Spin Physics at COMPASS

The COMPASS experiment is a fixed target experiment at the CERN SPS using muon and hadron beams for the investigation of the spin structure of the nucleon and hadron spectroscopy. The main objective of the muon physics program is the study of the spin of the nucleon in terms of its constituents, quarks and gluons. COMPASS has accumulated data during 6 years scattering polarized muons off a longitudinally or a transversely polarized deuteron (6LiD) or proton (NH3) target. Results for the gluon polarization are obtained from longitudinal double spin cross section asymmetries using two different channels, open charm production and high transverse momentum hadron pairs, both proceeding through the photon-gluon fusion process. Also, the longitudinal spin structure functions of the proton and the deuteron were measured in parallel as well as the helicity distributions for the three lightest quark flavors. With a transversely polarized target, results were obtained with proton and deuteron targets for the Collins and Sivers asymmetries for charged hadrons as well as for identified kaons and pions. The Collins asymmetry is sensitive to the transverse spin structure of the nucleon, while the Sivers asymmetry reflects correlations between the quark transverse momentum and the nucleon spin. Recently, a new proposal for the COMPASS II experiment was accepted by the CERN SPS which includes two new topics: Exclusive reactions like DVCS and DVMP using the muon beam and a hydrogen target to study generalized parton distributions and Drell-Yan measurements using a pion beam and a polarized NH3 target to study transverse momentum dependent distributions.Comment: Proceedings of the Rutherford conference, Manchester, August 2011. Changes due to referees comments implemente

Honing pas oogsten als hij rijp is!

Honing met een te hoog vochtgehalte kan gaan gisten en is dan bedorven. De wetgever schrijft daarom voor, hoeveel water er maximaal aanwezig mag zijn in honing die voor de verkoop is bestemd. Maar hoe moet honing met het juiste watergehalte geoogst worden

Visual Analytics for Understanding Spatial Situations from Episodic Movement Data

Continuing advances in modern data acquisition techniques result in rapidly growing amounts of geo-referenced data about moving objects and in emergence of new data types. We define episodic movement data as a new complex data type to be considered in the research fields relevant to data analysis. In episodic movement data, position measurements may be separated by large time gaps, in which the positions of the moving objects are unknown and cannot be reliably reconstructed. Many of the existing methods for movement analysis are designed for data with fine temporal resolution and cannot be applied to discontinuous trajectories. We present an approach utilizing Visual Analytics methods to explore and understand the temporal variation of spatial situations derived from episodic movement data by means of spatio-temporal aggregation. The situations are defined in terms of the presence of moving objects in different places and in terms of flows (collective movements) among the places. The approach, which combines interactive visual displays with clustering of the spatial situations, is presented by example of a real dataset collected by Bluetooth sensors

De kast met draaibare ramen - die zaak is nog niet rond

Sinds 2003 worden er kasten met draaibare ramen gemaakt in Hongarije. Het stopt de varroamijt en het zwermen van de bijen. Het lijkt ook daadwerkelijk te helpen, maar de vraag is of het de hoge investering waard i

Simulator for Microlens Planet Surveys

We summarize the status of a computer simulator for microlens planet surveys. The simulator generates synthetic light curves of microlensing events observed with specified networks of telescopes over specified periods of time. Particular attention is paid to models for sky brightness and seeing, calibrated by fitting to data from the OGLE survey and RoboNet observations in 2011. Time intervals during which events are observable are identified by accounting for positions of the Sun and the Moon, and other restrictions on telescope pointing. Simulated observations are then generated for an algorithm that adjusts target priorities in real time with the aim of maximizing planet detection zone area summed over all the available events. The exoplanet detection capability of observations was compared for several telescopes.Comment: Proc. IAU Symp. No. 293 "Formation, detection, and characterization of extrasolar habitable planets", ed. by N. Haghighipour. 4 pages, in pres

Cellular Automaton Study of Time-Dynamics of Avalanche Breakdown in IMPATT Diodes

Employing a recently developed efficient cellular automaton technique for solving Boltzmann's transport equation for realistic devices, we present a detailed study of the carrier dynamics in GaAs avalanche p-i-n (IMPATT) diodes. We find that the impact ionization in reverse bias p-i-n diodes with ultrathin (less than 50 nm) intrinsic regions is triggered by Zener tunneling rather than by thermal generation. The impact generation of hot carriers occurs mainly in the low-field junction regions rather than in the high field intrinsic zone. The calculations predict significantly more minority carriers on the n-side than on the p-side

Thermal Conversion of Guanylurea Dicyanamide into Graphitic Carbon Nitride via Prototype CNx Precursors

Guanylurea dicyanamide, [(H2N)C(-O)NHC(NH2)2][N(CN)2], has been synthesized by ion exchange reaction in aqueous solution and structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction (C2/c, a = 2249.0(5) pm, b = 483.9(1) pm, c = 1382.4(3) pm, β = 99.49(3)°, V = 1483.8(5) × 106 pm3, T = 130 K). The thermal behavior of the molecular salt has been studied by thermal analysis, temperature-programmed X-ray powder diffraction, FTIR spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry between room temperature and 823 K. The results were interpreted on a molecular level in terms of a sequence of thermally induced addition, cyclization, and elimination reactions. As a consequence, melamine (2,4,6-triamino-1,3,5-triazine) is formed with concomitant loss of HNCO. Further condensation of melamine yields the prototypic CNx precursor melem (2,6,10-triamino-s-heptazine, C6N7(NH2)3), which alongside varying amounts of directly formed CNxHy material transforms into layered CNxHy phases without significant integration of oxygen into the core framework owing to the evaporation of HNCO. Thus, further evidence can be added to melamine and its condensation product melem acting as “key intermediates” in the synthetic pathway toward graphitic CNxHy materials, whose exact constitution is still a point at issue. Due to the characteristic formation process and hydrogen content a close relationship with the polymer melon is evident. In particular, the thermal transformation of guanylurea dicyanamide clearly demonstrates that the formation of volatile compounds such as HNCO during thermal decomposition may render a large variety of previously not considered molecular compounds suitable CNx precursors despite the presence of oxygen in the starting material

Crop Species Diversity Changes in the United States: 1978-2012

Citation: Aguilar, J., Gramig, G. G., Hendrickson, J. R., Archer, D. W., Forcella, F., & Liebig, M. A. (2015). Crop Species Diversity Changes in the United States: 1978-2012. Plos One, 10(8), 14. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0136580Anecdotal accounts regarding reduced US cropping system diversity have raised concerns about negative impacts of increasingly homogeneous cropping systems. However, formal analyses to document such changes are lacking. Using US Agriculture Census data, which are collected every five years, we quantified crop species diversity from 1978 to 2012, for the contiguous US on a county level basis. We used Shannon diversity indices expressed as effective number of crop species (ENCS) to quantify crop diversity. We then evaluated changes in county-level crop diversity both nationally and for each of the eight Farm Resource Regions developed by the National Agriculture Statistics Service. During the 34 years we considered in our analyses, both national and regional ENCS changed. Nationally, crop diversity was lower in 2012 than in 1978. However, our analyses also revealed interesting trends between and within different Resource Regions. Overall, the Heartland Resource Region had the lowest crop diversity whereas the Fruitful Rim and Northern Crescent had the highest. In contrast to the other Resource Regions, the Mississippi Portal had significantly higher crop diversity in 2012 than in 1978. Also, within regions there were differences between counties in crop diversity. Spatial autocorrelation revealed clustering of low and high ENCS and this trend became stronger over time. These results show that, nationally counties have been clustering into areas of either low diversity or high diversity. Moreover, a significant trend of more counties shifting to lower rather than to higher crop diversity was detected. The clustering and shifting demonstrates a trend toward crop diversity loss and attendant homogenization of agricultural production systems, which could have far-reaching consequences for provision of ecosystem system services associated with agricultural systems as well as food system sustainability