations. Finally the developed vision went through its preliminary validation stage, through the involvement of the BRAID project consortiu

Hydrochemical analysis of groundwater using a tree-based model.

Hydrochemical indices are commonly used to ascertain aquifer characteristics, salinity problems, anthropogenic inputs and resource management, among others. This study was conducted to test the applicability of a binary decision tree model to aquifer evaluation using hydrochemical indices as input. The main advantage of the tree-based model compared to other commonly used statistical procedures such as cluster and factor analyses is the ability to classify groundwater samples with assigned probability and the reduction of a large data set into a few significant variables without creating new factors. We tested the model using data sets collected from headwater springs of the Jordan River, Israel. The model evaluation consisted of several levels of complexity, from simple separation between the calcium-magnesium-bicarbonate water type of karstic aquifers to the more challenging separation of calcium-sodium-bicarbonate water type flowing through perched and regional basaltic aquifers. In all cases, the model assigned measures for goodness of fit in the form of misclassification errors and singled out the most significant variable in the analysis. The model proceeded through a sequence of partitions providing insight into different possible pathways and changing lithology. The model results were extremely useful in constraining the interpretation of geological heterogeneity and constructing a conceptual flow model for a given aquifer. The tree model clearly identified the hydrochemical indices that were excluded from the analysis, thus providing information that can lead to a decrease in the number of routinely analyzed variables and a significant reduction in laboratory cost

Spannungsfeld Geothermie - Ökologie: Mögliche Einflüsse von geothermischen Anlagen auf Grundwasserökosysteme.

Geothermie ist eine sich rasant entwickelnde Technologie, deren Einfluss auf die Ökologieunterirdischer aquatischer Lebensräume bisher nur unzureichend untersucht wurde. Dabei sind biologische Prozesse maßgeblich von der Temperatur beeinflusst. In Feld- und Laboruntersuchungen, die Temperaturveränderungen von 2 oC bis 45 oC umfassten, erwiesen sicch insbesondere ddie Diversität und Zusammensetzung von Bakteriengemeinschaften im AAquifer als sehr tempraturempfindlich, während die mikrobielle Biomasse und Aktivitäten zusätzlicch von der Nährstoff-und Substratverfügbarkeit im Grundwasserleiter beeinflusst waren. Vertreter der Grundwasserfauna zeigten eine geringe Temperaturtoleranz gegenüber längerfristigen Temperaturerhöhungen. Auf Basis er vorliegenden Erkenntnisse leiten wir erste Empfehlungen für eine ökologisch nachhaltige Planung, Genehmigung, den Bau und den Betrieb von Geothermieanlagen ab

Effects of thermal energy discharge on shallow groundwater ecosystems.

The use of groundwater as a carrier of thermal energy is an important source of sustainable heating and cooling. However, the effects of thermal use on geochemical and biological aquifer characteristics are poorly understood. Here, we have assessed the impacts of heat discharge on an uncontaminated, shallow aquifer by monitoring the hydrogeochemical, bacterial and faunal parameters at an active thermal discharge facility. The observed variability between wells was considerable. Yet, no significant temperature impacts on bacterial or faunal abundance and on bacterial productivity were observed. Also, we did not observe an improved survival or growth of coliforms with temperature. In contrast, the diversity of bacterial terminal restriction fragment (T-RF) length polymorphism fingerprints and faunal populations was either positively or negatively affected by temperature, respectively, and the abundance of selected T-RFs was clearly temperature dependent. Canonical correspondence analysis indicated that both the impact of temperature and of surface water from a nearby river, were important drivers of aquifer biotic variability. These results demonstrate that aquifer thermal energy discharge can affect aquifer bacteria and fauna, while at the same time controlling only a minor part of the total seasonal and spatial variability and therefore posing no likely threat to ecosystem functioning and drinking water protection in uncontaminated, shallow aquifers

What Happens in Your Brain When You Walk Down the Street? Implications of Architectural Proportions, Biophilia, and Fractal Geometry for Urban Science

This article reviews current research in visual urban perception. The temporal sequence of the first few milliseconds of visual stimulus processing sheds light on the historically ambiguous topic of aesthetic experience. Automatic fractal processing triggers initial attraction/avoidance evaluations of an environment’s salubriousness, and its potentially positive or negative impacts upon an individual. As repeated cycles of visual perception occur, the attractiveness of urban form affects the user experience much more than had been previously suspected. These perceptual mechanisms promote walkability and intuitive navigation, and so they support the urban and civic interactions for which we establish communities and cities in the first place. Therefore, the use of multiple fractals needs to reintegrate with biophilic and traditional architecture in urban design for their proven positive effects on health and well-being. Such benefits include striking reductions in observers’ stress and mental fatigue. Due to their costs to individual well-being, urban performance, environmental quality, and climatic adaptation, this paper recommends that nontraditional styles should be hereafter applied judiciously to the built environment