The TNG Near Infrared Camera Spectrometer

NICS (acronym for Near Infrared Camera Spectrometer) is the near-infrared cooled camera-spectrometer that has been developed by the Arcetri Infrared Group at the Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory, in collaboration with the CAISMI-CNR for the TNG (the Italian National Telescope Galileo at La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain). As NICS is in its scientific commissioning phase, we report its observing capabilities in the near-infrared bands at the TNG, along with the measured performance and the limiting magnitudes. We also describe some technical details of the project, such as cryogenics, mechanics, and the system which executes data acquisition and control, along with the related software.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, compiled with A&A macros. A&A in pres

A 5 Gb/s Radiation Tolerant Laser Driver

A laser driver for data transmission at 5 Gb/s has been developed as a part of the Giga Bit Transceiver (GBT) project. The Giga Bit Laser Driver (GBLD) targets High Energy Physics (HEP) applications for which radiation tolerance is mandatory. The GBLD ASIC can drive both VCSELs and some types of edge emitting lasers. It is essentially composed of two drivers capable of sinking up to 12 mA each from the load at a maximum data rate of 5 Gb/s, and of a current sink for the laser bias current. The laser driver include also pre-emphasis and duty cycle control capabilities

Silicon Mie Resonators for Highly Directional Light Emission from monolayer MoS2

Controlling light emission from quantum emitters has important applications ranging from solid-state lighting and displays to nanoscale single-photon sources. Optical antennas have emerged as promising tools to achieve such control right at the location of the emitter, without the need for bulky, external optics. Semiconductor nanoantennas are particularly practical for this purpose because simple geometries, such as wires and spheres, support multiple, degenerate optical resonances. Here, we start by modifying Mie scattering theory developed for plane wave illumination to describe scattering of dipole emission. We then use this theory and experiments to demonstrate several pathways to achieve control over the directionality, polarization state, and spectral emission that rely on a coherent coupling of an emitting dipole to optical resonances of a Si nanowire. A forward-to-backward ratio of 20 was demonstrated for the electric dipole emission at 680 nm from a monolayer MoS2 by optically coupling it to a Si nanowire

Legume tasters: symbiotic rhizobia host preference and smart inoculant formulations

Mutualistic interactions have great importance in ecology, with genetic infor-mation that takes shape through interactions within the symbiotic partners and between the partners and the environment. It is known that variation of the host-associated microbiome contributes to buffer adaptation challenges of the host’s physiology when facing varying environmental conditions. In agriculture, pivotal examples are symbiotic nitrogen-fixing rhizobia, known to contribute greatly to host (legume plants) adaptation and host productivity. A holistic view of increasing crop yield and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses is that of microbiome engineering, the exploitation of a host-associated microbiome through its rationally designed manipulation with synthetic microbial commu-nities. However, several studies highlighted that the expression of the desired phenotype in the host resides in species-specific, even genotype-specific in-teractions between the symbiotic partners. Consequently, there is a need to dissect such an intimate level of interaction, aiming to identify the main ge-netic components in both partners playing a role in symbiotic differences/host preferences. In the present paper, while briefly reviewing the knowledge and the challenges in plant–microbe interaction and rhizobial studies, we aim to promote research on genotype x genotype interaction between rhizobia and host plants for a rational design of synthetic symbiotic nitrogen-fixing microbial communities to be used for sustainably improving leguminous plants yield

Performance of the CMS Cathode Strip Chambers with Cosmic Rays

The Cathode Strip Chambers (CSCs) constitute the primary muon tracking device in the CMS endcaps. Their performance has been evaluated using data taken during a cosmic ray run in fall 2008. Measured noise levels are low, with the number of noisy channels well below 1%. Coordinate resolution was measured for all types of chambers, and fall in the range 47 microns to 243 microns. The efficiencies for local charged track triggers, for hit and for segments reconstruction were measured, and are above 99%. The timing resolution per layer is approximately 5 ns

Performance and Operation of the CMS Electromagnetic Calorimeter

The operation and general performance of the CMS electromagnetic calorimeter using cosmic-ray muons are described. These muons were recorded after the closure of the CMS detector in late 2008. The calorimeter is made of lead tungstate crystals and the overall status of the 75848 channels corresponding to the barrel and endcap detectors is reported. The stability of crucial operational parameters, such as high voltage, temperature and electronic noise, is summarised and the performance of the light monitoring system is presented

Внедрение и принцип работы системы сейсмического мониторинга горного массива для работы в условиях ООО "Шахта "Усковская"

The status of the Silicon Microvertex Detector (SMD) and its installation into the LEP-L3 experiment are presented, highlighting novel features and sophisticated techniques. Preliminary results based on 1993 data are given and compared with Monte Carlo predictions, to understand the detector performances and its tracking capabilities

Test beam performance measurements for the Phase I upgrade of the CMS pixel detector

A new pixel detector for the CMS experiment was built in order to cope with the instantaneous luminosities anticipated for the Phase I Upgrade of the LHC. The new CMS pixel detector provides four-hit tracking with a reduced material budget as well as new cooling and powering schemes. A new front-end readout chip mitigates buffering and bandwidth limitations, and allows operation at low comparator thresholds. In this paper, comprehensive test beam studies are presented, which have been conducted to verify the design and to quantify the performance of the new detector assemblies in terms of tracking efficiency and spatial resolution. Under optimal conditions, the tracking efficiency is (99.95 ± 0.05) %, while the intrinsic spatial resolutions are (4.80 ± 0.25) μm and (7.99 ± 0.21) μm along the 100 μm and 150 μm pixel pitch, respectively. The findings are compared to a detailed Monte Carlo simulation of the pixel detector and good agreement is found.Peer reviewe

Assessment of a Neural-Network-Based Optimization Tool: a Low Specific-Speed Impeller Application

This work provides a detailed description of the fluid dynamic design of a low specific-speed industrial pump centrifugal impeller. The main goal is to guarantee a certain value of the specific-speed number at the design flow rate, while satisfying geometrical constraints and industrial feasibility. The design procedure relies on a modern optimization technique such as an Artificial-Neural-Network-based approach (ANN). The impeller geometry is parameterized in order to allow geometrical variations over a large design space. The computational framework suitable for pump optimization is based on a fully viscous three-dimensional numerical solver, used for the impeller analysis. The performance prediction of the pump has been obtained by coupling the CFD analysis with a 1D correlation tool, which accounts for the losses due to the other components not included in the CFD domain. Due to both manufacturing and geometrical constraints, two different optimized impellers with 3 and 5 blades have been developed, with the performance required in terms of efficiency and suction capability. The predicted performance of both configurations were compared with the measured head and efficiency characteristics

Performance studies of the CMS strip tracker before installation

Peer reviewe