Constraining Elko Dark Matter at the LHC with Monophoton Events

A mass dimension one fermion, also known as Elko, constitutes a dark matter candidate which might interact with photons at the tree level in a specific fashion. In this work, we investigate the constraints imposed by unitarity and LHC data on this type of interactions using the search for new physics in monophoton events. We found that Elkos which can explain the dark matter relic abundance mainly through electromagnetic interactions are excluded at the 95\%CL by the 8 TeV LHC data for masses up to 1 TeV.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Remote experimentation: integrating research, education, and industrial application

This paper presents a low-cost scaled model of a silo for drying and airing cereal grains. It allows the control and monitor of several parameters associated to the silo's operation, through a remote accessible infrastructure. The scaled model consists of a 2.50 m wide × 2.10 m long plant with all control and monitor capacities provided by micro-Web servers. An application running on the micro-Web servers enables storing all parameters in a data basis for later analysis. The implemented model aims to support a remote experimentation facility for technological education, research-oriented tutorials, and industrial applications. Given the low-cost requirement, this remote facility can be easily replicated in other institutions to support a network of remote labs, which encompasses the concurrent access of several users (e.g. students)

From cheating to teaching: a path for conversion of illegal gambling machines

Video poker machines, a former symbol of fraud and gambling in Brazil, are now being converted into computer-based educational tools for Brazilian public primary schools and also for governmental and non-governmental institutions dealing with communities of poverty and social exclusion, in an attempt to reduce poverty risks (decrease money spent on gambling) and promote social inclusion (increase access and motivation to education). Thousands of illegal gambling machines are seized by federal authorities, in Brazil, every year, and usually destroyed at the end of the criminal apprehension process. This paper describes a project developed by the University of Southern Santa Catarina, Brazil, responsible for the conversion process of gambling machines, and the social inclusion opportunities derived from it. All project members worked on a volunteer basis, seeking to promote social inclusion of Brazilian young boys and girls, namely through digital inclusion. So far, the project has been able to convert over 200 gambling machines and install them in over 40 public primary schools, thus directly benefiting more than 12,000 schoolchildren. The initial motivation behind this project was technology based, however the different options arising from the conversion process of the gambling machines have also motivated a rather innovative and unique experience in allowing schoolchildren and young people with special (educational) needs to access to computer-based pedagogical applications. The availability of these converted machines also helps to place Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the very daily educational environment of these children and youngsters, thus serving social and cultural inclusion aspects, by establishing a dialogue with the community and their technological expectations, and also directly contributing to their digital literacy

Nonextensive statistical mechanics applied to protein folding problem: kinetics aspects

A reduced (stereo-chemical) model is employed to study kinetic aspects of globular protein folding process, by Monte Carlo simulation. Nonextensive statistical approach is used: transition probability p i j between configurations i &#8594; j is given by p i j =[1 +(1 - q)&#916;Gi j/kB T ]1/(1-q), where q is the nonextensive (Tsallis) parameter. The system model consists of a chain of 27 beads immerse in its solvent; the beads represent the sequence of amino acids along the chain by means of a 10-letter stereo-chemical alphabet; a syntax (rule) to design the amino acid sequence for any given 3D structure is embedded in the model. The study focuses mainly kinetic aspects of the folding problem related with the protein folding time, represented in this work by the concept of first passage time (FPT). Many distinct proteins, whose native structures are represented here by compact self avoiding (CSA) configurations, were employed in our analysis, although our results are presented exclusively for one representative protein, for which a rich statistics was achieved. Our results reveal that there is a specific combinations of value for the nonextensive parameter q and temperature T, which gives the smallest estimated folding characteristic time (t). Additionally, for q = 1.1, (t) stays almost invariable in the range 0.9 < T < 1.3, slightly oscillating about its average value <img border=0 width=32 height=32 src="../../../../../../../img/revistas/bjp/v39n2a/a16txt01.gif" align=absmiddle > or = 27 ±&#963;, where &#963; = 2 is the standard deviation. This behavior is explained by comparing the distribution of the folding times for the Boltzmann statistics (q &#8594; 1), with respect to the nonextensive statistics for q = 1.1, which shows that the effect of the nonextensive parameter q is to cut off the larger folding times present in the original (q &#8594; 1) distribution. The distribution of natural logarithm of the folding times for Boltzmann statistics is a triple peaked Gaussian, while, for q = 1.1 (Tsallis), it is a double peaked Gaussian, suggesting that a log-normal process with two characteristic times replaced the original process with three characteristic times. Finally we comment on the physical meaning of the present results, as well its significance in the near future works

A remote engineering solution for automating a roller hearth kiln

Remote engineering (also known as online engineering) may be defined as a combination of control engineering and telematics. In this area, specific activities require computacional skills in order to develop projects where electrical devives are monitored and / or controlled, in an intercative way, through a distributed network (e.g. Intranet or Internet). In our specific case, we will be dealing with an industrial plant. Within the last few years, there has been an increase in the number of activities related to remote engineering, which may be connected to the phenomenon of the large extension experienced by the Internet (e.g. bandwith, number of users, development tools, etc.). This increase opens new and future possibilities to the implementation of advance teleworking (or e-working) positions. In this paper we present the architecture for a remote application, accessible through the Internet, able to monitor and control a roller hearth kiln, used in a ceramics industry for firing materials. The proposed architecture is based on a micro web server, whose main function is to monitor and control the firing process, by reading the data from a series of temperature sensors and by controlling a series of electronic valves and servo motors. This solution is also intended to be a low-cost alternative to other potential solutions. The temperature readings are obtained through K-type thermopairs and the gas flow is controlled through electrovalves. As the firing process should not be stopped before its complete end, the system is equipped with a safety device for that specific purpose. For better understanding the system to be automated and its operation we decided to develop a scale model (100:1) and experiment on it the devised solution, based on a Micro Web Server

The importance of lizards and small mammals as reservoirs for Borrelia lusitaniae in Portugal

Borrelia lusitaniae is a pathogen frequent in the Mediterranean area. Apart from lizards, evidence for birds and small mammals as competent reservoirs for this genospecies has been occasional. We collected questing ticks, skin biopsies and Ixodes sp. ticks feeding on lizards, birds and small mammals in a B. burgdorferi s.l. enzootic area to assess their importance in the maintenance of B. lusitaniae. B. lusitaniae was the most prevalent genospecies in questing ticks and was commonly found in larvae feeding on Psammodromus algirus. One biopsy infected with B. lusitaniae was collected from the tail of one Podarcis hispanica, which suggests systemic infection. I. ricinus larvae feeding on Apodemus sylvaticus were infected with B. lusitaniae but with a lower prevalence. Our results reinforce the importance of lizards as reservoirs for B. lusitaniae, suggesting that P. algirus, in particular, acts as main reservoir for B. lusitaniae in Portugal

BLACKBUGS: A KUSTOM KULTURE NO VESTUARIO MASCULINO

O presente trabalho consiste na cria??o e desenvolvimento de uma marca para uma empresa no ramo do vestu?rio masculino. O desenvolvimento do projeto baseia-se na metodologia apresentada por Maria Luiza Pe?n, 2009, em seu livro Sistemas de Identidade Visual, al?m disso foram utilizadas orienta??es propostas por Alina Wheeler ,2008, no livro Design de identidade de marca. A metodologia foi adaptada utilizando orienta??es de ambas autoras, por?m para o desenvolvimento do projeto seguiremos a seguinte ordem: condu??o de pesquisa, esclarecimento de estrat?gia, design de identidade, cria??o de pontos de contato e gerenciamento de ativos. Inicialmente, ser?o explanados alguns conceitos que a partir dessas explica??es dar?o fundamento ? implanta??o pr?tica do trabalho na posteridade, tais como, marca, identidade visual e branding; desenvolvendo um repert?rio pr?vio para a contextualiza??o com a finalidade de explanar de forma clara os motivos e conceitos do objeto do estudo. Em seguida foi constru?do um mapa mental para ser utilizado junto a uma pesquisa e coleta de dados a respeito da empresa com a finalidade de especificar todo os stakeholders e qual caminho seguir para a defini??o de uma estrat?gia de marca. Sendo assim, os resultados foram combinados com o intuito de definir conceitos e personalidade a marca; logo, foi criada uma s?rie de refer?ncias visuais para compor a cria??o da ideia da marca, atrav?s de painel sem?ntico, estudo tipogr?fico e gera??o de alternativas. Por fim, criamos um manual da marca contendo especifica??es de uso da mesma visando sua boa aplica??o