Experience with the Open Source based implementation for ATLAS Conditions Data Management System

Conditions Data in high energy physics experiments is frequently seen as every data needed for reconstruction besides the event data itself. This includes all sorts of slowly evolving data like detector alignment, calibration and robustness, and data from detector control system. Also, every Conditions Data Object is associated with a time interval of validity and a version. Besides that, quite often is useful to tag collections of Conditions Data Objects altogether. These issues have already been investigated and a data model has been proposed and used for different implementations based in commercial DBMSs, both at CERN and for the BaBar experiment. The special case of the ATLAS complex trigger that requires online access to calibration and alignment data poses new challenges that have to be met using a flexible and customizable solution more in the line of Open Source components. Motivated by the ATLAS challenges we have developed an alternative implementation, based in an Open Source RDBMS. Several issues were investigated land will be described in this paper: -The best way to map the conditions data model into the relational database concept considering what are foreseen as the most frequent queries. -The clustering model best suited to address the scalability problem. -Extensive tests were performed and will be described. The very promising results from these tests are attracting the attention from the HEP community and driving further developments.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables, conferenc

A Methodology for Reengineering Relational Databases to an Object-Oriented Database

This research proposes and evaluates a methodology for reengineering a relational database to an object-oriented database. We applied this methodology to reengineering the Air Force Institute of Technology Student Information System (AFITSIS) as our test case. With this test case, we could verify the applicability of the proposed methodology, especially because AFITSIS comes from an old version of Oracle RDBMS. We had the opportunity to implement part of the object model using an object-oriented database, and we present some peculiarities encountered during this implementation. The most important result of this research is that it demonstrated that the proposed methodology can be used for reengineering an arbitrarily selected relational database to an object-oriented database. It appears that this approach can be applied to any relational database

Negative Effects of Azteca Ants on the Distribution of the Termite Neocapritermes braziliensis in Central Amazonia

Termites play important roles in tropical ecosystem functioning, and their evolutionary success has been linked to their defense mechanisms. However, microhabitat overlap with potential aggressors may constrain their distribution and thus, their environmental impacts on an ecological timescale. We investigated a possible negative effect of abundant generalist ants (Azteca sp.) on the termite Neocapritermes braziliensis. Both taxa frequently build their nests attached to trees. We determined the densities of their active nests in 10 plots (250 x 10 m) systematically distributed over 5 km2 in central Amazonia, Brazil, and recorded their co-occurrence in individual trees. Using generalized nonlinear modeling in a Bayesian framework, we found good support for a negative effect of Azteca’s nest density on N. braziliensis’. This effect conformed to a power law, and accounted for more than half of the variation in the termite’s nest density (r2 = 0.56). Additionally, of all counted N. braziliensis mounds, only 1.08 percent was attached to trees also hosting Azteca. Such patterns may have arisen due to N. braziliensis’ inability to establish new nests within Azteca territories, or predation by ants on established colonies of the termite. We suggest that even non-strictly termitophagous ant species may have important impacts on termite populations and, consequently, on their roles in nutrient cycling and ecosystem engineering.

Desenho e representação gráfica: 1. Introdução ao desenho técnico

Neste texto faz-se uma breve apresentação e introdução ao desenho e representação gráfica, em que se foca o desenho técnico em particular.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Multiple manipulators path planning using double A∗

Streamlining automated processes is currently undertaken by developing optimization methods and algorithms for robotic manipulators. This paper aims to present a new approach to improve streamlining of automatic processes. This new approach allows for multiple robotic manipulators commonly found in the industrial environment to handle different scenarios, thus providing a high-flexibility solution to automated processes. Design/methodology/approach - The developed system is based on a spatial discretization methodology capable of describing the surrounding environment of the robot, followed by a novel path-planning algorithm. Gazebo was the simulation engine chosen, and the robotic manipulator used was the Universal Robot 5 (UR5). The proposed system was tested using the premises of two robotic challenges: EuRoC and Amazon Picking Challenge. Findings - The developed system was able to identify and describe the influence of each joint in the Cartesian space, and it was possible to control multiple robotic manipulators safely regardless of any obstacles in a given scene. Practical implications - This new system was tested in both real and simulated environments, and data collected showed that this new system performed well in real-life scenarios, such as EuRoC and Amazon Picking Challenge. Originality/value - The new proposed approach can be valuable in the robotics field with applications in various industrial scenarios, as it provides a flexible solution for multiple robotic manipulator path and motion planning.The research leading to these results has received funding from the project "NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000020" which is nanced by the North Portugal Re- gional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, and through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Medium materials for improving frost detection on a resistive sensor

Reducing food waste demands improvements in refrigeration systems. Furthermore, the rise of temperatures worldwide demands more capable and efficient refrigeration equipment. One of the problems that affects refrigeration equipment is the accumulation of frost in the heat exchanger that reduces efficiency, and in extreme cases, blocks the air flow. Usually, defrosting is timed for the worst-case scenario, which results in many unnecessary defrosting operations that compromise the efficiency, and temperature stability in the refrigerated environment. This paper presents a low-cost resistive sensor’s reliability case studies, using several materials and configurations.This study is within the activities of project “Pack2Life – High performance packaging”, project IDT in consortium n.o 33792, call n.o 03/SI/2017, Ref. POCI-01-0247-FEDER-033792, promoted by COMPETE 2020 and co-funded by FEDER within Portugal 2020. This work has was supported by the project Centro-01-0145-FEDER000017 - EMaDeS - Energy, Materials and Sustainable Development, co-funded by the Portugal 2020 Program (PT 2020), within the Regional Operational Program of the Center (CENTRO 2020) and the EU through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The authors thank the opportunity and financial support to carry on this project to Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) and R&D Unit “Centre for Mechanical and Aerospace Science and Technologies” (C-MAST), under project UIDB/00151/2020. The authors also thank Cláudia Monteiro for her assistance in the production of the ceramic samples.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Testing Gravity on Cosmic Scales: A Case Study of Jordan-Brans-Dicke Theory

We provide an end-to-end exploration of a distinct modified gravitational theory in Jordan-Brans-Dicke (JBD) gravity, from an analytical and numerical description of the background expansion and linear perturbations, to the nonlinear regime captured with a hybrid suite of $N$-body simulations, to the parameter constraints from existing cosmological probes. The nonlinear corrections to the matter power spectrum due to baryons, massive neutrinos, and modified gravity are simultaneously modeled and propagated in the cosmological analysis for the first time. In the combined analysis of the Planck CMB temperature, polarization, and lensing reconstruction, Pantheon supernova distances, BOSS measurements of BAO distances, the Alcock-Paczynski effect, and the growth rate, along with the joint ($3\times2$pt) dataset of cosmic shear, galaxy-galaxy lensing, and overlapping redshift-space galaxy clustering from KiDS and 2dFLenS, we constrain the JBD coupling constant, $\omega_{\rm BD}>1540$ (95% CL), the effective gravitational constant, $G_{\rm matter}/G=0.997\pm0.029$, the sum of neutrino masses, $\sum m_{\nu}<0.12$ eV (95% CL), and the baryonic feedback amplitude, $B<2.8$ (95% CL), all in agreement with the standard model expectation. We show that the uncertainty in the gravitational theory alleviates the tension between KiDS$\times$2dFLenS and Planck to below $1\sigma$ and the tension in the Hubble constant between Planck and the direct measurement of Riess et al. (2019) down to ~$3\sigma$; however, we find no substantial model selection preference for JBD gravity relative to $\Lambda$CDM. We further show that the neutrino mass bound degrades by up to a factor of $3$ as the $\omega_{\rm BD}$ parameterization becomes more restrictive, and that a positive shift in $G_{\rm matter}/G$ suppresses the CMB damping tail in a way that might complicate future inferences of small-scale physics. (Abridged)Comment: 48 pages, 24 figures, PRD submitte

Participação escolar: representações dos alunos do 3º ciclo de Aveiro (Portugal)

Este artigo propõe uma reflexão sobre a relação intrínseca entre democracia e educação, particularmente na vertente relacionada com a participação dos discentes nas decisões da escola. Neste sentido e, no quadro do regime de autonomia das escolas portuguesas, importa identificar os espaços formais e informais que são proporcionados aos jovens na tomada de decisões da vida organizativa da escola para compreendermos o papel desta na promoção e capacitação dos jovens para o exercício de uma cidadania ativa. O modo de vida democrático constrói-se através de oportunidades de aprendizagem acerca do mesmo, nomeadamente pela vivência de experiências participativas no contexto escolar. Em 2009, realizámos um estudo, no âmbito da dissertação de uma dissertação de mestrado em Ciências da Educação da Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal, em duas escolas públicas do ensino básico, do Concelho de Aveiro, abrangendo uma população composta por 240 alunos do 8º e 9º ano de escolaridade e 14 delegados de turma. Os resultados mostram que os alunos possuem uma débil participação formal e informal, apesar de o Decreto-lei n. 115-A/98 prever a possibilidade de cada escola, no âmbito da sua autonomia, poder promover e criar espaços de efetiva participação dos alunos. A análise dos instrumentos de autonomia das escolas estudadas revela que a participação dos alunos é assumida, ainda, como um ideal e não já como um efetivo projeto de concretização. Concluímos, pois, que as escolas ainda mantêm uma centralização das decisões nos professores, verificando-se, por parte dos alunos, uma participação formal, passiva e ritualizad

Sol-gel TiO2-SiO2 films as protective coatings against corrosion of 316L stainless steel in H2SO4 solutions

Sol-gel TiO2-SiO2 films were deposited on 316L stainless steel by dip coating process from a sono-catalysed sol of composition 30TiO2-70SiO2 prepared from a mixture of Ti(OC2H5)4 and Si(OC2H5)4, absolute ethanol C2H5OH and glacial acetic acid CH3COOH as precursors and solvents. The films, densified at 800° C in air for 2 h, are composed of small orthorhombic titania (anatase) crystallites embedded in a SiO2 amorphous matrix as identified by X-ray diffraction. The temperature dependence of the film morphology was observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the content was determined by FTIR reflection spectroscopy. The corrosion behaviour of 316L stainless steel samples coated with densified 30TiO2-70SiO2 films was studied in 15% H2SO4 by potentiodynamic polarization curves at 25, 40 and 50°C. The measured corrosion rates show a considerable decrease for the protected steel samples in comparison to the bare substrate. The effect of time of heat treatment of the films on the corrosion parameters is also reported