Baseline LHC machine parameters and configuration of the 2015 proton run

This paper shows the baseline LHC machine parameters for the 2015 start-up. Many systems have been upgraded during LS1 and in 2015 the LHC will operate at a higher energy than before and with a tighter filling scheme. Therefore, the 2015 commissioning phase risks to be less smooth than in 2012. The proposed starting configuration puts the focus on feasibility rather than peak performance and includes margins for operational uncertainties. Instead, once beam experience and a better machine knowledge has been obtained, a push in $\beta^*$ and performance can be envisaged. In this paper, the focus is on collimation settings and reach in $\beta^*$---other parameters are covered in greater depth by other papers in these proceedings.Comment: submitted for publication in a CERN yellow report (Proceedings of the LHC Performance Workshop - Chamonix 2014

Microfluidic Platform for Adherent Single Cell High-Throughput Screening

This paper was presented at the 4th Micro and Nano Flows Conference (MNF2014), which was held at University College, London, UK. The conference was organised by Brunel University and supported by the Italian Union of Thermofluiddynamics, IPEM, the Process Intensification Network, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Heat Transfer Society, HEXAG - the Heat Exchange Action Group, and the Energy Institute, ASME Press, LCN London Centre for Nanotechnology, UCL University College London, UCL Engineering, the International NanoScience Community, www.nanopaprika.eu.Traditionally, in vitro investigations on biology and physiology of cells rely on averaging the responses eliciting from heterogeneous cell populations, thus being unsuitable for assessing individual cell behaviors in response to external stimulations. In the last years, great interest has thus been focused on single cell analysis and screening, which represents a promising tool aiming at pursuing the direct and deterministic control over cause-effect relationships guiding cell behavior. In this regard, a high-throughput microfluidic platform for trapping and culturing adherent single cells was presented. A single cell trapping mechanism was implemented based on dynamic variation of fluidic resistances. A round-shaped culture chamber (Φ=250μm, h=25μm) was conceived presenting two connections with a main fluidic path: (i) an upper wide opening, and (ii) a bottom trapping junction which modulates the hydraulic resistance. Several layouts of the chamber were designed and computationally validated for the optimization of the single cell trapping efficacy. The optimized chamber layouts were integrated in a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic platform presenting two main functionalities: (i) 288 chambers for trapping single cells, and (ii) a chaoticmixer based serial dilution generator for delivering both soluble factors and non-diffusive molecules under spatio-temporally controlled chemical patterns. The devices were experimentally validated and allowed for trapping individual U87-MG (human glioblastoma-astrocytoma epithelial-like) cells and culturing them up to 3 days

The chemical structure of the very young starless core L1521E

L1521E is a dense starless core in Taurus that was found to have relatively low molecular depletion by earlier studies, thus suggesting a recent formation. We aim to characterize the chemical structure of L1521E and compare it to the more evolved L1544 pre-stellar core. We have obtained $\sim$2.5$\times$2.5 arcminute maps toward L1521E using the IRAM-30m telescope in transitions of various species. We derived abundances for the species and compared them to those obtained toward L1544. We estimated CO depletion factors. Similarly to L1544, $c$-C$_3$H$_2$ and CH$_3$OH peak at different positions. Most species peak toward the $c$-C$_3$H$_2$ peak. The CO depletion factor derived toward the $Herschel$ dust peak is 4.3$\pm$1.6, which is about a factor of three lower than that toward L1544. The abundances of sulfur-bearing molecules are higher toward L1521E than toward L1544 by factors of $\sim$2-20. The abundance of methanol is similar toward the two cores. The higher abundances of sulfur-bearing species toward L1521E than toward L1544 suggest that significant sulfur depletion takes place during the dynamical evolution of dense cores, from the starless to pre-stellar stage. The CO depletion factor measured toward L1521E suggests that CO is more depleted than previously found. Similar CH$_3$OH abundances between L1521E and L1544 hint that methanol is forming at specific physical conditions in Taurus, characterized by densities of a few $\times$10$^4$ cm$^{-3}$ and $N$(H$_2$)$\gtrsim$10$^{22}$ cm$^{-2}$, when CO starts to catastrophically freeze-out, while water can still be significantly photodissociated, so that the surfaces of dust grains become rich in solid CO and CH$_3$OH, as already found toward L1544. Methanol can thus provide selective crucial information about the transition region between dense cores and the surrounding parent cloud.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, abstract abridge

Comparazione di metodi termovisivi per l’identificazione di aree umide su materiali dell’edilizia storica

Water content inside building materials (plaster, brick, stone) is usefull to evaluate their decay level. Passive and active termography are compared, in order to define the most reliable procedure, firstly to map the moisture diffusion and secondary to evaluate the moisture content in the surfaces. Laboratory researches carried out in the last decades and scientific literature permitted to determine that the superficial decay in porous materials is more related to the evaporative speed of the surfaces and the presence of soluble salts than to their absorption capability. Moreover, evaporative fluxes were studied at different environmental conditions and water content in order to find out a correlation between moisture content, evaporation and boundary conditions. The thermal characteristics of timber are highly different from the characteristics of porous materials such as brick and stone and mortar, particularly the thermal capacity of wood is lower. Nevertheless, because of the lower heat capacity of wood, the presence of water greatly affects the wood thermal capacity: the active procedure, guarantees the best results. Lab tests and study case permit to evaluate the sensitivity of the method

Manejo de Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) na cultura do morangueiro no Rio Grande do Sul.

Esta Circular Técnica tem como objetivo descrever a biologia de F. occidentalis na cultura do morangueiro, caracterizar o tipo de injúria causada pelo inseto em flores e frutos e fornecer informações para o monitoramento e o controle da espécie na cultura no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul.bitstream/item/73816/1/cir090.pd

Micromixing and microchannel design: Vortex shape and entropy

This paper was presented at the 2nd Micro and Nano Flows Conference (MNF2009), which was held at Brunel University, West London, UK. The conference was organised by Brunel University and supported by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, IPEM, the Italian Union of Thermofluid dynamics, the Process Intensification Network, HEXAG - the Heat Exchange Action Group and the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications.In very recent years microdevices, due to their potency in replacing large-scale conventional laboratory instrumentation, are becoming a fast and low cost technology for the treatment of several chemical and biological processes. In particular microfluidics has been massively investigated, aiming at improving the performance of chemical reactors. This is because of the fact that reaction is often an interface phenomenon where the greater the surface to volume ratio, the higher the reaction speed, and microscale mixing increases the interfacial area (in terms of mixing-induced-by-vortices generation). However, microfluidic systems suffer from the limitation that they are characterized mostly by very low Reynolds numbers, with the consequence that (i) they cannot take advantage from the turbulence mixing support, and (ii) viscosity hampers proper vortex detection. Therefore, the proper design of micro-channels (MCs) becomes essential. In this framework, several geometries have been proposed to induce mixing vortices in MCs. However a quantitative comparison between proposed geometries in terms of their passive mixing potency can be done only after proper definition of vortex formation (topology, size) and mixing performance. The objective of this study is to test the ability of different fluid dynamic metrics in vortex detection and mixing effectiveness in micromixers. This is done numerically solving different conditions for the flow in a classic passive mixer, a ring shaped MC. We speculate that MCs design could take advantage from fluidic metrics able to rank properly flow related mixing

Caracterização de danos causados por Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann) (Diptera, Tephritidae) e desenvolvimento larval em frutos de duas cultivares de quivizeiro (Actinidia spp.)

Os danos causados por A. fraterculus em três estágios de maturação de frutos de quivizeiro foram avaliados em pomar comercial, e, em laboratório, o desenvolvimento larval da espécie foi estudado, nas cultivares MG06 e Bruno. Frutos das duas cultivares foram infestados com A. fraterculus, em pomar comercial localizado em Farroupilha-RS, no início (30% do tamanho final), metade (90% do tamanho final) e final (ponto de colheita) do ciclo de desenvolvimento, e, em laboratório, desde o início da frutificação até a colheita. Na cultivar MG06, três dias após a primeira infestação, observou-se a formação de exsudato cristalino nos locais de punctura que evolui, na colheita, para rachaduras, depressões e primórdios de galerias nos frutos. Na mesma cultivar, registrou-se fibrose nos frutos infestados no fim do ciclo (ponto de colheita). Apesar de terem sidos computados ovos nos frutos, a campo não houve desenvolvimento larval nessa cultivar. Na Bruno, não foram constatados danos e ovos, indicando a imunidade da cultivar. Não houve queda de frutos atribuída a A. fraterculus nas duas cultivares. Verificou-se o desenvolvimento larval, em laboratório, quando os frutos apresentavam, no mínimo, 6,4% e 7,0% de sólidos solúveis totais, respectivamente, para as cultivares MG06 e Bruno

Design of polarization-insensitive superconducting single photon detectors with high-index dielectrics

In this paper, the design of superconducting-nanowire single-photon detectors which are insensitive to the polarization of the incident light is investigated. By using high-refractive-index dielectrics, the index mismatch between the nanowire and the surrounding media is reduced. This enhances the absorption of light with electric field vector perpendicular to the nanowire segments, which is generally hindered in this kind of detectors. Building on this principle and focusing on NbTiN nanowire devices, we present several easy-to-realize cavity architectures which allow high absorption efficiency (in excess of 90%) and polarization insensitivity simultaneously. Designs based on ultranarrow nanowires, for which the polarization sensitivity is much more marked, are also presented. Finally, we briefly discuss the specific advantages of this approach in the case of WSi or MoSi nanowires