Minimum Bias Measurements with the ATLAS Detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN will collide bunches of protons (p) at a center-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 14 TeV and a rate of 40 MHz. The unprecedented collision energy and interaction rate at the LHC will allow us to explore the TeV mass scale and take a major step forward in our understanding of the fundamental nature of matter. The initial physics run of the LHC is expected to start in November 2009 and continue until the end of 2010, with collisions at sqrt(s) = 900 GeV, 7 TeV and 10 TeV. ATLAS (A Toroidal LHC ApparatuS) is a 4pi general-purpose detector designed for studying LHC collisions at the particle level. The design and layout of ATLAS are intended to cover the wide spectrum of physics signatures that are possible at the TeV mass scale. Construction and installation of the ATLAS detector at CERN are now complete. This dissertation focuses on measuring the properties of inelastic pp interactions at the LHC with the ATLAS detector. A method for measuring the central pseudorapidity density dN/deta and transverse momentum spectrum dN/dpT of charged particles during early, low-luminosity running of the LHC is described herein. The method also extracts the transverse-momentum dependence of the charged-particle invariant yield Ed^3N/d^3p. The analysis presented here has been prepared using a full detector simulation. Triggers used to select inelastic interactions are described and e valuated using a sample of simulated events. ATLAS reconstruction software is briefly discussed and used to reconstruct the simulated data. A set of track selection criteria is defined and the performance of the reconstruction is evaluated in terms of tracking efficiency and background contamination. A track-based analysis to measure the inclusive distributions is presented and then validated using the simulated event sample. Finally, various sources of systematic uncertainties are estimated and discussed

Validation of the questionnaire of the transtheoretical model of change of physical exercise

El objetivo de este estudio fue traducir y validar al español el Cuestionario del Modelo Transteórico del Cambio de Ejercicio Físico de Prochaska y DiClemente (1983). Se utilizó una muestra de 812 personas, entre los 14 y los 88 años (29,5±21,7). Se realizó un análisis factorial confirmatorio, análisis de consistencia interna y validez predictiva. Los resultados del Cuestionario del Modelo Transteórico del Cambio de Ejercicio Físico presentaron valores adecuados (χ2/g.l = 4,3, CFI = 0,92, IFI = 0,92, TLI = 0,90, RMSEA = 0,06, SRMR = 0,05). La consistencia interna mostró valores encima de .70. Se halló una predicción positiva y significativa de los estadios más activos del Modelo Transteórico sobre la intención de ser físicamente activo. Este estudio ha permitido proporcionar un cuestionario válido y fiable para evaluar el estadio en el que se encuentran las personas con respecto a la práctica de ejercicio físico, en el ámbito españolThe aim of this study was to translate and validate in Spanish the Questionnaire of the Transtheoretical Model of Change of Physical Exercise, of Prochaska and DiClemente (1983), and also to make adaptations and modifications as needed. The sample was composed of 812 people, aged between 14 and 88 years (29.5+21.7). Confirmative factorial analysis, analysis of internal consistency and of predictive validity were carried out. After the confirmative factorial analysis, the Questionnaire of the Theoretical Model of Change of Physical Exercise showed acceptable results (x2/g.1=4,3, CFI=0,92, IFI= 0.92, TLI = 0.90, RMSEA = 0.06, SRMR = 0,05). Similarly, internal consistency obtained from the respective dimensions showed values above .70. A positive and significant prediction of the most active stages of the Transtheoretical Model (action and maintenance) was found on the ‘intention to be physically active’. This study has enabled the provision of a valid and reliable questionnair

Transcontextual model of motivation in the preaching of healthy lifestyles

El presente trabajo examinó la aplicación del Modelo Transcontextual de la Motivación en la predicción de estilos de vida saludables de atletas veteranos. Se utilizó una muestra de 682 atletas veteranos portugueses de ambos géneros, de edades comprendidas entre los 30 y los 76 años (M=43.64; DT=8.25), dónde a través de cuestionarios se ha medido: la satisfacción de las necesidades psicológicas básicas, la motivación, las variables del comportamiento planeado y los estilos de vida saludables. De las conclusiones alcanzadas en este trabajo, son de destacar la relevancia de fomentar la necesidad psicológica básica de relación social, ya que ésta favorecerá la motivación intrínseca, promoviendo un mayor control del comportamiento sobre las intenciones de los practicantes, generando así mejores hábitos alimenticios, hábitos de descanso y menor consumo de tabacoThe present paper has examined the application of the Transcontextual Model of motivation in the prediction of healthy lifestyles of veteran athletes. A sample of 682 Portuguese veteran athletes of both sexes, aged between 30 and 76 years (M = 43.64; SD = 8.25), were administered the following questionnaires: satisfaction of needs basic psychological, self-determination motivation, planned behavioral variables and healthy lifestyles. From the conclusions reached in this work, it is important to emphasize the importance of fostering the basic psychological need of relatedness, since this will favor the intrinsic motivation, promoting greater control of behavior over the intentions of practitioners, thus generating more healthy eating habits, rest habits and lower tobacco consumptio

A heuristic approach for the allocation of resources in large-scale computing infrastructures

An increasing number of enterprise applications are intensive in their consumption of IT, but are infrequently used. Consequently, organizations either host an oversized IT infrastructure or they are incapable of realizing the benefits of new applications. A solution to the challenge is provided by the large-scale computing infrastructures of Clouds and Grids which allow resources to be shared. A major challenge is the development of mechanisms that allow efficient sharing of IT resources. Market mechanisms are promising, but there is a lack of research in scalable market mechanisms. We extend the Multi-Attribute Combinatorial Exchange mechanism with greedy heuristics to address the scalability challenge. The evaluation shows a trade-off between efficiency and scalability. There is no statistical evidence for an influence on the incentive properties of the market mechanism. This is an encouraging result as theory predicts heuristics to ruin the mechanism’s incentive properties. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd