The Assembly of the LHC Short Straight Sections at CERN: Work Organization, Quality Assurance and Lessons Learned

After 4 years of activity, the assembly of approximately 500 Short Straight Sections (SSS) for the LHC has come to an end at the beginning of 2007. This activity, which was initially foreseen in European industry, was in-sourced at CERN because of the insolvency of the prime contractor. While the quadrupole cold masses were produced in industry, the assembly within their cryostats was transferred to CERN and executed by an external company under a result-oriented contract. CERN procured cryostat components, set up a dedicated 2000 m2 assembly hall with all the specific assembly equipment and tooling and defined the assembly and testing procedures. The contractor took up responsibility for the delivery, on time, of assemblies according to the required quality. A dedicated CERN production and quality assurance team was constituted. A specific quality assurance plan was set up involving 2 additional contractors responsible for weld inspections on a total of about 20'000 assembly welds and the execution of about 3300 leak detection tests. This paper presents the organizational aspects of the activity and the experience gained throughout the production. The learning curves and statistics by type of non-conformities detected and general quality assurance aspects are presented and discussed. The main lessons learnt are summarized, in an attempt to draw some conclusions which could be useful in making strategic choices for the cryostat assembly in future large-scale accelerators

Body odors (even when masked) make you more emotional: behavioral and neural insights

Morality evolved within specific social contexts that are argued to shape moral choices. In turn, moral choices are hypothesized to be affected by body odors as they powerfully convey socially-relevant information. We thus investigated the neural underpinnings of the possible body odors effect on the participants\u2019 decisions. In an fMRI study we presented to healthy individuals 64 moral dilemmas divided in incongruent (real) and congruent (fake) moral dilemmas, using different types of harm (intentional: instrumental dilemmas, or inadvertent: accidental dilemmas). Participants were required to choose deontological or utilitarian actions under the exposure to a neutral fragrance (masker) or body odors concealed by the same masker (masked body odor). Smelling the masked body odor while processing incongruent (not congruent) dilemmas activates the supramarginal gyrus, consistent with an increase in prosocial attitude. When processing accidental (not instrumental) dilemmas, smelling the masked body odor activates the angular gyrus, an area associated with the processing of people\u2019s presence, supporting the hypothesis that body odors enhance the saliency of the social context in moral scenarios. These results suggest that masked body odors can influence moral choices by increasing the emotional experience during the decision process, and further explain how sensory unconscious biases affect human behavior

Co-design and evaluation of the feasibility and the efficacy of a multiple-targeted adapted physical activity intervention to promote quality of life, well-being and physical activity levels in pregnant women: The “well-done!” study protocol

Background: Regular physical activity (PA) practice during pregnancy offers health and fitness benefits for both mother and baby. Therefore, healthy pregnant women with no contraindi-cations to exercise should be encouraged to perform PA. Nevertheless, their levels of PA are gener-ally low. The aim of the WELL-DONE! Study is to co-design an adapted physical activity intervention (APAI) for pregnant women to include in childbirth preparation classes (CPCs) evaluating its feasibility and efficacy on quality of life (QoL), PA levels and other outcomes. Methods: A quasi-experimental study was divided in two progressive stages. First, APAI was developed in collabo-ration with pregnant women and midwives using focus groups; second, APAI’s efficacy was evaluated comparing two groups: the experimental group engaged in the CPCs integrated with 1 h/week of the APAI administered by midwives and the control group participating in the standard CPCs. Pre-post evaluation was carried out in three stages through questionnaires and tests. Data analysis involved the combination of qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Discussion: Find-ings from the WELL-DONE! Study will help to assess the feasibility, sustainability, and efficacy of incorporating APAI inside CPCs as a new public health strategy oriented to QoL, well-being, and PA level improvements

Teacher Training Doctoral Studies Basic Parameters and Development Vectors in Russia and in the World: The Results of the Global Study of Leading Universities

The article analyzes the main trends in the development of the scientific and pedagogical personnel training system in Russia and foreign countries. The main method of collecting empirical information is quantitative content analysis of the leading universities’ site content. The case selection is based on the QS (Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings – 2016 and 2020) – global university ranking (top 500). The selection of Russian universities has been carried out on the basis of the QS BRICS – 2016 and 2020 university ranking. Based on the results of the selection of the leading universities, 60 universities of North and Latin America, Russia, China, Europe, and Australia have been selected. The comparison criteria of higher education institutions are codified in the content analysis matrix. We compared the entry requirements, the content and organization of the doctoral studies, and the “exit” – the learning outcomes. The results of the research are the distinctive characteristics of the Russian teacher training doctoral programs and foreign doctoral programs EdD, EdLd, PhD in Education. It is revealed that foreign universities are characterized by an orientation to a variety of labor markets, differentiation of programs and career paths; studentoriented approach; flexible choice of learning formats; focus on the preparation of the author’s original research; close attention to the idea of the dissertation research, programs, scientific publications, dissertation text, multilevel assessment (program Manager, scientific consultant, elective teachers on the topic of the dissertation, the head of the postgraduate seminar, external experts); online learning; high quality of technical and informational environment. The characteristics of the Russian doctoral studies, which impede differentiation of the paths of dissertation preparation by doctoral students depending on the specifics of the scientific research area, limit the possibility of implementing the practical results of the dissertation and reduce the potential for professional growth of doctoral students

Conceptual design of superferric magnets for PS2

We analyze feasibility and cost of a superferric magnet design for the PS2. Specifically, we provide the conceptual design of dipole and quadrupoles, including considerations on cryogenics and powering. The magnets have warm iron yoke, and cryostated superconducting coils embedded in the magnet, which reduces AC loss at cryogenic temperature. The superconductor has large Operating margin to endure beam loss and operating loads over a long period of time. Although conservative, and without any critical dependence on novel technology developments, this superconducting option appears to be attractive as a low-power alternative to the normal-conducting magnets that are the present baseline for the PS2 design. In addition it provides flexibility in the selection of flat-top duration at no additional cost. This study is the conclusion of the conceptual design work started within the scope of the CARE HHH-AMT activities, following inputs from the workshops ECOMAG and LUMI-06, and finally spurred by the recent discussions on the opportunity of an R&D for the PS2 magnets

Potencial de Pseudomonas sp. psicrotolerantes isoladas da Antártica no biocontrole de Botrytis cinerea.

Resumo: A Antártica, por ser um ambiente extremo, comporta micro-organismos que podem ter características interessantes, como crescimento a baixas temperaturas (psicrotolerância), além da produção de compostos antimicrobianos. Como também a possibilidade de aplicação desses micro-organismos no controle de fitopatogenos que se desenvolveu em baixas temperaturas, como é o caso de Botrytis cinerea, que ataca dezenas de culturas agrícolas em zonas temperadas. O morango, Fragaria vesca, é comumente atacado por este fungo, causando a doença conhecida como podridão cinzenta, principalmente durante a pós-colheita. Desta forma, o objetivo deste trabalho foi prospectar bactérias isoladas da Antártica e avaliar o potencial de inibição deste fitopatogeno. Assim foram testadas 56 bactérias sendo que 42% apresentaram melhor crescimento a 4°C. 4 dessas pertencentes ao gênero Pseudomonas, sendo que a linhagem 44-4 (Pseudomonas Syringae), foi capaz de controlar o desenvolvimento do fungo em morango (4°C). Demonstra-se, portanto, a possibilidade de prospecção de bactérias Psicrofilicas com potencial de reduzir o crescimento de fungos a baixa temperatura. Ensaios estão sendo feitos para elucidação dos compostos químicos responsáveis por este efeito. Abstract: Antarctica, being an extreme environment, includes micro-organisms that may have interesting features, such as growth at low temperatures (psicrotolerância), besides the production of antimicrobial compounds. As well as the possibility of application of these micro-organisms to control plant pathogens that developed at low temperatures, as is the case of Botrytis cinerea, attacking dozens of agricultural crops in temperate zones. The strawberry, Fragaria vesca, is commonly attacked by this fungus causing the disease known as gray mold, especially during post-harvest. Thus, the objective was to prospect for bacteria isolated from Antarctica and evaluate the potential inhibition of this pathogen. So were tested 56 bacteria and 42% showed better growth at 4°C. Four of these belonging to the genus Pseudomonas, and the line 44-4 (Pseudomonas syringae) was able to control the development of the fungus in strawberry (4°C). It is shown so the prospectivity of Psychrophilic bacteria with potential to reduce the fungal growth at low temperature. Tests are being made to elucidation of the chemical compounds responsible for this effect

Plans for a Superconducting H−^{-} LINAC (SPL) at CERN

As part of the upgrade of the LHC injector complex at CERN, the construction of a 4 GeV Superconducting Proton Linac (the SPL, in fact an H- accelerator) is planned to begin in 2012. Depending upon physics requests, it should be upgradeable to 5 GeV and multi-MW beam power at a later stage. The construction of Linac4, its low energy front end, has started at the beginning of 2008. A full project proposal with a cost estimate for the low power version of the SPL aimed at improving LHC performance has to be ready for mid-2011. As a first step towards that goal, essential machine parameters like RF frequency, cooling temperature and accelerating gradient have recently been revisited and plans have been drawn for designing and testing critical components

Fast cycled superconducting magnets for the upgrade of the LHC injector complex

An upgrade of the LHC injection chain, and especially the sequence of PS and SPS, up to an extraction energy of 1 TeV, is one of the steps considered to improve the performance of the whole LHC accelerator complex. The magnets for this upgrade require central magnetic field from 2 T (for a PS upgrade) to 4.5 T (for an SPS upgrade), and field ramp rate ranging from 1.5 to 2.5 T/s. In this paper we discuss under which conditions superconducting magnets are attractive in this range of operating field and field ramp-rate, and we list the outstanding issues to be adddressed by a dedicated R&D