Observation of muons from Cygnus X-3 in the NUSEX experiment

Ground based observations by means of Cerenkov light detectors and air shower arrays have established that Cyngus X-3 is a powerful source of high energy particles. The detection of a 10 to the 15th power eV signal was first reported by the Kiel experiment. Air showers with large age parameter were accepted in order to select those generated by primary gamma rays. At variance with the expectation, the muon density associated with these events was found to be surprisingly high. This puzzling result stimulated a temporal analysis of the muons recorded in Nucleon Stability Experiment (NUSEX) coming from the region around the source. A positive signal was found suggesting the presentation of this result. The analysis of the data recorded during the 2.4 years of effective working time is presented with a fine tuning of the period and the energy spectrum of the muons from the Cygnus X-3 direction derived assuming consistency between NUSEX and SOUDAN results

Full characterization of optimal transport plans for concave costs

This paper slightly improves a classical result by Gangbo and McCann (1996) about the structure of optimal transport plans for costs that are concave functions of the Euclidean distance. Since the main difficulty for proving the existence of an optimal map comes from the possible singularity of the cost at $0$, everything is quite easy if the supports of the two measures are disjoint; Gangbo and McCann proved the result under the assumption \mu(\spt(\nu))=0; in this paper we replace this assumption with the fact that the two measures are singular to each other. In this case it is possible to prove the existence of an optimal transport map, provided the starting measure $\mu$ does not give mass to small sets (i.e. $(d\!-\!1)-$rectifiable sets). When the measures are not singular the optimal transport plan decomposes into two parts, one concentrated on the diagonal and the other being a transport map between mutually singular measures

Thermal imaging to monitor soil and canopy temperature under mulching and natural soil cover conditions

Mestrado em Engenharia de Viticultura e Enologia. Universidade de Lisboa, Instituto Superior de Agronomia. Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de CiênciasThe Mediterranean viticulture is increasingly exposed to more severe and frequent heat waves and droughts. Therefore, short to medium-term adaptation strategies are needed to minimize risks and losses. The use of organic mulching can be a potential a short-term adaptation strategy as well as a tool to control soil water loss and decrease soil and canopy temperature. Meanwhile, imaging technologies are becoming more affordable and can be used to support crop and soil monitoring. However, low-cost thermal imaging and low-cost image analysis need still optimization to be applied in modern viticulture. In this study, we evaluated the impact of organic mulching, by analysing its effects on the temperature of the ground surface and of vine’s canopy using low-cost thermography. A preliminary study was carried out at the Instituto Superior de Agronomia to optimise the use of two low to medium-cost thermal cameras (Flir One Pro LT and Flir A35) and further image analysis and processing, to assess their potential use for field monitoring and in order to implement simple protocols to support ground-based thermal imaging analysis. Three treatments were monitored: 1) Control – natural soil vegetation 2) Eucalyptus leaves and branches mulching 3) Rice straw mulching. Visible RGB and thermal images were done from the soil (sunlit and shadow) and from the sunlit side of the canopies along the season, on 9 June, (Flowering) 1 July (Veraison) and 12 August (pre-harvest) at 9-10.30h and 15-16.30h. Thermal data was complemented by leaf gas exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence at veraison and at pre-harvest. The Flir tools software (FLIR Systems) was used for image acquisition, while the Fiji (ImageJ distribution) adapted with a ThermimageJ plug was used for further image analysis. The output of the Flir A35 revealed to be much superior to the one of Flir One. The A35 was able to detect canopy temperature differences such that thermal indices were constructed. The output of A35 output showed that mulching resulted in lower surface temperature than the control and smaller diurnal variation of the ground surface. The upper part of the canopy remained cooler than the lower part, independently of the mulch treatment. Using the Fiji software, it was possible to standardise the analysis process, but the protocols still require additional work to increase accuracy and precision.A viticultura mediterrânica enfrenta situações cada vez mais frequentes de ondas de calor e de seca extrema pelo que são necessárias estratégias de adaptação de curto a médio prazo para minimizar os riscos e as perdas. O uso de coberturas mortas orgânicas para limitar a perda de água e diminuir a temperatura do solo e da sebe são possíveis estratégias de adaptação. Entretanto, as tecnologias de imagem estão a tornar-se mais acessíveis e podem ser utilizadas para apoiar a monitorização das culturas e do solo. Nesse sentido avaliamos o impacto do mulching orgânico, uma estratégia de adaptação a curto prazo, analisando os seus efeitos na superfície do solo e na temperatura da sebe. O uso de sistemas de imagem térmica de baixo custo e de softwares de análise de imagem de baixo custo necessitam ainda de otimização para serem aplicadas na viticultura moderna. Assim foi realizado um ensaio preliminar no Instituto Superior de Agronomia para testar três tratamentos do solo: 1) Testemunha - solo com vegetação natural 2) Mulch com folhas de Eucalipto folhas e ramos e 3) Mulch com palha de arroz. Testou-se também o uso de duas câmaras térmicas de baixo a médio custo (Flir One Pro LT e Flir A35). Foram feitas imagens térmicas e no visível RGB do solo (lado exposto ao sol e sombra) e da sebe (lado exposto) ao longo do ensaio: - 9 Junho, (Floração) 1 Julho (Veraison) e 12 Agosto (pré-colheita). As medições foram feitas de manhã (9-10,30h) e á tarde (15-16,30h). Os dados térmicos foram complementados com a medição das trocas gasosas e fluorescência de clorofila ao pintor e na pré-colheita. Os resultados obtidos pela Flir A35 foram superiores aos da Flir One Pro LT. A FlirA435 mostrou diferenças de temperatura no solo e na sebe e permitiu calcular índices térmicos (CWSI). Os resultados obtidos com a Flir A35 mostraram que mulching resultou numa temperatura superficial mais baixa que a da testemunha e que a parte superior da sebe estava mais fresca que a inferior (zona dos cachos), independentemente dos tratamentos. Utilizando o software de Fiji, foi possível padronizar o processo de análise de imagem, mas é ainda necessário otimizar o protocolo de campo para se obter dados térmicos mais precisos e de uma forma mais eficienteN/

Highlights from the ARGO-YBJ experiment

The ARGO-YBJ experiment is in stable data taking since November 2007 at the YangBaJing Cosmic Ray Laboratory (Tibet, P.R. China, 4300m a.s.l., 606 g/cm2). The results from the first 3.5 years of operation are reviewed

Evaluating Learner Engagement in Arts Education: Perspectives from Music and Drama in Education

[EN] In this paper we aim to investigate learner engagement and how it can be evaluated, in the context of higher education research. Specifically we consider learner engagement evaluation in Arts Education, where the educational focus is on the process, rather than the product – drawing on music and drama in education research and practice. First, we position the notion of evaluation as opposed to assessment, with attention to its etymological roots. Second, we discuss the multifaceted notion of engagement as process, exploring the nature of learner engagement and a number of possible engagement indicators. We then synthesize these categories into descriptors which, we argue, can be useful to evaluate learners’ engagement in arts education practices. Third, we ground theory into practice by offering two examples drawn from the authors’ PhD case study research, respectively in music education and drama in education. We conclude that engagement is a multifaceted construct, which we frame as a mutual exercise of agency – whereby the teacher and the students act in a partnership as co-artists.Marrucci, L.; Piazzoli, E. (2017). Evaluating Learner Engagement in Arts Education: Perspectives from Music and Drama in Education. En Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Higher Education Advances. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1068-1076. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD17.2017.55161068107

Study of RPC gas mixtures for the ARGO-YBJ experiment

The ARGO-YBJ experiment consists of a RPC carpet to be operated at the Yangbajing laboratory (Tibet, P.R. China), 4300 m a.s.l., and devoted to the detection of showers initiated by photon primaries in the energy range 100 GeV - 20 TeV. The measurement technique, namely the timing on the shower front with a few tens of particles, requires RPC operation with 1 ns time resolution, low strip multiplicity, high efficiency and low single counting rate. We have tested RPCs with many gas mixtures, at sea level, in order to optimize these parameters. The results of this study are reported.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. To be published in Nucl. Instr. Meth. A, talk given at the "5th International Workshop on RPCs and Related Detectors", Bari (Italy) 199

Engage or entertain? The nature of teacher/participant collaboration in process drama for additional language teaching

This paper was presented at the conference ‘Plot me no plots: Theatre for University Language teaching’ held at the University of Padua in October 2011. The presentation included a practical demonstration of the teacher-in-role strategy and a discussion. Process drama is an experiential approach that has been gaining momentum in the field of language teaching; it is a genre of applied theatre in which the participants, together with the facilitator, engage in the co-construction of a story. As an improvised dramatic form, it encourages negotiation of meaning through the process of experience and reflection. In this article, I reflect on the nature of the collaborative process between teacher and participants in process drama, drawing on my doctoral research on the aesthetics of process drama for teaching additional languages. In this research, I worked with three cohorts of adult language learners, studying Italian as a Second Language (L2), and three cohorts of teachers of Italian (L2) new to drama. I draw on classroom data to illustrate two of the main dramatic strategies of the form: ‘teacher-in-role’ and ‘mantle of the expert’. I introduce these strategies, situate them in a theoretical context and discuss issues and implications when teaching to engage, rather than to entertain

SIGNIFICAÇÕES DO SUICÍDIO NA OBRA “OS SOFRIMENTOS DO JOVEM WERTHER”, DE GOETHE

The book The Sorrows of Young Werther, first novel by Goethe, published in Germany in 1774, laid the definitive foundations of romantic and escapist sentimentality. In confessional tone, constant idealizations of love and beloved wife enhance this novel, besides the escapism by suicide, considered the greatest of all romantic getaways, and the one that there is no return. That said, this research aims to verify and eventually answer the question: is it possible to see in the literary work, through encapsulation of the character, the release of carnal life until the apex of suicide as a representation of a process of undoing "self" so characteristic of modernity? Therefore, besides the theories that rule the conception of subjectivity and romantic escapism, it was also discussed the suicide in his psychoanalytic strand in order to probe how the character signaled his intentions during the literary work.A obra Os Sofrimentos do Jovem Werther, primeiro romance de Goethe, publicado na Alemanha em 1774, lançou as bases definitivas do sentimentalismo romântico e do escapismo. Em tom confessional, as constantes idealizações do amor e da mulher amada realçam esse romance, além do escapismo pelo suicídio, considerado a maior de todas as fugas românticas, aquela para a qual não se tem volta. Isso posto, esta pesquisa pretende verificar e eventualmente responder à questão: é possível perceber na obra, por meio do encapsulamento da personagem, o desprendimento da vida carnal até o ápice do suicídio como representação de um processo de desfazimento do “eu” tão característico da modernidade? Para tanto, além das teorias que regem a concepção da subjetividade e do escapismo românticos, foi abordado também o suicídio em sua vertente psicanalítica, a fim de sondar como o personagem sinalizou suas intenções no decorrer da obra

Ní Shíocháin, Tríona (2018). Singing Ideas: Performance, Politics and Oral Poetry. New York and Oxford: Berghahn

Singing Ideas: Performance, Politics and Oral Poetry is a fascinating insight into the Irish tradition of singing and its potency to fuel political thought and identity, in the context of eighteenth-century Ireland. To that purpose, Tríona Ní Shíocháin takes us through an informed analysis of the lived-experience of one historical figure, the magnetic Máire Bhuí Ní Laeire (Yellow Mary O’Leary). One of the greatest Irish song poets of her time, Máire Bhuí Ní Laeire was born in 1774 and died during the Great Irish Famine in 1848. She is depicted as a charismatic woman who composed and sang anti-colonial ideas, mocking nobility and denouncing social exploitation in Ireland. During her life, her craft gained her the reputation of a prophetic figure, a truth-teller or parrhesiast – a Greek notion that, as Foucault (2011) holds, refers to those with the courage to address urgent political issues, in public, even if running the risk of putting their lives in danger. Parrhesia, Foucault argues, can set social and historical change in motion – and that is precisely what seems to have happened through Máire Bhuí Ní Laeire’s subversive singing. Through the unique lens of this fascinating character, Ní Shíocháin is able to paint ..